Clusters and Fluctuations at Mean-Field Critical Points and Spinodals

We show that the structure of the fluctuations close to spinodals and mean-field critical points is qualitatively different than the structure close to non-mean-field critical points. This difference has important implications for many areas including the formation of glasses in supercooled liquids. In particular, the divergence of the measured static structure function in near-mean-field systems close to the glass transition is suppressed relative to the mean-field prediction in systems for which a spatial symmetry is broken.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figur

Judgements of Solomon: anxieties and defences of social workers involved in care proceedings

Evidence from focus group discussions with social workers in child care and child protection was collected for a research project exploring decision-making in care proceedings and seeking a better understanding of the causes of delay in the process. Here this material is used to examine social workers’ feelings about their work and to explore the anxieties they expressed. Isabel Menzies’s work on containing anxiety in institutions is used to provide a conceptual framework for thinking about the ways in which individuals’ unconscious defences against anxiety may affect the structure, policies and practices of the organization in which they work. It is suggested that this dimension needs to be taken into account in understanding difficulties which arise in putting policy into practice

Observation of enhanced transmission for s-polarized light through a subwavelength slit

Enhanced optical transmission (EOT) through subwavelength apertures is usually obtained for p-polarized light. The present study experimentally investigates EOT for s-polarized light. A subwavelength slit surrounded on each side by periodic grooves has been fabricated in a gold film and covered by a thin dielectric layer. The excitation of s-polarized dielectric waveguide modes inside the dielectric film strongly increases the s-polarized transmission. Transmission measurements are compared with a coupled mode model and show good qualitative agreement. Adding a waveguide can improve light transmission through subwavelength apertures, as both s and p-polarization can be efficiently transmitted.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Applied Physics Letter

Variations in Parent and Teacher Ratings of Internalizing, Externalizing, Adaptive Skills, and Behavioral Symptoms in Children with Selective Mutism

Selective mutism (SM) is an anxiety disorder that impacts communication. Children with SM present concerns to parents and teachers as they consistently do not speak in situations where there is an expectation to speak, such as at school, but speak in other settings where they feel more comfortable, such as at home. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between parents’ and teachers’ perceptions of children with SM on behavioral rating scales and language measures. Forty-two children (22 boys and 20 girls, ranging from 2.4 to 13.8 years, with a mean age of 7.1 years) took part in this study. Parents and teachers completed the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC-3) measuring internalizing behaviors, externalizing behaviors, adaptive skills, and behavioral symptoms. Frequency of speaking and language abilities were also measured. Parents and teachers both identified withdrawal as the most prominent feature of SM but parents saw children as significantly more withdrawn than did their teachers. Both rated children similarly at-risk on scales of functional communication and social skills. Higher adaptive skills (including functional communication and social skills) were positively correlated with vocabulary, narrative language, and auditory serial memory according to teachers. Parent and teacher rating scales provide valuable information for diagnosis and progress monitoring. Children with SM can benefit from mental health practitioners who can identify and enhance their emotional well-being

Variations in Parent and Teacher Ratings of Internalizing, Externalizing, Adaptive Skills, and Behavioral Symptoms in Children with Selective Mutism

Selective mutism (SM) is an anxiety disorder that impacts communication. Children with SM present concerns to parents and teachers as they consistently do not speak in situations where there is an expectation to speak, such as at school, but speak in other settings where they feel more comfortable, such as at home. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between parents’ and teachers’ perceptions of children with SM on behavioral rating scales and language measures. Forty-two children (22 boys and 20 girls, ranging from 2.4 to 13.8 years, with a mean age of 7.1 years) took part in this study. Parents and teachers completed the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC-3) measuring internalizing behaviors, externalizing behaviors, adaptive skills, and behavioral symptoms. Frequency of speaking and language abilities were also measured. Parents and teachers both identified withdrawal as the most prominent feature of SM but parents saw children as significantly more withdrawn than did their teachers. Both rated children similarly at-risk on scales of functional communication and social skills. Higher adaptive skills (including functional communication and social skills) were positively correlated with vocabulary, narrative language, and auditory serial memory according to teachers. Parent and teacher rating scales provide valuable information for diagnosis and progress monitoring. Children with SM can benefit from mental health practitioners who can identify and enhance their emotional well-being

