Disordered Eating Habits and Theory of Mind in Undergraduate Students

Theory of mind, the ability to ascribe mental states to oneself and others, has intimate connections with mental disorders like autism and schizophrenia. Recent research has suggested a connection between eating disorders and theory of mind ability, but these findings have been mixed. The idea that disorders lie along a continuum (Johns & van Os, 2001) leads to the hypothesis that people with disordered eating habits will have a lesser theory of mind ability than those without. Data was collected on 25 undergraduate students at Butler University. Results showed a positive correlation between theory of mind and negative eating attitudes. Although the sample size was small, the present results suggest that individuals with more negative eating attitudes are better at understanding others’ mental states

Everything\u27s Zen: Review of The Body Artist by Don DeLillo

Reading the beginning of Don DeLillo’s latest book feels like groping through a room in the blinding morning light before you’ve had a cup of coffee. Words flow from one impression to the next through the half-articulated thoughts of Laura, the body artist, who presses the “what’s it called, the lever” of the toaster as she performs her breakfast rituals

Getting Conspiratorial: Review of: Conspiracy Culture: From Kennedy to the X-files by Peter Knight

Peter Knight begins his foray into the conspiratorial corners of popular culture with the following provocation: conspiracy theories are no longer the “delusional rantings” of the fringe elements in society, but rather constitute “many people’s normal way of thinking about who they are and how the world works.” Conspiracy theories, in his view, reflect a general skepticism of governmental authority, covert actions, “official” versions of history, and, more broadly, express a philosophical anxiety about agency and causality in these postmodern, poststructural times—and he argues that this skepticism is largely justified

Review of the Culture of Lies and The Museum of Unconditional Surrender by Dubravka Ugresic

In 1993, a Danish critic reviewing Dubravka Ugrešić\u27s novel Fording the Stream of Consciousness, a clever satire of a literary conference, accused her of engaging in a crass form of literary escapism when she should have been writing about the bloody war raging at home in her native Yugoslavia. Since the novel was first published in 1988, this criticism was entirely misplaced. In fact, the war has been on her mind the entire time, as is evident from her two most recent books, The Culture of Lies (essays 1991-1998) and The Museum of Unconditional Surrender (1991-1996)

The stirling engine for vehicle propulsion

The performance data of experimental Stirling engines are considered along with questions of exhaust-gas composition, engine noise, engine volume and weight, engine control, and the engine-starting process. The Stirling engine can use practically any liquid or gaseous fuel for its operation. It is found that technically a use of the Stirling engine in motor vehicles is feasible. Economic questions related to an introduction of the Stirling engine are discussed along with possible new developments which could improve the economic situation in favor of a use of Stirling engine

Microstrip antenna study for Pioneer Saturn/Uranus atmosphere entry probe

The design parameters of a microstrip antenna were studied to determine its performance characteristics as affected by an atmospheric entry probe environment. The technical literature was reviewed to identify the known design and performance characteristics. These data were used to evaluate the expected effects of mission environments on the microstrip antenna design proposed for the Saturn/Uranus Atmospheric Entry Probe (SAEP). Radiation patterns and VSWR measurements were made to evaluate the performance in the SAEP thermal environment. Results of the literature search and pattern tests confirm that the microstrip antenna is a good choice as a transmitting antenna on the SAEP. The microstrip antenna is efficient, compact, and well suited to a space environment. The pattern can be controlled with a minimum beamwidth of 60 degrees (air substrate; e.g., honeycomb structure) and a maximum on the order of 100 degrees with higher dielectric constant substrates. The power handling capacity is good and can be improved by covering the antenna with a dielectric cover

Multiplicity distribution and source deformation in full-overlap U+U collisions

We present a full Monte Carlo simulation of the multiplicity and eccentricity distributions in U+U collisions at sqrt(s) = 200 A GeV. While unavoidable trigger inefficiencies in selecting full-overlap U+U collisions cause significant modifications of the multiplicity distribution shown in PRL94, 132301 (2005), a selection of source eccentricities by cutting the multiplicity distribution is still possible.Comment: 4 pages. Corrected error in Eq. (4), recalculated Figs. 2-4 and added Fig. 5 and more discussion. As a result of correcting this error, the spectator cut for a useful definition of "full-overlap" collisions had to be tightened by a factor 10, to the 0.5% of events with the lowest number of spectator