Context: The chemical composition of a molecular cloud changes dramatically as it collapses to form a low-mass protostar and circumstellar disk. Two-dimensional (2D) chemodynamical models are required to properly study this process. Aims: The goal of this work is to follow, for the first time, the chemical evolution in two dimensions all the way from a pre-stellar core into a circumstellar disk. Of special interest is the question whether the chemical composition of the disk is a result of chemical processing during the collapse phase, or whether it is determined by in situ processing after the disk has formed. Methods: Our model combines a semi-analytical method to get 2D axisymmetric density and velocity structures with detailed radiative transfer calculations to get temperature profiles and UV fluxes. Material is followed in from the core to the disk and a full gas-phase chemistry network -- including freeze-out onto and evaporation from cold dust grains -- is evolved along these trajectories. The abundances thus obtained are compared to the results from a static disk model and to observations of comets. Results: The chemistry during the collapse phase is dominated by a few key processes, such as the evaporation of CO or the photodissociation of H2O. At the end of the collapse phase, the disk can be divided into zones with different chemical histories. The disk is not in chemical equilibrium at the end of the collapse, so care must be taken when choosing the initial abundances for stand-alone disk chemistry models. Our model results imply that comets must be formed from material with different chemical histories: some of it is strongly processed, some of it remains pristine. Variations between individual comets are possible if they formed at different positions or different times in the solar nebula.


if any). ``(3) Off-highway business use defined.--For purposes of this subsection, the term `off-highway business use' has the meaning given to such term by section 6421(e)(2); except that such term shall not, for purposes of subsection (a)(1), include use in a diesel-powered train.'' (2) Repeal of reduced rate on ethanol fuel produced from natural gas.-- (A) Paragraph (1) of section 4041(m) of such Code is amended by striking ``or ethanol'' in the material preceding subparagraph (A). (B) Clause (i) of section 4041(m)(1)(A) of such Code is amended by striking ``shall be--'' and all that follows and inserting ``shall be 9.15 cents per gallon, and''. (C) Clause (ii) of section 4041(m)(1)(A) of such Code is amended by striking ``shall be--'' and all that follows and inserting ``shall be 2.15 cents per gallon, and''. (D) Paragraph (2) of section 4041(m) of such Code is amended-- (i) by striking ``or ethanol'' each place it appears in the heading and text, (ii) by striking ``, ethanol,'' and (iii) by inserting ``(other than ethanol)'' after ``alcohol''. (c) Tax of Fuel Alcohol To Same Extent as Other Motor Fuels.-- (1) Treatment as taxable fuel.--Paragraph (1) of section 4083(a) of such Code (defining taxable fuel) is amended by striking ``and'' at the end of subparagraph (B), by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (C) and inserting ``, and'', and by adding at the end the following: ``(D) fuel alcohol.'' (2) Definition of fuel alcohol.--Subsection (a) of section 4083 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: ``(4) Fuel alcohol.--The term `fuel alcohol' means any alcohol (including ethanol and methanol)-- ``(A) which is produced other than from petroleum, natural gas, or coal (including peat), and ``(B) which is withdrawn from the distillery where produced free of tax under chapter 51 by reason of section 5181 or so much of section 5214(a)(1) as relates to fuel use.'' (3) Rate of


Long linear polymers in strongly disordered media are well described by self-avoiding walks (SAWs) on percolation clusters. The length-distribution of these SAWs encompasses to distinct averages, viz. the averages over cluster- and SAW-conformations. For the latter average, there are two basic options, one being static and one being kinetic. It is well known for static averaging that if the disorder of the underlying medium is weak, differences to the ordered case appear merely in non-universal quantities. Using dynamical field theory, we show that the same holds true for kinetic averaging. For strong disorder, i.e., the medium being close to the percolation point, we employ a field theory for the nonlinear random resistor network in conjunction with a real-world interpretation of Feynman diagrams, and we calculate the scaling exponents for the shortest, the longest and the mean or average SAW to 2-loop order. In addition, we calculate to 2-loop order the entire family of multifractal exponents that governs the moments of the the statistical weights of the elementary constituents (bonds or sites of the underlying fractal cluster) contributing to the SAWs. Our RG analysis reveals that kinetic averaging leads to renormalizability whereas static averaging does not, and hence, we argue that the latter does not lead to a well-defined scaling limit. We discuss the possible implications of this finding for experiments and numerical simulations which have produced wide-spread results for the exponent of the average SAW. To corroborate our results, we also study the well-known Meir-Harris model for SAWs on percolation clusters. We demonstrate that this model leads back to 2-loop order to the renormalizable real world formulation with kinetic averaging if the replica limit is consistently performed at the first possible instant of the calculation.


Several authors have found a statistically significant excess of galaxies with higher redshifts relative to the group centre, so-called discordant redshifts, in particular in groups where the brightest galaxy, identified in apparent magnitudes, is a spiral. Our aim is to explain the observed redshift excess. We use a semi-analytical galaxy catalogue constructed from the Millennium Simulation to study redshift asymmetries in spiral-dominated groups in the Lambda cold dark matter (LambdaCDM) cosmology. We show that discordant redshifts in small galaxy groups arise when these groups are gravitationally unbound and the dominant galaxy of the group is misidentified. The redshift excess is especially significant when the apparently brightest galaxy can be identified as a spiral, in full agreement with observations. On the other hand, the groups that are gravitationally bound do not show a significant redshift asymmetry. When the dominant members of groups in mock catalogues are identified by using the absolute B-band magnitudes, our results show a small blueshift excess. This result is due to the magnitude limited observations that miss the faint background galaxies in groups. When the group centre is not correctly identified it may cause the major part of the observed redshift excess. If the group is also gravitationally unbound, the level of the redshift excess becomes as high as in observations. There is no need to introduce any "anomalous" redshift mechanism to explain the observed redshift excess. Further, as the Friends-of-Friends percolation algorithm picks out the expanding parts of groups, in addition to the gravitationally bound group cores, group catalogues constructed in this way cannot be used as if the groups are purely bound systems.


An edge-coloring of a graph $G$ with colors $1,...,t$ is an interval $t$-coloring if all colors are used, and the colors of edges incident to each vertex of $G$ are distinct and form an interval of integers. A graph $G$ is interval colorable if $G$ has an interval $t$-coloring for some positive integer $t$. Let $\mathfrak{N}$ be the set of all interval colorable graphs. For a graph $G\in \mathfrak{N}$, the least and the greatest values of $t$ for which $G$ has an interval $t$-coloring are denoted by $w(G)$ and $W(G)$, respectively. In this paper we first show that if $G$ is an $r$-regular graph and $G\in \mathfrak{N}$, then $W(G\square P_{m})\geq W(G)+W(P_{m})+(m-1)r$ ($m\in \mathbb{N}$) and $W(G\square C_{2n})\geq W(G)+W(C_{2n})+nr$ ($n\geq 2$). Next, we investigate interval edge-colorings of grids, cylinders and tori. In particular, we prove that if $G\square H$ is planar and both factors have at least 3 vertices, then $G\square H\in \mathfrak{N}$ and $w(G\square H)\leq 6$. Finally, we confirm the first author's conjecture on the $n$-dimensional cube $Q_{n}$ and show that $Q_{n}$ has an interval $t$-coloring if and only if $n\leq t\leq \frac{n(n+1)}{2}$.


The effect of disorder on pinning and wetting models has attracted much attention in theoretical physics. In particular, it has been predicted on the basis of the Harris criterion that disorder is relevant (annealed and quenched model have different critical points and critical exponents) if the return probability exponent alpha, a positive number that characterizes the model, is larger than 1/2. Weak disorder has been predicted to be irrelevant (i.e. coinciding critical points and exponents) if alpha < 1/2. Recent mathematical work has put these predictions on firm grounds. In renormalization group terms, the case alpha = 1/2 is a 'marginal case' and there is no agreement in the literature as to whether one should expect disorder relevance or irrelevance at marginality. The question is particularly intriguing also because the case alpha = 1/2 includes the classical models of two-dimensional wetting of a rough substrate, of pinning of directed polymers on a defect line in dimension (3+1) or (1+1) and of pinning of an heteropolymer by a point potential in three-dimensional space. Here we prove disorder relevance both for the general alpha = 1/2 pinning model and for the hierarchical version of the model proposed by B. Derrida, V. Hakim and J. Vannimenus (JSP, 1992), in the sense that we prove a shift of the quenched critical point with respect to the annealed one. In both cases we work with Gaussian disorder and we show that the shift is at least of order exp(-1/\beta^4) for beta small, if beta is the standard deviation of the disorder.


iii) as clauses (iii) and (iv); and (3) by inserting after clause (i) the following new clause: ``(ii) The amount determined under this clause is-- ``(I) for discharges occurring during the first 3 12-month cost reporting periods that begin on or after April 1, 1990, the amount by which the hospital's target amount for the cost reporting period (as defined in subsection (b)(3)(D)) exceeds the amount determined under paragraph (1)(A)(iii); and ``(II) for discharges occurring during any subsequent cost reporting period (or portion thereof), 50 percent of the amount by which the hospital's target amount for the cost reporting period (as defined in subsection (b)(3)(D)) exceeds the amount determined under paragraph (1)(A)(iii).''. (b) Permitting Hospitals to Decline Reclassification.--If any hospital fails to qualify as a medicare-dependent, small rural hospital under section 1886(d)(5)(G)(i) of the Social Security Act as a result of a decision by the Medicare Geographic Classification Review Board under section 1886(d)(10) of such Act to reclassify the hospital as being located in an urban area for fiscal year 1994, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall-- (1) notify such hospital of such failure to qualify, (2) provide an opportunity for such hospital to decline such reclassification, and (3) if the hospital declines such reclassification, administer the Social Security Act (other than section 1886(d)(8)(D)) for fiscal year 1994 as if the decision by the Review Board had not occurred.


