Options for management of municipal solid waste in New York City: A preliminary comparison of health risks and policy implications

Landfill disposal and waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration remain the two principal options for managing municipal solid waste (MSW). One critical determinant of the acceptability of these options is the different health risks associated with each. In this analysis relying on published data and exposure modeling, we have performed health risk assessments for landfill disposal versus WTE treatment options for the management of New York City’s MSW. These are based on the realistic scenario of using a waste transfer station (WTS) in Brooklyn and then transporting the untreated MSW by truck to a landfill in Pennsylvania or using a WTE facility in Brooklyn and then transporting the resultant ash by truck to a landfill in Pennsylvania. The overall results indicate that the individual cancer risks for both options would be considered generally acceptable, although the risk from landfilling is approximately 5 times greater than from WTE treatment; the individual non-cancer health risks for both options would be considered generally unacceptable, although once again the risk from landfilling is approximately 5 times greater than from WTE treatment. If one considers only the population in Brooklyn that would be directly affected by the siting of either a WTS or a WTE facility in their immediate neighborhood, individual cancer and non-cancer health risks for both options would be considered generally acceptable, but risks for the former remain considerably higher than for the latter. These results should be considered preliminary due to several limitations of this study such as: consideration of risks only from inhalation exposures; assumption that only volume and not composition of the waste stream is altered by WTE treatment; reliance on data from the literature rather than actual measurements of the sites considered, assuming comparability of the sites. However, the results of studies such as this, in conjunction with ecological, socioeconomic and equity considerations, should prove useful to environmental managers, regulators, policy makers, community representatives and other stakeholders in making sound and acceptable decisions regarding the optimal handling of MSW

Estimating Galaxy Parameters with Self-Organizing Maps and the Effect of Missing Data

The current and upcoming large data volume galaxy surveys require the use of machine learning techniques to maximize their scientific return. This study explores the use of Self-Organizing Maps (SOMs) to estimate galaxy parameters with a focus on handling cases of missing data and providing realistic probability distribution functions for the parameters. We train a SOM with a simulated mass-limited lightcone assuming a ugrizYJHKs+IRAC dataset, mimicking the Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) Deep joint dataset. For parameter estimation, we derive SOM likelihood surfaces considering photometric errors to derive total (statistical and systematic) uncertainties. We explore the effects of missing data including which bands are particular critical to the accuracy of the derived parameters. We demonstrate that the parameter recovery is significantly better when the missing bands are "filled-in" rather than if they are completely omitted. We propose a practical method for such recovery of missing data.Comment: 22 pages, 12 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journa

Early results and lessons learned from a multicenter, randomized, double-blind trial of bone marrow aspirate concentrate in critical limb ischemia

ObjectivesDespite advances in endovascular therapies, critical limb ischemia (CLI) continues to be associated with high morbidity and mortality. Patients without direct revascularization options have the worst outcomes. We sought to explore the feasibility of conducting a definitive trial of a bone marrow-derived cellular therapy for CLI in this “no option” population.MethodsA pilot, multicenter, prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial for “no option” CLI patients was performed. The therapy consisted of bone marrow aspirate concentrate (BMAC), prepared using a point of service centrifugation technique and injected percutaneously in 40 injections to the affected limb. Patients were randomized to BMAC or sham injections (dilute blood). We are reporting the 12-week data.ResultsForty-eight patients were enrolled. The mean age was 69.5 years (range, 42-93 years). Males predominated (68%). Diabetes was present in 50%. Tissue loss (Rutherford 5) was present in 30 patients (62.5%), and 18 (37.5%) had rest pain without tissue loss (Rutherford 4). Patients were deemed unsuitable for conventional revascularization based on multiple prior failed revascularization efforts (24 [50%]), poor distal targets (43 [89.6%]), and medical risk (six [12.5%]). Thirty-four patients were treated with BMAC and 14 with sham injections. There were no adverse events attributed to the injections. Renal function was not affected. Effective blinding was confirmed; blinding index of 61% to 85%. Subjective and objective outcome measures were effectively obtained with the exception of treadmill walking times, which could only be obtained at baseline and follow-up in 15 of 48 subjects. This pilot study was not powered to demonstrate statistical significance but did demonstrate favorable trends for BMAC versus control in major amputations (17.6% vs 28.6%), improved pain (44% vs 25%), improved ankle brachial index (ABI; 32.4% vs 7.1%), improved Rutherford classification (35.3% vs 14.3%), and quality-of-life scoring better for BMAC in six of eight domains.ConclusionsIn this multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of autologous bone marrow cell therapy for CLI, the therapy was well tolerated without significant adverse events. The BMAC group demonstrated trends toward improvement in amputation, pain, quality of life, Rutherford classification, and ABI when compared with controls. This pilot allowed us to identify several areas for improvement for future trials and CLI studies. These recommendations include elimination of treadmill testing, stratification by Rutherford class, and more liberal inclusion of patients with renal insufficiency. Our strongest recommendation is that CLI studies that include Rutherford 4 patients should incorporate a composite endpoint reflecting pain and quality of life

