One-dimensional magnetic order in the metal–organic framework Tb(HCOO)3Tb(HCOO)_3

Variable-temperature neutron scattering measurements, reverse Monte Carlo analysis and direct Monte Carlo simulation are used to characterise magnetic order in the metal–organic framework (MOF) $Tb(HCOO)_3$ over the temperature range 100K to 1.6K = T$_N$. The magnetic transition at T$_N$ is shown to involve one-dimensional ferromagnetic ordering to a partially-ordered state related to the triangular Ising antiferromagnet and distinct from the canonical “partially-disordered antiferromagnet” model. In this phase, the direction of magnetisation of ferromagnetic chains tends to alternate between neighbouring chains but this alternation is frustrated and is not itself ordered. We suggest the existence of low-dimensional magnetic order in $Tb(HCOO)_3$ is stabilised by the contrasting strength of inter- and intra-chain magnetic coupling, itself a consequence of the underlying MOF architecture. Our results demonstrate how MOFs may provide an attractive if as yet under-explored platform for the realisation and investigation of low-dimensional physics

The International Alcohol Control Study: Methodology and implementation.

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS: The International Alcohol Control (IAC) Study is a multi-country collaborative project to assess patterns of alcohol consumption and the impact of alcohol control policy. The aim of this paper is to report the methods and implementation of the IAC. DESIGN AND METHODS: The IAC has been implemented among drinkers 16-65 years in high- and middle-income countries: Australia, England, Scotland, New Zealand, St Kitts and Nevis, Thailand, South Africa, Peru, Mongolia and Vietnam (the latter four samples were sub-national). Two research instruments were used: the IAC survey of drinkers and the Alcohol Environmental Protocol (a protocol for policy analysis). The survey was administered via computer-assisted interview and the Alcohol Environmental Protocol data were collected via document review, administrative or commercial data and key informant interviews. RESULTS: The IAC instruments were readily adapted for cross-country use. The IAC methodology has provided cross-country survey data on key measures of alcohol consumption (quantity, frequency and volume), aspects of policy relevant behaviour and policy implementation: availability, price, purchasing, marketing and drink driving. The median response rate for all countries was 60% (range 16% to 99%). Where data on alcohol available for consumption were available the validity of survey consumption measures were assessed by calculating survey coverage found to be 86% or above. Differential response bias was handled, to the extent it could be, using post-stratification weights. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: The IAC study will allow for cross-country analysis of drinking patterns, the relationship between alcohol use and policy relevant behaviour in different countries

Bridging Alone: Religious Conservatism, Marital Homogamy, and Voluntary Association Membership

This study characterizes social insularity of religiously conservative American married couples by examining patterns of voluntary associationmembership. Constructing a dataset of 3938 marital dyads from the second wave of the National Survey of Families and Households, the author investigates whether conservative religious homogamy encourages membership in religious voluntary groups and discourages membership in secular voluntary groups. Results indicate that couples’ shared affiliation with conservative denominations, paired with beliefs in biblical authority and inerrancy, increases the likelihood of religious group membership for husbands and wives and reduces the likelihood of secular group membership for wives, but not for husbands. The social insularity of conservative religious groups appears to be reinforced by homogamy—particularly by wives who share faith with husbands

Atomic Resonance and Scattering

Contains reports on eight research projects.National Science Foundation (Grant PHY79-09743)National Bureau of Standards (Grant NB-8-NAHA-3017)Joint Services Electronics Program (Contract DAAG29-80-C-0104)National Science Foundation (Grant PHY82-10486)U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research (Contract N00014-79-C-0183)National Science Foundation (Grant CHE79-02967-A04)U.S. Air Force - Office of Scientific Research (Contract AFOSR-81-0067)Joint Services Electronics Program (Contract DAAG29-83-K-0003

An investigation of the apparent breast cancer epidemic in France: screening and incidence trends in birth cohorts

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Official descriptive data from France showed a strong increase in breast-cancer incidence between 1980 to 2005 without a corresponding change in breast-cancer mortality. This study quantifies the part of incidence increase due to secular changes in risk factor exposure and in overdiagnosis due to organised or opportunistic screening. Overdiagnosis was defined as non progressive tumours diagnosed as cancer at histology or progressive cancer that would remain asymptomatic until time of death for another cause.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Comparison between age-matched cohorts from 1980 to 2005. All women residing in France and born 1911-1915, 1926-1930 and 1941-1945 are included. Sources are official data sets and published French reports on screening by mammography, age and time specific breast-cancer incidence and mortality, hormone replacement therapy, alcohol and obesity. Outcome measures include breast-cancer incidence differences adjusted for changes in risk factor distributions between pairs of age-matched cohorts who had experienced different levels of screening intensity.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There was an 8-fold increase in the number of mammography machines operating in France between 1980 and 2000. Opportunistic and organised screening increased over time. In comparison to age-matched cohorts born 15 years earlier, recent cohorts had adjusted incidence proportion over 11 years that were 76% higher [95% confidence limits (CL) 67%, 85%] for women aged 50 to 64 years and 23% higher [95% CL 15%, 31%] for women aged 65 to 79 years. Given that mortality did not change correspondingly, this increase in adjusted 11 year incidence proportion was considered as an estimate of overdiagnosis.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Breast cancer may be overdiagnosed because screening increases diagnosis of slowly progressing non-life threatening cancer and increases misdiagnosis among women without progressive cancer. We suggest that these effects could largely explain the reported "epidemic" of breast cancer in France. Better predictive classification of tumours is needed in order to avoid unnecessary cancer diagnoses and subsequent procedures.</p

Developing a Personality Model for Speech-based Conversational Agents Using the Psycholexical Approach

We present the first systematic analysis of personality dimensions developed specifically to describe the personality of speech-based conversational agents. Following the psycholexical approach from psychology, we first report on a new multi-method approach to collect potentially descriptive adjectives from 1) a free description task in an online survey (228 unique descriptors), 2) an interaction task in the lab (176 unique descriptors), and 3) a text analysis of 30,000 online reviews of conversational agents (Alexa, Google Assistant, Cortana) (383 unique descriptors). We aggregate the results into a set of 349 adjectives, which are then rated by 744 people in an online survey. A factor analysis reveals that the commonly used Big Five model for human personality does not adequately describe agent personality. As an initial step to developing a personality model, we propose alternative dimensions and discuss implications for the design of agent personalities, personality-aware personalisation, and future research.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figures, 3 tables, CHI'2

Atomic Resonance and Scattering

Contains reports on eight research projects.National Science Foundation (Grant PHY83-06273)National Bureau of Standards (Grant NB83-NAHA-4058)National Science Foundation (Grant PHY84-11483)Joint Services Electronics Program (Contract DAAG29-83-K-0003)U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research (Contract NO0014-79-C-0183)U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research (Contract N00014-83-K-0695)National Science Foundation (Grant PHY83-07172-A01

How a Diverse Research Ecosystem Has Generated New Rehabilitation Technologies: Review of NIDILRR’s Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers

Over 50 million United States citizens (1 in 6 people in the US) have a developmental, acquired, or degenerative disability. The average US citizen can expect to live 20% of his or her life with a disability. Rehabilitation technologies play a major role in improving the quality of life for people with a disability, yet widespread and highly challenging needs remain. Within the US, a major effort aimed at the creation and evaluation of rehabilitation technology has been the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers (RERCs) sponsored by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research. As envisioned at their conception by a panel of the National Academy of Science in 1970, these centers were intended to take a “total approach to rehabilitation”, combining medicine, engineering, and related science, to improve the quality of life of individuals with a disability. Here, we review the scope, achievements, and ongoing projects of an unbiased sample of 19 currently active or recently terminated RERCs. Specifically, for each center, we briefly explain the needs it targets, summarize key historical advances, identify emerging innovations, and consider future directions. Our assessment from this review is that the RERC program indeed involves a multidisciplinary approach, with 36 professional fields involved, although 70% of research and development staff are in engineering fields, 23% in clinical fields, and only 7% in basic science fields; significantly, 11% of the professional staff have a disability related to their research. We observe that the RERC program has substantially diversified the scope of its work since the 1970’s, addressing more types of disabilities using more technologies, and, in particular, often now focusing on information technologies. RERC work also now often views users as integrated into an interdependent society through technologies that both people with and without disabilities co-use (such as the internet, wireless communication, and architecture). In addition, RERC research has evolved to view users as able at improving outcomes through learning, exercise, and plasticity (rather than being static), which can be optimally timed. We provide examples of rehabilitation technology innovation produced by the RERCs that illustrate this increasingly diversifying scope and evolving perspective. We conclude by discussing growth opportunities and possible future directions of the RERC program