Using Hubble Space Telescope (HST) photometry, we characterize the age of the stellar association in the vicinity of supernova (SN) 2011dh and use it to infer the zero-age main sequence mass (M_{ZAMS}) of the progenitor star. We find two distinct and significant star formation events with ages of <6 and 17^{+3}_{-4} Myrs, and the corresponding M_{ZAMS} are >29 and 13^{+2}_{-1} M_{Sun}, respectively. These two bursts represent 18^{+4}_{-9}% (young) and 64^{+10}_{-14}% (old) of the total star formation in the last 50 Myrs. Adopting these fractions as probabilities suggests that the most probable M_{ZAMS} is 13^{+2}_{-1} M_{Sun}. These results are most sensitive to the luminosity function along the well-understood main sequence and are less sensitive to uncertain late-stage stellar evolution. Therefore, they stand even if the progenitor suffered disruptive post-main-sequence evolution (e.g. eruptive mass loss or binary Roche-lobe overflow). Progenitor identification will help to further constrain the appropriate population. Even though pre-explosion images show a yellow supergiant (YSG) at the site of the SN, panchromatic SN light curves suggest a more compact star as the progenitor. In spite of this, our results suggest an association between the YSG and the SN. Not only was the star located at the SN site, but reinforcing an association, the star's bolometric luminosity is consistent with the final evolutionary stage of the 17 Myr old star burst. If the YSG disappears, then M_{ZAMS}=13^{+2}_{-1} M_{Sun}, but if it persists, then our results allow the possibility that the progenitor was an unseen star of >29 M_{Sun}.


) shall apply; and (B) specifying the products and services otherwise subject to the tax or taxes identified by the State under subparagraph (A) to which the authority of this Act shall not apply; and (2) implements each of the following minimum simplification requirements: (A) Provide-- (i) a single entity within the State responsible for all State and local sales and use tax administration, return processing, and audits for remote sales sourced to the State; (ii) a single audit of a remote seller for all State and local taxing jurisdictions within that State; and (iii) a single sales and use tax return to be used by remote sellers to be filed with the single entity responsible for tax administration. A State may not require a remote seller to file sales and use tax returns any more frequently than returns are required for nonremote sellers. No local jurisdiction may require a remote seller to submit a sales and use tax return or to collect sales and use taxes other than as provided by this paragraph. (B) Provide a uniform sales and use tax base among the State and the local taxing jurisdictions within the State pursuant to paragraph (1). (C) Source all interstate sales in compliance with the sourcing definition set forth in section 4(7). (D) Provide-- (i) information indicating the taxability of products and services along with any product and service exemptions from sales and use tax in the State and a rates and boundary database; (ii) software free of charge for remote sellers that calculates sales and use taxes due on each transaction at the time the transaction is completed, that files sales and use tax returns, and that is updated to reflect rate changes as described in subparagraph (H); and (iii) certification procedures for persons to be approved as certified software providers. For purposes of clause (iii), the software provided by certified software providers shall be capable of calculating and filing sales and use taxes in all States qualified under this Act. (E) Relieve remote sellers from liability to the State or locality for the incorrect collection, remittance, or noncollection of sales and use taxes, including any penalties or interest, if the liability is the result of an error or omission made by a certified software provider. (F) Relieve certified software providers from liability to the State or locality for the incorrect collection, remittance, or noncollection of sales and use taxes, including any penalties or interest, if the liability is the result of misleading or inaccurate information provided by a remote seller.


The annihilation cross section of thermal relic dark matter determines both its relic density and indirect detection signals. We determine how large indirect signals may be in scenarios with Sommerfeld-enhanced annihilation, subject to the constraint that the dark matter has the correct relic density. This work refines our previous analysis through detailed treatments of resonant Sommerfeld enhancement and the effect of Sommerfeld enhancement on freeze out. Sommerfeld enhancements raise many interesting issues in the freeze out calculation, and we find that the cutoff of resonant enhancement, the equilibration of force carriers, the temperature of kinetic decoupling, and the efficiency of self-interactions for preserving thermal velocity distributions all play a role. These effects may have striking consequences; for example, for resonantly-enhanced Sommerfeld annihilation, dark matter freezes out but may then chemically recouple, implying highly suppressed indirect signals, in contrast to naive expectations. In the minimal scenario with standard astrophysical assumptions, and tuning all parameters to maximize the signal, we find that, for force-carrier mass m_phi = 250 MeV and dark matter masses m_X = 0.1, 0.3, and 1 TeV, the maximal Sommerfeld enhancement factors are S_eff = 7, 30, and 90, respectively. Such boosts are too small to explain both the PAMELA and Fermi excesses. Non-minimal models may require smaller boosts, but the bounds on S_eff could also be more stringent, and dedicated freeze out analyses are required. For concreteness, we focus on 4 mu final states, but we also discuss 4 e and other modes, deviations from standard astrophysical assumptions and non-minimal particle physics models, and we outline the steps required to determine if such considerations may lead to a self-consistent explanation of the PAMELA or Fermi excesses.


The gravitational lens system CLASS B2108+213 has two radio-loud lensed images separated by 4.56 arcsec. The relatively large image separation implies that the lensing is caused by a group of galaxies. In this paper, new optical imaging and spectroscopic data for the lensing galaxies of B2108+213 and the surrounding field galaxies are presented. These data are used to investigate the mass and composition of the lensing structure. The redshift and stellar velocity dispersion of the main lensing galaxy (G1) are found to be z = 0.3648 +/- 0.0002 and sigma_v = 325 +/- 25 km/s, respectively. The optical spectrum of the lensed quasar shows no obvious emission or absorption features and is consistent with a BL Lac type radio source. However, the tentative detection of the G-band and Mg-b absorption lines, and a break in the spectrum of the host galaxy of the lensed quasar gives a likely source redshift of z = 0.67. Spectroscopy of the field around B2108+213 finds 51 galaxies at a similar redshift to G1, thus confirming that there is a much larger structure at z ~ 0.365 associated with this system. The width of the group velocity distribution is 694 +/- 93 km/s, but is non-Gaussian, implying that the structure is not yet viralized. The main lensing galaxy is also the brightest group member and has a surface brightness profile consistent with a typical cD galaxy. A lensing and dynamics analysis of the mass distribution, which also includes the newly found group members, finds that the logarithmic slope of the mass density profile is on average isothermal inside the Einstein radius, but steeper at the location of the Einstein radius. This apparent change in slope can be accounted for if an external convergence gradient, representing the underlying parent halo of the galaxy group, is included in the mass model.


Unless otherwise authorized by the head of the agency for urgent and compelling reasons, the solicitation shall not be issued until the determination under subparagraph (D) has been made by such agency head and submitted to the Administrator.''. (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 15(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 644(a)) is amended by striking the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth sentences. (c) Responsibilities of Agency Small Business Advocates.--Section 15(k) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 644(k)) is amended-- (1) by redesignating paragraphs (5), (6), (7), (8), and (9) as paragraphs (6), (7), (8), (9), and (10), respectively; and (2) by adding after paragraph (4) the following new paragraph (5): ``(5) identify and report on proposed solicitations that represent bundling of contract requirements, and work with the agency acquisition officials and the Administration to revise the procurement strategies for such proposed solicitations to increase the probability of participation by small businesses as prime contractors, or to facilitate small business participation as subcontractors and suppliers, if a solicitation for a bundled contract is to be issued,''. SEC. 5. FOSTERING CONTRACTOR TEAMING. Section 15(b) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 644(b)), as amended by section 2, is further amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: ``(3)(A) A small business concern intending to submit an offer for an anticipated bundled contract may propose to the Administration for approval a team of subcontractors meeting the requirements of subparagraph (B) without regard to the requirements of subsection (o) or the regulations of the Administration regarding findings of affiliation or control, either direct or indirect. ``(B) A subcontracting team proposed under subparagraph (A) may include-- ``(i) other small business concerns; and ``(ii) business concerns other than small business concerns, whose aggregate participation may not represent more than 25 percent of the anticipated total value of the contract. ``(C) Any subcontracting team proposed under subparagraph (A) and approved by the Administrator shall be subject to such alternative requirements regarding subcontracting and affiliation or control as may be specified by the Administrator.''. SEC. 6. REPORTING OF BUNDLED CONTRACT OPPORTUNITIES. (a) Data Collection Required.--The


We investigate a trapped surface and naked singularity in a $D$-dimensional Vaidya spacetime with a self-similar mass function. A trapped surface is defined as a closed spacelike $(D-2)$-surface which has negative both null expansions. There is no trapped surface in the Minkowski spacetime. However, in a four-dimensional self-similar Vaidya spacetime, Bengtsson and Senovilla considered non-spherical trapped surfaces and showed that a trapped surface can penetrate into a flat region, if and only if the mass function rises fast enough [I. Bengtsson and J. M. M. Senovilla, Phys. Rev. D \textbf{79}, 024027 (2009).]. We apply this result to a $D$-dimensional spacetime motivated by the context of large extra dimensions or TeV-scale gravity. In this paper, similarly to Bengtsson and Senovilla's study, we match four types of $(D-2)$-surfaces and show that a trapped surface extended into the flat region can be constructed in the $D$-dimensional Vaidya spacetime, if the increasing rate of the mass function is greater than 0.4628. Moreover, we show that the maximum radius of the trapped surface constructed here approaches the Schwarzschild-Tangherlini radius in the large $D$ limit. Also, we show that there is no naked singularity, if the spacetime has the trapped surface constructed here.


if the United States were a private person, to legal process brought for the satisfaction of a debt owed to another party. ``(c)(1) Service of legal process under this section may be accomplished by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, or by personal service, upon-- ``(A) the appropriate agent designated for receipt of such service of process pursuant to regulations issued under this section; or ``(B) if no agent has been designated for the agency having payment responsibility for the moneys involved, then upon the head of such agency. ``(2) Such legal process shall be accompanied by sufficient information to permit prompt identification of the individual and the moneys involved. ``(d) No employee whose duties include responding to interrogatories pursuant to requirements imposed by this section shall be subject under any law to any disciplinary action or civil or criminal liability or penalty for, or on account of, any disclosure of information made by such employee with the carrying out of any of such employee's duties which pertain (directly or indirectly) to the answering of any such interrogatory. ``(e) Whenever any person, who is designated by law or regulation to accept service of process to which an agency is subject under this section, is effectively served with any such process or with interrogatories relating to an individual's obligation in connection with a particular debt, such person shall respond thereto within 30 days (or within such longer period as may be prescribed by applicable State law) after the date effective service thereof is made, and shall, as soon as possible but not later than 15 days after the date effective service is made, send written notice that such process has been so served (together with a copy thereof) to the affected employee at such employee's duty station or last-known home address. ``(f) Agencies affected by legal process under this section shall not be required to vary their normal pay and disbursement cycles in order to comply with any such legal process. ``(g) Neither the United States, an agency, nor any disbursing officer shall be liable with respect to any payment made from moneys due or payable from the United States to any individual pursuant to legal process regular on its face, if such payment is made in accordance with this section and the regulations prescribed to carry out this section. ``(h)(1) In the event that an agency, which is authorized under this section or the regulations prescribed to carry out this section to accept service of process, is served with more than


Huawei may not be a big player here in the United States, but it's slowly easing itself in. The Mate 9 is the first flagship device that the Chinese OEM is officially selling here under the Huawei moniker, and it's not a bad introduction. In our Mate 9 review, we found that the Mate 9 was a solid device, and its MSRP of $599.99 was reasonable. At just $379.99 for a refurbished unit, this phablet is a downright steal. The Mate 9 is quite the powerhouse. Aside from the lower-resolution 5.9" 1080p display, the rest of the specs are top-notch. Those include a Kirin 960 octa-core chip, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage with microSD expansion, dual 12MP RGB and 20MP monochrome sensors out back, an 8MP camera up front, and a massive 4000mAh battery. Android 7.0 Nougat with EMUI 5.0 comes on board, and this iteration of EMUI is a big improvement. Best Buy has refurbished units of the Mate 9 for just $379.99 - that's $220 less than the MSRP, which was already fairly competitive. Two-day shipping is free, but if you're just too impatient, you can opt for store pickup. There was actually a Best Buy via eBay listing as well, but that's since sold out. So if you want one, be warned: they look to be going quick.


We use Halpha and FUV GALEX data for a large sample of nearby objects to study the high mass star formation activity of normal late-type galaxies. The data are corrected for dust attenuation using the most accurate techniques at present available, namely the Balmer decrement and the total far-infrared to FUV flux ratio. The sample shows a highly dispersed distribution in the Halpha to FUV flux ratio indicating that two of the most commonly used star formation tracers give star formation rates with uncertainties up to a factor of 2-3. The high dispersion is due to the presence of AGN, where the UV and the Halpha emission can be contaminated by nuclear activity, highly inclined galaxies, for which the applied extinction corrections are probably inaccurate, or starburst galaxies, where the stationarity in the star formation history required for transforming Halpha and UV luminosities into star formation rates is not satisfied. Excluding these objects we reach an uncertainty of ~50% on the SFR. The Halpha to FUV flux ratio increases with their total stellar mass. If limited to normal star forming galaxies, however, this relationship reduces to a weak trend that might be totally removed using different extinction correction recipes. In these objects the Halpha to FUV flux ratio seems also barely related with the FUV-H colour, the H band effective surface brightness, the total star formation activity and the gas fraction. The data are consistent with a Kroupa and Salpeter initial mass function in the high mass stellar range and imply, for a Salpeter IMF, that the variations of the slope cannot exceed 0.25, from g=2.35 for massive galaxies to g=2.60 in low luminosity systems. We show however that these observed trends, if real, can be due to the different micro history of star formation in massive galaxies with respect to dwarf.


such term in section 3 of the Torture Victims Relief Act of 1995.''. (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--(1) Of the total amount authorized to be appropriated to carry out chapter 1 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 for fiscal year 1995, there are authorized to be appropriated to the President such sums as may be necessary to carry out section 129 of that Act. (2) Amounts appropriated pursuant to this subsection are authorized to remain available until expended. (c) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall take effect on October 1, 1995. SEC. 10. MULTILATERAL ASSISTANCE. (a) Authorization of Appropriations.--Of the amounts authorized to be appropriated to carry out section 301 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (relating to international organizations and programs), there are authorized to be appropriated to the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture (in this section referred to as the ``Fund'') the following amounts for the following fiscal years: (1) For fiscal year 1996, $1,500,000. (2) For fiscal year 1997, $3,000,000. (b) Availability of Funds.--Amounts appropriated pursuant to subsection (a) are authorized to remain available until expended. (c) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of the Congress that the President, acting through the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations, should-- (1) request the Fund-- (A) to find new ways to support and protect treatment centers that are carrying out rehabilitative services for victims of torture; and (B) to encourage the development of new such centers; (2) use the voice and vote of the United States to support the work of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and the Committee Against Torture established under the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; and (3) use the voice and vote of the United States to establish a country rapporteur or similar procedural mechanism to investigate human rights violations in a country if either the Special Rapporteur or the Committee Against Torture indicates that a systematic practice of torture is prevalent in that country.


if the State has a 2-year legislative session, each year of the session is deemed to be a separate regular session of the State legislature. SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A CENTRALIZED ELECTRONIC SYSTEM TO EXPEDITE THE INTERSTATE PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE OR GUARDIANSHIP, OR FOR ADOPTION. (a) In General.--Section 437 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 637) is amended by adding at the end the following: ``(g) Grants for the Development of a Centralized Electronic System To Expedite the Interstate Placement of Children in Foster Care or Guardianship, or for Adoption.-- ``(1) Purpose.--The purpose of this subsection is to facilitate the development of a centralized electronic system for the exchange of data and documents to expedite the placements of children in foster, guardianship, or adoptive homes across State lines. ``(2) Application requirements.--A State that desires a grant under this subsection shall submit to the Secretary an application containing the following: ``(A) A description of the goals and outcomes to be achieved during the period for which grant funds are sought, which goals and outcomes must result in-- ``(i) reducing the time it takes for a child to be provided with a safe and appropriate permanent living arrangement across State lines; ``(ii) improving administrative processes and reducing costs in the foster care system; and ``(iii) the secure exchange of relevant case files and other necessary materials in real time, and timely communications and placement decisions regarding interstate placements of children. ``(B) A description of the activities to be funded in whole or in part with the grant funds, including the sequencing of the activities. ``(C) A description of the strategies for integrating programs and services for children who are placed across State lines. ``(D) Such other information as the Secretary may require. ``(3) Grant authority.--The Secretary may make a grant to a State that complies with paragraph (2). ``(4) Use of funds.--A State to which a grant is made under this subsection shall use the grant for the development of the centralized electronic system described in paragraph (1). ``(5) Evaluations.--Not later than 1 year after the final year in which grants are awarded under this subsection, the Secretary shall submit to the Congress, and make available to the general public by posting on a website, that contains the following information: ``(A) How using the centralized


We give a quantitative analysis of the previously published nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments in the k-(ET)2X family of organic charge transfer salts by using the phenomenological spin fluctuation model of Moriya, and Millis, Monien and Pines (M-MMP). For temperatures above T_nmr ~ 50 K, the model gives a good quantitative description of the data in the metallic phases of several k-(ET)2X materials. These materials display antiferromagnetic correlation lengths which increase with decreasing temperature and grow to several lattice constants by T_nmr. It is shown that the fact that the dimensionless Korringa ratio is much larger than unity is inconsistent with a broad class of theoretical models (such as dynamical mean-field theory) which neglects spatial correlations and/or vertex corrections. For materials close to the Mott insulating phase the nuclear spin relaxation rate, the Knight shift and the Korringa ratio all decrease significantly with decreasing temperature below T_nmr. This cannot be described by the M-MMP model and the most natural explanation is that a pseudogap, similar to that observed in the underdoped cuprate superconductors, opens up in the density of states below T_nmr. Such a pseudogap has recently been predicted to occur in the dimerised organic charge transfer salts materials by the resonating valence bond (RVB) theory. We propose specific new experiments on organic superconductors to elucidate these issues. For example, measurements to see if high magnetic fields or high pressures can be used to close the pseudogap would be extremely valuable.


) of such Code is amended by striking ``section,'' and inserting ``section and section 444A''. (c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for part I of subchapter E of chapter 1 of such Code is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 444 the following new item: ``Sec. 444A. Qualified small businesses election of taxable year ending in a month from April to November.''. (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act. SEC. 8. INCREASE IN MAXIMUM NUMBER OF S CORPORATION SHAREHOLDERS. (a) In General.--Subparagraph (A) of section 1361(b)(1) is amended by striking ``100'' and inserting ``150''. (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall apply to taxable years beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act. SEC. 9. GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS WITH SMALL BUSINESSES NOT SUBJECT TO TAX WITHHOLDING. (a) In General.--Paragraph (2) of section 3402(t) is amended by striking ``and'' at the end of subparagraph (H), by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (I) and inserting ``, and'', and by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: ``(J) to any specified small business.''. (b) Specified Small Business.--Subsection (t) of section 3402 is amended by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (4) and by inserting after paragraph (2) the following new paragraph: ``(3) Specified small business.--For purposes of this subsection, the term `specified small business' means a corporation or partnership which meets the gross receipts test of section 448(c) for the taxable year prior to the taxable year in which the payment is received (or, in the case of a sole proprietorship, which would meet such test if such proprietorship were a corporation).''. (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take effect as if included in section 511 of the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005.


