We perform fits of unconventional dark energy models to the available data from high-redshift supernovae, distant galaxies and baryon oscillations. The models are based either on brane cosmologies or on Liouville strings in which a relaxation dark energy is provided by a rolling dilaton field (Q-cosmology). An interesting feature of such cosmologies is the possibility of effective four-dimensional negative-energy dust and/or exotic scaling of dark matter. An important constraint that can discriminate among models is the evolution of the Hubble parameter as a function of the redshift, H(z). We perform fits using a unifying formula for the evolution of H(z), applicable to different models. We find evidence for a negative-energy dust at the current era, as well as for exotic-scaling (a^{-delta}) contributions to the energy density, with 3.3<delta<4.3. The latter could be due to dark matter coupling with the dilaton in Q-cosmology models, but it is also compatible with the possibility of dark radiation from a brane Universe to the bulk in brane-world scenarios, which could also encompass Q-cosmology models. The best-fit model seems to include an a^{-2}-scaling contribution to the energy density of the Universe, which is characteristic of the dilaton relaxation in Q-cosmology models, not to be confused with the spatial curvature contribution of conventional cosmology. We conclude that Q-cosmology fits the data equally well with the Lambda-CDM model for a range of parameters that are in general expected from theoretical considerations.


Jones said, repeating the campaign slogan of another Alabama governor, Albert Brewer, who nearly defeated Wallace in 1970 in a contest Alabama liberals and many moderates still lament as a lost opportunity. Some of Jones' supporters put it even more bluntly. "I thought Alabama's image was pretty much at the bottom," said Pat Lawrence, a retired software engineer in Huntsville. A Moore win, Lawrence added, "will be a whole new bottom." Those concerns extend even to some GOP quarters. Alabama's senior senator, Richard Shelby, confirmed Sunday that he did not vote for Moore, saying he wrote in another "distinguished" party figure he declined to name. Yet for many Republicans, Moore is a paragon of traditional values. They reject accusations that he molested two teenage girls and pursued relationships with others decades ago. Moore denies the charges. "Everyone has to vote their convictions," said Kevin Mims of Montgomery, as he held his Bible outside his Baptist church Sunday in Montgomery. "My conviction is he's the right man for the job." Where Moore's critics see a state judge who defied federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court's decision legalizing same-sex marriage, Mims see a stalwart who stands "on the word of God." Other conservatives see an anti-establishment firebrand in the mold of Trump, who won Alabama by 28 percentage points. Moore encourages that view with fundraising emails that urge backers to help him "defeat the elite," a swipe at both Democrats and the establishment Republicans who tried to deny him the GOP nomination earlier this year. Ultimately, Republicans from Moore to Trump himself are betting on a simple bottom line: Most Alabama conservatives simply won't defect to a Democrat. "If Alabama elects liberal Democrat Doug Jones, all of our progress will be stopped cold," Trump says in a robocall the Moore campaign plans to push out Monday. The president also invokes a common fear among Republicans, calling Jones "a puppet of Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer," the Democratic House and Senate leaders in Washington, both of them reviled by conservative voters. "Roy Moore is the guy we need to pass our Make American Great Again agenda," the president insists. Moore's baggage could make it difficult to draw conclusions about what the results might mean beyond Alabama, but both parties are watching closely. Democrats need to flip 24 GOP-held seats to reclaim a House majority, and they're trying to dent the slim Republican advantage in the Senate and its dominance


<greek-th> x SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.<greek-th> x This Act may be cited as the ``Prekindergarten Access Act of 2003''.<greek-th> x SEC. 2. PREKINDERGARTEN PROGRAM.<greek-th> x Title V of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 is amended by adding at the end the following:<greek-th> x ``PART E--PREKINDERGARTEN PROGRAMS<greek-th> x ``SEC. 5701. FINDINGS.<greek-th> x ``Congress finds the following:<greek-th> x ``(1) Countless studies have shown what every parent already knows: High-quality preschool education programs work. They prepare children to learn when they go to school, and the programs increase the success of students throughout their lives.<greek-th> x ``(2) Children who get a high-quality prekindergarten education are less likely to repeat a grade level and have less need for special education instruction than those with no prekindergarten experience.<greek-th> x ``(3) Prekindergarten programs make a significant difference in the lives of children from low-income families. A recent study found that children in high-quality child care programs had better thinking and attention skills, better mathematics and pre-reading skills, and fewer behavioral problems.<greek-th> x ``(4) In a study following children to age 21 who received high-quality early children education, such children were more likely to have enrolled in college, been employed, and delayed parenthood.<greek-th> x ``SEC. 5702. DEFINITIONS.<greek-th> x ``For purposes of this part, the following definitions shall apply:<greek-th> x ``(1) Prekindergarten.--The term `prekindergarten' means a program serving children ages 3, 4, and 5 years old that supports children's cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development and helps prepare children for the transition to kindergarten.<greek-th> x ``(2) Eligible prekindergarten providers.--The term `eligible prekindergarten providers' includes child care programs, Head Start agencies, and schools that--<greek-th&gt


been only one factor. A sharp rise in wage growth reported in the government's January jobs report triggered fears that higher labor costs would lead to higher inflation and, ultimately, to higher interest rates. Stocks sank on the news. But subsequent reports on wages and inflation have been milder, and the markets appear to have stabilized. The February jobs report pointed to an unusually robust labor market: Employers added 313,000 jobs, the largest monthly gain in 1½ years. The unemployment rate remained at a 17-year low of 4.1 percent. Other measures of the economy, though, have been more sluggish. Consumer spending, the economy's primary fuel, has slowed this year and has led many economists to downgrade their forecasts for growth in the January-March quarter. Some now envision an annual growth rate of just 1.7 percent for the quarter. Forecasts for all of 2018, though, still predict an acceleration later this year, driven in part by the stimulative effect of the sweeping tax cuts President Donald Trump pushed through Congress in December and a budget agreement in January to raise government spending by $300 billion over two years. If economic growth does pick up and the job market remains healthy, the Powell Fed is viewed as likely to accelerate its rate hikes, from the three it projected in December to four this year. Even after five rate increases over the past 27 months, the Fed's benchmark rate remains in a still-low range of 1.25 percent to 1.5 percent, up from a record low near zero as recently as December 2015. The Fed's slighter higher key rate has, however, contributed to higher consumer loan rates, including for home mortgages. Some economists say they think Powell will try to demonstrate at the start of his tenure that he is serious about keeping inflation under control, a central responsibility for any Fed leader. "Powell will want to make sure he establishes his credentials as an anti-inflation chairman," said Sung Won Sohn, an economics professor at California State University, Channel Islands. Besides announcing its rate decision Wednesday, the Fed will update its quarterly forecasts, which will show its expectations for growth, unemployment, inflation and the expected pace of its rate increases over the next three years. Even if the Fed doesn't explicitly predict four rate hikes for 2018, it could effectively signal as much by upgrading its expectations for growth. The Fed's December estimate for economic growth in 2018, as measured


We present a search for outflows towards 51 submillimetre cores in Perseus. With consistently derived outflow properties from a large homogeneous dataset within one molecular cloud we can investigate further the mass dependence and time evolution of protostellar mass loss. Of the 51 cores, 37 show broad linewings indicative of molecular outflows. In 13 cases, the linewings could be due to confusion with neighbouring flows but 9 of those sources also have near-infrared detections confirming their protostellar nature. The total fraction of protostars in our sample is 65%. All but four outflow detections are confirmed as protostellar by Spitzer IR detections and only one Spitzer source has no outflow, showing that outflow maps at this sensitivity are equally good at identifying protostars as Spitzer. Outflow momentum flux correlates both with source luminosity and with core mass but there is considerable scatter even within this one cloud despite the homogeneous dataset. We fail to confirm the result of Bontemps et al. (1996) that Class I sources show lower momentum fluxes on average than Class 0 sources, with a KS test showing a significant probability that the momentum fluxes for both Class 0s and Class Is are drawn from the same distribution. We find that outflow power may not show a simple decline between the Class 0 to Class I stages. Our sample includes low momentum flux, low-luminosity Class 0 sources, possibly at a very early evolutionary stage. If the only mass loss from the core were due to outflows, cores would last for 10^5-10^8 years, longer than current estimates of 1.5-4 x 10^5 years for the mean lifetime for the embedded phase. Additional mechanisms for removing mass from protostellar cores may be necessary.


We present the results of a multiwavelength study of the z=0.23 radio source PKS1932-46. VIMOS IFU spectroscopy is used to study the morphology, kinematics and ionisation state of the EELR surrounding this source, and also a companion galaxy at a similar redshift. Near- and far-IR imaging observations obtained using the NTT and SPITZER are used to analyse the underlying galaxy morphologies and the nature of the AGN. The host galaxy is identified as an ~M* elliptical. Combining Spitzer mid-IR with X-ray, optical and near-IR imaging observations of this source, we conclude that its AGN is underluminous for a radio source of this type, despite its status as a BLRG. However, given its relatively large [OIII] luminosity it is likely that the AGN was substantially more luminous in the recent past (<10^4 years ago). The EELR is remarkably extensive and complex, reminiscent of the systems observed around sources at higher redshifts/radio powers, and the gas is predominantly ionised by a mixture of AGN photoionisation and emission from young stars. We confirm the presence of a series of star-forming knots extending N-S from the host galaxy, with more prodigious star formation occuring in the merging companion galaxy to the northeast, which has sufficient luminosity at mid- to far-IR wavelengths to be classified as a LIRG. The most plausible explanation of our observations is that PKS1932-46 is a member of an interacting galaxy group, and that the impressive EELR is populated by star-forming, tidal debris. We suggest that the AGN itself may currently be fuelled by material associated either with the current interaction, or with a previous merger event. Surprisingly, it is the companion object, rather than the radio source host galaxy, which is undergoing the bulk of the star formation activity within the group.


