We present the first detections of the 3um water ice and 3.4um amorphous hydrocarbon (HAC) absorption features in z~2 ULIRGs. These are based on deep rest-frame 2-8um Spitzer IRS spectra of 11 sources selected for their appreciable silicate absorption. The HAC-to-silicate ratio for our z~2 sources is typically higher by a factor of 2-5 than that observed in the Milky Way. This HAC `excess' suggests compact nuclei with steep temperature gradients as opposed to predominantly host obscuration. Beside the above molecular absorption features, we detect the 3.3um PAH emission feature in one of our sources with three more individual spectra showing evidence for it. Stacking analysis suggests that water ice, hydrocarbons, and PAH are likely present in the bulk of this sample even when not individually detected. The most unexpected result of our study is the lack of clear detections of the 4.67um CO gas absorption feature. Only three of the sources show tentative signs of this feature and at significantly lower levels than has been observed in local ULIRGs. Overall, we find that the closest local analogs to our sources, in terms of 3-4um color, HAC-to-silicate and ice-to-silicate ratios, as well as low PAH equivalent widths are sources dominated by deeply obscured nuclei. Such sources form only a small fraction of ULIRGs locally and are commonly believed to be dominated by buried AGN. Our sample suggests that, in absolute number, such buried AGN are at least an order of magnitude more common at z~2 than today. The presence of PAH suggests that significant levels of star-formation are present even if the obscured AGN typically dominate the power budget.


heath Gardens, in Addiscombe, on October 6 when he saw a moped “driving at about 20pmh” approach him. Kouebitra and a then 15-year-old boy were on the moped. This youth, who is now 16 and cannot be named because of his age, has pleaded guilty to wounding with intent and admitted he was on the moped, but denied he was involved in the stabbing. Mr Dunham said: “[The youth] drove Kouebitra to Long Heath Gardens and when they arrived, Kouebitra chased him through the estate before cornering him and stabbed him with a machete four times to the chest, his side, his leg and arm.” He added: “Gadd was a close associate of Jack Harvey, who killed Daryl Kouebitra’s brother [Scotty]. One of the stab wounds was to the chest and if you stab someone to the chest, what could you possibly by trying to do?” Two men, who were on the estate at the time of the stabbing, desperately tried to help Kallum by applying pressure to his wounds before the emergency services were called. When helping him they asked him if he knew who had stabbed him, to which Kallum replied “Yes, Selhurst”. Kallum was taken to hospital, where he remained for five days, before coming home with “no significant disabilities” and made a “good recovery”. Kouebitra had previously been at a police custody suite earlier that day, for an unrelated crime. The court was told that he then left, changed his clothes and was picked up by the youth to go and collect a knife. Kouebitra denied attempting to kill Kallum, having pleaded not guilty at an earlier hearing. The jury unanimously found Kouebitra guilty of attempted murder and guilty of possessing an offensive weapon. They could not reach a verdict on a charge relating to wounding with intent, however. He will be sentenced at the same court on Thursday (May 31). It is not currently clear if the 16-year-old has already been sentenced.


If North Korea's nukes don’t scare you, take a look at its biological weapons The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse — Pestilence, War, Famine and Death — gallop through the Book of Revelation, and they’ve put in plenty of grim appearances elsewhere. Lately they’ve... North Korea soldier who defected had immunity to anthrax A North Korean soldier who defected to the South was found to have antibodies to anthrax — triggering concerns that the rogue regime has weaponized the deadly bacteria, according to... More than 100 hippos dead in suspected anthrax outbreak A sudden hippo die-off has sparked fears of an anthrax outbreak in Namibia. “Over 100 hippos died in the past week. The cause of death is unknown but the signs... Anthrax outbreak in Russia kills child, sends dozens to hospital MOSCOW — A child has died of anthrax in Siberia in the first fatal outbreak of the bacterial disease reported in Russia in 75 years, the regional governor’s office said... CDC mishandled bioterror germs A laboratory operated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had its permit suspended for three years for violating federal safety rules in its handling of bioterror pathogens,... Oops! Pentagon accidentally shipped more live anthrax than they thought The number of shipments of potentially live anthrax spores sent by mistake over the past decade now stands at 51. US shipped live anthrax to nine states The US Department of Defense inadvertently shipped live anthrax spores to as many as nine labs across the country, but officials insisted Wednesday that no one would be harmed by... Bacteria-filled subways leave riders feeling queasy Straphangers are worried sick over a new study that found traces of the bubonic plague and other bacteria — including ones that cause meningitis and staph infections — in the... Scientist finds lost vials of 'extinct' smallpox virus ATLANTA — A government scientist cleaning out an old storage room at a research center near Washington made a startling discovery last week — decades-old vials of smallpox packed away...


if we were to completely ban this kind of "research" in the United States, it would still progress in other industrialized nations all over the planet. The genetic modification of humans and animals is part of a larger trend we are currently witnessing. In the scientific community, there is a tremendous amount of excitement about the fact that humans can finally "take control of their own evolution." Many scientists believe we can use various forms of technology to give ourselves superhuman powers and radically extend our lifespans. And as technology continues to increase at an exponential rate, these scientists believe we will be able to ultimately create a "post-human society" where all sickness, disease, poverty and war are eradicated. So they aren't concerned about the potential dangers of these new technologies because they believe we are right on the verge of achieving immortality and transforming this planet into a technological utopia that will be perfect in every way. In other words, they believe humanity will no longer need "god" because we will be our own gods. Unfortunately for all the rest of us, in their relentless pursuit of this very foolish dream they are racing toward genetic Armageddon and they are opening up a Pandora's box of horrors that they simply do not understand. Michael Snyder is the founder and publisher of End Of The American Dream. Michael’s controversial new book about Bible prophecy entitled "The Rapture Verdict" is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com. Leaders are readers! Subscribe now and get 3 magazines for the price of 1. Get Ministry Today, Charisma and SpiritLed Woman all for $24. YES - Sign me up! 3 Reasons Why you should read Life in the Spirit. 1) Get to know the Holy Spirit. 2) Learn to enter God's presence 3) Hear God's voice clearly! Click Here to draw closer to God! - See an error in this article? This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.


We report observations of a possible young transiting planet orbiting a previously known weak-lined T-Tauri star in the 7-10 Myr old Orion-OB1a/25-Ori region. The candidate was found as part of the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) Orion project. It has a photometric transit period of 0.448413 +- 0.000040 days, and appears in both 2009 and 2010 PTF data. Follow-up low-precision radial velocity (RV) observations and adaptive optics imaging suggest that the star is not an eclipsing binary, and that it is unlikely that a background source is blended with the target and mimicking the observed transit. RV observations with the Hobby-Eberly and Keck telescopes yield an RV that has the same period as the photometric event, but is offset in phase from the transit center by approximately -0.22 periods. The amplitude (half range) of the RV variations is 2.4 km/s and is comparable with the expected RV amplitude that stellar spots could induce. The RV curve is likely dominated by stellar spot modulation and provides an upper limit to the projected companion mass of M_p sin i_orb < 4.8 +- 1.2 M_Jup; when combined with the orbital inclination, i orb, of the candidate planet from modeling of the transit light curve, we find an upper limit on the mass of the planetary candidate of M_p < 5.5 +- 1.4 M_Jup. This limit implies that the planet is orbiting close to, if not inside, its Roche limiting orbital radius, so that it may be undergoing active mass loss and evaporation.


Within the framework of the scalar-tensor theory (STT), its second post-Newtonian (2PN) approximation is obtained with Chandrasekhar's approach. By focusing on an $N$-point-masses system as the first step, we reduce the metric to its 2PN form for light propagation. Unlike previous works, at 2PN order, we abandon the hierarchized hypothesis and do not assume two parametrized post-Newtonian (PPN) parameters $\gamma$ and $\beta$ to be unity. We find that although there exist $\gamma$ and $\beta$ in the 2PN metric, only $\gamma$ appears in the 2PN equations of light. As a simple example for applications, a gauge-invariant angle between the directions of two incoming photons for a differential measurement is investigated after the light trajectory is solved in a static and spherically symmetric spacetime. It shows the deviation from the general relativity (GR) $\delta\theta_{\mathrm{STT}}$ does \emph{not} depend on $\beta$ even at 2PN level in this circumstance, which is consistent with previous results. A more complicated application is light deflection in a 2-point-masses system. We consider a case that the light propagation time is much less than the time scale of its orbital motion and thus treat it as a static system. The 2-body effect at 2PN level originating from relaxing the hierarchized hypothesis is calculated. Our analysis shows the 2PN 2-body effect in the Solar System is one order of magnitude less than future $\sim 1$ nas experiments, while this effect could be comparable with 1PN component of $\delta\theta_{\mathrm{STT}}$ in a binary system with two Sun-like stars and separation by $\sim 0.1$ AU if an experiment would be able to measure $\gamma-1$ down to $\sim 10^{-6}$.


