808 research outputs found
The Stars of David
The Stars of David is based on the true story of a woman whose love of baseball stood above all. Set in the midst of the Great Depression, Jackie Austin, disgusted by the chauvinistic expectations of her impoverished father, sets off on her own to play for whatever team that will have her. That team proves to be the barnstorming House of David Baseball Club, an ascetic religious commune struggling to regain past glory after a decade of tragedy and shame. Outsiders and freaks to the rest of the world, these new Stars of David must learn to work together on the field in order to prosper in life. Can they succeed in the staunchly traditional, largely racist world of Depression-era Major League Baseball? Or will they, too, be whitewashed by time
Finite-Difference Solution for Laminar or Turbulent Boundary Layer Flow over Axisymmetric Bodies with Ideal Gas, CF4, or Equilibrium Air Chemistry
A computer code was developed that uses an implicit finite-difference technique to solve nonsimilar, axisymmetric boundary layer equations for both laminar and turbulent flow. The code can treat ideal gases, air in chemical equilibrium, and carbon tetrafluoride (CF4), which is a useful gas for hypersonic blunt-body simulations. This is the only known boundary layer code that can treat CF4. Comparisons with experimental data have demonstrated that accurate solutions are obtained. The method should prove useful as an analysis tool for comparing calculations with wind tunnel experiments and for making calculations about flight vehicles where equilibrium air chemistry assumptions are valid
On the discrete spectrum of quantum layers
Consider a quantum particle trapped between a curved layer of constant width
built over a complete, non-compact, smooth surface embedded in
. We assume that the surface is asymptotically flat in the sense
that the second fundamental form vanishes at infinity, and that the surface is
not totally geodesic. This geometric setting is known as a quantum layer. We
consider the quantum particle to be governed by the Dirichlet Laplacian as
Hamiltonian. Our work concerns the existence of bound states with energy
beneath the essential spectrum, which implies the existence of discrete
spectrum. We first prove that if the Gauss curvature is integrable, and the
surface is weakly -parabolic, then the discrete spectrum is non-empty.
This result implies that if the total Gauss curvature is non-positive, then the
discrete spectrum is non-empty. We next prove that if the Gauss curvature is
non-negative, then the discrete spectrum is non-empty. Finally, we prove that
if the surface is parabolic, then the discrete spectrum is non-empty if the
layer is sufficiently thin.Comment: Clarifications and corrections to previous version, conjecture from
previous version is proven here (Theorem 1.5), additional references include
UK-based police officers' perceptions of, and role in investigating, cyber-harassment as a crime
Within the UK, cyber-harassment is a criminal act and perpetrators can be prosecuted if the crime is reported to the police. Cyber-harassment has a detrimental impact and causes psychological distress to victims but due to its online nature, complaints made may not be taken seriously and the impact may not be fully acknowledged. Police officers' perceptions of this crime and its victims are crucial as this will impact on how the crime is investigated and whether perpetrators are prosecuted. The present exploratory study aimed to gain insight into how cyber-harassment is investigated and identify issues and barriers. Eight police officers based in the United Kingdom were recruited using a snowball technique to participate in semi-structured interviews. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis and three themes were identified: online accessibility, threat, and the unhelpful victim. Each theme is discussed in relation to theory, policy and legislation within the UK
Does higher cost mean better quality? evidence from highly-regarded adolescent drug treatment programs
We conducted a survey to examine whether reimbursement levels are associated with the quality of adolescent substance use treatment programs in the United States. Between March and September 2005, telephone and written surveys were administered to program, clinical, and finance directors of previously surveyed highly regarded programs. Differences in quality scores were compared for programs with above versus below median reimbursement levels and examined in multivariate regression models constructed separately for programs offering residential and outpatient treatment. In residential treatment multivariate regression models, higher quality scores were associated with higher reimbursement, but this relationship was not observed for outpatient treatment. Even the highest level of outpatient reimbursement received may be too low to support quality improvement initiatives. Our results suggest that higher reimbursement may be a necessary component of quality improvement for residential adolescent drug treatment programs, and emphasize the need for further research to determine what levels of reimbursement and insurance coverage policies will encourage the expansion of high quality outpatient programs