The Iowa Homemaker vol.3, no.3-4

Table of Contents The Architectural Design of a Home by Allen Holmes Kimball, page 1 “For a Man’s House Is His Castle” by Alda Wilson, page 2 The Economics of Consumption compiled by John E. Brindley, page 3 Sunfast and Tubfast Materials by Pearl Apland, page 5 On Our Street by Juanita J. Beard, page 6 Who Is Responsible for the Child? by Orange H. Cessna, page 7 Summer Suppers by N. Beth Bailey, page 8 Vacation First Aid by Dr. Mary Sheldon, page 9 Episodes Concerning Evolution of Home Economics by Ruth Elaine Wilson, page 10 Extravagant Economics by Blanche Ingersoll, page 11 Breakfast Bridge by Eleanor Murray, page 12 Veishea Celebrates First Birthday by Helen G. Lamb, page 1

Nucleation and Growth of the Superconducting Phase in the Presence of a Current

We study the localized stationary solutions of the one-dimensional time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equations in the presence of a current. These threshold perturbations separate undercritical perturbations which return to the normal phase from overcritical perturbations which lead to the superconducting phase. Careful numerical work in the small-current limit shows that the amplitude of these solutions is exponentially small in the current; we provide an approximate analysis which captures this behavior. As the current is increased toward the stall current J*, the width of these solutions diverges resulting in widely separated normal-superconducting interfaces. We map out numerically the dependence of J* on u (a parameter characterizing the material) and use asymptotic analysis to derive the behaviors for large u (J* ~ u^-1/4) and small u (J -> J_c, the critical deparing current), which agree with the numerical work in these regimes. For currents other than J* the interface moves, and in this case we study the interface velocity as a function of u and J. We find that the velocities are bounded both as J -> 0 and as J -> J_c, contrary to previous claims.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, Revte

DESI Survey Validation Spectra Reveal an Increasing Fraction of Recently Quenched Galaxies at z∼1z\sim1

We utilize $\sim17000$ bright Luminous Red Galaxies (LRGs) from the novel Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument Survey Validation spectroscopic sample, leveraging its deep ($\sim2.5$ hour/galaxy exposure time) spectra to characterize the contribution of recently quenched galaxies to the massive galaxy population at $0.4<z<1.3$. We use Prospector to infer non-parametric star formation histories and identify a significant population of post-starburst galaxies that have joined the quiescent population within the past $\sim1$ Gyr. The highest redshift subset (277 at $z>1$) of our sample of recently quenched galaxies represents the largest spectroscopic sample of post-starburst galaxies at that epoch. At $0.4<z<0.8$, we measure the number density of quiescent LRGs, finding that recently quenched galaxies constitute a growing fraction of the massive galaxy population with increasing lookback time. Finally, we quantify the importance of this population amongst massive ($\mathrm{log}(M_\star/M_\odot)>11.2$) LRGs by measuring the fraction of stellar mass each galaxy formed in the Gyr before observation, $f_{\mathrm{1 Gyr}}$. Although galaxies with $f_{\mathrm{1 Gyr}}>0.1$ are rare at $z\sim0.4$ ($\lesssim 0.5\%$ of the population), by $z\sim0.8$ they constitute $\sim3\%$ of massive galaxies. Relaxing this threshold, we find that galaxies with $f_\mathrm{1 Gyr}>5\%$ constitute $\sim10\%$ of the massive galaxy population at $z\sim0.8$. We also identify a small but significant sample of galaxies at $z=1.1-1.3$ that formed with $f_{\mathrm{1 Gyr}}>50\%$, implying that they may be analogues to high-redshift quiescent galaxies that formed on similar timescales. Future analysis of this unprecedented sample promises to illuminate the physical mechanisms that drive the quenching of massive galaxies after cosmic noon.Comment: Submitted to ApJ Letters after DESI Collaboration Review. 14 pages, 5 figures, comments welcome