If the Secretary determines that a State has failed to submit a report by the deadline specified by subsection (c), or finds that the State has not implemented and provided adequate enforcement of the standards established under subsection (a) or (b), the Secretary shall notify the State and provide the State a period of 60 days in which to submit the report. ``(2) Implementation of alternative enforcement mechanism.-- ``(A) In general.--If, after the 60-day period, the Secretary finds that such a failure has not been corrected, the Secretary shall within 30 days provide for a mechanism for the implementation and enforcement of such standards in the State as the Secretary determines to be appropriate. ``(B) Civil penalty.--Under any implementation and enforcement mechanism established by the Secretary pursuant to this paragraph, the Secretary shall have the authority to impose on an insurer a civil monetary penalty in the amount of $10,000 for each day during which such insurer violates the requirements described in section 2701, or the standards developed under this section. Liability for such penalty shall begin to accrue on the 30th day after the Secretary has provided such insurer with notice of its noncompliance, if the insurer has failed to correct the deficiency by such date. ``(C) Effective period.--Any such implementation and enforcement mechanism established by the Secretary shall take effect with respect to insurers, and health insurance coverage offered or renewed, on or after 3 months after the date of the Secretary's finding under paragraph (1), and until the date the Secretary finds that such a failure has been corrected. ``(3) Federal civil right of action.-- ``(A) In general.--Any individual aggrieved as a result of conduct prohibited by section 2701 may bring a civil action in the appropriate United States district court against the insurer. ``(B) Relief.--Upon proof of such conduct by a preponderance of the evidence, the insurer shall be subject to a civil penalty that may include temporary, preliminary, or permanent injunctive relief and compensatory and punitive damages, as well as the costs of suit and reasonable fees for the aggrieved individual's attorneys. With respect to compensatory damages, the aggrieved individual may elect, at any time prior to the rendering of final judgment, to recover in lieu of actual damages, an award of statutory damages in the amount of $5,000 for each violation. ``SEC. 2703. APPLICATION TO GROUP HEALTH PLANS AND ENFORCEMENT. ``(a) Application.--Subject


In Montgomery (2009a), we show that accretion discs in binary systems could retrogradely precess by tidal torques like the Moon and the Sun on a tilted, spinning, non-spherical Earth. In addition, we show that the state of matter and the geometrical shape of the celestial object could significantly affect the precessional value. For example, a Cataclysmic Variable (CV) Dwarf Novae (DN) non-magnetic system that shows negative superhumps in its light curve can be described by a retrogradely precessing, differentially rotating, tilted disc. Because the disc is a fluid and because the gas stream overflows the tilted disc and particles can migrate into inner disc annuli, coupled to the disc could be a retrogradely precessing inner ring that is located near the innermost annuli of the disc. However, numerical simulations by Bisikalo et al. (2003, 2004) and this work show that an inner spiral density wave can be generated instead of an inner ring. Therefore, we show that retrograde precession in non-magnetic, spinning, tilted CV DN systems can equally be described by a retrogradely precessing and differentially rotating disc with an attached retrogradely precessing inner spiral density wave so long as the wave appears at the same radius as the ring and within the plane of the tilted disc. We find that the theoretical results generated in this work agree well with the theoretical results presented in Montgomery (2009a) and thus with the numerical simulations and select CV DN systems in Montgomery (2009b) that may have a main sequence secondary. Therefore, pressure effects do need to be considered in CV DN systems that exhibit negative superhumps if the accretion discs are tilted and have an inner spiral density wave that is in the plane of the disc.


We examine the dynamical destruction of binary systems in star clusters of different densities. We find that at high densities (10^4 - 10^5 Msun pc^-3) almost all binaries with separations > 10^3 AU are destroyed after a few crossing times. At low densities (order(10^2) Msun pc^-3) many binaries with separations > 10^3 AU are destroyed, and no binaries with separations > 10^4 AU survive after a few crossing times. Therefore the binary separations in clusters can be used as a tracer of the dynamical age and past density of a cluster. We argue that the central region of the Orion Nebula Cluster was around 100 times denser in the past with a half-mass radius of only 0.1 - 0.2 pc as (a) it is expanding, (b) it has very few binaries with separations > 10^3 AU, and (c) it is well-mixed and therefore dynamically old. We also examine the origin of the field binary population. Binaries with separations < 10^2 AU are not significantly modified in any cluster, therefore at these separations the field reflects the sum of all star formation. Binaries with separations in the range 10^2 - 10^4 AU are progressively more and more heavily affected by dynamical disruption in increasingly dense clusters. If most star formation is clustered, these binaries must be over-produced relative to the field. Finally, no binary with a separation > 10^4 AU can survive in any cluster and so must be produced by isolated star formation, but only if all isolated star formation produces extremely wide binaries.


Following the notion that the Titius-Bode rule (TBR) may also be applicable to some extra-solar planetary systems, although this number could be relatively small, it is applied to 55 Cancri, which is a G-type main-sequence star currently known to host five planets. Following a concise computational process, we tentatively identify four new hypothetical planetary positions given as 0.081, 0.41, 1.51 and 2.95 AU from the star. The likelihood that these positions are occupied by real existing planets is significantly enhanced for the positions of 1.51 and 2.95 AU in the view of previous simulations on planet formation and planetary orbital stability. For example, Raymond et al. (2008) [ApJ 689, 478] argued that additional planets would be possible between 55 Cnc f and 55 Cnc d, which would include planets situated at 1.51 and 2.95 AU. If two additional planets are assumed to exist between 55 Cnc f and 55 Cnc d, the deduced domains of stability would be given as 1.3-1.6 and 2.2-3.3 AU. The possible planet near 1.5 AU appears to be located at the outskirts of the stellar habitable zone, which is however notably affected by the stellar parameters as well as the adopted model of circumstellar habitability. We also compute the distance of the next possible outer planet in the 55 Cnc system, which if existing is predicted to be located between 10.9 and 12.2 AU, which is consistent with orbital stability constraints. The inherent statistical significance of the TBR is evaluated following the method by Lynch (2003) [MNRAS 341, 1174]. Yet it is up to future planetary search missions to verify or falsify the applicability of the TBR to the 55 Cnc system, and to attain information on additional planets, if existing.


The Director of the Office of Management and Budget, at such time or times as the Director shall provide, is authorized and directed to make such determinations as may be necessary with regard to the functions, entities or programs, or portions thereof transferred by this Act, and to make such additional incidental dispositions of personnel, assets, liabilities, grants, contracts, property, records, and unexpended balances of appropriations, authorizations, allocations, and other funds held, used, arising from, available to, or to be made available in connection with such functions, entities or programs, or portions thereof, as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act. The Director shall provide for the termination of the affairs of all entities and programs terminated by this Act and for such further measures and dispositions as may be necessary to effectuate the purposes of this Act. (B) Transfer of positions within senior executive service.--After consultation with the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget is authorized, at such time as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget provides, to make such determinations as may be necessary with regard to the transfer of positions within the Senior Executive Service in connection with functions and entities and programs transferred by this Act. (c) Savings Provisions.-- (1) Completed administrative actions.-- (A) In general.--Completed administrative actions of an entity or program shall not be affected by the enactment of this Act or the transfer of the functions of such entity or program to the Agency under section 4(c), but shall continue in effect according to their terms until amended, modified, superseded, terminated, set aside, or revoked in accordance with law by an officer of the United States or a court of competent jurisdiction, or by operation of law. (B) Definition.--For purposes of subparagraph (A), the term ``completed administrative action'' includes orders, determinations, rules, regulations, personnel actions, permits, agreements, grants, contracts, certificates, licenses, registrations, and privileges. (2) Pending civil actions.--Subject to the authority of the Under Secretary under this Act, pending civil actions shall continue notwithstanding the enactment of this Act or the transfer of the functions of an entity or program to the Agency under section 4(c), and in such civil actions, proceedings shall be had, appeals taken, and judgments rendered and enforced in the same manner and with the same effect as if such enactment or transfer had not occurred.


Recent analysis of five gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglow spectra reveal the absence of molecular hydrogen absorption lines, a surprising result in light of their large neutral hydrogen column densities and the detection of H$_2$ in similar, more local star-forming regions like 30 Doradus in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Observational evidence further indicates that the bulk of the neutral hydrogen column in these sight lines lies 100 pc beyond the progenitor and that H$_2$ was absent prior to the burst, suggesting that direct flux from the star, FUV background fields, or both suppressed its formation. We present one-dimensional radiation hydrodynamical models of GRB host galaxy environments, including self-consistent radiative transfer of both ionizing and Lyman-Werner photons, nine-species primordial chemistry with dust formation of H$_2$, and dust extinction of UV photons. We find that a single GRB progenitor is sufficient to ionize neutral hydrogen to distances of 50 - 100 pc but that a galactic Lyman-Werner background is required to dissociate the molecular hydrogen in the ambient ISM. Intensities of 0.1 - 100 times the Galactic mean are necessary to destroy H$_2$ in the cloud, depending on its density and metallicity. The minimum radii at which neutral hydrogen will be found in afterglow spectra is insensitive to the mass of the progenitor or the initial mass function (IMF) of its cluster, if present.


If $w=u\alpha$ for $\alpha\in \Sigma=\{1,2\}$ and $u\in \Sigma^*$, then $w$ is said to be a \textit{simple right extension}of $u$ and denoted by $u\prec w$. Let $k$ be a positive integer and $P^k(\epsilon)$ denote the set of all $C^\infty$-words of height $k$. Set $u_{1},\,u_{2},..., u_{m}\in P^{k}(\epsilon)$, if $u_{1}\prec u_{2}\prec ...\prec u_{m}$ and there is no element $v$ of $P^{k}(\epsilon)$ such that $v\prec u_{1}\text{or} u_{m}\prec v$, then $u_{1}\prec u_{2}\prec...\prec u_{m}$ is said to be a \textit{maximal right smooth extension (MRSE) chains}of height $k$. In this paper, we show that \textit{MRSE} chains of height $k$ constitutes a partition of smooth words of height $k$ and give the formula of the number of \textit{MRSE} chains of height $k$ for each positive integer $k$. Moreover, since there exist the minimal height $h_1$ and maximal height $h_2$ of smooth words of length $n$ for each positive integer $n$, we find that \textit{MRSE} chains of heights $h_1-1$ and $h_2+1$ are good candidates to be used to establish the lower and upper bounds of the number of smooth words of length $n$ respectively, which is simpler and more intuitionistic than the previous methods.


