Direct measurements of Ab and Ac using vertex and kaon charge tags at the SLAC detector.

Exploiting the manipulation of the SLAC Linear Collider electron-beam polarization, we present precise direct measurements of the parity-violation parameters A(c) and A(b) in the Z-boson-c-quark and Z-boson-b-quark coupling. Quark-antiquark discrimination is accomplished via a unique algorithm that takes advantage of the precise SLAC Large Detector charge coupled device vertex detector, employing the net charge of displaced vertices as well as the charge of kaons that emanate from those vertices. From the 1996-1998 sample of 400 000 Z decays, produced with an average beam polarization of 73.4%, we find A(c)=0.673+/-0.029(stat)+/-0.023(syst) and A(b)=0.919+/-0.018(stat)+/-0.017(syst).

Want to perfect your company's service? Use behavioral science.

It may seem like the topic of service management has been exhausted. Legions of scholars and practitioners have applied queuing theory to bank lines, measured response times to the millisecond, and created cults around "delighting the customer." But practitioners haven't carefully considered the underlying psychology of service encounters--the feelings that customers experience during these encounters, feelings often so subtle they probably couldn't be put into words. Fortunately, behavioral science offers new insights into better service management. In this article, the authors translate findings from behavioral-science research into five operating principles. First, finish strong: the ending is far more important than the beginning of an encounter because it's what remains in the customer's memory. Second, get the bad experiences out of the way early: in a series of events, people prefer to have undesirable events come first and to have desirable events come last. Third, segment the pleasure, combine the pain: since experiences seem longer when they are broken into segments, it's best to combine all the boring or unpleasant steps of a process into one. Fourth, build commitment through choice: people are happier when they believe they have some control over a process, particularly an uncomfortable one. And fifth, give people rituals and stick to them: most service--encounter designers don't realize just how ritualistic people are. Ultimately, only one thing really matters in a service a encounter--the customer's perception of what occurred. This article will help you engineer your service encounters to enhance your customers' experiences during the process as well as their recollections of the process after it is completed.

High-precision measurement of the left-right Z Boson cross-section asymmetry.

We present a measurement of the left-right cross-section asymmetry ( A(LR)) for Z boson production by e(+)e(-) collisions. The measurement includes the final data taken with the SLD detector at the SLAC Linear Collider during the period 1996-1998. Using a sample of 383 487 Z decays collected during the 1996-1998 runs we measure the pole value of the asymmetry, A(0)(LR), to be 0.150 56+/-0.002 39 which is equivalent to an effective weak mixing angle of sin (2)straight theta(eff)(W) = 0.231 07+/-0.000 30. Our result for the complete 1992-1998 data set comprising approximately 537 000 Z decays is sin (2)straight theta(eff)(W) = 0.230 97+/-0.000 27.

Nature and determinants of customer expectations of service recovery in health care.

Service recovery refers to the service provider's response to a dissatisfied customer. This article proposes a model of customer expectations of service recovery in health care services. The model discusses two types of service recovery expectations: will and should. An exploratory study indicates that industry reputation and personal experiences drive customers' "will-expectations" of service recovery while "should-expectations" can be explained via norm, fairness, social contract and hospitality theories.

Histiocytoid cardiomyopathy: three new cases and a review of the literature.

Histiocytoid cardiomyopathy (HC), a rare arrhythmogenic disorder, presents as difficult-to-control arrhythmias or sudden death in infants and children, particularly girls. Three cases are described with autopsy findings. In two cases, yellow-tan nodules were grossly visible in the myocardium; in the third case, no gross lesions were identified. Microscopic examination in all three cases revealed multiple, scattered clusters of histiocytoid myocytes which on ultrastructural examination were filled with abnormal mitochondria, scattered lipid droplets, and scanty myofibrils. These pathologic findings are similar to those previously described. The pathogenesis of this entity remains controversial. It was recently proposed that this disorder is X-linked dominant with the associated gene located in the region of Xp22.

Trisomy 8 is a characteristic finding in pleuropulmonary blastoma.

