Anomalous shell effect in the transition from a circular to a triangular billiard

We apply periodic orbit theory to a two-dimensional non-integrable billiard system whose boundary is varied smoothly from a circular to an equilateral triangular shape. Although the classical dynamics becomes chaotic with increasing triangular deformation, it exhibits an astonishingly pronounced shell effect on its way through the shape transition. A semiclassical analysis reveals that this shell effect emerges from a codimension-two bifurcation of the triangular periodic orbit. Gutzwiller's semiclassical trace formula, using a global uniform approximation for the bifurcation of the triangular orbit and including the contributions of the other isolated orbits, describes very well the coarse-grained quantum-mechanical level density of this system. We also discuss the role of discrete symmetry for the large shell effect obtained here.Comment: 14 pages REVTeX4, 16 figures, version to appear in Phys. Rev. E. Qualities of some figures are lowered to reduce their sizes. Original figures are available at http://www.phys.nitech.ac.jp/~arita/papers/tricirc

Independent Loop Invariants for 2+1 Gravity

We identify an explicit set of complete and independent Wilson loop invariants for 2+1 gravity on a three-manifold $M=\R\times\Sigma^g$, with $\Sigma^g$ a compact oriented Riemann surface of arbitrary genus $g$. In the derivation we make use of a global cross section of the $PSU(1,1)$-principal bundle over Teichm\"uller space given in terms of Fenchel-Nielsen coordinates.Comment: 11pp, 2 figures (postscript, compressed and uu-encoded), TeX, Pennsylvania State University, CGPG-94/7-

Candida albicans Hypha Formation and Mannan Masking of β-Glucan Inhibit Macrophage Phagosome Maturation

Received 28 August 2014 Accepted 28 October 2014 Published 2 December 2014 This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank Janet Willment, Aberdeen Fungal Group, University of Aberdeen, for kindly providing the soluble Dectin-1-Fc reporter. All microscopy was performed with the assistance of the University of Aberdeen Core Microscopy & Histology Facility, and we thank the IFCC for their assistance with flow cytometry. We thank the Wellcome Trust for funding (080088, 086827, 075470, 099215, 097377, and 101873). E.R.B. and A.J.P.B. are funded by the European Research Council (ERC-2009-AdG-249793), and J.L. is funded by a Medical Research Council Clinical Training Fellowship.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

New Loop Representations for 2+1 Gravity

Since the gauge group underlying 2+1-dimensional general relativity is non-compact, certain difficulties arise in the passage from the connection to the loop representations. It is shown that these problems can be handled by appropriately choosing the measure that features in the definition of the loop transform. Thus, ``old-fashioned'' loop representations - based on ordinary loops - do exist. In the case when the spatial topology is that of a two-torus, these can be constructed explicitly; {\it all} quantum states can be represented as functions of (homotopy classes of) loops and the scalar product and the action of the basic observables can be given directly in terms of loops.Comment: 28pp, 1 figure (postscript, compressed and uuencoded), TeX, Pennsylvania State University, CGPG-94/5-

Dyonic dilaton black holes

The properties of static spherically symmetric black holes, which are both electrically and magnetically charged, and which are coupled to the dilaton in the presence of a cosmological constant, Lambda, are considered. It is shown that apart from the Reissner-Nordstrom-de Sitter solution with constant dilaton, such solutions do not exist if Lambda > 0 (in arbitrary spacetime dimension >=4 ). However, asymptotically anti-de Sitter dyonic black hole solutions with a non-trivial dilaton do exist if Lambda < 0. Both these solutions and the asymptotically flat (Lambda = 0) solutions are studied numerically for arbitrary values of the dilaton coupling parameter, g_0, in four dimensions. The asymptotically flat solutions are found to exhibit two horizons if g_0 = 0, 1, \sqrt{3}, \sqrt{6}, ..., \sqrt{n(n+1)/2},..., and one horizon otherwise. For asymptotically anti-de Sitter solutions the result is similar, but the corresponding values of g_0 are altered in a non-linear fashion which depends on Lambda and the mass and charges of the black holes. All dyonic solutions with Lambda <= 0 are found to have zero Hawking temperature in the extreme limit, however, regardless of the value of g_0.Comment: 24 pages, phyzzx, epsf, 7 in-text figures. Small addition to introduction, and a few extra reference

Towards a large-scale quantum simulator on diamond surface at room temperature

Strongly-correlated quantum many-body systems exhibits a variety of exotic phases with long-range quantum correlations, such as spin liquids and supersolids. Despite the rapid increase in computational power of modern computers, the numerical simulation of these complex systems becomes intractable even for a few dozens of particles. Feynman's idea of quantum simulators offers an innovative way to bypass this computational barrier. However, the proposed realizations of such devices either require very low temperatures (ultracold gases in optical lattices, trapped ions, superconducting devices) and considerable technological effort, or are extremely hard to scale in practice (NMR, linear optics). In this work, we propose a new architecture for a scalable quantum simulator that can operate at room temperature. It consists of strongly-interacting nuclear spins attached to the diamond surface by its direct chemical treatment, or by means of a functionalized graphene sheet. The initialization, control and read-out of this quantum simulator can be accomplished with nitrogen-vacancy centers implanted in diamond. The system can be engineered to simulate a wide variety of interesting strongly-correlated models with long-range dipole-dipole interactions. Due to the superior coherence time of nuclear spins and nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond, our proposal offers new opportunities towards large-scale quantum simulation at room temperatures

