A very high accuracy potential energy surface for H3

An exact quantum Monte Carlo (EQMC) method was used to calculate the potential energy surface (PES) for the ground electronic state of H3 over a grid of about 76000 nuclear geometries. The absolute abinitio statistical or sampling error of the calculation was ±0.01 kcal mol^-1 for energies (V) smaller than 3 eV. This PES was fitted by a three-dimensional cubic spline method and the fitting accuracy was determined from a set of 3684 randomly selected nuclear geometries not used in the fitting. For the range V3 eV the rms fitting error was ±0.010 kcal mol^-1, and the absolute value of the corresponding maximum error was 0.018 kcal mol^-1. This fitted EQMC PES is an order of magnitude more accurate than the best PES previously obtained for this system. Detailed comparisons are made with previous PESs, for the more dynamically important nuclear configurations

Supervising Academic Athletic Counseling

There has been much discussion in the academic athletic counseling literature about "how to" deliver services to various populations. However, little attention has been devoted to the "quality control" of these services. One important way of maintaining service quality is through the supervision of academic athletic counselor trainees and practitioners. The purpose of this article was twofold: first, to present supervision models particularly pertinent to the field of academic athletic counseling; and second, to present issues and problems commonly encountered in the supervision of academic athletic counselor trainees and practitioners

On Responsibility and Original Sin: A Molinist Suggestion

A crucial objection to the doctrine of original sin is that it conflicts with a common intuition that agents are morally responsible only for factors under their control. Here, I present an account of moral responsibility by Michael Zimmerman that accommodates that intuition, and I consider it as a model of original sin, noting both attractions and difficulties with the view

Homophobia and Sport Experience: A Survey of College Students

Athlete (n = 246) and nonathlete (n = 135) students (381 total) from a mid-sized, rural university completed the Attitudes Towards lesbians and Gay Men Scale (ATLG; Herek, 1984). Average ratings for attitudes toward and perceptions of gay men and lesbians ranged from negative to mixed. Females scored significantly lower on homophobia than males, while athletes rated sigriificantly higher on homophobia than nonathletes. The results suggest that athletes, at least those from primarily rural areas, have less tolerance for lesbians and gay men than nonathletes. Results and implications for counselors are discussed in the context of the conservatism of athletics, sport as an arena of masculinity, heterosexism, lack of knowledge about lesbians and gay men, and other sociocultural influences

Knowledge of AIDS and Risky Sexual Behaviors among Athletes

This research investigated sexual behaviors and AIDS knowledge for 381 students, athletes (n=246) and nonathletes (n=135), at a rural university. Nonathletes and athletes scored similarly on an AIDS knowledge test, but differed in reported risky sexual behavior. Athletes reported more behavioral changes after Magic Johnson's HIV-related retirement, but they still reported having more sexual partners per year than did nonathletes. The groups did not differ in condom use. By engaging in such risky behaviors, athletes may be more susceptible to sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS. Athletes (and nonathletes) continue to engage in unsafe sexual behaviors even while in possession of adequate knowledge of the risks. These results support previous research that has found that knowledge is not a valid predictor of sexual behavior (Ehde et al., 1995; Hays & Hays, 1992, Walters, 1992). Implications for athletic counselors were discussed

Target and Projectile: Material Effects on Crater Excavation and Growth

Scaling relationships allow the initial conditions of an impact to be related to the excavation flow and final crater size and have proven useful in understanding the various processes that lead to the formation of a planetary-scale crater. In addition, they can be examined and tested through laboratory experiments in which the initial conditions of the impact are known and ejecta kinematics and final crater morphometry are measured directly. Current scaling relationships are based on a point-source assumption and treat the target material as a continuous medium; however, in planetary-scale impacts, this may not always be the case. Fragments buried in a megaregolith, for instance, could easily approach or exceed the dimensions of the impactor; rubble-pile asteroids could present similar, if not greater, structural complexity. Experiments allow exploration into the effects of target material properties and projectile deformation style on crater excavation and dimensions. This contribution examines two of these properties: (1) the deformation style of the projectile, ductile (aluminum) or brittle (soda-lime glass) and (2) the grain size of the target material, 0.5-1 mm vs. 1-3 mm sand

Comment on studying the corrections to factorization in B -> D(*) X

We propose studying the mechanism of factorization in exclusive decays of the form B->D(*)X by examining the differential decay rate as a function of the invariant mass of the light hadronic state X. If factorization works primarily due to the large N_c limit then its accuracy is not expected to decrease as the X invariant mass increases. However, if factorization is mostly a consequence of perturbative QCD then the corrections should grow with the X invariant mass. Combining data for hadronic tau decays and semileptonic B decays allows tests of factorization to be made for a variety of final states. We discuss the examples of B->D^*\pi^+\pi^-\pi^-\pi^0 and B->D^*\omega\pi^-. The mode B->D^*\omega\pi^- will allow a precision study of the dependence of the corrections to factorization on the invariant mass of the light hadronic state.Comment: 7 pages, minor clarifications to tex

Carbon budget of a shallow, lagoonal estuary: Transformations and source-sink dynamics along the river-estuary-ocean continuum

A comprehensive carbon budget was constructed to quantify carbon flows through the freshwater-marine continuum of a temperate, microtidal estuary. We performed coordinated measurements of dissolved inorganic carbon and total organic carbon fluxes to resolve spatial variability between and along the channel and shoals and diel variability across the entire estuary for 2 yr. Net ecosystem metabolism (NEM) was the most significant control on carbon flow within estuary regions. However, metabolic rates were spatially coupled such that counteracting fluxes across the channel-shoal gradient or along the river-ocean gradient resulted in system-wide NEM that was closely in balance (-3.0 +/- 3.3 to 1.1 +/- 4.4 molC m(-2) yr(-1)). Similarly, large diel and seasonal variability in air-water CO2 fluxes were observed during 72 spatial surveys, but these short-term variations generally cancelled out when aggregated to annual budget terms. Although atmospheric exchanges were small (-0.2 +/- 0.1 to 2.0 +/- 0.4 molC m(-2) yr(-1)), they were subject to large errors (+/- 4 molC m(-2) yr(-1)) if diel variability was neglected. Internal mechanisms that maintained balanced carbon flows were strongly impacted by river discharge and were only apparent by separately quantifying channel and shoal fluxes. Notably, metabolic responses of the shoal to river forcing outweighed the responses of the channel, and the net impact was contrary to prior relationships derived from synthesis of lower-resolution carbon budgets. Our budget demonstrates that resolution of carbon fluxes at appropriate scales, including channel-shoal and diel variability, is critical to characterizing ecosystem function and the fate of carbon within the river-ocean continuum

Easing into Reality: Experimental Impacts into Slopes and Layers

Impact cratering is the dominant geo-logic process affecting the surfaces of solid bodies throughout our solar system. Because large impacts are (luckily) rare on Earth, the process is studied through experiments, observations of existing structures, numerical modeling, and theory, most of which make the simplifying assumptions that the target is homogeneous, with no substantial topography. Craters do not always form on level targets com-posed of homogeneous loose material. Rather (Fig. 1), they often form on sloped surfaces and in layered tar-gets, both of which significantly influence the excavation and ejecta deposition processes. Such craters are common on the Moon and asteroids. We are investigating crater formation in two separate suites of experiments using sloped and layered targets (Fig. 2) at the Experimental Impact Laboratory at NASA Johnson Space Center. An experiment was also performed in a flat, homogenous target to serve as a reference