Three Urban Parishes: A Study of Sacred Space

Different but related streams of parish life are reflected in the material culture surrounding three Ukrainian Catholic congregations in Edmonton, Alberta. Variations in architecture, interior space and iconography show the impact of history and shifts in cultural symbolism, human imagination and tradition. Résumé La culture matérielle propre à trois congrégations catholiques ukrainiennes d'Edmonton, en Alberta, reflète des courants de vie paroissiale distincts mais apparentés. L'architecture, l'aménagement intérieur et l'iconographie ont subi des variantes qui soulignent l'importance de l'histoire et de l'évolution du symbolisme culturel, de l'imagination humaine et des traditions

Dying and Rising in the Kingdom of God: The Ritual Incarnation of the "Ultimate" in Eastern Christian Culture

This paper maps the rituals through ivhich devotees in Eastern Christian communities are initiated into the Kingdom of God. Its primary focus is the intimate relationship between the rituals surrounding dying, death, burial, and the memory of the dead, with the festive cycle of Holy Week and pascha (Easter), in which Christ's dying and death are contemplated. The paper argues that the mythic pattern of Holy Week and pascha structures and informs the meaning of dying and death for the devotees, the mourners, and the community. The mythopoetic character of both ritual cycles (Holy Week and pascha. and, the rites for the devotee) uses sacred word, object, and gesture to identify the devotee with the cosmic Christ. In this manner, the experience of death is wrested from chaos, and the devotee is initiated into a cosmos laden with sacred meaning. Résumé Cet article trace le tableau des différents rituels religieux destinés à révéler le royaume de Dieu aux adeptes des communautés chrétiennes orientales. L'auteur s'intéresse particulièrement au rapport étroit qui existe entre les rituels entourant la mort, l'inhumation, le culte des morts, et le cycle de fêtes de la semaine sainte et de la pascha (Pâques) qui commémorent la mort du Christ. D'après l'auteur, la semaine sainte et la pascha constituent un modèle mythique qui structure et traduit le sens de la mort pour les fidèles, pour ceux qui portent le deuil et pour la collectivité. Le caractère mythico-poétique des deux cycles rituels (semaine sainte et pascha ainsi que les rites observés par les fidèles) fait appel à la parole, à l'objet et au geste sacrés pour identifier l'adepte au Christ cosmique. C 'est ainsi que l'expérience de la mort échappe au chaos et que le fidèle est initié à un cosmos chargé d'une signification sacrée

Static and Dynamic Phases for Vortex Matter with Attractive Interactions

Exotic vortex states with long range attraction and short range repulsion have recently been proposed to arise in superconducting hybrid structures and multi-band superconductors. Using large scale simulations we examine the static and dynamic properties of such vortex states interacting with random and periodic pinning. In the absence of pinning this system does not form patterns but instead completely phase separates. When pinning is present there is a transition from inhomogeneous to homogeneous vortex configurations similar to a wetting phenomenon. Under an applied drive, a dynamical dewetting process can occur from a strongly pinned homogeneous state into pattern forming states. We show that a signature of the exotic vortex interactions under transport measurements is a robust double peak feature in the differential conductivity curves.Comment: 5 pages, 4 postscript figure

Probing Disordered Substrates by Imaging the Adsorbate in its Fluid Phase

Several recent imaging experiments access the equilibrium density profiles of interacting particles confined to a two-dimensional substrate. When these particles are in a fluid phase, we show that such data yields precise information regarding substrate disorder as reflected in one-point functions and two-point correlations of the fluid. Using Monte Carlo simulations and replica generalizations of liquid state theories, we extract unusual two-point correlations of time-averaged density inhomogeneities induced by disorder. Distribution functions such as these have not hitherto been measured but should be experimentally accessible.Comment: 10 pages revtex 4 figure

The prevalence of pathogenic Yersinia enterocolitica among diarrhea patients in Jos, Nigeria

