Article describes how school counselors can utilize the Advocating Student-within-Environment (ASE) theoretical lens as a liberation approach to strengthening students' capacity to overcome persistent adversity while addressing root causes of systemic oppression through policy change and advocacy at the school, community, and national levels. This study provides school counselors with an overview of ASE as a theoretical foundation for addressing social determinants of mental health in schools.

Article presents a study (i) assessing and modeling soil erosion vulnerability based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) approach in Hoffenthal and KwaMaye communities within the uThukela Catchment, South Africa; and (ii) identifying the relevant sustainable interventions and remedial strategies to combat soil erosion in the study area.

This article develops a computational tool named Crinet to infer genome-wide ceRNA networks addressing critical drawbacks. Crinet-inferred ceRNA groups that were consistently involved in the immune system related processes could be important assets in the light of the studies confirming the relation between immunotherapy and cancer. The source code of Crinet is in R and available at https://github.com/bozdaglab/crinet.

None

A major contribution to the uncertainty of finite-order perturbative QCD predictions is the perceived ambiguity in setting the renormalization scale {mu}{sub r}. For example, by using the conventional way of setting {mu}{sub r} {element_of} [m{sub t}/2, 2m{sub t}], one obtains the total t{bar t} production cross-section {sigma}{sub t{bar t}} with the uncertainty {Delta}{sigma}{sub t{bar t}}/{sigma}{sub t{bar t}} {approx} (+3%/-4%) at the Tevatron and LHC even for the present NNLO level. The Principle of Maximum Conformality (PMC) eliminates the renormalization scale ambiguity in precision tests of Abelian QED and non-Abelian QCD theories. By using the PMC, all nonconformal {l_brace}{beta}{sub i}{r_brace}-terms in the perturbative expansion series are summed into the running coupling constant, and the resulting scale-fixed predictions are independent of the renormalization scheme. The correct scale-displacement between the arguments of different renormalization schemes is automatically set, and the number of active flavors n{sub f} in the {l_brace}{beta}{sub i}{r_brace}-function is correctly determined. The PMC is consistent with the renormalization group property that a physical result is independent of the renormalization scheme and the choice of the initial renormalization scale {mu}{sub r}{sup init}. The PMC scale {mu}{sub r}{sup PMC} is unambiguous at finite order. Any residual dependence on {mu}{sub r}{sup init} for a …

Article about the Austin Fashion Awards held to wrap up Austin Fashion Week in 2013.

None

None

None

A Pulse Forming Network (PFN), Helical Electromagnetic Launcher (HEML), Command Module (CM), and Calibration Table (CT) were built and evaluated for the combined ability to calibrate an accelerometer. The PFN has a maximum stored energy of 19.25 kJ bank and is fired by a silicon controlled rectifier (SCR), with appropriate safety precautions. The HEML is constructed out of G-10 fiberglass and is designed to accelerate 600 grams to 10 meters per second. The CM is microcontroller based running Arduino Software. The CM has a keypad input and 7 segment outputs of the bank voltage and desired voltage. After entering a desired bank voltage, the CM controls the charge of the PFN. When the two voltages are equal it allows the fire button to send a pulse to the SCR to fire the PFN and in turn, the HEML. The HEML projectile's tip hits a target that is held by the CT. The CT consists of a table to hold the PFN and HEML, a vacuum chuck, air bearing, velocity meter and catch pot. The Target is held with the vacuum chuck awaiting impact. After impact, the air bearing allows the target to fall freely for the velocity meter to get …

Article discussing the microbial communities in male first catch urine and how these are highly similar to those paired in urethral swab specimens.

