New Physics at the International Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) Next to GSI

The project of the international Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR), co-located to the GSI facility in Darmstadt, has been officially started on November 7, 2007. The current plans of the facility and the planned research program will be described. An investment of about 1 billion euro will permit new physics programs in the areas of low and medium energy antiproton research, heavy ion physics complementary to LHC, as well as in nuclear structure and astrophysics. The facility will comprise about a dozen accelerators and storage rings, which will enable simultaneous operations of up to four different beams.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure. Invited Talk presented at the "Fourth International Conference on Fission and Properties of Neutron-Rich nuclei", held at Sanibel Island, Florida, November 11-17, 200

Positive Discomfort: Structured Student Reflection in International Service-Based Programs: A Social Justice Curriculum

In the fall of 2009, Princeton University launched the Princeton Bridge Year Program—a service-based, international, pre-freshman “bridge” or “gap” year for 20 accepted students sent to four different countries. Princeton chose the international social enterprise ProWorld Service Corps as its partner organization to run the Bridge Year Program in Urubamba, Peru. Princeton University and ProWorld Peru both state a very clear intention in running this program: to transform participants. Their explicit goal is to turn out students who have a global perspective and are compassionate, humble, aware, innovative and inspired. But how should program-providers, out in the field, actually accomplish such a mission? This paper proposes that the key to success is reflection. It argues that an intentional, cohesive, regularly-scheduled period of group reflection, rooted in experiential education theory, is what sparks the desired shifts in student consciousness. The bulk of the paper is a user-friendly curriculum that structures the student reflection component of international, service-based programs. Following a description of its theoretical underpinnings, the curriculum is divided into three modules—Culture, Service and Sustainable Development. Each module introduces a series of resources—articles, videos, quotations, documentaries—followed by provocative discussion questions. The curriculum is based on social justice pedagogy and promotes social justice perspectives. It is meant to incite positive discomfort in students, introducing often untouched issues, and pushing students to “un-learn” and “re-learn.” Ultimately, the curriculum aims to cultivate tough-minded, yet hopeful participants determined to join the fight for global justice

Verhaltenstherapie einer Patientin mit Genitalkarzinom, somatoformer Schmerzstörung und Dyspareunie

The present case study describes a behavior therapy with 30 treatment sessions for a patient with genital cancer, somato-form disorder and dyspareunia. On the basis of a bio-psycho-social model, daily pain appraisals and relaxation techniques were used. Treatment procedures to reduce depressive symptoms involved cognitive strategies, diary method, pleasure scales and resource acquisition. The patient repeatedly described her feelings of sadness, hopelessness and fear in respect to her cancer. On the basis of her sexual history `sensate focus' treatment was gradually introduced. The patient underwent role-play and performance feedback of conflict situations with her husband who was partially involved in the psychotherapy. The patient was able to accomplish the set objectives to a great extent after 30 treatment sessions: The vaginal pains and the depressive symptoms strongly decreased. The patient describes herself as being more encouraged, shows more interests and is more active even outside of her family. Through the instructions she was able to acquire practical knowledge which helped her experience a more fulfilling sexual life. Having completed treatment the couple now talks about feelings and needs more often. The patient also learned to stand up more to her husband and children. Finally, she was able to deal with her fears about her genital cancer, especially regarding her fear of pain and death. The evaluation of the therapy progress reflects these changes: The scores obtained from the Beck-Depression-Inventory (BDI) and the Symptom-Checklist (SCL 90-R) had decreased to normal range at the end of the therapy ( BDI: 8; SCL 90-R: GSI: 0,49; T-score: 55) compared to scores at the beginning of the treatment (BDI: 26; SCL 90-R: GSI: 0,92; T-score: 67). In conclusion the study emphasizes the importance of offering psychosomatic treatment to gynecological patients

e-commerce metrics for net-enhanced organizations: Assessing the value of e-commerce to firm performance in the manufacturing sector

