Critique [of A PROPOSED MODEL FOR ADVOCACY SERVICES FOR MEXICAN UNDOCUMENTED ALIENS WITH MENTAL HEALTH NEEDS]

With the data we have the evidence of need, with the proposed method, we have been offered a logical approach to difficult conditions, but what we need now is a method for overcoming the extraordinary conditions. Salcido\u27s contribution is both an offering and a projection of one of a number of serious Social problems in the United States. As an offering, this paper provides data sustaining the structure and validity of a model; as a projection, Salcido focuses the phenomena of United States/Mexican border relations as that situation concerns United States nationalism and Mexican aliens who are illegal residents, especially in southern California. The here and now situations, identified by Salcido, as they pertain to “minority” individuals in the United States, continue without effective intervention from social workers who are training in the mores of traditional social and behavioral science epistemology

Dietary patterns and adult asthma: population-based case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Epidemiological studies of diet and asthma have focused on relations with intakes of individual nutrients and foods and evidence has been conflicting. Few studies have examined associations with dietary patterns. METHODS: We carried out a population-based case-control study of asthma in adults aged between 16 and 50 in South London, UK. Information about usual diet was obtained by food frequency questionnaire and we used principal components analysis to define five dietary patterns in controls. We used logistic and linear regression, controlling for confounders, to relate these patterns to asthma, asthma severity, rhinitis and chronic bronchitis in 599 cases and 854 controls. RESULTS: Overall, there was weak evidence that a 'vegetarian' dietary pattern was positively associated with asthma [adjusted odds ratio comparing top vs bottom quintile of pattern score 1.43 (95% CI: 0.93-2.20), P trend 0.075], and a 'traditional' pattern (meat and vegetables) was negatively associated [OR 0.68 (0.45-1.03), P trend 0.071]. These associations were stronger amongst nonsupplement users (P trend 0.030 and 0.001, respectively), and the association with the 'vegetarian' pattern was stronger amongst whites (P trend 0.008). No associations were observed with asthma severity. A 'prudent' dietary pattern (wholemeal bread, fish and vegetables) was positively associated with chronic bronchitis [OR 2.61 (1.13-6.05), P trend 0.025], especially amongst nonsupplement users (P trend 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Overall there were no clear relations between dietary patterns and adult asthma; associations in nonsupplement users and whites require confirmation. The finding for chronic bronchitis was unexpected and also requires replication

Social change, migration and pregnancy intervals

Maternity histories from residents of a Pacific Island society, Tokelau, and migrants to New Zealand, are analysed using life table techniques. Inter-cohort differentials in patterns of family formation were found in the total Tokelau-origin population. The process of accelerated timing and spacing of pregnancies was more pronounced among migrants who tended to marry later, be pregnant at marriage, have shorter inter-pregnancy intervals at lower parities and to show evidence of family limitation occurring at higher parities. These results point to the significance of changing patterns of social control on strategies of family building

A Consistent Dark Matter Interpretation For CoGeNT and DAMA/LIBRA

In this paper, we study the recent excess of low energy events observed by the CoGeNT collaboration and the annual modulation reported by the DAMA/LIBRA collaboration, and discuss whether these signals could both be the result of the same elastically scattering dark matter particle. We find that, without channeling but when taking into account uncertainties in the relevant quenching factors, a dark matter candidate with a mass of approximately ~7.0 GeV and a cross section with nucleons of sigma_{DM-N} ~2x10^-4 pb (2x10^-40 cm^2) could account for both of these observations. We also comment on the events recently observed in the oxygen band of the CRESST experiment and point out that these could potentially be explained by such a particle. Lastly, we compare the region of parameter space favored by DAMA/LIBRA and CoGeNT to the constraints from XENON 10, XENON 100, and CDMS (Si) and find that these experiments cannot at this time rule out a dark matter interpretation of these signals.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure

Broadband, slow sound on a glide-symmetric meander-channel surface

This is the final version. Available from Acoustical Society of America via the DOI in this record.All data created during this research are openly available from the University of Exeter’s institutional repository at https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/.The acoustic surface waves supported by hard surfaces patterned with repeat-period, meandering grooves are explored. The single, continuous groove forms a glide-symmetric surface, inhibiting the formation of a bandgap at the first Brillouin-zone boundary. Consequently, the acoustic surface waves exhibit an almost constant, sub-speed-of-sound, group velocity over a broad frequency band. Such slow, broadband modes may have applications in controlling the flow of noise over surfaces.QinetiQ LtdEngineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)QinetiQ Lt

Light emission through a corrugated metal film: The role of cross-coupled surface plasmon polaritons

S. Wedge, Ian R. Hooper, I. Sage, and William L. Barnes, Physical Review B, Vol. 69, article 245418 (2004). "Copyright © 2004 by the American Physical Society."We examine the phenomenon of light emission through a thin metal film that takes place via surface plasmon polaritons. Surface plasmon polariton cross coupling has recently been invoked to explain sharp features observed in the angle dependent emission spectra obtained from surface-emitting (through cathode) organic light-emitting diode structures. We investigated whether such a cross-coupling process is needed to explain such observations. We undertook measurements on samples for a variety of metal film thicknesses. Our results are consistent with the mechanism of surface plasmon polariton cross coupling but also show that the processes underlying the emission from such structures can be rather subtle

Sensing using differential surface plasmon ellipsometry

Copyright © 2004 American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics. The following article appeared in Journal of Applied Physics 96 (2004) and may be found at http://link.aip.org/link/?JAPIAU/96/3004/1In this work a differential ellipsometric method utilizing surface plasmons (SPs) for monitoring refractive index changes, which could be used in chemical and biological sensors, is presented. The method is based upon determining the azimuth of elliptically polarized light reflected from a Kretschmann SP system, resulting from linearly polarized light containing both p and s components incident upon it. The sensitivity of this azimuth to the refractive index of a dielectric on the nonprism side of the metal film is demonstrated both experimentally and theoretically. The smallest refractive index change which is resolvable is of the order of 10–7 refractive index units, although it is believed that this could be improved upon were it not for experimental constraints due to atmospheric changes and vibrations. The method requires the Kretschmann configuration to be oriented at a fixed angle, and the SP to be excited at a fixed wavelength. With no moving parts this method would be particularly robust from an application point of view

Astrophysical Uncertainties in the Cosmic Ray Electron and Positron Spectrum From Annihilating Dark Matter

In recent years, a number of experiments have been conducted with the goal of studying cosmic rays at GeV to TeV energies. This is a particularly interesting regime from the perspective of indirect dark matter detection. To draw reliable conclusions regarding dark matter from cosmic ray measurements, however, it is important to first understand the propagation of cosmic rays through the magnetic and radiation fields of the Milky Way. In this paper, we constrain the characteristics of the cosmic ray propagation model through comparison with observational inputs, including recent data from the CREAM experiment, and use these constraints to estimate the corresponding uncertainties in the spectrum of cosmic ray electrons and positrons from dark matter particles annihilating in the halo of the Milky Way.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figure