Are Those Who Bring Work Home Really Working Longer Hours? Implications for BLS Productivity Measures

An ongoing debate surrounding BLS productivity data is that official labor productivity measures may be overstating productivity growth because of an increase in unmeasured hours worked outside the traditional workplace. This paper uses both the ATUS and May CPS Work Schedules and Work at Home Supplements to determine whether the number of hours worked by nonfarm business employees are underestimated and increasing over time due to unmeasured hours worked at home. We find that 8 - 9 percent of nonfarm business employees bring some work home from the workplace. In addition, those who bring work home report working longer hours than those who work exclusively in a workplace, resulting in a 0.8 – 1.1 percent understatement of measured hours worked. However, we find no conclusive evidence that productivity trends were biased over the 1997-2005 period due to work brought home from the workplace.Work at Home, Productivity, Time Use

Research/Therapy: A Review of Adele Clarke’s Situational Analysis: Grounded Theory after the Postmodern Turn

Situational Analysis presents an iteration of Grounded Theory that incorporates the construction of a series of illustrative maps, conceptualizes a situation as inclusive of what usually has been considered context, and explicitly and systematically includes missing or otherwise silenced data. This review comments on how these attributes of situational analysis can also effectively inform the practice of family therapy. The potential of a research book to inform a clinical practice is an exciting development in advancing interdisciplinary studies and its related applications in the world

“Research Is Not Innocent”: A Review of Thalia Mulvihill and Raji Swaminathan’s Collaborative Qualitative Research

Mulvihill and Swaminathan have written a wide-ranging book that takes a close look at how qualitative research can be collaborative and what implications come from how collaborative practices are taken up. While taking an appreciative stance toward collaborative research practices, they do not shy away from the challenges and unrealized potentials that are involved. This book serves as both an introduction to the basics of collaborative qualitative research and an in-depth look at the issues for the more experienced collaborative researcher

“Research for a Change”: A Book Review of Norma R. A. Romm’s Responsible Research Practice: Revisiting Transformative Paradigm in Social Research

In the book, Responsible Research Practice, the author, Norma Romm, makes the case for actively incorporating social justice initiatives within social research of any kind. Through numerous examples from around the world, using various research traditions, practices, and disciplines, she demonstrates how ethical practices can be implemented in research projects so participants are better off for having participated in the studies. This richly referenced book of research examples and supportive theoretical perspectives pushes the notion of ethical practice into a new gear. Readers of this book will be inspired and energized to see the realistic potential of active social research to change the world, particularly for those most marginalized

Electronic Structure and Stability of Hydrogen Halides and of Complex Ions XO4

(1) It is shown that in the hydrogen halide molecules (internuclear distance r0) the proton penetrates the electronic shell of the anion to a depth which for the simplified case of spherical symmetry can be characterized by the condition: The amount of negative charge beyond the sphere of radius r0 equals −1e. (2) From the dipole moments μ=xer0 of the hydrogen halide molecules it can be concluded: The wave mechanical distribution of the negative charge of the free halide ions is changed by the introduction of the proton in such a way that the center of gravity of an amount of charge equal to —(1−x)e is shifted from the halogen nucleus to the proton. The fraction (1—x) increases with the electronic polarizability of the anion, and would be equal to 1 for an ion of infinitely large polarizability, leading to a completely unpolar type of binding in this case. (3) It is shown that for the complex ions SiO44—, PO43—, SO4=, and ClO4−, the gradation of the X☒O distances and of the molar dispersion can be easily understood from the point of view used in 1924 for the case of the molar refraction: These ions represent the result of the polarization of O= by Si4+, P5+, S6+, and Cl7+, and the X☒O binding in them shows gradual changes toward the unpolar type. (4) It is pointed out that the relatively unstable HI and ClO4− approach the unpolar type of binding more closely than any other of the compounds considered here. The generalization of this connection between instability and the degree of deformation of electronic shells explains why compounds like FO4− and BrO4− are unknown.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/70366/2/JCPSA6-10-7-410-1.pd

Alpha1 -adrenergic stimulation selectively enhances endothelium-mediated vasodilation in rat cremaster arteries.

We have systematically investigated how vascular smooth muscle α1 -adrenoceptor activation impacts endothelium-mediated vasodilation in isolated, myogenically active, rat cremaster muscle 1A arteries. Cannulated cremaster arteries were pressurized intraluminally to 70 mmHg to induce myogenic tone, and exposed to vasoactive agents via bath superfusion at 34°C. Smooth muscle membrane potential was measured via sharp microelectrode recordings in pressurized, myogenic arteries. The α1 -adrenergic agonist phenylephrine (25-100 nmol/L) produced further constriction of myogenic arteries, but did not alter the vasorelaxant responses to acetylcholine (0.3 μmol/L), SKA-31 (an activator of endothelial Ca2+ -dependent K+ channels) (3 μmol/L) or sodium nitroprusside (10 μmol/L). Exposure to 0.25-1 μmol/L phenylephrine or 1 μmol/L norepinephrine generated more robust constrictions, and also enhanced the vasodilations evoked by acetylcholine and SKA-31, but not by sodium nitroprusside. In contrast, the thromboxane receptor agonist U46619 (250 nmol/L) dampened responses to all three vasodilators. Phenylephrine exposure depolarized myogenic arteries, and mimicking this effect with 4-aminopyridine (1 mmol/L) was sufficient to augment the SKA-31-evoked vasodilation. Inhibition of L-type Ca2+ channels by 1 μmol/L nifedipine decreased myogenic tone, phenylephrine-induced constriction and prevented α1 -adrenergic enhancement of endothelium-evoked vasodilation; these latter deficits were overcome by exposure to 3 and 10 μmol/L phenylephrine. Mechanistically, augmentation of ACh-evoked dilation by phenylephrine was dampened by eNOS inhibition and abolished by blockade of endothelial KCa channels. Collectively, these data suggest that increasing α1 -adrenoceptor activation beyond a threshold level augments endothelium-evoked vasodilation, likely by triggering transcellular signaling between smooth muscle and the endothelium. Physiologically, this negative feedback process may serve as a "brake" to limit the extent of vasoconstriction in the skeletal microcirculation evoked by the elevated sympathetic tone

Theoretical Characterization of the Interface in a Nonequilibrium Lattice System

The influence of nonequilibrium bulk conditions on the properties of the interfaces exhibited by a kinetic Ising--like model system with nonequilibrium steady states is studied. The system is maintained out of equilibrium by perturbing the familiar spin--flip dynamics at temperature T with completely--random flips; one may interpret these as ideally simulating some (dynamic) impurities. We find evidence that, in the present case, the nonequilibrium mechanism adds to the basic thermal one resulting on a renormalization of microscopic parameters such as the probability of interfacial broken bonds. On this assumption, we develop theory for the nonequilibrium "surface tension", which happens to show a non--monotonous behavior with a maximum at some finite T. It ensues, in full agreement with Monte Carlo simulations, that interface fluctuations differ qualitatively from the equilibrium case, e.g., the interface remains rough at zero--T. We discuss on some consequences of these facts for nucleation theory, and make some explicit predictions concerning the nonequilibrium droplet structure.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Phys. Re

Photo-induced pyridine substitution in cis-[Ru(bpy)(2)(py)(2)]Cl-2 : a snapshot by time-resolved X-ray solution scattering

Determination of transient structures in light-induced processes is a challenging goal for time-resolved techniques. Such techniques are becoming successful in detecting ultrafast structural changes in molecules and do not require the presence of probe-like groups. Here, we demonstrate that TR-WAXS (Time-Resolved Wide Angle X-ray Scattering) can be successfully employed to study the photochemistry of cis-[Ru(bpy)(2)(py)(2)]Cl-2, a mononuclear ruthenium complex of interest in the field of photoactivatable anticancer agents. TR-WAXS is able to detect the release of a pyridine ligand and the coordination of a solvent molecule on a faster timescale than 800 ns of laser excitation. The direct measurement of the photodissociation of pyridine is a major advance in the field of time-resolved techniques allowing detection, for the first time, of the release of a multiatomic ligand formed by low Z atoms. These data demonstrate that TR-WAXS is a powerful technique for studying rapid ligand substitution processes involving photoactive metal complexes of biological interest