Former Chicago Police Chief Slams BLM… Blames Them For Violent Crime Wave [AUDIO] A former Chicago police chief has finally said what the rest of us are thinking and called out the Black Lives Matter movement. Since the rise of this famous group, we’ve seen a rise in the amount of police-targeted crimes. While many are afraid to call it what it is for fear of being labeled “racist” or a “bigot,” Garry McCarthy took to the airwaves to prove that not everyone will be bullied into silence. Coming from Chicago, he’s seen more than his fair share of crime, so if anyone would know the effect of BLM on police interaction with the public, it would be him. While speaking with John Catsimatidis on AM 970 in New York, McCarthy blamed the movement for the “political atmosphere of anti-police sentiment.” McCarthy explained that the movement has created an environment that has “emboldened” violent criminals, while “hamstringing” police officers, which McCarthy said contributes to increased “lawlessness” and violent crime. “So what’s happening, and this is ironic, is that a movement with the goal of saving black lives at this point is getting black lives taken, because 80 percent of our murder victims here in Chicago are male blacks,” he explained. “Less than half of 1 percent of all the shootings in this city involve police officers shooting civilians.” McCarthy went on to explain that the murder rate has skyrocketed 90 percent in Chicago over the past two years, which he said is “simply unacceptable.” “We are very clearly going down the wrong path,” he added. Listen to the audio below: I’m hoping that Trump’s election with embolden the police to go after criminals and stop being afraid of the media’s reaction to their difficult decisions. There is no reason an officer should feel like they couldn’t do their job because people would harass them and their family if the media portrays what they did as a bad thing.


if it involves murder (relating to possessing a dangerous weapon in a Federal facility), 956 (relating to conspiracy to injure property of a foreign government), 1030(a)(1), 1030(a)(5)(A), or 1030(a)(7) (relating to protection of computers), 1362 (relating to destruction of communication lines, stations, or systems), 1366 (relating to destruction of an energy facility), 1992 (relating to trainwrecking), 2152 (relating to injury of fortifications, harbor defenses, or defensive sea areas), 2155 (relating to destruction of national defense materials, premises, or utilities), 2156 (relating to production of defective national defense materials, premises, or utilities), 2280 (relating to violence against maritime navigation), 2281 (relating to violence against maritime fixed platforms), 2339A (relating to providing material support to terrorists), 2339B (relating to providing material support to terrorist organizations), or 2340A (relating to torture). ``(2) Any of the following provisions of title 49: the second sentence of section 46504 (relating to assault on a flight crew with a dangerous weapon), section 46505(b)(3), (relating to explosive or incendiary devices, or endangerment of human life by means of weapons, on aircraft), section 46506 if homicide or attempted homicide is involved, or section 60123(b) (relating to destruction of interstate gas or hazardous liquid pipeline facility) of title 49.''. (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 213 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by amending the item relating to section 3286 to read as follows: ``3286. Terrorism offenses.''. (c) Application.--The amendments made by this section shall apply to the prosecution of any offense committed before, on, or after the date of enactment of this section. SEC. 402. ALTERNATIVE MAXIMUM PENALTIES FOR TERRORISM CRIMES. Section 3559 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding after subsection (d) the following: ``(e) Authorized Terms of Imprisonment for Terrorism Crimes.--A person convicted of any Federal terrorism offense may be sentenced to imprisonment for any term of


The characteristic mass M_c in the stellar initial mass function (IMF) is about constant for most star-forming regions. Numerical simulations consistently show a proportionality between M_c and the thermal Jeans mass M_J at the time of cloud fragmentation, but no models have explained how it can be the same in diverse conditions. Here we show that M_J depends weakly on density, temperature, metallicity, and radiation field in three environments: the dense cores where stars form, larger star-forming regions ranging from GMCs to galactic disks, and the interiors of HII regions and super star clusters. In dense cores, the quantity T^{3/2}n^{-1/2} that appears in M_J scales with core density as n^{0.25} or with radiation density as U^{0.1} at the density where dust and gas come into thermal equilibrium. On larger scales, this quantity varies with ambient density as n^{-0.05} and ambient radiation field as U^{-0.033} when the Kennicutt-Schmidt law of star formation determines U(n). In super star clusters with ionization and compression of pre-stellar globules, M_J varies as the 0.13 power of the cluster column density. These weak dependencies on n, U, and column density imply that most environmental variations affect the thermal Jeans mass by at most a factor of ~2. Cosmological increases in M_J, which have been suggested by observations, may be explained if the star formation efficiency is systematically higher at high redshift for a given density and pressure, if dust grains are smaller at lower metallicity, and so hotter for a given radiation field, or if small pre-stellar cores are more severely ionized in extreme starburst conditions.


; and ``(C) any other information necessary to enable the public to accurately compute the Federal retirement benefits of each Member based on various assumptions of years of service and age of separation from service by reason of retirement.''. (b) Effective Date.--This section shall take effect 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act. SEC. 4. ELIMINATION OF AUTOMATIC ANNUITY ADJUSTMENTS FOR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS. The portion of the annuity of a Member of Congress which is based solely on service as a Member of Congress shall not be subject to a cost-of-living adjustment under section 8340 or 8462 of title 5, United States Code. SEC. 5. ELIMINATION OF AUTOMATIC PAY ADJUSTMENTS FOR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS. (a) Pay Adjustments.--Paragraph (2) of section 601(a) of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 (2 U.S.C. 31) is repealed. (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 601(a)(1) of such Act is amended-- (1) by striking ``(a)(1)'' and inserting ``(a)''; (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) as paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), respectively; and (3) by striking ``, as adjusted by paragraph (2) of this subsection''. SEC. 6. ROLLCALL VOTE FOR ANY CONGRESSIONAL PAY RAISE. It shall not be in order in the Senate or the House of Representatives to dispose of any amendment, bill, resolution, motion, or other matter relating to the pay of Members of Congress unless the matter is decided by a rollcall vote.


, rule, or regulation, each individual occupying a Senior Executive Service position (as that term is defined in section 3132(a)(2) of title 5, United States Code) on the date of enactment of this Act shall, beginning on the first day of the first pay period beginning after the date that the applicable appointing authority makes the determination under section 5383(a) of title 5, United States Code (as amended by subsection (a)), receive the rate of pay applicable to such position, as determined by the appointing authority under such section. SEC. 3. SEMIANNUAL REPORTS ON TRANSFERS OF SENIOR EXECUTIVES OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. (a) Semiannual Reports.--On a semiannual basis, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Senate a report on covered senior executives who transfer from one senior executive position in the Department of Veterans Affairs to another senior executive position in the Department during the period covered by the report. (b) Matters Included.--Each report under subsection (a) shall include, with respect to each covered senior executive who transfers from one senior executive position in the Department to another senior executive position in the Department during the period covered by the report, the following: (1) The name of the covered senior executive. (2) A description of the senior executive position from which the covered senior executive transferred, including the annual rate of basic pay received by the covered senior executive in such position. (3) A description of the senior executive position to which the covered senior executive transferred, including the annual rate of basic pay received by the covered senior executive in such position. (4) A description of the purpose of the transfer. (5) Justification for any increase or decrease in the annual rate of basic pay received by the covered senior executive by reason of such transfer. (6) Information regarding any relocation expenses and any incentives provided to the covered senior executive as part of such transfer. (c) Definitions.--In this section: (1) The term ``covered senior executive'' means an individual (as such term is defined in section 713(g)(1) of title 38, United States Code). (2) The term ``senior executive position'' has the meaning given that term in section 713(g)(3) of title 38, United States Code.


two years after the date of the enactment of this section and at least once every five years thereafter (or more frequently as appropriate), the Inspector General of the Peace Corps shall perform an audit of Peace Corps implementation of safety and security protocols, including the status of any Inspector General findings and recommendations from previous audits that have not been adequately remediated or implemented. SEC. 6. PORTFOLIO REVIEWS. (a) In General.--The Director of the Peace Corps shall, at least once every three years (or more frequently as appropriate), perform a review to evaluate the allocation and delivery of resources across the countries the Peace Corps serves or is considering for service. Such portfolio reviews shall at a minimum include the following with respect to each such country: (1) An evaluation of the country's commitment to the Peace Corps program. (2) An analysis of the safety and security of volunteers. (3) An evaluation of the country's need for assistance. (4) An analysis of country program costs. (5) An evaluation of the effectiveness of management of each post within a country. (6) An evaluation of the country's congruence with the Peace Corps' mission and strategic priorities. (b) Report.--The Director of the Peace Corps shall prepare a report on each portfolio review required under subsection (a). Each such report shall discuss performance measures and sources of data used (such as project status reports, volunteer surveys, impact studies, reports of Inspector General of the Peace Corps, and any relevant external sources) in making such review's findings and conclusions. The Director shall make each such report available upon request to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate in a manner consistent with the protection of classified information if determined necessary to protect sensitive information.


nothing preventing local NHS organisations from setting their own limit." Image caption Greg says he lost his hair 'overnight' Greg Burnet, who's 26, completely lost his hair when he was 13. "I scratched my head in music class and some hair came out and I remember the girl next to me being like 'What the hell?' "It was an overnight thing," he says. Despite seeing multiple doctors, dermatologists and specialists over the years, no-one has ever offered to prescribe him a wig. "I would've been a different person. The alopecia has completely changed me and if I had an option of a wig it might not have done. "Whether it's for better or worse - I wasn't given a choice and that's not fair." Image copyright Greg Burnet Image caption Greg says he wishes he'd been given the option of a wig Human hair wigs can cost several hundred pounds and the charity says it's heard from people who've had to cut back on essentials just to afford theirs. Jen, who has alopecia herself, used to get real hair wigs prescribed to her on the NHS - but in recent years she says the service has been cut. "I remember when they told me - I just couldn't hold it together and I burst into tears," she says. Image copyright Getty Images The British Association of Dermatologists has echoed the call for a consistent NHS wig policy. "Wig provision should be equal across the NHS, regardless of where you live. "Alopecia can have an enormous impact on quality of life and should not be considered a cosmetic issue." Both NHS England and the body that represents CCGs (NHSCC) have refused to comment. Catch me up hide Follow Newsbeat on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 every weekday on BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra - if you miss us you can listen back here.


