Complete LEP Data: Status of Higgs Boson Searches

The LEP experiments completed data-taking in November 2000. New preliminary combined results of the four LEP experiments ALEPH, DELPHI, L3 and OPAL are presented for various Higgs boson searches.Comment: 9 pages, 12 figures. Proc. Third Int.Conference on Non-Accelerator New Physics, NANP-01, Moscow, 200

The Delphi: An Underutilized Method of Scholarly and Practical Research for a Public Relations Field in Transition

This paper introduces, analyzes, and explains the Delphi method of research, particularly as it applies to certain aspects of the public relations industry. The Delphi technique became known some fifty years ago when the Rand Corporation used it extensively for forecasting. Since then, scholars and forecasters have used it periodically for early, qualitative explorations into complex issues or domains. The overall purpose of the Delphi is to facilitate formal discussion among selected experts in a given domain around a particular topic; it is particularly useful when those experts cannot easily come together in one place. The method encourages the sharing of diverging worldviews over a few “rounds” or iterations in the hope that the views may converge into some direction around the given topic. For this reason, the Delphi has often been used in situations or environments that tend to be somewhat ambiguous and where interviews and surveys are neither timely nor appropriate. Public relations scholars started incorporating the Delphi method into their research in the late 1980s, and the technique has since been employed to explore broad-ranging issues among experts on at least seven or eight occasions. It has also been used to explore ethical norms. However, public relations literature contains little discussion about the technique and its possible applications or implications for developing knowledge in the field. This paper, then, is intended to dissect the Delphi method so as to offer guidance to public relations scholars who may wish to use it in future studies. The authors, both of whom have conducted Delphi studies, believe that the method is valuable in examining topics that are emerging or underdeveloped in the field; however, certain precautions are necessary in order to ensure that the research achieves the desired effects. The paper is created through a literature review of similar articles on Delphi studies in other domains, notably health communications, followed by an examination of some studies conducted to advance issues in public relations. The authors explore the most appropriate situations for using a Delphi and list the benefits and disbenefits of different aspects or applications of the method. They trace the evolution of Delphi research from its early roots into the era of the Internet and social media, which offer new tools for increasing the number of respondents and moving through the Delphi process more quickly than could previously be done. In advancing such an examination of the Delphi, this paper should be a useful addition to emerging public relations literature

Evaluation of auditory efferent system function in children with autism

زمینه و هدف: مطالعات مختلف نشان داده اند که سیستم وابران شنیداری در توجه انتخابی نقش دارد و از این رو بررسی این سیستم در کودکان اوتیسمی بسیار ارزشمند است. هدف از این مطالعه بررسی مسیر وابران شنوایی در کودکان مبتلا به اوتیسم در مقایسه با کودکان با رشد هنجار بوده است. روش بررسی: در این مطالعه توصیفی-تحلیلی تعداد 34 کودک 11-5 ساله در قالب دو گروه هنجار (17 نفر) و مبتلا به اوتیسم (17 نفر) مورد بررسی قرار گرفتند. کلیه کودکان در آزمون های ادیومتری تون خالص (Pure-tone audionetry)، ادیومتری گفتاری (Speech audiometery)، تمپانومتری (Tympanometry) و گسیل های صوتی گوشی گذرا (otoacoustic emissions=TEOAE-evoked Transient)دارای نتایج طبیعی بودند. عملکرد سیستم وابران از طریق ثبت پاسخ های TEOAE در دو حالت ارائه نویز دگر طرفی و بدون ارائه نویز بررسی گردید. جهت آنالیز نتایج از از نرم افزار آماری SPSS و آزمون های تی مستقل و تی زوجی استفاده شد. یافته ها: نتایج این پژوهش نشان داد که تفاوت قابل ملاحظه ای بین میانگین میزان مهار در دو گروه وجود دارد (001/0=P). میانگین دامنه TEOAE در حالت بدون نویز دگر طرفی در گروه هنجار (09/4 ± 63/17) و در گروه اوتیسم (78/3 ± 40/17) به دست آمد که از لحاظ آماری نشان دهنده تفاوت معنی داری نبود (83/0=P). نتیجه گیری: یافته های کسب شده در مطالعه حاضر نشان دهنده کاهش فعالیت سیستم وابران شنوایی در کودکان مبتلا به اوتیسم نسبت به کودکان با رشد هنجار بود. با توجه به اینکه آزمون مورد استفاده در این مطالعه، مهار گسیل های صوتی گوشی گذرا (TEOAE suppression) است، می توان نتیجه گرفت این آزمون ابزار بالینی حساس، غیر تهاجمی، عینی و مناسب برای بررسی عملکرد سیستم وابران در کودکان مبتلا به اوتیسم است

Vowel Trigrams

In the August and November 1969 Word Ways, Ross and Faith Eckler presented a list of common trigrams that can be found in English words. They deserve congratulations, along with their helpers, for undertaking what, initially, must have appeared to be a Herculean task. They managed to track down 6,500+ of the 17,576 possible trigrams

A Hyperhypercube of Side Two

In the August 1971 Word Ways, Darryl Francis challenged the reader to produce a hyperhypercube (a word cube in five dimensions) out of 80 suitably-chosen two-letter words. This array on the right represents the best solution I have been able to obtain. 73 of the words are found in Webster\u27s Second or Third Editions (one, OP, is found in the Addenda to the Third); 5 words from Webster\u27s First Edition; 2 (UA, UK) are found in the Times Index-Gazetteer