Introduction

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Perceptions of Fairness in the Frustration Effect: An Attributional Analysis

Theories of both distributive (Adams, 1963) and procedural justice (Thibaut & Walker, 1975) have been demonstrated to be accurate in describing subjective evaluations of fairness in a wide variety of circumstances. However, a phenomenon known as the frustration effect (e.g. Folger, 1977) results in perceptions of fairness that are incongruent with the predictions of these two theories. This study attempts to explain the discrepant results in terms of attribution theory as it was proposed by Weiner (1985). By manipulating and measuring the attributions made by subjects, the attributional explanation was tested. The results of this experiment were not supportive of this theoretical perspective, but several methodological factors may have hampered this attempt. The results and methodological difficulties encountered in this experiment are discussed in terms of their implications for future studies of the frustration effect

Laboratory Analysis of Risky Driving at 0.05% and 0.08% Blood Alcohol Concentration

Background—The public health costs associated with alcohol-related traffic crashes are a continuing problem for society. One harm reduction strategy has been to employ per se limits for blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) at which drivers can legally operate motor vehicles. This limit is currently 0.08% in all 50 US states. Recently, the National Transportation Safety Board proposed lowering the legal limit to 0.05 % (NTSB, 2013). While research has well-validated the ability of alcohol to impair driving performance and heighten crash-risk at these BACs, relatively little is known about the degree to which alcohol might increase drivers’ risk-taking. Methods—Risk-taking was examined in 20 healthy adults who were each tested in a driving simulator following placebo and two doses of alcohol calculated to yield peak BACs of 0.08% and 0.05%, the respective current and proposed BAC limits. The drive test emphasized risk-taking by placing participants in a multiple-lane, high-traffic environment. The primary measure was how close drivers maneuvered relative to other vehicles on the road (i.e., time-to-collision, TTC). Results—Alcohol increased risk-taking by decreasing drivers’ TTC at the 0.08% target BAC relative to placebo. Moreover, risk-taking at the 0.05% target was less than risk-taking at 0.08% target BAC. Conclusions—These findings provide evidence that reducing the legal BAC limit in the USA to 0.05% would decrease risk-taking among drivers. A clearer understanding of the dose-response relationship between various aspects of driving behaviors, such as drivers’ accepted level of risk while driving, is an important step to improving traffic safety

FUSE Detection of Galactic OVI Emission in the Halo above the Perseus Arm

Background observations obtained with the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) toward l=95.4, b=36.1 show OVI 1032,1038 in emission. This sight line probes a region of stronger-than-average soft X-ray emission in the direction of high-velocity cloud Complex C above a part of the disk where Halpha filaments rise into the halo. The OVI intensities, 1600+/-300 ph/s/cm^2/sr (1032A) and 800+/-300 ph/s/cm^2/sr (1038A), are the lowest detected in emission in the Milky Way to date. A second sight line nearby (l=99.3, b=43.3) also shows OVI 1032 emission, but with too low a signal-to-noise ratio to obtain reliable measurements. The measured intensities, velocities, and FWHMs of the OVI doublet and the CII* line at 1037A are consistent with a model in which the observed emission is produced in the Galactic halo by hot gas ejected by supernovae in the Perseus arm. An association of the observed gas with Complex C appears unlikely.Comment: accepted for publication in ApJL, 11 pages including 3 figure

The initial development of a jet caused by fluid, body and free surface interaction with a uniformly accelerated advancing or retreating plate. Part 1. The principal flow

The free surface and flow field structure generated by the uniform acceleration (with dimensionless acceleration σ) of a rigid plate, inclined at an angle α ∈ (0, π/2) to the exterior horizontal, as it advances (σ > 0) or retreats (σ < 0) from an initially stationary and horizontal strip of inviscid, incompressible fluid under gravity, are studied in the small-time limit via the method of matched asymptotic expansions. This work generalises the case of a uniformly accelerating plate advancing into a fluid as studied in Needham et al. (2008). Particular attention is paid to the innermost asymptotic regions encompassing the initial interaction between the plate and the free surface. We find that the structure of the solution to the governing initial boundary value problem is characterised in terms of the parameters α and μ (where μ = 1+σ tan α), with a bifurcation in structure as μ changes sign. This bifurcation in structure leads us to question the well-posedness and stability of the governing initial boundary value problem with respect to small perturbations in initial data in the innermost asymptotic regions, the discussion of which will be presented in the companion paper Gallagher et al. (2016) . In particular, when (α, μ) ∈ (0, π/2) × R+, the free surface close to the initial contact point remains monotone, and encompasses a swelling jet when (α, μ) ∈ (0, π/2)×[1,∞), or a collapsing jet when (α, μ) ∈ (0, π/2) × (0, 1). However, when (α, μ) ∈ (0, π/2) × R−, the collapsing jet develops a more complex structure, with the free surface close to the initial contact point now developing a finite number of local oscillations, with near resonance type behaviour occurring close to a countable set of critical plate angles α = α∗n ∈ (0, π/2) (n = 1, 2, . . .)

Does early physical therapy intervention reduce opioid burden and improve functionality in the management of chronic lower back pain?

Introduction: Chronic lower back pain is a leading cause of disability in US adults. Opioid use continues to be controversial despite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance on chronic pain management to use nonpharmacologic and nonopioid pharmacologic interventions. The objectives of the study were to assess the impact of early physical therapy (PT) intervention on improving functionality and reducing opioid burden in patients with chronic lower back pain. Methods: A single-center, retrospective chart review of patients receiving ≥6 PT visits and treated with either opioids first (OF) or PT first (PTF) therapy for chronic lower back pain were evaluated. Concomitant use of nonopioid and nonpharmacologic therapy was permitted. The Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), a survey measuring functionality, was recorded for PTF group. Pain scores and medication use including opioids were collected at treatment initiation and completion. Results: One hundred and eighty patients were included in three groups: OF group (n = 60), PTF group (n = 60), and PTF + ODI group (n = 60). The PTF + ODI group had mean ODI reduction of 11.9% ( Discussion: Early PT resulted in improved functionality, decreased pain, and reduced medication use upon PT completion. These findings suggest PT, along with nonopioid modalities, are a viable first-line option for the management of chronic lower back pain

Significance of the pericardium in human subjects: Effects on left ventricular volume, pressure and ejection

To assess the effect of the pericardium, left ventricular systolic function and diastolic compliance were studied in 15 patients before and after pericardiotomy during coronary artery surgery. Using first pass radionuclide angiography, curves for left ventricular systolic function (stroke work versus end-diastolic volume) and a measure of diastolic compliance (pulmonary capillary wedge pressure versus end-diastolic volume) were generated by changing body position to alter venous return. Left ventricular end-diastolic volume ranged from 41 to 111 ml/m2and pulmonary capillary wedge pressure from 0 to 24 mm Hg.No significant changes were found in blood pressure (150/83 to 148/82 mm Hg), heart rate (66.7 to 67.1 beats/min), cardiac index (2.38 to 2.41 liters/min per m2), ejection fraction (0.56 to 0.54), end-systolic volume index (31.4 to 32.2 ml/m2), end-diastolic volume index (65.9 to 69.5 ml/m2) or pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (7.5 to 7.3 mm Hg). The pericardium did not affect the curves relating stroke work and end-diastolic volume or those relating pulmonary capillary wedge pressure and end-diastolic volume. Thus, when filling pressure and volume are normal or only moderately elevated, the pericardium does not appear to affect left ventricular systolic function or diastolic compliance in patients

The Use of Rodent Models to Investigate Host-Bacteria Interactions Related to Periodontal Diseases

Even though animal models have limitations they are often superior to in vitro or clinical studies in addressing mechanistic questions and serve as an essential link between hypotheses and human patients. Periodontal disease can be viewed as a process that involves four major stages: bacterial colonization, invasion, induction of a destructive host response in connective tissue and a repair process that reduces the extent of tissue breakdown. Animal studies should be evaluated in terms of their capacity to test specific hypotheses rather than their fidelity to all aspects of periodontal disease initiation and progression. Thus, each of the models described below can be adapted to test discrete components of these four major steps, but not all of them. This review describes five different animal models that are appropriate for examining components of host-bacteria interactions that can lead to breakdown of hard and soft connective tissue or conditions that limit its repair as follows: the mouse calvarial model, murine oral gavage models with or without adoptive transfer of human lymphocytes, rat ligature model and rat Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans feeding model

A self-interacting partially directed walk subject to a force

We consider a directed walk model of a homopolymer (in two dimensions) which is self-interacting and can undergo a collapse transition, subject to an applied tensile force. We review and interpret all the results already in the literature concerning the case where this force is in the preferred direction of the walk. We consider the force extension curves at different temperatures as well as the critical-force temperature curve. We demonstrate that this model can be analysed rigorously for all key quantities of interest even when there may not be explicit expressions for these quantities available. We show which of the techniques available can be extended to the full model, where the force has components in the preferred direction and the direction perpendicular to this. Whilst the solution of the generating function is available, its analysis is far more complicated and not all the rigorous techniques are available. However, many results can be extracted including the location of the critical point which gives the general critical-force temperature curve. Lastly, we generalise the model to a three-dimensional analogue and show that several key properties can be analysed if the force is restricted to the plane of preferred directions.Comment: 35 pages, 14 figure