MAT-SEA-CAL Oral Language Packets

This project is the development of a curriculum of language packets in Spanish dealing with the communication concepts which are tested in the MAT-SEA-CAL Oral Language Proficiency Test. The packets develop one specific skill in each of the communication concepts: numerality, temporality, spatial relations, identification, classification, case relationships, interrogation, and negation. The packets are designed for native Spanish speakers, grades K-3, who have certain structural problems in oral Spanish

Van der Waals torque induced by external magnetic fields

We present a method for inducing and controlling van der Waals torques between two parallel slabs using a constant magnetic field. The torque is calculated using the Barash theory of dispersive torques. In III-IV semiconductors such as $InSb$, the effect of an external magnetic field is to induce an optical anisotropy, in an otherwise isotropic material, that will in turn induce a torque. The calculations of the torque are done in the Voigt configuration, with the magnetic field parallel to the surface of the slabs. As a case study we consider a slab made of calcite and a second slab made of $InSb$. In the absence of magnetic field there is no torque. As the magnetic field increases, the optical anisotropy of $InSb$ increases and the torque becomes different from zero, increasing with the magnetic field. The resulting torque is of the same order of magnitude as that calculated using permanent anisotropic materials when the magnetic fields is close to 1 T.Comment: to appear in Journal of Applied Physic

Fungal infections after liver transplantation

The risk factors for development of invasive fungal infections after liver transplantation were (1) longer duration of treatment with nonprophylactic IV antibiotics, (2) longer cumulative surgical time and a higher number of laparotomies, (3) an increased number of units of RBCs and fresh-frozen plasma, and (4) a series of pretransplant laboratory findings: thrombocytopenia, low T lymphocyte levels, low CD4 helper cell and lower helper/suppressor cell ratios and IgA serum levels. The significance of some of these findings is still unclear. Attention to the risk factors outlined earlier may aid both in preventing and in the early detection of invasive fungal infections after liver transplantation