Corporation Law—Officers—Profits Resulting from the use of Inside Information Inure to the Corporation Although No Harm to the Corporation Was Alleged

Diamond v. Oreamund, 29 A.D.2d 285, 287 N.Y.S.2d 300 (1st Dep\u27t 1968)

Intervention Research, Establishing Fidelity of the Independent Variable in Nursing Clinical Trials

Background: Internal validity of a randomized clinical trial of a nursing intervention is dependent on intervention fidelity. Although several methods have been developed, evaluating audio or audiovisual tapes for prescribed and proscribed interventionist behaviors is considered the gold standard test of treatment fidelity. This approach requires development of a psychometrically sound instrument to meaningfully categorize and quantify interventionist behaviors. b Objective: To outline critical steps necessary to develop a treatment fidelity instrument. b Methods: A comprehensive literature review was conducted to determine procedures used by other researchers. The literature review produced five quantitative studies of treatment fidelity, all in the field of psychotherapy, and two replication studies. A synthesis of methodologies across studies combined with researchers’ experiences resulted in identification of the steps necessary to develop a treatment fidelity measure. b Results: Seven sequential steps were identified as essential to the development of a valid and reliable measure of treatment fidelity. These steps include (a) identification of the essential elements of the experimental and control treatment modalities; (b) construction of scale items; (c) development of item scaling; (d) identification of the units for coding; (e) item testing and revision; (f) specification of rater qualifications and development of rater training program; and (g) development and completion of pilot testing to test psychometric properties. Development of the Possibilities Project Psychotherapy Coding Questionnaire is described as an illustration of the seven-step process. b Discussion: The results show the essential steps that are unique to the development of treatment fidelity measures and show the feasibility of using these steps to construct a psychometrically sound treatment-specific fidelity measure. b Key Words: internal validity & intervention fidelity & randomized clinical trialshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/65122/2/Stein Fidelity.pd

Astronomy below the survey threshold in the SKA era

Astronomy at or below the 'survey threshold' has expanded significantly since the publication of the original 'Science with the Square Kilometer Array' in 1999 and its update in 2004. The techniques in this regime may be broadly (but far from exclusively) defined as 'confusion' or 'P(D)' analyses (analyses of one-point statistics), and 'stacking', accounting for the flux-density distribution of noise-limited images co-added at the positions of objects detected/isolated in a different waveband. Here we discuss the relevant issues, present some examples of recent analyses, and consider some of the consequences for the design and use of surveys with the SKA and its pathfinders

Indexed Bonds

This paper discusses the pros and cons of establishing a system of indexed bonds as a means of assisting employers in the event that governments (federal and/or provincial) should require them to adjust pension payments under the pension plans for inflation. The main body of this paper is divided into three parts. The introduction describes briefly the mechanics of indexed bonds, the way inflation may affect the cost of indexed pensions, and, hence, the reasons why indexed bonds are being considered as a means of offsetting such inflationary impacts. It also notes the role of pension funds in the financial system in Canada. The second part appraises the possible impact of indexed bonds on the economy generally, on financial markets, and on government operations. It also briefly reviews the experience abroad with indexed bonds. The third part deals with the conclusions derived from the discussion. In addition, there are two annexes. One of these provides an estimate of the possible demand for and supply of indexed bonds. The other comments on the risk that with indexed bonds, public debt servicing might become less predictable

The Spitzer c2d Survey of Large, Nearby, Interstellar Clouds. VIII. Serpens Observed with MIPS

We present maps of 1.5 deg^2 of the Serpens dark cloud at 24, 70, and 160 μm observed with the Spitzer Space Telescope MIPS camera. We describe the observations and briefly discuss the data processing carried out by the c2d team on these data. More than 2400 compact sources have been extracted at 24 μm, nearly 100 at 70 μm, and four at 160 μm. We estimate completeness limits for our 24 μm survey from Monte Carlo tests with artificial sources inserted into the Spitzer maps. We compare source counts, colors, and magnitudes in the Serpens cloud to two reference data sets: a 0.50 deg^2 set on a low-extinction region near the dark cloud, and a 5.3 deg^2 subset of the SWIRE ELAIS N1 data that was processed through our pipeline. These results show that there is an easily identifiable population of young stellar object candidates in the Serpens cloud that is not present in either of the reference data sets. We also show a comparison of visual extinction and cool dust emission illustrating a close correlation between the two and find that the most embedded YSO candidates are located in the areas of highest visual extinction

The Spitzer c2d survey of Large, Nearby, Interstellar Clouds. V. Chamaeleon II Observed with IRAC

