Jewish Progressives and the Ecumenical Dialogue

Some time ago I received a phone call from a young Jewish progressive thinker inviting me to give a short reflection at a gathering commemorating the eighth anniversary of the massacres at the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila in West Beirut, Lebanon. These massacres took place in September 1982, after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. and claimed at least 800 lives: the actual death toll may have been considerably higher. After our phone conversation, I took a walk and within minutes I was shaken by the prospect of addressing the enormity of Sabra and Shatila. If Palestinians were present, I wondered how they would feel about a Jew addressing their dead, about this atrocity which in reality and symbolically helps define their experience of the Jewish people

Resolving Small Business Disputes Through Mediation

A revolution is taking place  in the way Americans resolve their disputes. The so-called alternative methods of dispute resolution such as mediation and arbitration are increasingly becoming a primary choice for settling  conflict. A growing number of large American companies have begun to embrace mediation as an alternative to litigation. The article describes  the  mediation  process  in  the  small  business  context.  The  advantages   and disadvantages of mediation versus the judicial process are considered. Recommendations concerning the appropriate circumstances in which small business should use mediation to resolve conflict are provided. Also reported are the results of a survey of small business executives that measured their attitudes toward mediation and other forms of dispute resolution. The results suggest that most executives preferred mediation to other forms of dispute resolution. They believe mediation to be a cost-effective and efficient method of resolving conflicts with customers, employees, and suppliers

Precise Vacuum Stability Bound in the Standard Model

In the standard model, a lower bound to the Higgs mass (for a given top quark mass) exists if one requires that the standard model vacuum be stable. This bound is calculated as precisely as possible, including the most recent values of the gauge couplings, corrected two-loop beta functions and radiative corrections to the Higgs and top masses. In addition to being somewhat more precise, this work differs from previous calculations in that the bounds are given in terms of the poles of the Higgs and top quark propagators, rather than ''the MS-bar top quark mass''. This difference can be as large as 6-10 GeV for the top mass, which corresponds to as much as 15 GeV for the Higgs mass lower bound. Concentrating on the top quark mass region from 130 to 150 GeV, I find that for $\alpha_s=0.117$, $$m_H > 75 {\rm GeV} + 1.64 (m_t - 140 {\rm GeV}).$$ This result increases (decreases) by 3 GeV if the strong coupling decreases (increases) by 0.007, and is accurate to 2 GeV. If one allows for the standard model vacuum to be unstable, then weaker bounds can be obtained.Comment: 9 pages, WM-93-108, in Plain Tex, phyzzx macropackage added at the beginnin

Limit Theorems and Coexistence Probabilities for the Curie-Weiss Potts Model with an external field

The Curie-Weiss Potts model is a mean field version of the well-known Potts model. In this model, the critical line $\beta = \beta_c (h)$ is explicitly known and corresponds to a first order transition when $q > 2$. In the present paper we describe the fluctuations of the density vector in the whole domain $\beta \geqslant 0$ and $h \geqslant 0$, including the conditional fluctuations on the critical line and the non-Gaussian fluctuations at the extremity of the critical line. The probabilities of each of the two thermodynamically stable states on the critical line are also computed. Similar results are inferred for the Random-Cluster model on the complete graph.Comment: 17 page

General non-rotating perfect-fluid solution with an abelian spacelike C_3 including only one isometry

The general solution for non-rotating perfect-fluid spacetimes admitting one Killing vector and two conformal (non-isometric) Killing vectors spanning an abelian three-dimensional conformal algebra (C_3) acting on spacelike hypersurfaces is presented. It is of Petrov type D; some properties of the family such as matter contents are given. This family turns out to be an extension of a solution recently given in \cite{SeS} using completely different methods. The family contains Friedman-Lema\^{\i}tre-Robertson-Walker particular cases and could be useful as a test for the different FLRW perturbation schemes. There are two very interesting limiting cases, one with a non-abelian G_2 and another with an abelian G_2 acting non-orthogonally transitively on spacelike surfaces and with the fluid velocity non-orthogonal to the group orbits. No examples are known to the authors in these classes.Comment: Submitted to GRG, Latex fil

Cold-End Subsystem Testing for the Fission Power System Technology Demonstration Unit

The Fission Power System (FPS) Technology Demonstration Unit (TDU) consists of a pumped sodiumpotassium (NaK) loop that provides heat to a Stirling Power Conversion Unit (PCU), which converts some of that heat into electricity and rejects the waste heat to a pumped water loop. Each of the TDU subsystems is being tested independently prior to full system testing at the NASA Glenn Research Center. The pumped NaK loop is being tested at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center; the Stirling PCU and electrical controller are being tested by Sunpower Inc.; and the pumped water loop is being tested at Glenn. This paper describes cold-end subsystem setup and testing at Glenn. The TDU cold end has been assembled in Vacuum Facility 6 (VF 6) at Glenn, the same chamber that will be used for TDU testing. Cold-end testing in VF 6 will demonstrate functionality; validated coldend fill, drain, and emergency backup systems; and generated pump performance and system pressure drop data used to validate models. In addition, a low-cost proof-of concept radiator has been built and tested at Glenn, validating the design and demonstrating the feasibility of using low-cost metal radiators as an alternative to highcost composite radiators in an end-to-end TDU test

Controlling small hive beetles, Aethina tumida, in western honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies by trapping wandering beetle larvae

The small hive beetle (SHB, Aethina tumida) is an invasive honey bee pest. It has been introduced into many countries worldwide and it will continue to spread. The lifecycle of the SHB is divided between a feeding and reproduction phase inside honey bee colonies and a pupation phase in the soil, surrounding colonies. Once larvae have achieved their ideal weight, they leave the hive in search of suitable soil in which to pupate. Trapping larvae when they leave the hive could reduce the reproductive success of SHBs, as this would break their lifecycle. Therefore, we investigated the larvae containment rate of different trap designs. Dry and wet larvae were released into traps and left to wander for 12 h, after which we counted the larvae remaining in the trap. Similarly, we tested the permeability of different mesh sizes for dry and wet larvae. Finally, we investigated the speed dry larvae are capable of crawling, by recording the time it took them to crawl a known distance. Dry larvae were contained by all traps. While most designs were unable to contain wet larvae, a trap with walls of sandpaper was able to contain all larvae successfully. Larvae could not pass through a mesh size of 1 mm in dry or wet conditions. The mean wandering larvae speed observed was 0.42 cm/sc. We recommend the use of traps for wandering SHB larvae as a mitigative measure for new introductions and a control method for established populations.</p

Improving forest resources in Nepal

Deforestation and accompanying environmental deterioration is a threat to the economic growth and to the survival of the Himalayan kingdom of Nepal . There is need for a comprehensive forest rehabilitation program tailored to the different conditions of the Terai plain, Middle Hills and the Highland Himalaya regions of the country. The forest resources improvement program must evolve with community participation and must provide for the long- and short-term forest needs of the people. A program of this nature may incorporate the development of alternative sources of fuel to relieve the immediate pressure on Nepal's forest resources and to ameliorate, to some degree, the present energy crisis faced by the nation. Reforestation may be usefully integrated with controlled grazing to help meet fuelwood, fodder and forage demand. Changes in institutional organization and attitudes may be required to plan and implement an effective program to improve forest resources in Nepa