Using a model of group psychotherapy to support social research on sensitive topics

This article describes the exploratory use of professional therapeutic support by social researchers working on a sensitive topic. Talking to recently bereaved parents about the financial implications of their child's death was expected to be demanding work, and the research design included access to an independent psychotherapeutic service. Using this kind of professional support is rare within the general social research community, and it is useful to reflect on the process. There are likely to be implications for collection and interpretation of data, research output and the role and experience of the therapist. Here, the primary focus is the potential impact on researcher well-being

Lattice Simulations for Light Nuclei: Chiral Effective Field Theory at Leading Order

We discuss lattice simulations of light nuclei at leading order in chiral effective field theory. Using lattice pion fields and auxiliary fields, we include the physics of instantaneous one-pion exchange and the leading-order S-wave contact interactions. We also consider higher-derivative contact interactions which adjust the S-wave scattering amplitude at higher momenta. By construction our lattice path integral is positive definite in the limit of exact Wigner SU(4) symmetry for any even number of nucleons. This SU(4) positivity and the approximate SU(4) symmetry of the low-energy interactions play an important role in suppressing sign and phase oscillations in Monte Carlo simulations. We assess the computational scaling of the lattice algorithm for light nuclei with up to eight nucleons and analyze in detail calculations of the deuteron, triton, and helium-4.Comment: 44 pages, 15 figure

Background Light in Potential Sites for the ANTARES Undersea Neutrino Telescope

The ANTARES collaboration has performed a series of {\em in situ} measurements to study the background light for a planned undersea neutrino telescope. Such background can be caused by $^{40}$K decays or by biological activity. We report on measurements at two sites in the Mediterranean Sea at depths of 2400~m and 2700~m, respectively. Three photomultiplier tubes were used to measure single counting rates and coincidence rates for pairs of tubes at various distances. The background rate is seen to consist of three components: a constant rate due to $^{40}$K decays, a continuum rate that varies on a time scale of several hours simultaneously over distances up to at least 40~m, and random bursts a few seconds long that are only correlated in time over distances of the order of a meter. A trigger requiring coincidences between nearby photomultiplier tubes should reduce the trigger rate for a neutrino telescope to a manageable level with only a small loss in efficiency.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physic

Prevalence of high-risk human papillomavirus types in Mexican women with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and invasive carcinoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Prevalence of high risk (HR) human papillomavirus (HPV) types in the states of San Luis Potosí (SLP) and Guanajuato (Gto), Mexico, was determined by restriction fragment length-polymorphism (RFLP) analysis on the E6 ~250 bp (E6-250) HR-HPV products amplified from cervical scrapings of 442 women with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and invasive carcinoma (280 from SLP and 192 from Gto). Fresh cervical scrapings for HPV detection and typing were obtained from all of them and cytological and/or histological diagnoses were performed on 383.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Low grade intraepithelial squamous lesions (LSIL) were diagnosed in 280 cases (73.1%), high grade intraepithelial squamous lesions (HSIL) in 64 cases (16.7%) and invasive carcinoma in 39 cases (10.2%). In the 437 cervical scrapings containing amplifiable DNA, only four (0.9%) were not infected by HPV, whereas 402 (92.0%) were infected HR-HPV and 31 (7.1%) by low-risk HPV. RFLP analysis of the amplifiable samples identified infections by one HR-HPV type in 71.4%, by two types in 25.9% and by three types in 2.7%. The overall prevalence of HR-HPV types was, in descending order: 16 (53.4%) > 31 (15.6%) > 18 (8.9%) > 35 (5.6) > 52 (5.4%) > 33 (1.2%) > 58 (0.7%) = unidentified types (0.7%); in double infections (type 58 absent in Gto) it was 16 (88.5%) > 31 (57.7%) > 35 (19.2%) > 18 (16.3%) = 52 (16.3%) > 33 (2.8%) = 58 (2.8%) > unidentified types (1.0%); in triple infections (types 33 and 58 absent in both states) it was 16 (100.0%) > 35 (54.5%) > 31 (45.5%) = 52 (45.5%) > 18 (27.3%). Overall frequency of cervical lesions was LSIL (73.1%) > HSIL (16.7%) > invasive cancer (10.2%). The ratio of single to multiple infections was inversely proportional to the severity of the lesions: 2.46 for LSIL, 2.37 for HSIL and 2.15 for invasive cancer. The frequency of HR-HPV types in HSIL and invasive cancer lesions was 16 (55.0%) > 31 (18.6%) > 35 (7.9%) > 52 (7.1%) > 18 (4.3%) > unidentified types (3.6%) > 33 (2.9%) > 58 (0.7%).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Ninety percent of the women included in this study were infected by HR-HPV, with a prevalence 1.14 higher in Gto. All seven HR-HPV types identifiable with the PCR-RFLP method used circulate in SLP and Gto, and were diagnosed in 99.3% of the cases. Seventy-one percent of HR-HPV infections were due to a single type, 25.9% were double and 2.7% were triple. Overall frequency of lesions was LSIL (73.1%) > HSIL (16.7%) > invasive cancer (10.2%), and the ratio of single to multiple infections was inversely proportional to severity of the lesions: 2.46 for LSIL, 2.37 for HSIL and 2.15 for invasive cancer. The frequency of HR-HPV types found in HSIL and invasive cancer was 16 (55.0%) > 31 (18.6%) > 35 (7.9%) > 52 (7.1%) > 18 (4.3%) > unidentified types (3.6%) > 33 (2.9%) > 58 (0.7%). Since the three predominant types (16, 31 and 18) cause 77.9% of the HR-HPV infections and immunization against type 16 prevents type 31 infections, in this region the efficacy of the prophylactic vaccine against types 16 and 18 would be close to 80%.</p

