The initiation and development of metamorphic foliation in the Otago Schist, Part 2: evidence from quartz grain-shape data

Shape, size and orientation measurements of quartz grains sampled along two transects that cross zones of increasing metamorphic grade in the Otago Schist, New Zealand, reveal the role of quartz in the progressive development of metamorphic foliation. Sedimentary compaction and diagenesis contributed little to the formation of a shape-preferred orientation (SPO) within the analysed samples. Metamorphic foliation was initiated at sub-greenschist facies conditions as part of a composite S1-bedding structure parallel to the axial planes of tight to isoclinal F1 folds. An important component of this foliation is a pronounced quartz SPO that formed dominantly by the effect of dissolution?precipitation creep on detrital grains in association with F1 strain. With increasing grade, the following trends are evident from the SPO data: (i) a progressive increase in the aspect ratio of grains in sections parallel to lineation, and the development of blade-shaped grains; (ii) the early development of a strong shape preferred orientation so that blade lengths define the linear aspect of the foliation (lineation) and the intermediate axes of the blades define a partial girdle about the lineation; (iii) a slight thinning and reduction in volume of grains in the one transect; and (iv) an actual increase in thickness and volume in the survivor grains of the second transect. The highest-grade samples, within the chlorite zone of the greenschist facies, record segregation into quartz- and mica-rich layers. This segregation resulted largely from F2 crenulation and marks a key change in the distribution, deformation and SPO of the quartz grains. The contribution of quartz SPO to defining the foliation lessens as the previously discrete and aligned detrital quartz grains are replaced by aggregates and layers of dynamically recrystallized quartz grains of reduced aspect ratio and reduced alignment. Pressure solution now affects the margins of quartz-rich layers rather than individual grains. In higher-grade samples, therefore, the rock structure is characterized increasingly by segregation layering parallel to a foliation defined predominantly by mica SPO

Nest site selection by sea turtles

The distribution of 38 nests of loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) on beaches on Sanibel and Captiva islands, south-western Florida (26°26\u27N 82°16\u27W), and of 70 first digging attempts by green turtles (Chelonia mydas) on Ascension Island (7°57\u27S 14°22\u27W), was quantified. For loggerhead turtles on Sanibel and Captiva, nests were clumped close to the border between the open sand and the supra-littoral vegetation that backed the beaches. This spatial pattern of nests was closely reproduced by assuming simply that turtles crawled a random distance above the most recent high water line prior to digging. In contrast, green turtles on Ascension Island clumped their first digging attempts on the uneven beach above the springs high water line, crawling up to 80 m to reach this beach zone

Seven exercises planned to stimulate the flow of ideas in creative composition

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

A practical scheme for quantum computation with any two-qubit entangling gate

Which gates are universal for quantum computation? Although it is well known that certain gates on two-level quantum systems (qubits), such as the controlled-not (CNOT), are universal when assisted by arbitrary one-qubit gates, it has only recently become clear precisely what class of two-qubit gates is universal in this sense. Here we present an elementary proof that any entangling two-qubit gate is universal for quantum computation, when assisted by one-qubit gates. A proof of this important result for systems of arbitrary finite dimension has been provided by J. L. and R. Brylinski [arXiv:quant-ph/0108062, 2001]; however, their proof relies upon a long argument using advanced mathematics. In contrast, our proof provides a simple constructive procedure which is close to optimal and experimentally practical [C. M. Dawson and A. Gilchrist, online implementation of the procedure described herein (2002), http://www.physics.uq.edu.au/gqc/].Comment: 3 pages, online implementation of procedure described can be found at http://www.physics.uq.edu.au/gqc

From kitchen to classroom: Assessing the impact of cleaner burning biomass-fuelled cookstoves on primary school attendance in Karonga district, northern Malawi

