Sound Apperception Test: Development and Validation

We report the development of Sound Apperception Test SAT measuring personality using an alternative auditory form of projective testing Sound effects designed to measure four personality dimensions viz intellectual functioning interpersonal adjustment task orientation and emotional embedded-ness were created Stimulus analysis was carried out on a randomly drawn sample n 440 Twenty-four out of the 60 sound effects had more than 75 consensus among expert raters and were retained Six of the 18 sound effects were common for males and females and six each were gender-specific The test-retest reliability for males n 107 was 0 692 0 765 p 0 01 and for females n 69 it was 0 644 0 841 p 0 01 The validity for males n 178 was 0 652 0 691 p 0 01 and for females n 64 it was 0 675 0 71 p 0 0

Magnetization dynamics in dysprosium orthoferrites via inverse Faraday effect

The ultrafast non-thermal control of magnetization has recently become feasible in canted antiferromagnets through photomagnetic instantaneous pulses [A.V. Kimel {\it et al.}, Nature {\bf 435}, 655 (2005)]. In this experiment circularly polarized femtosecond laser pulses set up a strong magnetic field along the wave vector of the radiation through the inverse Faraday effect, thereby exciting non-thermally the spin dynamics of dysprosium orthoferrites. A theoretical study is performed by using a model for orthoferrites based on a general form of free energy whose parameters are extracted from experimental measurements. The magnetization dynamics is described by solving coupled sublattice Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equations whose damping term is associated with the scattering rate due to magnon-magnon interaction. Due to the inverse Faraday effect and the non-thermal excitation, the effect of the laser is simulated by magnetic field Gaussian pulses with temporal width of the order of hundred femtoseconds. When the field is along the z-axis, a single resonance mode of the magnetization is excited. The amplitude of the magnetization and out-of-phase behavior of the oscillations for fields in z and -z directions are in good agreement with the cited experiment. The analysis of the effect of the temperature shows that magnon-magnon scattering mechanism affects the decay of the oscillations on the picosecond scale. Finally, when the field pulse is along the x-axis, another mode is excited, as observed in experiments. In this case the comparison between theoretical and experimental results shows some discrepancies whose origin is related to the role played by anisotropies in orthoferrites.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure

Conicoid Mirrors

The first order equation relating object and image location for a mirror of arbitrary conic-sectional shape is derived. It is also shown that the parabolic reflecting surface is the only one free of aberration and only in the limiting case of distant sources.Comment: 9 page

Spirituality Scale: Development and Validation

The genesis of spirituality is challenging due to a wide variety of perspectives and assumptions underlying spirituality research. Spirituality is still an emerging concept in the developing countries such as India, although rich culture has enriched in the past. Confining to various definitions of spirituality, the study attempts to evolve a health oriented spirituality scale in an Indian context. With exploration of literature and expert reviews, various attributes of spirituality scale were initiated with a pool of 120 items. These items were subjected to experts’ opinion and were reduced to 77. The version I scale was then administered on a sample of 254 participants. After initial factor analyses, the scale was again administered on a sample of 104 participants. Principal component analyses were employed and 56 items were retained covering five factors for final version of Spirituality Scale. The reliability was 0.640 and validity was 0.491

A Nuclear Physics Program at the ATLAS Experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider

The ATLAS collaboration has significant interest in the physics of ultra-relativistic heavy ion collisions. We submitted a Letter of Intent to the United States Department of Energy in March 2002. The following document is a slightly modified version of that LOI. More details are available at: http://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/SM/ionsComment: Letter of Intent submitted to the United States Department of Energy Nuclear Physics Division in March 2002 (revised version

The Kasteleyn model and a cellular automaton approach to traffic flow

We propose a bridge between the theory of exactly solvable models and the investigation of traffic flow. By choosing the activities in an apropriate way the dimer configurations of the Kasteleyn model on a hexagonal lattice can be interpreted as space-time trajectories of cars. This then allows for a calculation of the flow-density relationship (fundamental diagram). We further introduce a closely-related cellular automaton model. This model can be viewed as a variant of the Nagel-Schreckenberg model in which the cars do not have a velocity memory. It is also exactly solvable and the fundamental diagram is calculated.Comment: Latex, 13 pages including 3 ps-figure

Monte Carlo simulations of fluid vesicles with in plane orientational ordering

We present a method for simulating fluid vesicles with in-plane orientational ordering. The method involves computation of local curvature tensor and parallel transport of the orientational field on a randomly triangulated surface. It is shown that the model reproduces the known equilibrium conformation of fluid membranes and work well for a large range of bending rigidities. Introduction of nematic ordering leads to stiffening of the membrane. Nematic ordering can also result in anisotropic rigidity on the surface leading to formation of membrane tubes.Comment: 11 Pages, 12 Figures, To appear in Phys. Rev.

A de novo variant in the keratin 1 gene (KRT1) in a Chinese shar-pei dog with severe congenital cornification disorder and non-epidermolytic ichthyosis.

A 3-months old Chinese shar-pei puppy with ichthyosis was investigated. The dog showed generalized scaling, alopecia and footpad lesions. Histopathological examinations demonstrated a non-epidermolytic hyperkeratosis. The parents of the affected puppy did not show any skin lesions. A trio whole genome sequencing analysis identified a heterozygous de novo 3 bp deletion in the KRT1 gene in the affected dog. This variant, NM_001003392.1:c.567_569del, is predicted to delete a single asparagine from the conserved coil 1A motif within the rod domain of KRT1, NP_001003392.1:p.(Asn190del). Immunohistochemistry demonstrated normal levels of KRT1 expression in the epidermis and follicular epithelia. This might indicate that the variant possibly interferes with keratin dimerization or another function of KRT1. Missense variants affecting the homologous asparagine residue of the human KRT1 cause epidermolytic hyperkeratosis. Histologically, the investigated Chinese shar-pei showed a non-epidermolytic ichthyosis. The finding of a de novo variant in an excellent functional candidate gene strongly suggests that KRT1:p.Asn190del caused the ichthyosis phenotype in the affected Chinese shar-pei. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first description of a KRT1-related non-epidermolytic ichthyosis in domestic animals