Rhode Island\u27s Greatest Natural Tragedy

The infamous hurricane of 1938 accelerated the ongoing transformation of Rhode Island’s way of life

Thinking Slow About Abercrombie & Fitch: Straightening Out The Judicial Confusion In The Lower Courts

In Abercrombie & Fitch, the U.S. Supreme Court fundamentally changed the way that Title VII religious accommodation cases are litigated and evaluated. This paper analyzes Abercrombie, explains how the Court eliminated religious accommodation as a freestanding cause of action, and suggests an altered proof framework for plaintiffs seeking an accommodation. The paper also explores the conflict between employee privacy rights and classic proof requirements for religious sincerity. The lower courts have largely failed to apprehend the change mandated by Abercrombie, with the result that their opinions are in disarray. The paper includes a chart organizing the diverse lower court opinions

BALL SIZE AND PERFORMANCE

Basketball is one sport where equipment design research has been almost nonexistent. With the exception of a height-adjustable basket and a junior-sized ball for elementary players, the size and weight of the first official basketball has remained the same for college men and women since its initial production in 1941 (Pitts, 1985). It has been suggested that skill Performance by women may be limited in those sports which do not have modified equipment designed specifically for their use (Eason, 1962; Pitts, 1985). The literature attributes differences in height, weight, hand size, and upper body strength between males and females to be responsible for a "handicapped" performance by women (as compared to men) when using equipment originally designed for men (Easson 1978, Husak 1984, Daily & ijarris 1984, Critelli 1984, and pitts 1985)

Energy Consumption of Household Consumer Products

This article describes the energy consuming characteristics of the U.S. household both in quantative and qualitative terms. Alternative household definitions for energy consuming household consumer products are used to illustrate and assess the potential consequences of mandatory energy efficiency and labeling standards

Using Margin Elevation with Bonded Ceramics: A Case Report.

PosterThirty years ago, glass ionomer was first used as a means of bonding resin matrix composite to dentin. Today this method is used to elevate the margin of a preparation to a level which gives the clinician more access to the operating field. This technique has been described in the dental literature with resin composites bonded with resin adhesives. There are still inherent problems with this approach, however, since resin adhesives are subject to hydrolysis, marginal leakage, and recurrent caries. Studies have demonstrated the ability of glass ionomer to chemically bond to dentin; glass ionomer can also be dissolved/etched by phosphoric acid and predictably bonded to resin composites, eliminating the problem of hybrid layer hydrolysis which occurs with resin bonding agents. Margin elevation takes advantage of the favorable properties of glass ionomer cements (adhesion through chemical bond to dentin, fluoride release, biocompatibility, coefficient of thermal expansion similar to tooth structure, and decreased interfacial bacteria penetration/caries activity) while allowing overlaying of a suitable direct or indirect restorative material. This technique should be utilized when a preparation stands an increased risk of contamination or has a gingival margin on dentin/cementum. This case describes restoration of a tooth with a deep subgingival margin located on cervical dentin. The tooth was prepared for a ceramic onlay. Resin-modified glass ionomer was then inserted into the mesial proximal box and re-prepared with the occlusal wall of the glass ionomer becoming the new gingival margin, allowing significantly increased access and isolation. The tooth was then restored with an e.max onlay and cemented with RelyX Unicem. The restoration has been examined at a 6-month recall. With proper case selection and attention to detail, glass ionomer margin elevation is an excellent technique for bonding ceramics to teeth which cannot be isolated adequately for impression and/or resin bonding

Ground and space based optical analysis of materials degradation in low-Earth-orbit

There is strong interest in being able to accurately and sensitively monitor materials degradation in both ground-based and space-based environments. Two optical techniques for sensitive degradation monitoring are reviewed: spectroscopic ellipsometry and photothermal spectroscopy. These techniques complement each other in that ellipsometry is sensitive to atomically thin surface and subsurface changes, and photothermal spectroscopy is sensitive to local defects, pin-holes, subsurface defects, and delamination. Progress in applying these spectroscopies (both ex situ and in situ) to atomic oxygen degradation of space materials is reviewed

Risk of Early & Late Obstetric Complications in Women with IVF- Conceived Pregnancies and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)