A decade ago, the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) conducted a 250-person survey to gather information about how companies might read data from 2007 when the year 2107 arrives, but it's become so obsolete that the words flash and cloud aren't even found in the 66-page concluding report (PDF). If at first you don't succeed, try again, SNIA officials determined. "It took us quite a while to put the first survey together 10 years ago. We got a lot of good information from it," said Thomas Rivera, chairman of the SNIA data protection committee. "We realized that as time went on there's been a lot of changing in the industry, not just in storage itself but also in a lot of the technology and regulations regarding storage and archiving." SEE: Cloud Data Storage Policy (Tech Pro Research) SNIA has many updates in the 2017 edition of its survey—there are 50 questions about business drivers, data sources, organization goals, policies, preservation, privacy, security, and storage. They hope to double the amount of respondents and include archivists, record managers, and technologists (the 2007 edition focused on technology managers). Also, there's a strong emphasis on leaving the storage questions open ended and not mentioning specific brands, so that a vendor cannot easily rig results, Rivera said. There are already storage companies today that claim 100-year reliability based on laboratory endurance tests, Rivera noted, though he acknowledged that such claims are impossible to truly prove short of owning a DeLorean equipped with a flux capacitor. SEE: The cloud v. data center decision, free PDF (ZDNet/TechRepublic special report) Some of the unique questions from the current survey are: What is your organization doing to deal with media migration and long term readability issues? (Migration means periodically moving information to new media to assure readability. Readability refers to both physical and logical readability—is the information in a format that your applications can read and interpret?) Which applications produce information that is of highest concern in maintaining long term readability of information? (Readability implies the ability to read the physical media and to logically interpret and use the content in an application context.) Do you audit/verify the integrity of data stored by a managed service provider or cloud? Yes/No? How? Do long-term archives necessitate the use of specialized security technologies and/or services that differ from normal storage infrastructure? If yes, what are they


Autonomous transportation has been a subject of science fiction for decades, but it's quickly becoming reality, with companies such as Ford and Domino's Pizza being some of the latest to get into the action in interesting new ways. This month's special report from ZDNet and TechRepublic, Tech and the Future of Transportation, looks at how the rise of autonomous transportation will affect businesses and employees. You can download all of the stories as a free PDF ebook (free registration required). There are many obstacles to overcome before autonomous vehicles go mainstream, and writer Conner Forrest examined those, including liability in case of accidents, insurance coverage, and fear caused by high-profile mishaps. Diving further into the safety issue, writer Teena Maddox reported on the ability of autonomous vehicles to save lives by eliminating accidents caused by human error. Looking at the current business landscape, writer Alison DeNisco reported on research that named the 10 leading companies in the autonomous vehicle space. Some relatively unknown companies made the list, and some of the usual suspects like Tesla, Uber, and Apple were absent. TechRepublic's global editor in chief Jason Hiner delved into the massive disruptions that could be unleashed by hyperloop. This feature also contains original research from Tech Pro Research, a joint venture from ZDNet and TechRepublic. That report details predictions from 289 professionals about how autonomous transportation will affect their industries, companies, and personal lives. To read these articles and more, download the full PDF report, Tech and the Future of Transportation. For more about autonomous transportation and other innovations, subscribe to our Next Big Thing newsletter. Subscribe Also see


SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``United States China Policy Act of 1994''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. The Congress makes the following findings: (1) The economic, social, political, and cultural welfare of the people of China, who constitute one-fifth of the world's population, is a matter of global humanitarian concern. (2) By virtue of its size, its economic vitality, its status as a nuclear power, and its role as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, China plays a significant role in world affairs. (3) The United States policy toward China involves balancing multiple interests, including promoting human rights and democracy, securing China's strategic cooperation in Asia and the United Nations, protecting United States national security interests, controlling the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, promoting a peaceful and democratic transition in Hong Kong, and expanding United States economic contact with China. (4) United States policy toward China must include as a key objective the promotion of internationally recognized human rights. Specific priorities and methods should be appropriate to the circumstances. Engagement with China rather than its isolation is more likely to foster United States interests. (5) The opening of China to the West, the adoption of free market economic reforms, the emergence of a strong and entrepreneurial economy that ensures the rise of a Chinese middle class; all have led to expanded individual freedom, a weakening of state control over personal expression, access to the media in the United States, Hong Kong, and the West, and major improvements in living standards for the Chinese people. (6) United States policies that encourage economic liberalization and increased contact with the United States and other democracies foster respect for internationally recognized human rights and can contribute to civil and political reform in China. (7) The President's policy statement of May 26, 1994, provides a sound framework for expanding and extending the relationship of the United States with China while continuing the commitment of the United States to its historic values. The United States must develop a comprehensive and coherent policy toward China that addresses the complex and fast-changing reality in that country and promotes simultaneously the human rights, diplomatic, economic, and security interests of the United States toward China. (8) The United States has an interest in a strong, stable, prosperous, and open China whose government contributes to international peace and security and whose actions are consistent with the responsibilities of great power status. Whether those expectations are met will determine the breadth,


) shall include-- (A) an evaluation of the potential benefits of the rule, including any beneficial effects that cannot be quantified in monetary terms and the identification of the persons or entities likely to receive the benefits; (B) an evaluation of the potential costs of the rule, including any adverse effects that cannot be quantified in monetary terms and the identification of the persons or entities likely to bear the costs; (C) an evaluation of any alternative approaches that could achieve the same goal in a more cost- effective manner or that could provide greater net benefits, and, if applicable, a brief explanation of any statutory reasons why such alternatives could not be adopted; (D) an evaluation of the regulatory impact analysis, federalism assessment, or other analysis or assessment prepared by the agency or required for the economically significant rule; and (E) a summary of the results of the evaluation of the Comptroller General and the implications of those results, including an evaluation of any changes from the proposed rule made by the agency in the final rule. (4) Procedures for priorities of requests.--In consultation with the Majority and Minority Leaders of the Senate and the Speaker and Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, the Comptroller General shall develop procedures for determining the priority and number of those requests for review under paragraph (1) that will be reported under paragraph (2). The procedures shall give the highest priority to requests regarding a notice of proposed rulemaking, and to requests regarding an interim final rulemaking. (b) Authority of Comptroller General.--Each agency shall promptly cooperate with the Comptroller General in carrying out this Act. Nothing in this Act is intended to expand or limit the authority of the General Accounting Office. SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. There are authorized to be appropriated to the General Accounting Office to carry out this Act $5,200,000 for each of fiscal years 2001 through 2003. SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE; SUNSET PROVISION. (a) Effective Date.--This Act shall take effect 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act. (b) Sunset Provision.--This Act shall not apply with respect to rules published on or after the date that is 3 years after the effective date of this Act.


comply with subsection (a) shall be reallocated under that program to States that have not failed to comply with such subsection. SEC. 4. AMENDMENT TO THE FEDERAL SENTENCING GUIDELINES. (a) Request for Immediate Consideration by the United States Sentencing Commission.--Pursuant to its authority under section 994(p) of title 28, United States Code, and in accordance with this section, the United States Sentencing Commission is requested to-- (1) promptly review the sentencing guidelines applicable to sexual offenses committed against the elderly; (2) expeditiously consider the promulgation of new sentencing guidelines or amendments to existing sentencing guidelines to provide an enhancement for such offenses; and (3) submit to Congress an explanation of actions taken by the Sentencing Commission pursuant to paragraph (2) and any additional policy recommendations the Sentencing Commission may have for combating offenses described in paragraph (1). (b) Considerations in Review.--In carrying out this section, the Sentencing Commission is requested to-- (1) ensure that the sentencing guidelines and policy statements reflect the serious nature of such offenses and the need for aggressive and appropriate law enforcement action to prevent such offenses; (2) assure reasonable consistency with other relevant directives and with other guidelines; (3) account for any aggravating or mitigating circumstances that might justify exceptions, including circumstances for which the sentencing guidelines currently provide sentencing enhancements; (4) make any necessary conforming changes to the sentencing guidelines; and (5) assure that the guidelines adequately meet the purposes of sentencing as set forth in section 3553 (a)(2) of title 18, United States Code. (c) Emergency Authority and Deadline for Commission Action.--The United States Sentencing Commission is requested to promulgate the guidelines or amendments provided for under this section as soon as practicable, and in any event not later than the 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, in accordance with the procedures sent forth in section 21(a) of the Sentencing Reform Act of 1987, as though the authority under that Act had not expired.


SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Senior Financial Empowerment Act of 2010''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. The Congress finds as follows: (1) The proportion of the population of the United States age 60 years or older is predicted to drastically increase in the next 30 years as more than 76,000,000 Baby Boomers approach retirement and old age. (2) It is estimated that between 500,000 and 5,000,000 seniors in the United States are abused, neglected, or exploited each year. (3) Abuse, neglect, and exploitation of seniors crosses racial, social class, gender, and geographic lines. (4) Each year millions of individuals in the United States are victims of financial exploitation, including mail, telemarketing, and Internet fraud. Many of those who fall prey to such exploitation are seniors. (5) It is difficult to estimate the prevalence of fraud that targets seniors because cases are severely underreported and national statistics on senior fraud do not exist. (6) The Federal Bureau of Investigation notes that seniors in the United States are less likely to report fraud because they do not know to whom to report, they are ashamed to have been a victim of fraud, or they do not know that they have been a victim of fraud. In some cases, a senior who has been a victim of fraud may not report the crime because he or she is concerned that relatives may conclude that the senior no longer has the mental capacity to take care of his or her own financial affairs. (7) According to a 2009 report by the MetLife Mature Market Institute, the annual financial loss by victims of senior financial abuse is estimated to be at least $2,600,000,000. (8) Perpetrators of mail, telemarketing, and Internet fraud frequently target seniors because seniors are often vulnerable and trusting people. (9) As victims of such fraudulent schemes, many seniors pay a financial cost, having been robbed of their hard-earned life savings, and frequently pay an emotional cost, losing their self-respect and dignity. (10) Perpetrators of fraud targeting seniors often operate outside the United States, reaching their victims through the mail, telephone lines, and the Internet. (11) The Deceptive Mail Prevention and Enforcement Act increased the power of the United States Postal Service to protect consumers against persons who use deceptive mailings,


We report on detections of the high-excitation CO J=6-5, J=4-3 lines in Mrk231, a prototypical Ultra Luminous Infrared Galaxy (ULIRG) and Seyfert 1 QSO. These observations are combined with CO J=3-2, HCN J=4-3 (this work), and CO J=2-1, J=1-0, 13CO J=2-1, HCN J=1-0 measurements taken from the literature to provide better constraints on the properties of the molecular gas in an extreme starburst/QSO in the local Universe. We find that the CO J=4-3 and J=6-5 transitions trace a different gas phase from that dominating the lower three CO transitions, with n(H_2) ~ (1-3)x10^4 cm-3 and Tk ~ (40-70) K. This phase is responsible for the luminous HCN emission, and contains most of the H2 gas mass of this galaxy. The total CO line cooling emanating from this dense phase is found similar to that of the [CII] line at 158 micron, suggesting a very different thermal balance to that seen in lower IR-luminosity galaxies, and one likely dominated by dense photon-dominated regions. Our dense "sampling" of the CO rotational ladder and the HCN lines enables us to produce well-constrained Spectral Line Energy Distributions (SLEDs) for the dense molecular gas in Mrk231 and compare them to those of high redshift starbursts, many of which have SLEDs that may be affected by strong lensing. Finally, we use our local molecular line excitation template to assess the capabilities of future cm and mm/sub-mm arrays in detecting CO and HCN transitions in similar systems throughout the local and distant universe.


We present results of 2D hydrodynamic simulations of stellar core collapse, which confirm that the neutrino-heating mechanism remains viable for the explosion of a wider mass range of supernova progenitors with iron cores. We used an energy-dependent treatment of the neutrino transport based on the "ray-by-ray plus" approximation, in which the number, energy, and momentum equations are closed with a variable Eddington factor obtained by iteratively solving a model Boltzmann equation. We focus on the evolution of a 15 Msun progenitor and show that shock revival and the explosion are initiated at about 600 ms post bounce, powered by neutrino energy deposition. Similar to previous findings for an 11.2 Msun star, but significantly later, the onset of the explosion is fostered by the standing accretion shock instability (SASI). This instability exhibits highest growth rates for the dipole and quadrupole modes, which lead to large-amplitude bipolar shock oscillations and push the shock to larger radii, thus increasing the time accreted matter is exposed to neutrino heating in the gain layer. Therefore also convective overturn behind the shock is strengthened. A "soft" nuclear equation of state that causes a rapid contraction and a smaller radius of the forming neutron star and thus a fast release of gravitational binding energy, seems to be more favorable for an explosion. Rotation has the opposite effect because it leads to a more extended and cooler neutron star and thus lower neutrino luminosities and mean energies and overall less neutrino heating. Neutron star g-mode oscillations and the acoustic mechanism play no important role in our simulations. (abridged)


just put oatmeal on your face instead of spending $24 on this face mask. I wouldn’t. But someone could. I love a sheet mask. I also don’t like spending money on manicures and pedicures regularly so this is a nice in-between pick me up. Again, this is my attempt at a at-home manicure. Some good hand lotion probably would have done the trick just fine. A strong recommend for those with natural hair. My hair is fine and very dry and this is great because I like weighing it down a bit with a heavier butter moisturizer. This stuff is magic. It’s one of those products where, at $34, it’s definitely more expensive than it should be, but not so exorbitant that I won’t waste $10-$15 more than I should on makeup remover. Highlighter had a big year. I can’t say whether this is significantly better than the other million highlighters on the market, but it is excellent. I use Champagne Pop. Another strong recommend on the brush. I wasn’t exactly sure what to look for in a highlighter brush but I’m happy I landed on this one. I prefer it to the fan ones because I don’t have a delicate enough hand to not basically draw a line across my face. This is one of my favorite liquid lipsticks. The shade (Ashton) initially seemed too light for me, but with a dark brown lipliner underneath is one of my favorite nude lip situations. I used to be a big nail polish person and have very much waned in that interest. I’m not sure what possessed me to buy this (in the shade Mayfair Market). It’s a tad goopy, but fine. Behold an example of one of the many times a Sephora sample has worked on me. It tingles, which I love, and my skin definitely feels plumper after using. Looking back I don’t remember this costing damn near $40 especially because it comes in a very small jar, but that’s likely how I got myself in this VIB Rouge situation in the first place. Nothing on Earth smells better than this stuff. It’s your standard sparkly booty cream situation that does not actually tighten your butt—still a nice thing to carry around in the summertime nonetheless. I bought the travel size because I rightfully predicted that I would not need 8 ounces of butt cream. Purchased in the shade Conspiracy which is a metallic finish. I


to such duties. SEC. 3. MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR ISSUANCE AND DISSEMINATION OF ALERTS THROUGH AMBER ALERT COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK. (a) Establishment of Minimum Standards.--Subject to subsection (b), the AMBER Alert Coordinator of the Department of Justice shall establish minimum standards for-- (1) the issuance of alerts through the AMBER Alert communications network; and (2) the extent of the dissemination of alerts issued through the network. (b) Limitations.--(1) The minimum standards established under subsection (a) shall be adoptable on a voluntary basis only. (2) The minimum standards shall, to the maximum extent practicable (as determined by the Coordinator in consultation with State and local law enforcement agencies), provide that the dissemination of an alert through the AMBER Alert communications network be limited to the geographic areas most likely to facilitate the recovery of the abducted child concerned. (3) In carrying out activities under subsection (a), the Coordinator may not interfere with the current system of voluntary coordination between local broadcasters and State and local law enforcement agencies for purposes of the AMBER Alert communications network. (c) Cooperation and Consultation.--(1) The Coordinator shall cooperate with the Secretary of Transportation and the Federal Communications Commission in carrying out activities under this section. (2) The Coordinator shall also cooperate with local broadcasters and State and local law enforcement agencies in establishing minimum standards under this section. (3) The Coordinator shall also consult with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and other private sector entities and organizations (including non-profit organizations) having an expertise in matters relating to the minimum standards to be established under this section in establishing the minimum standards. SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM FOR NOTIFICATION AND COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS ALONG HIGHWAYS FOR RECOVERY OF ABDUCTED CHILDREN. (a) Program Required.--The Secretary of Transportation shall carry out a program to provide grants to States for the development or enhancement of notification or communications systems along highways for alerts and other information for the recovery of abducted children. (b) Activities.--Activities funded by grants under the program under subsection (a) may include-- (1) the development or enhancement of electronic message boards along highways and the placement of additional signage along highways; and (2) the development or enhancement of other means of disseminating along highways alerts and other information for the recovery of abducted children. (c) Federal Share.--The Federal share of the cost of


The earliest phases of clustered star formation and the origin of the stellar initial mass function (IMF) are currently much debated. In order to constrain the origin of the IMF, we investigated the internal and relative motions of starless condensations and protostars previously detected by us in the dust continuum at 1.2mm in the L1688 protocluster of the Ophiuchus molecular cloud complex. The starless condensations have a mass spectrum resembling the IMF and are therefore likely representative of the initial stages of star formation in the protocluster. We carried out detailed molecular line observations, including some N2H+(1-0) mapping, of the Ophiuchus protocluster condensations using the IRAM 30m telescope. We measured subsonic or at most transonic levels of internal turbulence within the condensations, implying virial masses which generally agree within a factor of ~ 2 with the masses derived from the 1.2mm dust continuum. This supports the notion that most of the L1688 starless condensations are gravitationally bound and prestellar in nature. We measured a global one-dimensional velocity dispersion of less than 0.4 km/s between condensations. This small relative velocity dispersion implies that, in general, the condensations do not have time to interact with one another before evolving into pre-main sequence objects. Our observations support the view that the IMF is partly determined by cloud fragmentation at the prestellar stage. Competitive accretion is unlikely to be the dominant mechanism at the protostellar stage in the Ophiuchus protocluster, but it may possibly govern the growth of starless, self-gravitating condensations initially produced by gravoturbulent fragmentation toward an IMF, Salpeter-like mass spectrum.


