The African American population of Buffalo, New York experiences striking race-based health disparities due to adverse social determinants of health. A team of community leaders and university faculty determined that a community dialogue was needed to focus research and advocacy on the root causes of these disparities. In response, we organized the annual Igniting Hope conference series that has become the premier conference on health disparities in the region. The series, now supported by an R13 conference grant from NCATS, has been held four times (2018–2021) and has attracted community members, community leaders, university faculty, and trainees. The agenda includes talks by national leaders and breakout/working groups that led to a new state law that has reduced disproportionate traffic-ticketing and drivers' license suspensions in Black neighborhoods; mitigation of the disproportionate COVID-19 fatalities in Black communities; and the launching of a university-supported institute. We describe the key elements of success for a conference series designed by a community–university partnership to catalyze initiatives that are having an impact on social determinants of health in Buffalo.

The concentrations of U, Th, and K in a charnockite-alkali granite intrusive complex from SW Sweden and associated, partly charnockitized country rocks are presented. The charnockitic components have constant low U and Th levels throughout the compositional range with a mean Th/U ratio of 1.2 to 1.5. The transition from charnockite to granite is marked by a sharp increase in Th and U concentrations with mean Th/U ratios increasing to 3.4 4.4. However, the K concentration increases relatively smoothly with increasing acidity through the compositional range studied. Late shearing of the alkali granite led to significant Th depletion with little change in the U and K concentrations. Charnockitization of the country rock granite gneisses is marked by depletion in Th and K while the U content is almost unchanged.

It is suggested that the behaviour of U and Th reflects the tendency for Th to associate with magma-dissolved water whilst U shows a greater affinity for coexisting free volatiles. In the absence of a significant free volatile phase during crystallization of this charnockite-granite suite, U was incorporated into primary mineral lattice sites whereas Th entered sites from which it could be liberated more easily.

The morphology of englacial drainage networks and their temporal evolution are poorly characterised, particularly within cold ice masses. At present, direct observations of englacial channels are restricted in both spatial and temporal resolution. Through novel use of a terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) system, the interior geometry of an englacial channel in Austre Brøggerbreen, Svalbard, was reconstructed and mapped. Twenty-eight laser scan surveys were conducted in March 2016, capturing the glacier surface around a moulin entrance and the uppermost 122 m reach of the adjoining conduit. The resulting point clouds provide detailed 3-D visualisation of the channel with point accuracy of 6.54 mm, despite low (<60%) overall laser returns as a result of the physical and optical properties of the clean ice, snow, hoar frost and sediment surfaces forming the conduit interior. These point clouds are used to map the conduit morphology, enabling extraction of millimetre-to-centimetre scale geometric measurements. The conduit meanders at a depth of 48 m, with a sinuosity of 2.7, exhibiting teardrop shaped cross-section morphology. This improvement upon traditional surveying techniques demonstrates the potential of TLS as an investigative tool to elucidate the nature of glacier hydrological networks, through reconstruction of channel geometry and wall composition.

Seedlings of 19 plant species were grown in soils containing 0 to 1,000 ppm of O,O-diisopropyl phosphorodithioate S-ester with N-(2-mercaptoethyl)benzenesulfonamide (bensulide) or 0 to 100 ppm of a,a,a-trifluoro-2,6-dinitro-N,N-dipropyl-p-toluidine (trifluralin) to determine phytotoxicity. Standard growth curves were constructed. The concentration of bensulide required to reduce the growth of shoots 50% (GR50) ranged from 1 ppm with barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crusgalli (L.) Beauv.) to more than 1,000 ppm with carrot (Daucus carota L., var. Long Imperator). Several plant species were more sensitive to bensulide in a Hidalgo sandy loam (pH 8.1) than in other soils including a Delfina loamy fine sand (pH 6.0). The concentration of trifluralin required to reduce the growth of shoots 50% (GR50) was not markedly affected by soil texture and ranged from 0.1 ppm with German millet (Setaria italica (L.) Beauv.) to more than 100 ppm with Long Imperator carrot. The standard growth curves have been used to quantify herbicidal activities in field soils.

