Experiences from Tevatron Searches

In preparation for the possibility of new physics at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, experiences gained at the Fermilab Tevatron collider experiments can be a useful guide for potential problems. This paper presents a review of recent applied statistical techniques and the problems for which they were required

Spatial Distribution of Artesian Conditions within the Niles Cone Basin, Alameda County, California

The Niles Cone Basin (NCB) within Alameda County, California, contains portions of the basin under perennial and ephemeral artesian groundwater conditions. This study used 349 wells installed throughout the basin’s four-aquifer system to delineate the spatial distribution of the 86 wells that have gone artesian between 1995 and 2015. Artesian wells within all four aquifers occur at elevations below 5.2 meters above sea level (MASL) but predominantly below 3.0 MASL. Even at lower elevations, artesian conditions do not occur in regions of major pumping owing to significant drawdown. Within topographically-low regions, wells may not be artesian where well-heads are located at higher elevations, such as on a levee or other elevated landforms. This can be observed throughout the Newark and Centerville aquifers where artesian wells are located near non-artesian wells during the same monitoring event. Precipitation influences artesian conditions with artesian events correlated with increases in precipitation generally during, but not limited to, the early spring months. The water levels of the shallow Newark Aquifer were found to respond independently from the three deeper aquifers. Those deeper aquifers were observed to be in hydraulic connection with one another, displaying synchronous water level changes with time across the basin

The Internal Revenue Service Collects from an Innocent Spouse in United States v. Craft: Could Business Associates Be Next?

Part II of this Note discusses tenancy by the entirety, the history of the federal tax lien statute, and how federal courts have interpreted the federal tax lien statute. Part III discusses the events leading up to the Craft lawsuit, considers the Craft lawsuit itself, and examines the subsequent court decisions. Finally, Part IV analyzes whether entrepreneurs carrying on as unincorporated businesses and closely held corporations have sufficiently similar rights to tenants by the entirety to allow the Craft holding to be applied in the business setting

The Perceived Effectiveness of Women’s Pick-Up Lines: Do Age and Personality Matter?

One way to initiate a conversation for the purposes of mate attraction is to use a pickup line. While past research has addressed men’s use of pick-up lines, there has been far less research on those used by women. Here, we explored the perceived effectiveness of women’s pick-up lines, particularly with regard to one’s age but also as correlated with their Big Five personality factors. We hypothesized that both men and women would rate the same pick-up lines as effective and that older participants would rate pick-up lines as more effective than younger participants. Our results indicate that women’s use of direct pick-up lines, sharing things in common, asking for a phone number, indirectly hinting at a date, and asking if single were perceived as most effective by both sexes. We did not support our prediction about age. The results demonstrate that of the Big Five dimensions, extraversion in particular is important and was positively correlated with perceived effectiveness

Relationship Dissatisfaction and Partner Access Deficits

In this chapter, we discuss how partners’ feelings about relationship inequity (i.e., unequal access to relationship resources, such as sex, emotional investment, finances, and family-size decisions) can cause relationship dissatisfaction. Individuals may initiate a romantic relationship with the desire to create a long-term committed relationship that is emotionally and sexually fulfilling. However, romantic relationships do not always fulfill both partners’ needs and desires, and couples often experience conflict and dissatisfaction when this happens. In this chapter, we explore both the proximate and ultimate reasons for why individuals experience dissatisfaction in their relationships. Proximate reasons include issues such as finances, cultural backgrounds, and ascribed sex roles whereas ultimate causes encompass issues of sexual conflict with others, reproduction-related conflict, and jealousy

Systematics and limit calculations

This note discusses the estimation of systematic uncertainties and their incorporation into upper limit calculations. Two different approaches to reducing systematics and their degrading impact on upper limits are introduced. An improved {chi}{sup 2} function is defined which is useful in comparing Poisson distributed data with models marginalized by systematic uncertainties. Also, a technique using profile likelihoods is introduced which provides a means of constraining the degrading impact of systematic uncertainties on limit calculations

I saw him first: Competitive nonverbal flirting among women, the tactics used and their perceived effectiveness

Here we explored nonverbal actions women use to flirt competitively against each other for the purposes of accessing a mate. We also investigated the perceived effectiveness of these competitive flirting actions. Using act nomination, Study 1 (n = 91) yielded 11 actions (eye contact with the man, dancing in his line of sight, smiling at him, touching him, giggling at his jokes, butting in between the other woman and the man, showing distaste for her, brushing against him, hugging him, flirting with other men, waving to him) for competitive flirtation against other women. Actions that signal possession (e.g., tie-signs) were predicted to be perceived as the most effective. While other actions were included in Study 2 (n = 139), results showed the most effective actions were tie-signs: touching him, initiating eye contact, hugging him, giggling at his jokes, and butting in between him and the rival. These findings are discussed in terms of prior research

Toupee or Not Toupee?: Cranial Hair and Perceptions of Men’s Attractiveness, Personality, and Other Evolutionary Relevant Traits

The question of whether or not cranial hair affects perceptions of attractiveness, personality, career success, and other traits related to fitness for men in two populations was investigated in two experiments. Experiment 1 used a 2 (race) × 2 (cranial hair of man) design, and examined attractiveness, fitness, and socially desirable personality measures. Experiment 2 used a 2 (race) × 2 (cranial hair) design to determine perceived attractiveness, fitness-related traits, and the Big-5 dimensions of personality. Amount of cranial hair did not affect personality ratings on the dimensions of the Big-5 but did affect perceived socially desired aspects of personality (such as warmth, sophistication, kindness, etc.). In Experiment 1, the White man with hair received higher perceived attractiveness, personality, and fitness ratings than the bald White man, while no differences occurred for the Black men. For Experiment 2

Want to Hookup?: Sex Differences in Short Term Mate Attraction Tactics

While a great deal of psychological research has been conducted on sex-specific mate choice preferences, relatively little attention has been directed toward how heterosexual men and women solicit short-term sexual partners, and which acts are perceived to be the most effective. The present research relied on an act nomination methodology with the goal of determining which actions are used by men and women to solicit a short-term “hook-up” partner (study 1) and then determine which of these actions are perceived as most effective by men and women (study 2). Using sexual strategy theory, we hypothesized that actions that suggest sexual access would be nominated most often by women whereas actions that suggest a willingness to commit were expected to be nominated most often by men. Additionally, men and women were predicted to rate actions by men that suggest a willingness to commit as most effective and actions by women that suggest sexual access as most effective. The results were consistent with these hypotheses. These findings are discussed in the context of both short- and long-term mating strategies and mate solicitation. The relationship between motivation, sexual strategies, and sexual behavior are examined, along with the need for research on the hookup tactics and motivations of self-identifying gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals

On a pedestal: High heels and the perceived attractiveness and evolutionary fitness of women

We analyzed the responses of 448 participants who completed questions on attractiveness and other evolutionary fitness related traits, and long- and short-term mating potential, of a woman in either high heeled or flat shoes. We hypothesized that the woman in high heels would be rated as more attractive and evolutionarily fit by both men and women, and preferred for short-term mating by men. The hypothesis was partially supported. The woman in high heels was perceived as being more sexually attractive, physically attractive, feminine, and of a higher status. Additionally, women rated women as having a higher status regardless of the shoe, than men, while men rated women as having higher short- and long-term mating potential, than women did, regardless of the shoe. We discuss the implications of these findings