Topological Quantum Field Theory and Seiberg-Witten Monopoles

A topological quantum field theory is introduced which reproduces the Seiberg-Witten invariants of four-manifolds. Dimensional reduction of this topological field theory leads to a new one in three dimensions. Its partition function yields a three-manifold invariant, which can be regarded as the Seiberg-Witten version of Casson's invariant. A Geometrical interpretation of the three dimensional quantum field theory is also given.Comment: 15 pages, Latex file, no figure

The spectral shift function and spectral flow

This paper extends Krein's spectral shift function theory to the setting of semifinite spectral triples. We define the spectral shift function under these hypotheses via Birman-Solomyak spectral averaging formula and show that it computes spectral flow.Comment: 47 page

Response of Strain to Amino Acid Supplementation and Lysine Requirements in Low Protein Layer Diets

Two primary means of meeting amino acid requirements of laying hens, and nonruminants in general, are the use of diets high enough in protein to supply the needed amounts of all amino acids along with some excesses or by feeding low protein diets supplemented with minimum levels of essential amino acids needed for maximum performance. Proper supplementation of these low protein diets requires knowledge of the laying hen\u27s requirement for amino acids and the interrelationships among amino acids, along with information about the influence of factors such as strain and management on these requirements . One purpose of the studies herein was to observe the influences of selected amino acid supplementations to a low protein layer diet on two strains of laying hens. A second purpose was to establish an optimum level of dietary lysine in low protein layer diets. Thirdly, some influences of supplemental on of this diet with isoleucine and tryptophan on the hen\u27s lysine requirement were examined. As more data become available about amino acid supplementation of low protein diets, this information may be used in least-cost ration formulation programs. This will permit optimum utilization of natural feedstuffs and synthetic amino acids to more closely match the dietary amino acid content with minimum requirements

“Made in Each Other:” John Scottus Eriugena’s Conception of the Human Person as a Unifying Vocabulary for Trinitarian Metanarrative and Anticartesian Phenomenology

Vinzant, Carey B. “Made in each Other: John Scottus Eriugena’s Conception of the Human Person as a Unifying Vocabulary for Trinitarian Metanarrative and Anti-Cartesian Phenomenology.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2010. 260 pp. This study sets forth an account of the human person, drawn primarily from the thought of John Scottus Eriugena, which integrates the metaphysical account of personhood set forth by Trinitarian theology (especially John Zizioulas) with the phenomenological one set forth by certain Anti-Cartesian philosophers (especially John Macmurray, Martin Buber, and Gabriel Marcel). These two schools of thought have in common the conviction that uniqueness and relation to other persons are constitutive of the human person, but this study seeks to provide further common ground for more effective dialogue between them. Part 1 addresses Eriugena’s use of his patristic sources, especially Augustine, Maximus the Confessor, Gregory of Nyssa, and the pseudo-Dionysius. Chapter One addresses the themes of Trinity, Christology, Eschatology, and Apophaticism as ways to clarify Eriugena’s relation to Christian orthodoxy. Chapter Two addresses the concept of humanity as created in the Image of the Trinity, an idea Eriugena appropriated from Augustine, and suggests ways in which this concept is useful for developing an account of the human person. Part 2 considers Eriugena’s discussions of what can be known about a human person as raising the question of personal identity. Chapter 3 examines Eriugena’s conception of the human person as an integrated simultaneity of the animal nature (biological embodiedness) and the divine image (personhood), emphasizing the dynamic nature of this integration, the ambiguities introduced by this dynamism, and the significance of these two aspects of the human person. Chapter 4 sets forth Eriugena’s conception of self-awareness and the limits thereof with special emphasis upon his debt to Augustine, Gregory of Nyssa, and Maximus Confessor. Chapter 5 examines Eriugena’s general epistemology, recognizing that it also emerges in his views of language and theological method. Eriugena’s debt to Augustine, Maximus, Gregory of Nyssa, and the pseudo-Denis in these areas is also considered. Chapter 6 examines the fundamentally interpretive character of Eriugena’s eschatology as an indication of his broader epistemology and the centrality of epistemic responsibility in his thought. Part 3 develops the ideas of interpersonal encounter, perichoresis, and intersubjectivity as ways in which Eriugena addresses the questions about human identity that have emerged in Part 2. Chapter 7 develops the idea of interpersonal encounter in the contexts of the relation between the moral and the interpersonal, and of the relation of the human person to God in light of the thought of Buber, Macmurray, and Paul Tournier. Chapter 8 examines Eriugena’s eschatology with special emphasis upon the point that it is perichoretic rather than monistic in character. Chapter 9 examines Eriugena’s conception of theosis as divergent from much of the Christian mystical tradition and more consonant with the modern notion of intersubjectivity, especially as it emerges in the thought of Gabriel Marcel and Mikhail Bakhtin

She Sang Aloha to Me

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Differential Effects of Race and Poverty on Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions

This study is a continuation of an earlier study that examined hospitalization rates for ambulatory care sensitive (ACS) conditions, as a proxy for quality of care, and found evidence of a racial disparity among African American and White Medicare beneficiaries. The current study sought to determine whether neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) explained this disparity. Differences in rates of ACS hospitalizations by race were assessed using Cochran-Mantel Haenszel tests and Poisson regression. Unadjusted rate ratios for ACS hospitalization for African Americans vs. Whites were found to be higher in low poverty areas (rate ratio (RR)=1.13; 95% CI (1.08, 1.17)) than in high poverty areas (RR=0.97; 95% CI (0.89, 1.05)). After controlling for various indicators of area SES in multivariate analyses race differences in ACS hospitalization rates persisted. Rural neighborhoods and those with higher percent of non-high school graduates were associated with greater risk of ACS hospitalizations

When Honey Sings an Old-Time Song

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/4091/thumbnail.jp