We present high quality long slit spectra along the major and minor axes out to 1.5-2 Re (14-22 kpc) of three bright elliptical galaxies (NGC1600, NGC4125, NGC7619) obtained at the Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET). We derive stellar kinematic profiles and Lick/IDS indices (Hbeta, Mgb, Fe5015, Fe5270, Fe5335, Fe5406). Moreover, for NGC4125 we derive gas kinematics and emission line strengths. We model the absorption line strengths using Simple Stellar Populations models that take into account the variation of [\alpha/Fe] and derive ages, total metallicity and element abundances. Overall, we find that the three galaxies have old and [\alpha/Fe] overabundant stellar populations with no significant gradients. The metallicity is supersolar at the center with a strong negative radial gradient. For NGC4125, several pieces of evidence point to a recent dissipational merger event. We calculate the broad band color profiles with the help of SSP models. All of the colors show sharp peaks at the center of the galaxies, mainly caused by the metallicity gradients, and agree well with the measured colors. Using the Schwarzschild's axisymmetric orbit superposition technique, we model the stellar kinematics to constrain the dark halos of the galaxies. We use the tight correlation between the Mgb strength and local escape velocity to set limits on the extent of the halos by testing different halo sizes. Logarithmic halos - cut at 60 kpc -minimize the overall scatter of the Mgb-Vesc relation. Larger cutoff radii are found if the dark matter density profile is decreasing more steeply at large radii.


A drawing of a graph is said to be a {\em straight-line drawing} if the vertices of $G$ are represented by distinct points in the plane and every edge is represented by a straight-line segment connecting the corresponding pair of vertices and not passing through any other vertex of $G$. The minimum number of slopes in a straight-line drawing of $G$ is called the slope number of $G$. We show that every cubic graph can be drawn in the plane with straight-line edges using only the four basic slopes $\{0,\pi/4,\pi/2,-\pi/4\}$. We also prove that four slopes have this property if and only if we can draw $K_4$ with them. Given a graph $G$, an {\em obstacle representation} of $G$ is a set of points in the plane representing the vertices of $G$, together with a set of obstacles (connected polygons) such that two vertices of $G$ are joined by an edge if and only if the corresponding points can be connected by a segment which avoids all obstacles. The {\em obstacle number} of $G$ is the minimum number of obstacles in an obstacle representation of $G$. We show that there are graphs on $n$ vertices with obstacle number $\Omega({n}/{\log n})$. We show that there is an $m=2n+o(n)$, such that, in the Maker-Breaker game played on $\Z^d$ where Maker needs to put at least $m$ of his marks consecutively in one of $n$ given winning directions, Breaker can force a draw using a pairing strategy. This improves the result of Kruczek and Sundberg who showed that such a pairing strategy exits if $m\ge 3n$. A simple argument shows that $m$ has to be at least $2n+1$ if Breaker is only allowed to use a pairing strategy, thus the main term of our bound is optimal.


ICL is believed to originate from the stars stripped from cluster galaxies. They are no longer gravitationally bound to individual galaxies, but to the cluster, and their smooth distribution potentially makes them serve as much denser tracers of the cluster dark matter than the sparsely distributed cluster galaxies. We present our study of the ICL in Cl 0024+17 using both ACS and Subaru data, where we previously reported discovery of a ringlike dark matter structure with gravitational lensing. The ACS images provide much lower sky levels than ground data, and enable us to measure relative variation of surface brightness reliably. This analysis is repeated with the Subaru images to examine if consistent features are recovered despite different reduction scheme and instrumental characteristics. We find that the ICL profile clearly resembles the peculiar mass profile, which stops decreasing at r~50" (~265 kpc) and slowly increases until it turns over at r~75" (~397 kpc). This feature is seen in both ACS and Subaru images for nearly all available passband images while the features are stronger in red filters. The consistency across different filters and instruments strongly rules out the possibility that the feature might come from any residual, uncorrected calibration errors. In addition, our re-analysis of the cluster X-ray data shows that the peculiar mass structure is also indicated by a non-negligible bump in the intracluster gas profile when the geometric center of the dark matter ring, not the peak of the X-ray emission, is chosen as the center of the radial bin. The location of the gas ring is closer to the center by ~15" (~80 kpc), raising an interesting possibility that the ring-like structure is expanding and the gas ring is lagging behind perhaps because of the ram pressure if both features in mass and gas share the same dynamical origin.


Stored antiproton beams at the international FAIR facility will provide unique opportunities to study hyperons as well as antihyperons in nuclear systems. Precise $\gamma$-spectroscopy of multi-strange hypernuclei will serve as a laboratory for the hyperon-hyperon interaction. Exclusive hadron-antihadron pair production close to threshold can measure the potential of a antihadron relative to that of the coincident hadrons. In the present work we explore the production of excited states in double hypernuclei following the micro-canonical break-up of an initially excited double hypernucleus which is created by the absorption and conversion of a stopped $\Xi^{-}$ hyperon. Generally the formation of excited hypernuclear states relative to ground states dominates in this model. For different initial target nuclei which absorb the $\Xi^-$, different double hypernuclei nuclei dominate. We also compare the model predictions with the correlated pion spectra measured by the E906 collaboration. In antiproton nucleus reactions the event-by-event transverse momentum correlations of hadron-antihadron pairs produced close to threshold contain information on the difference between the nuclear potential of the hadron and the associated antihadron. For produced D-meson pairs at 6.7\gevc1 the sensitivity of the transverse momenta correlation will probably be to small to deduce differences between the potentials for D$^+$ and D$^-$ mesons. However, for {\PgX\PagX} pairs produced at 2.9\gevc1 the asymmetry is sufficiently sensitive to predicted differences between the {\PgX} and {\PagX} potentials even if the momentum and density dependence of the the potential are taken into account.


We present an interesting Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) detection in the first of the Arcminute Microkelvin Imager (AMI) 'blind', degree-square fields to have been observed down to our target sensitivity of 100{\mu}Jy/beam. In follow-up deep pointed observations the SZ effect is detected with a maximum peak decrement greater than 8 \times the thermal noise. No corresponding emission is visible in the ROSAT all-sky X-ray survey and no cluster is evident in the Palomar all-sky optical survey. Compared with existing SZ images of distant clusters, the extent is large (\approx 10') and complex; our analysis favours a model containing two clusters rather than a single cluster. Our Bayesian analysis is currently limited to modelling each cluster with an ellipsoidal or spherical beta-model, which do not do justice to this decrement. Fitting an ellipsoid to the deeper candidate we find the following. (a) Assuming that the Evrard et al. (2002) approximation to Press & Schechter (1974) correctly gives the number density of clusters as a function of mass and redshift, then, in the search area, the formal Bayesian probability ratio of the AMI detection of this cluster is 7.9 \times 10^4:1; alternatively assuming Jenkins et al. (2001) as the true prior, the formal Bayesian probability ratio of detection is 2.1 \times 10^5:1. (b) The cluster mass is MT,200 = 5.5+1.2\times 10^14h-1M\odot. (c) Abandoning a physical model with num- -1.3 70 ber density prior and instead simply modelling the SZ decrement using a phenomenological {\beta}-model of temperature decrement as a function of angular distance, we find a central SZ temperature decrement of -295+36 {\mu}K - this allows for CMB primary anisotropies, receiver -15 noise and radio sources. We are unsure if the cluster system we observe is a merging system or two separate clusters.


Housing and Urban Development or any public housing agency pursuant to this section. ``(2) Eviction of nonelderly tenants having drug or alcohol use problems in housing designated for elderly families.--A tenant in a project (or portion of a project) that is designated under subsection (a)(1) for occupancy by only elderly families or by only elderly and disabled families shall be evicted under this paragraph if-- ``(A) the tenant's household includes a person described in clause (i) or (ii) of subsection (a)(5)(A); and ``(B) upon termination of the tenant's tenancy in the project, the public housing agency provides rental assistance under section 8 on behalf of the tenant.''. (b) Preference for Section 8 Assistance.-- (1) Certificates.--Section 8(d)(1)(A)(i) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(d)(1)(A)(i)) is amended by inserting after ``income for rent,'' the following: ``are required to be evicted under section 7(c)(2) if assistance under this section is provided on behalf of the family,''. (2) Vouchers.--The first sentence of section 8(o)(3)(B) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(3)(B)) is amended by inserting after ``displaced,'' the following: ``are required to be evicted under section 7(c)(2) if assistance under this section is provided on behalf of the family,''.


We develop a model for stochastic pre-enrichment and self-enrichment in globular clusters (GCs) during their formation process. GCs beginning their formation have an initial metallicity determined by the pre-enrichment of their surrounding protocloud, but can also undergo internal self-enrichment during formation. Stochastic variations in metallicity arise because of the finite numbers of supernova. We construct an analytic formulation of the combined effects of pre-enrichment and self-enrichment and use Monte Carlo models to verify that the model accurately encapsulates the mean metallicity and metallicity spread among real GCs. The predicted metallicity spread due to self-enrichment alone, a robust prediction of the model, is much smaller than the observed spread among real GCs. This result rules out self-enrichment as a significant contributor to the metal content in most GCs, leaving pre-enrichment as the viable alternative. Self-enrichment can, however, be important for clusters with masses well above 10^6 Msun, which are massive enough to hold in a significant fraction of their SN ejecta even without any external pressure confinement. This transition point corresponds well to the mass at which a mass-metallicity relationship ("blue tilt") appears in the metal-poor cluster sequence in many large galaxies. We therefore suggest that self-enrichment is the primary driver for the mass-metallicity relation. Other predictions from our model are that the cluster-to-cluster metallicity spread decreases amongst the highest mass clusters; and that the red GC sequence should also display a more modest mass-metallicity trend if it can be traced to similarly high mass.


