Lightning

This Why Files article examines lightning. Lightning is the second deadliest storm-related hazard in the United States. Topics covered include: what lightning is, how it injures and kills, and what has been learned in the past few years from research on nature's electricity. Two experts were interviewed for this article. Educational levels: General public, High school, Intermediate elementary, Middle school

Spatial and time domain spectral energetics in the GLAS circulation model

Zonally averaged eddy kinetic energies and time domain energetics spectra were calculated for the GLAS general circulation model. The spatial results show significant improvements in the magnitude and distribution of the eddy kinetic energy. The spectral results provide a technique for tracing when and where the model predictions diverge from observations

On modular signs

We consider some questions related to the signs of Hecke eigenvalues or Fourier coefficients of classical modular forms. One problem is to determine to what extent those signs, for suitable sets of primes, determine uniquely the modular form, and we give both individual and statistical results. The second problem, which has been considered by a number of authors, is to determine the size, in terms of the conductor and weight, of the first sign-change of Hecke eigenvalues. Here we improve significantly the recent estimate of Iwaniec, Kohnen and Sengupta.Comment: 23 pages, 1 figure; new version with new coauthor and strong improvements of two of the two main results

An idiographic approach to the fluctuation of appraisals and coping during a trapshooting competition

Events occurring during competition can impact athletes differently and influence their cognitive states and emotional states. Therefore, appraisal and coping processes are individual and can be understood better using an idiographic approach. The purpose of this study is two-fold: 1) to describe the nature of the fluctuation of emotional states and coping processes during the competition and 2) to propose an idiographic and ecologically valid method of study of these processes through the use of verbal protocols and sequential analysis. One master world-class elite (58 years old and 28 years of competitive experience) and one master 4th-category regional level trapshooter (59 years old and 30 of experience) participated in this study. Participants completed an affect grid after each shot during two competitions of the national trapshooting championship. Each competition was composed of 6 sets of 25 shots. After each set, participants provided verbal reports using a delayed verbal protocol procedure. This procedure consisted of identifying critical moments within the competition, and reporting thoughts and feelings immediately before and after each critical moment. Verbal reports were transcribed verbatim and coded according to Lazarus’ cognitive-motivational-relational theory of emotion. Units of information were submitted to event sequential analysis to determine the probability of occurrence of paired-events. The elite level athlete reported a stable pattern of pleasure and arousal levels, while the non-elite athlete reported greater fluctuation of emotional states. It was found great inter- and intra-individual variability depending on the context, but patterns of appraisal and coping were identified through sequential analysis

Fluctuation of cognitive-emotional states during competition:an idiographic account

The purpose of this paper is to describe athletes’ cognitive-emotional processes during competitions through an idiographic and ecologically valid study method based on verbal protocols and event sequential analyses. A world-class marksman and regional-level marksman filled in an affect grid after each shot during several competitions. Verbal reports were collected after each set by a delayed retrospective recall method and compared according to perceived performance periods. Event sequential analyses were conducted. The results showed distinct interpersonal patterns of affective states fluctuations and self-regulation strategies. Furthermore, intrapersonal patterns as a function of perceived performance were also identified. We suggest that the proposed methods are useful in studying athletes’ cognitive-emotional processes during ongoing competitions, as they ensure high ecological validity and provide in-depth information for more effective, individually-tailored interventions

A Fellow\u27s Perspective on Technology in Healthcare

No abstract available

Action, Deontology, and Risk: Against the Multiplicative Model

Deontological theories face difficulties in accounting for situations involving risk; the most natural ways of extending deontological principles to such situations have unpalatable consequences. In extending ethical principles to decision under risk, theorists often assume the risk must be incorporated into the theory by means of a function from the product of probability assignments to certain values. Deontologists should reject this assumption; essentially different actions are available to the agent when she cannot know that a certain act is in her power, so we cannot simply understand her choice situation as a “risk-weighted” version of choice under certainty