Correlations of chiral condensates and quark number densities with static quark sources

We investigate correlation functions of the Polyakov loop and static meson/diquark systems with the chiral condensate and the quark number density at finite temperature. In particular the latter observable can give insight in the mechanism of screening and string breaking at finite temperature. We use for our analysis gauge field configurations generated in 2+1 flavor QCD with an improved staggered fermion action with almost physical light quark masses and a physical value of the strange quark mass on lattices with temporal extent Nt=4 and 6.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, presented at the XXV International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, July 30 - August 4 2007, Regensburg, German

A History of Christian Publishing

This essay will address the histories of four major publishing companies in Grand Rapids: Zondervan, Baker, Eerdmans, and Kregel. These publishing companies, through their individual and interwoven histories have shaped and sustained the publishing industry in the Midwest, and Grand Rapids in particular. These publishing houses are significant to the history of books and publishing because, for roughly a century, these publishing houses have been producing Bibles and other evangelical materials that are educating people the world over, from the youngest Sunday school pupils to the oldest seminarian. Finally, the paper will discuss the impact these companies had collectively on the world of theological books and publishing, and will briefly touch on the state of each company toda

Cultural evolution and prosociality: widening the hypothesis space

Norenzayan and colleagues suggest that Big Gods can be replaced by Big Governments. We examine forms of social and self-monitoring and ritual practice that emerged in Classical China, heterarchical societies like those that emerged in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, and the contemporary Zapatista movement of Chiapas, and we recommend widening the hypothesis space to include these alternative forms of social organization

More about Vacuum Spacetimes with Toroidal Null Infinities

Recently Bernd Schmidt has given three explicit examples of spacetimes with toroidal null infinities. In this paper all solutions with a toroidal null infinity within Schmidt's metric ansatz (polarized Gowdy models) are constructed. The members of the family are determined by two smooth functions of one variable. For the unpolarized Gowdy models the same kind of analysis carries through.Comment: 5 page

Direct in-vial collection for liquid-scintillation assay of carbon-14 and tritium

Dissolution of biological materials combines the simplicity of oxygen-flask combustion with the reproducibility and purity of the final product, and convenience of direct in-vial collection of the sample by the sealed-tube method. It assures quantitative and reproducible recoveries

Cultures within a culture: the role of nationality and religion for environmentally significant behaviour in students living in university accommodation

Reducing global warming cannot be achieved through technological interventions alone; it requires a change in human behaviour. Households are a major contributor to carbon emissions, and thus play an integral part in strategies aiming at a more sustainable living. Behaviour changes in the household can make a significant contribution towards reducing CO2 emissions. However, people vary strongly in their household practices; differences in behaviour account for a substantial amount of variance in heat, electricity, and water consumption (Gill et al., 2010). What causes these differences? In addition to age and education, nationality and religion play a role: They impact on physical aspects of well-being and on environmental attitudes (e.g., Isaacs et al., 2010; Guth et al., 1995). The physical aspect such as perception of warmth is of importance insofar as that comfort practices could influence on environmentally significant behaviour. The Eurobarometer 295 (2008), a study on the attitudes of European citizens towards the environment, also revealed differences in attitudes and behaviour of Europeans towards the environment. Therefore, steps to promote more sustainable living have to be adapted to different cultures. Rising globalization brings about more heterogeneous populations, meaning that there will be increasingly "cultures within a culture." An important question is what happens to cultural differences in environmentally significant behaviour in such a setting. It could be that differences are diluted by a largely shared environment, or that they continue to persist, thanks to being deeply rooted in one’s origin and to the non-shared part of the environment. Our study: The aim of this study was to examine the variation in pro-environmental attitudes, behaviour, and values in members of a community now living in a very similar setting but coming from diverse backgrounds. If personal background accounts for differences in the variables at stake, then this has important implications, e.g. for all national interventions launched to change behaviour. Data was collected through a web-based survey. The survey was sent out to first-year students living in university accommodation at the University of Greenwich. Religion, strength of religion, nationality, years living in the UK, program studied, gender and age were recorded and the impact of these variables on a variety of measures such as pro- environmental attitudes, values, and actual behaviour was assessed. Results are currently being analysed but preliminary data suggest that sub-culture does play a role and thus needs to be considered when developing carbon reduction interventions. The implications of these findings for the University and national policies are discussed

Correlation functions of the energy-momentum tensor in SU(2) gauge theory at finite temperature

We calculate correlation functions of the energy-momentum tensor in the vicinity of the deconfinement phase transition of (3+1)-dimensional SU(2) gauge theory and discuss their critical behavior in the vicinity of the second order deconfinement transition. We show that correlation functions of the trace of the energy momentum tensor diverge uniformly at the critical point in proportion to the specific heat singularity. Correlation functions of the pressure, on the other hand, stay finite at the critical point. We discuss the consequences of these findings for the analysis of transport coefficients, in particular the bulk viscosity, in the vicinity of a second order phase transition point.Comment: 24 pages, 6 figure

Combustion method for assay of biological materials labeled with carbon-14 or tritium, or double-labeled

Dry catalytic combustion at high temperatures is used for assaying biological materials labeled carbon-14 and tritium, or double-labeled. A modified oxygen-flask technique is combined with standard vacuum-line techniques and includes convenience of direct in-vial collection of final combustion products, giving quantitative recovery of tritium and carbon-14