Polarimetry of the far infrared emission from magnetically-aligned interstellar grains is one of the best ways of studying the magnetic field at the Galactic center. We describe the HAWC+ instrument, under development for flight on SOFIA starting in 2015, which will provide a major advance in capability for these critically important measurements.

Although pneumonia is a leading cause of death from infectious disease worldwide, comprehensive information about its causes and incidence in low- and middle-income countries is lacking. Active surveillance of hospitalized patients with pneumonia is ongoing in Thailand. Consenting patients are tested for seven bacterial and 14 viral respiratory pathogens by PCR and viral culture on nasopharyngeal swab specimens, serology on acute/convalescent sera, sputum smears and antigen detection tests on urine. Between September 2003 and December 2005, there were 1730 episodes of radiographically confirmed pneumonia (34·6% in children aged <5 years); 66 patients (3·8%) died. A recognized pathogen was identified in 42·5% of episodes. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection was associated with 16·7% of all pneumonias, 41·2% in children. The viral pathogen with the highest incidence in children aged <5 years was RSV (417·1/100 000 per year) and in persons aged ⩾50 years, influenza virus A (38·8/100 000 per year). These data can help guide health policy towards effective prevention strategies.

A totally deaf with a multiple-channel cochler prosthesis obtained open-set speech discrimation using the telephone. CID Everyday Sentences were presented by telephone to the patient. Who repeated an average of 21 percent when a repeat of the sentences was permitted. This result is consistent with the patient's reports of telephone usage.

According to a now classic study of stock market price behavior by Fama [6], the empirical distributions of daily log price relatives are usually stable Paretian, non-Gaussian. However, there appears to have been substantial reluctance to accept Fama's [6] research results as indicative of a fundamental return generating process which is stable Paretian, non-Gaussian. Blattberg and Gonedes [1], Clarke [4], Officer [18], Praetz [19], and Press [20] have each in their own way questioned the Fama [6] results. Most recently Hsu, Miller, and Wichern (HMW) [13] have suggested that in periods of homogeneous activity for a firm the empirical distribution of rates of return on a common share may be Gaussian, in other words, that the fundamental return generating process may be normal.