Spiritual growth through authentic worship

Frequent sharing of the Eucharist guarantees God\u27s grace for us.’ While this slogan which appears at a recent First Holy Communion for children has merit, it calls for deeper reflection. The truth is that years of mechanistic responses at Mass can set in place a spiritual lethargy that drains an enthusiasm to link the Eucharist to life in the real world. Of particular interest for his paper is the Sign of Peace and Presentation of Gifts. In Sacramentum Caritatis, Pope Benedict XVI notes the great value of the Sign of Peace especially in a world fraught with fear and conflict. However, he urges restraint in the liturgical exchange of peace lest it becomes a ‘certain distraction.’ To that end he has asked ‘the competent curial offices to study the possibility of moving the sign of peace to another place, such as before the presentation of gifts to the altar.’ The proposal to link the two activities is noteworthy in view of their potential to promote spiritual growth and Jesus\u27 teaching in Matthew 5:23-24, which the Pope cites. This short paper ponders on the reapplication of Amos 5:21-24 by Jesus in Matthew 5:23-24. It closes with a reflection on Karl Rahner\u27s insight on the inseparable bond between our liturgical life and life in the real world

A Hybrid Quantum Encoding Algorithm of Vector Quantization for Image Compression

Many classical encoding algorithms of Vector Quantization (VQ) of image compression that can obtain global optimal solution have computational complexity O(N). A pure quantum VQ encoding algorithm with probability of success near 100% has been proposed, that performs operations 45sqrt(N) times approximately. In this paper, a hybrid quantum VQ encoding algorithm between classical method and quantum algorithm is presented. The number of its operations is less than sqrt(N) for most images, and it is more efficient than the pure quantum algorithm. Key Words: Vector Quantization, Grover's Algorithm, Image Compression, Quantum AlgorithmComment: Modify on June 21. 10pages, 3 figure

Financial Frictions and Credit Spreads

This paper uses the credit-friction model developed by Curdia and Woodford, in a series of papers, as the basis for attempting to mimic the behavior of credit spreads in moderate as well as crisis times. We are able to generate movements in representative credit spreads that are, at times, both sharp and volatile. We then study the impact of quantitative easing and credit easing. Credit easing is found to reduce spreads, unlike quantitative easing, which has opposite effects. The relative advantage of credit easing becomes even clearer when we allow borrowers to default on their loans. Since increases in default offset the beneficial effects of credit easing on spreads, the policy implication is that, in times of financial stress, the central bank should be aggressive when applying credit easing policies.Credit easing, credit spread, financial friction, quantitative easing.

Normal families and fixed points of iterates

Let F be a family of holomorphic functions and let K be a constant less than 4. Suppose that for all f in F the second iterate of f does not have fixed points for which the modulus of the multiplier is greater than K. We show that then F is normal. This is deduced from a result about the multipliers of iterated polynomials.Comment: 5 page

Blending and shaking : Chinese students’ perceptions of blended learning in a hospitality and tourism course

Best Refereed Paper Award of the conferenceRefereed conference paper2007-2008 > Academic research: refereed > Refereed conference paperOther VersionPublishe

Condition monitoring of an advanced gas-cooled nuclear reactor core

A critical component of an advanced gas-cooled reactor station is the graphite core. As a station ages, the graphite bricks that comprise the core can distort and may eventually crack. Since the core cannot be replaced, the core integrity ultimately determines the station life. Monitoring these distortions is usually restricted to the routine outages, which occur every few years, as this is the only time that the reactor core can be accessed by external sensing equipment. This paper presents a monitoring module based on model-based techniques using measurements obtained during the refuelling process. A fault detection and isolation filter based on unknown input observer techniques is developed. The role of this filter is to estimate the friction force produced by the interaction between the wall of the fuel channel and the fuel assembly supporting brushes. This allows an estimate to be made of the shape of the graphite bricks that comprise the core and, therefore, to monitor any distortion on them