Ground State of a Spin System with Two- and Four-spin Exchange Interactions on the Triangular Lattice

We study a spin system with both two- and four-spin exchange interactions on the triangular lattice as a possible model for the nuclear magnetism of solid $^3$He layers adsorbed on grafoil. The ground state is analyzed by the use of the mean-field approximation. It is shown that the four-sublattice state is favored by introduction of the four-spin exchange interaction. A possible phase transition at a finite temperature into a phase with the scalar chirality is predicted. Application of a magnetic field is shown to cause a variety of phase transitions.Comment: 5 pages, Revte

Mismeasurement of the CPI

In this paper, we investigate several key problems in Japanese economic statistics. We use CPI mismeasurements and biases as an example to explore the roots of the problems and also to offer guidelines for improvements. We emphasize 3 major shortcomings shared by many official statistics in Japan: (1) long delays in adjustments, (2) lack of proper coordination, and 3) insufficient information disclosure. In the analysis of CPI bias, we limit our focus to potential biases due to aggregation, survey methodology and sample selection procedures. We estimate that, in recent years, the commodity CPI inflation rate is biased upward by at least 0.5% per year, even if we assume away the potential bias associated with the quality adjustment, delay in incorporating changes in consumption basket, and other important unresolved problems.

Men Who Stop Caring: The Exit of Men from Caring Occupations

In recent years, initiatives have been taken to attract more men into caring occupations. However, there has been much less focus on retaining these new male workers. This article builds on qualitative interviews with 11 Danish men who after working in the caring sector decided to leave for other occupations. A factor often presented as influential for the men’s exit concerns the social working environment. In the interviews, the men discuss the pressure to assimilate to the existing and established female-dominated culture. They feel excluded and socially isolated. Several of them have been directly criticized or disqualified as not being “real” men by their female colleagues. As a result of a growing bureaucratic demand for control and registration of work procedures, several men feel that they do not have adequate resources and time to provide the level of care that is needed. They become disillusioned and frustrated and choose to seek employment elsewhere. Some men cannot come to terms with close physical contact and “smells,” for example, changing diapers on infants or bathing old people. They cannot handle the thought of having their intentions misinterpreted, for example, when playing and being physical with children, and being potentially seen as sexually abhorrent. Finally, some men never intended to remain permanently in caring occupations. Their exit is driven by an ambition to pursue a career in another field or at what they view as a more challenging career level

The collaboration of James Mutch and Franz Boas, 1883-1922

James Mutch, baleinier et gérant du petit port baleinier écossais de Kekerten, situé dans le chenal de Cumberland, avait apporté son aide à Franz Boas lorsque celui-ci effectuait son étude de terrain de la culture inuit entre 1883 et 1884. Par la suite, les deux hommes entretinrent une abondante correspondance, qui dura plus de 30 ans. À la suggestion de Boas, Mutch rassembla trois collections de matériel ethnographique pour l’American Museum of Natural History, qui permirent à Boas de publier deux ouvrages majeurs sur la culture matérielle et intellectuelle des Inuit sans avoir à s’aventurer de nouveau dans le Nord. La contribution de Mutch à notre connaissance de la culture inuit n’a jamais été décrite et, donc, n’a jamais été reconnue.James Mutch, whaler and manager of the Scottish whaling station at Kekerten in Cumberland Sound, assisted Franz Boas in his field study of Inuit culture from 1883 to 1884. Subsequently, the two men carried out an extensive correspondence, lasting over thirty years. At Boas invitation, Mutch made three collections of ethnographic material for the American Museum of Natural History, which allowed Boas to publish two major works on Inuit material and intellectual culture without venturing north again. Mutch’s contribution to our knowledge of Inuit culture has never been described and has therefore gone unrecognised