Can a falling tree make a noise in two forests at the same time?

It is a commonplace to claim that quantum mechanics supports the old idea that a tree falling in a forest makes no sound unless there is a listener present. In fact, this conclusion is far from obvious. Furthermore, if a tunnelling particle is observed in the barrier region, it collapses to a state in which it is no longer tunnelling. Does this imply that while tunnelling, the particle can not have any physical effects? I argue that this is not the case, and moreover, speculate that it may be possible for a particle to have effects on two spacelike separate apparatuses simultaneously. I discuss the measurable consequences of such a feat, and speculate about possible statistical tests which could distinguish this view of quantum mechanics from a ``corpuscular'' one. Brief remarks are made about an experiment underway at Toronto to investigate these issues.Comment: 9 pp, Latex, 3 figs, to appear in Proc. Obsc. Unr. Conf.; Fig 2 postscript repaired on 26.10.9

Simple models of the chemical field around swimming plankton

Background. Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women, and we recently reported human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles showing strong associations with cervical neoplasia risk and protection. HLA ligands are recognized by killer immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) expressed on a range of immune cell subsets, governing their proinflammatory activity. We hypothesized that the inheritance of particular HLA-KIR combinations would increase cervical neoplasia risk. Methods. Here, we used HLA and KIR dosages imputed from single-nucleotide polymorphism genotype data from 2143 cervical neoplasia cases and 13 858 healthy controls of European decent. Results. The following 4 novel HLA alleles were identified in association with cervical neoplasia, owing to their linkage disequilibrium with known cervical neoplasia-associated HLA-DRB1 alleles: HLA-DRB3*9901 (odds ratio [OR], 1.24; P = 2.49 × 10−9), HLA-DRB5*0101 (OR, 1.29; P = 2.26 × 10−8), HLA-DRB5*9901 (OR, 0.77; P = 1.90 × 10−9), and HLA-DRB3*0301 (OR, 0.63; P = 4.06 × 10−5). We also found that homozygosity of HLA-C1 group alleles is a protective factor for human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16)-related cervical neoplasia (C1/C1; OR, 0.79; P = .005). This protective association was restricted to carriers of either KIR2DL2 (OR, 0.67; P = .00045) or KIR2DS2 (OR, 0.69; P = .0006). Conclusions. Our findings suggest that HLA-C1 group alleles play a role in protecting against HPV16-related cervical neoplasia, mainly through a KIR-mediated mechanism

Emotions in business-to-business service relationships

Emotion in business-to-business service relationships regarding cargo services is explored. The service relationship is characterised by mutual trust and cooperation. Contact is mainly via telephone or e-mail with some face-to-face interactions and participants providing a complex, multi-skilled seamless service. Experience rather than training plays a vital role with long-term service relationships built up and maintained. Emotional sensitivity is acquired partly by experience and a repeat customer base but mainly through a genuine desire to help and get to know others. In contrast to the view of emotional labour bringing managerial control or adverse affects to service staff, the emotion engendered by this work is authentic expression bringing personal satisfaction

Factors associated with hospital readmission in sickle cell disease

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Sickle cell disease is the most frequent hereditary disease in Brazil, and people with the disease may be hospitalised several times in the course of their lives. The purpose of this study was to estimate the hazard ratios of factors associated with the time between hospital admissions.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study sample comprised all patients admitted, from 2000 to 2004, to a university hospital in Rio de Janeiro State, south-east Brazil, as a result of acute complications from sickle cell disease (SCD). Considering the statistical problem of studying individuals with multiple events over time, the following extensions of Cox's proportional hazard ratio model were compared: the independent increment marginal model (Andersen-Gill) and the random effects model.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The study considered 71 patients, who were admitted 223 times for acute events related to SCD. The hazard ratios for hospital readmission were statistically significant for the prior occurrence of vaso-occlusive crisis and development of renal failure. However, analysis of residuals of the marginal model revealed evidence of non-proportionality for some covariates.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>the results from applying the two models were generally similar, indicating that the findings are not highly sensitive to different approaches. The better fit by the frailty model suggests that there are unmeasured individual factors with impact on hospital readmission.</p

