Superconducting gravimeter

The superconducting gravimeter was developed and applied to field measurements. The stability of the instrument yielded the highest precision measurements of the Earth tides ever attained. It revealed unprecedented details about the effect of the atmosphere on gravity. Secular variations in gravity and the stability of the instruments were measured by comparing records from co-located instruments. These efforts have resulted in substantial reductions in the noise level at very low frequencies so that the peak differences between two instruments at the same location can be reduced to 0.1 micron gal

High precision tide spectroscopy

Diurnal and long period earth tides were measured to high accuracy and precision with the superconducting gravimeter. The results provide new evidence on the geophysical questions which have been attacked through earth tide measurements in the past. In addition, they raise new questions of potential interest. Slow fluctuations in gravity of order 10 micron gal over periods of 3 to 5 months were observed and are discussed

Rendezvous Launch Operations Planning

This paper deals with the inception and evolution of the simultaneous launch countdown technique. Furthermore, it explains the implementation of the countdown and recycle plans and how the Martin Company\u27s testing and scheduling of the Gemini Launch Vehicle (GLV) is affected by a rendezvous mission

Understanding and addressing institutionalized inequity: Disrupting pathways to juvenile justice for Black youth in Allegheny County

This report reveals that in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, we are criminalizing our Black youth, manifested by disproportionately high arrest rates and referrals to juvenile justice. It presents information on two primary causes of the over-referral of Black youth to juvenile justice: 1) arrests and referrals made by school police and 2) summary citations. It concludes with recommendations for addressing these issues. As you read this report, keep in mind that the behavior of Black youth is not worse in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County than in other places and does not in any way account for these high levels of arrests, citations, and juvenile justice referrals. In fact, this report reveals that many of the behaviors for which our Black youth are arrested and cited are developmentally normal teenage behaviors for which White youth are rarely arrested and cited. This is a systems problem that demands reforms at the system level. It is incumbent on the adults running the systems criminalizing Black youth to address the systemic racism these patterns reveal

Increasing Global Context in Social Work Education: Role of Internationally Experienced Faculty

The infusion of global social work concepts into social work curricula enhances the educational experience and understanding of practice, policy, and research for students at all levels. Having faculty members who participated in global work augments the presentation of these concepts in ways that connect to student learning. Yet, no known research has investigated the role of internationally experienced faculty in promoting a global perspective in social work education and practice. One mechanism for obtaining global experience is through service in the U.S. Peace Corps, an organization that has been available for U.S. citizens to serve their country since the 1960s. In order to determine the impact of this type of service on teaching social work, we surveyed a convenience sample of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers in faculty or teaching positions at schools of social work on the connection between their international experiences and social work education. The majority indicated that their international experiences affected how they taught social work, understood the concept of “diversity,” engaged with students in field practice, and advocated for and supported communities. Over half the participants saw a connection between current CSWE Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) and their globally informed academic activities. More research is needed to investigate the perspectives of faculty with other types of international experiences

Empathic Accuracy Deficits in Patients with Neurodegenerative Disease: Association with Caregiver Depression.

OBJECTIVES:To investigate whether deficits in empathic accuracy (i.e., ability to recognize emotion in others) in patients with neurodegenerative disease are associated with greater depression in their caregivers. DESIGN:Two cross-sectional studies. SETTING:Academic medical center and research university. PARTICIPANTS:Two independent samples (N = 172, N = 63) of patients with a variety of neurodegenerative diseases and their caregivers; comparison group of healthy couples. MEASUREMENT:Patients' empathic accuracy was assessed in the laboratory using a novel dynamic tracking task (rating another person's changing emotions over time) and more traditional measures (recognizing the emotion expressed in photographs of facial expressions and by characters in films). Caregivers completed self-report inventories of depression. RESULTS:Lower empathic accuracy in patients was associated with greater depression in caregivers in both studies. In study 1, this association was found when empathic accuracy was measured using the dynamic tracking measure but not when measured using the more traditional photograph and film measures. In study 2, we found preliminary support for our theoretical model wherein lower empathic accuracy in patients is associated with increased caregiver stress (loneliness, strain, and burden), which in turn is associated with greater caregiver depression. CONCLUSIONS:Caring for a patient with deficits in empathic accuracy is associated with greater loneliness, strain, and burden for caregivers, and increased depression. Caregivers may benefit from interventions designed to compensate for the stress and interpersonal loss associated with patients' declining empathic accuracy

Aging out of the child welfare system in Allegheny County: Descriptive analysis, challenges, and implications

National research indicates that 80 percent of youth in foster care leave the child welfare system within six months of their 18th birthday. The reasons for, and implications of, this statistic are myriad. While age 18 was considered at one time to be the age when adulthood began, the transition from childhood to adulthood in American life has become increasingly complex. Youth who age out of the system face ongoing challenges; on average, youth who age out of child welfare systems have lower levels of educational attainment and employment and higher levels of public assistance receipt, juvenile justice involvement, and material hardships than other youth. Programs permitting continued involvement in the system until the age of 21 are increasing in number and scope

Two-particle localization and antiresonance in disordered spin and qubit chains

We show that, in a system with defects, two-particle states may experience destructive quantum interference, or antiresonance. It prevents an excitation localized on a defect from decaying even where the decay is allowed by energy conservation. The system studied is a qubit chain or an equivalent spin chain with an anisotropic ($XXZ$) exchange coupling in a magnetic field. The chain has a defect with an excess on-site energy. It corresponds to a qubit with the level spacing different from other qubits. We show that, because of the interaction between excitations, a single defect may lead to multiple localized states. The energy spectra and localization lengths are found for two-excitation states. The localization of excitations facilitates the operation of a quantum computer. Analytical results for strongly anisotropic coupling are confirmed by numerical studies.Comment: Updated version, 13 pages, 5 figures To appear in Phys. Rev. B (2003