Firms' Pattern of Trade and Access to Finance

This paper summarizes recent advances in the empirical research on firms' learning from trade participation and the role of finance in both starting to trade, surviving in export markets as well as expanding along the intensive and extensive trade margins. It highlights the increased importance of imports, which impacts at firms' perfirmance primarily through relaxed technological constraints by increasing firms' scope of inputs and by lowering their input price index. In addition, imports are shown to boost firms' innovation and introduction of new products, which facilitates firms' decisions to start exporting. Another important aspect that has been highlighted is the essential role of finance in furthering firms' survival and expansion in export markets

Phase transitions in quantum chromodynamics

The current understanding of finite temperature phase transitions in QCD is reviewed. A critical discussion of refined phase transition criteria in numerical lattice simulations and of analytical tools going beyond the mean-field level in effective continuum models for QCD is presented. Theoretical predictions about the order of the transitions are compared with possible experimental manifestations in heavy-ion collisions. Various places in phenomenological descriptions are pointed out, where more reliable data for QCD's equation of state would help in selecting the most realistic scenario among those proposed. Unanswered questions are raised about the relevance of calculations which assume thermodynamic equilibrium. Promising new approaches to implement nonequilibrium aspects in the thermodynamics of heavy-ion collisions are described.Comment: 156 pages, RevTex. Tables II,VIII,IX and Fig.s 1-38 are not included as postscript files. I would like to ask the requestors to copy the missing tables and figures from the corresponding journal-referenc

Capital income taxation and risk taking under prospect theory

Abstract: This research examines capital income taxation for a loss averse investor under some acceptable in the literature reference levels relative to which are the changes in the level of wealth valued. Depending on the reference level, some results indicate that it could be possible for a capital income tax increase not to stimulate risk taking even if the tax code provides the attractive full loss offset provisions. However, risk taking can be stimulated if the investor interprets part of the tax as a loss instead as a reduced gain. Then investor becomes risk seeking and moves away from the discomfort zone of relative losses. This later response to taxation causes private risk taking to increase which is contrary to what evolves from assuming an expected utility model. Finally, a number of other reference standards are examined as well.

The ANTARES Optical Module

The ANTARES collaboration is building a deep sea neutrino telescope in the Mediterranean Sea. This detector will cover a sensitive area of typically 0.1 km-squared and will be equipped with about 1000 optical modules. Each of these optical modules consists of a large area photomultiplier and its associated electronics housed in a pressure resistant glass sphere. The design of the ANTARES optical module, which is a key element of the detector, has been finalized following extensive R & D studies and is reviewed here in detail.Comment: 26 pages, 15 figures, to be published in NI