Quantum critical phenomena of unconventional superconductors: U(1) gauge model of link Cooper pair

In this paper we shall study quantum critical behavior of lattice model of unconventional superconductors (SC) that was proposed in the previous papers. In this model, the Cooper-pair (CP) field is defined on lattice links in order to describe d-wave SC. The CP field can be regarded as a U(1) lattice gauge field, and the SC phase transition takes place as a result of the phase coherence of the CP field. Effects of the long-range Coulomb interactions between the CP's and fluctuations of the electromagnetic field are taken into account. We investigate the phase structure of the model and the critical behavior by means of the Monte Carlo simulations. We find that the parameter, which controls the fluxes (vortices) of the CP, strongly influences the phase structure. In three-dimensional case, the model has rich phase structure. In particular there is a "monopole proliferation" phase transition besides the SC phase transition. Depending on the parameters, this transition exists within the SC phase or takes place simultaneously with the SC transition. This new type of transition is relevant for unconventional SC's with strong spatial three-dimensionality and to be observed by experiments.Comment: 13pages,25figure

Optimización de los procedimientos de prácticas en la Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira

La Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira cuenta con un servicio de Prácticas Universitarias que brinda a los estudiantes la oportunidad de aplicar sus conocimientos a través del desarrollo de diferentes actividades en empresas no solo del área metropolitana sino a nivel nacional e internacional. Con la intensión de optimizar el desarrollo de todos los procedimientos de la oficina de prácticas se ha hecho un diagnóstico del proceso, y con ello se realizó una propuesta de optimización a la gestión que se realiza actualmente, igualmente se realizaron diferentes estrategias para el aseguramiento de calidad de dichos procedimientos. La propuesta, fue construida con base en la información histórica de la oficina y de la percepción de los estudiantes, empresarios y docentes que han sido participes del servicio que presta la oficina; con las diferentes percepciones se logró establecer un mejoramiento a los procedimientos que se manejan en la oficina, presentando ideas de optimización tanto del servicio, como de la plataforma.The Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira has university training service that gives students the opportunity to apply their knowledge across the development of different activities in companies not only in the metropolitan area but nationally and internationally. With the intention of improving the development of all office procedures of practices has made a diagnosis of the process, thus an optimization management currently performed, also different strategies for quality assurance of these procedures were performed. The proposal, which was built based on historical information office and the perception of students, employers and teachers who have been partakers of the service provided by the office; with different perceptions succeeded in establishing improved procedures that are used in the office, thus presenting ideas optimization service, and the platform

自治体ウェブサイトのアクセシビリティに関する調査研究

既にインターネットは、電気や水道などと同様に重要なインフラとなっている。近年、インターネットを利用した自治体サービスとしての電子自治体化が進んでいる。その際、最も重要な点が、「誰でも利用できる」ということである。これは、視覚障がい者や高齢で目や手が不自由な人でもウェブサイトを使って住民サービスを受けることが可能となり、このことがアクセシビリティの確保である。今回、過疎化と高齢化が進む宮崎県内の自治体を対象にアクセシビリティの調査を行い、考察を行った

Drug Nanoparticle Formulation Using Ascorbic Acid Derivatives

Drug nanoparticle formulation using ascorbic acid derivatives and its therapeutic uses have recently been introduced. Hydrophilic ascorbic acid derivatives such as ascorbyl glycoside have been used not only as antioxidants but also as food and pharmaceutical excipients. In addition to drug solubilization, drug nanoparticle formation was observed using ascorbyl glycoside. Hydrophobic ascorbic acid derivatives such as ascorbyl mono- and di-n-alkyl fatty acid derivatives are used either as drugs or carrier components. Ascorbyl n-alkyl fatty acid derivatives have been formulated as antioxidants or anticancer drugs for nanoparticle formulations such as micelles, microemulsions, and liposomes. ASC-P vesicles called aspasomes are submicron-sized particles that can encapsulate hydrophilic drugs. Several transdermal and injectable formulations of ascorbyl n-alkyl fatty acid derivatives were used, including ascorbyl palmitate

Quantum Phase Transition in Lattice Model of Unconventional Superconductors

In this paper we shall introduce a lattice model of unconventional superconductors (SC) like d-wave SC in order to study quantum phase transition at vanishing temperature ($T$). Finite-$T$ counterpart of the present model was proposed previously with which SC phase transition at finite $T$ was investigated. The present model is a noncompact U(1) lattice-gauge-Higgs model in which the Higgs boson, the Cooper-pair field, is put on lattice links in order to describe d-wave SC. We first derive the model from a microscopic Hamiltonian in the path-integral formalism and then study its phase structure by means of the Monte Carlo simulations. We calculate the specific heat, monopole densities and the magnetic penetration depth (the gauge-boson mass). We verified that the model exhibits a second-order phase transition from normal to SC phases. Behavior of the magnetic penetration depth is compared with that obtained in the previous analytical calculation using XY model in four dimensions. Besides the normal to SC phase transition, we also found that another second-order phase transition takes place within the SC phase in the present model. We discuss physical meaning of that phase transition.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures, references added, some discussion on the results adde

Changes to Electoral Rules and Party Politicisation in the Hiroshima Prefectural Assembly in the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries

In 1878, the Ordinance on Local Prefectural Assembly first introduced electoral bodies in Japan, 12 years before the establishment of the Houses of National Diet. The members of the prefectural assemblies are directly elected by local wealthy male citizens. Before 1878, the Japanese people had not had the experience of voting for and electing government representatives. Therefore, the implementation of the elections led to a number of problems. Thus began a continuous process of improving electoral systems through trial and error and through setting the rules of the elections. The first chapter of this paper describes the changes that were made to the electoral ordinances and rules over a period of 15 years in the 19th century. In early elections, the person who received the most votes often refused to accept membership in the assembly. Even if he accepted the duty, the elected assembly member often resigned in the middle of his term. Wealthy citizens rejected political duties. In 1881 and 1882, the Liberal Party and the Progressive Party were organized in Tokyo. Some members of the Hiroshima Prefectural Assembly joined these political parties. These partisans became core members of the assembly because they kept their political posts without resigning in the middle of the term, enabling them to stand for re-election. By the middle of the 1890s, the electoral system had stabilized, and members of the assembly held their positions continuously and performed their duties as politicians. Party politicisation in the Hiroshima Prefectural Assembly appeared to be progressing, but in fact non-partisanship was more popular. The former lord of Hiroshima-han (domain), Marquis Asano, organised a non-partisan local political body, the Seiyukai, Political Friendship Association. In the 1890s, many partisans joined this new body. In the 1900s and early 1910s, a national party, the Seiyukai, Constitutional Political Friends Association (different from the non-partisan Political Friendship Association, despite the similar name), tried to establish a majority in the Hiroshima Assembly. To prevent such a majority, independent members and members of minor national political parties got together and organised a non-partisan “reformist club”. These reformist club members kept the majority in the assembly and maintained their non-partisan position, although some of them were members of national political parties. As a result, until 1919, party politicisation had not progressed in Hiroshima to the extent that it had in other prefectures.本稿は、平成二四年度科学研究費助成事業（基盤研究（Ｃ）課題番号二四五三〇一三八）の研究成果の一部である

Surviving and growing amidst others : the effect of environmental factors on germination and establishment of savanna trees

