Keldysh field theory for nonequilibrium condensation in a parametrically pumped polariton system

We develop a quantum field theory for parametrically pumped polaritons using Keldysh Green's function techniques. By considering the mean-field and Gaussian fluctuations, we find that the low energy physics of the highly non-equilibrium phase transition to the optical parametric oscillator regime is in many ways similar to equilibrium condensation. In particular, we show that this phase transition can be associated with an effective chemical potential, at which the system's bosonic distribution function diverges, and an effective temperature. As in equilibrium systems, the transition is achieved by tuning this effective chemical potential to the energy of the lowest normal mode. Since the occupations of the modes are available, we determine experimentally observable properties, such as the luminescence and absorption spectra.Comment: 16 pages, 14 figure

Secret objectives: promoting inquiry and tackling preconceptions in teaching laboratories

In its most general form, a `secret objective' is any inconsistency between the experimental reality and the information provided to students prior to starting work on an experiment. Students are challenged to identify the secret objectives and then given freedom to explore and understand the experiment, thus encouraging and facilitating genuine inquiry elements in introductory laboratory courses. Damping of a simple pendulum is used as a concrete example to demonstrate how secret objectives can be included. We also discuss the implications of the secret objectives method and how this can provide a link between the concepts of problem based learning and inquiry style labs

Evaluation of Stem-Loop Reverse Transcription and Poly-A Tail Extension in MicroRNA Analysis of Body Fluids

MicroRNA has been demonstrated to be a viable tool for body fluid identification purposes in forensic casework. Stem-loop reverse transcription (slRT) is regularly used for cDNA synthesis from mature miRNA, along with poly-A tail extension. Both have been used in a forensic context, but no direct comparison has been carried out. It has also not been shown whether poly-A tail extension can be used upon DNA extracts, as previously shown with slRT. Blood and saliva samples were collected and underwent DNA extraction with or without on-column DNA digestion. All samples were then aliquoted and underwent slRT and poly-A tail extension separately. qPCR was then conducted targeting microRNA markers hsa-miR-451 and hsa-miR-205. It was shown that the DNA digestion step did not affect the ability to differentiate between blood and saliva. It was also shown that this differentiation was possible using poly-A tail extension, and that poly-A tail extension exhibited more amplification than slRT. So whilst the choice of slRT and poly-A tail extension for the purpose of forensic body fluid identification is not critical, it may be best to use poly-A tail extension, particularly where there are low traces of sample

Decolonising Québec: Discursive Strategies in Michel Tremblay’s Mistero buffo

Decolonising Québec : Discursive Strategies in Michel Tremblay 's Mistero buffo — During the 1960s and 1970s the concept of decolonisation was taken up by many Québécois intellectuals in their bid to promote the nationalist cause. Drawing on the theories of Albert Memmi and Frantz Fanon, such writers denounced what they regarded as the political, economic and cultural dependence of Québec. This article examines the way in which the topos of colonisation that permeated the social discourse of the period affected the translation and reception of Michel Tremblay's joual version of Mistero buffo. It seeks to demonstrate that Dario Fo's play has been transformed into a vehicle for challenging the perceived cultural imperialism of France and for asserting the importance of secularisation in the movement to "décolonise" Québec.Décoloniser le Québec : stratégies discursives dans le Mistero buffo de Michel Tremblay — L'un des procédés utilisés par un certain nombre d'intellectuels québécois des années 1960 et 1970 dans leurs efforts de mise en valeur de la cause nationaliste consista à exploiter la notion de décolonisation. S'inspirant des théories d'Albert Memmi et de Frantz Fanon, ces auteurs dénonçaient ce qui leur apparaissait comme un état de dépendance à la fois politique, économique et culturelle du Québec. Cet article analyse comment le topos de la colonisation qui imprègne le discours social de l'époque est intervenu au niveau de la traduction et de la réception de la version en joual de Mistero buffo fournie par Michel Tremblay. Il cherche également à démontrer que l'on a fait de la pièce de Dario Fo un instrument de remise en question de ce que l'on percevait comme une forme d'impérialisme culturel de la part de la France en même temps qu'un moyen d'affirmer l'importance de la phase de sécularisation qu'avait connue le Québec dans le mouvement de « décolonisation » où il était engagé

