Curling eye heddle

The curling eye heddle of the present invention utilizes a curling eye which permits the warp thread used in weaving to be threaded onto or unthreaded off of the heddle at the level of the sheet of warps. The curling eye heddle also permits individual warp threads to be lifted or depressed above or below the sheet of warps, respectively. A diamond adjacent to the curling eye prevents the curling eye from catching or snagging neighboring warp threads

A review of legal and policy constraints to aquaculture in the US northeast

Throughout the northeastern United States, aquaculture operators face a wide variety of laws and regulations that govern the manner in which they plan, site, and operate aquaculture facilities. Many local, state, and federal laws and regulations have been designed to enable aquaculture to exist as a viable industry and to flourish. It is obvious that aquaculture cannot be conducted in the absence of a legal system that establishes property rights, provides a means for the enforcement of these rights, and ensures the safety of the product for consumers. Although a legal framework is necessary for aquaculture to exist as an industry, there are many instances where uninformed, outdated, or inappropriate regulatory regimes impede aquaculture development (DoC 1999; MCZM 1995; Ewart et al. 1995; Rychlak and Peel 1993; Bye 1990; DeVoe and Mount 1989; Kennedy and Breisch 1983; NRC 1978). Inconsistencies in the law can lead to an uncertain legal environment for aquaculturists.1 Regulators are put in the conflicting position of promoting the development of the industry and regulating its effect on other uses of the land and sea (DeVoe 1999; NRC 1992). Operators are sometimes forced to undertake activities while lacking adequate information or a complete understanding of laws and regulations. Conflicts and concerns often may be left unresolved until an issue is brought before an adjudicatory body. Legal constraints such as these detract from the stability and certainty that otherwise would facilitate sustainable aquaculture development, slowing or halting the growth of the industry, or perhaps even leading to its decline. Such constraints make the statements quoted above as true today as they were 35 years ago. Policies that both facilitate and constrain aquaculture have been reviewed by a number of commentators (McCoy 2000; Brennan 1999; Barr 1997; Reiser and Bunsick 1999; Reiser 1997; Hopkins et al. 1997; Rychlak and Peel 1993; Eichenberg and Vestal 1992; Wildsmith 1982; Kane 1970). In 1981, the US Fish and Wildlife Service sponsored a comprehensive review of aquaculture regulation across the nation (the “Aspen Report”). The report’s authors identified at least 120 federal laws that, at that time, either directly (50 laws) or indirectly (70 laws) affected aquaculture. Further, the authors found more than 1,200 statutes regulating aquaculture in 32 states (ASC 1981). An important finding of the Aspen Report was that aquaculture businesses must obtain at least 30 permits, on average, in order to site and operate their businesses. McCoy (2000) concludes from his review of the Aspen Report and other studies that aquaculture may be the most highly regulated industry in America.2 In its responses to periodic surveys of constraining factors, the industry seems to agree with McCoy by consistently ranking legal and regulatory constraints near the top of the list of factors. Wypyszinszki et al. (1992) begin to assemble the body of law relating to marine aquaculture in the US Northeast, although their work remains unfinished due to insufficient resources. A number of excellent analyses emerged from that effort, including a study of the public trust doctrine by Eichenberg and Vestal (1992) and a study of “reverse regulation” of the oyster industry in Long Island Sound.3 Here we examine a range of aquaculture policies in an effort to identify those laws and regulations that may impede development unnecessarily within the northeastern United States. Through a survey of industry and government officials and a review of the literature, we find that specific laws and policies or the absence of laws and policies can be argued to impose constraints on growth in certain segments of the industry.Funding was provided by the Northeastern Regional Aquaculture Center through Grant number 98-38500-5917 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Cooperative State, Research, Education, and Extension Service (USDA-CSREES)

Atomistic modelling of large-scale metal film growth fronts

We present simulations of metallization morphologies under ionized sputter deposition conditions, obtained by a new theoretical approach. By means of molecular dynamics simulations using a carefully designed interaction potential, we analyze the surface adsorption, reflection, and etching reactions taking place during Al physical vapor deposition, and calculate their relative probability. These probabilities are then employed in a feature-scale cellular-automaton simulator, which produces calculated film morphologies in excellent agreement with scanning-electron-microscopy data on ionized sputter deposition.Comment: RevTeX 4 pages, 2 figure

Enhancing the quality of international orthopedic medical mission trips using the blue distinction criteria for knee and hip replacement centers

Background: Several organizations seek to address the growing burden of arthritis in developing countries by providing total joint replacements (TJR) to patients with advanced arthritis who otherwise would not have access to these procedures. Because these mission trips operate in resource poor environments, some of the features typically associated with high quality care may be difficult to implement. In the U.S., many hospitals that perform TJRs use the Blue Cross/Shield’s Blue Distinction criteria as benchmarks of high quality care. Although these criteria were designed for use in the U.S., we applied them to Operation Walk (Op-Walk) Boston’s medical mission trip to the Dominican Republic. Evaluating the program using these criteria illustrated that the program provides high quality care and, more importantly, helped the program to find areas of improvement. Methods: We used the Blue Distinction criteria to determine if Op-Walk Boston achieves Blue Distinction. Each criterion was grouped according to the four categories included in the Blue Distinction criteria— “general and administrative”, “structure”, “process”, or “outcomes and volume”. Full points were given for criteria that the program replicates entirely and zero points were given for criteria that are not replicated entirely. Of the non-replicated criteria, Op-Walk Boston’s clinical and administrative teams were asked if they compensate for failure to meet the criterion, and they were also asked to identify barriers that prevent them from meeting the criterion. Results: Out of 100 possible points, the program received 71, exceeding the 60-point threshold needed to qualify as a Blue Distinction center. The program met five out of eight “required” criteria and 11 out of 19 “informational” criteria. It scored 14/27 in the “general” category, 30/36 in the “structure” category, 17/20 in the “process” category, and 10/17 in the “outcomes and volume” category. Conclusion: Op-Walk Boston qualified for Blue Distinction. Our analysis highlights areas of programmatic improvement and identifies targets for future quality improvement initiatives. Additionally, we note that many criteria can only be met by hospitals operating in the U.S. Future work should therefore focus on creating criteria that are applicable to TJR mission trips in the context of developing countries

Anomalous Dynamics of Translocation

We study the dynamics of the passage of a polymer through a membrane pore (translocation), focusing on the scaling properties with the number of monomers $N$. The natural coordinate for translocation is the number of monomers on one side of the hole at a given time. Commonly used models which assume Brownian dynamics for this variable predict a mean (unforced) passage time $\tau$ that scales as $N^2$, even in the presence of an entropic barrier. However, the time it takes for a free polymer to diffuse a distance of the order of its radius by Rouse dynamics scales with an exponent larger than 2, and this should provide a lower bound to the translocation time. To resolve this discrepancy, we perform numerical simulations with Rouse dynamics for both phantom (in space dimensions $d=1$ and 2), and self-avoiding (in $d=2$) chains. The results indicate that for large $N$, translocation times scale in the same manner as diffusion times, but with a larger prefactor that depends on the size of the hole. Such scaling implies anomalous dynamics for the translocation process. In particular, the fluctuations in the monomer number at the hole are predicted to be non-diffusive at short times, while the average pulling velocity of the polymer in the presence of a chemical potential difference is predicted to depend on $N$.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures. Submitted to Physical Review