Separation and Electrical Properties of Self-Organized Graphene/Graphite Layers

Intrinsic layered structure of graphite is the source of ongoing and expanding search of ways of obtaining low-cost and promising graphite thin layers. We report on a novel method of obtaining and separating rubbed graphite sheets by using water soluble NaCl substrate. The electrical behavior of sheets was characterized by current-voltage measurements. An in-plane electrical unisotropy depending on rubbing direction is discovered. Optical microscopy observations combined with discovered non-linear electrical behavior revealed that friction leads to the formation of sheet makeup which contain an optically transparent lamina of self-organized few-layer graphene.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Vernal Pool Conservation: Enhancing Existing Regulation Through the Creation of the Maine Vernal Pool Special Area Management Plan

Conservation of natural resources is challenging given the competing economic and ecological goals humans have for landscapes. Vernal pools in the northeastern US are seasonal, small wetlands that provide critical breeding habitat for amphibians and invertebrates adapted to temporary waters, and are exceptionally hard to conserve as their function is dependent on connections to other wetlands and upland forests. A team of researchers in Maine joined forces with a diverse array of governmental and private stakeholders to develop an alternative to existing top-down vernal pool regulation. Through creative adoption and revision of various resource management tools, they produced a vernal pool conservation mechanism, the Maine Vernal Pool Special Management Area Plan that meets the needs of diverse stakeholders from developers to ecologists. This voluntary mitigation tool uses fees from impacts to vernal pools in locally identified growth areas to fund conservation of “poolscapes” (pools plus appropriate adjacent habitat) in areas locally designated for rural use. In this case study, we identify six key features of this mechanism that illustrate the use of existing tools to balance growth and pool conservation. This case study will provide readers with key concepts that can be applied to any conservation problem: namely, how to work with diverse interests toward a common goal, how to evaluate and use existing policy tools in new ways, and how to approach solutions to sticky problems through a willingness to accept uncertainty and risk

Actions speak louder than words: designing transdisciplinary approaches to enact solutions

Sustainability science uses a transdisciplinary research process in which academic and non-academic partners collaborate to identify a common problem and co-produce knowledge to develop more sustainable solutions. Sustainability scientists have advanced the theory and practice of facilitating collaborative efforts such that the knowledge created is usable. There has been less emphasis, however, on the last step of the transdisciplinary process: enacting solutions. We analyzed a case study of a transdisciplinary research effort in which co-produced policy simulation information shaped the creation of a new policy mechanism. More specifically, by studying the development of a mechanism for conserving vernal pool ecosystems, we found that four factors helped overcome common challenges to acting upon new information: creating a culture of learning, co-producing policy simulations that acted as boundary objects, integrating research into solution development, and employing an adaptive management approach. With an increased focus on these four factors that enable action, we can better develop the same level of nuanced theoretical concepts currently characterizing the earlier phases of transdisciplinary research, and the practical advice for deliberately designing these efforts

Citizen science and natural resource governance: program design for vernal pool policy innovation

Effective natural resource policy depends on knowing what is needed to sustain a resource and building the capacity to identify, develop, and implement flexible policies. This retrospective case study applies resilience concepts to a 16-year citizen science program and vernal pool regulatory development process in Maine, USA. We describe how citizen science improved adaptive capacities for innovative and effective policies to regulate vernal pools. We identified two core program elements that allowed people to act within narrow windows of opportunity for policy transformation, including (1) the simultaneous generation of useful, credible scientific knowledge and construction of networks among diverse institutions, and (2) the formation of diverse leadership that promoted individual and collective abilities to identify problems and propose policy solutions. If citizen science program leaders want to promote social-ecological systems resilience and natural resource policies as outcomes, we recommend they create a system for internal project evaluation, publish scientific studies using citizen science data, pursue resources for program sustainability, and plan for leadership diversity and informal networks to foster adaptive governance. Effective natural resource policy depends on knowing what is needed to sustain a resource and building the capacity to identify, develop, and implement flexible policies. This retrospective case study applies resilience concepts to a 16-year citizen science program and vernal pool regulatory development process in Maine, USA. We describe how citizen science improved adaptive capacities for innovative and effective policies to regulate vernal pools. We identified two core program elements that allowed people to act within narrow windows of opportunity for policy transformation, including (1) the simultaneous generation of useful, credible scientific knowledge and construction of networks among diverse institutions, and (2) the formation of diverse leadership that promoted individual and collective abilities to identify problems and propose policy solutions. If citizen science program leaders want to promote social-ecological systems resilience and natural resource policies as outcomes, we recommend they create a system for internal project evaluation, publish scientific studies using citizen science data, pursue resources for program sustainability, and plan for leadership diversity and informal networks to foster adaptive governance

