1,062 research outputs found
Tackling Prejudice and Discrimination Towards Families with Same-Sex Parents: An Exploratory Study in Italy
Though studies have shown that the sexual orientation of parents does not influence their parenting skills or the well-being of their children, prejudice against same-sex families is still very widespread. Research has not sufficiently explored the ways in which parents tackle this prejudice. Using qualitative methodologies, in particular textual analyses, this study has analysed the discourse used by same-sex families to handle the prejudices that they face. The results highlighted that conflicts, which may even be ideological in nature, are sometimes created between traditional families and “atypical” families. These often result in estrangement and isolation from their own family and the communities to which they belong, in turn damaging the growth of the children involved. Furthermore, means for moving beyond conflict, sharing experiences and effectively tackling prejudices are also discussed
Finsler geodesics in the presence of a convex function and their applications
We obtain a result about the existence of only a finite number of geodesics
between two fixed non-conjugate points in a Finsler manifold endowed with a
convex function. We apply it to Randers and Zermelo metrics. As a by-product,
we also get a result about the finiteness of the number of lightlike and
timelike geodesics connecting an event to a line in a standard stationary
spacetime.Comment: 16 pages, AMSLaTex. v2 is a minor revision: title changed, references
updated, typos fixed; it matches the published version. This preprint and
arXiv:math/0702323v3 [math.DG] substitute arXiv:math/0702323v2 [math.DG
Extension of the Discrete-Ordinates Transport Solver IDT to Regular Two-Dimensional Triangular Meshes
In this work, the Integro-Differential Transport solver (IDT), which is one of the transport solvers available in the APOLLO3(R) lattice code, has been extended to handle 2D unstructured meshes. In particular, the previously implemented method of short characteristics (MoSC) used to solve for the spatial variable in the framework of an SN approach has been extended to triangular cells which represent the natural discretization for calculating the hexagonal lattices present in fast reactors. The coefficients of the collision-probability matrices have been evaluated by means of a split-cell algorithm, specialized for dealing with different orientations of the triangle with respect to each discrete ordinate of the SN sweeping. A new sweeping routine for unstructured meshes has been
added to IDT. The correct implementation of the method and its robustness with respect to the skewness and the optical thickness of the triangle has been verified. The method
of manufactured solutions has been employed to obtain a numerical estimate of the spatial convergence order of the method. The same version of the MoSC has then been implemented in MINARET, another solver available in APOLLO3(R).
Finally, the modified IDT applied to an unstructured mesh for the C5G7 benchmark has been successfully benchmarked against MC calculations, and the modified MINARET has been applied to
a neutron transport calculation for the RJH research reactor
Time-dependent quantum many-body theory of identical bosons in a double well: Early time ballistic interferences of fragmented and number entangled states
A time-dependent multiconfigurational self-consistent field theory is
presented to describe the many-body dynamics of a gas of identical bosonic
atoms confined to an external trapping potential at zero temperature from first
principles. A set of generalized evolution equations are developed, through the
time-dependent variational principle, which account for the complete and
self-consistent coupling between the expansion coefficients of each
configuration and the underlying one-body wave functions within a restricted
two state Fock space basis that includes the full effects of the condensate's
mean field as well as atomic correlation. The resulting dynamical equations are
a classical Hamiltonian system and, by construction, form a well-defined
initial value problem. They are implemented in an efficient numerical
algorithm. An example is presented, highlighting the generality of the theory,
in which the ballistic expansion of a fragmented condensate ground state is
compared to that of a macroscopic quantum superposition state, taken here to be
a highly entangled number state, upon releasing the external trapping
potential. Strikingly different many-body matter-wave dynamics emerge in each
case, accentuating the role of both atomic correlation and mean-field effects
in the two condensate states.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figure
Probing the Solar Atmosphere Using Oscillations of Infrared CO Spectral Lines
Oscillations were observed across the whole solar disk using the Doppler
shift and line depth of spectral lines from the CO molecule near 4666~nm with
the National Solar Observatory's McMath/Pierce solar telescope. Power,
coherence, and phase spectra were examined, and diagnostic diagrams reveal
power ridges at the solar global mode frequencies to show that these
oscillations are solar p-modes. The phase was used to determine the height of
formation of the CO lines by comparison with the IR continuum intensity phase
shifts as measured in Kopp et al., 1992; we find the CO line formation height
varies from 425 < z < 560 km as we move from disk center towards the solar limb
1.0 > mu > 0.5. The velocity power spectra show that while the sum of the
background and p-mode power increases with height in the solar atmosphere as
seen in previous work, the power in the p-modes only (background subtracted)
decreases with height, consistent with evanescent waves. The CO line depth
weakens in regions of stronger magnetic fields, as does the p-mode oscillation
power. Across most of the solar surface the phase shift is larger than the
expected value of 90 degrees for an adiabatic atmosphere. We fit the phase
spectra at different disk positions with a simple atmospheric model to
determine that the acoustic cutoff frequency is about 4.5 mHz with only small
variations, but that the thermal relaxation frequency drops significantly from
2.7 to 0 mHz at these heights in the solar atmosphere
A note on the existence of standard splittings for conformally stationary spacetimes
Let be a spacetime which admits a complete timelike conformal Killing
