4,948 research outputs found
The California Arbitration Act and the 1988 Real Estate Arbitration Amendments: Coming of Age?
In 1988, the California Legislature enacted one of the longest, and in many ways one of the most significant, amendments to the California Arbitration Act1 since the adoption of that Act in 1961. Assembly Bill No. 1240, carried by Assemblyman Byron Sher, Democrat of Palo Alto, was introduced on March 3, 1987 under the extra-legislative sponsorship of the California Association of Realtors. Chaptered on September 14, 1988, after significant legislative markup over two sessions, the Bill added to the Act Sections 1298-1298.8, its first provisions dealing expressly with arbitration clauses in real estate contracts. Under Section 1298.8, the provisions of this new enactment became operative, and apply to contracts entered into on or after July 1, 1989
The California Arbitration Act and the 1988 Real Estate Arbitration Amendments: Coming of Age?
In 1988, the California Legislature enacted one of the longest, and in many ways one of the most significant, amendments to the California Arbitration Act1 since the adoption of that Act in 1961. Assembly Bill No. 1240, carried by Assemblyman Byron Sher, Democrat of Palo Alto, was introduced on March 3, 1987 under the extra-legislative sponsorship of the California Association of Realtors. Chaptered on September 14, 1988, after significant legislative markup over two sessions, the Bill added to the Act Sections 1298-1298.8, its first provisions dealing expressly with arbitration clauses in real estate contracts. Under Section 1298.8, the provisions of this new enactment became operative, and apply to contracts entered into on or after July 1, 1989
Simultaneous Water Vapor and Dry Air Optical Path Length Measurements and Compensation with the Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer
The Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer uses a near-infrared camera to
measure the optical path length variations between the two AO-corrected
apertures and provide high-angular resolution observations for all its science
channels (1.5-13 m). There is however a wavelength dependent component to
the atmospheric turbulence, which can introduce optical path length errors when
observing at a wavelength different from that of the fringe sensing camera.
Water vapor in particular is highly dispersive and its effect must be taken
into account for high-precision infrared interferometric observations as
described previously for VLTI/MIDI or the Keck Interferometer Nuller. In this
paper, we describe the new sensing approach that has been developed at the LBT
to measure and monitor the optical path length fluctuations due to dry air and
water vapor separately. After reviewing the current performance of the system
for dry air seeing compensation, we present simultaneous H-, K-, and N-band
observations that illustrate the feasibility of our feedforward approach to
stabilize the path length fluctuations seen by the LBTI nuller.Comment: SPIE conference proceeding
Exoplanet science with the LBTI: instrument status and plans
The Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer (LBTI) is a strategic instrument
of the LBT designed for high-sensitivity, high-contrast, and high-resolution
infrared (1.5-13 m) imaging of nearby planetary systems. To carry out a
wide range of high-spatial resolution observations, it can combine the two
AO-corrected 8.4-m apertures of the LBT in various ways including direct
(non-interferometric) imaging, coronagraphy (APP and AGPM), Fizeau imaging,
non-redundant aperture masking, and nulling interferometry. It also has
broadband, narrowband, and spectrally dispersed capabilities. In this paper, we
review the performance of these modes in terms of exoplanet science
capabilities and describe recent instrumental milestones such as first-light
Fizeau images (with the angular resolution of an equivalent 22.8-m telescope)
and deep interferometric nulling observations.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, Proc. SPI
Adipocyte Turnover: Relevance to Human Adipose Tissue Morphology
International audienceOBJECTIVE: Adipose tissue may contain few large adipocytes (hypertrophy) or many small adipocytes (hyperplasia). We investigated factors of putative importance for adipose tissue morphology. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Subcutaneous adipocyte size and total fat mass were compared in 764 subjects with BMI 18-60 kg/m(2). A morphology value was defined as the difference between the measured adipocyte volume and the expected volume given by a curved-line fit for a given body fat mass and was related to insulin values. In 35 subjects, in vivo adipocyte turnover was measured by exploiting incorporation of atmospheric (14)C into DNA. RESULTS: Occurrence of hyperplasia (negative morphology value) or hypertrophy (positive morphology value) was independent of sex and body weight but correlated with fasting plasma insulin levels and insulin sensitivity, independent of adipocyte volume (beta-coefficient = 0.3, P < 0.0001). Total adipocyte number and morphology were negatively related (r = -0.66); i.e., the total adipocyte number was greatest in pronounced hyperplasia and smallest in pronounced hypertrophy. The absolute number of new adipocytes generated each year was 70% lower (P < 0.001) in hypertrophy than in hyperplasia, and individual values for adipocyte generation and morphology were strongly related (r = 0.7, P < 0.001). The relative death rate (approximately 10% per year) or mean age of adipocytes (approximately 10 years) was not correlated with morphology. CONCLUSIONS: Adipose tissue morphology correlates with insulin measures and is linked to the total adipocyte number independently of sex and body fat level. Low generation rates of adipocytes associate with adipose tissue hypertrophy, whereas high generation rates associate with adipose hyperplasia
The HOSTS Survey for Exozodiacal Dust: Preliminary results and future prospects
[abridged] The presence of large amounts of dust in the habitable zones of
nearby stars is a significant obstacle for future exo-Earth imaging missions.
We executed an N band nulling interferometric survey to determine the typical
amount of such exozodiacal dust around a sample of nearby main sequence stars.
