Implications of two-body fragment decay for the interpretation of emission chronology from velocity-gated correlation functions

From velocity-gated small-angle correlation functions the emission chronology can be deduced for non-identical particles, if the emission is independent. This is not the case for non-identical particles that originate from two-body decay of fragments. Experimental results may contain contributions from both independent emission and two-body decay, so care is needed in interpreting the velocity-gated correlation functions. It is shown that in some special cases, it is still possible to deduce the emission chronology, even if there is a contribution from two-body decay.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure

Analysis of charged particle emission sources and coalescence in E/A = 61 MeV 36^{36}Ar + 27^{27}Al, 112^{112}Sn and 124^{124}Sn collisions

Single-particle kinetic energy spectra and two-particle small angle correlations of protons ($p$), deuterons ($d$) and tritons ($t$) have been measured simultaneously in 61A MeV $^{36}$Ar + $^{27}$Al, $^{112}$Sn and $^{124}$Sn collisions. Characteristics of the emission sources have been derived from a ``source identification plot'' ($\beta_{source}$--$E_{CM}$ plot), constructed from the single-particle invariant spectra, and compared to the complementary results from two-particle correlation functions. Furthermore, the source identification plot has been used to determine the conditions when the coalescence mechanism can be applied for composite particles. In our data, this is the case only for the Ar + Al reaction, where $p$, $d$ and $t$ are found to originate from a common source of emission (from the overlap region between target and projectile). In this case, the coalescence model parameter, $\tilde{p}_0$ -- the radius of the complex particle emission source in momentum space, has been analyzed.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Nuclear Physics

Effect of Music Therapy with Emotional-Approach Coping on Pre-Procedural Anxiety in Cardiac Catheterization

Individuals undergoing cardiac catheterization, and related procedures such as electrophysiological studies involving cardiac catheter placement, are likely to experience elevated anxiety periprocedurally, with highest anxiety levels occurring in the waiting period immediately prior to the procedure. Elevated anxiety has the potential to negatively impact these individuals psychologically and physiologically in ways that may interfere with the procedure itself. Pre-medication via various common anxiolytics does not always adequately lower patients' level of perceived anxiety, and at high dosages such medication may interfere with patient compliance during the procedure itself. This study evaluated the use of music therapy, with a specific emphasis on emotional-approach coping, immediately prior to cardiac catheterization in order to impact periprocedural outcomes. The randomized, pre-test/post-test control group design consisted of two experimental groups--the Music Therapy with Emotional-Approach Coping group (n = 13), and a talk-based Emotional-Approach Coping group (n = 14), compared with a standard care Control group (n = 10). Results support the use of music therapy with an emphasis on emotional-approach coping to improve positive affective states in adults awaiting elective cardiac catheterization and electrophysiological study. Statistically significant improvements in positive affect were seen after a single session of music therapy lasting 30-minutes in length. Conversely, participants who received a talk-based emphasis on emotional-approach coping or standard care did not demonstrate improvements in positive affect. There was a significant overall decrease in negative affect for all participants in the study, regardless of group membership. Heart rate, respiratory rate, and oxygen saturation levels did not differ significantly between groups. The MT/EAC group demonstrated a statistically significant increase in systolic blood pressure from pre-test to end of study intervention while the EAC group demonstrated a significant increase in diastolic blood pressure from pre-test to post-test. The observed mean increase in systolic blood pressure was less than 10% over baseline, and thus likely reflects a benign increase in sympathetic nervous system arousal due to engagement in active music making. Though group means display a trend toward the MT/EAC group having shortest procedure length and least amount of anxiolytic required during the procedure, while the EAC group had least amount of analgesic required during the procedure, none of these differences was statistically significant

Correlations and Characterization of Emitting Sources

Dynamical and thermal characterizations of excited nuclear systems produced during the collisions between two heavy ions at intermediate incident energies are presented by means of a review of experimental and theoretical work performed in the last two decades. Intensity interferometry, applied to both charged particles (light particles and intermediate mass fragments) and to uncharged radiation (gamma rays and neutrons) has provided relevant information about the space-time properties of nuclear reactions. The volume, lifetime, density and relative chronology of particle emission from decaying nuclear sources has been extensively explored and has provided valuable information about the dynamics of heavy-ion collisions. Similar correlation techniques applied to coincidences between light particles and complex fragments are also presented as a tool to determine the internal excitation energy of excited primary fragments as it appears in secondary-decay phenomena.Comment: To appear on Euorpean Physics Journal A as part of the Topical Volume "Dynamics and Thermodynamics with Nuclear Degrees of Freedom

Correlation functions and emission time sequence of light charged particles from projectile-like fragment source in E/A = 44 and 77 MeV 40Ar + 27Al collisions

Two-particle correlation functions, involving protons, deuterons, tritons, and alpha-particles, have been measured at very forward angles (0.7 deg < theta_lab < 7 deg), in order to study projectile-like fragment (PLF) emission in E/A = 44 and 77 MeV 40Ar + 27Al collisions. Peaks, originating from resonance decays, are larger at E/A = 44 than at 77 MeV. This reflects the larger relative importance of independently emitted light particles, as compared to two-particle decay from unstable fragments, at the higher beam energy. The time sequence of the light charged particles, emitted from the PLF, has been deduced from particle-velocity-gated correlation functions (discarding the contribution from resonance decays). Alpha-particles are found to have an average emission time shorter than protons but longer than tritons and deuterons.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Nuclear Physics

The Terrorist Is A Star!: Regulating Media Coverage of Publicity-Seeking Crimes

Publicity-seeking crimes, including terrorism, almost by definition depend on the media for their effectiveness. Twenty-five years ago, when the bulk of this article was written, critics both within and outside the news industry had begun to voice an awareness, if not a concern, for the ease with which such criminals obtained publicity on both a national and international platform and it looked as if something might be done within the media establishments to thwart this manipulation of the press. Today, it is possible to look back and see that, in fact, nothing has been done and, so, individuals such as Osama Bin Laden and Seung-Hui Cho now use media establishments directly to spread their messages of hate, violence, and intimidation. This Article explores the psychology of terrorism and why it can hardly exist without the media, then turns to the American mass media, and discusses why it needs titillating crimes for its existence. It then identifies and discusses the four main effects or harms of media coverage of publicity-seeking crimes and the media\u27s answers to these harms. Finally, it suggests solutions and the effect the First Amendment to the United States\u27 Constitution has on those solutions

The Terrorist Is A Star!: Regulating Media Coverage of Publicity-Seeking Crimes

Publicity-seeking crimes, including terrorism, almost by definition depend on the media for their effectiveness. Twenty-five years ago, when the bulk of this article was written, critics both within and outside the news industry had begun to voice an awareness, if not a concern, for the ease with which such criminals obtained publicity on both a national and international platform and it looked as if something might be done within the media establishments to thwart this manipulation of the press. Today, it is possible to look back and see that, in fact, nothing has been done and, so, individuals such as Osama Bin Laden and Seung-Hui Cho now use media establishments directly to spread their messages of hate, violence, and intimidation. This Article explores the psychology of terrorism and why it can hardly exist without the media, then turns to the American mass media, and discusses why it needs titillating crimes for its existence. It then identifies and discusses the four main effects or harms of media coverage of publicity-seeking crimes and the media\u27s answers to these harms. Finally, it suggests solutions and the effect the First Amendment to the United States\u27 Constitution has on those solutions

Investigation of the RTN Distribution of nanoscale MOS devices from subthreshold to on-state

This letter presents a numerical investigation of the statistical distribution of the random telegraph noise (RTN) amplitude in nanoscale MOS devices, focusing on the change of its main features when moving from the subthreshold to the on-state conduction regime. Results show that while the distribution can be well approximated by an exponential behavior in subthreshold, large deviations from this behavior appear when moving toward the on-state regime, despite a low probability exponential tail at high RTN amplitudes being preserved. The average value of the distribution is shown to keep an inverse proportionality to channel area, while the slope of the high-amplitude exponential tail changes its dependence on device width, length, and doping when moving from subthreshold to on-state

A general model for the estimation of societal costs of lost production and informal care in Italy

We developed a general model for estimating and comparing disease- and treatment-specific lost paid/unpaid production (due to premature death and reduced ability) and informal care received (due to reduced ability) in Italy, starting from survival, demographic and Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) data. Assuming the disease is not selecting a systematically different population in terms of mean wage than the general public, age- and gender-specific yearly production values are estimated combining data from the last Italian Time-Use-Survey on time dedicated to paid and unpaid (household, caring and volunteering) activities, with a) the last Italian Wage-Structure-Survey, for paid activities (Human Capital approach), and b) market prices for an equivalent service, for unpaid production (Proxy Good approach). To avoid double counting, age- and gender-specific maximum care needs are approximated with time dedicated to eating and personal care,reported in TUS. Present monetary values of future productivity and informal care are estimated applying a 3.5% annual discount rate. Lost life years due to a particular condition/treatment are estimated by comparison of its survival curve with the corresponding age- and gender-normalized survival curve of the general Italian population. The degrees of reduced productivity and need for informal care for remaining life years are estimated by comparison of condition-/treatment-specificreported HRQoL data with demographically matched Italian norms. Our results will be useful for cost-effectiveness and budget impact analyses conducted from the perspective of the Italian society and we encourage the inclusion of these costs in economic evaluations to allow decision makers to be fully informed about the costs and consequences of their decisions on healthcare interventions