On the monotonicity of the correction term in Ramanujan's factorial approximation

We present two new proofs of the monotonicity of the correction term $\theta_n$ in Ramanujan's refinement of Stirling's formula.Comment: Latex, 5 page

Tropical Pacific spatial trend patterns in observed sea level: internal variability and/or anthropogenic signature?

In this study we focus on the sea level trend pattern observed by satellite altimetry in the tropical Pacific over the 1993–2009 time span (i.e. 17 yr). Our objective is to investigate whether this 17-yr-long trend pattern was different before the altimetry era, what was its spatio-temporal variability and what have been its main drivers. We try to discriminate the respective roles of the internal variability of the climate system and of external forcing factors, in particular anthropogenic emissions (greenhouse gases and aerosols). On the basis of a 2-D past sea level reconstruction over 1950–2009 (based on a combination of observations and ocean modelling) and multi-century control runs (i.e. with constant, preindustrial external forcing) from eight coupled climate models, we have investigated how the observed 17-yr sea level trend pattern evolved during the last decades and centuries, and try to estimate the characteristic time scales of its variability. For that purpose, we have computed sea level trend patterns over successive 17-yr windows (i.e. the length of the altimetry record), both for the 60-yr long reconstructed sea level and the model runs. We find that the 2-D sea level reconstruction shows spatial trend patterns similar to the one observed during the altimetry era. The pattern appears to have fluctuated with time with a characteristic time scale of the order of 25–30 yr. The same behaviour is found in multi-centennial control runs of the coupled climate models. A similar analysis is performed with 20th century coupled climate model runs with complete external forcing (i.e. solar plus volcanic variability and changes in anthropogenic forcing). Results suggest that in the tropical Pacific, sea level trend fluctuations are dominated by the internal variability of the ocean–atmosphere coupled system. While our analysis cannot rule out any influence of anthropogenic forcing, it concludes that the latter effect in that particular region is stillhardly detectable

An epidemiological study of burglary offenders: trends and predictors of self-reported arrests for burglary in the United States, 2002-2013

Burglary is serious property crime with a relatively high incidence and has been shown to be variously associated with other forms of criminal behavior. Unfortunately, an epidemiological understanding of burglary and its correlates is largely missing from the literature. Using public-use data collected between 2002 and 2013 as part of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), the current study compared those who self-reported burglary arrest in the prior 12 months with and without criminal history. The unadjusted prevalence estimates of self-reported burglary arrest were statistically different for those with a prior arrest history (4.7%) compared with those without an arrest history (0.02%) which is a 235-fold difference. Those with an arrest history were more likely to report lower educational attainment, to have lower income, to have moved more than 3 times in the past 5 years, and to use alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs, and engage in binge drinking. Moreover, those with prior arrest histories were younger and more likely to be male. There is considerable heterogeneity among burglars with criminal history indicating substantially greater behavioral risk

PAH Strength and the Interstellar Radiation Field around the Massive Young Cluster NGC3603

We present spatial distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and ionized gas within the Galactic giant HII region NGC3603. Using the IRS instrument on board the Spitzer Space Telescope, we study in particular the PAH emission features at ~5.7, 6.2, 7.7, 8.6, and 11.3um, and the [ArII] 6.99um, [NeII] 12.81um, [ArIII] 8.99um, and [SIV] 10.51um forbidden emission lines. The observations probe both ionized regions and photodissociation regions. Silicate emission is detected close to the central cluster while silicate absorption is seen further away. We find no significant variation of the PAH ionization fraction across the whole region. The emission of very small grains lies closer to the central stellar cluster than emission of PAHs. The PAH/VSG ratio anticorrelates with the hardness of the interstellar radiation field suggesting a destruction mechanism of the molecules within the ionized gas, as shown for low-metallicity galaxies by Madden et al. (2006).Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. Corrected typo

Exact Finite-Size-Scaling Corrections to the Critical Two-Dimensional Ising Model on a Torus

We analyze the finite-size corrections to the energy and specific heat of the critical two-dimensional spin-1/2 Ising model on a torus. We extend the analysis of Ferdinand and Fisher to compute the correction of order L^{-3} to the energy and the corrections of order L^{-2} and L^{-3} to the specific heat. We also obtain general results on the form of the finite-size corrections to these quantities: only integer powers of L^{-1} occur, unmodified by logarithms (except of course for the leading $\log L$ term in the specific heat); and the energy expansion contains only odd powers of L^{-1}. In the specific-heat expansion any power of L^{-1} can appear, but the coefficients of the odd powers are proportional to the corresponding coefficients of the energy expansion.Comment: 26 pages (LaTeX). Self-unpacking file containing the tex file and three macros (indent.sty, eqsection.sty, subeqnarray.sty). Added discussions on the results and new references. Version to be published in J. Phys.

Handgun carrying among youth in the United States

Despite a wealth of research finding that adolescents who carry handguns are involved in risky behaviors, there has been little exploration into the heterogeneity of this behavior. Using a pooled sample of 12- to 17-year-olds from the National Study on Drug Use and Health who report past-year handgun carrying (N = 7,872), this study identified four subgroups of handgun carriers: low risk (n = 3,831; 47.93%), alcohol and marijuana users (n = 1,591; 20.16%), fighters (n = 1,430; 19.40%), and severe externalizers (n = 1,020, 12.51%). These subgroups differed on demographic, behavioral, and psychosocial characteristics. Findings are discussed in light of prevention and focused deterrence