Multiparticle States and the Hadron Spectrum on the Lattice

The Clebsch-Gordan decomposition is calculated for direct products of the irreducible representations of the cubic space group. These results are used to identify multiparticle states which appear in the hadron spectrum on the lattice. Consideration of the cubic space group indicates how combinations of both zero momentum and non-zero momentum multiparticle states contribute to the spectrum.Comment: v2) Little groups for lattice momenta corrected. Includes a more consistent labeling scheme. (13 pages

Substance Use and Depression Symptomatology: Measurement Invariance of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) among Non-Users and Frequent-Users of Alcohol, Nicotine and Cannabis

Depression is a highly heterogeneous condition, and identifying how symptoms present in various groups may greatly increase our understanding of its etiology. Importantly, Major Depressive Disorder is strongly linked with Substance Use Disorders, which may ameliorate or exacerbate specific depression symptoms. It is therefore quite plausible that depression may present with different symptom profiles depending on an individual’s substance use status. Given these observations, it is important to examine the underlying construct of depression in groups of substance users compared to non-users. In this study we use a non-clinical sample to examine the measurement structure of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) in non-users and frequent-users of various substances. Specifically, measurement invariance was examined across those who do vs. do not use alcohol, nicotine, and cannabis. Results indicate strict factorial invariance across non-users and frequent-users of alcohol and cannabis, and metric invariance across non-users and frequent-users of nicotine. This implies that the factor structure of the BDI-II is similar across all substance use groups

Comparison of anamnestic responses to rabies vaccination in dogs and cats with current and out-of-date vaccination status

Master of Public HealthPublic Health Interdepartmental ProgramDerek A. MosierEach year in the United States there are thousands of dogs and cats exposed to the rabies virus, primarily through bites of infected wildlife. Rabies vaccination laws for domesticated animals vary from state to state, however the recommended public health response to a domestic animal exposed to rabid animals is described in the Compendium of Animal Rabies Prevention and Control (Compendium). Based on Compendium guidelines, it is recommended that dogs and cats that are current on rabies vaccination and that are exposed to the rabies virus should receive a rabies vaccine booster and a 45 day observation period at home. The recommendation for dogs and cats that have never been vaccinated for rabies and that are exposed to a rabid animal is euthanasia or quarantine for 6 months. However, dogs and cats with a history of rabies vaccination that is out-of-date must be assessed on an individual basis. In these cases the public health official must consider the number of prior rabies vaccinations received, the time since last vaccination, the type of rabies exposure encountered, local rabies epidemiology and any relevant diagnostic test results when determining the need for euthanasia or immediate revaccination and observation or isolation .1 The results of this study indicate that there are no differences in neutralizing titers between dogs considered current on rabies vaccination compared to those considered out-of-date. The major question we hoped to address was whether or not current and overdue dogs and cats responded to a rabies booster with equal robustness. Our results demonstrate that anamnestically, out-of-date dogs are not inferior in their response. This suggests that out-of-date animals can perform similar to current vaccinates following a booster. This is compatible with the protocol for human rabies post exposure recommendations for previously vaccinated individuals. In humans the protocol for pre-exposure vaccinated individuals exposed to rabies is 2 boosters at day 0 and day 3 regardless of what time has passed since initial vaccination. To date there are no known individuals who have succumbed to rabies using this protocol. In the spirit of One Health it should follow that a rabies vaccine booster could be trusted to protect dogs and cats in the same manner. If public health officials are concerned with dogs and cats priming vaccinations, a day 0 and day 5-7 titer could be done to make sure an anamnestic response occurs. The compendium states “because a rapid anamnestic response is expected, an animal is considered currently vaccinated immediately after a booster vaccination.” This statement coupled with the results of this study should warrant a policy change to booster healthy dogs and cats, which are overdue and exposed to rabies, and observe for 45 days instead of euthanasia or 6 month quarantine. Four potential ways to handle this policy change would be: 1. Allow out-of-date animals and current animals to go home after a booster for a 45 day observation. 2. Do day 0 and day 5-7 titers on all exposed dogs and cats to determine if they reach an endpoint of pre-determined acceptance. If they do not, booster again and proceed with a 6 month quarantine. 3. Do day 0 and day 5-7 titers on biologically out-of-date animals to determine if they reach an endpoint of pre-determined acceptance. If they do not, booster again and proceed with a 6 month quarantine. 4. Do day 0 and day 5-7 titers on by label out-of-date animals to determine if they reach an endpoint of pre-determined acceptance. If they do not, booster again and proceed with a 6 month quarantine

Optimal Estimation of Several Linear Parameters in the Presence of Lorentzian Thermal Noise

In a previous article we developed an approach to the optimal (minimum variance, unbiased) statistical estimation technique for the equilibrium displacement of a damped, harmonic oscillator in the presence of thermal noise. Here, we expand that work to include the optimal estimation of several linear parameters from a continuous time series. We show that working in the basis of the thermal driving force both simplifies the calculations and provides additional insight to why various approximate (not optimal) estimation techniques perform as they do. To illustrate this point, we compare the variance in the optimal estimator that we derive for thermal noise with those of two approximate methods which, like the optimal estimator, suppress the contribution to the variance that would come from the irrelevant, resonant motion of the oscillator. We discuss how these methods fare when the dominant noise process is either white displacement noise or noise with power spectral density that is inversely proportional to the frequency ($1/f$ noise). We also construct, in the basis of the driving force, an estimator that performs well for a mixture of white noise and thermal noise. To find the optimal multi-parameter estimators for thermal noise, we derive and illustrate a generalization of traditional matrix methods for parameter estimation that can accommodate continuous data. We discuss how this approach may help refine the design of experiments as they allow an exact, quantitative comparison of the precision of estimated parameters under various data acquisition and data analysis strategies.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in Classical and Quantum Gravit

Environmental Geology of Allen County Indiana

This report is designed to provide geologic data for planning the use of mineral resources (including ground water), the disposal of domestic and industrial wastes, and foundation engineering for structures in Allen County

“I Would Feel Uncomfortable if My Child’s Teacher were Gay”: Examining the Role of Symbolic Homophobia and Political Affiliation

Symbolic homophobia is a general negative disposition towards lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals, which is demonstrated in symbolic forms of prejudice rather than overt actions. Stigma towards lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals has transformed from overt forms of prejudice to slightly less blatant more subtle forms in recent years (Schafer & Shaw, 2009). Based on previous research, it is has also been shown that conservatives will have higher levels of symbolic homophobia. (Linneman, 2004), Thus, in order to assess the more nuanced forms of prejudice in relation to political affiliation, Study 1 created a scale to assess symbolic homophobia. In Study 2, experimental design was implemented to assess whether a positive description of a gay couple (compared to a positive description of a straight couple) lowers an individual\u27s symbolic homophobia. The results of Study 1 suggest that the newly created symbolic homophobia scale is valid and those with conservative political ideology are more symbolically homophobic than liberals. Additionally, Study 2 found that being presented with a vignette of a gay couple lowers the participant\u27s symbolic homophobia score

Progress and limits of PrP gene selection policy

Classical scrapie has proved to be a notoriously difficult disease to control due to a poor understanding of its natural history. The recognition of disease risk linkage to PrP genotype has offered the prospect of a disease control strategy, viz. genotyping and selective breeding, novel to veterinary medicine when first considered in the 1990s. The UK Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee recommended the exploitation of this approach in a voluntary, national programme to control classical scrapie and protect the public against food-borne exposure to bovine spongiform encephalopathy, should the national flock have been exposed via contaminated feed. The National Scrapie Plan for Great Britain was launched in 2001 and uptake has been widespread throughout the purebreeding sector of the sheep industry, with membership peaking at over 12 000 flocks in 2006. A total of 700 000 rams from 90 breeds have been genotyped. A comparison of ram lambs born in 2002 with those in 2006 shows evident changes in PrP genotype frequencies which are predicted to be associated with a reduction in disease risk. Various concerns have been raised regarding possible unintended consequences of widespread selection on PrP genotype, including impacts on other performance traits and possible effects on inbreeding and genetic diversity. To date, these concerns appear to be unfounded, as no consistent associations have been found with performance traits, nor are there likely to be any detectable impacts on inbreeding in mainstream breeds. Currently, semen banks have been implemented in Great Britain to store samples from animals of all common PrP genotypes, should these genotypes be required in the future. Various strategies to minimise future disease risks are discussed in the paper