LESSONS FROM THE MOTORIZED MIGRATIONS

Ten experiments have been conducted to determine if cranes can be led on migration and if those so trained will repeat migrations on their own. Results have been mixed as we have experienced the mishaps common to pilot studies. Nevertheless, we have learned many valuable lessons. Chief among these are that cranes can be led long distances behind motorized craft (air and ground), and those led over most or the entire route will return north come spring and south in fall to and from the general area of training. However, they will follow their own route. Groups transported south and flown at intervals along the route will migrate but often miss target termini. If certain protocol restrictions are followed, it is possible to make the trained cranes wild, however, the most practical way of so doing is to introduce them into a flock of wild cranes. We project that it is possible to create or restore wild migratory flocks of cranes by first leading small groups from chosen northern to southern termini

Adam Smith and the theory of punishment

A distinctive theory of punishment plays a central role in Smith's moral and legal theory. According to this theory, we regard the punishment of a crime as deserved only to the extent that an impartial spectator would go along with the actual or supposed resentment of the victim. The first part of this paper argues that Smith's theory deserves serious consideration and relates it to other theories such as utilitarianism and more orthodox forms of retributivism. The second part considers the objection that, because Smith's theory implies that punishment is justified only when there is some person or persons who is the victim of the crime, it cannot explain the many cases where punishment is imposed purely for the public good. It is argued that Smith's theory could be extended to cover such cases. The third part defends Smith's theory against the objection that, because it relies on our natural feelings, it cannot provide an adequate moral justification of punishment

Semiclassical Stability of the Extreme Reissner-Nordstrom Black Hole

The stress-energy tensor of a free quantized scalar field is calculated in the extreme Reissner-Nordstr\"{o}m black hole spacetime in the zero temperature vacuum state. The stress-energy appears to be regular on the event horizon, contrary to the suggestion provided by two-dimensional calculations. An analytic calculation on the event horizon for a thermal state shows that if the temperature is nonzero then the stress-energy diverges strongly there.Comment: 10 pages, REVTeX, 4 figures in separate uuencoded compressed fil

Design of 280 GHz feedhorn-coupled TES arrays for the balloon-borne polarimeter SPIDER

We describe 280 GHz bolometric detector arrays that instrument the balloon-borne polarimeter SPIDER. A primary science goal of SPIDER is to measure the large-scale B-mode polarization of the cosmic microwave background in search of the cosmic-inflation, gravitational-wave signature. 280 GHz channels aid this science goal by constraining the level of B-mode contamination from galactic dust emission. We present the focal plane unit design, which consists of a 16$\times$16 array of conical, corrugated feedhorns coupled to a monolithic detector array fabricated on a 150 mm diameter silicon wafer. Detector arrays are capable of polarimetric sensing via waveguide probe-coupling to a multiplexed array of transition-edge-sensor (TES) bolometers. The SPIDER receiver has three focal plane units at 280 GHz, which in total contains 765 spatial pixels and 1,530 polarization sensitive bolometers. By fabrication and measurement of single feedhorns, we demonstrate 14.7$^{\circ}$ FHWM Gaussian-shaped beams with $<$1% ellipticity in a 30% fractional bandwidth centered at 280 GHz. We present electromagnetic simulations of the detection circuit, which show 94% band-averaged, single-polarization coupling efficiency, 3% reflection and 3% radiative loss. Lastly, we demonstrate a low thermal conductance bolometer, which is well-described by a simple TES model and exhibits an electrical noise equivalent power (NEP) = 2.6 $\times$ 10$^{-17}$ W/$\sqrt{\mathrm{Hz}}$, consistent with the phonon noise prediction.Comment: Proceedings of SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation 201

Uranium diagenesis in sediments underlying bottom waters with high oxygen content