Household air pollution from burning solid fuels is responsible for an estimated 2.9 million premature deaths worldwide each year and 4.5% of global disability-adjusted life years, while cooking and fuel collection pose a considerable time burden, particularly for women and children. Cleaner burning biomass-fuelled cookstoves have the potential to lower exposure to household air pollution as well as reduce fuelwood demand by increasing the combustion efficiency of cooking fires, which may in turn yield ancillary benefits in other domains. The present paper capitalises on opportunities offered by the Cooking and Pneumonia Study (CAPS), the largest randomised trial of biomass-fuelled cookstoves on health outcomes conducted to date, the design of which allows for the evaluation of additional outcomes at scale. This mixed methods study assesses the impact of cookstoves on primary school absenteeism in Karonga district, northern Malawi, in particular by conferring health and time and resource gains on young people aged 5–18. The analysis combines quantitative data from 6168 primary school students with in-depth interviews and focus group discussions carried out among 48 students in the same catchment area in 2016. Negative binomial regression models find no evidence that the cookstoves affected primary school absenteeism overall [IRR 0.92 (0.71–1.18), p = 0.51]. Qualitative analysis suggests that the cookstoves did not sufficiently improve household health to influence school attendance, while the time and resource burdens associated with cooking activities—although reduced in intervention households—were considered to be compatible with school attendance in both trial arms. More research is needed to assess whether the cookstoves influenced educational outcomes not captured by the attendance measure available, such as timely arrival to school or hours spent on homework

Client Costs and Early Discontinuance from a Community-Based Treatment Program

In social work circles client withdrawal from a treatment program commonly has been labeled as discontinuance . Discontinuance rates have been inordinately high for both casework and group work endeavors, ranging in some instances to 59Z of all clients following the first interview (Aronson and Overall, 1966; Empey and Erickson, 1972; Goldstein, Heller, and Sechrest, 1966; Levinger, 1960; Overall and Aronson, 1963). Discontinuance represents an obvious and essential concern for social work for one overarching reason, to wit, treatment interventions cannot be implemented should the client(s) withdraw from the therapeutic relationship. Additionally, as some investigators have shown, discontinuance represents a focal concern for evaluative research since valid estimates of treatment success cannot be obtained unless early discontinuers are regarded as instances of treatment failure (cf. Lerman, 1968; Empey and Erickson, 1972). A variety of reasons have been posited for the high rates of discontinuance in social work and allied treatment professions. Among the foremost are inaccurate or incongruent role expectations held by the two people most central to the therapeutic relationship, namely, the therapist and the client (Frank, 1961; Freeman and Simmons, 1958, 1959; Garvin, 1969; Goldstein, 1966; Heine and Trosman, 1960; Kadushin and Wieringa, 1960; Lefton, et al., 1962; Mayer and Timms, 1970; Mechanic, 1961; Olsen and Olsen, 1967; Oxley, 1966; Shapiro, 1971). These and other factors have been posited to result in counter-therapeutic client uncertainties (Erikson, 1957), anxieties (Dibner, 1967), and misperceptions (Sapolsky, 1965; Thomas, et al., 1955) and, consequently, in discontinuance. Interestingly, the great majority of studies concerning discontinuance in social work have focused solely upon endogenous features of the therapeutic relationship per se, that is, upon social variables that emanate from the interaction between client(s) and therapist(s) and that determine their ongoing interaction. For the most part, however, exogenous determinants of that relationship have been ignored in the literature. This is especially unfortunate in the case of group work since the course of treatment may depend upon a variety of socio-cultural attributes and behaviors that the various members bring to the treatment group

Rapid identification of mutations in GJC2 in primary lymphoedema using whole exome sequencing combined with linkage analysis with delineation of the phenotype.

Background: Primary lymphoedema describes a chronic, frequently progressive, failure of lymphatic drainage. This disorder is frequently genetic in origin, and a multigenerational family in which eight individuals developed postnatal lymphoedema of all four limbs was ascertained from the joint Lymphoedema/Genetic clinic at St George's Hospital. Methods: Linkage analysis was used to determine a locus, and exome sequencing was employed to look for causative variants. Results: Linkage analysis revealed cosegregation of a 16.1 Mb haplotype on chromosome 1q42 that contained 173 known or predicted genes. Whole exome sequencing in a single affected individual was undertaken, and the search for the causative variant was focused to within the linkage interval. This approach revealed two novel non-synonymous single nucleotide substitutions within the chromosome 1 locus, in NVL and GJC2. NVL and GJC2 were sequenced in an additional cohort of individuals with a similar phenotype and non-synonymous variants were found in GJC2 in four additional families. Conclusion: This report demonstrates the power of exome sequencing efficiently applied to a traditional positional cloning pipeline in disease gene discovery, and suggests that the phenotype produced by GJC2 mutations is predominantly one of 4 limb lymphoedema