Antiferromagnetic 4-d O(4) Model

We study the phase diagram of the four dimensional O(4) model with first (beta1) and second (beta2) neighbor couplings, specially in the beta2 < 0 region, where we find a line of transitions which seems to be second order. We also compute the critical exponents on this line at the point beta1 =0 (F4 lattice) by Finite Size Scaling techniques up to a lattice size of 24, being these exponents different from the Mean Field ones.Comment: 26 pages LaTeX2e, 7 figures. The possibility of logarithmic corrections has been considered, new figures and tables added. Accepted for publication in Physical Review

Measurement of ϕs\phi_s at D{\O} Experiment

Recent measurements of the D\O\ experiment related to the search for new phenomena beyond the Standard Model are reviewed. The new measurement of the like-sign dimuon charge asymmetry reveals a 3.2$\sigma$ deviation from the SM prediction, while the updated study of the $B_s \to J/\psi \phi$ decay demonstrates a better agreement with the SM. All experimental results on the $CP$ violation in mixing are currently consistent with each other. The D\O\ collaboration has much more statistics to analyze, and all these results can be significantly improved in the future.Comment: Proceedings of CKM2010, the 6th International Workshop on the CKM Unitarity Triangle, University of Warwick, UK, 6-10 September 201

DISCIPLESHIP METHODS AND PRACTICES WITHIN THE YOUTH MINISTRIES OF THE CONVENTION OF ATLANTIC BAPTIST CHURCHES (1945-2010)

This research project answers the question ‘What does a historical analysis and evaluation of the youth ministries within the Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada (1945-2010) reveal about the presence or absence of the key markers of a discipling youth ministry as identified through the lens of the theological turn?’ I critically examine Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada (CBAC) youth ministries from 1945-2010. Primary sources include archival material from yearbooks, annual reports, publications of the CBAC, and surveys and interviews with key CBAC youth leaders from this period. This material was examined through the critical lens of the theological turn in youth ministry as identified and described by Andrew Root and Kenda Creasy Dean. They identified the theological turn as a grassroots movement beginning around the turn of the 21st century and characterized by theological reflection that led to correctional adjustments within North American youth ministry. I examine Root and Dean’s work, extracting and developing three markers of the theological turn in youth ministry: ecclesial integration, place-sharing, and communities of spiritual practice. I use these markers as a critical lens throughout the remainder of the project. I then present the historical background of youth ministry professionalization and the youth mission tour movement as I integrated these topics throughout the project. As well, I give significant attention to a critical examination of youth ministry resources that the CBAC endorsed, as well as to my survey and interview responses. Youth ministry structures and even youth workers themselves often did not encourage young people's ecclesial integration. Youth ministry within the CBAC consistently placed a high value on relationships, but not usually to the point of place-sharing as identified by Root and Dean. Youth leaders regularly used spiritual practices, but young people were often encouraged to practice these individually or within the youth ministry community, rarely with the church congregation. Through this research project, I demonstrate that the presence of the key markers of the theological turn increased within the CBAC, especially in the late 1900s and early 21st century. After summarizing my conclusions in the final chapter, I highlight the academic contributions of my research, interact with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and suggest a pathway toward a new understanding of youth discipleship within the CBAC

The Missing Monitor in Corporate Governance: The Directors\u27 & Officers\u27 Liability Insurer

This article reports the results of empirical research on the monitoring role of directors\u27 and officers\u27 liability insurance (D&O insurance) companies in American corporate governance. Economic theory provides three reasons to expect D&O insurers to serve as corporate governance monitors: first, monitoring provides insurers with a way to manage moral hazard; second, monitoring provides benefits to shareholders who might not otherwise need the risk distribution that D&O insurance provides; and third, the bonding provided by risk distribution gives insurers a comparative advantage in monitoring. Nevertheless, we find that D&O insurers neither monitor corporate governance during the life of the insurance contract nor manage litigation defense costs once claims arise. Our findings raise significant questions about the value of D&O insurance for shareholders as well as the deterrent effect of corporate and securities liability. After exploring various explanations for these findings, we conclude that the absence of monitoring is due, at least in part, to the agency problem in the corporate context. Our analysis thus suggests that the existing form of corporate D&O insurance both results from and contributes to the relatively weak constraints on corporate managers. Corporate managers buy D&O coverage for self-serving reasons, and the coverage itself because it does not control moral hazard, reduces the extent to which shareholder litigation aligns managers\u27and shareholders\u27 incentives