A new multiscale simulation tool has been developed to model the strength of tantalum under high-pressure dynamic compression. This new model combines simulations at multiple length scales to explain macroscopic properties of materials. Previously known continuum models of material response under load have built upon a mixture of theoretical physics and experimental phenomenology. Experimental data, typically measured at static pressures, are used as a means of calibration to construct models that parameterize the material properties; e.g., yield stress, work hardening, strain-rate dependence, etc. The pressure dependence for most models enters through the shear modulus, which is used to scale the flow stress. When these models are applied to data taken far outside the calibrated regions of phase space (e.g., strain rate or pressure) they often diverge in their predicted behavior of material deformation. The new multiscale model, developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, starts with interatomic quantum mechanical potential and is based on the motion and multiplication of dislocations. The basis for the macroscale model is plastic deformation by phonon drag and thermally activated dislocation motion and strain hardening resulting from elastic interactions among dislocations. The dislocation density, {rho}, and dislocation velocity, {nu}, are connected to the plastic strain rate …

A new diagnostic for measuring Bragg diffraction from a laser-driven crystal using a 100ps 17.5 kV x-ray backlighter source is designed and tested successfully at the Omega EP laser facility on static Mo and Ta single crystal samples using a Mo Ka backlighter. The Bragg Diffraction Imager (BDI) consists of a heavily shielded enclosure and a precisely positioned beam block, attached to the main enclosure by an Aluminum arm. Image plate is used as the x-ray detector. The diffraction lines from Mo and Ta <222> planes are clearly detected with a high signal-to-noise using the 17.5 keV and 19.6 keV characteristic lines generated by a petawatt-driven Mo foil. This technique will be applied to shock and ramp-loaded single crystals on the Omega EP laser. Pulsed x-ray diffraction of shock- and ramp-compressed materials is an exciting new technique that can give insight into the dynamic behavior of materials at ultra-high pressure not achievable by any other means to date. X-ray diffraction can be used to determine not only the phase and compression of the lattice at high pressure, but by probing the lattice compression on a timescale equal to the 3D relaxation time of the material, information about dislocation mechanics, including …

This article describes a study of the legal distinctions among bad-faith laws and provides a theoretical foundation for the authors' hypotheses that bad-faith laws affect both economic and noneconomic damage amounts.

The first three of eighteen neutron time-of-flight (nTOF) channels have been installed at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). The role of these detectors includes yield, temperature, and bang time measurements. This article focuses on nTOF data analysis and quality of results obtained for the first set of experiments to use all 192 NIF beams. Targets produced up to 2 x 10{sup 10} 2.45-MeV neutrons for initial testing of the nTOF detectors. Differences in neutron scattering at the OMEGA laser facility where the detectors were calibrated and at NIF result in different response functions at the two facilities. Monte Carlo modeling shows this difference. The nTOF performance on these early experiments indicates the nTOF system with its full complement of detectors should perform well in future measurements of yield, temperature, and bang time.

Once considered the 'holy grail' of organometallic chemistry, synthetically useful reactions employing C-H bond activation have increasingly been developed and applied to natural product and drug synthesis over the past decade. The ubiquity and relative low cost of hydrocarbons makes C-H bond functionalization an attractive alternative to classical C-C bond forming reactions such as cross-coupling, which require organohalides and organometallic reagents. In addition to providing an atom economical alternative to standard cross - coupling strategies, C-H bond functionalization also reduces the production of toxic by-products, thereby contributing to the growing field of reactions with decreased environmental impact. In the area of C-C bond forming reactions that proceed via a C-H activation mechanism, rhodium catalysts stand out for their functional group tolerance and wide range of synthetic utility. Over the course of the last decade, many Rh-catalyzed methods for heteroatom-directed C-H bond functionalization have been reported and will be the focus of this review. Material appearing in the literature prior to 2001 has been reviewed previously and will only be introduced as background when necessary. The synthesis of complex molecules from relatively simple precursors has long been a goal for many organic chemists. The ability to selectively functionalize a molecule with …

None

None

In order to reduce the precious metal loading without sacrificing activity and stability, a new method for the preparation of bimetallic catalysts is proposed. Currently, Pt-alloy particles, with 2 to 3 nm in diameter, are loaded on high surface area carbon supports. Of the Pt loaded, only the surface atoms interact with the reactants. In order to increase the Pt utilization per metal particle the new process for catalyst preparation will incorporate a non-noble transition metal core coated with a skin layer of Pt deposited on high surface area carbon. The effect of reducing agent strength during synthesis was also explored. It was determined that the Co addition has a higher impact on catalyst when used with NaBH4 as reducing agent as compared to NaCOOH.

