Risk and the Human Environment

This article is concerned with the nature of what federal legislation calls "the human environment" as a preliminary to under standing impacts upon it and risks to it. After discussing the features that distinguish human systems from others, emphasizing nonmet rical aspects of their sociocultural characteristics, eighteen points concerning risks and impacts are made. The article concludes with a discussion of the possible place in the human environment of what Stephen Toulmin calls "post-modern science and risk analysis."Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/67181/2/10.1177_000271629654500108.pd

Toward Postmodern Risk Analysis 1

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73667/1/j.1539-6924.1988.tb01169.x.pd

RITUAL, TIME, AND ENTERNITY

It is argued here that the construction of time and eternity are among ritual's entailments. In dividing continuous duration into distinct periods ritual distinguishes two temporal conditions: (1) that prevailing in mundane periods and (2) that prevailing during the intervals between them. Differences in the frequency, length, and relationship among the rituals constituting different liturgical orders are considered, as are differences between mundane periods and ritual's intervals with respect to social relations, cognitive modes, meaningfulness, and typical interactive frequencies. Periods, it is observed, relate to intervals as everchanging to never-changing, and close relationships of never changing to eternity, eternity to sanctity, and sanctity to truth are proposed. In the argument that ritual's “times out of time” really are outside mundane time, similarities to the operations of digital computers and Herbert Simon's discussion of interaction frequencies in the organization of matter are noted.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72989/1/j.1467-9744.1992.tb00996.x.pd

Exploring autoionization and photo-induced proton-coupled electron transfer pathways of phenol in aqueous solution

The excited state dynamics of phenol in water have been investigated using transient absorption spectroscopy. Solvated electrons and vibrationally cold phenoxyl radicals are observed upon 200 and 267 nm excitation, but with formation time scales that differ by more than 4 orders of magnitude. The impact of these findings is assessed in terms of the relative importance of autoionization versus proton-coupled electron transfer mechanisms in this computationally tractable model system

Statistics of self-avoiding walks on randomly diluted lattice

A comprehensive numerical study of self-avoiding walks (SAW's) on randomly diluted lattices in two and three dimensions is carried out. The critical exponents $\nu$ and $\chi$ are calculated for various different occupation probabilities, disorder configuration ensembles, and walk weighting schemes. These results are analyzed and compared with those previously available. Various subtleties in the calculation and definition of these exponents are discussed. Precise numerical values are given for these exponents in most cases, and many new properties are recognized for them.Comment: 34 pages (+ 12 figures), REVTEX 3.

Scanning SQUID-on-tip microscope in a top-loading cryogen-free dilution refrigerator

The scanning superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) fabricated on the tip of a sharp quartz pipette (SQUID-on-tip) has emerged as a versatile tool for nanoscale imaging of magnetic, thermal, and transport properties of microscopic devices of quantum materials. We present the design and performance of a scanning SQUID-on-tip microscope in a top-loading probe of a cryogen-free dilution refrigerator. The microscope is enclosed in a custom-made vacuum-tight cell mounted at the bottom of the probe and is suspended by springs to suppress vibrations caused by the pulse tube cryocooler. Two capillaries allow in-situ control of helium exchange gas pressure in the cell that is required for thermal imaging. A nanoscale heater is used to create local temperature gradients in the sample, which enables quantitative characterization of the relative vibrations between the tip and the sample. The spectrum of the vibrations shows distinct resonant peaks with maximal power density of about 27 nm/Hz$^{1/2}$ in the in-plane direction. The performance of the SQUID-on-tip microscope is demonstrated by magnetic imaging of the MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ magnetic topological insulator, magnetization and current distribution imaging in a SrRuO$_3$ ferromagnetic oxide thin film, and by thermal imaging of dissipation in graphene.Comment: Submitted to Review of Scientific Instrument

Content validity of symptom‐based measures for diabetic, chemotherapy, and HIV peripheral neuropathy

INTRODUCTION: No treatments for axonal peripheral neuropathy are approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Although patient- and clinician-reported outcomes are central to evaluating neuropathy symptoms, they can be difficult to assess accurately. The inability to identify efficacious treatments for peripheral neuropathies could be due to invalid or inadequate outcome measures. METHODS: This systematic review examined the content validity of symptom-based measures of diabetic peripheral neuropathy, HIV neuropathy, and chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. RESULTS: Use of all FDA-recommended methods to establish content validity was only reported for 2 of 18 measures. Multiple sensory and motor symptoms were included in measures for all 3 conditions; these included numbness, tingling, pain, allodynia, difficulty walking, and cramping. Autonomic symptoms were less frequently included. CONCLUSIONS: Given significant overlap in symptoms between neuropathy etiologies, a measure with content validity for multiple neuropathies with supplemental disease-specific modules could be of great value in the development of disease-modifying treatments for peripheral neuropathies