Search for lepton flavor violating decays of a heavy neutral particle in p-pbar collisions at root(s)=1.8 TeV

We report on a search for a high mass, narrow width particle that decays directly to e+mu, e+tau, or mu+tau. We use approximately 110 pb^-1 of data collected with the Collider Detector at Fermilab from 1992 to 1995. No evidence of lepton flavor violating decays is found. Limits are set on the production and decay of sneutrinos with R-parity violating interactions.Comment: Figure 2 fixed. Reference 4 fixed. Minor changes to tex

The status of clinical trials: Cause for concern

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Americans see clinical research as important, with over 15 million American residents participating in NIH-sponsored studies in 2008 and growing yearly.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Documents reporting NIH supported Clinical Research projects were reviewed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>When compared with other studies, the number of interventional Phase III and Phase IV trials have decreased from 20% to 4.4% from 1994-2008.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This finding most likely has occurred for several reasons. One reason is that the physician lacks an infrastructure for designing and carrying out trials. This lack is because of an absence of a coordinated effort to train clinical trialists. It is clear that the Nation needs a more purposeful approach to developing and maintaining the infrastructure for designing and conducting clinical trials. Building it de novo trial by trial is profoundly inefficient, to say nothing about time consuming and error prone.</p

Factors used in the detection of elder financial abuse: A judgement and decision-making study of social workers and their managers

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below. Copyright @ 2011 Sage Publications Ltd.Factors social workers use in practice to detect elder financial abuse are currently unknown. A critical incident technique was applied within a judgement analysis approach to elicit cue use. Only three factors were key to decision-making: who raises concern, the elder’s mental capacity and the nature of the financial anomaly occurring.Economic and Social Research Counci

School performance in Australia: is there a role for quasi-markets?

Recent changes to the organisation of Australia's education system have raised the possibility of implementing wide-ranging market reforms. In this article we discuss the scope for introducing reforms similar to the United Kingdom's 'quasi-market' model. We discuss the role of school league tables in providing signals and incentives in a quasi-market. Specifically, we compare a range of unadjusted and model-based league tables of primary school performance in Queensland's public education system. These comparisons indicate that model-based tables which account for socio-economic status and student intake quality vary significantly from the unadjusted tables

URANIUM-SERIES CONSTRAINTS ON RADIONUCLIDE TRANSPORT AND GROUNDWATER FLOW AT NOPAL I URANIUM DEPOSIT, SIERRA PENA BLANCA, MEXICO

Uranium-series data for groundwater samples from the vicinity of the Nopal I uranium ore deposit are used to place constraints on radionuclide transport and hydrologic processes at this site, and also, by analogy, at Yucca Mountain. Decreasing uranium concentrations for wells drilled in 2003 suggest that groundwater flow rates are low (&lt; 10 m/yr). Field tests, well productivity, and uranium isotopic constraints also suggest that groundwater flow and mixing is limited at this site. The uranium isotopic systematics for water collected in the mine adit are consistent with longer rock-water interaction times and higher uranium dissolution rates at the front of the adit where the deposit is located. Short-lived nuclide data for groundwater wells are used to calculate retardation factors that are on the order of 1,000 for radium and 10,000 to 10,000,000 for lead and polonium. Radium has enhanced mobility in adit water and fractures near the deposit

Higher education outcomes, graduate employment and university performance indicators

Official employment-related Performance Indicators in UK Higher Education are based on the population of students responding to the First Destination Supplement (FDS). This generates potentially biased performance indicators as this population of students is not necessarily representative of the full population of leavers from each institution. University leavers not obtaining qualifications and those not responding to the FDS are not included within the official analysis. We compare an employment-related performance indicator based on those students responding to the FDS with alternative approaches which address the potential non-random nature of this sub-group of university leavers

Emisari: a management information system designed to aid and involve people

The EMISARI System described in this paper represents a major departure from conventional MIS design. It is oriented not toward data per se, but rather toward activities of the people who generate and use the data. Thus it provides not merely for reporting up the chain of command, but also for dissemination of policy guidance and reference material down the chain, and for lateral communication among all users. It places a premium upon flexibility, to permit rapid system modifications in response to changes in user functions and needs and it offers a greatly simplified operation, to avoid any necessity for extensive user training or complex operation manuals. The overall approach may be viewed as a greatly modernized version of the classic telephone party line, using a computer to organize, selectively sort, and store-and-forward a constant flow of statistics, messages, estimates, reference materials, guidelines, notices, and other informational accountrements of a modern management operation

Augmentative and alternative communication for children with autism spectrum disorder: an evidence-based evaluation of the Language Acquisition through Motor Planning (LAMP) programme

Children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder often have restricted verbal communication. For children who do not use functional speech, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices can be an important support. We evaluated the effectiveness of one AAC programme, the Language Acquisition through Motor Planning (LAMP) using a Vantage Lite™ device as the speech output in the home and school environments. Eight children with limited communication were assessed by a speech pathologist prior to the introduction of the programme, after five weeks of training and again after a further two weeks of use of the programme, but without the supported training. The pre-/post-assessment measures revealed that all eight children made gains in the development of spontaneous communication using the device during the implementation period. Parents and teachers also reported that the gains achieved during the five-week trial were greater than those achieved in previous interventions. Two years after the completion of the study, a follow-up phone interview was completed which identified that children who received ongoing support from a LAMP-trained speech pathologist continued using the LAMP programme. As a result of this study, a specialised LAMP specific classroom was established in one of the participating schools

Childbearing intentions in a low fertility context: the case of Romania

This paper applies the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to find out the predictors of fertility intentions in Romania, a low-fertility country. We analyse how attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control relate to the intention to have a child among childless individuals and one-child parents. Principal axis factor analysis confirms which items proposed by the Generation and Gender Survey (GGS 2005) act as valid and reliable measures of the suggested theoretical socio-psychological factors. Four parity-specific logistic regression models are applied to evaluate the relationship between the socio-psychological factors and childbearing intentions. Social pressure emerges as the most important aspect in fertility decision-making among childless individuals and one-child parents, and positive attitudes towards childbearing are a strong component in planning for a child. This paper also underlines the importance of the region-specific factors when studying childbearing intentions: planning for the second child significantly differs among the development regions, representing the cultural and socio-economic divisions of the Romanian territory

Primary Care Staff's Views and Experiences Related to Routinely Advising Patients about Physical Activity. A Questionnaire Survey

Background: United Kingdom public health policy has recently re-emphasised the role of primary health care professionals in tackling increasing levels of physical inactivity within the general population. However, little is known about the impact that this has had in practice. This study explores Scottish primary care staff's knowledge, attitudes and experiences associated with advising patients about physical activity during routine consultations. Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey of general practitioners (or family physicians), practice nurses and health visitors based in four health regions was conducted during 2004. The main outcome measures included: i) health professionals' knowledge of the current physical activity recommendations; (ii) practice related to routine physical activity advising; and (iii) associated attitudes. Results: Questionnaires were returned by 757 primary care staff (response rate 54%). Confidence and enthusiasm for giving advice was generally high, but knowledge of current physical activity recommendations was low. In general, respondents indicated that they routinely discuss and advise patients about physical activity regardless of the presenting condition. Health visitors and practice nurses were more likely than general practitioners to offer routine advice. Lack of time and resources were more likely to be reported as barriers to routine advising by general practitioners than other professional groups. However, health visitors and practice nurses were also more likely than general practitioners to believe that patients would follow their physical activity advice giving. Conclusion: If primary health care staff are to be fully motivated and effective in encouraging and supporting the general population to become more physically active, policymakers and health professionals need to engage in efforts to: (1) improve knowledge of current physical activity recommendations and population trends amongst frontline primary care staff; and (2) consider the development of tools to support individual assessment and advice giving to suit individual circumstances. Despite the fact that this study found that system barriers to routine advising were less of a problem than other previous research has indicated, this issue still remains a challenge