The term `product' means-- ``(aa) any good that is manufactured or sold by an affiliate of the entity; and ``(bb) any service that is provided by an affiliate of the entity. ``(III) Distribution entity.--The term `distribution entity' means a person whose primary business is the sale, lease or servicing of a product that is manufactured by the entity or its affiliates. ``(IV) Affiliate.--The term `affiliate' means, with respect to an entity-- ``(aa) a person that reports information or prepares financial statements on a consolidated basis with the entity, or for which a parent company reports information or prepares financial statements on a consolidated basis for the person and the entity; or ``(bb) a person of which the entity or the parent of the entity holds 50 percent or more of the equity interests. ``(V) Person.--The term `person' means an individual, partnership, corporation (including a business trust), limited liability company, joint stock company, trust, unincorporated association, joint venture or other entity, or a government or any political subdivision or agency thereof.''. (b) Exclusion From Swap Clearing Requirement.--Section 2(h)(7)(C)(iii) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 2(h)(7)(C)(iii)) is amended to read as follows: ``(iii) Exclusion of certain captive finance entities.--Such term shall not include an entity excluded from the definition of major swap participant by reason of section 1a(33)(D).''. SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. The amendments made by this Act shall take effect as if they had been included in subtitle A of title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.


In this paper, we study the complexity of computing the determinant of a matrix over a non-commutative algebra. In particular, we ask the question, "over which algebras, is the determinant easier to compute than the permanent?" Towards resolving this question, we show the following hardness and easiness of noncommutative determinant computation. * [Hardness] Computing the determinant of an n \times n matrix whose entries are themselves 2 \times 2 matrices over a field is as hard as computing the permanent over the field. This extends the recent result of Arvind and Srinivasan, who proved a similar result which however required the entries to be of linear dimension. * [Easiness] Determinant of an n \times n matrix whose entries are themselves d \times d upper triangular matrices can be computed in poly(n^d) time. Combining the above with the decomposition theorem of finite dimensional algebras (in particular exploiting the simple structure of 2 \times 2 matrix algebras), we can extend the above hardness and easiness statements to more general algebras as follows. Let A be a finite dimensional algebra over a finite field with radical R(A). * [Hardness] If the quotient A/R(A) is non-commutative, then computing the determinant over the algebra A is as hard as computing the permanent. * [Easiness] If the quotient A/R(A) is commutative and furthermore, R(A) has nilpotency index d (i.e., the smallest d such that R(A)d = 0), then there exists a poly(n^d)-time algorithm that computes determinants over the algebra A. In particular, for any constant dimensional algebra A over a finite field, since the nilpotency index of R(A) is at most a constant, we have the following dichotomy theorem: if A/R(A) is commutative, then efficient determinant computation is feasible and otherwise determinant is as hard as permanent.


Parliament has approved the Customs Amendment Bill 2017 that will allow for the removal of import duty on vehicular spare parts. The bill was passed after a protracted debate, with the minority insisting the bill is unconstitutional and a breach of the ECOWAS treaty. They also questioned why government did not remove all duties on spare parts as promised in the 2017 budget statement. Deputy Minority Leader James Avedzi said the move will only benefit spare part importers and not the ordinary Ghanaian. “The government must ensure that you are reducing the duty on the parts. As the importers enjoy the reduction in duties they must reduce the prices of the parts but there is no mechanism to ensure that. “They will go and get the reduction, enrich their pockets but they will not reduce the prices of the parts,” he said. He added if the buyers will not benefit from the reduction, then there is no point in implementing the policy. The protest by the Minority follows a major policy announcement by the government to reduce taxes and duties it described as nuisance. As part of the 2017 budget statement that was read on the floor, the Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta announced that import duties had been removed on spare parts a major policy decision which got spare parts dealers at Abossey Okai in Accra and other parts of the country jubilating. Despite passing the budget, there was the need to amend the country’s laws to allow for the import duties on the spare parts to be removed. With the law amended and the duties removed it is yet to be seen if the prices of spare parts will reduce.


Finite State Machine (FSM) model is widely used in the construction of binary convolutional codes. If Z_2={0,1} is the binary mod-2 addition group and (Z_2)^n is the n-times direct product of Z_2, then a binary convolutional encoder, with rate (k/n)< 1 and memory m, is a FSM with (Z_2)^k as inputs group, (Z_2)^n as outputs group and (Z_2)^m as states group. The next state mapping nu:[(Z_2)^k x (Z_2)^m] --> (Z_2)^m is a surjective group homomorphism. The encoding mapping omega:[(Z_2)^k x (Z_2)^m] --> (Z_2)^n is a homomorphism adequately restricted by the trellis graph produced by nu. The binary convolutional code is the family of bi-infinite sequences produced by the binary convolutional encoder. Thus, a convolutional code can be considered as a dynamical system and it is known that well behaved dynamical systems must be necessarily controllable. The generalization of binary convolutional encoders over arbitrary finite groups is made by using the extension of groups, instead of direct product. In this way, given finite groups U,S and Y, a wide-sense homomorphic encoder (WSHE) is a FSM with U as inputs group, S as states group, and Y as outputs group. By denoting (U x S) as the extension of U by S, the next state homomorphism nu:(U x S) --> S needs to be surjective and the encoding homomorphism omega:(U x S) --> Y has restrictions given by the trellis graph produced by nu. The code produced by a WSHE is known as group code. In this work we will study the case when the extension (U x S) is abelian with U being Z_p, p a positive prime number. We will show that this class of WSHEs will produce controllable codes only if the states group S is isomorphic with (Z_p)^j, for some positive integer j.


We show that Pyragas delayed feedback control can stabilize an unstable periodic orbit (UPO) that arises from a generic subcritical Hopf bifurcation of a stable equilibrium in an n-dimensional dynamical system. This extends results of Fiedler et al. [PRL 98, 114101 (2007)], who demonstrated that such feedback control can stabilize the UPO associated with a two-dimensional subcritical Hopf normal form. Pyragas feedback requires an appropriate choice of a feedback gain matrix for stabilization, as well as knowledge of the period of the targeted UPO. We apply feedback in the directions tangent to the two-dimensional center manifold. We parameterize the feedback gain by a modulus and a phase angle, and give explicit formulae for choosing these two parameters given the period of the UPO in a neighborhood of the bifurcation point. We show, first heuristically, and then rigorously by a center manifold reduction for delay differential equations, that the stabilization mechanism involves a highly degenerate Hopf bifurcation problem that is induced by the time-delayed feedback. When the feedback gain modulus reaches a threshold for stabilization, both of the genericity assumptions associated with a two-dimensional Hopf bifurcation are violated: the eigenvalues of the linearized problem do not cross the imaginary axis as the bifurcation parameter is varied, and the real part of the cubic coefficient of the normal form vanishes. Our analysis of this degenerate bifurcation problem reveals two qualitatively distinct cases when unfolded in a two-parameter plane. In each case, Pyragas-type feedback successfully stabilizes the branch of small-amplitude UPOs in a neighborhood of the original bifurcation point, provided that the phase angle satisfies a certain restriction.


Locating the centers of dark matter halos is critical for understanding the mass profiles of halos as well as the formation and evolution of the massive galaxies that they host. The task is observationally challenging because we cannot observe halos directly, and tracers such as bright galaxies or X-ray emission from hot plasma are imperfect. In this paper we quantify the consequences of miscentering on the weak lensing signal from a sample of 129 X-ray selected galaxy groups in the COSMOS field with redshifts 0<z<1 and halo masses in the range 10^13 - 10^14 M_sun. By measuring the stacked lensing signal around eight different candidate centers (such as the brightest member galaxy, the mean position of all member galaxies, or the X-ray centroid), we determine which candidates best trace the center of mass in halos. In this sample of groups, we find that massive galaxies near the X-ray centroids trace the center of mass to <~75 kpc, while the X-ray position and centroids based on the mean position of member galaxies have larger offsets primarily due to the statistical uncertainties in their positions (typically ~50-150 kpc). Approximately 30% of groups in our sample have ambiguous centers with multiple bright or massive galaxies, and these groups show disturbed mass profiles that are not well fit by standard models, suggesting that they are merging systems. We find that halo mass estimates from stacked weak lensing can be biased low by 5-30% if inaccurate centers are used and the issue of miscentering is not addressed.


if in the best interests of an Indian child, as part of an adoption decree of that Indian child, an agreement that states that a birth parent, an extended family member, or the tribe of the Indian child shall have an enforceable right of visitation or continued contact with the Indian child after the entry of a final decree of adoption; and ``(2) the failure to comply with any provision of a court order concerning the continued visitation or contact referred to in paragraph (1) shall not be considered to be grounds for setting aside a final decree of adoption.''. SEC. 9. PLACEMENT OF INDIAN CHILDREN. Section 105(c) of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 1915(c)) is amended-- (1) in the second sentence-- (A) by striking ``Indian child or parent'' and inserting ``parent or Indian child''; and (B) by striking the colon after ``considered'' and inserting a period; (2) by striking ``Provided, That where'' and inserting: ``In any case in which''; and (3) by inserting after the second sentence the following: ``In any case in which a court determines that it is appropriate to consider the preference of a parent or Indian child, for purposes of subsection (a), that preference may be considered to constitute good cause.''. SEC. 10. FRAUDULENT REPRESENTATION. Title I of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 1911 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: ``SEC. 114. FRAUDULENT REPRESENTATION. ``(a) In General.--With respect to any proceeding subject to this Act involving an Indian child or a child who may be considered to be an Indian child for purposes of this Act, a person, other than a birth parent of the child, shall, upon conviction, be subject to a criminal sanction under subsection (b) if that person knowingly and willfully-- ``(1) falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device, a material fact concerning whether, for purposes of this Act-- ``(A) a child is an Indian child; or ``(B) a parent is an Indian; ``(2)(A) makes any false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement, omission, or representation; or ``(B) falsifies a written document knowing that the document


