Comment on ``Force Balance at the Transition from Selective Withdrawal to Viscous Entrainment

Comment on paper by Blanchette and Zhang, Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 144501 (2009)

Sexual Harassment Policies and Procedures in South Florida Community Colleges: Perceived Affects on Teaching Learning

The purposes of this research were to determine: 1.) if sexual harassment policies, content, communication and subsequent related training, or lack thereof, subject South Florida community colleges to legal risk; and 2.) the perceptions of how sexual harassment policies and procedures affect students and faculty, their interactions, and how students learn and how faculty teaches, being mindful of a possible cultural component. In determining if the sexual harassment policies and training subjected the colleges to legal risk, a sexual harassment policy and procedural grid was used to analyze the policies in place at all four South Florida community colleges. The grid was created based on relevant case law, employment litigator position papers, the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEOC) Enforcement Guidance: Vicarious Employer Liability for Unlawful Harassment by Supervisors, and the written conclusion of legal counsel of the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (see Appendix G) . Determining the perceptions of how the subject matter affects students and faculty was accomplished by interviewing a non-random, purposeful sample of twelve individual subjects and two focus groups of ten participants each, from two of the four community colleges in South Florida. Within-case and across case analysis were performed on seven different constructs: policy content, communication, training, teachers/teaching, students/learning, risk and culture. It was determined that the community colleges of South Florida are at legal risk, due to the lack of, and at best, insufficient training in the subject matter; the content of their sexual harassment policies; and the manner in which the policies themselves are administered and communicated. While educators saw little affect on teaching itself, there were numerous comments about the loss of personal interaction between teacher and student due to a heightened awareness of new physical boundaries. Students overwhelmingly reported a negative effect in the classroom and in interactions with instructors. Additionally, culture and age were found to be highly influential factors in the reporting of claims. The subject of training was the underlying theme throughout the research. Lack of training contributes to legal risk for the colleges and allows young students, and students and employees who are either from authoritarian countries or who do not have an adequate understanding of the English language, to remain uneducated regarding where they can turn for assistance. Additionally, the lack of training can subvert education by allowing ill-equipped students to face important issues, thinking that they have no recourse. The research indicates that the administration of sexual harassment policies and procedures is not seen as a priority issue on South Florida community college campuses

Cosmology in scalar tensor theory and asymptotically de-Sitter Universe

We have investigated the cosmological scenarios with a four dimensional effective action which is connected with multidimensional, supergravity and string theories. The solution for the scale factor is such that initially universe undergoes a decelerated expansion but in late times it enters into the accelerated expansion phase. Infact, it asymptotically becomes a de-Sitter universe. The dilaton field in our model is a decreasing function of time and it becomes a constant in late time resulting the exit from the scalar tensor theory to the standard Einstein's gravity. Also the dilaton field results the existence of a positive cosmological constant in late times.Comment: 7 pages, Revtex Style, 6 Postscript figure

The Brown-dwarf Atmosphere Monitoring (BAM) Project II: Multi-epoch monitoring of extremely cool brown dwarfs

With the discovery of Y dwarfs by the WISE mission, the population of field brown dwarfs now extends to objects with temperatures comparable to those of Solar System planets. To investigate the atmospheres of these newly identified brown dwarfs, we have conducted a pilot study monitoring an initial sample of three late T-dwarfs (T6.5, T8 and T8.5) and one Y-dwarf (Y0) for infrared photometric variability at multiple epochs. With J-band imaging, each target was observed for a period of 1.0h to 4.5h per epoch, which covers a significant fraction of the expected rotational period. These measurements represent the first photometric monitoring for these targets. For three of the four targets (2M1047, Ross 458C and WISE0458), multi-epoch monitoring was performed, with the time span between epochs ranging from a few hours to ~2 years. During the first epoch, the T8.5 target WISE0458 exhibited variations with a remarkable min-to-max amplitude of 13%, while the second epoch light curve taken ~2 years later did not note any variability to a 3% upper limit. With an effective temperature of ~600 K, WISE0458 is the coldest variable brown dwarf published to-date, and combined with its high and variable amplitude makes it a fascinating target for detailed follow-up. The three remaining targets showed no significant variations, with a photometric precision between 0.8% and 20.0%, depending on the target brightness. Combining the new results with previous multi-epoch observations of brown dwarfs with spectral types of T5 or later, the currently identified variables have locations on the colour-colour diagram better matched by theoretical models incorporating cloud opacities rather than cloud-free atmospheres. This preliminary result requires further study to determine if there is a definitive link between variability among late-T dwarfs and their location on the colour-colour diagram.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in MNRA