Savanna ecosystems are characterized by a continuous grass layer intermixed with a discontinuous layer of trees and shrubs. A complex set of environmental drivers, such as water, soil nutrients, solar radiance, fire and herbivory, determines vegetation structure and composition in savannas.Such environmental drivers are expected to be strongly affected by future global climatic and land-use changes, potentially modifying savanna vegetation, and consequently savanna fauna. The ability to predict changes in plant community composition is therefore importantfor management and conservation of savannas. However, the mechanisms controlling plant establishment and growth in savannas are still unclear. Germination and seedling establishment are critical recruitment stages in the life cycle of plants and can influence plant community composition. A better understand of the factors influencing plant species recruitment and their ecology is needed. This thesis focuses on seedling recruitment of several savanna tree species. Water stress is probably the single greatest constraint to tree seedling survival in savanna systems: tree seedling recruitment and survival are hypothesized to be limited by soil moisture availability. Shade by established adult trees may facilitate tree seedling recruitment by maintaining high soil moisture availability. Chapter 2 deals with germination and early seedling establishment of several tree species. I expected that tree species would germinate and establish best under high moisture conditions (high water and shade), while under stress conditions (i.e. low soil moisture due to low water supply and full sun, and in the presence of grasses) plants would suffer. The observed variability of seedling performance among the tree species under stress conditions may be explained by differences in functional traits. Higher soil moisture mostly benefited germination of species with seeds with high calcium concentration and low water content. On the other hand, low soil moisture conditions benefited germination of tree species with seeds with higher magnesium and phosphorus concentration and water content. Furthermore, under low soil moisture availability, grass presence facilitated germination of most tree species but its effect on early survival (positive or negative) differed among species. The findings of this chapter confirm a large difference in the tree species responses to environmental variation during early recruitment, which potentially affect theplant community composition and dynamics under different environmental conditions in savannas.Seed trait differences among the species partly contribute to explain such variability. Therefore, considering inter-specific variation among tree species and information on seed traits can improve the ability to predict and manage the impacts of environment changes. For later stages of seedling development (up to 9 months), the effect of environmental variation (water, nutrient and light supply, as well as grass presence or absence) on survival and establishment of semi-arid savanna tree seedlings differed between species (Chapter 3). All species were expected to respond positively to higher resource availability, and negatively to the presence of grass. Indeed, the results of this chapterclearly show that grass presence strongly suppressed seedling establishment. However, recruitment strategies varied among species, particularly under high stress conditions (water stress or low light). In some of the studied tree species, light shortage (i.e., shade) reduced the negative effects of the presence of grass on growth. Furthermore, nutrient availability also reduced the negative effect of grasses, although for certain species (broad-leaf species) this effect occurred only under natural rainfall, while for others (fine-leaf species) it occurred only under regular water provision. Increased atmospheric nitrogen deposition, intensification of agricultural fertilizer use and large herbivore management interventions are on-going processes that increase soil nutrient levels in many savannas. As nutrient concentration in the leaves (i.e., plant quality for herbivores) also depends on soil nutrient availability, I expected in Chapter 4 that both biomass production and leaf nutrient concentration would increase with increasing soil nutrient availability. Contrary to my expectations, differences in soil nutrient levels (low vs. high) did not affect biomass production of any of the tree species, independently of water availability (uneven vs. even water supply). However, leaf nutrient content of the seedlings did differ significantly with different water and nutrient levels. Soil nutrient input increased leaf nutrient content, but only when water was applied regularly, indicating that plant nutrient uptake strongly depends on water availability. Under irregular rainfall patterns, nutrient input significantly reduced leaf quality. Given that large herbivore populations depend on plant nutrient content for their nutritional requirements, increases in nutrient deposition and rainfall levels will likely impact herbivore populations and their browsing patterns, altering the functional structure of ecosystems even if overall plant biomass remains unaffected. In Chapter 5, the effect of fluctuations of environmental conditions on above and belowground growth of juveniles of three savannas tree species (Acacia karroo, A. nigrescens and Colophospermum mopane) during the first 18 months was tested. While it was expected that low soil resource availability would result in high biomass allocation towards roots, experimental simulation of dry eventswithin the wet season or pulses of nutrient availability did not have a clear effect on the seedlings’ aboveground and belowground growth. Furthermore, the results of this chapter demonstrated that browsing stimulated stem regrowth and root elongation of savanna tree seedlings, suggesting that the three studied species have compensatory growth in response to frequent herbivory, quickly recovering the loss of biomass. This result puts in question the usefulness of herbivory or human land-cleaning in controlling invasive woody species in tropical grasslands and savannas. In conclusion, the results of this thesis demonstrated that savanna tree species are generally able to cope with differences in resource availability during seedling establishment, being mostly limited by grass competition for resource. Furthermore, this study shows that during early stages of the life-cycle, when exposed to the same environmental conditions, tree species within a plant community differ in their responses, only having advantages over other species under specific conditions.This inter-specific variation may allow tree species coexistence, explaining the diversity of plant species in savannas. </p