Population Density of Congressional Districts in the Mountain West

This fact sheet reports the population density of congressional districts in the Mountain West states, and the party representation in the House of Representatives for both the 2016 and 2018 general elections. This fact sheet utilizes a model from Bloomberg CityLab, the Congressional Density Index (CDI), originally published November 20, 2018

Electric Levitation Using ε-Near-Zero Metamaterials

[EN] The ability to manufacture metamaterials with exotic electromagnetic properties has potential for surprising new applications. Here we report how a specific type of metamaterial-one whose permittivity is near zero-exerts a repulsive force on an electric dipole source, resulting in levitation of the dipole. The phenomenon relies on the expulsion of the time-varying electric field from the metamaterial interior, resembling the perfect diamagnetic expulsion of magnetostatic fields. Leveraging this concept, we study some realistic requirements for the levitation or repulsion of a polarized particle radiating at any frequency, from microwave to optics.This work is supported in part by the US Office of Naval Research (ONR) Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) Grant No. N00014-10-1-0942. F. J. R.-F. acknowledges financial support from Grant FPI of GV and the Spanish MICINN under Contracts No. CONSOLIDER EMET CSD2008-00066 and No. TEC2011-28664-C02-02.Rodríguez Fortuño, FJ.; Vakil, A.; Engheta, N. (2014). Electric Levitation Using ε-Near-Zero Metamaterials. Physical Review Letters. 112(3):33902-1-33902-5. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.033902S33902-133902-5112

Accountability, Strategy, and International Non-Governmental Organizations

Increased prominence and greater influence expose international non-governmental development and environmental organizations (INGOs) to increased demands for accountability from a wide variety of stakeholdersdonors, beneficiaries, staffs, and partners among others. This paper focuses on developing the concept of INGO accountability, first as an abstract concept and then as a strategic idea with very different implications for different INGO strategies. We examine those implications for INGOs that emphasize service delivery, capacity-building, and policy influence. We propose that INGOs committed to service delivery may owe more accountability to donors and service regulators; capacity-building INGOs may be particularly obligated to clients whose capacities are being enhanced; and policy influence INGOs may be especially accountable to political constituencies and to influence targets. INGOs that are expanding their activities to include new initiatives may need to reorganize their accountability systems to implement their strategies effectively. This publication is Hauser Center Working Paper No. 7. The Hauser Center Working Paper Series was launched during the summer of 2000. The Series enables the Hauser Center to share with a broad audience important works-in-progress written by Hauser Center scholars and researchers

Sex-specific risk factor profile in oesophageal adenocarcinoma

A nationwide Swedish case–control study of 388 men and 63 women with adenocarcinoma of the oesophagus and gastro-oesophageal function and 676 men controls and 140 women investigated whether sex differences in aetiology contribute to male predominance. Compared with men, women seemed more vulnerable to reflux (odds ratio (OR)=4.6, 95% confidence interval (CI)=2.0–10.5 vs OR=3.4, 95% CI=2.5–4.6), obesity (OR=10.3, 95% CI=2.6–42.3 vs OR=5.4, 95% CI=2.6–10.8) and smoking (OR=5.3, 95% CI=2.0–14.1 vs OR=2.8, 95% CI=1.9–4.2), less harmed by low intake of fruit and vegetables (OR=0.9, 95% CI 0.3–2.4 vs OR=1.6, 95% CI=1.1–2.2) and less protected by Helicobacter pylori infection (OR=0.5, 95% CI=0.3–0.8 vs OR=1.6, 95% CI=0.5–5.4)

Intraoperative Anastomotic Evaluation Methods: Rigid Proctoscopy Versus Flexible Endoscopy

IntroductionRigid proctosigmoidoscopy (RP) and flexible sigmoidoscopy (FS) are two modalities commonly used for intraoperative evaluation of colorectal anastomoses. This study seeks to determine whether there is an association between the endoscopic modality used to evaluate colorectal anastomoses and the rate of anastomotic leak (AL), organ space infection, and overall infectious complication.MethodsThe 2012-2018 American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database was queried for patients undergoing colorectal anastomoses. Anastomotic evaluation method (RP versus FS) was identified by Current Procedural Terminologycoding and used for group classification. Outcomes measured included AL, organ space infections, and overall infection. Multivariable logistic regression analysis for predicting AL was performed.ResultsWe identified 7100 patients who underwent a colorectal anastomosis with intraoperative endoscopic evaluation. RP was utilized in 3397 (47.8%) and FS in 3703 (52.2%) patients. RP was used more commonly in diverticulitis (44.5% versus 36.2%, P < 0.01), while FS was used more frequently in malignancy (47.5% versus 36.7%, P < 0.01). Anastomotic evaluation with FS was associated with lower rates of organ space infection (3.8% versus 4.8%, P = 0.025) and AL (2.9% versus 3.8%, P = 0.028) compared to RP. On multivariate logistic regression modeling, anastomotic evaluation with RP was associated with a higher risk of AL (odds ratio 1.403, 95% CI 1.028-1.916, P = 0.033) compared to FS.ConclusionsCompared to FS, rigid proctosigmoidoscopic evaluation of a colorectal anastomosis was associated with an increased rate of AL and organ space infection

Downtown Population Growth in Southwest and Mountain West Metros

Summarizing data from Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program’s May 2020 research brief “big city downtowns are booming, but can their momentum outlast the coronavirus?,” this fact sheet includes an overview of population growth in downtown and metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) between 1980 and 2018 in the Southwest and Mountain West regions of the United States. We focus on Mountain West states (Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico) in our analysis. In addition, we include the metros that comprise the Southwest Megapolitan Triangle (Southern California, alongside Las Vegas, NV, and Phoenix, AZ metropolitan statistical areas)

Tunable hybrid surface waves supported by a graphene layer

We study surface waves localized near a surface of a semi-infinite dielectric medium covered by a layer of graphene in the presence of a strong external magnetic field. We demonstrate that both TE-TM hybrid surface plasmons can propagate along the graphene surface. We analyze the effect of the Hall conductivity on the disper- sion of hybrid surface waves and suggest a possibility to tune the plasmon dispersion by the magnetic field.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure