Computational steering in realitygrid

The RealityGrid project (http://www.realitygrid.org) aims both to enable the discovery of new materials through integrated experiments and to understand the behaviour of physical systems based on the properties of their microscopic components using diverse simulation methods spanning many time and length scales. A central theme of RealityGrid is the facilitation of distributed and collaborative steering of parallel simulation codes and simultaneous on-line, high-end visualisation. In this paper, we review the motivations for computational steering and introduce the RealityGrid steering library and associated software. We then outline the capabilities of the library and describe the service-oriented architecture of the latest implementation, in which the steering controls of the application are exposed through an OGSI-compliant Grid service

The complications of ‘hiring a hubby’: gender relations and the commoditisation of home maintenance in New Zealand

This paper examines the commoditization of traditionally male domestic tasks through interviews with handymen who own franchises in the company ‘Hire a Hubby’ in New Zealand and homeowners who have paid for home repair tasks to be done. Discussions of the commoditization of traditionally female tasks in the home have revealed the emotional conflicts of paying others to care as well as the exploitative and degrading conditions that often arise when work takes place behind closed doors. By examining the working conditions and relationships involved when traditionally male tasks are paid for, this paper raises important questions about the valuing of reproductive labour and the production of gendered identities. The paper argues that while working conditions and rates of pay for ‘hubbies’ are better than those for people undertaking commoditized forms of traditionally female domestic labour, the negotiation of this work is still complex and implicated in gendered relations and identities. Working on the home was described by interviewees as an expression of care for family and a performance of the ‘right’ way to be a ‘Kiwi bloke’ and a father. Paying others to do this labour can imply a failure in a duty of care and in the performance of masculinity

Photometric Analysis of Recently Discovered Eclipsing Binary GSC 00008-00901

Photometric analysis of $BVR_C$ light curves of newly discovered eclipsing binary GSC 0008-00901 is presented. The orbital period is improved to 0.28948(11) days. Photometric parameters are determined, as well. The analysis yielded to conclusion that system is an over-contact binary of W UMa type with components not in thermal contact. The light curves from 2005 show the presence of a spot on the surface of one of the components, while light curves from 2006 are not affected by maculation.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space Scienc

Multi-parameter scaling of the Kondo effect in quantum dots with an even number of electrons

We address a recent theoretical discrepancy concerning the Kondo effect in quantum dots with an even number of electrons where spin-singlet and -triplet states are nearly degenerate. We show that the discrepancy arises from the fact that the Kondo scaling involves many parameters, which makes the results depend on concrete microscopic models. We illustrate this by the scaling calculations of the Kondo temperature, $T_K$, as a function of the energy difference between the singlet and triplet states $\Delta$. $T_K(\Delta)$ decreases with increasing $\Delta$, showing a crossover from a power law with a universal exponent to that with a nonuniversal exponent. The crossover depends on the initial parameters of the model.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure

Non-cubic layered structure of Ba(1-x)K(x)BiO3 superconductor

Bismuthate superconductor Ba(1-x)K(x)BiO3 (x=0.27-0.49, Tc=25-32K) grown by an electrolysis technique was studied by electron diffraction and high-resolution electron microscopy. The crystalline structure thereof has been found to be non-cubic, of the layered nature, and non-centrosymmetric, with the lattice parameters a ~ ap, c ~ 2ap (ap is a simple cubic perovskite cell parameter) containing an ordered arrangement of barium and potassium. The evidence for the layered nature of the bismuthate superconductor removes the principal crystallographic contradiction between bismuthate and cuprate high-Tc superconductors.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, to be published in Physical Review B as a Rapid Communicatio

Kondo effect in multielectron quantum dots at high magnetic fields

We present a general description of low temperature transport through a quantum dot with any number of electrons at filling factor $1<\nu <2$. We provide a general description of a novel Kondo effect which is turned on by application of an appropriate magnetic field. The spin-flip scattering of carriers by the quantum dot only involves two states of the scatterer which may have a large spin. This process is described by spin-flip Hubbard operators, which change the angular momentum, leading to a Kondo Hamiltonian. We obtain antiferromagnetic exchange couplings depending on tunneling amplitudes and correlation effects. Since Kondo temperature has an exponential dependence on exchange couplings, quantitative variations of the parameters in different regimes have important experimental consequences. In particular, we discuss the {\it chess board} aspect of the experimental conductance when represented in a grey scale as a function of both the magnetic field and the gate potential affecting the quantum dot

Misdiagnosed and misunderstood’: Insights into rarer forms of dementia through a stepwise approach to co-constructed research poetry

This study investigated co-constructed research poetry as a way to understand the lived experiences of people affected by rarer dementia and as a means to use poetry to convey those experiences to healthcare professionals. Using mixed methods, 71 people living with rarer dementia and care-partners (stakeholders) contributed to co-constructing 27 poems with professional poets; stakeholders’ verbatim words were analysed with descriptive qualitative analysis. Stakeholders were also surveyed and interviewed about their participation. Healthcare professionals (n = 93) were surveyed to elicit their responses to learning through poetry and its acceptability as a learning tool. Poems conveyed a shared narrative of different aspects of lived experience, often owing to atypical symptoms, misunderstandings by professionals, lack of support pathways, and a continuous struggle to adapt. Stakeholder surveys indicated it was a valuable experience to both co-create and respond to the poems, whilst group interviews revealed people’s experiences of the research poetry were characterised by reflection on lived experience, curiosity and exploration. Healthcare professionals’ responses reinforced poetry’s capacity to stimulate cognitive and affective learning specific to rare dementia support and prompt both empathy and critical thinking in practice. As the largest poetry-based study that we are aware of, this novel accessible approach of creating group poems yielded substantial information about the experiences and needs of those affected by rarer dementia and how poetry can contribute to healthcare education and training

Quantum phase transition in a two-channel-Kondo quantum dot device

We develop a theory of electron transport in a double quantum dot device recently proposed for the observation of the two-channel Kondo effect. Our theory provides a strategy for tuning the device to the non-Fermi-liquid fixed point, which is a quantum critical point in the space of device parameters. We explore the corresponding quantum phase transition, and make explicit predictions for behavior of the differential conductance in the vicinity of the quantum critical point

Diffusion-controlled annihilation A+B→0A + B \to 0 with initially separated reactants: The death of an AA particle island in the BB particle sea

We consider the diffusion-controlled annihilation dynamics $A+B\to 0$ with equal species diffusivities in the system where an island of particles $A$ is surrounded by the uniform sea of particles $B$. We show that once the initial number of particles in the island is large enough, then at any system's dimensionality $d$ the death of the majority of particles occurs in the {\it universal scaling regime} within which $\approx 4/5$ of the particles die at the island expansion stage and the remaining $\approx 1/5$ at the stage of its subsequent contraction. In the quasistatic approximation the scaling of the reaction zone has been obtained for the cases of mean-field ($d \geq d_{c}$) and fluctuation ($d < d_{c}$) dynamics of the front.Comment: 4 RevTex pages, 1 PNG figure and 1 EPS figur