E0 emission in alpha + ^12C fusion at astrophysical energies

We show that E0 emission in alpha + ^12C fusion at astrophysically interesting energies is negligible compared to E1 and E2 emission.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev. C, Brief Report

Improving Diagnostic Skills through Regional Training Sessions and Web Site Improvement

ReportAny Integrated Pest Management (IPM) effort needs to stress the importance of proper, accurate pathogen and pest identification. Control method recommendations are often very specific depending on the organism causing the plant disease. An IPM approach to managing pathogens will only be successful if proper disease diagnosis is performed prior to taking any action to correct the situation. The Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic at Cornell University has dedicated itself to providing the New York State community with plant disease diagnostic pathogen identification and education. To continue this mission and expand our audience, we implemented a plan to improve our interaction with consumers and professional horticulturists and to increase the awareness of plant diseases among residents of our community through regional training sessions

The State of Adaptation in the United States: An Overview

Over the past two decades the adaptation landscape has changed dramatically. From its early days as a vague theoretical concept, which was often viewed as a threat to advocating for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, it has developed into a widely, albeit not universally, recognized governmental mandate to reduce societal vulnerability to climate change. While it is important to appreciate the progress that we are making on this issue, it is impossible to ignore the urgent need to do more. Smart investment can be made by reflecting on what is already underway in order to determine where to build on existing efforts and where to innovate new approaches to fill the gaps in the path forward. In this report we provide illustrative examples of the variety of work on climate change adaptation that is underway in the United States. This is by no means an exhaustive survey of the field; however it does provide insight into the dominant focus of work to date, the resultant gaps, and the opportunities available for advancing this essential aspect of sustainability. We focus on four areas of activity -- agriculture, natural resources, human communities, and policy. The general trends relevant to these sectors can be applied more broadly to other sectors and countries. Adaptation can be thought of as a cycle of activities that ultimately -- if successful -- reduces vulnerability to climate change. This process starts with identifying the impacts of climate change to determine the types of problems climate change might pose. This includes all of the research on the causes and the global, regional, and local manifestations of climate change, often referred to as impacts assessments

Comment on "Electromagnetic dissociation of ^8B and the astrophysical S-factor for ^7Be(p,gamma)^8B"

Recently, Davids and Typel recommended a "low" value of S_{17}(0) based on fits to published direct and Coulomb dissociation data, in which they excluded the precise result of Junghans et al. We show that their statistical analysis is incorrect, due to a substantial underestimate of the experimental uncertainties, and leads to conclusions that are not supported by a proper analysis.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev.

Validation and interpretation of annual skeletal marks in loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and Kemp’s ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) sea turtles

Numerous studies have applied skeletochronology to sea turtle species. Because many of the studies have lacked validation, the application of this technique to sea turtle age estimation has been called into question. To address this concern, we obtained humeri from 13 known-age Kemp’s ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) and two loggerhead (Caretta caretta) sea turtles for the purposes of examining the growth marks and comparing growth mark counts to actual age. We found evidence for annual deposition of growth marks in both these species. Corroborative results were found in Kemp’s ridley sea turtles from a comparison of death date and amount of bone growth following the completion of the last growth mark (n=76). Formation of the lines of arrested growth in Kemp’s ridley sea turtles consistently occurred in the spring for animals that strand dead along the mid- and south U.S. Atlantic coast. For both Kemp’s ridley and loggerhead sea turtles, we also found a proportional allometry between bone growth (humerus dimensions) and somatic growth (straight carapace length), indicating that size-at-age and growth rates can be estimated from dimensions of early growth marks. These results validate skeletochronology as a method for estimating age in Kemp’s ridley and loggerhead sea turtles from the southeast United States

Adult liver transplantation: An analysis of the early causes of death in 40 consecutive cases

One hundred twenty‐nine adult patients who received an orthotopic liver transplantation and survived at least 24 hr after surgery were evaluated. During the period of follow‐up, 48 of the 129 patients (37%) died. Only 40 of these 48 patients died at our institution and were included in this study. Seventeen of the 40 deaths (42.5%) occurred during the first month after orthotopic liver transplantation and 30 of the 40 deaths (75%) occurred during the first 60 days post‐orthotopic liver transplantation. Death was related to infection in 21 cases (52.5%), to multiorgan failure in 8 (20%) and to uncontrollable rejection in 3 (7.6%). The remaining eight deaths (20%) were attributed to a variety of other causes. Eleven of the 21 deaths related to infection (52%) occurred during the first month after orthotopic liver transplantation. Bacterial sepsis was the leading cause of death and accounted for 17 of the 21 deaths (81%) in which infection was present at the time of death. The most frequently isolated bacteria were Pseudomonas and other enteric Gram‐negative bacilli. Three patients had complete occlusion of the hepatic artery of the grafted liver. Six patients developed massive infarction of the liver despite patent vascular anastomoses. Histological signs of rejection were seen in 9 of the 31 patients autopsied (29%), but in only 3 of these (9.6%) was rejection the principal cause of death. The biliary anastomoses were patent in all 31 cases examined at autopsy. Copyright © 1986 American Association for the Study of Liver Disease

A Limited Symmetry Found by Comparing Calculated Magnetic Dipole Spin and Orbital Strengths in ^4\mbox{He}

Allowing for $2$$\hbar \omega$ admixtures in ^4\mbox{He} we find that the summed magnetic dipole isovector orbital and spin strengths are equal. This indicates a symmetry which is associated with interchanging the labels of the spin with those of the orbit. Where higher admixtures are included, the orbital sum becomes larger than the spin sum, but the sums over the low energy region are still nearly the same.Comment: 13 pages, revtex, 1 ps file appende

Prevalence of sessile serrated adenoma/polyp in hyperplastic appearing diminutive rectosigmoid polyps

Background The American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy recommends that distal colon hyperplastic lesions can be left in place without resection if adenomatous histology can be excluded with > 90% negative predictive value. However, some of the lesions could be sessile serrated adenoma/polyp (SSA/P), which is also precancerous. Aim Describe the prevalence of SSA/P in hyperplastic appearing diminutive rectosigmoid polyps. Methods We prospectively placed 513 consecutive diminutive rectosigmoid polyps that appeared hyperplastic to an expert endoscopist in individual bottles for pathologic examination. Each polyp was examined by 3 expert gastrointestinal pathologists. Results The prevalence of SSA/P in the study polyps ranged from 0.6% to 2.1%. The endoscopists lowest negative predictive value for the combination of adenomas plus SSA/P was 96.7% Conclusions The prevalence of SSA/P in diminutive rectosigmoid hyperplastic appearing polyps is very low. These results support the safety and feasibility of a “do not resect” policy for diminutive hyperplastic appearing rectosigmoid polyps

The damping width of giant dipole resonances of cold and hot nuclei: a macroscopic model

A phenomenological macroscopic model of the Giant Dipole Resonance (GDR) damping width of cold- and hot-nuclei with ground-state spherical and near-spherical shapes is developed. The model is based on a generalized Fermi Liquid model which takes into account the nuclear surface dynamics. The temperature dependence of the GDR damping width is accounted for in terms of surface- and volume-components. Parameter-free expressions for the damping width and the effective deformation are obtained. The model is validated with GDR measurements of the following nuclides, $^{39,40}$K, $^{42}$Ca, $^{45}$Sc, $^{59,63}$Cu, $^{109-120}$Sn,$^{147}$Eu, $^{194}$Hg, and $^{208}$Pb, and is compared with the predictions of other models.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure