The Difficult Transition from Military to Civilian Life

Military service is difficult, demanding and dangerous. But returning to civilian life also poses challenges for the men and women who have served in the armed forces, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey of 1,853 veterans. While more than seven-in-ten veterans (72%) report they had an easy time readjusting to civilian life, 27% say re-entry was difficult for them -- a proportion that swells to 44% among veterans who served in the ten years since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Why do some veterans have a hard time readjusting to civilian life while others make the transition with little or no difficulty? To answer that question, Pew researchers analyzed the attitudes, experiences and demographic characteristic of veterans to identify the factors that independently predict whether a service member will have an easy or difficult re-entry experience. Using a statistical technique known as logistic regression, the analysis examined the impact on re-entry of 18 demographic and attitudinal variables

The Late Works of Dame Ethel Smyth: A Musical Microcosm of Interwar British Culture

This paper examines the late musical compositions of Dame Ethel Smyth in the context of British society and culture between the two World Wars. It focuses on Smyth\u27s large-scale works, especially her operas The Boatswain\u27s Mate (1914) and Entente Cordiale (1923-1924) and her oratorio The Prison (1930). Using these works as examples of the composer\u27s mature style, I draw attention to a number of Smyth\u27s original artistic choices as well as her sophisticated use of social commentary. Also considered in this research are certain anticipated roles for women as composers at the time, Smyth\u27s other passions and pursuits, and her interactions with her contemporaries. Her activities as a composer reflected an evolving social landscape for British women in addition to new musical developments

Why It's Great to Be the Boss

It pays to be the boss, in more ways than one. This report finds that in addition to bigger paychecks, America's bosses are more satisfied with their family life, jobs and overall financial situation than are non-managerial employees

Magnetic fields from low mass stars to brown dwarfs

Magnetic fields have been detected on stars across the H-R diagram and substellar objects either directly by their effect on the formation of spectral lines, or through the activity phenomena they power which can be observed across a large part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Stars show a very wide variety of magnetic properties in terms of strength, geometry or variability. Cool stars generate their magnetic fields by dynamo effect, and their properties appear to correlate - to some extent - with stellar parameters such as mass, rotation and age. With the improvements of instrumentation and data analysis techniques, magnetic fields can now be detected and studied down to the domain of very-low-mass stars and brown dwarfs, triggering new theoretical works aimed, in particular, at modelling dynamo action in these objects. After a brief discussion on the importance of magnetic field in stellar physics, the basics of dynamo theory and magnetic field measurements are presented. The main results stemming from observational and theoretical studies of magnetism are then detailed in two parts: the fully-convective transition, and the very-low mass stars and brown dwarfs domain.Comment: 30 pages, 9 figures. Notes for lectures presented at the Evry Schatzman school on "Low-mass stars and the transition from stars to brown dwarfs", September 2011, Roscoff, France. To appear in the EAS Conference Series, edited by C. Charbonnel, C. Reyle, M. Schulthei

One Recession, Two Americas: Those Who Lost Ground Slightly Outnumber Those Who Held Their Own

Analyzes survey data on hardships faced during the recession by demographics, political affiliation, education, and other factors. Compares the job experiences and economic views of those who suffered serious economic hardships and those who did not

Walking Away: A Third of the Public Says It's Sometimes OK to Stop Paying a Mortgage

Presents survey findings on the prevalence of "underwater" mortgages and views of those who stop payments and allow for foreclosure, analyzed by gender, race/ethnicity, age, region, education, political affiliation, and financial and homeownership status

Did social cognition evolve by cultural group selection?

Abstract Cognitive gadgets puts forward an ambitious claim: language, mindreading, and imitation evolved by cultural group selection. Defending this claim requires more than Heyes' spirited and effective critique of nativist claims. The latest human “cognitive gadgets,” such as literacy, did not spread through cultural group selection. Why should social cognition be different? The book leaves this question pending. It also makes strong assumptions regarding cultural evolution: it is moved by selection rather than transformation; it relies on high-fidelity imitation; it requires specific cognitive adaptations to cultural learning. Each of these assumptions raises crucial yet unaddressed difficulties

Spinal Cord Trauma: An Overview of Normal Structure and Function, Primary and Secondary Mechanisms of Injury, and Emerging Treatment Modalities

The structures of the spinal cord and vertebral column are designed to provide flexibility, while still providing ample protection for the spinal cord deep within. While it does offer remarkable protection against most routine trauma, the spinal cord is still vulnerable to high-force etiologies of trauma and may become damaged as a result. These events are referred to as primary injury. Following the initial injury, the body’s own physiological responses cause a cascade of deleterious effects, known as secondary injury. Secondary injury is a major therapeutic target in mitigating the effects of spinal cord injury (SCI), and much research is currently being done to develop more effective treatment options