If you're reading Android Police, the HTC U11 is probably not a phone you're going to buy. I say this not because the U11 is bad (it's not - it's good), but because it's statistically likely: last year's HTC flagship, the 10, makes up around 0.38% of Android Police's mobile device traffic year to date, sitting in position number 37 on our most-popular devices list, right below the T-Mobile Galaxy Note 5 (yes, really). While the 10 was a marked improvement over the rather not-so-great One M9, there's no denying that even among phone enthusiasts HTC has rapidly seen its market and mind share decline. Once the most dominant Android manufacturer, and the first hardware partner for the platform, HTC has fallen by the wayside in recent years, and nothing they do seems to right the ship. The U11 will not be this company's savior. It is available on a single carrier in the US (arguably the worst one) and can also be purchased on HTC's website for $649. As such, HTC will not sell many of these phones in America, and I doubt they'll sell many globally, either. There's no money in the coffers for a massive ad campaign, no exceptional value being offered over competing handsets, and nothing really technically special about the U11. It is a high-end Android smartphone that does basically what most other high-end Android phones do. It does some things better, some worse, and some about the same. This means the U11 is a good phone. A very good one, even. I'd say it can legitimately compete with the Galaxy S8, LG G6, and Google Pixel in a number of ways. Sure, it doesn't really look the part in 2017 compared to the S8 and G6 with their tiny bezels, but functionally the U11 feels like a high-end smartphone. The battery life is good, it has lots of storage, the camera takes great photos, and performance is satisfactory. There's not a bunch of bloatware, and HTC doesn't mess with Android in obnoxious ways. The U11 also isn't perfect, and I do have some gripes to discuss. The capacitive keys feel so old-school now, the screen has awful light bleed, and the phone is an absolute fingerprint magnet. So, it's too bad most people will never hear about


Why it matters to you Antibiotic resistance is a huge problem in hospitals. By targeting specific bacteria -- instead of all of them -- this CRISPR pill may eliminate antibiotic resistance. Scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison want to stamp out antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Their weapons of choice are deception and a powerful gene-editing tool called CRISPR. CRISPR has been making waves over the past few years, leading to what some are calling the “CRISPR Revolution,” impacting industries from healthcare to agriculture. Initially borrowed from bacteria, which use CRISPR as an immune defense against viruses, the gene-editing tool works by recording snippets of the attacker’s DNA, so that the bacteria can recognize and eliminate future invaders. In his lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Jan-Peter Van Pijkeren hopes to use CRISPR to deceive a nasty germ called Clostridium difficile. It may sound unfamiliar to most people but it’s nonetheless a risk to hospital patients. Studies have shown C. difficile to be the cause of almost half a million infections and 15,000 deaths in the United States, topping the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s list of drug-resistant threats. Van Pijkeren’s plan is to develop a virus that can carry a customized CRISPR message into the human body by packaging it into a swallowable probiotic pill. When the pill passes into a person’s intestinal tract, the virus would exit and infect any C. difficile in the area, delivering a false message that causes the bacteria to self-destruct. Though the pill hasn’t yet been tested in animals, previous studies have shown that similar methods work, reports MIT Technology Review. Sweeping antibiotic use — which kills off both good and bad bacteria — sets the stage for drug-resistant bacteria. As such, C. difficile will be a persistent problem, according to Herbert DuPont, director of the Center for Infectious Diseases at the University of Texas. “As long as we house patients together in a hospital or in a nursing home and we give a lot of them antibiotics we’re going to have a problem with C. difficile,” he told Technology Review. Research into other methods to eliminate harmful bacteria are desired, even if it may take years before they replace today’s antibiotics.


TAIPEI: Chinese military aircraft conducted a third day of training near Taiwan on Monday after doing close flybys of the island over the weekend, Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense said. Two Chinese military transport aircraft flew through the Bashi Channel that separates Taiwan from the Philippines, then took different courses before returning to base, the ministry said. China has been increasingly asserting itself in territorial disputes in the South and East China Seas. It is also worried about Taiwan, which it claims as its own, but which is run by a government China fears is intent on independence. Taiwan’s military closely monitored the Chinese aircraft and the situation was under control, the ministry said. “Our military has monitored the movements of the Chinese aircraft from the beginning to the end and were prepared for any contingency based on our rules of engagement,” it said in a statement. After the two aircraft flew through the Bashi Channel, one took a northeasterly direction and passed over waters near Japan’s Miyako island to Taiwan’s north before returning to its base, the ministry said. The other flew in a southeasterly direction before it too returned to base the way it had come. China’s defense ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the past three days of drills. China conducted air exercises near Taiwan over the weekend , the latest in a series of such exercises near Taiwan and Japan in the past several weeks. China considers self-ruled Taiwan to be a renegade province, and has never ruled out the option to regain control of the island by force if necessary.


(Abridged) We study the predictions of various annihilating Dark Matter (DM) models in order to interpret the origin of non-thermal phenomena in galaxy clusters. We consider three neutralino DM models with light (9 GeV), intermediate (60 GeV) and high (500 GeV) mass. The secondary particles created by neutralino annihilation produce a multi-frequency Spectral Energy Distribution (SED), as well as heating of the intracluster gas, that are tested against the observations available for the Coma cluster. The DM produced SEDs are normalized to the Coma radio halo spectrum. We find that it is not possible to interpret all non-thermal phenomena observed in Coma in terms of DM annihilation. The DM model with 9 GeV mass produces too small power at all frequencies, while the DM model with 500 GeV produces a large excess power at all frequencies. The DM model with 60 GeV and $\tau^{\pm}$ composition is consistent with the HXR and gamma-ray data but fails to reproduce the EUV and soft X-ray data. The DM model with 60 GeV and $b{\bar b}$ composition is always below the observed fluxes. The radio halo spectrum of Coma is well fitted only in the $b{\bar b}$ or light and intermediate mass DM models. The heating produced by DM annihilation in the center of Coma is always larger than the intracluster gas cooling rate for an NFW DM density profile and it is substantially smaller than the cooling rate only for a cored DM density profile in DM model with 9 GeV. We conclude that the possibility of interpreting the origin of non-thermal phenomena in galaxy clusters with DM annihilation models requires a low neutralino mass and a cored DM density profile. If we then consider the multimessenger constraints to the neutralino annihilation cross-section, it turns out that such scenario would also be excluded unless we introduce a substantial boost factor due to the presence of DM substructures.


if one has specular higlights in the background, the lens does a great job in rendering those beautifully. Going through images, I did not notice any images with distracting bokeh. Since Nikon did not utilize any aspherical elements as part of the lens design, you do not have to worry about seeing ugly onion-shaped highlights in images. 11) Vignetting The Nikon 200-500mm VR handles vignetting really well, pushing at most close to 1.7 EV in the extreme corners at 500mm when focused at infinity: As you can see, vignetting is practically non-existent at short focal lengths. Only when pushed beyond 300mm, do we start seeing darkening of edges and only at infinity. 12) Ghosting and Flare Ghosting and flare is something to watch out for, since super telephoto lenses generally cannot handle it well due to long focal lengths. There is a reason why the Nikon 200-500mm VR comes with a long hood – keep it mounted on the front of the lens at all times and avoid shooting against bright sources of light. 13) Distortion Distortion is generally a non-issue with most telephoto lenses as well and as we can see from the graph below, the Nikon 200-500mm VR only exhibits a slight amount of barrel distortion that you will never see in images: 14) Chromatic Aberration What about lateral chromatic aberration levels? Let’s take a look: As you can see, chromatic aberration levels are fairly low at 200mm and 300mm, but start to get worse towards 400mm. At 500mm, lateral chromatic aberration reaches 2.29 pixels at f/5.6, which is rather high. 15) Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6E VR vs Tamron 150-600mm f/5-6.3 VC How does the Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6E VR optically compare to the Tamron 150-600mm f/5-6.3 VC? Let’s take a look at the two at 500mm: It is pretty clear that the Nikon 200-500mm VR outperforms the Tamron 150-600mm VC at 500mm in the center. Where the Nikon suffers a bit in comparison is the corners, particularly when stopped down. Here, the Tamron seems to be a


The modular variety of non singular and complete hyperelliptic curves with level-two structure of genus 3 is a 5-dimensional quasi projective variety which admits several standard compactifications. The first one, X, comes from the realization of this variety as a sub-variety of the Siegel modular variety of level two and genus three .We will be to describe the equations of X in a suitable projective embedding and its Hilbert function. It will turn out that X is normal. A further model comes from geometric invariant theory using so-called semistable degenerated point configurations in (P^1)^8 . We denote this GIT-compactification by Y. The equations of this variety in a suitable projective embedding are known. This variety also can by identified with a Baily-Borel compactified ball-quotient. We will describe these results in some detail and obtain new proofs including some finer results for them. We have a birational map between Y and X . In this paper we use the fact that there are graded algebras (closely related to algebras of modular forms) A,B such that X=proj(A) and Y=proj(B). This homomorphism rests on the theory of Thomae (19th century), in which the thetanullwerte of hyperelliptic curves have been computed. Using the explicit equations for $A,B$ we can compute the base locus of the map from Y to X. Blowing up the base locus and the singularity of Y, we get a dominant, smooth model {\tilde Y}. We will see that {\tilde Y} is isomorphic to the compactification of families of marked projective lines (P^1,x_1,...,x_8), usually denoted by {\bar M_{0,8}}. There are several combinatorial similarities between the models X and Y. These similarities can be described best, if one uses the ball-model to describe Y.