Jarrod Dicker, CEO of Po.et, talked with Dan Patterson about how his company uses the blockchain to document media assets. Watch the video, or read the full transcript of their conversation below: Patterson: The decentralized media economy is here. What the heck is a decentralized media economy? Well, surprise, surprise, it runs on the blockchain.... You have worked at The Washington Post, as well as RebelMouse and other media companies. First, why a startup? Why a blockchain startup? And, why Po.et? Dicker: Three of the most frequent questions I get. So why a startup? I think my past three years at The Washington Post have been somewhat startup in a legacy media news organization, and the fact that we were run by Jeff Bezos, who owns the Post. It was an amazing time for news, right, and all news media. There was a lot of momentum and excitement behind all the work that we were doing. Especially when we took it to the tech side. And one thing that I've always focused on throughout my career was how do we build a better model for the business of media, which is what I found extremely hard to do. It's also extremely hard to do within just one media company. So over the past few years, I've been building something at The Washington Post called RED, Research Experimentation Development, where we were building new technologies and systems to use on the Post, off the Post, licensed white label to really help build a better media economy. Then I started really understanding not just the technologies behind blockchain, but the philosophies behind them. The idea of consensus and decentralization. Coincidentally, Po.et approached me in terms of going there, becoming the chief executive officer, and building the team. We could get into how that all went down, but that's how I ended up here now. Patterson: So the blockchain, this is possibly one of the most hyped technologies in recent memory. But it really is useful when you have to stamp a piece of asset, whatever that asset is. No matter whether it's gold and diamonds, or housing and real estate, or in this case, content. So a lot of us in media on the backend, we have content management systems and you can see a log of activity that is not necessarily for the public, but you can see what happens to a particular asset over time. Why is a blockchain good for public pieces of media? And when I say


States post office; and (C) is addressed to a qualified individual. (3) Mail matter described.--The mail matter described in this paragraph is-- (A) any letter mail not exceeding 13 ounces in weight and having the character of personal correspondence; (B) any sound- or video-recorded communications not exceeding 15 pounds in weight and having the character of personal correspondence; (C) any ground parcel not exceeding 15 pounds in weight; and (D) any bound printed matter not exceeding 15 pounds in weight. (4) Limitations.-- (A) Number.--An individual shall be eligible for 1 voucher for each month in which such individual is a qualified individual. (B) Use.--Any such voucher may not be used-- (i) for more than a single qualified mailing; or (ii) after the earlier of-- (I) the expiration date of such voucher, as designated by the Secretary of Defense; or (II) the last day of the 1-year period referred to in section 4. (5) Coordination rule.--Postal benefits under this Act shall be in addition to, and not in lieu of, any reduced rates of postage or other similar benefits which might otherwise be available by or under law, including any rates of postage resulting from the application of section 3401(b) of title 39, United States Code. (d) Regulations.--Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense (in consultation with the Postal Service) shall prescribe any regulations necessary to carry out this Act, including-- (1) procedures by which vouchers will be provided or made available (including measures to allow vouchers to reach, in a timely manner, the persons selected by qualified individuals to use the vouchers); and (2) procedures to ensure that the number of vouchers provided or made available with respect to any qualified individual complies with subsection (c)(4)(A). SEC. 3. FUNDING. (a) In General.--There is authorized to be appropriated to the Department of Defense a sum determined by the Department of Defense to be equal to the expenses incurred by the Department in providing the benefits described in section 2(c). (b) Transfers to Postal Service.-- (1) Based on estimates.--The Department of Defense shall transfer to the Postal Service, out of any amount so appropriated and in advance of each calendar quarter during which postal benefits under this Act may be


The recent discovery of the first V-type asteroid in the middle belt, (21238) 1995WV7, located at ~2.54 AU, raises the question of whether it came from (4) Vesta or not. In this paper, we present spectroscopic observations indicating the existence of another V-type asteroid at ~2.53 AU, (40521) 1999RL95, and we investigate the possibility that these two asteroids evolved from the Vesta family to their present orbits by drifting in semi-major axis due to the Yarkovsky effect. The main problem with this scenario is that the asteroids need to cross the 3/1 mean motion resonance with Jupiter, which is highly unstable. Combining numerical simulations of the orbital evolution, that include the Yarkovsky effect, with Monte Carlo models, we compute the probability of an asteroid of given diameter D to evolve from the Vesta family and to cross over the 3/1 resonance, reaching a stable orbit in the middle belt. Our results indicate that an asteroid like (21238) 1995WV7 has a low probability of having evolved through this mechanism due to its large size (~5 km). However, the mechanism might explain the orbit of smaller bodies like (40521) 1999RL95 (~3 km), provided that we assume that the Vesta family formed > 3.5 Gy ago. We estimate that about 10% or more of the V-type bodies with D>1 km may come from the Vesta family by crossing over the 3/1 resonance. The remaining 90% must have a different origin.


for, and feasibility of, implementing those recovery actions. (2) Comparison of effectiveness.--In such review, the effectiveness of those actions-- (A) shall be compared to the effectiveness of a Federal salmon recovery strategy that includes, but is not limited to, partial dam removal; and (B) shall be evaluated and compared with respect to whether they are likely to achieve recovery to self- sustaining, harvestable population levels of naturally spawning, wild salmon and steelhead populations listed under section 4(c) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533). (3) Identification of limiting factors.--The analysis shall also identify limiting factors to salmon and steelhead recovery including the impacts of tributary habitat degradation, salmon harvest, hatcheries, and hydropower dams. (4) Global climate change analysis.--The analysis shall also-- (A) identify the effect of global climate change on ocean conditions and on hydrological conditions in the Snake and Columbia Rivers and their salmon and steelhead-bearing tributaries; and (B) examine how such global climate change effects might affect the Federal recovery actions necessary to achieve recovery of naturally spawning, wild salmon and steelhead populations to self-sustaining, harvestable levels. (c) Report.--Not later than 8 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the National Academy of Sciences shall submit a final report on the results of the scientific analysis conducted under this section to the Secretary of Commerce and the Congress. SEC. 4. STUDIES REGARDING REMOVAL OF LOWER SNAKE RIVER DAMS. (a) Study of Assessments of Effects and Costs of Dam Removal.--The Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a study reviewing the various assessments that have been conducted by Federal agencies and others regarding the potential effects and costs of partially and fully removing the 4 lower Snake River dams. The Comptroller General's review shall include a comparison of the scope and methodologies used in, findings of, and recommendations made in those studies that have addressed any or all of the following: (1) The economic effects of dam removal and recovered Snake River salmon and steelhead populations for communities near the dams, for communities upstream from the dams, and for downstream and coastal communities, including downstream and coastal communities located within the boundaries of Alaska, California, and Canada. This analysis should include the impacts on commercial fishing, sport fishing, and nonfishing recreation such as boating


In the previous study (Hiremath 2006a), the solar cycle is modeled as a forced and damped harmonic oscillator and from all the 22 cycles (1755-1996), long-term amplitudes, frequencies, phases and decay factor are obtained. Using these physical parameters of the previous 22 solar cycles and by an {\em autoregressive model}, we predict the amplitude and period of the future fifteen solar cycles. Predicted amplitude of the present solar cycle (23) matches very well with the observations. The period of the present cycle is found to be 11.73 years. With these encouraging results, we also predict the profiles of future 15 solar cycles. Important predictions are : (i) the period and amplitude of the cycle 24 are 9.34 years and 110 ($\pm 11$), (ii) the period and amplitude of the cycle 25 are 12.49 years and 110 ($\pm$ 11), (iii) during the cycles 26 (2030-2042 AD), 27 (2042-2054 AD), 34 (2118-2127 AD), 37 (2152-2163 AD) and 38 (2163-2176 AD), the sun might experience a very high sunspot activity, (iv) the sun might also experience a very low (around 60) sunspot activity during cycle 31 (2089-2100 AD) and, (v) length of the solar cycles vary from 8.65 yrs for the cycle 33 to maximum of 13.07 yrs for the cycle 35.


SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Post-Abortion Depression Research and Care Act of 2007''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. Congress finds as follows: (1) About 3,000,000 women per year in the United States have an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy, and approximately 1,186,000 of these pregnancies end in elective abortion. (2) Abortion can have severe and long-term effects on the mental and emotional well-being of women. Women often experience sadness and guilt following abortions with no one to console them. They may have difficulty in bonding with new babies, become overprotective parents or develop problems in their relationship with their spouses. Problems such as eating disorders, depression, and suicide attempts have also been traced to past abortions. (3) The symptoms of post-abortion depression include bouts of crying, guilt, intense grief or sadness, emotional numbness, eating disorders, drug and alcohol abuse, suicidal urges, anxiety and panic attacks, anger or rage, sexual problems or promiscuity, lowered self esteem, nightmares and sleep disturbance, flashbacks, and difficulty with relationships. (4) Women who aborted a first pregnancy are four times more likely to report substance abuse compared to those who suffered a natural loss of their first pregnancy, and they are five times more likely to report subsequent substance abuse than women who carried to term. (5) Greater thought suppression is associated with experiencing more intrusive thoughts of the abortion. Both suppression and intrusive thoughts, in turn, are positively related to increases in psychological distress over time. (6) Women who experience decision-making difficulties and may lack social support may experience more negative emotional consequences to induced abortion. (7) Post-abortion depression often relates to the lack of understanding in society and the medical community of the complexity of post-abortion depression, and economic pressures placed on hospitals and providers are contributing factors. (8) Social pressure to have an abortion can be directly related to higher levels of immediate regret and more mental undoing over subsequent years. (9) Post-abortion depression is a treatable disorder if promptly diagnosed by a trained provider and attended to with a personalized regimen of care including social support, therapy, medication, and when necessary hospitalization. (10) While there have been many studies regarding the emotional aftermath of abortion, very little research has been sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. (11) A major New Zealand study shows abortion has serious negative consequences for women. Among the