The spin-orbit angle of the transiting hot jupiter CoRoT-1b

We measure the angle between the planetary orbit and the stellar rotation axis in the transiting planetary system CoRoT-1, with new HIRES/Keck and FORS/VLT high-accuracy photometry. The data indicate a highly tilted system, with a projected spin-orbit angle lambda = 77 +- 11 degrees. Systematic uncertainties in the radial velocity data could cause the actual errors to be larger by an unknown amount, and this result needs to be confirmed with further high-accuracy spectroscopic transit measurements. Spin-orbit alignment has now been measured in a dozen extra-solar planetary systems, and several show strong misalignment. The first three misaligned planets were all much more massive than Jupiter and followed eccentric orbits. CoRoT-1, however, is a jovian-mass close-in planet on a circular orbit. If its strong misalignment is confirmed, it would break this pattern. The high occurence of misaligned systems for several types of planets and orbits favours planet-planet scattering as a mechanism to bring gas giants on very close orbits.Comment: to appear in in MNRAS letters [5 pages

The `666' collaboration on OGLE transits: I. Accurate radius of the planets OGLE-TR-10b and OGLE-TR-56b with VLT deconvolution photometry

Transiting planets are essential to study the structure and evolution of extra-solar planets. For that purpose, it is important to measure precisely the radius of these planets. Here we report new high-accuracy photometry of the transits of OGLE-TR-10 and OGLE-TR-56 with VLT/FORS1. One transit of each object was covered in Bessel V and R filters, and treated with the deconvolution-based photometry algorithm DECPHOT, to ensure accurate millimagnitude light curves. Together with earlier spectroscopic measurements, the data imply a radius of 1.22 +0.12-0.07 R_J for OGLE-TR-10b and 1.30 +- 0.05 R_J for OGLE-TR-56b. A re-analysis of the original OGLE photometry resolves an earlier discrepancy about the radius of OGLE-TR-10. The transit of OGLE-TR-56 is almost grazing, so that small systematics in the photometry can cause large changes in the derived radius. Our study confirms both planets as inflated hot Jupiters, with large radii comparable to that of HD 209458$b$ and at least two other recently discovered transiting gas giants.Comment: Fundamental updates compared to previous version; accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

Anticoagulant properties of drotrecogin alfa (activated) during hemofiltration in patients with severe sepsis

In a retrospective study among 35 severely septic patients treated with drotrecogin alfa (activated) (DrotAA) and renal replacement therapy (RRT), Camporota and colleagues demonstrated that the addition of heparin, epoprostenol, or both to DrotAA during RRT did not improve filter survival. Furthermore, in a multivariate logistic regression analysis, they identified the minimum value in platelet count as the only predictive factor of filter clotting during DrotAA infusion. These findings are in line with the previously formulated suggestion that DrotAA alone is as effective as heparin in the prevention of coagulation in the extracorporeal circuit. They also confirm the importance of baseline platelet count in the pathogenesis of extracorporeal circuit thrombosis. In the study by Camporata and colleagues, DrotAA treatment was not associated with an increase in red blood cell requirements. The results of this study supply a background to clinical decision making when choosing an anticoagulant for RRT in septic patients

Analysis of scanner data for crop inventories

There are no author-identified significant results in this report