We present a spectroscopic study of Leo V, a recently discovered satellite of the Milky Way (MW). From stellar spectra obtained with the MMT/Hectochelle spectrograph we identify seven likely members of Leo V. Five cluster near the Leo V center (R < 3 arcmin) and have velocity dispersion 2.4_{-1.4}^{+2.4} km/s. The other two likely members lie near each other but far from the center (R~13 arcmin ~ 700 pc) and inflate the global velocity dispersion to 3.7_{-1.4}^{+2.3} km/s. Assuming the five central members are bound, we obtain a dynamical mass of M=3.3_{-2.5}^{+9.1} x 10^5M_{sun} (M/L_V=75_{-58}^{+230}[M/L_V]_{sun}). From the stacked spectrum of the five central members we estimate a mean metallicity of [Fe/H]=-2.0\pm 0.2 dex. Thus with respect to dwarf spheroidals of similar luminosity, Leo V is slightly less massive and slightly more metal-rich. Since we resolve the central velocity dispersion only marginally, we do not rule out the possibility that Leo V is a diffuse star cluster devoid of dark matter. The wide separation of its two outer members implies Leo V is losing mass; however, its large distance (D ~ 180 kpc) is difficult to reconcile with MW tidal stripping unless the orbit is very radial.


902(2) of the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7201(2)) is amended-- (i) by striking subparagraph (D); and (ii) by redesignating subparagraphs (E) and (F) as subparagraphs (D) and (E), respectively. SEC. 3. FEDERAL MILK MARKETING REFORM. (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall conduct hearings to assess the implications of transitioning Federal milk marketing orders from end-product pricing to a competitive pay pricing system. (b) Requirements.--In conducting hearings under this section, the Secretary shall-- (1) ensure that market administrators conduct a thorough analysis of the reforms to the Federal milk marketing orders proposed by the Maine Dairy Industry Advisory Council and the reforms included in title II of the Dairy Security Act of 2011; (2) analyze the implications of transitioning from a 4- class system for milk products to a 2-class system; (3) explore methods to improve signals for price discovery in the short- and long-term to allow dairy producers to better use risk management tools; (4) assess whether a 2-class competitive pay pricing system for milk products would be more or less transparent than the system in effect as of the day before the date of enactment of this Act; and (5) analyze the impact of eliminating a minimum regulated price on price volatility in dairy markets. SEC. 4. BUDGETARY EFFECTS. The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall be determined by reference to the latest statement titled ``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation'' for this Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record by the Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, provided that such statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.


The development of fast and accurate methods of photometric redshift estimation is a vital step towards being able to fully utilize the data of next-generation surveys within precision cosmology. In this paper we apply a specific approach to spectral connectivity analysis (SCA; Lee & Wasserman 2009) called diffusion map. SCA is a class of non-linear techniques for transforming observed data (e.g., photometric colours for each galaxy, where the data lie on a complex subset of p-dimensional space) to a simpler, more natural coordinate system wherein we apply regression to make redshift predictions. As SCA relies upon eigen-decomposition, our training set size is limited to ~ 10,000 galaxies; we use the Nystrom extension to quickly estimate diffusion coordinates for objects not in the training set. We apply our method to 350,738 SDSS main sample galaxies, 29,816 SDSS luminous red galaxies, and 5,223 galaxies from DEEP2 with CFHTLS ugriz photometry. For all three datasets, we achieve prediction accuracies on par with previous analyses, and find that use of the Nystrom extension leads to a negligible loss of prediction accuracy relative to that achieved with the training sets. As in some previous analyses (e.g., Collister & Lahav 2004, Ball et al. 2008), we observe that our predictions are generally too high (low) in the low (high) redshift regimes. We demonstrate that this is a manifestation of attenuation bias, wherein measurement error (i.e., uncertainty in diffusion coordinates due to uncertainty in the measured fluxes/magnitudes) reduces the slope of the best-fit regression line. Mitigation of this bias is necessary if we are to use photometric redshift estimates produced by computationally efficient empirical methods in precision cosmology.


Newborn neutron stars surrounded by hyperaccreting and neutrino-cooled disks may exist in some gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and/or supernovae (SNe). In this paper we further study the structure of such a neutron-star disk based on the two-region (i.e., inner & outer) disk scenario following our previous work, and calculate the neutrino annihilation luminosity from the disk in various cases. We investigate the effects of the viscosity parameter, energy parameter (measuring the neutrino cooling efficiency of the inner disk) and outflow strength on the structure of the entire disk as well as the effect of emission from the neutron star surface boundary emission on the total neutrino annihilation rate. The inner disk satisfies the entropy-conservation or the advection-dominated self-similar structure depending on the energy parameter. An outflow from the disk decreases the density and pressure but increases the thickness of the disk. Moreover, compared with the black-hole disk, the neutrino annihilation luminosity above the neutron-star disk is higher, and the neutrino emission from the boundary layer could increase the neutrino annihilation luminosity by about one order of magnitude higher than the disk without boundary emission. The neutron-star disk with the advection-dominated inner disk could produce the highest neutrino luminosity while the disk with an outflow has the lowest. Although a heavily mass-loaded outflow from the neutron star surface at early times of neutron star formation prevents the outflow material from being accelerated to a high bulk Lorentz factor, an energetic ultrarelativistic jet via neutrino annihilation can be produced above the stellar polar region at late times if the disk accretion rate and the neutrino emission luminosity from the surface boundary layer are sufficiently high.


In this paper, we study the average case complexity of the Unique Games problem. We propose a natural semi-random model, in which a unique game instance is generated in several steps. First an adversary selects a completely satisfiable instance of Unique Games, then she chooses an epsilon-fraction of all edges, and finally replaces ("corrupts") the constraints corresponding to these edges with new constraints. If all steps are adversarial, the adversary can obtain any (1-epsilon) satisfiable instance, so then the problem is as hard as in the worst case. In our semi-random model, one of the steps is random, and all other steps are adversarial. We show that known algorithms for unique games (in particular, all algorithms that use the standard SDP relaxation) fail to solve semi-random instances of Unique Games. We present an algorithm that with high probability finds a solution satisfying a (1-delta) fraction of all constraints in semi-random instances (we require that the average degree of the graph is Omega(log k). To this end, we consider a new non-standard SDP program for Unique Games, which is not a relaxation for the problem, and show how to analyze it. We present a new rounding scheme that simultaneously uses SDP and LP solutions, which we believe is of independent interest. Our result holds only for epsilon less than some absolute constant. We prove that if epsilon > 1/2, then the problem is hard in one of the models, the result assumes the 2-to-2 conjecture. Finally, we study semi-random instances of Unique Games that are at most (1-epsilon) satisfiable. We present an algorithm that with high probability, distinguishes between the case when the instance is a semi-random instance and the case when the instance is an (arbitrary) (1-delta) satisfiable instance if epsilon > c delta.


We present the results of SiO millimeter-line observations of a sample of known SiO maser sources covering a wide dust-temperature range. A cold part of the sample was selected from the SiO maser sources found in our recent SiO maser survey of cold dusty objects. The aim of the present research is to investigate the causes of the correlation between infrared colors and SiO maser intensity ratios among different transition lines. In particular, the correlation between infrared colors and SiO maser intensity ratio among the J=1-0 v=1, 2, and 3 lines are mainly concerned in this paper. We observed in total 75 SiO maser sources with the Nobeyama 45m telescope quasi-simultaneously in the SiO J=1-0 v=0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and J=2-1 v=1, 2 lines. We also observed the sample in the 29SiO J=1-0 v=0 and J=2-1 v=0, and 30SiO J=1-0 v=0 lines, and the H2O 6(1,6)-5(2,3) line. As reported in previous papers, we confirmed that the intensity ratios of the SiO J=1-0 v=2 to v=1 lines clearly correlate with infrared colors. In addition, we found possible correlation between infrared colors and the intensity ratios of the SiO J=1-0 v=3 to v=1&2 lines. Two overlap lines of H2O (i.e., 11(6,6) nu_2=1 -> 12(7,5) nu_2=0 and 5(0,5) nu_2=2 -> 6(3,4) nu_2=1) might explain these correlation if these overlap lines become stronger with increase of infrared colors, although the phenomena also might be explained by more fundamental ways if we take into account the variation of opacity from object to object.


If a Federal department or agency head determines that such use is justified, then that Federal department or agency head shall publish an explanation of such continued use in the Federal Register. SEC. 4. APPLICATION. This Act shall not apply to regulations, guidelines, or recommendations related to medical research. SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. For purposes of this Act: (1) Animal.--The term ``animal'' means any vertebrate. (2) Animal acute toxicity test.--The term ``animal acute toxicity test'' means an acute toxicity test on animals, including (but not limited to) the Draize eye or skin irritancy test, LD-50 test, approximate lethal dose test, and the limit test. (3) Federal department or agency head.--The term ``Federal department or agency head'' means the head of a Federal department or agency who-- (A) has authority to promulgate regulations, guidelines, and recommendations with respect to procedures to be used in the safety testing by manufacturers of products, including consumer products, veterinary products, and products containing hazardous or toxic substances; or (B) licenses or approves products, labeling requirements or the transportation of products based on the results of these tests. (4) Medical research.--The term ``medical research'' means research, including research performed using biotechnology, related to the causes, diagnosis, treatment, or control of physical or mental impairments of humans or animals. The term does not include the testing of a product to determine its toxicity for the purpose of complying with protocols, recommendations, or guidelines for testing required, recommended, or accepted by a Federal regulatory agency for a product introduced in commerce. (5) Nonanimal acute toxicity test.--The term ``nonanimal acute toxicity test'' means an acute toxicity test not conducted on animals. Such tests include (but are not limited to) cell culture, computer modeling, protein alteration, and chorioallantoic membrane techniques.


