Environmental Exposure and Biophilic Influence on Prosocial Sentiments

Scientific consensus states human civilization has had a profoundly negative effect on the environment, especially in the last two centuries. In addition to this, there an increasing concern for the psychological well-being of many members of our society. There is a theory known as biophilia that states humans have a natural affinity for things that are alive and in nature. Exposure to the environment has numerous benefits, including psychological, physiological, spiritual, and ethical improvements. This paper is a theoretical approach studying a potential positive relationship between the triggering of biophilia and prosocial behaviors. It is hypothesized that the existence of biophilia does promote prosocial sentiments and this should be taken advantage of for the improved well-being of humans as well as the rest of the planet

Environmental Exposure and Biophilic Influence on Prosocial Sentiments

Scientific consensus states human civilization has had a profoundly negative effect on the environment, especially in the last two centuries. In addition to this, there an increasing concern for the psychological well-being of many members of our society. There is a theory known as biophilia that states humans have a natural affinity for things that are alive and in nature. Exposure to the environment has numerous benefits, including psychological, physiological, spiritual, and ethical improvements. This paper is a theoretical approach studying a potential positive relationship between the triggering of biophilia and prosocial behaviors. It is hypothesized that the existence of biophilia does promote prosocial sentiments and this should be taken advantage of for the improved well-being of humans as well as the rest of the planet

Many-body physics in the radio frequency spectrum of lattice bosons

We calculate the radio-frequency spectrum of a trapped cloud of cold bosonic atoms in an optical lattice. Using random phase and local density approximations we produce both trap averaged and spatially resolved spectra, identifying simple features in the spectra that reveal information about both superfluidity and correlations. Our approach is exact in the deep Mott limit and in the deep superfluid when the hopping rates for the two internal spin states are equal. It contains final state interactions, obeys the Ward identities (and the associated conservation laws), and satisfies the $f$-sum rule. Motivated by earlier work by Sun, Lannert, and Vishveshwara [Phys. Rev. A \textbf{79}, 043422 (2009)], we also discuss the features which arise in a spin-dependent optical lattice.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, 13 subfigure

Pseudomorphic growth of InAs on misoriented GaAs for extending quantum cascade laser wavelength

The authors have studied the impact of epilayer strain on the deposition of InAs/GaAs on (100) and (111)B with 2 degrees offset toward 2-1-1 surfaces. Consequences of a 7% lattice mismatch between these orientations in the form of three-dimensional growth are less apparent for (111)B with 2 degrees offset toward 2-1-1 surfaces compared to (100). By exploring a range of molecular beam epitaxy process parameters for InAs/GaAs growth and utilizing scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy to evaluate the quality of these strained layers, the authors develop empirical models that describe the influence of the process conditions in regards to surface roughness with \u3e92% accuracy. The smoothest InAs/GaAs samples demonstrated average surface roughness of 0.08 nm for 10 um-squre areas, albeit at very low deposition rates. The authors have found the most important process conditions to be substrate temperature and deposition rate, leading us to believe that controlling diffusion length may be the key to reducing defects in severely strained structures. InGaAs/AlGaAs quantum cascade laser structures were also produced on (111)B with 2 degrees offset toward 2-1-1 to take advantage of the piezoelectric effect, and the modified laser transitions due to these effects were observed

Valley Method Versus Instanton-Induced Effective Lagrangean Up to (E/Esphaleron)8/3(E/E_{\rm sphaleron})^{8/3}

We compare the two most popular approaches to the problem of instanton-antiinstanton interaction at high energies - the valley method and the effective-Lagrangian approach - and use them to calculate the next-to-next-to-leading term in the expansion of ``holy grail'' function determining the cross section with baryon number violation in the Standard Model.Comment: 46 pages, LaTeX, UFTP 323/1992, and PSU/TH/11

On the Relationship between Large Order Graphs and Instantons for the Double Well Oscillator

The double well oscillator is used as a QCD-like model for studying the relationship between large order graphs and the instanton-antiinstanton solution. We derive an equation for the perturbative coefficients of the ground state energy when the number of 3 and/or 4-vertices is fixed and large. These coefficients are determined in terms of an exact``bounce'' solution. When the number of 4-vertices is analytically continued to be near the negative of half the number of 3-vertices the bounce solution approaches the instanton-antiinstanton solution and detremines leading Borel singularity.Comment: 26 pages, Latex, 6 figures, 1 tabl

Analysis of absolute lymphocyte count in patients with COVID-19

INTRODUCTION: Symptoms of COVID-19 vary in severity and presentation. When admitting patients to the hospital, it is desirable to isolate patients with COVID-19 from those without the disease. However, reliably identifying patients with COVID-19 in the emergency department before hospital admission is often limited by the speed and availability of testing. Previous studies determined a low lymphocyte count is commonly found in patients with COVID-19. We sought to explore the sensitivity of absolute lymphocyte count in patients presenting to the emergency department requiring subsequent hospitalization who were found to have COVID-19. METHODS: A retrospective chart review was performed on 312 patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 who were admitted to the hospital from the emergency department. The absolute lymphocyte count for these patients was used to calculate sensitivities at various cut-off values. The relationships between absolute lymphocyte count and variables, including age, sex, need for intubation, and mortality, were also explored. RESULTS: Cut-off values for absolute lymphocyte count ranged from 1.1 K/uL to 2.0 K/uL, with sensitivities of 72% and 94%, respectively. Additionally, lower mean absolute lymphocyte counts were identified in males, patients who required intubation, and patients who died. CONCLUSION: Knowing the sensitivity of absolute lymphocyte count in patients with COVID-19 may help identify patients who are unlikely to have the disease. Additionally, absolute lymphocyte count can be used as a marker of disease severity in patients with COVID-19

Health Worker Compliance with a 'Test And Treat' Malaria Case Management Protocol in Papua New Guinea

The Papua New Guinea (PNG) Department of Health introduced a 'test and treat' malaria case management protocol in 2011. This study assesses health worker compliance with the test and treat protocol on a wide range of measures, examines self-reported barriers to health worker compliance as well as health worker attitudes towards the test and treat protocol. Data were collected by cross-sectional survey conducted in randomly selected primary health care facilities in 2012 and repeated in 2014. The combined survey data included passive observation of current or recently febrile patients (N = 771) and interviewer administered questionnaires completed with health workers (N = 265). Across the two surveys, 77.6% of patients were tested for malaria infection by rapid diagnostic test (RDT) or microscopy, 65.6% of confirmed malaria cases were prescribed the correct antimalarials and 15.3% of febrile patients who tested negative for malaria infection were incorrectly prescribed an antimalarial. Overall compliance with a strictly defined test and treat protocol was 62.8%. A reluctance to test current/recently febrile patients for malaria infection by RDT or microscopy in the absence of acute malaria symptoms, reserving recommended antimalarials for confirmed malaria cases only and choosing to clinically diagnose a malaria infection, despite a negative RDT result were the most frequently reported barriers to protocol compliance. Attitudinal support for the test and treat protocol, as assessed by a nine-item measure, improved across time. In conclusion, health worker compliance with the full test and treat malaria protocol requires improvement in PNG and additional health worker support will likely be required to achieve this. The broader evidence base would suggest any such support should be delivered over a longer period of time, be multi-dimensional and multi-modal