In this study, we developed a set of constructs to measure e-commerce capability in Internet-enhanced organizations. The e-commerce capability metrics consist of four dimensions: information, transaction, customization, and supplier connection. These measures were empirically validated for reliability, content, and construct validity. Then we examined the nomological validity of these e-commerce metrics in terms of their relationships to firm performance, with data from 260 manufacturing companies divided into high IT-intensity and low IT-intensity sectors. Grounded in the dynamic capabilities perspective and the resource-based theory of the firm, a series of hypotheses were developed. After controlling for variations of industry effects and firm size, our empirical analysis found a significant relationship between e-commerce capability and some measures of firm performance (e.g., inventory turnover), indicating that the proposed metrics have demonstrated value for capturing e-commerce effects. However, our analysis showed that e-commerce tends to be associated with the increased cost of goods sold for traditional manufacturing companies, but there is an opposite relationship for technology companies. This result seems to highlight the role of resource complementarity for the business value of e-commerce - traditional companies need enhanced alignment between e-commerce capability and their existing IT infrastructure to reap the benefits of e-commerce

Space history, space policy, and executive leadership

A lecture that attempts to establish the role of space historians in formulating space policy is presented. The discussion focusses on two adages and their relevance to space policy. The adages are as follows: 'write about what you know;' and 'good managers do things right; good executives do the right things.

Artifacts at 4.5 and 8.0 um in Short Wavelength Spectra from the Infrared Space Observatory

Spectra from the Short Wavelength Spectrometer (SWS) on ISO exhibit artifacts at 4.5 and 8 um. These artifacts appear in spectra from a recent data release, OLP 10.0, as spurious broad emission features in the spectra of stars earlier than ~F0, such as alpha CMa. Comparison of absolutely calibrated spectra of standard stars to corresponding spectra from the SWS reveals that these artifacts result from an underestimation of the strength of the CO and SiO molecular bands in the spectra of sources used as calibrators by the SWS. Although OLP 10.0 was intended to be the final data release, these findings have led to an additional release addressing this issue, OLP 10.1, which corrects the artifacts.Comment: 14 pages, AASTex, including 5 figures. Accepted by ApJ Letter

Trends in recurrence analysis of dynamical systems

The last decade has witnessed a number of important and exciting developments that had been achieved for improving recurrence plot-based data analysis and to widen its application potential. We will give a brief overview about important and innovative developments, such as computational improvements, alternative recurrence definitions (event-like, multiscale, heterogeneous, and spatio-temporal recurrences) and ideas for parameter selection, theoretical considerations of recurrence quantification measures, new recurrence quantifiers (e.g. for transition detection and causality detection), and correction schemes. New perspectives have recently been opened by combining recurrence plots with machine learning. We finally show open questions and perspectives for futures directions of methodical research

Global Update and Trends of Hidden Hunger, 1995-2011: The Hidden Hunger Index

Background Deficiencies in essential vitamins and minerals–also termed hidden hunger–are pervasive and hold negative consequences for the cognitive and physical development of children. Methods This analysis evaluates the change in hidden hunger over time in the form of one composite indicator–the Hidden Hunger Index (HHI)–using an unweighted average of prevalence estimates from the Nutrition Impact Model Study for anemia due to iron deficiency, vitamin A deficiency, and stunting (used as a proxy indicator for zinc deficiency). Net changes from 1995–2011 and population weighted regional means for various time periods are measured. Findings Globally, hidden hunger improved (-6.7 net change in HHI) from 1995–2011. Africa was the only region to see a deterioration in hidden hunger (+1.9) over the studied time period; East Asia and the Pacific performed exceptionally well (-13.0), while other regions improved only slightly. Improvements in HHI were mostly due to reductions in zinc and vitamin A deficiencies, while anemia due to iron deficiency persisted and even increased. Interpretation This analysis is critical for informing and tracking the impact of policy and programmatic efforts to reduce micronutrient deficiencies, to advance the global nutrition agenda, and to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). However, there remains an unmet need to invest in gathering frequent, nationally representative, high-quality micronutrient data as we renew our efforts to scale up nutrition, and as we enter the post-2015 development agenda. Funding Preparation of this manuscript was funded by Sight and Life. There was no funding involved in the study design, data collection, analysis, or decision to publish