The garden of open mouths

The Garden of Open Mouths is a linked short-story cycle consisting of twelve short-stories and one novella. Each story in this place-based collection adapts, twists, or recreates folklore of the New Jersey Pine Barrens to build an arc about mythmaking, transience, and tragedy

Role of Legal Nurse Consultant in Gathering and Analyzing the Nursing Home Record

The legal nurse consultant (LNC) can be a powerful asset in litigation involving nursing home care. This article discusses how the medical expertise of the nurse is useful in the gathering, organizing, and analyzing of the voluminous records that accompany such cases. It also discusses which information prepared by the LNC is work product and which is discoverable

The Clinton Administration\u27s Vision for Economic Development

The 20th anniversary of the Governor’s Economic Development Conference last October focused on the impact of public policy on the competitiveness of Maine’s business and industry. Among many other important presentations, the University of Maine-sponsored conference featured a televideo keynote address by the Clinton Administration’s top economic adviser, Laura D’Andrea Tyson. Tyson’s remarks, which detailed the Administration’s policy initiatives meant to enhance the nation’s competitiveness relative to the international economy, are presented in this article

Does Article III Require Putative Unnamed Class Members to Demonstrate Standing

This article examines the question of whether a class can be certified under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure when putative, unnamed class members lack Article III standing. The federal circuits are currently split on this issue. The majority of circuits hold that a class cannot be certified if any class member lacks standing. The minority of circuits require only the named class representative to demonstrate standing. This article argues that the minority rule is correct because it is consistent with recent Supreme Court jurisprudence. In addition, the purpose of the class action device—judicial efficiency—is served by the minority rule

Three Body Interactions of Rare Gas Solids Calculated Within the Einstein Model

Three body interactions can become important in solids at higher pressures and densities as the molecules can come into close contact. At low temperatures, accurate studies of three body interactions in solids require averaging the three-body terms over the molecules\u27 zero point motions. An efficient, but approximate, averaging approach is based on a polynomial approximation of the three-body term. The polynomial approximation can be developed as a function of the symmetry coordinates of a triangle displaced from its average geometry and also as a function of the Cartesian zero point displacements from each atom’s average position. The polynomial approximation approach can be checked through two more accurate, but more time-consuming methods: Gaussian quadrature or Monte Carlo integration of the exact three-body function. Results are presented for solid helium, solid neon and solid argon, treated as Einstein solids. An evaluation of the quality of the Einstein model approximation will also be presented. Results for helium will be compared with quantum Monte Carlo simulations

Developing a Toolkit for Citizen Scientists\u27 Evaluation of Drinking Water Quality

This project evaluated tools for citizen science by assessing the potential to monitor drinking water quality at home with commercially sold, or off the shelf, test kits. The first objective was to compare the results of off the shelf test kits with laboratory-obtained values as performed in a controlled environment by trained laboratory personnel. The second objective was to provide potential citizen scientists with a selection of test kits to determine if they could successfully use the kits. These two objectives contributed to the end goal of understanding whether test kits on the market existed that could be used by citizen scientists to monitor drinking water quality and identify gaps and challenges in existing testing methods available to the public. The drinking water parameters considered were iron, copper, manganese, and fluoride using combination test kits, which could measure multiple drinking water parameters in a single test, and single parameter test kits. These kits were evaluated for their ability to measure known concentrations of these four parameters in three water sources: DI water to represent water of high purity, Amherst tap water to represent a local water source, and water from the Mill River to represent a local surface water source. Typically, the kits measuring iron and copper performed best in the DI water matrix where there was nothing to interfere with the added constituent, and often performed poorly in Amherst tap water and Mill River water. The combination kits usually performed worse than the single parameter test kits. The evaluated kits measuring fluoride were unable to accurately measure fluoride concentrations in any water matrix, while the kit measuring manganese was able to reasonably approximate manganese concentrations in Amherst tap water and Mill River water. Overall, for most parameters, some kits worked acceptably well, and others did not at all, allowing guidance on selection of methods depending on the goal of a citizen science program. Overall, the test kits could benefit from more precise instructions to users and a method to consistently read the test kits’ results between users

A study investigating the health care support service training needs for Gloucester County and workforce development demand

The Division of Lifelong Learning at Gloucester County College conducted a survey of medical offices in the county to determine what occupations they employed and what their projected employment need for those occupations was in the next three years. The purpose of the study was to determine if GCC should develop training programs for those occupations. GCC also wanted to provide training for occupations that would qualify for workforce development funding. Over 500 surveys were mailed to medical offices in the county and responses were received from 72 offices. The research data indicated there was a need for training by the healthcare providers for the occupations medical coding and billing and for medical administrator. The occupations of medical coding and billing and medical administrator were listed as in demand on the NJ Employment Information Website in 2003 which meant that persons pursuing training in those occupations could qualify for workforce development funding