Impact of controlled neonicotinoid exposure on bumblebees in a realistic field setting

1. Pesticide exposure has been implicated as a contributor to insect pollinator declines. In social bees, which are crucial pollination service providers, the effect of low-level chronic exposure is typically non-lethal leading researchers to consider whether exposure induces sub-lethal effects on behaviour and whether such impairment can affect colony development. 2. Studies under laboratory conditions can control levels of pesticide exposure and elucidate causative effects, but are often criticised for being unrealistic. In contrast, field studies can monitor bee responses under a more realistic pesticide exposure landscape; yet typically such findings are limited to correlative results, and can lack true controls or sufficient replication. We attempt to bridge this gap by exposing bumblebees to known amounts of pesticides when colonies are placed in the field. 3. Using 20 bumblebee colonies, we assess the consequences of exposure to the neonicotinoid clothianidin, provided in sucrose at a concentration of five parts per billion, over five weeks. We monitored foraging patterns and pollen collecting performance from 3282 bouts using either a non-invasive photographic assessment, or by extracting the pollen from returning foragers. We also conducted a full colony census at the beginning and end of the experiment. 4. In contrast to studies on other neonicotinoids, showing clear impairment to foraging behaviours, we detected only subtle changes to patterns of foraging activity and pollen foraging during the course of the experiment. However, our colony census measures showed a more pronounced effect of exposure, with fewer adult workers and sexuals in treated colonies after five weeks. 5. Synthesis and applications. Pesticide induced impairments on colony development and foraging could impact on the pollination service that bees provide. Therefore our findings, that bees show subtle changes in foraging behaviour and reductions in colony size after exposure to a common pesticide, has important implications and helps to inform the debate over whether the benefits of systemic pesticide application to flowering crops outweigh the costs. We propose that our methodology is an important advance to previous semi-field methods and should be considered when considering improvements to current ecotoxicological guidelines for pesticide risk assessment

Nucleation in Systems with Elastic Forces

Systems with long-range interactions when quenced into a metastable state near the pseudo-spinodal exhibit nucleation processes that are quite different from the classical nucleation seen near the coexistence curve. In systems with long-range elastic forces the description of the nucleation process can be quite subtle due to the presence of bulk/interface elastic compatibility constraints. We analyze the nucleation process in a simple 2d model with elastic forces and show that the nucleation process generates critical droplets with a different structure than the stable phase. This has implications for nucleation in many crystal-crystal transitions and the structure of the final state

The Social Relations Approach, empowerment and women factory workers in Malaysia

This article discusses the empowerment of women factory workers in Malaysia through the lens of Kabeer’s Social Relations Approach. The approach offers an institutional analysis of how gender inequality is produced and calls for the overall terms of exchange and cooperation to be shifted in women’s favour. Its application shows that Malaysian women factory workers face significant challenges, due to the character of institutions, and women’s difficulties in adopting and internalising the notion of ‘empowerment’

Two dimensional self-avoiding walk with hydrogen-like bonding: Phase diagram and critical behaviour

The phase diagram for a two-dimensional self-avoiding walk model on the square lattice incorporating attractive short-ranged interactions between parallel sections of walk is derived using numerical transfer matrix techniques. The model displays a collapse transition. In contrast to the standard $\theta$-point model, the transition is first order. The phase diagram in the full fugacity-temperature plane displays an additional transition line, when compared to the $\theta$-point model, as well as a critical transition at finite temperature in the hamiltonian walk limit.Comment: 22 pages, 13 figures. To appear in Journal of Physics