There is conflicting evidence on the association between PCOS and early and late obstetric complications. It is unclear if the reported risks are independent of BMI, preexisting hypertension and diabetes. We performed a retrospective chart review to examine the risk of early and late obstetrical complications after IVF in women with PCOS (n=130) compared to controls (n=130). The miscarriage rate was 17.7% in PCOS women and 15.4% in controls. PCOS was not associated with miscarriage independent of age and BMI. The prevalence of gestational DM (GDM) was similar in both groups (12% PCOS versus 11% controls). BMI was independently associated with GDM (p=0.01). Risk of both preeclampsia and PIH was 10% in PCOS and 5% in controls, but not statistically significant. Preexisting HTN showed a significant association with preeclampsia (

COVID-19 and saliva: A primer for dental health care professionals

This article is made available for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or be any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.To contain the COVID‐19 pandemic, it is essential to find methods that can be used by a wide range of health care professionals to identify the virus. The less potential contagious nature of the collection process, the ease of collection and the convenience of frequent collection for real‐time monitoring makes saliva an excellent specimen for home‐based collection for epidemiological investigations. With respect to COVID‐19, the use of saliva offers the added advantages of greater sensitivity and potential for detection at an early stage of infection. However, the advantages from a diagnostic perspective also reflect the potential risk to dental professionals from saliva from infected patients. Although not validated in COVID‐19 patients, but by extension from studies of SARS‐CoV‐1 studies, it is suggested that using antimicrobial mouthrinses such as chlorhexidine, hydrogen peroxide or sodium hypochlorite solutions could reduce the viral load in saliva droplets and reduce the risk of direct transmission. Because large saliva droplets could deposit on inanimate surfaces, changing the personal protective equipment including the clinical gown, gloves, masks, protective eye wear and face shield between patients, as well as decontamination of the work surfaces in the clinic, could reduce the risk of indirect contact transmission

Risk of Early & Late Obstetric Complications in Women with IVF- Conceived Pregnancies and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)

There is conflicting evidence on the association between PCOS and early and late obstetric complications. It is unclear if the reported risks are independent of BMI, preexisting hypertension and diabetes. We performed a retrospective chart review to examine the risk of early and late obstetrical complications after IVF in women with PCOS (n=130) compared to controls (n=130). The miscarriage rate was 17.7% in PCOS women and 15.4% in controls. PCOS was not associated with miscarriage independent of age and BMI. The prevalence of gestational DM (GDM) was similar in both groups (12% PCOS versus 11% controls). BMI was independently associated with GDM (p=0.01). Risk of both preeclampsia and PIH was 10% in PCOS and 5% in controls, but not statistically significant. Preexisting HTN showed a significant association with preeclampsia (

Microbial sulfate reduction and metal attenuation in pH 4 acid mine water

Sediments recovered from the flooded mine workings of the Penn Mine, a Cu-Zn mine abandoned since the early 1960s, were cultured for anaerobic bacteria over a range of pH (4.0 to 7.5). The molecular biology of sediments and cultures was studied to determine whether sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) were active in moderately acidic conditions present in the underground mine workings. Here we document multiple, independent analyses and show evidence that sulfate reduction and associated metal attenuation are occurring in the pH-4 mine environment. Waterchemistry analyses of the mine water reveal: (1) preferential complexation and precipitation by H2S of Cu and Cd, relative to Zn; (2) stable isotope ratios of 34S/32S and 18O/16O in dissolved SO4 that are 2–3 ‰ heavier in the mine water, relative to those in surface waters; (3) reduction/oxidation conditions and dissolved gas concentrations consistent with conditions to support anaerobic processes such as sulfate reduction. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) analyses of sediment show 1.5-micrometer, spherical ZnS precipitates. Phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analyses of Penn Mine sediment show a high biomass level with a moderately diverse community structure composed primarily of iron- and sulfate-reducing bacteria. Cultures of sediment from the mine produced dissolved sulfide at pH values near 7 and near 4, forming precipitates of either iron sulfide or elemental sulfur. DGGE coupled with sequence and phylogenetic analysis of 16S rDNA gene segments showed populations of Desulfosporosinus and Desulfitobacterium in Penn Mine sediment and laboratory cultures