The Missing Monitor in Corporate Governance: The Directors\u27 & Officers\u27 Liability Insurer

This article reports the results of empirical research on the monitoring role of directors\u27 and officers\u27 liability insurance (D&O insurance) companies in American corporate governance. Economic theory provides three reasons to expect D&O insurers to serve as corporate governance monitors: first, monitoring provides insurers with a way to manage moral hazard; second, monitoring provides benefits to shareholders who might not otherwise need the risk distribution that D&O insurance provides; and third, the bonding provided by risk distribution gives insurers a comparative advantage in monitoring. Nevertheless, we find that D&O insurers neither monitor corporate governance during the life of the insurance contract nor manage litigation defense costs once claims arise. Our findings raise significant questions about the value of D&O insurance for shareholders as well as the deterrent effect of corporate and securities liability. After exploring various explanations for these findings, we conclude that the absence of monitoring is due, at least in part, to the agency problem in the corporate context. Our analysis thus suggests that the existing form of corporate D&O insurance both results from and contributes to the relatively weak constraints on corporate managers. Corporate managers buy D&O coverage for self-serving reasons, and the coverage itself because it does not control moral hazard, reduces the extent to which shareholder litigation aligns managers\u27and shareholders\u27 incentives

Heavy Metal Concentrations in Road Side Soils from Selected Locations in the Lagos Metropolis, Nigeria

Assessing the concentration of potentially harmful heavy metals in road side soils in Lagos metropolis is imperative in order to evaluate the potential risks to people and the environment. This is due to rapid increase in the use of vehicles for day to day transportation coupled with lack of emission standards which has raised serious concern about vehicular pollution. This paper reports the results of the investigation of heavy metal concentration in road side soils of selected areas in Lagos metropolis as a result of vehicular pollution. Locations considered were motor parks, garages and roadsides in Alimosho-, Agege-, Ikeja-, and Oshodi/Isolo-LGA of Lagos State. Seven locations that spans across the four local governments were selected on the basis of their high concentration of vehicular traffic. Three sites with low traffic concentration were also selected outside the seven locations to act as control sites. Soil samples were collected at each location for a period of three months in the dry season. The concentrations of six heavy metals (manganese, nickel, lead, chromium, zinc, and iron) in the samples were determined with an atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS). All the monitored heavy metal pollutants where compared with European Union (EU) regulatory standard. Results show that the concentrations of heavy metals in the soil samples from the seven locations were within safe limits though higher than in the control sites. It is evident that as time goes on, these heavy metals may pose health hazards. The study reveals that vehicular-related pollution in Lagos metropolis is indeed significant with possible severe health consequences

DCC Dynamics in (2+1)D-O(3) model

The dynamics of symmetry-breaking after a quench is numerically simulated on a lattice for the (2+1)-dimensional O(3) model. In addition to the standard sigma-model with temperature-dependent Phi^4-potential the energy functional includes a four-derivative current-current coupling to stabilize the size of the emerging extended topological textures. The total winding number can be conserved by constraint. As a model for the chiral phase transition during the cooling phase after a hadronic collision this allows to investigate the interference of 'baryon-antibaryon' production with the developing disoriented aligned domains. The growth of angular correlations, condensate, average orientation is studied in dependence of texture size, quench rate, symmetry breaking. The classical dissipative dynamics determines the rate of energy emitted from the relaxing source for each component of the 3-vector field which provides a possible signature for domains of Disoriented Chiral Condensate. We find that the 'pions' are emitted in two distinct pulses; for sufficiently small lattice size the second one carries the DCC signal, but it is strongly suppressed as compared to simultaneous 'sigma'-meson emission. We compare the resulting anomalies in the distributions of DCC pions with probabilities derived within the commonly used coherent state formalism.Comment: 27 pages, 17 figures; several minor insertions in the text; two references adde