The majority of our data have been analyzed and we present here an update of
our ongoing work. We find seven new N band excesses in addition to the high
confidence confirmation of three that were previously known. We find the first
detections around Sun-like stars and around stars without previously known
circumstellar dust. Our overall detection rate is 23%. The inferred occurrence
rate is comparable for early type and Sun-like stars, but decreases from 71%
[+11%/-20%] for stars with previously detected mid- to far-infrared excess to
11% [+9%/-4%] for stars without such excess, confirming earlier results at high
confidence. For completed observations on individual stars, our sensitivity is
five to ten times better than previous results. Assuming a lognormal luminosity
function of the dust, we find upper limits on the median dust level around all
stars without previously known mid to far infrared excess of 11.5 zodis at 95%
confidence level. The corresponding upper limit for Sun-like stars is 16 zodis.
An LBTI vetted target list of Sun-like stars for exo-Earth imaging would have a
corresponding limit of 7.5 zodis. We provide important new insights into the
occurrence rate and typical levels of habitable zone dust around main sequence
stars. Exploiting the full range of capabilities of the LBTI provides a
critical opportunity for the detailed characterization of a sample of
exozodiacal dust disks to understand the origin, distribution, and properties
of the dust.Comment: To appear in SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation 2018
proceedings. Some typos fixed, one reference adde
Climate warming, marine protected areas and the ocean-scale integrity of coral reef ecosystems
Coral reefs have emerged as one of the ecosystems most vulnerable to climate variation and change. While the contribution
of a warming climate to the loss of live coral cover has been well documented across large spatial and temporal scales, the
associated effects on fish have not. Here, we respond to recent and repeated calls to assess the importance of local
management in conserving coral reefs in the context of global climate change. Such information is important, as coral reef
fish assemblages are the most species dense vertebrate communities on earth, contributing critical ecosystem functions
and providing crucial ecosystem services to human societies in tropical countries. Our assessment of the impacts of the
1998 mass bleaching event on coral cover, reef structural complexity, and reef associated fishes spans 7 countries, 66 sites
and 26 degrees of latitude in the Indian Ocean. Using Bayesian meta-analysis we show that changes in the size structure,
diversity and trophic composition of the reef fish community have followed coral declines. Although the ocean scale
integrity of these coral reef ecosystems has been lost, it is positive to see the effects are spatially variable at multiple scales,
with impacts and vulnerability affected by geography but not management regime. Existing no-take marine protected areas
still support high biomass of fish, however they had no positive affect on the ecosystem response to large-scale disturbance.
This suggests a need for future conservation and management efforts to identify and protect regional refugia, which should
be integrated into existing management frameworks and combined with policies to improve system-wide resilience to
climate variation and change
Operational experience, improvements, and performance of the CDF Run II silicon vertex detector
The Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF) pursues a broad physics program at
Fermilab's Tevatron collider. Between Run II commissioning in early 2001 and
the end of operations in September 2011, the Tevatron delivered 12 fb-1 of
integrated luminosity of p-pbar collisions at sqrt(s)=1.96 TeV. Many physics
analyses undertaken by CDF require heavy flavor tagging with large charged
particle tracking acceptance. To realize these goals, in 2001 CDF installed
eight layers of silicon microstrip detectors around its interaction region.
These detectors were designed for 2--5 years of operation, radiation doses up
to 2 Mrad (0.02 Gy), and were expected to be replaced in 2004. The sensors were
not replaced, and the Tevatron run was extended for several years beyond its
design, exposing the sensors and electronics to much higher radiation doses
than anticipated. In this paper we describe the operational challenges
encountered over the past 10 years of running the CDF silicon detectors, the
preventive measures undertaken, and the improvements made along the way to
ensure their optimal performance for collecting high quality physics data. In
addition, we describe the quantities and methods used to monitor radiation
damage in the sensors for optimal performance and summarize the detector
performance quantities important to CDF's physics program, including vertex
resolution, heavy flavor tagging, and silicon vertex trigger performance.Comment: Preprint accepted for publication in Nuclear Instruments and Methods
A (07/31/2013
Risk‐sensitive planning for conserving coral reefs under rapid climate change
Coral reef ecosystems are seriously threatened by changing conditions in the ocean. Although many factors are implicated, climate change has emerged as a dominant and rapidly growing threat. Developing a long‐term strategic plan for the conservation of coral reefs is urgently needed yet is complicated by significant uncertainty associated with climate change impacts on coral reef ecosystems. We use Modern Portfolio Theory to identify coral reef locations globally that, in the absence of other impacts, are likely to have a heightened chance of surviving projected climate changes relative to other reefs. Long‐term planning that is robust to uncertainty in future conditions provides an objective and transparent framework for guiding conservation action and strategic investment. These locations constitute important opportunities for novel conservation investments to secure less vulnerable yet well‐connected coral reefs that may, in turn, help to repopulate degraded areas in the event that the climate has stabilized
Deep reefs of the Great Barrier Reef offer limited thermal refuge during mass coral bleaching
Our rapidly warming climate is threatening coral reefs as thermal anomalies trigger mass coral bleaching events. Deep (or "mesophotic") coral reefs are hypothesised to act as major ecological refuges from mass bleaching, but empirical assessments are limited. We evaluated the potential of mesophotic reefs within the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) and adjacent Coral Sea to act as thermal refuges by characterising long-term temperature conditions and assessing impacts during the 2016 mass bleaching event. We found that summer upwelling initially provided thermal relief at upper mesophotic depths (40 m), but then subsided resulting in anomalously warm temperatures even at depth. Bleaching impacts on the deep reefs were severe (40% bleached and 6% dead colonies at 40 m) but significantly lower than at shallower depths (60-69% bleached and 8-12% dead at 5-25 m). While we confirm that deep reefs can offer refuge from thermal stress, we highlight important caveats in terms of the transient nature of the protection and their limited ability to provide broad ecological refuge.XL Catlin Seaview Survey; Waitt Foundation; XL Catlin Group; Underwater Earth; University of Queensland; ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) [DE160101433]; Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (FCT) [SFRH/BPD/110285/2015]; Australian Research Council (ARC
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