Observations of an optical source coincident with gravitational wave emission detected from a binary neutron star coalescence will improve the confidence of detection, provide host galaxy localisation, and test models for the progenitors of short gamma ray bursts. We employ optical observations of three short gamma ray bursts, 050724, 050709, 051221, to estimate the detection rate of a coordinated optical and gravitational wave search of neutron star mergers. Model R-band optical afterglow light curves of these bursts that include a jet-break are extrapolated for these sources at the sensitivity horizon of an Advanced LIGO/Virgo network. Using optical sensitivity limits of three telescopes, namely TAROT (m=18), Zadko (m=21) and an (8-10) meter class telescope (m=26), we approximate detection rates and cadence times for imaging. We find a median coincident detection rate of 4 yr^{-1} for the three bursts. GRB 050724 like bursts, with wide opening jet angles, offer the most optimistic rate of 13 coincident detections yr^{-1}, and would be detectable by Zadko up to five days after the trigger. Late time imaging to m=26 could detect off-axis afterglows for GRB 051221 like bursts several months after the trigger. For a broad distribution of beaming angles, the optimal strategy for identifying the optical emissions triggered by gravitational wave detectors is rapid response searches with robotic telescopes followed by deeper imaging at later times if an afterglow is not detected within several days of the trigger.


If you’re building a performance car, there are a number of areas you need to focus on to make sure all of your upgrades are in sync with each other when it comes time to push the limits of their individual capabilities. For example, if you are upgrading your suspension, the wheels and tires had better be able to handle the new g-forces the car will exhibit in the corners. Planning on adding a supercharger, turbo system, or just upping the ante in cubic inches? You’d better hope that the transmission is up to handling the task. We’re here to tell you that PerformaBuilt Transmissions has one goal in mind: to engineer and build the toughest transmission on the planet, and they’ve proved so not only with their updated designs but also through their pledge of quality, performance, and unparalleled customer service. All of their transmissions are dyno-tested at their production facility and delivered to your door ready to install with a rock-solid warranty with no exceptions for racing or mileage. On a recent visit, the team was preparing one of their Level 3 Invincible 4L60E units, which is one of their strongest models designed for extreme performance. Packed with upgrades, it features a bevy of modifications making it capable of handling up to 800 rwhp (rear-wheel horsepower), which is far more than the capabilities of a stock 4L60E, which is around 300 hp. Each unit is methodically re-engineered to overcome many of the inherent factory weaknesses by adding strength and durability. Some of the issues addressed include boosting line pressure from an OEM level of between 140-150 psi to 220 psi, and keeping the unit balanced to avoid “shift shock” (banging shifts) by tightening down clearances; this results in firm, quick shifts as driver input becomes more aggressive. From front to rear, upgrades include a BorgWarner 29-element dual-cage sprag assembly, Sonnax Smart Shell to eliminate the stripping of splines and breakage, a set of Raybestos carbon composite performance clutches with new Raybestos steels, and two Sonnax Super Hold billet servos for Second and Fourth gears for maximum hold to name but a few. Follow along and check out just what it takes to bring a stock 4L60E to the highest level of performance. CHP Source PerformaBuilt Transmissions 888.744.6542 performabuilt.com


axed. The common thread among the three, besides zero playoff appearances? Ward, although it’s not all his fault, even if that’s a common sentiment among fans. There’s plenty of blame to go around, even beyond Eddie Lack. The Hurricanes have been too old when they needed to be younger, too young when they needed to be older and took far too long to assemble this group of talented players with untapped potential. Either way, the Hurricanes too often required something approaching perfection from Ward, and he could rarely deliver. And it was always Ward. Whether by default or design, Ward has been the main guy in net for this team for the past 11 years, in which the Hurricanes have made the playoffs once. All of the other contenders for the No. 1 job – most notably John Grahame, Anton Khudobin and Lack – turned out to be pretenders. If Lack were any good, this might have been a playoff team last spring. So now the Hurricanes try again, with Darling, whose record as a backup on one of the NHL’s best teams was stellar but who has never played more than 45 games in a season, and that when he was 19. The Hurricanes will probably need him to play at least 60, and play them well, not that Darling is taking that for granted. “Cam and I both want to play, and just because I showed up and signed here doesn’t mean, ‘Here you go, here’s 80 games,’ ” Darling said. But he will start Saturday’s opener against the Minnesota Wild, after missing his first scheduled preseason start with an undisclosed minor injury. In the two games he played after that, he was stellar: a 1.50 goals-against average and.925 save percentage. It’s foolish to draw sweeping conclusions from preseason because of the frequent talent disparity between game rosters, but those numbers are everything you’d expect from Darling. If he can deliver anything close to that in real games, it’ll be a different kind of season for the Hurricanes. And if he can’t, it’ll look all too familiar.


An election under subparagraph (A) shall-- ``(i) be made to the Settlement Trust in writing, and ``(ii) specify the percentage (not greater than 15 percent) of the distributions to be withheld. Such election may be revoked or modified with respect to distributions made after the revocation or modification. ``(6) Settlement trust.--For purposes of this section, the term `Settlement Trust' means a trust which constitutes a Settlement Trust under section 39 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1629e).'' (c) Reporting.--Section 6041 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: ``(f) Application to Alaska Settlement Trusts.--In the case of any distribution from a Settlement Trust (as defined in section 501(p)(6)) to a beneficiary, this section shall apply, except that-- ``(1) this section shall apply to such distribution without regard to the amount thereof, ``(2) the Settlement Trust shall include on any return or statement required by this section information as to the character of such distribution (if applicable) and the amount of tax imposed by chapter 1 deducted and withheld from such distribution, and ``(3) the filing of any return or statement required by this section shall satisfy any requirement to file any other form or schedule under this title with respect to distributive share information (including any form or schedule included with the trust's tax return).'' (d) Effective Dates.-- (1) In general.--The amendments made by this section shall apply to taxable years of Settlement Trusts beginning after December 31, 1996, and to contributions to such trusts after such date. (2) Requirement for election.--An election under section 501(p)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 for a taxable year beginning in 1997 shall not be treated as failing to meet the requirements of section 501(p)(2)(B) of such Code if such election is filed with the return of tax for the first taxable year after such taxable year.


We present the discovery of 5 millisecond pulsars found in the mid-Galactic latitude portion of the High Time Resolution Universe (HTRU) Survey. The pulsars have rotational periods from ~2.3 to ~7.5 ms, and all are in binary systems with orbital periods ranging from ~0.3 to ~150 d. In four of these systems, the most likely companion is a white dwarf, with minimum masses of ~0.2 Solar Masses. The other pulsar, J1731-1847, has a very low mass companion and exhibits eclipses, and is thus a member of the "black widow" class of pulsar binaries. These eclipses have been observed in bands centred near frequencies of 700, 1400 and 3000 MHz, from which measurements have been made of the electron density in the eclipse region. These measurements have been used to examine some possible eclipse mechanisms. The eclipse and other properties of this source are used to perform a comparison with the other known eclipsing and "black widow" pulsars. These new discoveries occupy a short-period and high-dispersion measure (DM) region of parameter space, which we demonstrate is a direct consequence of the high time and frequency resolution of the HTRU survey. The large implied distances to our new discoveries makes observation of their companions unlikely with both current optical telescopes and the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. The extremely circular orbits make any advance of periastron measurements highly unlikely. No relativistic Shapiro delays are obvious in any of the systems, although the low flux densities would make their detection difficult unless the orbits were fortuitously edge-on.


We analyze 2.8-yr data of 1-100 GeV photons for clusters of galaxies, collected with the Large Area Telescope onboard the Fermi satellite. By analyzing 49 nearby massive clusters located at high Galactic latitudes, we find no excess gamma-ray emission towards directions of the galaxy clusters. Using flux upper limits, we show that the Fornax cluster provides the most stringent constraints on the dark matter annihilation cross section. Stacking a large sample of nearby clusters does not help improve the limit for most dark matter models. This suggests that a detailed modeling of the Fornax cluster is important for setting robust limits on the dark matter annihilation cross section based on clusters. We therefore perform the detailed mass modeling and predict the expected dark matter annihilation signals from the Fornax cluster, by taking into account effects of dark matter contraction and substructures. By modeling the mass distribution of baryons (stars and gas) around a central bright elliptical galaxy, NGC 1399, and using a modified contraction model motivated by numerical simulations, we show that the dark matter contraction boosts the annihilation signatures by a factor of 4. For dark matter masses around 10 GeV, the upper limit obtained on the annihilation cross section times relative velocity is <\sigma v> <~ (2-3)x10^{-25} cm^3 s^{-1}, which is within a factor of 10 from the value required to explain the dark matter relic density. This effect is more robust than the annihilation boost due to substructure, and it is more important unless the mass of the smallest subhalos is much smaller than that of the Sun.