The density distribution of two legacy types of 1,3,5-triamino-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene (TATB) particles were compared with TATB synthesized by new routes and recrystallized in several different solvents using a density gradient technique. Legacy wet (WA) and dry aminated (DA) TATB crystalline aggregates gave average densities of 1.9157 and 1.9163 g/cc, respectively. Since the theoretical maximum density (TMD) for a perfect crystal is 1.937 g/cc, legacy TATB crystals averaged 99% of TMD or about 1% voids. TATB synthesized from phloroglucinol (P) had comparable particle size to legacy TATBs, but significantly lower density, 1.8340 g/cc. TATB synthesized from 3,5 dibromoanisole (BA) was very difficult to measure because it contained extremely fine particles, but had an average density of 1.8043 g/cc over a very broad range. Density distributions of TATB recrystallized from dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), sulfolane, and an 80/20 mixture of DMSO with the ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methyl- imidazolium acetate (EMImOAc), with some exceptions, gave average densities comparable or better than the legacy TATBs.

Several new physics scenarios can lead to monojet signatures at the LHC. If such events are observed above the Standard Model background it will be important to identify their origin. In this paper we compare and contrast these signatures as produced in two very different pictures: vector or scalar unparticle production in the scale-invariant/conformal regime and graviton emission in the Arkani-Hamed, Dimopoulos and Dvali extra-dimensional model. We demonstrate that these two scenarios can be distinguished at the LHC for a reasonable range of model parameters through the shape of their respective monojet and/or missing E{sub T} distributions.

Reproductive toxicants are a very important class of compounds. They present unique hazards to those of child bearing ages, perform their 'dirty work' using a wide variety of mechanisms on a number of different organs, and are regulatorily important. Because of all of this, properly identifying reproductive toxicants is important, but fraught with difficulty. In this paper we will describe types or reproductive toxicants, their importance, and both mistakes and good practices that people who are not experts in reproductive toxicology may use in their attempts to identify them. Additionally, this paper will focus on chemical reproductive toxicants and will not address biological agents that could affect reproductive toxicity although many principles outlined here could be applied to that endeavor.

One approach for heating a target to ''Warm Dense Matter'' conditions (similar, for example, to the interiors of giant planets or certain stages in Inertial Confinement Fusion targets), is to use intense ion beams as the heating source (see refs.[6] and [7] and references therein for motivation and accelerator concepts). By consideration of ion beam phase space constraints, both at the injector, and at the final focus, and consideration of simple equations of state and relations for ion stopping, approximate conditions at a target foil may be calculated. Thus target temperature and pressure may be calculated as a function of ion mass, ion energy, pulse duration, velocity tilt, and other accelerator parameters. We connect some of these basic parameters to help search the extensive parameter space (including ion mass, ion energy, total charge in beam pulse, beam emittance, target thickness and density).

Microwave measurement and tuning of accelerator structures are important issues for the current and next generation of high energy physics machines. Application of these measurements both before and after high power processing can reveal information about the structure but may be misinterpreted if measurement conditions are not carefully controlled. For this reason extensive studies to characterize the microwave measurements have been made at SLAC. For the bead pull a reproducible measurement of less than 1 degree of phase accuracy in total phase drift is needed in order to resolve issues such as phase changes due to structure damage during high power testing. Factors contributing to measurement errors include temperature drift, mechanical vibration, and limitations of measurement equipment such as the network analyzer. Results of this continuing effort will be presented.