If you can’t bring the audience to the TV show, bring the TV show to the audience. That seems to be the strategy as Canadian television struggles to survive the current upheaval in the industry. This fall, CBC has sent stars from two of its series — “Murdoch Mysteries” and “Kim’s Convenience” — to various Canadian cities in an attempt to strengthen connections with their viewers. The live audience response has been encouraging. More than 700 fans lined up to see “Murdoch” stars Yannick Bisson and Helene Joy last Sunday at the Vancouver Police Museum. In the same city, 1,200 people recently jammed a sold-out screening with the cast of “Kim’s Convenience.” For “Murdoch,” catering to its loyal fan base is paying off. The Monday night drama returned to 1,227,000 total viewers for its 11th season premiere. For all shows made in Canada, it’s is clear that reaching out to viewers has become more important than ever. The clutter of competition, especially on streaming services is steadily chipping away at the broadcast television audience. The erosion seems more apparent than ever this fall. In English Canada, based on the first three weeks of the season, the total available TV audience among broadcasters CBC, CTV, City and Global is down eight per cent year-to-year. Among viewers aged 25 to 54, a demographic advertisers covet the most, the drop is 12 per cent in all day parts, according to Numeris, which measures TV viewership in Canada. This mirrors similar declines to start this season among American broadcasters. Even NFL viewership has been thrown for a nine per cent loss year-to-year in the United States. In the United States, this is the fifth straight yearly decline. Viewers have migrated by the millions to less expensive streaming services such as Netflix. They are, in turn, “cord cutting” the old link to cable and satellite providers. According to one recent report, as much as 22 per cent of the U.S. population is now “cordless.” The unusually warm weather in parts of Canada has also likely contributed to the drop. Some viewers are simply enjoying the outdoors while they can. All of these factors are making the perennial challenge of bringing Canadian content to Canadian viewers even more difficult. For example: Rogers-owned City introduced the limited run drama “Bad Blood” in September. Boasting an all-star cast of Canadians and Americans, including Kim Co


Lincolnshire Police has warned convicted drink-drivers that they will be named and shamed ahead of a county-wide campaign over the festive period. The force’s ‘Think Don’t Drink’ campaign will start on Monday 18 December and run into the New Year and will see those convicted of the offence named by the county’s officers. The identities of people found to be driving under the influence of drugs will also be released. The aim is to make people think twice before getting behind the wheel. Inspector Ewan Gell from the Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: “Drink-driving is still a problem in Lincolnshire but we are very good at catching offenders. I sincerely hope we don’t have to name a single person over these two weeks. Driving under the influence can be deadly, claims and ruins lives but is easily avoidable. “Do not consume a drop if you are driving and be wary the morning after as you could still be over the limit. If we pull you over the consequences could be a losing your licence, a criminal record or even a prison sentence.” Lincolnshire Police has made more than 1,000 arrests for drink-driving in the last year and more than 150 arrests for driving under the influence of drugs. Over the same period 706 people were charged for drink-driving and 51 for drug-driving during. A recent study by the Press Association found that the force charges more offenders than anywhere else in the UK. John Siddle from the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership said: “Drink drivers cannot turn back the clock however, almost all those arrested wish they could. “They stand to lose so much when they make that decision to get behind the wheel – their livelihood, life, other people’s lives and possibly their liberty if they are sent to prison. “The knock-on effects of that will be loss of job, possible loss of home (who pays the mortgage) car insurance increase, possibly a re-sit of the driving test. Despite this some people still choose to drink or drug drive, so I welcome Lincolnshire police’s decision to name those charged with driving whilst impaired, through drink or drugs, which adds to the list of deterrents already in place.” The police are asking concerned citizens to call 101 or 999 in an emergency if they suspect someone is about to drive under the influence.


One consequence of the application of superconductivity to accelerator construction is that the power consumption of accelerators will become much smaller. This raises the old possibility of using high energy protons to make neutrons which are then absorbed by fertile uranium or thorium to make a fissionable material like plutonium that can be burned in a nuclear reactor. The Energy Doubler/Saver being constructed at Fermilab is to be a superconducting accelerator that will produce 1000 GeV protons. The expected intensity of about $10^{12}$ protons per second corresponds to a beam power of about 0.2 MW. The total power requirements of the Doubler will be about 20 MW of which the injector complex will use approximately 13 MW, and the refrigeration of the superconducting magnets will use about 7 MW. Thus the beam power as projected is only a few orders of magnitude less than the accelerator power. But each 1000 GeV proton will produce about 60,000 neutrons in each nuclear cascade shower that is releaseq in a block of uranium, and then most of these neutrons will be absorbed to produce 60,000 plutonium a toms. Each of these when burned will Subsequently release about 0.2 GeV of fission energy to make a total energy of 12,000 GeV (20 ergs) for each 1000 GeV proton. Inasmuch as megawatts are involved, it appears to be worthwhile to consider the cost of making the protons to see if there could be an overall energy production.


We present discovery observations of a quasar in the Canada-France High-z Quasar Survey (CFHQS) at redshift z=6.44. We also use near-IR spectroscopy of nine CFHQS quasars at z~6 to determine black hole masses. These are compared with similar estimates for more luminous Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) quasars to investigate the relationship between black hole mass and quasar luminosity. We find a strong correlation between MgII FWHM and UV luminosity and that most quasars at this early epoch are accreting close to the Eddington limit. Thus these quasars appear to be in an early stage of their life cycle where they are building up their black hole mass exponentially. Combining these results with the quasar luminosity function, we derive the black hole mass function at z=6. Our black hole mass function is ~10^4 times lower than at z=0 and substantially below estimates from previous studies. The main uncertainties which could increase the black hole mass function are a larger population of obscured quasars at high-redshift than is observed at low-redshift and/or a low quasar duty cycle at z=6. In comparison, the global stellar mass function is only ~10^2 times lower at z=6 than at z=0. The difference between the black hole and stellar mass function evolution is due to either rapid early star formation which is not limited by radiation pressure as is the case for black hole growth or inefficient black hole seeding. Our work predicts that the black hole mass - stellar mass relation for a volume-limited sample of galaxies declines rapidly at very high redshift. This is in contrast to the observed increase at 4<z<6 from the local relation if one just studies the most massive black holes.


If you fall into a real astronomical black hole (choosing a supermassive black hole, to make sure that the tidal forces don't get you first), then you will probably meet your fate not at a central singularity, but rather in the exponentially growing, relativistic counter-streaming instability at the inner horizon first pointed out by Poisson & Israel (1990), who called it mass inflation. The chief purpose of this paper is to present a clear exposition of the physical cause and consequence of inflation in spherical, charged black holes. Inflation acts like a particle accelerator in that it accelerates cold ingoing and outgoing streams through each other to prodigiously high energies. Inflation feeds on itself: the acceleration is powered by the gravity produced by the streaming energy. The paper: (1) uses physical arguments to develop simple approximations that follow the evolution of inflation from ignition, through inflation itself, to collapse; (2) confirms that the simple approximations capture accurately the results of fully nonlinear one- and two-fluid self-similar models; (3) demonstrates that, counter-intuitively, the smaller the accretion rate, the more rapidly inflation exponentiates; (4) shows that in single perfect-fluid models, inflation occurs only if the sound speed equals the speed of light, supporting the physical idea that inflation in single fluids is driven by relativistic counter-streaming of waves; (5) shows that what happens during inflation up to the Planck curvature depends not on the distant past or future, but rather on events happening only a few hundred black hole crossing times into the past or future; (6) shows that, if quantum gravity does not intervene, then the generic end result of inflation is not a general relativistic null singularity, but rather a spacelike singularity at zero radius.


We present details on a physical realization, in a many-body Hamiltonian system, of the abstract probabilistic structure recently exhibited by Gell-Mann, Sato and one of us (C.T.), that the nonadditive entropy $S_q=k [1- Tr \hat{\rho}^q]/[q-1]$ ($\hat{\rho}\equiv$ density matrix; $S_1=-k Tr \hat{\rho} \ln \hat{\rho}$) can conform, for an anomalous value of q (i.e., q not equal to 1), to the classical thermodynamical requirement for the entropy to be extensive. Moreover, we find that the entropic index q provides a tool to characterize both universal and nonuniversal aspects in quantum phase transitions (e.g., for a L-sized block of the Ising ferromagnetic chain at its T=0 critical transverse field, we obtain $\lim_{L\to\infty}S_{\sqrt{37}-6}(L)/L=3.56 \pm 0.03$). The present results suggest a new and powerful approach to measure entanglement in quantum many-body systems. At the light of these results, and similar ones for a d=2 Bosonic system discussed by us elsewhere, we conjecture that, for blocks of linear size L of a large class of Fermionic and Bosonic d-dimensional many-body Hamiltonians with short-range interaction at T=0, we have that the additive entropy $S_1(L) \propto [L^{d-1}-1]/(d-1)$ (i.e., $ \ln L$ for $d=1$, and $ L^{d-1}$ for d>1), hence it is not extensive, whereas, for anomalous values of the index q, we have that the nonadditive entropy $S_q(L)\propto L^d$ ($\forall d$), i.e., it is extensive. The present discussion neatly illustrates that entropic additivity and entropic extensivity are quite different properties, even if they essentially coincide in the presence of short-range correlations.


The future new-generation radio telescope SKA (Square Kilometre Array) and its precursors will provide a rapidly growing number of polarized radio sources. Hundred and thousands polarized background sources can be measured towards nearby galaxies thus allowing their detailed magnetic field mapping by means of Faraday rotation measures (RM). We aim to estimate the required density of the background polarized sources detected with the SKA for reliable recognition and reconstruction of the magnetic field structure in nearby spiral galaxies. We construct a galaxy model which includes the ionized gas and magnetic field patterns of different azimuthal symmetry (axisymmetric (ASS), bisymmetric (BSS) and quadrisymmetric spiral (QSS), and superpositions) plus a halo magnetic field. RM fluctuations with a Kolmogorov spectrum due to turbulent fields and/or fluctuations in ionized gas density are superimposed. Recognition of magnetic structures is possible from RM towards background sources behind galaxies or a continuous RM map obtained from the diffuse polarized emission from the galaxy itself. Under favourite conditions, about a few dozens of polarized sources are sufficient for a reliable recognition. Reconstruction of the field structure without precognition becomes possible for a large number of background sources. A reliable reconstruction of the field structure needs at least 20 RM values on a cut along the projected minor axis which translates to approximately 1200 sources towards the galaxy. Radio telescopes operating at low frequencies (LOFAR, ASKAP and the low-frequency SKA array) may also be useful instruments for field recognition or reconstruction with the help of RM, if background sources are still significantly polarized at low frequencies (abriged).


