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The first spectroscopic characterization of the VO2 radical is reported along with new results for V17O and tentative assignments for the VO3 and V+2 radicals. These vanadium radicals were investigated in neon matrices at 4 K by electron spin resonance utilizing conventional high temperature vaporization and pulsed laser ablation generation methods. A detailed ESR study of VO2 showed it to be nonlinear with a 2A1 ground state; the g tensor analysis reveals the presence of an excited electronic state (2B1) approximately 1 eV above the ground state. This excited state prediction and the observed nuclear hyperfine interactions (A tensors) for 51V and 17O were compared with theoretical results obtained from various ab initio computational methods. Ab initio calculations with an extended basis set were performed at various levels of theory including UHF, ROHF, CAS-SCF, and MR-SDCI (multireference single and double configuration interaction). While UHF calculations of the hyperfine interaction were grossly in error, the better levels of theory gave qualitative agreement with experiment and provided an aid to interpretation. VO2 is predicted to be a bent 2A1 state, correlating with the linear 2Δ configuration having the odd electron predominantly in the V 3d orbital. VO3 is predicted to be planar C2v, with the odd electron in a b2 orbital localized in the oxygen in-plane n-type p orbitals. © 1996 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the combined effect of cold and moisture on manual performance and tactile sensitivity. Background People working in the ocean environment often perform manual work in cold and wet conditions. Although the independent effects of cold and moisture on hand function are known, their combined effect has not been investigated. Method Participants completed sensory (Touch-Test, two-point discrimination) and motor (Purdue Pegboard, Grooved Pegboard, reef knot untying) tests in the following conditions: dry hand, wet hand, cold hand, and cold and wet hand. Results For the Purdue Pegboard and knot untying tasks, the greatest decrement in performance was observed in the cold-and-wet-hand condition, whereas the decrements seen in the cold-hand and wet-hand conditions were similar. In the Grooved Pegboard task, the performance decrements exhibited in the cold-and-wet-hand condition and the cold-hand condition were similar, whereas no decrement was observed in the wet-hand condition. Tactile sensitivity was reduced in the cold conditions for the Touch-Test but not the two-point discrimination test.Conclusion: The combined effect of cold and moisture led to the largest performance decrements except when intrinsic object properties helped with grasp maintenance. The independent effects of cold and moisture on manual performance were comparable. Application Tools and equipment for use in the cold ocean environment should be designed to minimize the effects of cold and moisture on manual performance by including object properties that enhance grasp maintenance and minimize the fine-dexterity requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coordination chemistry of an acenaphthene peri-backbone-supported phosphino-phosphonium chloride (1) was investigated, revealing three distinct modes of reactivity. The reaction of 1 with Mo(CO)4(nor) gives the Mo(0) complex [(1)Mo(CO)4Cl] (2), in which the ligand 1 exhibits monodentate coordination through the phosphine donor and the P-P bond is retained. PtCl2(cod) reacts with the chloride and triflate salts of 1 to form a mononuclear complex [(1Cl)PtCl2] (3) and a binuclear complex [((1Cl)PtCl)2][2TfO] (4), respectively. In both of these complexes, the platinum center adds across the P-P bond, and subsequent chloride transfer to the phosphenium center results in phosphine-chlorophosphine bidentate coordination. [((1)PdCl)2] (5) was isolated from the reaction of 1 and Pd2(dba)3 (dba = dibenzylideneacetone). Oxidative addition to palladium(0) results in a heteroleptic phosphine bridging phosphide coordination to the Pd(II) center. In addition, reaction of 1 with BH3⋅SMe2 leads to the bis(borane) adduct of the corresponding mixed tertiary/secondary phosphine (6), with BH3 acting as both a reducing agent and a Lewis acid. The new compounds were fully characterized, including X-ray diffraction. The ligand properties of 1 and related bonding issues are discussed with help of DFT computations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Books reviewed: Christopher Bobonich, Plato's Utopia Recast: His Later Ethics and Politics John Capreolus, On The Virtues Miguel A. Badia Cabrera, Hume's Reflection on Religion Catherine Chalier, What Ought I to Do?: Morality in Kant and Levinas Keith Ansell-Pearson and John Mullarkey, Henri Bergson: Key Writings Andrew Brook and Don Ross, Daniel Dennett Nancey Murphy, Brad J. Kallenberg, and Mark Thiessen Nation, Virtues and Practices in the Christian Tradition: Christian Ethics after MacIntyre William Lane Craig, God, Time, and Eternity Paul Copan and Paul K. Moser, The Rationality of Theism W. Norris Clarke, The One and the Many: A Contemporary Thomistic Metaphysics Richard A. Cohen, Ethics, Exegesis and Philosophy: Interpretation after Levinas Simon Critchley and Robert Bernasconi, The Cambridge Companion to Levinas D. D. Raphael, Concepts of Justice Martha C. Nussbaum, Upheavals of Thought: The Intelligence of Emotions David Herbert, Religion and Social Transformations Robert H. Nelson, Economics as Religion; from Samuelson to Chicago and Beyond Edmondo F. Lupieri, The Mandaeans: The Last Gnostics Antonía Tripolitis, Religions of the Hellenistic-Roman Age James M. Scott, Geography in Early Judaism and Christianity: The Book of Jubilees David Naugle, Worldview: The History of a Concept Dianne Kirby, Religion and the Cold War Colin E. Gunton, The Christian Faith: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine Paul Williams, The Unexpected Way: On Converting from Buddhism to Catholicism Alan P. F. Sell, Confessing and Commending the Faith Thomas M. Kelly, Theology at the Void John David Dawson, Christian Figural Reading and the Fashioning of Identity Daniel Kendall and Stephen T. Davis, The Convergence of Theology: A Festschrift Honoring Gerald O'Collins, S.J. Bernard Hoose, Authority in the Roman Catholic Church Timothy Matovina and Gary Riebe-Estrella, Horizons of the Sacred: Mexican Traditions in US Catholicism Kenneth J. Howell, God's Two Books: Copernican Cosmology and Biblical Interpretation in Early Modern Science Ellen Frankel Paul, Fred D. Miller Jr. and Jeffrey Paul, Should Differences in Income and Wealth Matter? Ron Geaves, Continuum Glossary of Religious Terms [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autism is neurodevelopmental disorder that is characterized by severe deficits in the areas of social interaction and language, repetitive behaviors, and impaired motor control. Some researchers have suggested that the problems in social interaction may be related to a dysfunction in the mirror neuron system. The mirror neuron system is a network of neurons in the premotor and posterior parietal cortices that become active when performing movements and when observing other people performing similar movements. In autism, a dysfunction of the mirror neuron system may lead to a lack of understanding of the actions of other people and, as a result, to a deficiency in understanding other people's intentions and mind states. The current study tested the mirror neuron dysfunction hypothesis by investigating the relative magnitude of between- and within-person inhibition of return (IOR) effects in people with autism. Inhibition of return is the term given to the increased reaction times for responses to target stimuli that appear at the same location as a previous cue or target stimulus relative to those presented at a new location. Recently, we have found that participants working in pairs demonstrate similar magnitudes of IOR when they respond to targets that are presented at the same location as a previous response whether they or their partners recently moved to that location (within- and between-person IOR, respectively). The between-person IOR effects have been attributed to activation of the mirror neuron system. The results of the present study revealed that, unlike their peers from the typical population, the participants with autism had smaller magnitude IOR effects when they completed a movement that followed the movement of their partner than when they followed their own movement. These data support the hypothesis that the mirror neuron system in people with autism may not function as efficiently as the mirror neuron system in people from the typical population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]