The cytogenetic findings in pleuropulmonary blastoma (PPB) have not been widely studied and reported and are of interest in view of the implications that PPB has for additional tumors in the patient and the patient's relatives. Using standard tumor cytogenetic methodology, we investigated three cases of PPB encountered in our institution over a 5-year period. Trisomy 8 was the only karyotypic abnormality in a localized type 2 PPB and was present with other abnormalities in another type 2 PPB and a massive type 3 PPB. Review of the literature yielded three additional karyotyped PPBs; all had trisomy 8 as part of the abnormalities detected. Trisomy 8 appears to be a characteristic of PPB and may be related to the development of PPB and related tumors.

Papillomavirus infection and its pathologic correlate in sexually active adolescents.

We investigated the prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) and its pathologic correlation in an adolescent clinic population (13-20 years, mean 16 years) over a 2-year period. 413 cervical specimens were obtained and analyzed cytologically and by a Southern Blot (SB) method for HPV DNA. 277 specimens from 210 patients could be fully analyzed. 23 patients (10.9%) were positive for HPV DNA by SB. Cytologic findings in these 23 patients demonstrated changes compatible with low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LGSIL) and HPV-associated changes in 4 cases (17%). Cervical biopsies obtained in 3 cases with abnormal cytology demonstrated LGSIL in all cases. 6 patients were retested for HPV 2 to 6 months after the initial positive, two showed persistence of the initial virus, one was positive for a different HPV type and three were negative for HPV DNA.

Fusarium meningoencephalitis in a child with acute leukemia.

A 15-year-old boy with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) developed disseminated fusarium infection with meningoencephalitis following a contaminated skin wound. With antifungal therapy, the cutaneous lesions cleared but central nervous system (CNS) infection persisted causing a fibrosing meningitis and a brain granuloma. Fusaria are soil saprophytes that are more commonly associated with superficial eye and skin lesions, but may also cause severe systemic infections with CNS involvement in immuno-compromised patients. The organism may be confused with Aspergillus in tissue sections, and can only be diagnosed by culture.

Histologic analysis of placental tissue in first trimester abortions.

The value of histologic evaluation in the analysis of material from first trimester abortions is not completely defined. We prospectively analyzed placenta and decidua from 75 first trimester, spontaneous abortions to ascertain if morphologic features were predictive of karyotype. The histologic features analyzed included hydropic villus change, villus fibrosis, villus scalloping with trophoblastic invaginations, atypical stromal cells, aggregates of lymphocytes in placenta or decidua, and acute inflammation of placenta or decidua. Normal karyotypes were observed in 44 cases and abnormal karyotypes were demonstrated in 31. The presence of villus scalloping with trophoblastic invagination was significantly associated with abnormal karyotypes, particularly triploidy, and the demonstration of acute inflammation was seen significantly more often in cases with normal karyotypes. We conclude that histology can provide only a suggestion as to the likelihood of an abnormal karyotype; the findings are not specific enough to obviate the need for karyotyping in the individual case.

PIP: Placenta and decidua from 75 1st-trimester spontaneous abortions were prospectively analyzed to determine whether morphologic features were predictive of karyotype. The histologic features analyzed included hydropic villus change, villus fibrosis, villus scalloping with trophoblastic invaginations, atypical stromal cells, aggregates of lymphocytes in placenta or decidua, and acute inflammation of placenta or decidua. Of the 103 cases submitted during the 12-month study period, 75 had successful karyotypes and sufficient histologic material for analysis. Normal karyotypes were found in 44 cases (26 females and 18 males). The 31 cases with abnormal karyotypes included 10 cases of triploidy, 9 cases of trisomy, 6 cases of monosomy, 3 cases of tetraploidy, and 3 cases of unbalanced translocation. The presence of villus scalloping with trophoblastic invaginations was seen significantly more frequently in cases with abnormal karyotypes (p0.05). The positive predictive value of this finding was 59% and the negative predictive value was 75%. Analysis of specific karyotype abnormalities demonstrated that triploid cases contributed the majority of cases with these villus changes. Acute inflammation of the placenta and decidua was significantly associated with a normal karyotype (p0.01). A low frequency of acute inflammation was observed in all the specific karyotype abnormalities. The other histologic features analyzed were found with approximately equal frequency in placentas with normal and abnormal karyotypes. These findings indicate that histology can provide only a suggestion as to the likelihood of an abnormal karyotype; the results are not specific enough to obviate the need for karyotyping in the individual case.