Turning Contention into Collaboration: Engaging Power, Trust, and Learning in Collaborative Networks

Given the complexity and multiplicity of goals in natural resource governance, it is not surprising that policy debates are often characterized by contention and competition. Yet at times adversaries join together to collaborate to find creative solutions not easily achieved in polarizing forums. We employed qualitative interviews and a quantitative network analysis to investigate a collaborative network that formed to develop a resolution to a challenging natural resource management problem, the conservation of vernal pools. We found that power had become distributed among members, trust had formed across core interests, and social learning had resulted in shared understanding and joint solutions. Furthermore, institutions such as who and when new members joined, norms of inclusion and openness, and the use of small working groups helped create the observed patterns of power, trust, and learning

Efficient Quantum Circuits for Schur and Clebsch-Gordan Transforms

The Schur basis on n d-dimensional quantum systems is a generalization of the total angular momentum basis that is useful for exploiting symmetry under permutations or collective unitary rotations. We present efficient (size poly(n,d,log(1/\epsilon)) for accuracy \epsilon) quantum circuits for the Schur transform, which is the change of basis between the computational and the Schur bases. These circuits are based on efficient circuits for the Clebsch-Gordan transformation. We also present an efficient circuit for a limited version of the Schur transform in which one needs only to project onto different Schur subspaces. This second circuit is based on a generalization of phase estimation to any nonabelian finite group for which there exists a fast quantum Fourier transform.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Access to Care for VA Dialysis Patients During Superstorm Sandy.

Introduction: This study examines the use of dialysis services by end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients following the Superstorm Sandy-related, months-long closure of the New York campus of the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) New York Harbor VA Healthcare System (NYHHS, Manhattan VAMC). Methods: Outpatient visits, dialysis care, emergency department visits, and hospitalizations at VA and non-VA facilities for 47 Manhattan VAMC ESRD patients were examined 12 months pre- and post-Sandy using VA administrative and clinical data. Results: The Brooklyn campus of NYHHS, which is within ten miles of Manhattan VAMC, experienced the largest increase in the number of dialysis encounters after the closure. Dialysis encounters for VA patients also increased at non-VA facilities, rising on average, to 106 per month. For the James J Peters Bronx VAMC, the number of total dialysis encounters for Manhattan VAMC patients fluctuated between 39 and 43 per month, dropping to less than 30 after the Manhattan VAMC dialysis unit reopened. Conclusion: Manhattan VAMC ESRD patients used nearby alternate VA sites and non-VA clinics for their care during the closure of the Manhattan VAMC dialysis unit. The VA electronic health records played an important role in ensuring continuity of care for patients who exclusively used VAMC facilities post-Sandy because patient information was immediately accessible at other VA facilities. The events related to Superstorm Sandy highlight the need for dialysis providers to have a comprehensive disaster plan, including nearby alternate care sites that can increase service capacity when a dialysis facility is closed because of a disaster

Radiation from a charge circulating inside a waveguide with dielectric filling

The emitted power of the radiation from a charged particle moving uniformly on a circle inside a cylindrical waveguide is considered. The expressions for the energy flux of the radiation passing through the waveguide cross-section are derived for both TE and TM waves. The results of the numerical evaluation are presented for the number of emitted quanta depending on the waveguide radius, the radius of the charge rotation orbit and dielectric permittivity of the filling medium. These results are compared with the corresponding quantities for the synchrotron radiation in a homogeneous medium.Comment: 10 pages, Latex, four EPS figure