The brachiopod fold: a neglected body plan hypothesis

Attention is drawn to Nielsen's radical body plan concept, here named the 'brachiopod fold hypothesis', under which brachiopods and phoronids are recognized to be transversely folded across the ontogenetic anterior–posterior axis so that, to make useful comparisons with other phyla, these organisms must be conceptually unfolded. Under the hypothesis brachiopod brachial and pedicle shell valves are respectively 'anterior' and 'posterior' rather than 'dorsal' and 'ventral' as traditionally described. The hypothesis makes sense of the symmetry axes of the brachiopod shell, is consistent with various indications from fossil and Recent brachiopods, and gives rise to predicted patterns of axis–determining gene expression that differ from those obtaining under the traditional view of the body plan, whilst the variety of folding movements in different lineages implies that superficially dissimilar morphogenetic folds may be fundamentally homologous. Convergent folding patterns are noted in some other organisms. A previous conjecture that inarticulate linguloid brachiopods were derived from halkieriid–like ancestors is elaborated with proposals that recognize possible functional continuities of coelomic and marginal sclerite functions, and it is noted that an ancestrally facultative fold could have become incorporated by genetic assimilation into the brachiopod developmental program. An experimental approach is outlined to test the possibility that some members of the 'small shelly fauna' may have been members of the halkieriid–like brachiopod stem lineage and it is also suggested that buoyancy modification may have been an important function of mineralization amongst Lower Cambrian floaters and swimmers, since negative buoyancy would facilitate access to the benthic niche

Gauging Away the Strong CP Problem

We propose a new solution to the strong-CP problem. It involves the existence of an unbroken gauged $U(1)_X$ symmetry whose gauge boson gets a Stuckelberg mass term by combining with a pseudoscalar field $\eta (x)$. The latter has axion-like couplings to $F_{QCD}\wedge F_{QCD}$ so that the theta parameter may be gauged away by a $U(1)_X$ gauge transformation. This system leads to mixed gauge anomalies and we argue that they are cancelled by the addition of an appropriate Wess-Zumino term, so that no SM fermions need to be charged under $U(1)_X$. We discuss scenarios in which the above set of fields and couplings appear. The mechanism is quite generic, but a natural possibility is that the the $U(1)_X$ symmetry arises from bulk gauge bosons in theories with extra dimensions or string models. We show that in certain D-brane Type-II string models (with antisymmetric tensor field strength fluxes) higher dimensional Chern-Simons couplings give rise to the required D=4 Wess-Zumino terms upon compactification. In one of the possible string realizations of the mechanism the $U(1)_X$ gauge boson comes from the Kaluza-Klein reduction of the eleven-dimensional metric in M-theory.Comment: 21 pages, latex, one eps figure; v2 improved discussio

Kaon Electromagnetic Production on Nuclei

The formation and excitation of hypernuclei through kaon photoproduction is reviewed. Basic features of the production process are emphasized. The possibility of extracting new information on hypernuclear structure and on the wave function of the bound $\Lambda$ is discussed. New results are presented for the quasifree production process $A(\gamma, K \Lambda)B$. Observables of this reaction are shown to be sensitive to the $\Lambda$-nucleus final state interaction.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures. Invited talk given at the International Conference on Hypernuclear and Strange Particle Physics (HYP97), Brookhaven National Laboratory, USA, October 13-18, 1997. To be published in Nucl. Phys.

Mechanical versus thermodynamical melting in pressure-induced amorphization: the role of defects

We study numerically an atomistic model which is shown to exhibit a one--step crystal--to--amorphous transition upon decompression. The amorphous phase cannot be distinguished from the one obtained by quenching from the melt. For a perfectly crystalline starting sample, the transition occurs at a pressure at which a shear phonon mode destabilizes, and triggers a cascade process leading to the amorphous state. When defects are present, the nucleation barrier is greatly reduced and the transformation occurs very close to the extrapolation of the melting line to low temperatures. In this last case, the transition is not anticipated by the softening of any phonon mode. Our observations reconcile different claims in the literature about the underlying mechanism of pressure amorphization.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure

The Impact of Interorganizational Imitation on New Venture International Entry and Performance