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2009. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 73 (2009): 2920-2937, doi:10.1016/j.gca.2009.02.014.We measured U in sediments (both pore waters and solid phase) from three locations on the middle Atlantic Bight (MAB) from the eastern margin of the United States: a northern location on the continental shelf off Massachusetts (OC426, 75 m water depth), and two southern locations off North Carolina (EN433-1, 647 m water depth and EN433-2, 2648 m water depth). These sediments underlie high oxygen bottom waters (250-270 μM), but become reducing below the sediment-water interface due to the relatively high organic carbon oxidation rates in sediments (EN433-1: 212 μmol C/cm2/y; OC426: 120±10 μmol C/cm2/y; EN433-2: 33 μmol C/cm2/y). Pore water oxygen goes to zero by 1.4-1.5 cm at EN433-1 and OC426 and slightly deeper oxygen penetration depths were measured at EN433-2 (~4 cm). All of the pore water profiles show removal of U from pore waters. Calculated pore water fluxes are greatest at EN433-1 (0.66±0.08 nmol/cm2/y) and less at EN433-2 and OC426 (0.24±0.05 and 0.13±0.05 nmol/cm2/y, respectively). Solid phase profiles show authigenic U enrichment in sediments from all three locations. The average authigenic U concentrations are greater at EN433-1 and OC426 (5.8±0.7 nmol/g and 5.4±0.2 nmol/g, respectively) relative to EN433-2 (4.1±0.8 nmol/g). This progression is consistent with their relative ordering of ‘reduction intensity’, with greatest reducing conditions in sediments from EN433-1, less at OC426 and least at EN433-2. The authigenic U accumulation rate is largest at EN433-1 (0.47±0.05 nmol/cm2/y), but the average among the three sites on the MAB is ~0.2 nmol/cm2/y. Pore water profiles suggest diffusive fluxes across the sediment-water interface that are 1.4-1.7 times greater than authigenic accumulation rates at EN433-1 and EN433-2. These differences are consistent with oxidation and loss of U from the solid phase via irrigation and/or bioturbation, which may compromise the sequestration of U in continental margin sediments that underlie bottom waters with high oxygen concentrations. Previous literature compilations that include data exclusively from locations where [O2]bw < 150 μM suggest compelling correlations between authigenic U accumulation and organic carbon flux to sediments or organic carbon burial rate. Sediments that underlie waters with high [O2]bw have lower authigenic U accumulation rates than would be predicted from relationships developed from results that include locations where [O2]bw < 150 μM.The authors appreciate the financial support from NSF (JLM, WRM: OCE-0220892; and OCE-0526389 to WRM), Research Corporation (JLM, CMC), Franklin & Marshall College, and the Hackman Summer Research Program (CMC) at F&M

Insights on geochemical cycling of U, Re and Mo from seasonal sampling in Boston Harbor, Massachusetts, USA