In the context of measuring structure and morphology of intermediate redshift galaxies with recent HST/ACS surveys, we tune, test, and compare two widely used fitting codes (GALFIT and GIM2D) for fitting single-component Sersic models to the light profiles of both simulated and real galaxy data. We find that fitting accuracy depends sensitively on galaxy profile shape. Exponential disks are well fit with Sersic models and have small measurement errors, whereas fits to de Vaucouleurs profiles show larger uncertainties owing to the large amount of light at large radii. We find that both codes provide reliable fits and little systematic error, when the effective surface brightness is above that of the sky. Moreover, both codes return errors that significantly underestimate the true fitting uncertainties, which are best estimated with simulations. We find that GIM2D suffers significant systematic errors for spheroids with close companions owing to the difficulty of effectively masking out neighboring galaxy light; there appears to be no work around to this important systematic in GIM2D's current implementation. While this crowding error affects only a small fraction of galaxies in GEMS, it must be accounted for in the analysis of deeper cosmological images or of more crowded fields with GIM2D. In contrast, GALFIT results are robust to the presence of neighbors because it can simultaneously fit the profiles of multiple companions thereby deblending their effect on the fit to the galaxy of interest. We find GALFIT's robustness to nearby companions and factor of >~20 faster runtime speed are important advantages over GIM2D for analyzing large HST/ACS datasets. Finally we include our final catalog of fit results for all 41,495 objects detected in GEMS.


has never been employed by, and has never been contracted to do work for, the Food and Drug Administration or any other agency or office of the Department of Health and Human Services (except to review health claim petitions under section 403D); ``(3) has never been employed by, and has never been contracted to do work for, the health claim petitioner; ``(4) signs an oath pledging to evaluate the health claim petition provided to him or her by the Secretary in strict accordance with the criteria specified in section 403D; ``(5) signs an oath pledging not to discuss with any person the fact that he or she is reviewing the health claim petition or the substance of the petition or the substance of the evaluation before the results of the scientific review are supplied in a complete written evaluation to the Secretary; ``(6) signs an oath pledging to supply complete copies of all publicly available scientific evidence reviewed along with a complete written evaluation of the health claim to the Secretary no later than 180 days after receipt of the health claim petition from the Secretary; and ``(7) signs an oath pledging to exercise independent professional judgment, free of any external influence and any unscientific bias that might interfere with the objective evaluation of the health claim.''. SEC. 5. HEALTH CLAIMS. Section 403(r) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 343(r)) is amended-- (1) in subparagraph (1)-- (A) in the matter preceding clause (A)-- (i) by striking ``food intended'' and inserting ``food or dietary supplement intended''; and (ii) by striking ``food which'' and inserting ``food or dietary supplement which''; and (B) in clause (B)-- (i) by inserting after ``health-related condition'' the following: ``(including any statement that the nutrient prevents, treats, or cures a disease)''; and (ii) by striking ``or (5)(D)''; (2) in subparagraph (3), by amending clause (B) to read as follows: ``(B)(i) The Secretary shall promulgate no later than 30 days after receiving an evaluation from an Independent Scientific Reviewer regulations that authorize use on labels and in labeling of all claims of the type described in subparagraph (1)(B) recommended for approval by the Independent Scientific Reviewer together with such disclaimer or disclaimers as the Independent Scientific Reviewer may also recommend. ``(


We carried out a target survey for Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) and Lyman alpha emitters (LAEs) around QSO SDSS J0211-0009 at z=4.87. The deep and wide broadband and narrowband imaging simultaneously revealed the perspective structure of these two high-z populations. The LBGs without Ly-alpha emission form a filamentary structure including the QSO, while the LAEs are distributed around the QSO but avoid it within a distance of ~4.5Mpc. On the other hand, we serendipitously discovered a protocluster with a significant concentration of LBGs and LAEs where no strongly UV ionizing source such as a QSO or radio galaxy is known to exist. In this cluster field, two populations are spatially cross-correlated with each other. The relative spatial distribution of LAEs to LBGs is in stark contrast between the QSO and the cluster fields. We also found a weak trend showing that the number counts based on Ly-alpha and UV continuum fluxes of LAEs in the QSO field are slightly lower than in the cluster field, whereas the number counts of LBGs are almost consistent with each other. The LAEs avoid the nearby region around the QSO where the local UV background radiation could be ~100 times stronger than the average for the epoch. The clustering segregation between LBGs and LAEs seen in the QSO field could be due to either enhanced early galaxy formation in an overdense environment having caused all the LAEs to evolve into LBGs, or local photoionization due to the strong UV radiation from the QSO effectively causing a deficit in low-mass galaxies like LAEs.


- quality research findings or positive evaluation that such program, practice, technology, or equipment is likely to improve relevant outcomes, and includes ongoing efforts to examine the effects of the program, practice, technology, or equipment; or ``(C) in the case of technology or equipment, demonstrates that use of the technology or equipment is-- ``(i) consistent with best practices for school security, including-- ``(I) applicable standards for school security established by a Federal or State government agency; and ``(II) findings and recommendations of public commissions and task forces established to make recommendations or set standards for school security; and ``(ii) compliant with all applicable codes, including building and life safety codes; and ``(5) the term `tribal organization' has the same meaning given the term in section 4(l) of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304(l)).''; and (5) in section 2705-- (A) by striking ``There are'' and inserting the following: ``(a) In General.--There are''; (B) by striking ``part $30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2001 through 2009'' and inserting the following: ``part-- ``(1) $75,000,000 for fiscal year 2018; and ``(2) $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2028.''; and (C) by adding at the end the following: ``(b) Offset.--Any funds appropriated under this section may be offset by an equal reduction in the funds appropriated, if any, for the Comprehensive School Safety Initiative of the National Institute of Justice. ``(c) Rules of Construction.-- ``(1) None of the funds appropriated to carry out this part may be used to provide firearms or training in the use of firearms. ``(2) Nothing in this part shall be construed to prohibit any other existing or future law from permitting or funding the provision of firearms or training in the use of firearms.''.


SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea has cancelled one of the key joint cooperation projects with South Korea planned for next month's Winter Olympics, officials said, further proving the delicate nature of ties between the rivals split for seven decades. North Korea on Monday night sent a message saying it won't hold a joint cultural event at the North's Diamond Mountain on Feb. 4 to mark the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, according to Seoul's Unification Ministry. The ministry cited North Korea as saying it has no other option but to cancel the project because of South Korean media reports that it says defamed its "sincere" measures for the Olympics. The North also accused South Korean media of picking a fight over an unspecified domestic festival in North Korea, according to the ministry statement. The statement said South Korea considers the North's decision "very regrettable." The North didn't say which media reports were at issue. But some reports had criticized the North's plan to stage a major event to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of its military on Feb. 8, just one day before the Olympics' opening ceremony. South Korean officials have said the North plans a massive military parade on the anniversary. It's not clear how the latest development would affect other planned Olympics-related cooperation projects between the Koreas. They agreed to field a joint women's hockey team and have their athletes parade together under a single flag during the Feb. 9 opening ceremony. A dozen North Korean hockey players arrived in South Korea last week to practice with their South Korean teammates. North Korea has a history of last-minute cancellations and unexplained reversals, and some experts say it might have sought to gain concessions from the South. The visit earlier this month of a prominent band leader to inspect artistic venues in the South was delayed by North Korea but eventually took place. The Koreas' current reconciliation mood followed a year of heightened animosities over North Korea's nuclear program. Many analysts say the North may want to use improved ties with South Korea to weaken U.S.-led international pressure and sanctions on the country.


The bipolar HH 212 outflow has been mapped in SiO using the extended configuration of the Plateau de Bure Interferometer (PdBI), revealing a highly collimated SiO jet closely associated with the H2 jet component. We study at unprecedented resolution (0.34" across the jet axis) the properties of the innermost SiO ``microjet'' within 1000 AU of this young Class 0 source, to compare it with atomic microjets from more evolved sources and to constrain its origin. The SiO channel maps are used to investigate the microjet collimation and velocity structure. A large velocity gradient analysis is applied to SiO (2-1), (5-4) and (8-7) data from the PdBI and the Submillimeter Array to constrain the SiO opacity and abundance. The HH212 Class 0 microjet shows striking similarities in collimation and energetic budget with atomic microjets from T Tauri sources. Furthermore, the SiO lines appear optically thick, unlike what is generally assumed. We infer T(kin) ~ 50-500 K and an SiO/H2 abundance greater than 4 10(-8)-6 10(-5) for n(H2) = 10(7)-10(5) cm(-3), i.e. 0.05-90% of the elemental silicon. This similar jet width, regardless of the presence of a dense envelope, definitely rules out jet collimation by external pressure, and favors a common MHD self-collimation (and possibly acceleration) process at all stages of star formation. We propose that the more abundant SiO in Class 0 jets could mainly result from rapid (less than 25 yrs) molecular synthesis at high jet densities.


A space-based gravitational microlensing exoplanet survey will provide a statistical census of exoplanets with masses down to 0.1 Earth-masses and orbital separations ranging from 0.5AU to infinity. This includes analogs to all the Solar System's planets except for Mercury, as well as most types of planets predicted by planet formation theories. Such a survey will provide results on the frequency of planets around all types of stars except those with short lifetimes. Close-in planets with separations < 0.5 AU are invisible to a space-based microlensing survey, but these can be found by Kepler. Other methods, including ground-based microlensing, cannot approach the comprehensive statistics on the mass and semi-major axis distribution of extrasolar planets that a space-based microlensing survey will provide. The terrestrial planet sensitivity of a ground-based microlensing survey is limited to the vicinity of the Einstein radius at 2-3 AU, and space-based imaging is needed to identify and determine the mass of the planetary host stars for the vast majority of planets discovered by microlensing. Thus, a space-based microlensing survey is likely to be the only way to gain a comprehensive understanding of the nature of planetary systems, which is needed to understand planet formation and habitability. The proposed Microlensing Planet Finder (MPF) mission is an example of a space-based microlensing survey that can accomplish these objectives with proven technology and a cost that fits comfortably under the NASA Discovery Program cost cap.


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.


SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Violence Prevention Training for Early Childhood Educators Act''. SEC. 2. PURPOSE. The purpose of this Act is to provide grants to institutions of higher education and qualified entities that carry out early childhood education training programs to enable the institutions of higher education and qualified entities to include violence prevention training as part of the preparation of individuals pursuing careers in early childhood development and education. SEC. 3. FINDINGS. Congress makes the following findings: (1) Aggressive behavior in early childhood is the single best predictor of aggression in later life. (2) Aggressive and defiant behavior predictive of later delinquency is increasing among our Nation's youngest children. Without prevention efforts, higher percentages of children are likely to become violent juvenile offenders. (3) Research has demonstrated that aggression is primarily a learned behavior that develops through observation, imitation, and direct experience. Therefore, children who experience violence as victims or as witnesses are at increased risk of becoming violent themselves. (4) In a study at a Boston city hospital, 1 out of every 10 children seen in the primary care clinic had witnessed a shooting or a stabbing before the age of 6, with 50 percent of the children witnessing in the home and 50 percent of the children witnessing in the streets. (5) A study in New York found that children who had been victims of violence within their families were 24 percent more likely to report violent behavior as adolescents, and adolescents who had grown up in families where partner violence occurred were 21 percent more likely to experience violent delinquency than individuals not exposed to violence. (6) Aggression can become well-learned and difficult to change by the time a child reaches adolescence. Early childhood offers a critical period for overcoming risk for violent behavior and providing support for prosocial behavior. (7) Violence prevention programs for very young children yield economic benefits. By providing health and stability to the individual child and the child's family, the programs may reduce expenditures for medical care, special education, and involvement with the judicial system. (8) Primary prevention can be effective. When preschool teachers teach young children interpersonal problem-solving skills and other forms of conflict resolution, children are less likely to demonstrate problem behaviors. (9) There is evidence that family support programs in families with children from birth through 5 years of age are effective in preventing delinquency. SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. For purposes of


Using high-resolution UV spectra of 16 low-z QSOs, we study the physical conditions and statistics of O VI absorption in the IGM at z < 0.5. We identify 51 intervening (z_{abs} << z_{QSO}) O VI systems comprised of 77 individual components, and we find 14 "proximate" systems (z_{abs} ~ z_{QSO}) containing 34 components. For intervening systems [components] with rest-frame equivalent width W_{r} > 30 mA, the number of O VI absorbers per unit redshift dN/dz = 15.6(+2.9/-2.4) [21.0(+3.2/-2.8)], and this decreases to dN/dz = 0.9(+1.0/-0.5) [0.3(+0.7/-0.3)] for W_{r} > 300 mA. The number per redshift increases steeply as z_{abs} approaches z_{QSO}, and some proximate absorbers have substantially lower H I/O VI ratios. The lower proximate ratios could be partially due to ionization effects but also require higher metallicities. We find that 37% of the intervening O VI absorbers have velocity centroids that are well-aligned with corresponding H I absorption. If the O VI and the H I trace the same gas, the relatively small differences in line widths imply the absorbers are cool with T < 10^{5} K. Most of these well-aligned absorbers have the characteristics of metal-enriched photoionized gas. However, the O VI in the apparently simple and cold systems could be associated with a hot phase with T ~ 10^{5.5} K if the metallicity is high enough to cause the associated broad Ly alpha absorption to be too weak to detect. We show that 53% of the intervening O VI systems are complex multiphase absorbers that can accommodate both lower metallicity collisionally-ionized gas with T > 10^{5} K and cold photoionzed gas.


is to log into the online version of SharePoint, navigate to the folder you want to sync, and then click the sync button. If you are not using the latest OneDrive software, the system will prompt you for permission to upgrade. But before you do, be sure to synchronize all your documents so that what is online is up to date and what you want propagated across devices. After that, uninstall whatever OneDrive you have installed on your devices. This is your best chance for a clean install of the software. If you don't, you could end up like me—inadvertently running two versions of OneDrive. SEE: 30 things you should never do in Microsoft Office (free TechRepublic PDF) Exorcising the ghost of OneDrive's Past If you do find your device is running two versions of OneDrive, you may find that clicking the inviting Uninstall button in the Start Menu (Figure B) just doesn't work. In my case, that link just took me to the application list, where the only OneDrive application that could be removed was the new version—there was no separate entry for OneDrive for Business. Figure B My assumption was that there were remnants of entries buried deep inside the Windows Registry that were continuing to call upon the old application. I tried changing the name of the old OneDrive app, but that just caused errors. My internet research suggested using a third-party app like CCleaner, but I was not sure which entries to delete and which to leave alone. Obviously, something else had to be done. I decided to use the Group Policy Editor to try to reestablish the correct OneDrive parameters. Here are the steps to take. First, right-click on the Windows 10 Start Menu and click the Command Prompt (Admin) menu entry. Type this application name at the prompt and press Enter: gpedit.msc That will open the Group Editor. Next, navigate to this entry: Computer Configuration | Administrative Templates | Windows Components | OneDrive You should see a screen similar to Figure C. Figure C Double-click Prevent The Usage Of OneDrive For File Storage to reach the dialog box shown in Figure D. Figure D Click the Enabled button, click OK, and reboot your device. When that reboot is complete, there should be no OneDrive application running and no icon in the system tray. Now repeat the process but change the dialog box setting shown in Figure D back to Not Configured and reboot again. This little trick fixed my ghost in


After a brief cold snap moved into the region last week, temperatures have been about 20 degrees above normal, according to the National Weather Service. Highs statewide have lingered in the high 30s this week and are expected to climb into the low and mid-40s by the weekend, according to the National Weather Service. "We have gotten into the 44 to 51 range for this week of February," NWS meteorologist Peter Speicher said of past weather readings. "We've been as warm as 51 back in 2000. It's not totally uncommon, but it's still well above seasonal norms." An extended outlook from NWS favors above-normal temperatures next week for most of the country except for the West Coast and Alaska. Records possible Some cities have a shot of setting record highs next week, and for Grand Forks, Sunday's record high could be the easiest to break. The city's high temperature record for Feb. 19, set last year, was 44 at the Grand Forks International Airport, and Speicher said Sunday's forecast calls for a high of 45 degrees. "That would be the easiest to break," Speicher said. No high records have been set in February so far this year. Above-freezing temperatures could be good news for southern and western parts of North Dakota. The warm weather should speed up snowmelt, helping to remove excess moisture from river basins along watersheds. Fields in the southern part of the Red River Valley have little snow compared with the Red River of the North starting near Hillsboro. Paths could open up as the snow melts, taking the excess water to rivers, streams and lakes. Areas should be on the lookout for rising water levels, but the melt taking off that excess water from snowpack slowly could help alleviate flooding in the spring, according to the NWS. Less snow could mean less moisture that could flow over the plains. "Anything helps," Speicher said. "It definitely helps that we are going back below freezing at night because that slows the flow rate down." Devils Lake Basin In the Devils Lake Basin, they could see above-freezing temperatures Wednesday and into the weekend, with some days going above 40 degrees. A slow melt can't hurt the Devils Lake Basin, said Jeff Frith, manager of the Devils lake Basin Joint Water Resource Board. The region surrounding the 150,000-acre lake likely will see major flooding due to heavy snow and saturated soil from


The two-dimensional kinetic Ising model, when exposed to an oscillating applied magnetic field, has been shown to exhibit a nonequilibrium, second-order dynamic phase transition (DPT), whose order parameter Q is the period-averaged magnetization. It has been established that this DPT falls in the same universality class as the equilibrium phase transition in the two-dimensional Ising model in zero applied field. Here we study for the first time the scaling of the dynamic order parameter with respect to a nonzero, period-averaged, magnetic `bias' field, H_b, for a DPT produced by a square-wave applied field. We find evidence that the scaling exponent, \delta_d, of H_b at the critical period of the DPT is equal to the exponent for the critical isotherm, \delta_e, in the equilibrium Ising model. This implies that H_b is a significant component of the field conjugate to Q. A finite-size scaling analysis of the dynamic order parameter above the critical period provides further support for this result. We also demonstrate numerically that, for a range of periods and values of H_b in the critical region, a fluctuation-dissipation relation (FDR), with an effective temperature T_{eff}(T, P, H_0) depending on the period, and possibly the temperature and field amplitude, holds for the variables Q and H_b. This FDR justifies the use of the scaled variance of Q as a proxy for the nonequilibrium susceptibility, \partial<Q> / \partial H_b, in the critical region.


