Western Australia intercultural arts research project : an investigation into culturally and linguistically diverse art and artists in Western Australia

Background: The introduction of the Australia Council\u27s \u27Arts in a Multicultural Australia Policy\u27 (AIMAP) (2000) represented a shift in how the arts in multicultural communities were viewed. It has long been recognised that the arts play a significant role in promoting social cohesion, social policy goals, economic growth, and shaping a nation’s sense of identity. However, prior to the introduction of this policy, multicultural arts was typically seen as involving cultural retentive activities which had their roots in expressions of migrant cultural traditions. The introduction of the policy heralded the beginning of an era in which culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) Australians were seen as integral to the fabric of the Australian arts sector. Evaluation of the policy in 2005 however, revealed that culturally and linguistically diverse Australians were under-represented in most artistic categories. Western Australia is the most culturally diverse state in Australia. It is therefore of great interest to the State Government to have a comprehensive picture of the situation in that state. Hence, the Office of Multicultural Interests (OMI) commissioned Deakin University to undertake an investigation into the participation rates of CaLD artists in the arts sector in Western Australia.Scope: The project examined the participation in the arts of CaLD artists in Western Australia. The arts sector comprises many more individuals and organisations than artists. For example, there are arts agency administrators, venue operators, policy officers, curators, and countless others who work together to make up the arts sector. This project focused on the artists, the individuals such as those who make music, visual art, dance and theatre performances. In the past it has been shown that CaLD populations are not well represented in the broader arts sector. This research aimed to discover the current position for CaLD artists in terms of participation in the broader arts sector and what factors influence their situation

A temperate river estuary is a sink for methanotrophs adapted to extremes of pH, temperature and salinity

River Tyne (UK) estuarine sediments harbour a genetically and functionally diverse community of methane-oxidizing bacteria (methanotrophs), the composition and activity of which were directly influenced by imposed environmental conditions (pH, salinity, temperature) that extended far beyond those found in situ. In aerobic sediment slurries methane oxidation rates were monitored together with the diversity of a functional gene marker for methanotrophs (pmoA). Under near in situ conditions (4-30°C, pH 6-8, 1-15gl-1 NaCl), communities were enriched by sequences affiliated with Methylobacter and Methylomonas spp. and specifically a Methylobacter psychrophilus-related species at 4-21°C. More extreme conditions, namely high temperatures ≥40°C, high ≥9 and low ≤5 pH, and high salinities ≥35gl-1 selected for putative thermophiles (Methylocaldum), acidophiles (Methylosoma) and haloalkaliphiles (Methylomicrobium). The presence of these extreme methanotrophs (unlikely to be part of the active community in situ) indicates passive dispersal from surrounding environments into the estuary

Replacing energy by von Neumann entropy in quantum phase transitions

In the thermodynamic limit two distinct states of matter cannot be analytic continuations of each other. Classical phase transitions are characterized by non-analyticities of the free energy. For quantum phase transitions (QPTs) the ground state energy often assumes the role of the free energy. But in a number of important cases this criterion fails to predict a QPT, such as the three-dimensional metal-insulator transition of non-interacting electrons in a random potential (Anderson localization). It is therefore essential that we find alternative criteria that can track fundamental changes in the internal correlations of the ground state wavefunction. Here we propose that QPTs are generally accompanied by non-analyticities of the von Neumann (entanglement) entropy. In particular, the entropy is non-analytic at the Anderson transition, where it exhibits unusual fractal scaling. We also examine two dissipative quantum systems of considerable interest to the study of decoherence and find that non-analyticities occur if and only if the system undergoes a QPT.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures; Annals of Physics, in press (2006

Emergent quantum phases in a heteronuclear molecular Bose--Einstein condensate model

We study a three-mode Hamiltonian modelling a heteronuclear molecular Bose--Einstein condensate. Two modes are associated with two distinguishable atomic constituents, which can combine to form a molecule represented by the third mode. Beginning with a semi-classical analogue of the model, we conduct an analysis to determine the phase space fixed points of the system. Bifurcations of the fixed points naturally separate the coupling parameter space into different regions. Two distinct scenarios are found, dependent on whether the imbalance between the number operators for the atomic modes is zero or non-zero. This result suggests the ground-state properties of the model exhibit an unusual sensitivity on the atomic imbalance. We then test this finding for the quantum mechanical model. Specifically we use Bethe ansatz methods, ground-state expectation values, the character of the quantum dynamics, and ground-state wavefunction overlaps to clarify the nature of the ground-state phases. The character of the transition is smoothed due to quantum fluctuations, but we may nonetheless identify the emergence of a quantum phase boundary in the limit of zero atomic imbalance.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figure

The Grizzly, September 22, 2016

UCEMS Halts Service Due to Policy Dispute • Tall Trees Music Fest: Local Musicians Play for Charity • U-Imagine\u27s New Marketing Competition Offers Ursinus Clubs Free Advertising • Fear From Around the World • Gender Inequalities in Tech and Science • When Art and the Environment Collide • Opinions: What Mia McKenzie\u27s Visit Meant to Me; New Era: Food Trucks Become Ursinus Tradition • Goal! Men\u27s and Women\u27s Soccer Prepared for the 2016 Season • Brother Bears on the Fieldhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1649/thumbnail.jp

Cardiac protein kinases: the cardiomyocyte kinome and differential kinase expression in human failing hearts

Aims. Protein kinases are potential therapeutic targets for heart failure, but most studies of cardiac protein kinases derive from other systems, an approach that fails to account for specific kinases expressed in the heart and the contractile cardiomyocytes. We aimed to define the cardiomyocyte kinome (i.e. the protein kinases expressed in cardiomyocytes) and identify kinases with altered expression in human failing hearts. Methods and Results. Expression profiling (Affymetrix microarrays) detected >400 protein kinase mRNAs in rat neonatal ventricular myocytes (NVMs) and/or adult ventricular myocytes (AVMs), 32 and 93 of which were significantly upregulated or downregulated (>2-fold), respectively, in AVMs. Data for AGC family members were validated by qPCR. Proteomics analysis identified >180 cardiomyocyte protein kinases, with high relative expression of mitogen-activated protein kinase cascades and other known cardiomyocyte kinases (e.g. CAMKs, cAMP-dependent protein kinase). Other kinases are poorly-investigated (e.g. Slk, Stk24, Oxsr1). Expression of Akt1/2/3, BRaf, ERK1/2, Map2k1, Map3k8, Map4k4, MST1/3, p38-MAPK, PKCδ, Pkn2, Ripk1/2, Tnni3k and Zak was confirmed by immunoblotting. Relative to total protein, Map3k8 and Tnni3k were upregulated in AVMs vs NVMs. Microarray data for human hearts demonstrated variation in kinome expression that may influence responses to kinase inhibitor therapies. Furthermore, some kinases were upregulated (e.g. NRK, JAK2, STK38L) or downregulated (e.g. MAP2K1, IRAK1, STK40) in human failing hearts. Conclusions. This characterization of the spectrum of kinases expressed in cardiomyocytes and the heart (cardiomyocyte and cardiac kinomes) identified novel kinases, some of which are differentially expressed in failing human hearts and could serve as potential therapeutic targets

Non-uniform carrier distribution in multi-quantum-well lasers

We describe an approach to detect the presence of a nonuniform distribution of carriers between the different wells of multi-quantum-well laser diodes by measuring the gain and spontaneous emission spectra and demonstrate its application to a five-well sample that has a nonuniform carrier distribution at low temperature