If the violation occurs in a single eligible State, the Secretary shall credit the account of that eligible State with an amount equal to 75% of the amount received. (ii) If the violation occurs in multiple eligible States, the Secretary shall divide the amount described in clause (i) by the number of eligible States where the violation occurred and shall credit the account of each eligible State with an equal share. (b) Requirements for Use and Redistribution of Payments.-- (1) Use of payments specified.--A payment received under this section shall be used solely for payments to local educational agencies (as defined in section 9101(26) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801(26))), public health care providers, and law enforcement agencies for the purpose of assisting State and local governments with meeting the costs associated with serving aliens who are unlawfully present in the United States. (2) Redistribution of payment to counties and units of local government.--An eligible State shall redistribute 66 percent of the payment received under this section, within 60 days of receipt by the State, to appropriate counties and units of local government in accordance with a system that the State shall develop that provides for opportunities for input from all counties and units of local government in the state and that targets the areas of greatest need in accordance with the purpose described in paragraph (1), based on objective criteria. (c) Definitions.--For the purposes of this section, the following definitions apply: (1) Eligible state.--The term ``eligible State'' means a State that agrees-- (A) to use the payment received under this section for the uses specified in subsection (b)(1); (B) to redistribute the payment received under this section to counties and units of local government in accordance with subsection (b)(2); (C) to require that any county or unit of local government to whom a payment is redistributed shall use the payment for the uses specified in subsection (b)(1); and (D) to submit information and assurances at such time and in such form as the Secretary may require. (2) State.--The term ``State'' includes each State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, and the United States Virgin Islands. (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the Treasury. (d) Effective Date.--This section shall take effect at the beginning of the next fiscal year following


If Tim Tebow’s stat line has not justified even his meager salary, his drawing power sure has. The former Heisman trophy winner was paid $10,000 this season while playing for the Single-A Columbia Fireflies and St. Lucie Mets and contributed to the largest rise in minor league baseball attendance in 23 years, according to ESPN. Attendance for Fireflies games increased by 54,000 fans (21 percent) over last season during Tebow’s tenure in Columbia, and the effect was more pronounced when he joined St. Lucie at the end of June, contributing to a 37 percent rise in visitors to the ballpark. Similar results were seen during road games, where the Fireflies drew an additional 2,591 fans over the home teams’ season averages. The last time the minors saw such a spike in attendance was thanks to another popular cross-sport athlete taking a stab at professional baseball: Michael Jordan. Tebow’s numbers don’t stack up against Jordan’s, but the NBA champion was the single most recognizable sports brand in the world at the time. Add to that the fact Jordan was playing Double-A ball in larger stadiums than Tebow, and the difference in their numbers is easily explained. The point remains – Tebow was a huge draw and a tremendous boon to the clubs he played for and those he visited. A Baseball America study conducted in June placed the value of Tebow’s contribution to ticket sales, parking, concessions and other revenue at $1.6 million. In other words, the Mets organization got precisely what it wanted out of Tebow. When the erstwhile NFL quarterback announced he would try his hand at baseball, many saw the move as nothing more than a publicity stunt, a money-making venture and a distraction. All of which made him a perfect fit for the Mets’ desultory strategizing. Tebow’s .226 batting average and 126 strikeouts in 126 minor league games at the Single-A level make him an unlikely candidate to save the Mets’ floundering big league club. But putting his name on the back of a Mets jersey has clear advantages, as evidenced by the numbers. And at $10,000 a year, the bargain is too good to pass up.


Topological excitations are usually classified by the $n$th homotopy group $\pi_n$. However, for topological excitations that coexist with vortices, there are case in which an element of $\pi_n$ cannot properly describe the charge of a topological excitation due to the influence of the vortices. This is because an element of $\pi_n$ corresponding to the charge of a topological excitation may change when the topological excitation circumnavigates a vortex. This phenomenon is referred to as the action of $\pi_1$ on $\pi_n$. In this paper, we show that topological excitations coexisting with vortices are classified by the Abe homotopy group $\kappa_n$. The $n$th Abe homotopy group $\kappa_n$ is defined as a semi-direct product of $\pi_1$ and $\pi_n$. In this framework, the action of $\pi_1$ on $\pi_n$ is understood as originating from noncommutativity between $\pi_1$ and $\pi_n$. We show that a physical charge of a topological excitation can be described in terms of the conjugacy class of the Abe homotopy group. Moreover, the Abe homotopy group naturally describes vortex-pair creation and annihilation processes, which also influence topological excitations. We calculate the influence of vortices on topological excitations for the case in which the order parameter manifold is $S^n/K$, where $S^n$ is an $n$-dimensional sphere and $K$ is a discrete subgroup of $SO(n+1)$. We show that the influence of vortices on a topological excitation exists only if $n$ is even and $K$ includes a nontrivial element of $O(n)/SO(n)$.


If you’re seeking relationship bliss circa 2017, look no further than your phone. It seems emojis, those expressive pictures all over texts and Instagram, could actually help our love lives. In his new book, “The Emoji Code,” to be published in the U.S. in August by MacMillan Picador, British linguist Vyv Evans argues that emojis are making us better communicators. Evans calls emojis a “near-universal form of communication,” replacing internet slang like LOL with the popular “face with tears of joy” emoji. And while he says some see the little glyphs as “little more than an adolescent grunt,” Evans says those people couldn’t be more wrong. Evans’ research found that 72 percent of 18- to 25-year-olds find it easier to express their emotions if they’re using emojis. And 80 percent of people in the U.K. said they use them. There’s a reason for that: Digital communication has stripped away important context like gestures, facial expressions and tone of voice. Emails and texts often come across as more ambiguous — or mean-spirited — than intended. Enter the emoji. Adding a little smiley face or winking eye can convey joking or sarcasm. A text that says “Sure, go ahead!” with a kissy face could read more like “sure … go ahead” without one. A Match.com survey of singles in America found that people who use emojis went on more dates and were more likely to have sex than those who didn’t. More than half of singles who used emojis had sex in 2014, compared to 31 percent of singles who didn’t, according to the survey. NBC News / If this leaves you with a confused face, and you don’t even know how to express that in emoji, check out this quick primer of definitions from Emojipedia.


OKLAHOMA CITY — A former Oklahoma City mayor and member of the University of Oklahoma Board of Regents was rebuked Monday for comparing gay people to pedophiles and politicians who’ve recently resigned amid allegations of sexual misconduct. Kirk Humphreys made the comments during a local TV public affairs show that aired over weekend on KFOR-TV. Humphreys and others were discussing allegations against Minnesota Sen. Al Franken, who is stepping down, and President Donald Trump, when Humphreys began to ramble about other subjects. He said he was “going to make a lot of people mad today.” “Is homosexuality right or wrong? It’s not relative, there’s a right and wrong,” Humphreys said. “If it’s OK then it’s OK for everybody and, quite frankly, it’s OK for men to sleep with little boys.” LGBTQ advocacy group Freedom Oklahoma called for Humphreys’ removal from the Board of Regents if he didn’t apologize. Executive Director Troy Stevenson said Monday that Humphreys’ comments were disheartening and dangerous for LGBTQ youth who are already harassed and bullied. A staffer at Humphreys’ office said he was out of town Monday and unavailable to comment. Humphreys, 67, did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment. The president of the University of Oklahoma distanced himself from Humphreys’ comments. President David Boren noted that Humphreys was not speaking on behalf of the university, adding that the school was committed to diversity and inclusiveness. “I do not share his views on this matter,” Boren said in a statement. A state lawmaker who appeared with Humphreys pushed back at him on the show, saying it was wrong to compare sexual misconduct and crimes to the legal behaviour of consenting adults. “Mr. Humphreys’ comments were disgusting, offensive, and just plain wrong,” Rep. Emily Virgin, a Democrat from Oklahoma City, later said on her Facebook page. “I unequivocally stand with the LGBT community. Stevenson said his group planned to protest an Oklahoma City real estate project that belongs to Humphreys’ family business if he doesn’t apologize.


Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter POLICE have assured the nation that they will bring the perpetrators of the bombing incident in an attempted assassination attack targeting President Emmerson Mnangagwa at White City Stadium to book saying special teams have been assigned to carry out the investigation. Addressing the media and senior officers in Bulawayo today, Police Commissioner General Thandabantu Godwin Matanga said it was work in progress for the police who he said were not going to rest until the suspects have been brought to book. He said the horrendous and nefarious act dampened the spirits of the citizens. “I assure the nation and its entire citizenry that we are fully investigating this dastardly and wicked act, which has already unnecessarily claimed two lives,” said Comm Matanga. He went on: “As the ZRP we will never rest until all those behind this heinous act have been accounted for and have had their day in court. We will do whatever it takes within the precincts of the law to ensure that this objective is met. At the risk of overemphasizing, I wish to say no stone will be left unturned,” he said. He applauded the level of cooperation and support that the joint investigation team has so far received. He said the collaborative effort was appreciated and continued to appeal for more information that may enable the force to bring to book the culprits involved. Cde Matanga further said the public must desist from acts of violence during this period and said the ZRP has since arrested 2237 people from January for engaging in various forms of violence. The ZRP said they would revitalize and reinvigorate all police patrol units with a view to assist in reducing crime through increased police visibility in all crime prone areas. The patrols, they said, help in earning public confidence from the resultant quality of their service if the deployments were well planned and adequately supervised.


Waterford County Board chairman Paddy Joe Ryan said there was no intent in Austin Gleeson's controversial clash with Luke Meade and hopes Galway corner-back Adrian Tuohy's reprieve after a similar incident last week serves as a good omen. Gleeson and Corkman Meade tangled during yesterday's All-Ireland SHC semi-final, with Gleeson appearing to pull off his opponent's helmet. Galway's Tuohy did not face any disciplinary action following an incident with Tipperary’s Patrick Maher in the first All-Ireland semi-final. The helmet of the Tipp centre-forward came off during the first-half clash with both men competing for the ball and it was feared that retrospective action could lead him to miss next month’s decider. Speaking to RTÉ news in Dungarvan, Ryan said the Gleeson clash would not be classed as deliberate and that there was no intent by the player. He said Waterford do not want to be entangled in disciplinary matters in the weeks leading up to the All-Ireland final. "We just want this thing to take its course and hopefully we will be more or less full strength for the final," he said, adding that the Waterford County Board will look at the referee's report when it is available and that they will address any matters arising if any exist, also in relation to Conor Gleeson, who was sent off on a straight red card. Ryan revealed they'll wait and see what's in the report by referee James Owens before they decide on a course of action, if any is required.