Let $I$ be a monomial ideal in the polynomial ring $S=\mathbb{K}[x_1,...,x_n]$. We study the Stanley depth of the integral closure $\bar{I}$ of $I$. We prove that for every integer $k\geq 1$, the inequalities ${\rm sdepth} (S/\bar{I^k}) \leq {\rm sdepth} (S/\bar{I})$ and ${\rm sdepth} (\bar{I^k}) \leq {\rm sdepth} (\bar{I})$ hold. We also prove that for every monomial ideal $I\subset S$ there exist integers $k_1,k_2\geq 1$, such that for every $s\geq 1$, the inequalities ${\rm sdepth} (S/I^{sk_1}) \leq {\rm sdepth} (S/\bar{I})$ and ${\rm sdepth} (I^{sk_2}) \leq {\rm sdepth} (\bar{I})$ hold. In particular, $\min_k \{{\rm sdepth} (S/I^k)\} \leq {\rm sdepth} (S/\bar{I})$ and $\min_k \{{\rm sdepth} (I^k)\} \leq {\rm sdepth} (\bar{I})$. We conjecture that for every integrally closed monomial ideal $I$, the inequalities ${\rm sdepth}(S/I)\geq n-\ell(I)$ and ${\rm sdepth} (I)\geq n-\ell(I)+1$ hold, where $\ell(I)$ is the analytic spread of $I$. Assuming the conjecture is true, it follows together with the Burch's inequality that Stanley's conjecture holds for $I^k$ and $S/I^k$ for $k\gg 0$, provided that $I$ is a normal ideal.


If there is any doubt about Phlow’s rap game, on New Era, he comes clean with a cutting, size-less form of – also enviable – baskets of bars that are so yummy they can be Cadbury and Kingsbite at the same time. In settling on a theme, New Era went along the lines of recent compositions by other younglings, where braggadocio and who’s got the best bars proved ultimate shopping carts. Phlow joins in on the party and gate-storms his way through a guest list that previously had Worlasi, and all the cats who featured on the Trumpet; Koo Ntakra, Medikal, Strongman, Donzy and Pappy Kojo claiming arrival status with Hip Hop flight boarding passes to show. An opening scene from the ‘New Era’ video directed by Salifu Abdul Hafiz But Phlow dishes an even bigger beef with New Era. Phlow’s real beef as he explains some 57 seconds into the song, was sliced, steamed, nutmegged, and cooked on his claim to fame as a crack Fante MC. And he did the dishing while still fasting, he says, and only went for the kill when it became obvious too many not-fits and mockups were calling themselves something other than worse rappers who can’t string together, basic rap rhymes to save their borrowed, faded hoodie lives. The posturing as he expands further, gets his goad, but also sees him claiming he’s been doing amazing lots of Sugar. Honey. Ice. Tea for years. That, you can also call braggadocio. What you can’t however say, is that Phlow isn’t credible. Phlow is a wild cat. He is a problem; a big one with incredible street credibility that predates his Last Two days. He’s had success in the streets; long before both Malafaka and Onaapo became buzzwords. And what he does with New Era is to cement that thought. Produced by Ssnowbeatz, New Era has Phlow touching some nerves; those ones so deadly they can easily make him – as he predicts, public enemy number one – within the local Hip hop scene. As less reaching as his clout may seem now, he however refuses to be put away. He schleps through the 4 minutes, edgy-subject song with so much confidence and attitude if a struggling mainstream act had such dynamism, he


We consider the computation of stable approximations to the exact solution $x^\dag$ of nonlinear ill-posed inverse problems $F(x)=y$ with nonlinear operators $F:X\to Y$ between two Hilbert spaces $X$ and $Y$ by the Newton type methods $$ x_{k+1}^\delta=x_0-g_{\alpha_k} (F'(x_k^\delta)^*F'(x_k^\delta)) F'(x_k^\delta)^* (F(x_k^\delta)-y^\delta-F'(x_k^\delta)(x_k^\delta-x_0)) $$ in the case that only available data is a noise $y^\delta$ of $y$ satisfying $\|y^\delta-y\|\le \delta$ with a given small noise level $\delta>0$. We terminate the iteration by the discrepancy principle in which the stopping index $k_\delta$ is determined as the first integer such that $$ \|F(x_{k_\delta}^\delta)-y^\delta\|\le \tau \delta <\|F(x_k^\delta)-y^\delta\|, \qquad 0\le k<k_\delta $$ with a given number $\tau>1$. Under certain conditions on $\{\alpha_k\}$, $\{g_\alpha\}$ and $F$, we prove that $x_{k_\delta}^\delta$ converges to $x^\dag$ as $\delta\to 0$ and establish various order optimal convergence rate results. It is remarkable that we even can show the order optimality under merely the Lipschitz condition on the Fr\'{e}chet derivative $F'$ of $F$ if $x_0-x^\dag$ is smooth enough.


If you want to make your hair turn prematurely gray, raise your blood pressure, and go on an epic-level rant, just try to comprehend red snapper management. Then, try to understand virtually any fisheries management. It’s tough – very tough – to understand what they’re doing, and why. The first thing we need to point out is that the vast majority of the people working on fisheries management are good people, doing the best they can. It’s easy to point fingers and lay blame, but it’s MUCH harder to divvy up a valuable resource among various “stakeholders” in a way that makes sense. It’s downright impossible to please everyone, while doing it. So if we can dispense with the name-calling, blame-laying, and vitriol right out of the gate, the entire conversation can be much more productive. Which leads us to one example of why this lofty goal is so difficult: red snapper. Everyone’s surely familiar with the red snapper debacle, which started off as a whopping-big three day season. Three measly days. This, when anglers out on the water knew darn well that there were gobs of snapper around. On the face of it the three-day season was utterly absurd. When Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross extended the season to 42 days, however, it was just as absurd – because it was illegal, clearly in violation of the Magnuson-Stevens act. Hear me now, people: I am NOT saying I wish the season hadn’t been extended to 42 days. I’m just saying that we all claim to be living in a country of laws, and it’s ridiculous to cheer an action of the government that is clearly against the law, merely because it benefits us. I do believe that’s an excellent example of hypocrisy, of which there is already more than enough to go around in the government. I’ve spoken with a couple of people (you can still call them that, even though they live and work in Washington) who are hip-deep in federal fisheries management, and they’ve told me that the root of the problem is almost always poor science. So let’s push for better science, by all means. But in the meantime, let’s also recognize that a) whoever thought a three-day season was acceptable made a radically bad decision, and b) that bad decision was “fixed” in the worst possible way.


percent of the portion of lifetime annuity payments otherwise includible in gross income under this section (determined without regard to this paragraph), or ``(ii) the amount in effect under section 72(b)(5). ``(B) Rules of section 72(b)(5) to apply.--For purposes of this paragraph, rules similar to the rules of section 72(b)(5) and section 72(w) shall apply, substituting the term `beneficiary of the life insurance contract' for the term `annuitant' wherever it appears, and substituting the term `life insurance contract' for the term `annuity contract' wherever it appears.''. (2) Conforming amendment.--Section 101(d)(1) of such Code is amended by inserting ``or paragraph (4)'' after ``to the extent not excluded by the preceding sentence''. (e) Effective Date.-- (1) In general.--The amendments made by this section shall apply to amounts received in calendar years beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act. (2) Special rule for existing contracts.--In the case of a contract in force on the date of the enactment of this Act that does not satisfy the requirements of section 72(c)(5)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as added by this section), or requirements similar to such section 72(c)(5)(A) in the case of a life insurance contract), any modification to such contract (including a change in ownership) or to the payments thereunder that is made to satisfy the requirements of such section (or similar requirements) shall not result in the recognition of any gain or loss, any amount being included in gross income, or any addition to tax that otherwise might result from such modification, but only if the modification is completed prior to the date that is 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.


If you can’t win, change the rules. That’s the Democratic Party’s new playbook. Democrats are urging the US Supreme Court to redraw Wisconsin’s electoral map, claiming Republican lawmakers drew it unfairly. If the justices toss Wisconsin’s map and dictate new rules for election mapmaking, it could turn winners into losers and vice versa in many states. Republicans have been on a winning streak and now control both legislative houses in 33 states, including Wisconsin. They rightly oppose this judicial interference. The justices will hear the case, Gill v. Whitford, on Oct. 3. Democrats claim Wisconsin’s election map puts them at a disadvantage by packing their voters into too few election districts, “wasting” their votes and allowing Republicans to win the majority of districts. But the real problem isn’t an unfair map. It’s that Wisconsin Democrats are concentrated in cities. In many states, Democrats tend to win urban voters and do less well with suburban and rural voters. Wisconsin Democrats want the lines redrawn so their urban voters can capture a majority of the state’s legislative seats — and they’re asking the Supreme Court to help them. It’s a brazen political gambit disguised as fairness. They claim to be victims of gerrymandering — drawing election districts to favor one party. But they’re not opposed to gerrymandering. They just want it to favor them. They hope a Supreme Court victory will restore their political fortunes after the 2020 Census, when states have to redraw their electoral maps. If Democrats prevail in court, the nation’s political map could change significantly after the Census, with many statehouses flipped to Democratic control. That would likely mean higher state taxes, anti-fracking laws and job-killing regulations on business. As for gerrymandering, it’s been around for over 200 years and isn’t limited to any party. When James Madison ran for Congress in 1788, rival politicians, including his mortal enemy Patrick Henry, drew district lines to try to exclude Madison’s supporters. Madison won anyway, but manipulating voting districts for partisan advantage was just getting started. Massachusetts Gov. Elbridge Gerry, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and Constitutional Convention delegate, raised it to an art form in 1812, carving a bizarre district in his state that meandered around Boston like a salamander. A Boston newspaper caricatured it, adding claws, fangs and a tail, and called it a Gerry-mander. That political monster has


raised the Russia investigation, saying of the decision to fire Comey: "When I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up story. It’s an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won." Comey said in a written statement before his testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee last week that he told Trump he was not personally under investigation. But Comey said at the hearing that he took Trump's alleged statement "I hope you can let this go" about former national security adviser Michael Flynn as a direction to end the investigation. Asked if thought the alleged comment was an attempt to obstruct, Comey said it wasn't for him to say, but "I'm sure the special counsel will work towards,to try and understand what the intention was there, and whether that's an offense." Trump a day later said Comey's testimony vindicated him, and said in response to a question at a joint press conference: "No collusion. No obstruction. He's a leaker." Play Facebook Twitter Embed JUNE 9: Trump: Comey Testimony Shows 'No Collusion, No Obstruction' 1:31 autoplay autoplay Copy this code to your website or blog — As always, an FBI inquiry can be closed without charges, or lead to charges against a person or persons as determined by the prosecutor. Federal employees may face criminal charges while in office. But the precedent is that the Justice Department takes the position that it cannot indict a sitting president. And in the event an investigation were to find potential high crimes, the process is to refer such information or material to Congress, which the Constitution provides as the adjudicative body for alleged high crimes and misdemeanors by a president. In other words, precedent has been that only the House — which is currently Republican controlled — may charge a sitting president with crimes, not the Justice Department. Meanwhile, rumors raised this week that Trump was considering firing Mueller might, in theory, be put to bed now, since firing law enforcement leadership overseeing an investigation would look even worse if the president is reportedly under investigation.