One hundred and fifty (150) stool samples from diarrhoeic children and adults seeking for medical attention (including hospitalized patients) in Vom Christain Hospital (VCH), Mandela Clinic (MC) Vom and Dagott Family Health Clinic (DFHC) Vom were screened for Yersinia enterocolitica infection between August 2005 and August 2006. The isolation methods adopted were direct plating on MacConkey Agar (MCA), Deoxycholate Citrate Agar (DCA) and cold enrichment method using phosphate buffered saline prior to subculture onto selective solid culture media (Cefsulodin Irgasan Novobiocin [CIN] agar). Out of the 150 samples screened, 6 (15%) were positive. The incidence of the infection was highest among those aged 1 - 10 years 3 (7.5%), followed by 21 - 31 years 2 (5%) and 11 - 20 years 1 (2.5%). Serotyped and biotyped, pathogenic Y. enterocolitica (2/O: 9. 4/O: 9) were susceptible to ciprofloxin, floxavid, streptomycin and tetracycline

STM Imaging of Flux Line Arrangements in the Peak Effect Regime

We present the results of a study of vortex arrangements in the peak-effect regime of 2H-NbSe_2 by scanning tunneling microscopy. By slowly increasing the temperature in a constant magnetic field, we observed a sharp transition from collective vortex motion to positional fluctuations of individual vortices at the temperature which coincides with the onset of the peak effect in ac-susceptibility. We conclude that the peak effect is a disorder driven transition, with the pinning energy winning from the elastic energy.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures included Manuscript has been submitte

Interaction between superconducting vortices and Bloch wall in ferrite garnet film

Interaction between a Bloch wall in a ferrite-garnet film and a vortex in a superconductor is analyzed in the London approximation. Equilibrium distribution of vortices formed around the Bloch wall is calculated. The results agree quantitatively with magneto-optical experiment where an in-plane magnetized ferrite-garnet film placed on top of NbSe2 superconductor allows observation of individual vortices. In particular, our model can reproduce a counter-intuitive attraction observed between vortices and a Bloch wall having the opposite polarity. It is explained by magnetic charges appearing due to discontinuity of the in-plane magnetization across the wall.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Dendritic flux patterns in MgB2 films

Magneto-opitcal studies of a c-oriented epitaxial MgB2 film with critical current density 10^7 A/cm^2 demonstrate a breakdown of the critical state at temperatures below 10 K [cond-mat/0104113]. Instead of conventional uniform and gradual flux penetration in an applied magnetic field, we observe an abrupt invasion of complex dendritic structures. When the applied field subsequently decreases, similar dendritic structures of the return flux penetrate the film. The static and dynamic properties of the dendrites are discussed.Comment: Accepted to Supercond. Sci. Techno

Low field vortex matter in YBCO: an atomic beam magnetic resonance study

We report measurements of the low field structure of the magnetic vortex lattice in an untwinned YBCO single-crystal platelet. Measurements were carried out using a novel atomic beam magnetic resonance (ABMR) technique. For a 10.7 G field applied parallel to the c-axis of the sample, we find a triangular lattice with orientational order extending across the entire sample. We find the triangular lattice to be weakly distorted by the a-b anisotropy of the material and measure a distortion factor, f = 1.16. Model-experiment comparisons determine a penetration depth, lambda_ab = 140 (+-20) nm. The paper includes the first detailed description of the ABMR technique. We discuss both technical details of the experiment and the modeling used to interpret the measurements.Comment: 44 pages, 13 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. B Revision includes Postscript wrapped figures + minor typo

Local threshold field for dendritic instability in superconducting MgB2 films

Using magneto-optical imaging the phenomenon of dendritic flux penetration in superconducting films was studied. Flux dendrites were abruptly formed in a 300 nm thick film of MgB2 by applying a perpendicular magnetic field. Detailed measurements of flux density distributions show that there exists a local threshold field controlling the nucleation and termination of the dendritic growth. At 4 K the local threshold field is close to 12 mT in this sample, where the critical current density is 10^7 A/cm^2. The dendritic instability in thin films is believed to be of thermo-magnetic origin, but the existence of a local threshold field, and its small value are features that distinctly contrast the thermo-magnetic instability (flux jumps) in bulk superconductors.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.