If you’re a user of Island Line trains or have an interest in the future of the line, make sure you head to Shanklin Theatre on Thursday evening. A public meeting (14th December, 7pm start) is being held to discuss the stakeholders’ response to South Western Railway’s proposals for Island Line. It’s being organised by Keep Island Line in Franchise campaign, in partnership with the IW Bus & Rail Users’ Group (IWBRUG) and the Isle of Wight Steam Railway (IWSR). The Isle of Wight Conservative MP, Bob Seely, will also be in attendance as well as a number of Isle of Wight Councillors. Your views matter The meeting is open to any members of the public with an interest in the future of railway provision on the Island. The topics being covered will include: South Western Railway’s proposals for Island Line, and the proposed consultation response on behalf of the local community (deadline 31st December 2017). Future plans for the IW Steam Railway; Improving interconnectivity between the two lines and links with cross-Solent travel (including SWR’s plans for mainland services); Possible future extensions to Newport and Ventnor, particularly in light of the Government’s announcement about previously closed lines being re-opened – and MP Bob Seely’s intervention on this topic with Transport Secretary Chris Grayling. Come along For updates and more info prior to the meeting visit KILF’s Facebook event page. Shanklin Theatre’s doors (and the bar) will open at 6:30pm, ahead of a 7pm start. Any questions about the public meeting on 14th December should be directed to kilfcampaign@gmail.com. Image: tompagenet under CC BY 2.0 Location map View the location of this story.


Searches for gravitational waves with km-scale laser interferometers often involve the long-wavelength approximation to describe the detector response. The prevailing assumption is that the corrections to the detector response due to its finite size are small and the errors due to the long-wavelength approximation are negligible. Recently, however, Baskaran and Grishchuk (2004 Class. Quantum Grav. 21 4041) found that in a simple Michelson interferometer such errors can be as large as 10 percent. For more accurate analysis, these authors proposed to use a linear-frequency correction to the long wavelength approximation. In this paper we revisit these calculations. We show that the linear-frequency correction is inadequate for certain locations in the sky and therefore accurate analysis requires taking into account the exact formula, commonly derived from the photon round-trip propagation time. Also, we extend the calculations to include the effect of Fabry-Perot resonators in the interferometer arms. Here we show that a simple approximation which combines the long-wavelength Michelson response with the single-pole approximation to the Fabry-Perot transfer function produces rather accurate results. In particular, the difference between the exact and the approximate formulae is at most 2-3 percent for those locations in the sky where the detector response is greater than half of its maximum value. We analyse the impact of such errors on detection sensitivity and parameter estimation in searches for periodic gravitational waves emitted by a known pulsar, and in searches for an isotropic stochastic gravitational-wave background. At frequencies up to 1 kHz, the effect of such errors is at most 1-2 percent. For higher frequencies, or if more accuracy is required, one should use the exact formula for the response.


If we follow an asexually reproducing population through time, then the amount of time that has passed since the most recent common ancestor (MRCA) of all current individuals lived will change as time progresses. The resulting "MRCA age" process has been studied previously when the population has a constant large size and evolves via the diffusion limit of standard Wright--Fisher dynamics. For any population model, the sample paths of the MRCA age process are made up of periods of linear upward drift with slope +1 punctuated by downward jumps. We build other Markov processes that have such paths from Poisson point processes on $\mathbb{R}_{++}\times\mathbb{R}_{++}$ with intensity measures of the form $\lambda\otimes\mu$ where $\lambda$ is Lebesgue measure, and $\mu$ (the "family lifetime measure") is an arbitrary, absolutely continuous measure satisfying $\mu((0,\infty))=\infty$ and $\mu((x,\infty))<\infty$ for all $x>0$. Special cases of this construction describe the time evolution of the MRCA age in $(1+\beta)$-stable continuous state branching processes conditioned on nonextinction--a particular case of which, $\beta=1$, is Feller's continuous state branching process conditioned on nonextinction. As well as the continuous time process, we also consider the discrete time Markov chain that records the value of the continuous process just before and after its successive jumps. We find transition probabilities for both the continuous and discrete time processes, determine when these processes are transient and recurrent and compute stationary distributions when they exist.


if you're stuck, consider what Einstein said: You don't solve a problem by looking at it in the same way, try looking at things from a new angle. Agnew fits writing into her job as a primary school teacher by getting up at 5:30am to write before the school day starts. What inspired her to become a writer? Agnew "grew up in a house full of books" and her dad was a journalist who writes non-fiction, but really, she says, she "just wanted to do it." In the first session with Tania Roxborogh, Leonie Agnew and David Elliot I felt an overall theme of the elusive - of capturing the elusive writing spark, capturing the Snark, and elusive invisible friends. Another theme that came through for me was the theme of imagination: imagine if someone was trying to take your land, imagine wondrous creatures and lands, imagine how an imaginary friend would feel if they discovered they weren't real. Imagine. Session Two: Des Hunt, Jenny Cooper and Simon Pollard Des Hunt has a love of adventure stories, science, New Zealand animals and he combines all of these into his stories. Sunken Forest was inspired by a real life summer camp he went on when he was 15 at Lake Waikaremoana, a trip that was memorable partly for sparking his interest in geology. The lake was formed during an earthquake landslide that drowned the forest. Standing tree trunks eerily remain there underwater today. Also trapped there are eels which can't make their way back to sea to migrate to the Pacific islands to lay eggs. Unable to leave, they grow exponentially large. In Sunken Forest, one such eel befriends Matt, who is sent to boot camp after his father, a boy racer, is sentenced to prison. At camp, Matt has to deal with bullies and getting the blame for things he didn't do. In his talk, Des Hunt totally engaged his audience from beginning to end, by which time he had them on the edge of their seats. He cleverly demonstrated the idea of building tension in a story by blowing up a balloon... about to burst at any moment. How do you really build tension in a story? He says: Add conflict and injustice, a disaster and... Pop!... an explosive climax. While many of those who spoke at the event started writing or drawing as early as their primary school years, surprisingly Des only published his first fiction book when


1961, there are authorized to be appropriated to the President $5,000,000 for fiscal year 1999, $7,500,000 for fiscal year 2000, and $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2001 to carry out section 129 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as added by subsection (a). (2) Availability of funds.--Amounts appropriated pursuant to this subsection shall remain available until expended. (c) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall take effect on October 1, 1998. SEC. 9. MULTILATERAL ASSISTANCE. (a) Funding.--Of the amounts authorized to be appropriated for fiscal years 1999, 2000, and 2001 pursuant to chapter 1 of part I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, 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) Fiscal year 1999.--For fiscal year 1999, $3,000,000. (2) Fiscal year 2000.--For fiscal year 2000, $3,000,000. (3) Fiscal year 2001.--For fiscal year 2001, $3,000,000. (b) Availability of Funds.--Amounts appropriated pursuant to subsection (a) shall remain available until expended. (c) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of 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 and programs that are carrying out rehabilitative services for victims of torture; and (B) to encourage the development of new such centers and programs; (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.


The purpose of this paper is to find optimal estimates for the Green function of a half-space of {\it the relativistic $\alpha$-stable process} with parameter $m$ on $\Rd$ space. This process has an infinitesimal generator of the form $mI-(m^{2/\alpha}I-\Delta)^{\alpha/2},$ where $0<\alpha<2$, $m>0$, and reduces to the isotropic $\alpha$-stable process for $m=0$. Its potential theory for open bounded sets has been well developed throughout the recent years however almost nothing was known about the behaviour of the process on unbounded sets. The present paper is intended to fill this gap and we provide two-sided sharp estimates for the Green function for a half-space. As a byproduct we obtain some improvements of the estimates known for bounded sets specially for balls. The advantage of these estimates is a clarification of the relationship between the diameter of the ball and the parameter $m$ of the process. The main result states that the Green function is comparable with the Green function for the Brownian motion if the points are away from the boundary of a half-space and their distance is greater than one. On the other hand for the remaining points the Green function is somehow related the Green function for the isotropic $\alpha$-stable process. For example, for $d\ge3$, it is comparable with the Green function for the isotropic $\alpha$-stable process, provided that the points are close enough.


The DAMA/NaI and DAMA/LIBRA annual modulation data, which may be interpreted as a signal for the existence of weakly interacting dark matter (WIMPs) in our galactic halo, are examined in light of null results from other experiments. We use the energy spectrum of the combined DAMA modulation data given in 36 bins, and include the effect of channeling. Several statistical tools are implemented in our study: likelihood ratio with a global fit and with raster scans in the WIMP mass and goodness-of-fit (g.o.f.). These approaches allow us to differentiate between the preferred (global best fit) and allowed (g.o.f.) parameter regions. It is hard to find WIMP masses and couplings consistent with all existing data sets. For spin-independent (SI) interactions, the best fit DAMA regions are ruled out to the 3$\sigma$ C.L., even with channeling taken into account. However, for WIMP masses of ~8 GeV some parameters outside these regions still yield a moderately reasonable fit to the DAMA data and are compatible with all 90% C.L. upper limits from negative searches, when channeling is included. For spin-dependent (SD) interactions with proton-only couplings, a range of masses below 10 GeV is compatible with DAMA and other experiments, with and without channeling, when SuperK indirect detection constraints are included; without the SuperK constraints, masses as high as ~20 GeV are compatible. For SD neutron-only couplings we find no parameters compatible with all the experiments. Mixed SD couplings are examined: e.g. ~8 GeV mass WIMPs with a_n = +/- a_p are found to be consistent with all experiments. In short, there are surviving regions at low mass for both SI and SD interactions; if indirect detection limits are relaxed, some SD proton-only couplings at high masses also survive.