The Transition of Communal Values and Behavior in Jewish Philanthropy

An analysis of the patterns of Jewish philanthropy, deemed by the author the "Jewish philanthropic system," and how it has been Americanized. With bibliographic references

Mega-gifts in American Philanthropy: Giving Patterns 2001-2003

The researchers collected data on more than 8,000 gifts of $10 million or above in order to compile this report. Higher education, health, and cultural arts organizations receive the lion's share of the largest gifts that individuals, foundations, and corporations contribute to American philanthropy

Mega-gifts in Jewish Philanthropy: Giving Patterns 2001-2003

The report on Jewish giving provides an analysis of gifts of $1 million or above from 2001 to 2003. The research examines the distribution of dollars by recipient type, donor type, region, and other categories

Mega-gifts in American Philanthropy: General & Jewish Giving Patterns Between 1995-2000

The researchers collected data on gifts of $10 million or above in order to compile this report. From this set, they identified gifts from Jewish philanthropists and offer some conclusions about the nature of high-end giving. Among other findings, the authors note that the largest number of gifts, by far, went to private educational institutions, and among Jewish donors, arts and culture was the second most popular recipient group. A listing of the donations is included in the appendices. With bibliographic references

EFFECTS OF A PILATES EXERCISE PROGRAM ON CORE STRENGTH IN FEMALES

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a core stability-training program on core strength in females. Core stability is the strength and control of postural muscles of the back, abdomen, and pelvis. Some researchers have suggested that core stability might partially explain why females are more prone to anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury than males. We randomly assigned 17 female volunteer participants to an exercise or control group. We measured maximum isometric strength of the hip abductors, abdominals, and back extensors, before and after ten weeks of Pilates exercise. The exercise group met three times weekly for 40 minute supervised exercise sessions. A repeated measures MANOVA revealed no training effect at the end of the intervention (F = 0.435, p = 0.87

Evolution of Mass Outflow in Protostars

We have surveyed 84 Class 0, Class I, and flat-spectrum protostars in mid-infrared [Si II], [Fe II] and [S I] line emission, and 11 of these in far-infrared [O I] emission. We use the results to derive their mass outflow rates. Thereby we observe a strong correlation of mass outflow rates with bolometric luminosity, and with the inferred mass accretion rates of the central objects, which continues through the Class 0 range the trend observed in Class II young stellar objects. Along this trend from large to small mass-flow rates, the different classes of young stellar objects lie in the sequence Class 0 -- Class I/flat-spectrum -- Class II, indicating that the trend is an evolutionary sequence in which mass outflow and accretion rates decrease together with increasing age, while maintaining rough proportionality. The survey results include two which are key tests of magnetocentrifugal outflow-acceleration mechanisms: the distribution of the outflow/accretion branching ratio b, and limits on the distribution of outflow speeds. Neither rule out any of the three leading outflow-acceleration, angular-momentum-ejection mechanisms, but they provide some evidence that disk winds and accretion-powered stellar winds (APSWs) operate in many protostars. An upper edge observed in the branching-ratio distribution is consistent with the upper bound of b = 0.6 found in models of APSWs, and a large fraction (0.31) of the sample have branching ratio sufficiently small that only disk winds, launched on scales as large as several AU, have been demonstrated to account for them.Comment: Version submitted to ApJ: 36 pages, 3 tables, 8 figure

Safety culture in a major accredited Irish university teaching hospital: a mixed methods study using the safety attitudes questionnaire.

Background: The measurement of safety culture, the way in which members of an organisation think about and prioritise safety, in a hospital can provide valuable insight and inform quality improvement strategies. Aims: The aim of this study is to describe the safety culture of a university teaching hospital in the Republic of Ireland. Methods: This is a mixed methods survey study using the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ). The SAQ was distributed to all staff in the study hospital. Staff attitudes towards six domains of patient safety culture were assessed over 32 Likert-scaled items. Thematic analysis was performed on qualitative data. Results: A total of 768 staff members completed and returned a copy of the SAQ. The hospital scored above the international benchmark in five out of six domains, indicating a positive safety culture, but scored below the international benchmark in the domain 'Working Conditions'. This positive safety culture was not mirrored in the qualitative data, from which five themes emerged; three major-Staffing Issues, Patient-Focused Care and Hospital Environment-and two minor-Safe Reporting Culture and Training and Education. Conclusions: In this study, a mixed methods approach was successfully used to investigate the safety culture in a large Irish hospital. Although the SAQ results indicated a positive safety culture, the qualitative data revealed a number of issues that the hospital staff felt impacted negatively on patient safety. The results of this study will inform future work on the design of an intervention to improve patient safety in the hospital

Supercritical fluid growth of porous carbon nanocages

Carbon nanocages, with remarkably large mesoporous volumes, have been synthesized by the deposition of p-xylene over a Co/Mo catalyst in supercritical carbon dioxide. Nanocages with diameters ranging between 10 and 60 nm were synthesized at temperatures between 650 and 750 °C. The surface area and pore volume of the nanocages produced was found to depend on the reaction temperature and pressure employed. In particular, carbon nanocages with a pore volume of up to 5.8 cm3 g-1 and a BET surface area of 1240 m2 g-1 were readily synthesized at a temperature of 650 °C and a pressure of 10.34 MPa. The high pore volume and surface area of the carbon nanocages synthesized makes them ideal materials for use as inert adsorbents and catalytic supports