Although the spectrum of a prototypical early-type galaxy is assumed to lack emission lines, a substantial fraction (likely as high as 30%) of nearby red sequence galaxy spectra contain emission lines with line ratios characteristic of low ionization nuclear emission-line regions (LINERs). We use spectra of ~6000 galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) in a narrow redshift slice (0.06 < z < 0.08) to compare the stellar populations of red sequence galaxies with and without LINER-like emission. The spectra are binned by internal velocity dispersion and by emission properties to produce high S/N stacked spectra. The recent stellar population models of R. Schiavon (2007) make it possible to measure ages, [Fe/H], and individual elemental abundance ratios [Mg/Fe], [C/Fe], [N/Fe], and [Ca/Fe] for each of the stacked spectra. We find that red sequence galaxies with strong LINER-like emission are systematically 2-3.5 Gyr (10-40%) younger than their emission-free counterparts at the same velocity dispersion. This suggests a connection between the mechanism powering the emission (whether AGN, post-AGB stars, shocks, or cooling flows) and more recent star formation in the galaxy. We find that mean stellar age and [Fe/H] increase with velocity dispersion for all galaxies. Elemental abundance [Mg/Fe] increases modestly with velocity dispersion in agreement with previous results, and [C/Fe] and [N/Fe] increase more strongly with velocity dispersion than does [Mg/Fe]. [Ca/Fe] appears to be roughly solar for all galaxies. At fixed velocity dispersion, galaxies with fainter r-band luminosities have lower [Fe/H] and older ages but similar abundance ratios compared to brighter galaxies.


a contract with an independent research organization under which such organization, in accordance with this section, conducts an evaluation of the demonstration projects, individually and as a group, conducted under this Act. (b) Research Questions.--In evaluating a demonstration project conducted under this Act, the organization described in subsection (a) shall address the following: (1) What activities and uses most effectively involve project participants in the activities and uses under this Act (with effectiveness measured, for example, by duration of participation, frequency of participation, and intensity of participation). (2) What activities and uses are most effective in preventing or removing violent crime and drug trafficking from a target community. (3) What activities and uses are most effective in supporting or promoting economic development in a target community. (4) What activities and uses are most effective in increasing coordination and assistance between project participants and with the local police department. (5) What activities and uses are most effective in preventing or ending retaliation by perpetrators of crime against project participants. (c) Funding.--Of the funds appropriated under this Act, the Secretary shall set aside not less than 1 percent and not more than 3 percent for the evaluations required under this section. (d) Report to Congress.--Not later than 6 months after the date on which the last grant under this Act terminates, the Secretary shall prepare and submit to the appropriate committees of the Congress a summary of each evaluation conducted under this section. SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act, $10,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000. SEC. 11. DEFINITIONS. As used in this Act: (1) Community.--The term ``community'' means a contiguous geographic area within a large urban district or encompassing a small urban or other nonurban area. (2) Drug trafficking.--The term ``drug trafficking'' means any offense that could be prosecuted under the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801, et seq.). (3) Economic development.--The term ``economic development'' means revitalization and development activities, including business, commercial, housing, and employment activities, that benefit a community and its residents. (4) Grantee.--The term ``grantee'' means a qualified entity that receives a grant under this Act. (5) Project participant.--The term ``project participant''


Context: Ly-alpha-emitters have proven to be excellent probes of faint, star-forming galaxies in the high redshift universe. However, although the sample of known emitters is increasingly growing, their nature (e.g. stellar masses, ages, metallicities, star-formation rates) is still poorly constrained. Aims: We aim to study the nature of Ly-alpha-emitters, to find the properties of a typical Ly-alpha-emitting galaxy and to compare these properties with the properties of other galaxies at similar redshift, in particular Lyman-break galaxies. Methods: We have performed narrow-band imaging at the VLT, focused on Ly-alpha at redshift z ~ 3.15, in the GOODS-S field. We have identified a sample of Ly-alpha-emitting candidates, and we have studied their Spectral Energy Distributions (SEDs). Results: We find that the emitters are best fit by an SED with low metallicity (Z/Z_sun = 0.005), low dust extinction (A_V ~ 0.32) and medium stellar masses of approximately 10^9 M_sun. The age is not very well constrained. One object out of 24 appears to be a high redshift Ly-alpha-emitting dusty starburst galaxy. We find filamentary structure as traced by the Ly-alpha-emitters at the 4 sigma level. The rest-frame UV SED of these galaxies is very similar to that of Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs) and comply with the selection criteria for U-band drop-outs, except they are intrinsically fainter than the current limit for LBGs. Conclusion: Ly-alpha-emitters are excellent probes of galaxies in the distant universe, and represent a class of star-forming, dust and AGN free, medium mass objects.


We present observations with the new 11 GHz radiometer of the COSMOSOMAS experiment at the Teide Observatory (Tenerife). The sky region between 0 deg <= RA <= 360 deg and 26 deg <= DEC 49 deg (ca. 6500 square degrees) was observed with an angular resolution of 0.9 deg. Two orthogonal independent channels in the receiving system measured total power signals from linear polarizations with a 2 GHz bandwidth. Maps with an average sensitivity of 50 microK per beam have been obtained for each channel. At high Galactic latitude (|b|>30deg) the 11 GHz data are found to contain the expected cosmic microwave background as well as extragalactic radiosources, galactic synchrotron and free-free emission, and a dust-correlated component which is very likely of galactic origin. At the angular scales allowed by the window function of the experiment, the dust-correlated component presents an amplitude \Delta T aprox. 9-13 microK while the CMB signal is of order 27 microK. The spectral behaviour of the dust-correlated signal is examined in the light of previous COSMOSOMAS data at 13-17 GHz and WMAP data at 22-94 GHz in the same sky region. We detect a flattening in the spectral index of this signal below 20 GHz which rules out synchrotron radiation as being responsible for the emission. This anomalous dust emission can be described by a combination of free-free emission and spinning dust models with a flux density peaking around 20 GHz.


Phenomenologically viable and interesting regions of parameter space in the minimal super-gravity (mSUGRA) model with small $m_0$ and small $m_{1/2}$ consistent with the WMAP data on dark matter relic density and the bound on the mass of the lightest Higgs scalar $ m_h>$ 114 GeV from LEP2 open up if the rather adhoc assumption $A_0$=0, where $A_0$ is the common trilinear soft breaking parameter, employed in most of the existing analyses is relaxed. Since this region corresponds to relatively light squarks and gluinos which are likely to be probed extensively in the very early stages of the LHC experiments, the consequences of moderate or large negative values of $A_0$ are examined in detail. We find that in this region several processes including lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) pair annihilation, LSP - lighter tau slepton (${\tilde \tau}_1$) coannihilation and LSP - lighter top squark (${\tilde t}_1$) coannihilation contribute to the observed dark matter relic density. %\sout{The possibility that a relic density producing ${\tilde t}_1$ can be %observed at the current experiments at the Tevatron is wide open.} The possibility that a ${\tilde t}_1$ that can participate in coannihilation with the lightest neutralino to satisfy the WMAP bound on relic density and at the same time be observed at the current experiments at the Tevatron is wide open. At the LHC a large number of squark - gluino events lead to a very distinctive semi-inclusive signature $\tau^\pm$+X$_\tau$ (anything without a tau lepton) with a characteristic size much larger than $e^\pm$+X$_e$ or $\mu^\pm$+X$_\mu$ events.


Luminous and ultraluminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs and ULIRGs) dominate the star formation rate budget of the universe at z > 1, yet no local measurements of their heavy element abundances exist. We measure nuclear or near-nuclear oxygen abundances in a sample of 100 star-forming LIRGs and ULIRGs using new, previously published, and archival spectroscopy of strong emission lines (including [O II] 3727, 3729 A) in galaxies with redshifts <z> ~ 0.1. When compared to local emission-line galaxies of similar luminosity and mass (using the near-infrared luminosity-metallicity and mass-metallicity relations), we find that LIRGs and ULIRGs are under-abundant by a factor of two on average. As a corollary, LIRGs and ULIRGs also have smaller effective yields. We conclude that the observed under-abundance results from the combination of a decrease of abundance with increasing radius in the progenitor galaxies and strong, interaction- or merger-induced gas inflow into the galaxy nucleus. This conclusion demonstrates that local abundance scaling relations are not universal, a fact that must be accounted for when interpreting abundances earlier in the universe's history when merger-induced star formation was the dominant mode. We use our local sample to compare to high-redshift samples and assess abundance evolution in LIRGs and ULIRGs. We find that abundances in these systems increased by ~0.2 dex from z ~ 0.6 to z ~ 0.1. Evolution from z ~ 2 submillimeter galaxies to z ~ 0.1 ULIRGs also appears to be present, though uncertainty due to spectroscopic limitations is large.


based on that transparency and reputation. Even if you're going to eat something, right. Truth could be subjective, information could be subjective. Like the same way that you would look at maybe the back of a carton of milk and say, "Okay, there's a lot of fat, but I'm cool with it." Or, you may say, "No, like I don't want all that fat." But when it comes to information and transparency, that doesn't really exist. So I think this idea of building reputation for creators, not just to say, "That this creator tells the truth and this creator doesn't tell the truth." But just give transparency as to the way that they navigate it- Patterson: Yeah, ownership and the attribution- Dicker: Exactly. Patterson: Yeah. Dicker: Exactly, and be able to see, has it been fact checked? Right, who has seen it? Has this person published before? They've taken this picture in Sri Lanka, are they actually in Sri Lanka? Right, or are they in New Jersey? So I think that sort of information really is applicable, especially nowadays, when it comes to deep fakes and people putting information out there, to really just get more exposure and transparency to the end consumer, so that they can make decisions on their own based on what they're consuming. Patterson: Yeah, so the obvious use cases could be say, iStock photo and allowing creators to control the assets that are there. But also social media, as well as news content, or almost any piece of content where an exchange of trust has to happen. And really what you're talking about with transparency, is the exchange of trust equity. And being able to say, "This is the process by which a particular asset exists in an ecosystem, and you can vet and verify it using the blockchain." So you use the Ethereum blockchain. Dicker: We use the ERC-20. Patterson: Yeah, so explain to me how that applies to Po.et, not just in terms of content, but you are building a content library. Why did you elect to use Ethereum? What are some of the advantages of that? And, is this the next emerging hot blockchain? Dicker: So I want to back up and just make it clear. We stamp on the Bitcoin blockchain because it's the most secure blockchain. We leverage Ethereum for ERC-20 tokens because Po.et is a token dynamic-type model. In that,