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2006. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 71 (2007): 895-917, doi:10.1016/j.gca.2006.10.016.This study examined the removal of U, Mo, and Re from seawater by sedimentary processes at a shallow-water site with near-saturation bottom water O2 levels (240-380 μmol O2/L), very high organic matter oxidation rates (annually averaged rate is 870 μmol C/cm2/y), and shallow oxygen penetration depths (4 mm or less throughout the year). Under these conditions, U, Mo, and Re were removed rapidly to asymptotic pore water concentrations of 2.2–3.3 nmol/kg (U), 7–13 nmol/kg (Mo), and 11–14 pmol/kg (Re). The order in which the three metals were removed, determined by fitting a diffusion-reaction model to measured profiles, was Re < U < Mo. Model fits also suggest that the Mo profiles clearly showed the presence of a near-interface layer in which Mo was added to pore waters by remineralization of a solid phase. The importance of this solid phase source of pore water Mo increased from January to October as the organic matter oxidation rate increased, bottom water O2 decreased, and the O2 penetration depth decreased. Experiments with in situ benthic flux chambers generally showed fluxes of U and Mo into the sediments. However, when the overlying water O2 concentration in the chambers was allowed to drop to very low levels, Mn and Fe were released to the overlying water along with the simultaneous release of Mo and U. These experiments suggest that remineralization of Mn and/or Fe oxides may be a source of Mo and perhaps U to pore waters, and may complicate the accumulation of U and Mo in bioturbated sediments with high organic matter oxidation rates and shallow O2 penetration depths. Benthic chamber experiments including the nonreactive solute tracer, Br-, indicated that sediment irrigation was very important to solute exchange at the study site. The enhancement of sediment-seawater exchange due to irrigation was determined for the nonreactive tracer (Br-), TCO2, NH4 +, U and Mo. The comparisons between these solutes showed that reactions within and around the burrows were very important for modulating the Mo flux, but less important for U. The effect of these reactions on Mo exchange was highly variable, enhancing Mo (and, to a lesser extent, U) uptake at times of relatively modest irrigation, but inhibiting exchange when irrigation rates were faster. These results reinforce the observation that Mo can be released to and removed from pore waters via sedimentary reactions. The removal rate of U and Mo from seawater by sedimentary reactions was found to agree with the rate of accumulation of authigenic U and Mo in the solid phase. The fluxes of U and Mo determined by in situ benthic flux chamber measurements were the largest that have been measured to date. These results confirm that removal of redoxsensitive metals from continental margin sediments underlying oxic bottom water is important, and suggest that continental margin sediments play a key role in the marine budgets of these metals.We appreciate the financial support from the National Science Foundation (OCE-0220892). Funding for this work was also provided to JLM by the Postdoctoral Scholar Program at WHOI courtesy of the Cabot Marine Environmental Science Fund and the J. Seward Johnson Fund. Financial support to IMK was given by The Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education

The rationale and design of the antihypertensives and vascular, endothelial, and cognitive function (AVEC) trial in elderly hypertensives with early cognitive impairment: Role of the renin angiotensin system inhibition

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Prior evidence suggests that the renin angiotensin system and antihypertensives that inhibit this system play a role in cognitive, central vascular, and endothelial function. Our objective is to conduct a double-blind randomized controlled clinical trial, the antihypertensives and vascular, endothelial, and cognitive function (AVEC), to compare 1 year treatment of 3 antihypertensives (lisinopril, candesartan, or hydrochlorothiazide) in their effect on memory and executive function, cerebral blood flow, and central endothelial function of seniors with hypertension and early objective evidence of executive or memory impairments.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>The overall experimental design of the AVEC trial is a 3-arm double blind randomized controlled clinical trial. A total of 100 community eligible individuals (60 years or older) with hypertension and early cognitive impairment are being recruited from the greater Boston area and randomized to lisinopril, candesartan, or hydrochlorothiazide ("active control") for 12 months. The goal of the intervention is to achieve blood pressure control defined as SBP < 140 mm Hg and DBP < 90 mm Hg. Additional antihypertensives are added to achieve this goal if needed. Eligible participants are those with hypertension, defined as a blood pressure 140/90 mm Hg or greater, early cognitive impairment without dementia defined (10 or less out of 15 on the executive clock draw test or 1 standard deviation below the mean on the immediate memory subtest of the repeatable battery for the assessment of neuropsychological status and Mini-Mental-Status-exam >20 and without clinical diagnosis of dementia or Alzheimer's disease). Individuals who are currently receiving antihypertensives are eligible to participate if the participants and the primary care providers are willing to taper their antihypertensives. Participants undergo cognitive assessment, measurements of cerebral blood flow using Transcranial Doppler, and central endothelial function by measuring changes in cerebral blood flow in response to changes in end tidal carbon dioxide at baseline (off antihypertensives), 6, and 12 months. Our outcomes are change in cognitive function score (executive and memory), cerebral blood flow, and carbon dioxide cerebral vasoreactivity.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The AVEC trial is the first study to explore impact of antihypertensives in those who are showing early evidence of cognitive difficulties that did not reach the threshold of dementia. Success of this trial will offer new therapeutic application of antihypertensives that inhibit the renin angiotensin system and new insights in the role of this system in aging.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>Clinicaltrials.gov NCT00605072</p