Reducing Obesity: Policy Strategies From the Tobacco War

Outlines the impact of obesity on health, healthcare costs, and productivity. Reviews successful policy interventions to reduce tobacco use and considers whether excise or sales tax, labeling requirements, and advertising bans could lower obesity rates

Exploring Successful Partnerships Between Teachers of Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing and General Education Classroom Teachers

The field of deaf education has moved from a direct service model to a primarily indirect service model. This means that teachers of students who are deaf or hard of hearing (TSDHH) increasingly work with school staff as well as with students. However, many TSDHH report feeling unprepared for the consultative aspect of their role, for which training may have been limited during their preparation program. This qualitative study used appreciative inquiry to study what is working in TSDHH and classroom teacher partnerships. Five dyads were selected through a two-step nomination process. The 10 selected teachers (general education classroom teachers and TSDHH) participated in separate semi-structured interviews about their professional partnerships. Joint and separate interviews served as the primary methods of data collection. A portraiture design was utilized to answer the following: What are the perceptions and experiences of teachers of students who are deaf or hard of hearing and general education classroom teachers regarding the consultation process? What are the qualities of successful partnerships between teachers of students who are deaf or hard of hearing and general education classroom teachers? Themes that arose among dyads included flexibility, shared goals, and mutual respect. For classroom teachers, themes included flexibility, a welcoming nature, and “good” teaching. For TSDHH, themes included flexibility, positivity, an ability to read the teacher, and an ability to work the room. Results have implications for teacher preparation and professional development, especially in terms of explicitly teaching consultation models, skills, and processes. Findings are integrated with current research, and suggestions for teacher preparation and professional development are discussed

Emotional reactions to variations in contract language

This article introduces a theory of emotion-driven behavior in construction contracting and provides support for this theory by presenting the quantitative results of a study on the emotional reaction of individuals to the language in contract clauses. Four different versions of the standard Delay Clause found in most construction contracts were extracted from four different contracts and were presented to a group of 27 individuals. Participants rank ordered the clause versions from 1 (most negative) to 4 (most positive). Overall, Clause Version 2 was ranked as having the most negative contract language, with nearly 75% of the participants ranking it as most negative. In contrast, Clause Version 4 was ranked as having the most positive contract language, with over 50% of the participants ranking it as most positive. Participants likewise selected negative emotion words to describe their reaction to Clause Version 2 and positive emotion words to describe their reaction to Clause Version 4. The findings suggest that contract clauses that contain negative language do tend to generate negative emotional reactions while positive contract language do tend to generate positive emotional reactions

Role of host feeding niches and host refuges in habitat-related behaviour of Hyssopus pallidus (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), a larval parasitoid of the codling moth

Parasitoid fitness depends largely on the capability to locate a host in an ecosystem. A parasitoid of a polyphagous host might not be able to find or to access the host in all its feeding niches. This study evaluated the niche selection of Hyssopus pallidus (Askew), a larval parasitoid of Cydia pomonella (Linnaeus), at the plant level with the goal of assessing its potential for biological control on different fruit crops throughout the plant cycle. Parasitoid behaviour during host location and reproduction rate were investigated on host caterpillars actively feeding on apple, pear, apricot or plum, and on caterpillars diapausing under the bark. Under laboratory conditions, the host searching behaviour of H. pallidus varied depending on the fruit species offered and the infestation of the fruits. Parasitoid females searched longer on apples than on other fruit species, and they searched longer on infested than on uninfested apples. Female wasps were able to locate and parasitize host caterpillars under the tree bark, and their behaviour did not vary with host accessibility. The numbers of caterpillars attacked by H. pallidus depended on the fruit species. The highest numbers of caterpillars were parasitized in apples and apricots. Their accessibility (i.e. position) within the fruit or on the branch did not influence parasitism success. Although hosts were parasitized throughout the season, the best results were achieved with early and late releases. Therefore, the host niche selection behaviour of H. pallidus most likely co-evolved with the host C. pomonella on apples, which renders H. pallidus a valuable biocontrol agent for successful release at different times of the season into apple orchard

A lecture on the Liouville vertex operators

We reconsider the construction of exponential fields in the quantized Liouville theory. It is based on a free-field construction of a continuous family or chiral vertex operators. We derive the fusion and braid relations of the chiral vertex operators. This allows us to simplify the verification of locality and crossing symmetry of the exponential fields considerably. The calculation of the matrix elements of the exponential fields leads to a constructive derivation of the formula proposed by Dorn/Otto and the brothers Zamolodchikov.Comment: Contribution to the proceedings of the 6th International Conference on CFTs and Integrable Models, Chernogolovka, Russia, 2002 v2: Remarks added, typos correcte

Spin transition in Gd3_3N@C80_{80}, detected by low-temperature on-chip SQUID technique

We present a magnetic study of the Gd$_3$N@C$_{80}$ molecule, consisting of a Gd-trimer via a Nitrogen atom, encapsulated in a C$_{80}$ cage. This molecular system can be an efficient contrast agent for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) applications. We used a low-temperature technique able to detect small magnetic signals by placing the sample in the vicinity of an on-chip SQUID. The technique implemented at NHMFL has the particularity to operate in high magnetic fields of up to 7 T. The Gd$_3$N@C$_{80}$ shows a paramagnetic behavior and we find a spin transition of the Gd$_3$N structure at 1.2 K. We perform quantum mechanical simulations, which indicate that one of the Gd ions changes from a $^8S_{7/2}$ state ($L=0, S=7/2$) to a $^7F_{6}$ state ($L=S=3, J=6$), likely due to a charge transfer between the C$_{80}$ cage and the ion