the school to be needed by the school in providing education in grades K-12 in the areas of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics, including teaching courses of instruction at such school in any such area. ``(6) Defense dependents' education system.--For purposes of this subsection, the term `defense dependents' education system' means the program established and operated under the Defense Dependents' Education Act of 1978 (20 U.S.C. 921 et seq.). ``(d) STEM Teacher Externship Expenses.--For purposes of this section-- ``(1) In general.--The term `STEM teacher externship expenses' means any amount paid or incurred to carry out a STEM externship program of the taxpayer but only to the extent that such amount is attributable to the participation in such program of any eligible STEM teacher, including amounts paid to such a teacher as a stipend while participating in such program. ``(2) STEM externship program.--The term `STEM externship program' means any program-- ``(A) established by a taxpayer engaged in a trade or business within an area of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics, and ``(B) under which eligible STEM teachers receive training to enhance their teaching skills in the areas of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics or otherwise improve their knowledge in such areas. ``(3) Eligible stem teacher.--The term `eligible STEM teacher' means any individual-- ``(A) who is a teacher in grades K-12 at an educational organization described in section 170(b)(1)(A)(ii) which is located in the United States or which is located on a United States military base outside the United States, and ``(B) whose teaching responsibilities at such school include, or are likely to include, any course in the areas of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics. ``(e) STEM Teacher Training Expenses.--The term `STEM teacher training expenses' means any amount paid or incurred by a taxpayer engaged in a trade or business within an area of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics which is attributable to the participation of any eligible STEM teacher in a regular training program provided to employees of the taxpayer which is determined by such teacher's school as enhancing such teacher's teaching skills in the areas of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics. ``(f) Denial of Double Benefit.--No deduction shall be allowed under this chapter for any amount allowed as a credit under this section.''. (b) Conforming Amendments.-- (


This book is a collection of papers dedicated to the memory of Yehuda Vardi. Yehuda was the chair of the Department of Statistics of Rutgers University when he passed away unexpectedly on January 13, 2005. On October 21--22, 2005, some 150 leading scholars from many different fields, including statistics, telecommunications, biomedical engineering, bioinformatics, biostatistics and epidemiology, gathered at Rutgers in a conference in his honor. This conference was on ``Complex Datasets and Inverse Problems: Tomography, Networks, and Beyond,'' and was organized by the editors. The present collection includes research work presented at the conference, as well as contributions from Yehuda's colleagues. The theme of the conference was networks and other important and emerging areas of research involving incomplete data and statistical inverse problems. Networks are abundant around us: communication, computer, traffic, social and energy are just a few examples. As enormous amounts of network data are collected in this information age, the field has attracted a great amount of attention from researchers in statistics and computer engineering as well as telecommunication providers and various government agencies. However, few statistical tools have been developed for analyzing network data as they are typically governed by time-varying and mutually dependent communication protocols sitting on complicated graph-structured network topologies. Many prototypical applications in these and other important technologies can be viewed as statistical inverse problems with complex, massive, high-dimensional and possibly biased/incomplete data. This unifying theme of inverse problems is particularly appropriate for a conference and volume dedicated to the memory of Yehuda. Indeed he made influential contributions to these fields, especially in medical tomography, biased data, statistical inverse problems, and network tomography.


We derive the basic properties of seven Galactic open clusters containing Cepheids and construct their period-luminosity (P-L) relations. For our cluster main-sequence fitting we extend previous Hyades-based empirical color-temperature corrections to hotter stars using the Pleiades as a template. We use BVI_{C}JHK_{s} data to test the reddening law, and include metallicity effects to perform a more comprehensive study for our clusters than prior efforts. The ratio of total to selective extinction R_V that we derive is consistent with expectations. Assuming the LMC P-L slopes, we find <M_V> = -3.93 +/- 0.07 (statistical) +/- 0.14 (systematic) for 10-day period Cepheids, which is generally fainter than those in previous studies. Our results are consistent with recent HST and Hipparcos parallax studies when using the Wesenheit magnitudes W(VI). Uncertainties in reddening and metallicity are the major remaining sources of error in the V-band P-L relation, but a higher precision could be obtained with deeper optical and near-infrared cluster photometry. We derive distances to NGC4258, the LMC, and M33 of (m - M)_0 = 29.28 +/- 0.10, 18.34 +/- 0.06, and 24.55 +/- 0.28, respectively, with an additional systematic error of 0.16 mag in the P-L relations. The distance to NGC4258 is in good agreement with the geometric distance derived from water masers [\Delta (m - M)_0 = 0.01 +/- 0.24]; our value for M33 is less consistent with the distance from an eclipsing binary [\Delta (m - M)_0 = 0.37 +/- 0.34]; our LMC distance is moderately shorter than the adopted distance in the HST Key Project, which formally implies an increase in the Hubble constant of 7% +/- 8%.


It might be hard to believe, but Texas’s voting maps, those lines that decide where your representative district is and what seat you’re voting for, have been in flux for the past six years. As heard on Texas Public Radio Large swaths of the state from Dallas to San Antonio out towards El Paso have had their congressional and state House districts disputed since 2011. That’s when the state’s Republican-led legislature re-drew the maps. The Texas Constitution requires the state legislature re-draw these districts after each census, to make sure these geographic boundaries contain the same amount of people. Minority advocacy groups did not like those 2011 maps, and said they were deliberately designed to negatively affect African American and Latino voters. Cue lawsuits, court battles, and then just last month a panel of federal judges ruled three Texas congressional districts were illegal. So after all these years, it’s not surprising many Texans feel like Lelena Fisher, a graphic designer from Austin. Here’s what she told us: “I’ve been wondering about the status of Texas’ redistricting? With all the drawn and redrawn maps, the court cases and all the time that has passed, it’s easy to lose track of this fundamental important issue, Fisher says. To understand where we’re headed, let’s look at where we’ve been. Minority advocacy groups sued the state in response to the maps the Texas legislature approved in 2011. But the 2012 election was just around the corner, so a federal court implemented its own interim maps. The legislature liked those maps, and officially adopted them during the 2013 legislative session. Problem solved, right? No. People like former state-Rep. Trey Martinez Fisher says those maps still intentionally diluted what had been traditional concentrations of Latino and African American voters. “In this instance they said ‘well lets draw some districts that look like minority opportunity districts but they’ll never have the opportunity because we can tell from election data that it will never elect a candidate of its choice,” Fisher says. Cue another lawsuit. Martinez Fisher sits on the board of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus and led that 2013 lawsuit against the state. Republican lawmakers disputed the lawsuit’s claims. They said the maps the court had drawn were sufficient and should stand. Since then the issue has kind of been in limbo. When Texans voted for their statehouse and congressional reps in 2014, they used those maps. The case just sitting in federal court until this past


’t generally like wipes but I think my rational was that this was better than makeup remover in terms of potential spillage. Sure. Another foot mask experiment that I assume I grabbed while waiting in line for another purchase. I later went back and bought it again, so I guess I was satisfied the first time. Not a lot of thoughts on this travel-sized hairspray. Nothing has been better for my face than these magic drops. I mix it in with my liquid foundation and it’s probably 60 percent of the reason why people are always asking me about or commenting on my skin. The secret is out. You are welcome. Mac’s Ruby Woo lipstick quite literally changed my life. Over the past couple years, I haven’t worn red lipstick as much but this was my attempt to get back in the habit. It’s some special edition shade called Chimps and is now sold out. I bought this eyeliner and got confused about which brush I bought because Sephora sells about eight different types of liquid eyeliner all with slightly different brush shapes. I don’t love the brush—it’s a bit flimsy—but I was too lazy to return it. A beautiful brown woman was my waitress one evening and was wearing this lipstick in Lola. I always assumed the shade would be too light for me but she convinced me and it’s amazing. Kat Von D can make a lipstick. The $50 Dr. Jart Ceramidin cream wasn’t really feeling worth it. My skin was moisturized, sure but nothing revolutionary was going on. And it costs $50. This is a nice alternative. More wipes, apparently. For some reason I purchased this nail polish again in a red that is now sold out. I can’t remember ever using it. A great brow pencil for a light brow day. Should have just bought the big bottle. I find it hard to know when exactly to replace Beauty Blenders but at a certain point I could tell that mine was very gross. At the time of this purchase, I was $1 away from qualifying for VIB Rouge status so I just decided to just give myself up to the inevitable. Over the year I bought eight of these Sephora eye masks which I like to use after a flight even though I can’t tell much of a difference. A gift card I purchased for my sister, presumably to help lead her down the dark path I am on. I won’t bore you with the exact breakdown, but I also bought 25 sheet


We report the discovery of gas streaming motions along nuclear spiral arms towards the LINER nucleus of the galaxy NGC 6951. The observations, obtained using the GMOS integral field spectrograph on the Gemini North telescope, yielded maps of the flux distributions and gas kinematics in the Halpha, [NII]6584 and [SII]6717,31 emission lines of the inner 7x5 arcsec^2 of the galaxy. This region includes a circumnuclear star-forming ring with radius 500pc, a nuclear spiral inside the ring and the LINER nucleus. The kinematics of the ionized gas is dominated by rotation, but subtraction of a kinematic model of a rotating exponential disk reveals deviations from circular rotation within the nuclear ring which can be attributed to (1) streaming motions along the nuclear spiral arms and (2) a bipolar outflow which seems to be associated to a nuclear jet. On the basis of the observed streaming velocities and geometry of the spiral arms we estimate a mass inflow rate of ionized gas of 3x10^(-4) Msun/yr, which is of the order of the accretion rate necessary to power the LINER nucleus of NGC 6951. Similar streaming motions towards the nucleus of another galaxy with LINER nucleus -- NGC 1097 -- have been reported by our group in a previous paper. Taken together, these results support a scenario in which nuclear spirals are channels through which matter is transferred from galactic scales to the nuclear region to feed the supermassive black hole.