The comparative performances of several herbicides incorporated 2.5 cm deep and unincorporated in furrow-irrigated soil were studied in four field experiments. Among eight herbicides evaluated, a,a,a-trifluoro-2,6-dinitro-N,N-dipropyl-p-toluidine (trifluralin) was the most effective herbicide and controlled redroot pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus L.), Palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri S. Wats.), common purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.), and barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crusgalli (L.) Beauv.) when incorporated, without reduction of yield in carrots (Daucus carota L., var. saliva, cv. Long Imperator). Trifluralin and O,O-diisopropyl phosphorodithioate S ester with N-(2-mercaptoethyl)benzenesulfonamide (bensulide) gave consistently good results in all years although soil temperatures and evaporative losses of water were variable. Bioassays indicated and gas-liquid chromatographic (hereinafter referred to as GLC) assays confirmed that rainfall moved bensulide and trifluralin 2.5 cm downward in soil, and that dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate (DCPA) was not moved below the original depth of incorporation in soil. GLC assays were most sensitive but generally agreed with bioassays of trifluralin-treated soils. Under high temperatures, infrequent rainfall, and furrow irrigation, the half-life of DCPA and trifluralin activities was 3 weeks, with no biological activity after 7 months. The half-life of bensulide activity was 6 months, with no biological activity after 22 months.

National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II) will be a 3-GeV 792 m circumference third generation synchrotron radiation facility with ultra low emittance and extremely high brightness. There will be a total of 90 multipole storage ring girders supporting the vacuum chambers, multipole magnets and various pieces of ancillary equipment. A major effort is being made to meet the stringent assembly and alignment requirements for the girder assemblies using relatively few and removable positioning fixtures. Girder assembly and alignment will be accomplished in four phases. Each of these phases will be described along with the fixtures required.

The text of this paper, together with the abstract of the discussion held by the Faculty of Actuaries on 19 March 2007, are printed in British Actuarial Journal, 13, III, 479-555.

Patterns and trends in late-life mortality are of growing financial importance. The growth in pension liabilities, both public and private, are of crucial interest to governments, insurers and companies with defined benefit pension schemes. This paper explores the patterns in international mortality data, and draws important lessons for actuaries in the United Kingdom.

The suggestion that mosquitoes can discriminate ABO blood group status in man was re-examined and an attempt made to determine recognition mechanisms.

Host choice was assessed in the laboratory by recording landings on and blood-meals taken from the forearms of pairs of human volunteers in a 10-min exposure to 20 females of species A of the Anopheles gambiae complex, and an alternative procedure, which did not involve mosquitoes probing the host's skin, was developed and evaluated. The presence of weals on the host's skin was found to be an unreliable indicator of probing or feeding activity by mosquitoes. The effect of thermally induced sweating was also investigated.

No effect of ABO blood group status on host choice was found. Mosquitoes did, however, show a highly significant preference to land and feed on a subject when thermogenic sweating was induced. Secretor substances in the sweat did not influence host selection.

The predictive value of host variables such as MN blood group, skin temperature and humidity, skin colour and forearm hair density in determining host choice was examined. Very little of the observed variation in mosquito activity could be accounted for by these host variables within the ranges used.

Commission 51 met on 18 August 2006. President Karen Meech chaired the meeting and there were 16 members present, including vice-president Alan Boss, and OC member David Morrison.

Background: Disturbances in rest–activity rhythm are prominent and disabling symptoms in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Nighttime sleep is severely fragmented and daytime activity is disrupted by multiple napping episodes. In most institutional environments, light levels are very low and may not be sufficient to enable the circadian clock to entrain to the 24-hour day. The purpose of this randomized, placebo-controlled, clinical trial was to test the effectiveness of morning bright light therapy in reducing rest–activity (circadian) disruption in institutionalized patients with severe AD.

Method: Subjects (n=46, mean age 84 years) meeting the NINCDS-ADRDA (National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke – the Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association) AD diagnostic criteria were recruited from two large, skilled nursing facilities in San Francisco, California. The experimental group received one hour (09:30–10:30) of bright light exposure (≥2500lux in gaze direction) Monday through Friday for 10weeks. The control group received usual indoor light (150–200lux). Nighttime sleep efficiency, sleep time, wake time and number of awakenings and daytime wake time were assessed using actigraphy. Circadian rhythm parameters were also determined from the actigraphic data using cosinor analysis and nonparametric techniques. Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test the primary study hypotheses.

Results and conclusion: Although significant improvements were found in subjects with aberrant timing of their rest–activity rhythm, morning bright light exposure did not induce an overall improvement in measures of sleep or the rest–activity in all treated as compared to control subjects. The results indicate that only subjects with the most impaired rest–activity rhythm respond significantly and positively to a brief (one hour) light intervention.

The Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST) will perform high-resolution studies of the Sun's magnetic fields needed to understand their role in the fundamental processes responsible for solar variability. The generation of magnetic fields through dynamo processes, the amplification of fields through the interaction with plasma flows, and the destruction of fields remain poorly understood. There is incomplete insight as to what physical mechanisms are responsible for heating the corona, what causes variations in the radiative output of the Sun, and what mechanisms trigger flares and coronal mass ejections. Progress in answering these critical questions requires study of the interaction of the magnetic field and convection with a resolution sufficient to observe scales fundamental to these processes.

The 4-m aperture ATST is designed as a unique scientific tool, with excellent angular resolution, a large wavelength range, and low scattered light. With its integrated adaptive optics, the ATST will achieve a spatial resolution nearly 10 times better than any existing solar telescope.To search for other articles by the author(s) go to: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abstract_service.html

Depth profiles of intrinsic in-plane, biaxial stresses were obtained as a function of τ, the 1/e penetration depth, in a 1.0 um thick planar d. c. magentron sputter deposited molybdenum film using asymmetric grazing incidence x-ray diffraction (GIXD). τ was varied between 20 and 276 Å. The stresses σ11 and σ22 were characterized in the directions parallel and perpendicular to the long axis of the cathode respectively using a cos2 φ method. The results show that starting from τ=17Å, σ11 and σ22 are compressive and become rapidly more compressive with a minimum at τ ∼ 20 - 40 Å thereafter increasing gradually toward tensile values. The reasons for the shape of the stress gradient are not well understood but may be related to the relaxation of the stresses at the tops of the columnar Zone T-type microstructure and to the oxygen gradient in the film.

Neutron diffraction was used to measure the residual stress distribution in an FeAl weld overlay on steel. It was found that the residual stresses accumulated during welding were essentially removed by the post-weld heat treatment that was applied to the specimen; most residual stresses in the specimen developed during cooling following the post-weld heat treatment. The experimental data were compared with a plasto-elastic finite element analysis. While some disagreement exists in absolute strain values, there is satisfactory agreement in strain spatial distribution between the experimental data and the finite element analysis.

Preferred orientations in powder diffraction specimens can cause large errors in measured intensities. An extreme case is shown in Figure 1, Smith and Barrett (1979) reviewed the various methods which have been proposed for reducing this effect. Subsequently, two methods which are used commercially for aggregating finely divided solids have been proposed for preparing powder diffraction specimens (Smith, Snyder, and Brownell, 1979; Calvert and Sirianni, 1980). In one of these, spray drying, a finely divided solid is suspended in a liquid together with small quantities of a deflocculent and a binder. This mixture is pulled by venturi action through a nozzle into a heated chamber. The spherically shaped aggregates dry before falling to a collection surface. The apparatus is fairly large (3 X 3 X 4 ft. at NBS), and operating parameters must be carefully chosen.