Matching is a conceptually straightforward method to make groups of units comparable on observed characteristics. The method is, however, limited to settings where the study design is simple and the sample is moderately sized. We illustrate these limitations by asking what the causal effects would have been if a large-scale voter mobilization experiment that took place in Michigan for the 2006 election were scaled up to the full population of registered voters. Matching could help us answer this question, but no existing matching method can accommodate the six treatment arms and the 6,762,701 observations involved in the study. To offer a solution for this and similar empirical problems, we introduce a generalization of the full matching method that can be used with any number of treatment conditions and complex compositional constraints. The associated algorithm produces near-optimal matchings; the worst-case maximum within-group dissimilarity is guaranteed to be no more than four times greater than the optimal solution, and simulation results indicate that it comes considerably closer to the optimal solution on average. The algorithm’s ability to balance the treatment groups does not sacrifice speed, and it uses little memory, terminating in linearithmic time using linear space. This enables investigators to construct well-performing matchings within minutes even in complex studies with samples of several million units.

Collaboration is used by the US National Security Council as a means to integrate inter-federal government agencies during planning and execution of common goals towards unified, national security. The concept of collaboration has benefits in the healthcare system by building trust, sharing resources, and reducing costs. The current terrorist threats have made collaborative medical training between military and civilian agencies crucial.

This review summarizes the long and rich history of collaboration between civilians and the military in various countries and provides support for the continuation and improvement of collaborative efforts. Through collaboration, advances in the treatment of injuries have been realized, deaths have been reduced, and significant strides in the betterment of the Emergency Medical System have been achieved. This review promotes collaborative medical training between military and civilian medical professionals and provides recommendations for the future based on medical collaboration.

Candidates for coronary artery bypass graft surgery have been found to exhibit reduced cognitive function prior to surgery. However, little is known regarding the factors that are associated with pre-bypass cognitive function. A battery of neuropsychological tests was administered to a group of patients listed for bypass surgery (n = 109). Medical, sociodemographic and emotional predictors of cognitive function were investigated using structural equation modeling. Medical factors, namely history of hypertension and low ejection fraction, significantly predicted reduced cognitive function, as did several sociodemographic characteristics, namely older age, less education, non-English speaking background, manual occupation, and male gender. One emotional variable, confusion and bewilderment, was also a significant predictor whereas anxiety and depression were not. When significant predictors from the three sets of variables were included in a combined model, three of the five sociodemographic characteristics, namely age, non-English speaking background and occupation, and the two medical factors remained significant. Apart from sociodemographic characteristics, medical factors such as a history of hypertension and low ejection fraction significantly predicted reduced cognitive function in bypass candidates prior to surgery. (JINS, 2007, 13, 257–266.)

Hydrodynamic modulation of wind waves by long surface waves in a wave tank is investigated, at wind speeds ranging from 1.5 to 10 m s−1. The results are compared with the linear, non-dissipative, theory of Longuet-Higgins & Stewart (1960), which describes the modulation of a group of short gravity waves due to straining of the surface by currents produced by the orbital motions of the long wave, and work done against the radiation stresses of the short waves. In most cases the theory is in good agreement with the experimental results when the short waves are not too steep, and the rate of growth due to the wind is relatively small. At the higher wind speeds, the effects of wind-wave growth, dissipation and wave-wave interactions are dominant.

In a previous study (Longuet-Higgins & Cleaver 1994) we calculated the stability of the flow near the crest of a steep, irrotational wave, the ‘almost-highest’ wave, considered as an isolated wave crest. In the present paper we consider the modification of this inner flow when it is matched to the flow in the rest of the wave, and obtain the normal-mode perturbations of the modified inner flow. It is found that there is just one exponentially growing mode. Its rate of growth β is a decreasing function of the matching parameter ε and hence a decreasing function of the wave steepness ak. When compared numerically to the rates of growth of the lowest superharmonic instability in a deep-water wave as calculated by Tanaka (1983) it is found that the present theory provides a satisfactory asymptote to the previously calculated values of the growth rate. This suggests that the instability of the lowest superharmonic is essentially due to the flow near the crest of the wave.

The effects of moderate red wine consumption on the antioxidant status and indices of lipid peroxidation and oxidative stress associated with CHD were investigated. A randomised, controlled study was performed with twenty free-living healthy volunteers. Subjects in the red wine group consumed 375 ml red wine daily for 2 weeks. We measured the total concentration of phenolics and analysed the individual phenolics in the wine and plasma by HPLC with tandem MS. The antioxidant capacity of plasma was measured with electron spin resonance spectroscopy while homocysteine and fasting plasma lipids were also determined. The production of conjugated dienes and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) were measured in Cu-oxidised LDL. Plasma total phenolic concentrations increased significantly after 2 weeks of daily red wine consumption (P≤0·001) and trace levels of metabolites, mainly glucuronides and methyl glucuronides of (+)-catechin and (−)-epicatechin, were detected in the plasma of the red wine group. These flavan-3-ol metabolites were not detected in plasma from the control group. The maximum concentrations of conjugated dienes and TBARS in Cu-oxidised LDL were reduced (P≤0·05) and HDL cholesterol concentrations increased (P≤0·05) following red wine consumption. The findings from the present study provide some evidence for potential protective effects of moderate consumption of red wine in healthy volunteers.

This study has shown that the main constituents of the diet of the harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) of Dundrum Bay, County Down, north-east Ireland, during the past few years (1995–2000) have been small flatfish and gadid fish, with the emphasis shifting from the beginning to the end of the study period from flatfish to gadids, principally whiting and haddock/pollack/saithe. During both 1995 and 1996 the diet of post-weaning pups consisted almost entirely of small gadid fish. The implications of this relatively poor diet, apparently deficient in oily fish, are considered—together with information on fish stocks in the north-west Irish Sea in recent years—in the context of an apparent decline both in the breeding population of harbour seals along the County Down coast and in the play behaviour of juvenile seals.

The synthesis of materials with void volumes in excess of 50% is an ongoing challenge in molecular sieve science. It has been shown that a correlation exists between the minimum framework density (FD) and the smallest ring in which all tetrahedral atoms reside (MINR). Based on this evidence it appears that materials containing 3-membered rings (3MR) will be necessary in order to obtain FDs lower than those currently attainable. Several framework beryllosilicate minerals including the natural zeolite, lovdarite, contain 3MRs. Unfortunately, beryllium can form highly toxic compounds that limit its suitability for many applications. Thus, in this study we have searched for a replacement for Be and have found that zinc is a suitable substitute with respect to the formation of three-membered rings.

We report here VPI-7, a novel zincosilicate molecular sieve which contains three-membered rings. The VPI-7 framework contains rings composed of 3–, 4– and 5 T-atoms which form unidimensional 8– and intersecting 9MR channels.