Teaching mathematics in an inclusive basic school: A case study of the experiences of non-special education teachers

There is a general notion that the teaching and learning of mathematics to all students is quite a daunting task. However, there is a general perception that the move towards inclusive education [IE] may present unique challenges to regular teachers who teach mathematics in inclusive schools. In this study, we explored the experiences of a group of professionally-trained mathematics teachers who teach in a school designated as an inclusive school located in the southern part of Ghana. This was done with the aim of uncovering the challenges these teachers face considering that they do not have extended preparation in teaching students with special educational needs (SEN). An illustrative case study design was employed. Data was collected through the use of a semi-structured interview guide containing both closed-and-open-ended items. It was revealed that the participating teachers faced a number of challenges including inadequate knowledge and skills in teaching students with SEN. Another challenge unearthed has to do with assessing students who are blind due to difficulties faced by some of the teachers and students in using Braille to facilitate teaching and learning. The implications of the findings to teaching and learning are discussed

Effect of Processing Method on the Quality of Palm Kernel Cake: Chemical Composition and Nutrient Utilization in Enzyme Supplemented Diets

Abstract. The feed value of palm kernel cake (PKC) from two expeller sites and two hydrothermal production facilities were assessed using 30 laboratory rats as a model. Following chemical analysis, the PKC were incorporated at 0% (control, CON) or 35% (w/w) into isonitrogenous maize-based diets (2.9% N, DM basis) and fed to individually caged albino rats for 28 day. All PKC diets included 0.5% (w/w) Alzyme Vegpro (Alltech Canada, Guelph, ON). PKC from expellers (E1, E2) contained more  fatty acids (FA) and less crude protein (CP) than did PKC from hydrothermal production (H1, H2), averaging 15.8% vs 7.7% FA and 13.3% vs. 19.7% CP (DM basis), respectively. Lauric, oleic, myristic and palmitic acids were predominant in PKC, accounting for 84% of total FA. E1 and E2 had higher essential amino acid contents (average 67.1% of total AA) than did H1 or H2 (average 64.1%). Gain and feed efficiency (FE; feed/gain) were similar between rats fed E1 or E2 diets and those fed CON (2.1 and 2.2 g/d vs. 2.2 g/d; 4.7 and 4.3 g/d vs. 5.3, respectively), but were reduced in rats fed H1 or H2 diets (1.5 and 1.3 g/d gain; 7.1 and 7.0 FE) compared with CON. This study indicated that expeller-produced PKC could potentially be included in maize-based starter diets for pigs at up to 35% with no adverse effects on growth. Key words: Amino acid, fatty acid, expeller, hydrothermal Abstrak. Nilai pakan PKC dari dua expeller dan dua fasilitas produksi hidrotermal diukur menggunakan 30 mencit sebagai model. PKC dianalisa secara kimiawi dengan kadar 0% (kontrol, CON) atau 355 (w/w) ke dalam pakan berbahan dasar jagung isonitrogen (2.9% N, BK) dan diberikan kepada mencit albino yang dikandangkan secara individu selama 28 hari. Semua pakan PKC mencakup 0.5%(w/w) Alzyme Vegpro (Alltech Canada, Guelph, ON). PKC expeller (E1, E2) mengandung lebih banyak asam lemak (FA) dan lebih sedikit protein kasar (PK) daripada PKC dari produksi hidrotermal (H1, H2), dengan kisaran 15,8% vs 7,7% FA dan 13,3% vs 19,7% PK (berdasarkan BK). Asam laurat, oleat, miristat dan palmitat mendominasi PKC, mencakup 845 dari total asam lemak. E1 dan E2 mempunyai kandungan asam amino esensial (rata-rata 67,1 dari total asam amino) daripada H1 dan H2 (rata-rata 64,1%). Efisiensi pakan dan pertumbuhan (FE; pakan/bijian) sama antara tikus yang diberi pakan E1 atau E2 dengan yang diberi CON (2,1 dan 2,2 g/hari vs. 2,2 g/hari; 4,7 dan 4,3 g/hari vs. 5,3), namun berkurang pada tikus yang diberi pakan H1 atau H2 (1,5 and 1,3 g/hari; 7,1 dan 7,0 FE) dibandingkan dengan CON. Penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa PKC expeller berpotensi disertakan dalam pakan berbahan dasar jagung untuk babi hingga kadar 35% tanpa berpengaruh buruk terhadap pertumbuhan. Kata kunci: Asam amino, asam lemak, expeller, hidroterma

Radionic Non-uniform Black Strings

Non-uniform black strings in the two-brane system are investigated using the effective action approach. It is shown that the radion acts as a non-trivial hair of the black strings. From the brane point of view, the black string appears as the deformed dilatonic black hole which becomes dilatonic black hole in the single brane limit and reduces to the Reissner-Nordstr\"om black hole in the close limit of two-branes. The stability of solutions is demonstrated using the catastrophe theory. From the bulk point of view, the black strings are proved to be non-uniform. Nevertheless, the zeroth law of black hole thermodynamics still holds.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure