9,109,573 research outputs found
Religious practices among Islamic immigrants: Moroccan and Turkish men in Belgium
This study examines the religious participation of Islamic immigrants in Belgium using data from the Migration
History and Social Mobility Survey collected in 1994ā1996 from 2,200 men who had immigrated from Turkey and
Morocco. Religious participation is measured as mosque attendance, fasting during Ramadan, and sacrificing a
sheep at the Festival of Sacrifice. Results show that the religious participation of Islamic immigrants depends on
both premigration and postmigration characteristics. Religious participation is higher among immigrants who:
(1) attended a Koranic school in their country of origin, (2) were socialized in a religious region of their home
country, (3) received little schooling, (4) currently live in an area of Belgium with a greater number of mosques,
and (5) associate with a high number of co-ethnics. These results suggest that the religious participation of Islamic
immigrants in Belgium is an outcome of characteristics unique to immigrants as well as processes common among
the general population.
Density functional theory of the trapped Fermi gas in the unitary regime
We investigate a density-functional theory (DFT) approach for an unpolarized
trapped dilute Fermi gas in the unitary limit . A reformulation of the recent
work of T. Papenbrock [Phys. Rev. A, {\bf 72}, 041602(R) (2005)] in the
language of fractional exclusion statistics allows us to obtain an estimate of
the universal factor, , in three dimensions (3D), in addition to
providing a systematic treatment of finite- corrections. We show that in 3D,
finite- corrections lead to unphysical values for , thereby
suggesting that a simple DFT applied to a small number of particles may not be
suitable in 3D. We then perform an analogous calculation for the
two-dimensional (2D) system in the infinite-scattering length regime, and
obtain a value of . Owing to the unique properties of the
Thomas-Fermi energy density-functional in 2D our result, in contrast to 3D, is
{\em exact} and therefore requires no finite- corrections
On OH Ro-Vibrational Lines in HD 100546: Symmetric or Asymmetric?
The study of planets has fascinated observers for millennia, from careful observers plotting the motions of the \u27wandering stars\u27 to modern astronomers utilizing equipment to study planets within and beyond our Solar System. We have discovered, in recent decades, that planetary systems are found around a large fraction of stars of varying types. The study of the structure of these systems provides a way to study the initial conditions of planet formation and place constraints on models of planet formation and disk-planet interactions. To determine these constraints and identify indirect probes of ongoing planet formation, astronomers have turned to young stellar objects, such as Herbig Ae/Be stars or T Tauri stars, which are surrounded by a disks of gas and dust. By studying these disks, where planet formation takes its first steps, we can determine the signposts of planet formation in disks and complete the planet formation models. This paper investigates one such disk around Herbig star HD 100546. Previous observations of the disk by Liskowsky et al. (2012) and Fedele et al. (2015) have found contradicting OH line profiles. These molecular lines are used to probe the dynamic structure of the inner rim of the outer disk. Liskowsky et al. (2012) present evidence that the asymmetry in the OH line is caused by disk interactions with a massive planetary companion. However, Fedele et. al (2015) show that a similar asymmetric effect can be caused by subsampling of the disk with a narrow slit. In this thesis, the likelihood that a circular disk appears asymmetric is weighed against the likelihood that an asymmetric disk appears symmetric by modeling synthetic observations of both situations. Best practices for future observations of HD 100546 and other circumstellar disks are discussed
The Urgent Need for Job Creation
Many lawmakers, policymakers, and economic commentators do not appear to recognize the depth of the current labor-market recession. Between December 2007 ā the official first month of the recession ā and December 2009, the U.S. economy lost more than eight million jobs. Even if the economy creates jobs from now on at a pace equal to the fastest four years of the early 2000s expansion, we will not return to the December 2007 level of employment until March 2014. And, by the time we return to the number of jobs we had in December 2007, population growth will have increased the potential labor force by about 6.5 million jobs. If job growth matched the fastest four years in the most recent economic expansion, the economy would not catch up to the expanded labor force until April 2021. Absent policy changes such as a major jobs bill, the Congressional Budget Officeās most recent projections suggest that the economy will not return to December 2007 employment levels until June 2013, and will not cover the intervening growth in the potential labor force until August 2015. This report examines the depth of the current labor-market recession and sketches the possible recovery path under several historically based job creation scenarios.unemployment, recession, stimulus, deficit spending
āNeed to knowā and the right temporal lobe: Impaired access to semantic knowledge in acquired obsessive-compulsive disorder?
Introduction : Idiopathic obsessive-compulsive disorder (I-OCD) has been linked to abnormalities in corticostriatal circuits. Few studies have examined if the same structures are also responsible of acquired OCD (A-OCD) or if damage to anatomically-connected brain regions (e.g., temporal lobes) are also implicated in its
pathogenesis. Additionally, there are some discrete obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms that by virtue of their presumed low occurrence and difficultly of categorization have received less attention. Amongst these, one intriguing and potentially severe type of obsessive thinking is the so-called āneed to knowā (NtK), a strong drive to know and obtain given information. In some patients this specific symptom, presumably resulting from impaired access to conceptual knowledge for specific verbal information (proper names, names of places), may be the principal or major feature of OCD symptomatology. We here report the cases of two male patients who developed āNtKā as the only OC symptomatology in association with malignant neoplasms involving the right temporal lobe and connected corticostriatal circuits.
Methods : We used Tractotron and Disconnectome map softwares in order to identify the regions of white matter damage overlap across both patients and the proportion of damage (lesion load) of each tract of interest for each patient. We quantified the severity of the disconnection by measuring the proportion of each tract of interest to be affected by each patientĀ“s lesion by using Tractotron software. Additionally, Positron Emission Tomography was used in order to study metabolic abnormalities. The tracts of interest were: the uncinate fasciculus, the anterior commissure, the anterior thalamic radiations, the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus and the inferior longitudinal fasciculus.
Results : There was a high overlap across brain lesions in patients 1 and 2. There was also a high overlap between areas that were affected (disconnected) due to the lesion. As expected, all the a priori selected pathways in the right hemisphere were affected since they cross the anterior part of the temporal lobe. Disconnection maps
and metabolic changes in our patients suggest that the expression of OC symptoms underpinned by a semantic deficit due to right temporal damage is secondary to involvement of the uncinate fasciculus linking the temporal pole with the orbitofrontal cortex.
Discussion : Data from the present study concur with previous research on A-OCD and current findings in I-OCD which suggest that the temporal lobes participate in the phenomenological expression of OCD. Also, patients with lesions in the anterior temporal lobe are prone to show a specific āNeed to Knowā symptoms phenomenologically similar to patients with semantic dementia in later stages. The expression of OC symptoms underpinned by a semantic deficit because of anterior right temporal lobe lesion, are due to a disconnection of the uncinate fasciculus and the orbitofrontal cortex. Further research about the neurological underpinnings of specific OCD subtypes, its evaluation and treatment, are essential.
References : Berthier ML et al. Neurology. (1996) 47: 353ā61. Huey E et al. J Neuropsych Clin Neurosci (2008). 20(4):390-408
Keywords : Emotions & Social Cognition; patients; single case study; adults; psychiatric; lesion mapping, behavioural.Universidad de MĆ”laga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional AndalucĆa Tech
Criminaliteitsbeleid: wat werkt?
In dit stuk beantwoorden we de vraag wat verstandig beleid met betrekking tot criminaliteitspreventie is, d.w.z. beleid dat wordt ondersteund door de meest recente wetenschappelijke inzichten. Ook voor lokale initiatieven is het essentieel om beleid met een adequaat onderzoek te begeleiden om de effecten en indien mogelijk de kosten/baten van de onderzochte maatregelen te evalueren. In dit verhaal gaan we in op enkele voorbeelden van beleid op het terrein van criminaliteit, en geven daarbij aan wat werkt en wat niet. We concluderen dat criminaliteitsbeleid niet alleen gericht moet zijn op potentiƫle daders, maar dat het belangrijker is om de context waarin criminaliteit wordt gepleegd in het beleid te betrekken. Allereerst wordt een aantal belangrijke feiten met betrekking tot criminaliteit uiteengezet. Daarna volgen de principes van criminaliteitsbestrijding. Vervolgens wordt uiteengezet waarom experimenteel onderzoek van groot belang is. We eindigen met een overzicht van waar de beste informatie te vinden is
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