SUSY Before the Next Lepton Collider

After a brief review of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) and specifically the Minimal Supergravity Model (SUGRA), the prospects for discovering and studying SUSY at the CERN Large Hadron Collider are reviewed. The possible role for a future Lepton Collider --- whether $\mu^+\mu^-$ or $e^+e^-$ --- is also discussed.Comment: LaTeX with included aipproc.sty, 17 pages, 12 figures. To appear in Workshop on Physics at the First Muon Collide

The Impact of Mindfulness Meditation on Students\u27 Creativity

Researchers have suggested a link between mindfulness meditation and increased creativity. Specifically, meditation seems to promote improved divergent thinking (Colzato et al., 2012). I sought to better understand mindfulness meditation and creativity by addressing the differential effects of brief meditation on divergent and convergent thinking, as well as investigating decreased anxiety and increased executive control as potential mechanistic mediators of this relationship. In a laboratory experiment 40 Butler University undergraduate students participated in either a sham or mindfulness meditation exercise, followed by several creativity assessments as well as measures of anxiety and executive control. The findings show that mindfulness meditation was significantly related to improved performance on a divergent thinking task, but the results regarding the proposed mechanisms were inconclusive, leaving open questions regarding what exactly is mediating this relationship

The Pregnancy Project: Impact of Ultrasound Use During Pregnancy Care

Use of ultrasounds during pregnancy continues to increase and there is much debate as to what the best practice is regarding their use, for what types of patients, at what volume level. Current evidence suggests, the extended routine use of ultrasound technology should be for all women that present complications to screen for structural anomalies during pregnancy. However, others have suggested that excessive ultrasound use may be both unnecessary, costly and potentially harmful. Evidence further suggests that mothers find the use of technology to be security enhancing during pregnancy and through the process of care, and that ultrasound use is important for boding with their unborn baby. Here, I examine the impact of ultrasound use on care satisfaction in a panel of women who have given birth in the northeast through a retrospective survey. Findings suggest that ultrasound use is not a driver of care satisfaction overall, however physicians may be acting on this differently with the coming implications of health care reform

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department v. The Center for Investigative Reporting, Inc., a California Nonprofit Organization, 136 Nev. Adv. Opn. No. 15 (2020)

Pursuant to NRS 239.010, the Nevada Public Records Act (NPRA), governmental entities are required to make available to the public, nonconfidential public records that the governmental entity has in its legal custody or control. If a governmental entity denies a request for public records, the person requesting such records may seek a court order to compel production. NRS 239.011(1). If the party requesting such records prevails, that party is entitled to receive attorney fees and costs. NRS 239.011(2). This case asks whether the requesting party is entitled to receive attorney fees and costs when the parties reach an agreement that gives the requesting party access to the requested records before the court enters a judgment on the merits of the case. In response to this question, the Court adopts the catalyst theory, which provides that, “attorney fees may be awarded even when litigation does not result in a judicial resolution if the defendant changes its behavior substantially because of, and in the manner sought by, the litigation.” Accordingly, the Court affirms the district court’s decision that the Respondent, The Center for Investigative Reporting, Inc., is entitled to receive attorney fees and costs in a reasonable amount, pursuant to the NPRA under NRS 239.011(2)

Yoga and Its Influence on Children\u27s Behavior

This study looked at the impact ten minutes of daily yoga had on the behavior of elementary school children. Yoga was led by classroom teachers once daily for ten minutes over a sixteen-week period. At weeks one, eight, and sixteen, classroom teachers evaluated student behavior in six categories: personal awareness, attention, rapport with friends, rapport with teacher, following rules and transition between activities. The teachers rated the behaviors on a never, sometimes, mostly or always scale. The data was then analyzed and interpreted. Results revealed a significant difference in the attention, ability to follow rules, transition between activities, and personal awareness from the beginning of the yoga implementation to the eight-week evaluation. Results suggest that implementing yoga into daily routines for elementary school students will improve their behavior

Researcher studies nervous system development

Ashley Purdy, who recently finished a master’s degree in biology at VCU and is now pursuing her Ph.D., is studying nerve cells in zebrafish in hopes of unlocking secrets about the human nervous system. The research could shed light on how neurodevelopmental disorders like multiple sclerosis or epilepsy occur