The meaning, experience and ecology of African Christian marriages and familial relationships: a phenomenological study at Makumira University College, Tanzania

Research on African Christian marriage and family life has lacked a critical focus on the experience and meaning of marriage between husbands and wives as couples. The intention of this phenomenological investigation is to enrich the international family therapy field\u27s understanding of the complexity and wider ecology (economic, religious, historical, feminist, educational) of African marriage and family life, specifically in the Christian population. Research took place at Makumira University College in Tanzania, a seminary of the Tumaini University system of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania, interviewing students, faculty and their spouses in a variety of formats (couple, individual, and focus group interviews). Economic and educational changes and above all religious beliefs were detailed as powerful mechanisms for ordering and re-ordering of local ethnic traditions as well as respondents\u27 self-understanding as wives and husbands and gender relations. Cultural practices such as parental choice of spouse, bridewealth customs, domestic abuse of women, and the legitimization of marriage through child-bearing are all undergoing transformation and in some cases rejection. The meaning of marriage as a relationship or union in one flesh between a husband and wife is taking priority over the expectations and obligations to the extended family, though duties and responsibilities to the wider family are still considered very important. Finally, this study identifies the feasibility and cultural relevancy of carrying out a marriage enrichment program tailored for Makumira University couples, with the intention of piloting such a program for use by Lutheran church leaders in the wider Tanzanian church

Dynamics of Spreading of Small Droplets of Chainlike Molecules on Surfaces

Dynamics of spreading of small droplets on surfaces has been studied by the molecular dynamics method. Simulations have been performed for mixtures of solvent and dimer, and solvent and tetramer droplets. For solvent particles and dimers, layering occurs leading to stepped droplet shapes. For tetramers such shapes occur for relatively deep and strong surface potentials only. For wider and more shallow potentials, more rapid spreading and rounded droplet shapes occur. These results are in accordance with experimental data on small non - volatile polymer droplets. PACS numbers: 68.10Gw, 05.70.Ln, 61.20.Ja, 68.45GdComment: to appear in Europhys. Letters (1994), Latex, 12 page

Enacted experiences: Analysing Drama in Entrepreneurship Training

This paper identifies and interprets enacted experiences in drama workshops organized as part of an entrepreneurship training programme. We argue that drama is an effective tool in entrepreneurship training programmes offered to practicing entrepreneurs. Drama exercises can contribute to creating, reinforcing or complementing different forms of entrepreneurial experience, which are here termed enacted experience. The results are encouraging for those who advocate using drama in training programmes for entrepreneurs. Drama sessions provide powerful experiences that may otherwise be out of reach of the participant. The paper contributes to the entrepreneurship training and entrepreneurial learning literatures by showing how enacted experiences in drama workshops are a form of experience that together with mastery, vicarious and social experience (Erikson, 2003) is connected to entrepreneurship development. Methodologically the paper illustrates how visual material can be applied in research.</p

Far-infrared spectra of lateral quantum dot molecules

We study effects of electron-electron interactions and confinement potential on the magneto-optical absorption spectrum in the far-infrared range of lateral quantum dot molecules. We calculate far-infrared (FIR) spectra for three different quantum dot molecule confinement potentials. We use accurate exact diagonalization technique for two interacting electrons and calculate dipole-transitions between two-body levels with perturbation theory. We conclude that the two-electron FIR spectra directly reflect the symmetry of the confinement potential and interactions cause only small shifts in the spectra. These predictions could be tested in experiments with nonparabolic quantum dots by changing the number of confined electrons. We also calculate FIR spectra for up to six noninteracting electrons and observe some additional features in the spectrum.Comment: For better quality Figs download manuscript from http://www.fyslab.hut.fi/~mma/FIR/Helle_qdmfir.ps.g

Circular dichroism of cholesteric polymers and the orbital angular momentum of light

We explore experimentally if the light's orbital angular momentum (OAM) interacts with chiral nematic polymer films. Specifically, we measure the circular dichroism of such a material using light beams with different OAM. We investigate the case of strongly focussed, non-paraxial light beams, where the spatial and polarization degrees of freedom are coupled. Within the experimental accuracy, we cannot find any influence of the OAM on the circular dichroism of the cholesteric polymer.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figure

Induced superconductivity in noncuprate layers of the Bi2_2Sr2_2CaCu2_2O8+δ_{8+\delta} high-temperature superconductor: Modeling of scanning tunneling spectra

We analyze how the coherence peaks observed in Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy (STS) of cuprate high temperature superconductors are transferred from the cuprate layer to the oxide layers adjacent to the STS microscope tip. For this purpose, we have carried out a realistic multiband calculation for the superconducting state of Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+\delta}$ (Bi2212) assuming a short range d-wave pairing interaction confined to the nearest-neighbor Cu $d_{x^2-y^2}$ orbitals. The resulting anomalous matrix elements of the Green's function allow us to monitor how pairing is then induced not only within the cuprate bilayer but also within and across other layers and sites. The symmetry properties of the various anomalous matrix elements and the related selection rules are delineated.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Origin of electron-hole asymmetry in the scanning tunneling spectrum of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δBi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O_{8+\delta}

We have developed a material specific theoretical framework for modelling scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) of high temperature superconducting materials in the normal as well as the superconducting state. Results for $Bi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O_{8+\delta}$ (Bi2212) show clearly that the tunneling process strongly modifies the STS spectrum from the local density of states (LDOS) of the $d_{x^2-y^2}$ orbital of Cu. The dominant tunneling channel to the surface Bi involves the $d_{x^2-y^2}$ orbitals of the four neighbouring Cu atoms. In accord with experimental observations, the computed spectrum displays a remarkable asymmetry between the processes of electron injection and extraction, which arises from contributions of Cu $d_{z^2}$ and other orbitals to the tunneling current.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, published in PR