We examine the impact of interorganizational imitation on new venture international entry and subsequent performance. Using a sample of 150 U.S.-based publicly held new ventures, we find that new venture international entry is in part an imitative response to the internationalization of other firms in the venture\u27s home country industry and/or subsets of firms with certain traits or outcomes. We also find that interorganizational imitation moderates the relationship between new venture international entry and profitability, but not the relationship between new venture international entry and sales growth. These findings contribute to the growing body of literature on new venture internationalization

Motivation as a predictor of outcomes in school-based humanistic counselling

Recent years have seen a growth in the provision of counselling within UK secondary schools, and research indicates that it is associated with significant reductions in psychological distress. However, little is known about the moderators and mediators of positive therapeutic benefit. In the field of adult mental health, motivation has been found to be one of the strongest predictors of therapeutic outcomes, and it was hypothesised that this may also be a predictor of outcomes for young people in school-based counselling services. To assess the relationship between young people’s motivation for counselling and its effectiveness within a secondary school setting. Eighty-one young people (12 - 17 years old) who attended school-based humanistic counselling services in Scotland. Clients completed a measure of motivation for counselling at the commencement of their therapeutic work and a measure of psychological wellbeing at the commencement and termination of counselling. Motivation for counselling was not found to be significantly related to outcomes. The results indicate that the association between motivation and outcomes may be weaker in young people as compared with adults. However, a number of design factors may also account for the non-significant findings: insufficient participants, marginal reliability of the motivation measure and social desirability effects

Young people, crime and school exclusion: a case of some surprises

During the 1990s the number of young people being permanently excluded from schools in England and Wales increased dramatically from 2,910 (1990/91) to a peak of 12,700 (1996/97). Coinciding with this rise was a resurgence of the debate centring on lawless and delinquent youth. With the publication of Young People and Crime (Graham and Bowling 1995) and Misspent Youth (Audit Commission 1996) the 'common sense assumption' that exclusion from school inexorably promoted crime received wide support, with the school excludee portrayed as another latter day 'folk devil'. This article explores the link between school exclusion and juvenile crime, and offers some key findings from a research study undertaken with 56 young people who had experience of being excluded from school. Self-report interview questions reveal that whilst 40 of the young people had offended, 90% (36) reported that the onset of their offending commenced prior to their first exclusion. Moreover, 50 (89.2% of the total number of young people in the sample), stated that they were no more likely to offend subsequent to being excluded and 31 (55.4%) stated that they were less likely to offend during their exclusion period. Often, this was because on being excluded, they were 'grounded' by their parents

Fermion Masses and Gauge Mediated Supersymmetry Breaking from a Single U(1)

We present a supersymmetric model of flavor. A single U(1) gauge group is responsible for both generating the flavor spectrum and communicating supersymmetry breaking to the visible sector. The problem of Flavor Changing Neutral Currents is overcome, in part using an `Effective Supersymmetry' spectrum among the squarks, with the first two generations very heavy. All masses are generated dynamically and the theory is completely renormalizable. The model contains a simple Froggatt-Nielsen sector and communicates supersymmetry breaking via gauge mediation without requiring a separate messenger sector. By forcing the theory to be consistent with SU(5) Grand Unification, the model predicts a large tan beta and a massless up quark. While respecting the experimental bounds on CP violation in the K-system, the model leads to a large enhancement of CP violation in B-(B bar) mixing as well as in B decay amplitudes.Comment: LaTeX, 25 pages, 8 figure

Proton Decay in Minimal Supersymmetric SU(5)

We systematically study proton decay in the minimal supersymmetric SU(5) grand unified theory. We find that although the available parameter space of soft masses and mixings is quite constrained, the theory is still in accord with experiment.Comment: 12 pages, uses axodraw.sty, few more comments, one new referenc

The Importance of Context in Understanding Homelessness and Mental Illness: Lessons Learned From a Research Demonstration Project

Research reports on the housing outcomes for persons who are homeless and mentally ill have focused on client characteristics, program type, and services as independent variables, with mixed results. From social work practice, evaluation theory, and public policy perspectives, context is an important variable. Yet, it has received scant research attention in studies of the outcomes of persons who are mentally ill and homeless. This article summarizes research results from a demonstration project providing outreach or linkage services to this target population, illustrating the significant impact of context variables (site and recruitment source) on client characteristics, implementation, qualitative and quantitative service assessments, and housing outcomes. The discussion suggests how these contextual factors may operate, and it goes on to make recommendations to improve social work research and practice concerning the important dimensions of context that should be assessed.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/69136/2/10.1177_104973159800800203.pd