Technology assessment of portable energy RDT and P

Results are presented of a workshop conducted to assess portable energy technology. The results were evaluated and areas for future research were considered. Several research categories were studied: increasing presently available fuel supplies, developing new fuel sources, utilization of new transportation fuels, improving conservation practices, and equitable distribution of fuel supplies. Several research projects were proposed, and work statements were constructed for those considered suitable

Intra-Ethnic Diversity in Hispanic Child Mortality, 1890-1910

The recent demography of the Hispanic population of the United States has received considerable attention, but historical perspective is more elusive partly due to data limitations. A nationally representative sample of the Hispanic population of the United States, based on the manuscripts of the 1910 census, now exists that includes 71,500 Hispanic-origin persons plus another 24,000 of their non-Hispanic neighbors. We estimate childhood mortality for 1890 to 1910, using indirect demographic methods of estimation and find infant and child mortality in the Hispanic population that was higher than for the non-Hispanic whites but slightly lower than for nonwhite, non-Hispanics (mostly African Americans). Hispanic rural, farm populations in California, Texas, and Arizona did the best, though still experiencing high mortality. The usual advantage of rural residence at the turn of the century holds outside of New Mexico and Florida.

Powerful AGN jets and unbalanced cooling in the hot atmosphere of IC 4296

We present new Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA, 1.5 GHz) radio data for the giant elliptical galaxy IC 4296, supported by archival radio, X-ray (Chandra, XMM-Newton) and optical (SOAR, HST) observations. The galaxy hosts powerful radio jets piercing through the inner hot X-ray emitting atmosphere, depositing most of the energy into the ambient intra-cluster medium (ICM). Whereas the radio surface brightness of the A configuration image is consistent with a Fanaroff-Riley Class I (FR I) system, the D configuration image shows two bright, relative to the central region, large (~160 kpc diameter), well-defined lobes, previously reported by Killeen et al., at a projected distance r~>230 kpc. The XMM-Newton image reveals an X-ray cavity associated with one of the radio lobes. The total enthalpy of the radio lobes is ~7x10^59 erg and the mechanical power output of the jets is ~10^44 erg/s. The jets are mildly curved and possibly re-brightened by the relative motion of the galaxy and the ICM. The lobes display sharp edges, suggesting the presence of bow shocks, which would indicate that they are expanding supersonically. The central entropy and cooling time of the X-ray gas are unusually low and the nucleus hosts a warm H\alpha+[NII] nebula and a cold molecular CO disk. Because most of the energy of the jets is deposited far from the nucleus, the atmosphere of the galaxy continues to cool, apparently feeding the central supermassive black hole and powering the jet activity.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA

The comparative osmoregulatory ability of two water beetle genera whose species span the fresh-hypersaline gradient in inland waters (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae, Hydrophilidae).

A better knowledge of the physiological basis of salinity tolerance is essential to understanding the ecology and evolutionary history of organisms that have colonized inland saline waters. Coleoptera are amongst the most diverse macroinvertebrates in inland waters, including saline habitats; however, the osmoregulatory strategies they employ to deal with osmotic stress remain unexplored. Survival and haemolymph osmotic concentration at different salinities were examined in adults of eight aquatic beetle species which inhabit different parts of the fresh-hypersaline gradient. Studied species belong to two unrelated genera which have invaded saline waters independently from freshwater ancestors; Nebrioporus (Dytiscidae) and Enochrus (Hydrophilidae). Their osmoregulatory strategy (osmoconformity or osmoregulation) was identified and osmotic capacity (the osmotic gradient between the animal's haemolymph and the external medium) was compared between species pairs co-habiting similar salinities in nature. We show that osmoregulatory capacity, rather than osmoconformity, has evolved independently in these different lineages. All species hyperegulated their haemolymph osmotic concentration in diluted waters; those living in fresh or low-salinity waters were unable to hyporegulate and survive in hyperosmotic media (> 340 mosmol kg(-1)). In contrast, the species which inhabit the hypo-hypersaline habitats were effective hyporegulators, maintaining their haemolymph osmolality within narrow limits (ca. 300 mosmol kg(-1)) across a wide range of external concentrations. The hypersaline species N. ceresyi and E. jesusarribasi tolerated conductivities up to 140 and 180 mS cm(-1), respectively, and maintained osmotic gradients over 3500 mosmol kg(-1), comparable to those of the most effective insect osmoregulators known to date. Syntopic species of both genera showed similar osmotic capacities and in general, osmotic responses correlated well with upper salinity levels occupied by individual species in nature. Therefore, osmoregulatory capacity may mediate habitat segregation amongst congeners across the salinity gradient