Mycobacterium tuberculosis Responds to Chloride and pH as Synergistic Cues to the Immune Status of its Host Cell

PubMed ID: 23592993This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Shared Agency with Parents for Educational Goals: Ethnic Differences and Implications for College Adjustment

This study proposed and confirmed three ways in which college students can perceive shared agency and two ways in which they can perceive non-shared agency with parents when pursuing educational goals in college. Differences and similarities were examined among participants from four ethnic backgrounds (N = 515; 67% female): East Asian American, Southeast Asian American, Filipino/Pacific Islander American, and European American. Results indicated that Asian American youth reported higher levels of non-shared agency with parents (i.e., parental directing and noninvolvement), lower levels of shared agency (i.e., parental accommodation, support, or collaboration), and poorer college adjustment compared to European Americans. However, ethnic similarities were found whereby perceived shared agency in education with parents was associated with college adjustment. Multiple mediation analyses also indicated that our model of shared and non-shared agency with parents explained differences in college adjustment between Asian and European Americans, though more strongly for comparisons between European and East Asian Americans. Our results suggest that parents continue to be important in the education of older youth but that continued directing of youth’s education in college can be maladaptive

A brief parenting intervention to enhance the parent-child relationship in Hong Kong: Harmony@Home

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Pseudomonas aeruginosa Adaptation to Lungs of Cystic Fibrosis Patients Leads to Lowered Resistance to Phage and Protist Enemies

Pathogenic life styles can lead to highly specialized interactions with host species, potentially resulting in fitness trade-offs in other ecological contexts. Here we studied how adaptation of the environmentally transmitted bacterial pathogen, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, to cystic fibrosis (CF) patients affects its survival in the presence of natural phage (14/1, ΦKZ, PNM and PT7) and protist (Tetrahymena thermophila and Acanthamoebae polyphaga) enemies. We found that most of the bacteria isolated from relatively recently intermittently colonised patients (1-25 months), were innately phage-resistant and highly toxic for protists. In contrast, bacteria isolated from long time chronically infected patients (2-23 years), were less efficient in both resisting phages and killing protists. Moreover, chronic isolates showed reduced killing of wax moth larvae (Galleria mellonella) probably due to weaker in vitro growth and protease expression. These results suggest that P. aeruginosa long-term adaptation to CF-lungs could trade off with its survival in aquatic environmental reservoirs in the presence of microbial enemies, while lowered virulence could reduce pathogen opportunities to infect insect vectors; factors that are both likely to result in poorer environmental transmission. From an applied perspective, phage therapy could be useful against chronic P. aeruginosa lung infections that are often characterized by multidrug resistance: chronic isolates were least resistant to phages and their poor growth will likely slow down the emergence of beneficial resistance mutations

The need to promote behaviour change at the cultural level: one factor explaining the limited impact of the MEMA kwa Vijana adolescent sexual health intervention in rural Tanzania. A process evaluation

Background - Few of the many behavioral sexual health interventions in Africa have been rigorously evaluated. Where biological outcomes have been measured, improvements have rarely been found. One of the most rigorous trials was of the multi-component MEMA kwa Vijana adolescent sexual health programme, which showed improvements in knowledge and reported attitudes and behaviour, but none in biological outcomes. This paper attempts to explain these outcomes by reviewing the process evaluation findings, particularly in terms of contextual factors. Methods - A large-scale, primarily qualitative process evaluation based mainly on participant observation identified the principal contextual barriers and facilitators of behavioural change. Results - The contextual barriers involved four interrelated socio-structural factors: culture (i.e. shared practices and systems of belief), economic circumstances, social status, and gender. At an individual level they appeared to operate through the constructs of the theories underlying MEMA kwa Vijana - Social Cognitive Theory and the Theory of Reasoned Action – but the intervention was unable to substantially modify these individual-level constructs, apart from knowledge. Conclusion - The process evaluation suggests that one important reason for this failure is that the intervention did not operate sufficiently at a structural level, particularly in regard to culture. Recently most structural interventions have focused on gender or/and economics. Complementing these with a cultural approach could address the belief systems that justify and perpetuate gender and economic inequalities, as well as other barriers to behaviour change