Numerical study of the localization length critical index in a network model of plateau-plateau transitions in the quantum Hall effect

We calculate numerically the localization length critical index within the Chalker-Coddington (CC) model for plateau-plateau transitions in the quantum Hall effect. Lyapunov exponents have been calculated with relative errors on the order $10^{-3}$. Such high precision was obtained by considering the distribution of Lyapunov exponents for large ensembles of relatively short chains and calculating the ensemble average values. We analyze thoroughly finite size effects and find the localization length critical index $\nu= 2.517\pm 0.018$.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Advenus

Advenus is a graphic design project that explores the challenges and barriers that international students encounter in the United States while seeking employment. For many international students, the U.S. promises freedom, safety, and equality attained through hard work. Despite the value and knowledge that international students can offer to the U.S. economy, government policies regarding immigration make starting a new life here a challenge. For most individuals, it starts – or ends – with a lottery system. Advenus provides resources in digital and print formats, like a website and posters, to help international students navigate the immigration process, understand the different types of visas, answer specific questions, and prepare for job applications, with the goal of overcoming obstacles that come up during the process. Advenus (Latin for foreign) will also become a platform to share stories of those who have gone through the process - a vehicle for immigrant voices

Strength of religious faith in Portuguese Catholic elders: Effects of aging, gender, education, and religious participation

This study aimed to adapt the Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire (SCSRFQ)-Brief Version to the Portuguese elderly, and to investigate the effect of relevant and easy to assess predictors on the strength of religious faith. Participants were 778 non-institutionalized Catholic elderly (65 or older), with a majority of women, young-olds (65-74), with four years or less of education, and practicing Catholics. The sample was randomly split in two (n = 389) to study the invariance and the structural validity of the SCSRFQ-Brief Version across both groups. Following this step, a multiple indicators and multiple causes model for age, gender, educational level, and religious participation influence on strength of religious faith was tested across groups. All predictors were statistically significant, with religious participation being the most influential. The study of religion in the elderly is enriched by resource to valid multiple-item instruments as the SCSRFQ-Brief Version

Aspectos psico-sociais do envelhecimento nos seniores

A evolução demográfica traduziu-se num aumento do número e da proporção de seniores em Portugal e no mundo. O estudo deste grupo populacional implica a familiarização com algumas das suas circunstâncias mais relevantes, nas quais se incluem aspectos psico-sociais. Para compreender e poder investigar os seniores portugueses é importante atender a vários aspectos aqui apresentados. Salientamos a diferença entre terceira e quarta idade e a forma como esta permite compreender diferentes perfis de envelhecimento. Enfatizamos a compreensão da especificidade psico-social para colocar o envelhecimento em contexto, assim como o estudo de como o envelhecimento se processa em meio urbano em meio rural. Salientamos também a diferença entre saúde funcional e saúde mental, onde se destaca a prevalência da demência. Referimos como determinadas características inerentes ao processo do envelhecimento têm implicações importantes para a auto-estima e auto-conceito dos seniores. Olhamos para o impacto do isolamento social neste grupo e abordamos a importância da religião nesta fase do ciclo de vida. Finalmente, debatemos a existência de variados modelos de sucesso no envelhecimento. O retrato aqui traçado de algumas das principais variáveis a ter em conta no estudo ou debate do envelhecimento em Portugal é misto, com o aumento da esperança média de vida e os ganhos ao nível da sabedoria sendo contrapostos com perdas cognitivas, sociais e, especialmente na quarta idade, de bem-estar

Electrostatic tailoring of magnetic interference in quantum point contact ballistic Josephson junctions

The magneto-electrostatic tailoring of the supercurrent in quantum point contact ballistic Josephson junctions is demonstrated. An etched InAs-based heterostructure is laterally contacted to superconducting niobium leads and the existence of two etched side gates permits, in combination with the application of a perpendicular magnetic field, to modify continuously the magnetic interference pattern by depleting the weak link. For wider junctions the supercurrent presents a Fraunhofer-like interference pattern with periodicity h/2e whereas by shrinking electrostatically the weak link, the periodicity evolves continuously to a monotonic decay. These devices represent novel tunable structures that might lead to the study of the elusive Majorana fermions.Comment: 4.5 pages, 4 color figure

Oscillatory entrainment to our early social or physical environment and the emergence of volitional control

An individual’s early interactions with their environment are thought to be largely passive; through the early years, the capacity for volitional control develops. Here, we consider: how is the emergence of volitional control characterised by changes in the entrainment observed between internal activity (behaviour, physiology and brain activity) and the sights and sounds in our everyday environment (physical and social)? We differentiate between contingent responsiveness (entrainment driven by evoked responses to external events) and oscillatory entrainment (driven by internal oscillators becoming temporally aligned with external oscillators). We conclude that ample evidence suggests that children show behavioural, physiological and neural entrainment to their physical and social environment, irrespective of volitional attention control; however, evidence for oscillatory entrainment beyond contingent responsiveness is currently lacking. Evidence for how oscillatory entrainment changes over developmental time is also lacking. Finally, we suggest a mechanism through which periodic environmental rhythms might facilitate both sensory processing and the development of volitional control even in the absence of oscillatory entrainment