Dark Energy and Right-Handed Neutrinos

We explore the possibility that a CP violating phase of the neutrino mass matrix is promoted to a pseudo-Goldstone-boson field and is identified as the quintessence field for Dark Energy. By requiring that the quintessence potential be calculable from a Lagrangian, and that the extreme flatness of the potential be stable under radiative corrections, we are led to an essentially unique model. Lepton number is violated only by Majorana masses of light, right-handed neutrinos, comparable to the Dirac masses that mix right- with left-handed neutrinos. We outline the rich and constrained neutrino phenomenology that results from this proposal.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure

New Zealand's Current Account Deficit: Analysis based on the Intertemporal Optimisation Approach

New Zealand's Current Account of the Balance of Payments has been persistently in deficit since the early 1970s and increased markedly during the late 1990s. Is this a cause for significant concern? This paper tackles this question by evaluating New Zealand's external solvency, the degree of optimality of the intertemporal consumption smoothing through its current account, and whether its international financial capital flows have been used in an optimal (consumption-smoothing) fashion. We carry out statistical tests in relation to external solvency. We also estimate a "benchmark" consumption-smoothing component for its current account based on an intertemporal optimisation model in order to carry out tests of the optimality of the size and volatility of the current account. We could not reject the hypotheses that New Zealand's current account was consistent with optimal smoothing, that the external solvency condition has been satisfied, and that there is "no excess volatility" in international financial capital flows.current account; intertemporal; consumption-smoothing; New Zealand

Color dipole cross section and inelastic structure function

Instead of starting from a theoretically motivated form of the color dipole cross section in the dipole picture of deep inelastic scattering, we start with a parametrization of the deep inelastic structure function for electromagnetic scattering with protons, and then extract the color dipole cross section. Using the parametrizations of $F_2(\xi=x \ {\rm or}\ W^2,Q^2)$ by Donnachie-Landshoff and Block et al., we find the dipole cross section from an approximate form of the presumed dipole cross section convoluted with the perturbative photon wave function for virtual photon splitting into a color dipole with massless quarks. The color dipole cross section determined this way reproduces the original structure function within about 10\% for $0.1$ GeV$^2\leq Q^2\leq 10$ GeV$^2$. We discuss the large and small form of the dipole cross section and compare with other parameterizations.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figure

Educators\u27 perceptions of the implementation process of a social skills/violence prevention curriculum: A qualitative study

Dropout rates, acts of aggression, depressed youth, and underachievement are difficulties schools are trying to alleviate (Digest of Educational Statistics, 2002; Reynolds, as cited in Dalley, 1993; Kessler, as cited in Neal, 2003; Poli et al., 2003). Because of these challenges, schools are seeking positive change that can address these issues. Researchers have found that successful solutions to these problems are multi-dimensional and comprehensive in approach (Elias, Zins, Graczyk, & Whispered, 2003; Eisenberg, Neumark-Sztainer & Perry, 2003). Such components as classroom meetings and social skills/problem solving skills training are important contributors to a comprehensive approach (Edwards & Mullis, 2004; Peterson, Pietrzak, & Speaker, 2998; Arriaza, 2004). This qualitative study consisted of 9 educators interviewed for the purpose of gathering their perceptions about the implementation process of Second Step at their 2 schools. Interviews lasted between 45 and 60 minutes each. The results found 8 interacting themes that affect the implementation process. These themes are: rationale, staff training, teacher ownership, teacher characteristics, administrative support, simultaneous changes, staff relationships, and time. Using Chen\u27s conceptual model of the implementation process, these themes fall into 3 domains (Chen, 1998). These domains are: Implementation System, Characteristics of the Implementer, and Setting Characteristics. In general, I found that in order to increase one\u27s chance of successful implementation of a social skills/violence prevention curriculum, these things need to be considered: (1) timing of the implementation, (2) administrative support available, (3) supportive peer staff training, (4) collaboration between program coordinators, and (5) regularly planned staff bonding activities to encourage trust and cooperation

Seminar in paraphilic disorders

This project provides curriculum materials for a graduate level seminar in paraphilic disorders as an Ed.S. research project. The rationale for developing such a curriculum is introduced and a review of supporting literature is included, detailing the definition, prevalence, and controversy surrounding paraphilic disorders. Literature regarding counselor education in paraphilic disorders and evidence for a gap in current counselor education in paraphilias are reviewed. The curriculum materials designed to meet this need are presented and discussed, as are the benefits and limitations of this curriculum

Artequakt: Generating tailored biographies from automatically annotated fragments from the web

The Artequakt project seeks to automatically generate narrativebiographies of artists from knowledge that has been extracted from the Web and maintained in a knowledge base. An overview of the system architecture is presented here and the three key components of that architecture are explained in detail, namely knowledge extraction, information management and biography construction. Conclusions are drawn from the initial experiences of the project and future progress is detailed