Prevalence of antibiotic-resistant E. coli in retail chicken: Comparing conventional, organic, kosher, and raised without antibiotics
Retail poultry products are known sources of antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli, a major human health concern. Consumers have a range of choices for poultry, including conventional, organic, kosher, and raised without antibiotics (RWA) – designations that are perceived to indicate differences in quality and safety. However, whether these categories vary in the frequency of contamination with antibiotic-resistant E. coli is unknown. We examined the occurrence of antibiotic-resistant E. coli on raw chicken marketed as conventional, organic, kosher and RWA. From April – June 2012, we purchased 213 samples of raw chicken from 15 locations in the New York City metropolitan area. We screened E. coli isolates from each sample for resistance to 12 common antibiotics. Although the organic and RWA labels restrict the use of antibiotics, the frequency of antibiotic-resistant E. coli tended to be only slightly lower for RWA, and organic chicken was statistically indistinguishable from conventional products that have no restrictions. Kosher chicken had the highest frequency of antibiotic-resistant E. coli, nearly twice that of conventional products, a result that belies the historical roots of kosher as a means to ensure food safety. These results indicate that production methods influence the frequency of antibiotic-resistant E. coli on poultry products available to consumers. Future research to identify the specific practices that cause the high frequency of antibiotic-resistant E. coli in kosher chicken could promote efforts to reduce consumer exposure to this potential pathogen
Ferromagnetic models for cooperative behavior: Revisiting Universality in complex phenomena
Ferromagnetic models are harmonic oscillators in statistical mechanics.
Beyond their original scope in tackling phase transition and symmetry breaking
in theoretical physics, they are nowadays experiencing a renewal applicative
interest as they capture the main features of disparate complex phenomena,
whose quantitative investigation in the past were forbidden due to data
lacking. After a streamlined introduction to these models, suitably embedded on
random graphs, aim of the present paper is to show their importance in a
plethora of widespread research fields, so to highlight the unifying framework
reached by using statistical mechanics as a tool for their investigation.
Specifically we will deal with examples stemmed from sociology, chemistry,
cybernetics (electronics) and biology (immunology).Comment: Contributing to the proceedings of the Conference "Mathematical
models and methods for Planet Heart", INdAM, Rome 201
Prevalence of antibiotic-resistant E. coli in retail chicken: Comparing conventional, organic, kosher, and raised without antibiotics
Retail poultry products are known sources of antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli, a major human health concern. Consumers have a range of choices for poultry, including conventional, organic, kosher, and raised without antibiotics (RWA) – designations that are perceived to indicate differences in quality and safety. However, whether these categories vary in the frequency of contamination with antibiotic-resistant E. coli is unknown. We examined the occurrence of antibiotic-resistant E. coli on raw chicken marketed as conventional, organic, kosher and RWA. From April – June 2012, we purchased 213 samples of raw chicken from 15 locations in the New York City metropolitan area. We screened E. coli isolates from each sample for resistance to 12 common antibiotics. Although the organic and RWA labels restrict the use of antibiotics, the frequency of antibiotic-resistant E. coli tended to be only slightly lower for RWA, and organic chicken was statistically indistinguishable from conventional products that have no restrictions. Kosher chicken had the highest frequency of antibiotic-resistant E. coli, nearly twice that of conventional products, a result that belies the historical roots of kosher as a means to ensure food safety. These results indicate that production methods influence the frequency of antibiotic-resistant E. coli on poultry products available to consumers. Future research to identify the specific practices that cause the high frequency of antibiotic-resistant E. coli in kosher chicken could promote efforts to reduce consumer exposure to this potential pathogen
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