The Shapes of Flux Domains in the Intermediate State of Type-I Superconductors

In the intermediate state of a thin type-I superconductor magnetic flux penetrates in a disordered set of highly branched and fingered macroscopic domains. To understand these shapes, we study in detail a recently proposed "current-loop" (CL) model that models the intermediate state as a collection of tense current ribbons flowing along the superconducting-normal interfaces and subject to the constraint of global flux conservation. The validity of this model is tested through a detailed reanalysis of Landau's original conformal mapping treatment of the laminar state, in which the superconductor-normal interfaces are flared within the slab, and of a closely-related straight-lamina model. A simplified dynamical model is described that elucidates the nature of possible shape instabilities of flux stripes and stripe arrays, and numerical studies of the highly nonlinear regime of those instabilities demonstrate patterns like those seen experimentally. Of particular interest is the buckling instability commonly seen in the intermediate state. The free-boundary approach further allows for a calculation of the elastic properties of the laminar state, which closely resembles that of smectic liquid crystals. We suggest several new experiments to explore of flux domain shape instabilities, including an Eckhaus instability induced by changing the out-of-plane magnetic field, and an analog of the Helfrich-Hurault instability of smectics induced by an in-plane field.Comment: 23 pages, 22 bitmapped postscript figures, RevTex 3.0, submitted to Phys. Rev. B. Higher resolution figures may be obtained by contacting the author

Constructing Probabilistic ATMS Using Extended Incidence Calculus

This paper discusses the relations between extended incidence calculus and assumption-based truth maintenance systems (ATMSs). We first prove that managing labels for statements (nodes) in an ATMS is equivalent to producing incidence sets of these statements in extended incidence calculus. We then demonstrate that the justification set for a node is functionally equivalent to the implication relation set for the same node in extended incidence calculus. As a consequence, extended incidence calculus can provide justifications for an ATMS, because implication relation sets are discovered by the system automatically. We also show that extended incidence calculus provides a theoretical basis for constructing a probabilistic ATMS by associating proper probability distributions on assumptions. In this way, we can not only produce labels for all nodes in the system, but also calculate the probability of any of such nodes in it. The nogood environments can also be obtained automatically. Therefore, extended incidence calculus and the ATMS are equivalent in carrying out inferences at both the symbolic level and the numerical level. This extends a result due to Laskey and Lehner

The DESI One-Percent Survey: Evidence for Assembly Bias from Low-Redshift Counts-in-Cylinders Measurements

We explore the galaxy-halo connection information that is available in low-redshift samples from the early data release of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI). We model the halo occupation distribution (HOD) from z=0.1-0.3 using Survey Validation 3 (SV3; a.k.a., the One-Percent Survey) data of the DESI Bright Galaxy Survey (BGS). In addition to more commonly used metrics, we incorporate counts-in-cylinders (CiC) measurements, which drastically tighten HOD constraints. Our analysis is aided by the Python package, galtab, which enables the rapid, precise prediction of CiC for any HOD model available in halotools. This methodology allows our Markov chains to converge with much fewer trial points, and enables even more drastic speedups due to its GPU portability. Our HOD fits constrain characteristic halo masses tightly and provide statistical evidence for assembly bias, especially at lower luminosity thresholds: the HOD of central galaxies in $z\sim0.15$ samples with limiting absolute magnitude $M_r < -20.0$ and $M_r < -20.5$ samples is positively correlated with halo concentration with a significance of 99.9% and 99.5%, respectively. Our models also favor positive central assembly bias for the brighter $M_r < -21.0$ sample at $z\sim0.25$ (94.8% significance), but there is no significant evidence for assembly bias with the same luminosity threshold at $z\sim0.15$. We provide our constraints for each threshold sample's characteristic halo masses, assembly bias, and other HOD parameters. These constraints are expected to be significantly tightened with future DESI data, which will span an area 100 times larger than that of SV3