Spontaneous Parity Violation

We disprove the Vafa-Witten theorem on the impossibility of spontaneously breaking parity in vector-like gauge field theories, identifying a mechanism driven by quantum fluctuations. With the introduction of a meromorphic Lattice formulation, defined over 5 dimensions, we demonstrate that the minima of the free energy can be distinct from the maxima of the partition function : identifying and evaluating a suitable contour for the partition function defined such that asymptotic behaviour of the complex action is non-oscillatory.Comment: 6 page

Lorentz Covariance and the Dimensional Crossover of 2d-Antiferromagnets

We derive a lattice $\beta$-function for the 2d-Antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model, which allows the lattice interaction couplings of the nonperturbative Quantum Monte Carlo vacuum to be related directly to the zero-temperature fixed points of the nonlinear sigma model in the presence of strong interplanar and spin anisotropies. In addition to the usual renormalization of the gapful disordered state in the vicinity of the quantum critical point, we show that this leads to a chiral doubling of the spectra of excited states

Exact Nonperturbative Renormalization

We propose an exact renormalization group equation for Lattice Gauge Theories, that has no dependence on the lattice spacing. We instead relate the lattice spacing properties directly to the continuum convergence of the support of each local plaquette. Equivalently, this is formulated as a convergence prescription for a characteristic polynomial in the gauge coupling that allows the exact meromorphic continuation of a nonperturbative system arbitrarily close to the continuum limit.Comment: 12 page

The Lattice β\beta-function of Quantum Spin Chains

We derive the lattice $\beta$-function for quantum spin chains, suitable for relating finite temperature Monte Carlo data to the zero temperature fixed points of the continuum nonlinear sigma model. Our main result is that the asymptotic freedom of this lattice $\beta$-function is responsible for the nonintegrable singularity in $\theta$, that prevents analytic continuation between $\theta=0$ and $\theta=\pi$.Comment: 10 page

Increased susceptibility of striatal mitochondria to calcium-induced permeability transition

Mitochondria were simultaneously isolated from striatum and cortex of adult rats and compared in functional assays for their sensitivity to calcium activation of the permeability transition. Striatal mitochondria showed an increased dose-dependent sensitivity to Ca2+compared with cortical mitochondria, as measured by mitochondrial depolarization, swelling, Ca2+uptake, reactive oxygen species production, and respiration. Ratios of ATP to ADP were lower in striatal mitochondria exposed to calcium despite equal amounts of ADP and ATP under respiring and nonrespiring conditions. The Ca2+-induced changes were inhibited by cyclosporin A or ADP. These responses are consistent with Ca2+activation of both low and high permeability pathways constituting the mitochondrial permeability transition. In addition to the striatal supersensitivity to induction of the permeability transition, cyclosporin A inhibition was less potent in striatal mitochondria. Immunoblots indicated that striatal mitochondria contained more cyclophilin D than cortical mitochondria. Thus striatal mitochondria may be selectively vulnerable to the permeability transition. Subsequent mitochondrial dysfunction could contribute to the initial toxicity of striatal neurons in Huntington's disease.</jats:p

Mobile Learning

In 1972, Alan Kay developed the concept of a handheld multimedia computer that was intended as a mobile device for learning. Since that early conception, scholars, such as Traxler, Sharples, and Soloway are the pioneering scholars who have paved the way to a better understanding of the philosophical, pedagogical, and conceptual underpinnings of mobile learning today. In this article, an overview is provided to explicate the initial foundations of this emerging field. Next, current scientific knowledge is delineated with explicit references to the early scholars. This article concludes with a preview of the future research directions in mobile learning. </jats:p

The Role of Mobile Learning in Promoting Global Literacy and Human Rights

In this chapter the authors review the fairly recent advances in combating illiteracy around the globe through the use of e-readers and mobile phones most recently in the Worldreader program and the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) mobile phone reading initiatives. Situated in human rights and utilizing the lens of transnational feminist discourse which addresses globalization and the hegemonic, monolithic portrayals of “third world” women as passive and in need of the global North’s intervention, the authors explore the ways in which the use of digital media provides increased access to books, and other texts and applications in both English and native languages for people in developing countries. However, while advances in combating illiteracy through the use of e-readers, mobile phones and other mobile learning initiatives are promising, the tensions and power imbalances of digital literacies, which resources are available by whom, for whom and why, must also be examined

A scanning drift tube apparatus for spatio-temporal mapping of electron swarms

A "scanning" drift tube apparatus, capable of mapping of the spatio-temporal evolution of electron swarms, developing between two plane electrodes under the effect of a homogeneous electric field, is presented. The electron swarms are initiated by photoelectron pulses and the temporal distributions of the electron flux are recorded while the electrode gap length (at a fixed electric field strength) is varied. Operation of the system is tested and verified with argon gas, the measured data are used for the evaluation of the electron bulk drift velocity. The experimental results for the space-time maps of the electron swarms - presented here for the first time - also allow clear observation of deviations from hydrodynamic transport. The swarm maps are also reproduced by particle simulations