It may be time to revisit the old idea of moving the seat of British government out of London

London continues to dominate British public life, with political decision-making centralised to an almost unbelievable degree. Previous reformers have posited separating the financial and political capitals of the UK, by moving the political element elsewhere, with the Yorkshire moors even being suggested. James Dunnett argues that it may be time to revisit that radical proposal

Conservation or Change for Works of the Modern Movement

The Modern Movement in architecture, in so far as any such movement can be defined, was predicated on the idea that architecture had to change to reflect the radical technological advances that had occurred during the century preceding its formulation, and also to reflect the changing social needs that those advances had generated. Architecture, it was felt, had ossified and lost vitality as a result of not recognizing those changes. A century has now passed since the Modern Movement first formulated this program, and technical advances and the social changes they induce have of course by no means ceased, rather they have accelerated. So, it seems legitimate to say that a technologically – and socially – determined architecture should reflect these further advances and changes. The evolution continues. But does that mean that each Modern Movement building created at a particular point in that evolution has in itself to continue to change in order to “catch up” with the evolution subsequent to its creation? It is a question that has importance when it comes to considering the conservation of Modern Movement architecture. It is an assertion that would ignore the formal element in architecture

Carnosine metabolism and function in the thoroughbred horse

Thoroughbred horseracing involves high-intensity exercise characterized by the production and accumulation of hydrogen (H+) ions within the skeletal muscles. Without a system for maintaining acid-base balance the consequential accumulation of H+ ions within the working muscles would produce a rapid decline in intra-cellular pH with a concomitant impairment of the contractile process. Carnosine (ß-alanyl-L-histidine, pKa 6.83) occurs at high concentration in equine muscle where it functions as an effective H+ ion buffer at physiological pH. High-performance liquid chromatography analytical methods were developed for carnosine and used to investigate its distribution and metabolism in equine fluids and tissues, with emphasis on type 1, IIA and IIB muscle fibres. Foals and yearlings had significantly lower plasma carnosine concentrations than older horses. Plasma carnosine concentration showed little change during normal feeding and high-intensity exercise, however, episodes of equine exertional rhabdomyolysis produced large increases. Carnosine concentrations in tissues, such as the heart, liver and intestine were 10 to 100-fold lower than in skeletal muscle. Carnosine displayed a heterogeneous distribution within skeletal muscle. Its concentration in type IIA and 1113fi bres was approximately 5-fold higher than in type I fibres. Extensive, partly anaerobic training produced a 2-fold increase in the carnosine concentration in type IIA fibres, and an increase, although non-significant, in type I and IIB fibres. Thirty days of dietary ß-alanine and histidine supplementation produced an adaptive increase in ß-alanine and histidine bioavailability, and significant increases in the carnosine concentration in type IIA and IIB fibres. A greater skeletal muscle carnosine concentration via training and/or ß-alanine and histidine supplementation would produce a corresponding increase in H+ ion buffering capacity, which may reduce the rate of metabolic acidosis during high-intensity exercise, and possibly delay the subsequent onset of localized muscle fatigue

The Transformed Consumer: collective practices and identity work in an emotional community

This interpretive consumer research study interrogates the idea that people turn to consumption as a means of self-determination. Proceeding from the understanding that the consumer enacts the development of their identity within the marketplace, it takes as its subject those in transition. Its context is a support group community of people brought together by an illness - multiple myeloma. Here, through a phenomenological approach designed to explore the lived experience of illness, the thesis discovers community to be the enabling context for the consumer’s negotiation of both selfhood and the market. Conclusions are drawn about the incremental, complex nature of identity work, and the collective practices that empower it. It is found that the marketplace requires significant mediation, but that the social resources of the community can equip the consumer to navigate its challenges. This transformation is manifested in the newly-diagnosed patient’s journey from dislocation and passivity to the empowered status of ‘skilled consumer’. The importance of the often-overlooked emotional texture of exchange within consumption communities is highlighted. In conclusion, it is offered that this study extends the concept of communities of practice into the field of consumption