vector field . We prove that splits globally as a standard
conformastationary spacetime with respect to if and only if is
distinguishing (and, thus causally continuous). Causal but non-distinguishing
spacetimes with complete stationary vector fields are also exhibited. For the
proof, the recently solved "folk problems" on smoothability of time functions
(moreover, the existence of a {\em temporal} function) are used.Comment: Metadata updated, 6 page
Multiconfigurational Hartree-Fock theory for identical bosons in a double well
Multiconfigurational Hartree-Fock theory is presented and implemented in an
investigation of the fragmentation of a Bose-Einstein condensate made of
identical bosonic atoms in a double well potential at zero temperature. The
approach builds in the effects of the condensate mean field and of atomic
correlations by describing generalized many-body states that are composed of
multiple configurations which incorporate atomic interactions. Nonlinear and
linear optimization is utilized in conjunction with the variational and
Hylleraas-Undheim theorems to find the optimal ground and excited states of the
interacting system. The resulting energy spectrum and associated eigenstates
are presented as a function of double well barrier height. Delocalized and
localized single configurational states are found in the extreme limits of the
simple and fragmented condensate ground states, while multiconfigurational
states and macroscopic quantum superposition states are revealed throughout the
full extent of barrier heights. Comparison is made to existing theories that
either neglect mean field or correlation effects and it is found that
contributions from both interactions are essential in order to obtain a robust
microscopic understanding of the condensate's atomic structure throughout the
fragmentation process.Comment: 21 pages, 13 figure
Time-dependent multi-orbital mean-field for fragmented Bose-Einstein condensates
The evolution of Bose-Einstein condensates is usually described by the famous
time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation, which assumes all bosons to reside in
a single time-dependent orbital. In the present work we address the evolution
of fragmented condensates, for which two (or more) orbitals are occupied, and
derive a corresponding time-dependent multi-orbital mean-field theory. We call
our theory TDMF(), where stands for the number of evolving fragments.
Working equations for a general two-body interaction between the bosons are
explicitly presented along with an illustrative numerical example.Comment: 16 pages, 1 figur
GeneLink: a database to facilitate genetic studies of complex traits
BACKGROUND: In contrast to gene-mapping studies of simple Mendelian disorders, genetic analyses of complex traits are far more challenging, and high quality data management systems are often critical to the success of these projects. To minimize the difficulties inherent in complex trait studies, we have developed GeneLink, a Web-accessible, password-protected Sybase database. RESULTS: GeneLink is a powerful tool for complex trait mapping, enabling genotypic data to be easily merged with pedigree and extensive phenotypic data. Specifically designed to facilitate large-scale (multi-center) genetic linkage or association studies, GeneLink securely and efficiently handles large amounts of data and provides additional features to facilitate data analysis by existing software packages and quality control. These include the ability to download chromosome-specific data files containing marker data in map order in various formats appropriate for downstream analyses (e.g., GAS and LINKAGE). Furthermore, an unlimited number of phenotypes (either qualitative or quantitative) can be stored and analyzed. Finally, GeneLink generates several quality assurance reports, including genotyping success rates of specified DNA samples or success and heterozygosity rates for specified markers. CONCLUSIONS: GeneLink has already proven an invaluable tool for complex trait mapping studies and is discussed primarily in the context of our large, multi-center study of hereditary prostate cancer (HPC). GeneLink is freely available at
Insufficient adaptive capability of pancreatic endocrine function in dexamethasone-treated ageing rats.
This study was aimed at exploring the capability of the pancreatic endocrine adaptive mechanisms of ageing Sprague-Dawley rats to counteract the metabolic challenge induced by the prolonged administration of dexamethasone (DEX) (0.13 mg/kg per day for 13 days). DEX treatment induced peripheral insulin resistance in 3-, 18- and 26-month-old rats, as indicated by the significant and persistent rise of plasma insulin levels in each age group (plasma insulin in 3-, 18- and 26-month-old rats from basal values of 4.3+/-0.8, 4.7+/-0.5 and 5.6+/-1.0 ng/ml (means+/-s.e.m.) respectively, rose to 11.9+/-1.7, 29.1+/-5.5 and 27.9+/-2.7 ng/ml respectively, after 9 days of administration). However, plasma glucose concentrations remained unchanged during the treatment in young rats, whereas they increased up to frankly diabetic levels in most 18-month-old and in all 26-month-old animals after a few days of DEX administration. Plasma free fatty acid concentrations increased 2-fold in 3- and 26-month-old rats and 4-fold in 18-month-old rats and could possibly be involved in the glucocorticoid-induced enhancement in insulin resistance, although they showed no significant correlation with glycaemic values. Incubation of pancreatic islets obtained from treated rats showed that DEX administration increased the insulin responsiveness of islets from not only younger but also older donors. However, in the islets of ageing rats, which already showed an age-dependent impairment of the sensitivity to glucose and other secretagogues, this enhancing effect was clearly attenuated with respect to the younger counterpart. Furthermore, DEX treatment depressed significantly the priming effect of glucose in islets isolated from all the three age groups. In conclusion, our results show that ageing rats are unable to counteract effectively a prolonged hyperglycaemic challenge as such induced by DEX administration. This homeostatic defect can be ascribed to the age-dependent failure of the endocrine pancreas to provide enough insulin to overcome the aggravation of an antecedent state of increased peripheral insulin resistance
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