Combined effect of frustration and dimerization in ferrimagnetic chains and square lattice

Within the zero-temperature linear spin-wave theory we have investigated the effect of frustration and dimerization of a Heisenberg system with alternating spins $s_{1}$ and $s_{2}$ on one- and two-dimensional lattices. The combined effect most visibly appears in the elementary excitation spectra. In contrast to the ground state energy that decreases with dimerization and increases with frustration, the excitation energies are shown to be suppressed in energy by both dimerization and frustration. The threshold value of frustration that signals a transition from a classical ferrimagnetic state to a spiral state, decreases with dimerization, showing that dimerization further helps in the phase transition. The correlation length and sublattice magnetization decrease with both dimerization and frustration indicating the destruction of the long-range classical ferrimagnetic. The linear spin wave theory shows that in the case of a square lattice, dimerization initially opposes the frustration-led transition to a spiral magnetic state, but then higher magnitudes of lattice deformation facilitate the transition. It also shows that the transition to spiral state is inhibited in a square lattice beyond a certain value of dimerization.Comment: 8 pages, latex, 12 postscript figure

Prenatal inhibition of the tryptophan–kynurenine pathway alters synaptic plasticity and protein expression in the rat hippocampus

Glutamate receptors sensitive to N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) are important in early brain development, influencing cell proliferation and migration, neuritogenesis, axon guidance and synapse formation. The kynurenine pathway of tryptophan metabolism includes an agonist (quinolinic acid) and an antagonist (kynurenic acid) at these receptors. Rats were treated in late gestation with 3,4-dimethoxy-N-[4-(3-nitrophenyl)thiazol-2-yl]-benzene-sulphonamide (Ro61-8048), an inhibitor of kynurenine-3-monoxygenase which diverts kynurenine metabolism to kynurenic acid. Within 5 h of drug administration, there was a significant decrease in GluN2A expression and increased GluN2B in the embryo brains, with changes in sonic hedgehog at 24 h. When injected dams were allowed to litter normally, the brains of offspring were removed at postnatal day 21 (P21). Recordings of hippocampal field excitatory synaptic potentials (fEPSPs) showed that prenatal exposure to Ro61-8048 increased neuronal excitability and paired-pulse facilitation. Long-term potentiation was also increased, with no change in long-term depression. At this time, levels of GluN2A, GluN2B and postsynaptic density protein PSD-95 were all increased. Among several neurodevelopmental proteins, the expression of sonic hedgehog was increased, but DISC1 and dependence receptors were unaffected, while raised levels of doublecortin and Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen (PCNA) suggested increased neurogenesis. The results reveal that inhibiting the kynurenine pathway in utero leads to molecular and functional synaptic changes in the embryos and offspring, indicating that the pathway is active during gestation and plays a significant role in the normal early development of the embryonic and neonatal nervous system

Human Resource Planning: Sector Specific Considerations

The aim of human resource planning (HRP) is to have the right people in the right place at the right time. While the public sector has moved from a civil service to a human resources paradigm, the literature indicates a lack of successful HRP implementation in this sector. This paper explores key issues around HRP in the public sector. Evidence suggests that effective HRP is critical to meeting internal and external organisational challenges, however, relevant processes and practices do not seem to be strategic or integrated in the public sector. If not addressed, the absence of HRP in the public sector can lead to poor organisational performance, increased costs, a lack of continuity and other negative impacts

Coping Strategies of Jordanian Adolescents With Cancer: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis Study

Interpretive phenomenological analysis methodology was used to explore coping strategies used by hospitalized Jordanian adolescents with cancer. In-depth face-to-face interviews were conducted with 10 Jordanian adolescents, aged 13 to18 years, who were receiving chemotherapy for cancer. During treatment, participants were confronted with physical, psychosocial, and emotional distresses resulting from the disease process, the treatment, and its associated side-effects. To cope with the impact of their illness, participants utilized 4 coping strategies: "Strengthening spiritual convictions," "Being optimistic and rebuilding hope," "Enhancing appearance," and "Finding self again." The findings of this study can assist health team members to promote positive psychological care to Arab Muslim adolescents with cancer in a supportive and therapeutic treatment environment

Single-crystal growth and dependences on the hole concentration and magnetic field of the magnetic ground state in the edge-sharing CuO2_2 chain system Ca2+x_{2+x}Y2−x_{2-x}Cu5_5O10_{10}

We have succeeded in growing large-size single-crystals of Ca$_{2+x}$Y$_{2-x}$Cu$_5$O$_{10}$ with $0 \le x \le 1.67$ and measured the magnetic susceptibility, specific heat and magnetization curve, in order to study the magnetic ground state in the edge-sharing CuO$_2$ chain as a function of hole concentration and magnetic field. In $0 \le x \le 1.3$, it has been found that an antiferromagnetically ordered phase with the magnetic easy axis along the b-axis is stabilized and that a spin-flop transition occurs by the application of magnetic fields parallel to the b-axis. The antiferromagnetic transition temperature decreases with increasing $x$ and disappears around $x =$ 1.4. Alternatively, a spin-glass phase appears around $x = 1.5$. At $x = 1.67$ where the hole concentration is $\sim$ 1/3 per Cu, it appears that a spin-gap state is formed owing to the formation of spin-singlet pairs. No sign of the coexistence of an antiferromagnetically ordered state and a spin-gap one suggested in Ca$_{1-x}$CuO$_2$ has been found in Ca$_{2+x}$Y$_{2-x}$Cu$_5$O$_{10}$.Comment: 13 pages, 12 figures, 1 tabl

Moving walls accelerate mixing

Mixing in viscous fluids is challenging, but chaotic advection in principle allows efficient mixing. In the best possible scenario,the decay rate of the concentration profile of a passive scalar should be exponential in time. In practice, several authors have found that the no-slip boundary condition at the walls of a vessel can slow down mixing considerably, turning an exponential decay into a power law. This slowdown affects the whole mixing region, and not just the vicinity of the wall. The reason is that when the chaotic mixing region extends to the wall, a separatrix connects to it. The approach to the wall along that separatrix is polynomial in time and dominates the long-time decay. However, if the walls are moved or rotated, closed orbits appear, separated from the central mixing region by a hyperbolic fixed point with a homoclinic orbit. The long-time approach to the fixed point is exponential, so an overall exponential decay is recovered, albeit with a thin unmixed region near the wall.Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures. PDFLaTeX with RevTeX 4-1 styl