We present IRAC (3.6, 4.5, 5.8, and 8.0 micron) observations of the Chamaeleon II molecular cloud. The observed area covers about 1 square degree defined by $A_V >2$. Analysis of the data in the 2005 c2d catalogs reveals a small number of sources (40) with properties similar to those of young stellaror substellar objects (YSOs). The surface density of these YSO candidates is low, and contamination by background galaxies appears to be substantial, especially for sources classified as Class I or flat SED. We discuss this problem in some detail and conclude that very few of the candidate YSOs in early evolutionary stages are actually in the Cha II cloud. Using a refined set of criteria, we define a smaller, but more reliable, set of 24 YSO candidates.Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures, in press Ap

The Spitzer c2d Survey of Large, Nearby, Interstellar Clouds. VII. Ophiuchus Observed with MIPS

We present maps of 14.4 deg^2 of the Ophiuchus dark clouds observed by the Spitzer Space Telescope Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer (MIPS). These high-quality maps depict both numerous point sources and extended dust emission within the star-forming and non–star-forming portions of these clouds. Using PSF-fitting photometry, we detect 5779 sources at 24 μm and 81 sources at 70 μm at the 10 σ level of significance. Three hundred twenty-three candidate young stellar objects (YSOs) were identified according to their positions on the MIPS/2MASS K versus color-magnitude diagrams, as compared to 24 μm detections in the SWIRE extragalactic survey. We find that more than half of the YSO candidates, and almost all those with protostellar Class I spectral energy distributions, are confined to the known cluster and aggregates

The Spitzer c2d Survey of Weak-line T Tauri Stars II: New Constraints on the Timescale for Planet Building

One of the central goals of the Spitzer Legacy Project ``From Molecular Cores to Planet-forming Disks'' (c2d) is to determine the frequency of remnant circumstellar disks around weak-line T Tauri stars (wTTs) and to study the properties and evolutionary status of these disks. Here we present a census of disks for a sample of over 230 spectroscopically identified wTTs located in the c2d IRAC (3.6, 4.5, 4.8, and 8.0 um) and MIPS (24 um) maps of the Ophiuchus, Lupus, and Perseus Molecular Clouds. We find that ~20% of the wTTs in a magnitude limited subsample have noticeable IR-excesses at IRAC wavelengths indicating the presence of a circumstellar disk. The disk frequencies we find in these 3 regions are ~3-6 times larger than that recently found for a sample of 83 relatively isolated wTTs located, for the most part, outside the highest extinction regions covered by the c2d IRAC and MIPS maps. The disk fractions we find are more consistent with those obtained in recent Spitzer studies of wTTs in young clusters such as IC 348 and Tr 37. From their location in the H-R diagram, we find that, in our sample, the wTTs with excesses are among the younger part of the age distribution. Still, up to ~50% of the apparently youngest stars in the sample show no evidence of IR excess, suggesting that the circumstellar disks of a sizable fraction of pre-main-sequence stars dissipate in a timescale of ~1 Myr. We also find that none of the stars in our sample apparently older than ~10 Myrs have detectable circumstellar disks at wavelengths < 24 um. Also, we find that the wTTs disks in our sample exhibit a wide range of properties (SED morphology, inner radius, L_DISK/L*, etc) which bridge the gaps observed between the cTTs and the debris disk regimes.Comment: 54 pages, 13 figures, Accepted by Ap

Breath, urine, and blood measurements as biological exposure indices of short-term inhalation exposure to methanol

Due to their transient nature, short-term exposures can be difficult to detect and quantify using conventional monitoring techniques. Biological monitoring may be capable of registering such exposures and may also be used to estimate important toxicological parameters. This paper investigates relationships between methanol concentrations in the blood, urine, and breath of volunteers exposed to methanol vapor at 800 ppm for periods of 0.5, 1, 2, and 8 h. The results indicate factors that must be considered for interpretation of the results of biological monitoring. For methanol, concentrations are not proportional to the exposure duration due to metabolic and other elimination processes that occur concurrently with the exposure. First-order clearance models can be used with blood, breath, or urine concentrations to estimate exposures if the time that has elapsed since the exposure and the model parameters are known. The 0.5 to 2-h periods of exposure were used to estimate the half-life of methanol. Blood data gave a half-life of 1.44±0.33 h. Comparable but slightly more variable results were obtained using urine data corrected for voiding time (1.55±0.67 h) and breath data corrected for mucous membrane desorption (1.40±0.38 h). Methanol concentrations in blood lagged some 15–30 min behind the termination of exposure, and concentrations in urine were further delayed. Although breath sampling may be convenient, breath concentrations reflect end-expired or alveolar air only if subjects are in a methanol-free environment for 30 min or more after the exposure. At earlier times, breath concentrations included contributions from airway desorption or diffusion processes. As based on multicompartmental models, the desorption processes have half-lives ranging between 0.6 and 5 min. Preliminary estimates of the mucous membrane reservoir indicate contributions of under 10% for a 0.5-h exposure and smaller effects for longer periods of exposure.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/42238/1/420-71-5-325_80710325.pd