Explaining Ethnic Differences in Late Antenatal Care Entry by Predisposing, Enabling and Need Factors in the Netherlands. The Generation R Study

Despite compulsory health insurance in Europe, ethnic differences in access to health care exist. The objective of this study is to investigate how ethnic differences between Dutch and non-Dutch women with respect to late entry into antenatal care provided by community midwifes can be explained by need, predisposing and enabling factors. Data were obtained from the Generation R Study. The Generation R Study is a multi-ethnic population-based prospective cohort study conducted in the city of Rotterdam. In total, 2,093 pregnant women with a Dutch, Moroccan, Turkish, Cape Verdean, Antillean, Surinamese Creole and Surinamese Hindustani background were included in this study. We examined whether ethnic differences in late antenatal care entry could be explained by need, predisposing and enabling factors. Subsequently, logistic regression analysis was used to assess the independent role of explanatory variables in the timing of antenatal care entry. The main outcome measure was late entry into antenatal care (gestational age at first visit after 14 weeks). With the exception of Surinamese-Hindustani women, the percentage of mothers entering antenatal care late was higher in all non-Dutch compared to Dutch mothers. We could explain differences between Turkish (OR = 0.95, CI: 0.57–1.58), Cape Verdean (OR = 1.65. CI: 0.96–2.82) and Dutch women. Other differences diminished but remained significant (Moroccan: OR = 1,74, CI: 1.07–2.85; Dutch Antillean OR 1.80, CI: 1.04–3.13). We found that non-Dutch mothers were more likely to enter antenatal care later than Dutch mothers. Because we are unable to explain fully the differences regarding Moroccan, Surinamese-Creole and Antillean women, future research should focus on differences between 1st and 2nd generation migrants, as well as on language barriers that may hinder access to adequate information about the Dutch obstetric system

Control of Length and Spatial Functionality of Single-Wall Carbon Nanotube AFM Nanoprobes

Single-wall carbon nanotube (SWNT) nanofibrils were assembled onto conductive atomic force microscopy (AFM) probes with the help of dielectrophoresis (DEP). This process involved the application of a 10 V, 2 MHz, AC bias between a metal-coated AFM probe and a dilute suspension of SWNTs. This exerted a positive dielectrophoretic force onto the nanotubes that caused them to align while precipitating out onto the probe. The gradual removal of the AFM probe away from the SWNT suspension consolidated these nanotubes into nanofibrils with a high degree of alignment as demonstrated with polarization Raman experiments. By varying the pulling speed, immersion time, and concentration of the SWNT suspension, one can tailor the diameter and thus the stiffness of these probes. Precise length trimming of these nanofibrils was also performed by their gradual immersion and dissolution into a liquid that strongly interacted with nanotubes, (i.e., sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) solution). Vacuum annealing these nanoprobes at temperature up to 450 degree C further increased their stiffness and rendered them insoluble to SDS and all other aqueous media. Regrowth of a new SWNT nanofibril from the side or at the end of a previously grown SWNT nanofibril was also demonstrated by a repeated dielectrophoretic assembly at the desired immersion depth. These SWNT nanofibril-equipped AFM probes are electrically conductive and mechanically robust for use as high-aspect-ratio electrochemical nanoprobes