We study the Wouthuysen-Field coupling at early universe with numerical solutions of the integrodifferential equation describing the kinetics of photons undergoing resonant scattering. The numerical solver is developed based on the weighted essentially non-oscillatory (WENO) scheme for the Boltzmann-like integrodifferential equation. We focus on the time evolution of the Wouthuysen-Field (W-F) coupling in relation to the 21 cm emission and absorption at the epoch of reionization. We show that a local Boltzmann distribution will be formed if photons with frequency \sim \nu_0 have undergone a ten thousand or more times of scattering, which corresponds to the order of 10^3 yrs for neutral hydrogen density of the concordance \Lambda CDM model. The time evolution of the shape and width of the local Boltzmann distribution actually doesn't dependent on the details of atomic recoil, photon sources, or initial conditions very much. However, the intensity of photon flux at the local Boltzmann distribution is substantially time-dependent. The time scale of approaching the saturated intensity can be as long as 10^5-10^6 yrs for typical parameters of the \Lambda CDM model. The intensity of the local Boltzmann distribution at time less than 10^5 yrs is significantly lower than that of the saturation state. Therefore, it may not be always reasonable to assume that the deviation of the spin temperature of 21 cm energy states from cosmic background temperature is mainly due to the W-F coupling if first stars or their emission/absorption regions evolved with a time scale equal to or less than Myrs.


If you look at the entire timeline of human existence, we live longer in modern times than we ever have and we’re continually beating world records with physical achievements that set new high bars for human capability. With that in mind, it might be tempting to imagine that humans will just keep getting better and living longer for the foreseeable future, but new research suggests that’s simply not the case. Researchers now believe that humans have peaked. According to the new study, which was published in Frontiers in Physiology, the human body is either at or rapidly nearing the absolute limits for its capabilities. Citing what they believe is evidence of a plateau in lifespan, height, endurance and other human capabilities, the scientists are sounding the alarm that humans, as we exist today, might be as good as we’re ever going to get. “These traits no longer increase, despite further continuous nutritional, medical and scientific progress,” Professor Jean-François Toussaint from Paris Descartes University explains. “This suggests that modern societies have allowed our species to reach its limits. We are the first generation to become aware of this.” Instead of continually improving, the study’s data suggests that we’ll simply continue to see more people reaching current maximums of lifespan and physical capabilities. For example, the world records for age won’t continue to climb, but the percentage of people who reach that upper limit will grow. The study was based on historical records and trends plotted over many generations and the numbers don’t lie. “This will be one of the biggest challenges of this century as the added pressure from anthropogenic activities will be responsible for damaging effects on human health and the environment,” Toussaint says. “The current declines in human capacities we can see today are a sign that environmental changes, including climate, are already contributing to the increasing constraints we now have to consider.” Finding cures for some of the diseases that most often cut life short could have a noticeable impact on the overall average lifespan and advances in nutrition and a greater understanding of human physiology may give people everyday people a physical edge in the future, but the body has limits. Of course, that could all go right out the window if the much-talked-about marriage between man and machine becomes a reality.


Let $K$ denote a field and let $V$ denote a vector space over $K$ with finite positive dimension. We consider a pair of linear transformations $A:V \to V$ and $A^*:V \to V$ that satisfy the following conditions: (i) each of $A,A^*$ is diagonalizable; (ii) there exists an ordering $\lbrace V_i\rbrace_{i=0}^d$ of the eigenspaces of $A$ such that $A^* V_i \subseteq V_{i-1} + V_{i} + V_{i+1}$ for $0 \leq i \leq d$, where $V_{-1}=0$ and $V_{d+1}=0$; (iii) there exists an ordering $\lbrace V^*_i\rbrace_{i=0}^\delta$ of the eigenspaces of $A^*$ such that $A V^*_i \subseteq V^*_{i-1} + V^*_{i} + V^*_{i+1}$ for $0 \leq i \leq \delta$, where $V^*_{-1}=0$ and $V^*_{\delta+1}=0$; (iv) there is no subspace $W$ of $V$ such that $AW \subseteq W$, $A^* W \subseteq W$, $W \neq 0$, $W \neq V$. We call such a pair a {\it tridiagonal pair} on $V$. It is known that $d=\delta$ and for $0 \leq i \leq d$ the dimensions of $V_i$, $V^*_i$, $V_{d-i}$, $V^*_{d-i}$ coincide; we denote this common dimension by $\rho_i$. In this paper we prove that $\rho_i \leq \rho_0 \binom{d}{i}$ for $0 \leq i \leq d$. It is already known that $\rho_0=1$ if $\K$ is algebraically closed.


Both Uranus and Neptune are thought to have strong zonal winds with velocities of several hundred meters per second. These wind velocities, however, assume solid-body rotation periods based on Voyager 2 measurements of periodic variations in the planets' radio signals and of fits to the planets' magnetic fields; 17.24h and 16.11h for Uranus and Neptune, respectively. The realization that the radio period of Saturn does not represent the planet's deep interior rotation and the complexity of the magnetic fields of Uranus and Neptune raise the possibility that the Voyager 2 radio and magnetic periods might not represent the deep interior rotation periods of the ice giants. Moreover, if there is deep differential rotation within Uranus and Neptune no single solid-body rotation period could characterize the bulk rotation of the planets. We use wind and shape data to investigate the rotation of Uranus and Neptune. The shapes (flattening) of the ice giants are not measured, but only inferred from atmospheric wind speeds and radio occultation measurements at a single latitude. The inferred oblateness values of Uranus and Neptune do not correspond to bodies rotating with the Voyager rotation periods. Minimization of wind velocities or dynamic heights of the 1 bar isosurfaces, constrained by the single occultation radii and gravitational coefficients of the planets, leads to solid-body rotation periods of ~16.58h for Uranus and ~17.46h for Neptune. Uranus might be rotating faster and Neptune slower than Voyager rotation speeds. We derive shapes for the planets based on these rotation rates. Wind velocities with respect to these rotation periods are essentially identical on Uranus and Neptune and wind speeds are slower than previously thought. Alternatively, if we interpret wind measurements in terms of differential rotation on cylinders there are essentially no residual atmospheric winds.


NF-{\kappa}B is a pleiotropic protein whose nucleo-cytoplasmic trafficking is tightly regulated by multiple negative feedback loops embedded in the NF-{\kappa}B signaling network and contributes to diverse gene expression profiles important in immune cell differentiation, cell apoptosis, and innate immunity. The intracellular signaling processes and their control mechanisms, however, are susceptible to both extrinsic and intrinsic noise. In this article, we present numerical evidence for a universal dynamic behavior of NF-{\kappa}B, namely oscillatory nucleo-cytoplasmic shuttling, due to the fundamentally stochastic nature of the NF-{\kappa}B signaling network. We simulated the effect of extrinsic noise with a deterministic ODE model, using a statistical ensemble approach, generating many copies of the signaling network with different kinetic rates sampled from a biologically feasible parameter space. We modeled the effect of intrinsic noise by simulating the same networks stochastically using the Gillespie algorithm. The results demonstrate that extrinsic noise diversifies the shuttling patterns of NF-{\kappa}B response, whereas intrinsic noise induces oscillatory behavior in many of the otherwise non-oscillatory patterns. We identify two key model parameters which significantly affect the NF-{\kappa}B dynamic response and deduce a two-dimensional phase-diagram of the NF-{\kappa}B response as a function of these parameters. We conclude that if single-cell experiments are performed, a rich variety of NF-{\kappa}B response will be observed, even if population-level experiments, which average response over large numbers of cells, do not evidence oscillatory behavior.


If Dark Energy introduces an acceleration in the universal expansion then large scale gravitational potential wells should be shrinking, causing a blueshift in the CMB photons that cross such structures (Integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect, [ISW]). Galaxy clusters are known to probe those potential wells. In these objects, CMB photons also experience inverse Compton scattering off the hot electrons of the intra-cluster medium, and this results in a distortion with a characteristic spectral signature of the CMB spectrum (the so-called thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect, [tSZ]). Since both the ISW and the tSZ effects take place in the same potential wells, they must be spatially correlated. We present how this cross ISW-tSZ signal can be detected in a CMB-data contained way by using the frequency dependence of the tSZ effect in multi frequency CMB experiments like {\it Planck}, {\em without} requiring the use of external large scale structure tracers data. We find that by masking low redshift clusters, the shot noise level decreases significantly, boosting the signal to noise ratio of the ISW--tSZ cross correlation. We also find that galactic and extragalactic dust residuals must be kept at or below the level of ~0.04 muK^2 at l=10, a limit that is a factor of a few below {\it Planck}'s expectations for foreground subtraction. If this is achieved, CMB observations of the ISW-tSZ cross correlation should also provide an independent probe for the existence of Dark Energy and the amplitude of density perturbations.