Dialogue \u27On The Ground\u27: The Complicated Identities and the Complex Negotiations of Catholics and Hindus in South India

Interreligious dialogue is a vital theological concern for the Catholic Church in India. Over the past three decades, church leaders, progressive theologians, and maverick monastics have experimented with various models and forms of interreligious dialogue. Quite distinct from these contrived institutional initiatives is the dynamic of intimate, subtle, and spontaneous ritual exchange and dialogue between ordinary Hindus and Catholics occurring in the arena of popular piety and rituals at the grassroots level - often in opposition to institutional norms and directives - that may be described as dialogue on the ground. In light of ethnographic research at the shrine of St. Anthony at Uvari in Tamil Nadu - that serves as a representative sample of regional shrines in rural south India - this essay focuses on the logic and grammar of a specific public ritual locally known as asanam as an illustrative case-study of the \u27dialogue on the ground,\u27 delineates the social and religious themes embedded in this ritual, and reflects on its implications for interreligious dialogue

Nuclear fusion as a probe for octupole deformation in 224^{224}Ra

$\textit{Background}$: Nuclear fusion has been shown to be a perfect probe to study the different nuclear shapes. However, the possibility of testing octupole deformation of a nucleus with this tool has not been fully explored yet. The presence of a stactic octupole deformation in nuclei will enhanced a possible permanent electric dipole moment, leading to a possible demonstration of parity violation. $\textit{Purpose}$: To check whether static octupole deformation or octupole vibration in fusion give qualitatively different results so that both situations can be experimentally disentangled. $\textit{Method}$: Fusion cross sections are computed in the Coupled-Channels formalism making use of the Ingoing-Wave Boundary Conditions (IWBC) for the systems $^{16}$O+$^{144}$Ba and $^{16}$O+$^{224}$Ra. $\textit{Results}$: Barrier distributions of the two considered schemes show different patterns. For the $^{224}$Ra case, the octupole deformation parameter is large enough to create a sizeable difference. $\textit{Conclusions}$: The measurement of barrier distributions can be an excellent probe to clarify the presence of octupole deformation.Comment: Important changes from previous version, 6 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Pre-Supernova Neutrinos in Large Dark Matter Direct Detection Experiments

The next Galactic core-collapse supernova (SN) is a highly anticipated observational target for neutrino telescopes. However, even prior to collapse, massive dying stars shine copiously in "pre-supernova" (pre-SN) neutrinos, which can potentially act as efficient SN warning alarms and provide novel information about the very last stages of stellar evolution. We explore the sensitivity to pre-SN neutrinos of large scale direct dark matter detection experiments, which, unlike dedicated neutrino telescopes, take full advantage of coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering. We find that argon-based detectors with target masses of $\mathcal{O}(100)$ tonnes (i.e. comparable in size to the proposed ARGO experiment) operating at sub-keV thresholds can detect $\mathcal{O}(10-100)$ pre-SN neutrinos coming from a source at a characteristic distance of $\sim$200 pc, such as Betelgeuse ($\alpha$ Orionis). Large-scale xenon-based experiments with similarly low thresholds could also be sensitive to pre-SN neutrinos. For a Betelgeuse-type source, large scale dark matter experiments could provide a SN warning siren $\sim$10 hours prior to the explosion. We also comment on the complementarity of large scale direct dark matter detection experiments and neutrino telescopes in the understanding of core-collapse SN.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, 3 tables; v3: extended discussion on backgrounds, minor improvements, matches published versio

Large-scale Synthesis and Functional Elements for the Antimicrobial Activity of Defensins

Human neutrophil defensins, and their analogues incorporating anionic, hydrophobic or cationic residues at the N- and C-termini, were synthesized by solid-phase procedures. The synthetic defensins were examined for their microbicidal activity against Candida albicans, two Gram-negative bacteria (Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans and Porphyromonas gingivalis) and two Gram-positive bacteria (Streptococcus gordonii and Streptococcus mutans). The human neutrophil peptide 1 (HNP1) and HNP2 were found to be potent candidacidal agents. HNP3, which differs by one amino acid at the N-terminus of its sequence, was totally inactive. The Gram-negative bacteria A. actinomycetemcomitans and P. gingivalis and the Gram-positive bacteria S. gordonii and S. mutans were insensitive to human defensins. However, the insertion of two basic residues, such as arginine, at both the N-terminus and the C-terminus of HNP2 significantly enhanced antifungal and antibacterial activity. The addition of anionic residues, such as aspartic acid, at the N- and C-termini rendered the molecule totally inactive. The presence of two hydrophobic amino acids, such as valine, at the N-terminus of HNP2 and of two basic arginine residues at its C-terminus resulted in molecules that were optimally active against these oral pathogens. The results suggest that the N- and C-terminal residues in defensin peptides are the crucial functional elements that determine their microbicidal potency. The three-dimensional structure of all defensins constitutes the same amphiphilic beta-sheet structure, with the polar face formed by the N- and C-terminal residues playing an important role in defining microbicidal potency and the antimicrobial spectrum. The enhanced microbicidal activity observed for defensin peptides with two basic residues at both the N- and C-termini could be due to optimization of the amphiphilicity of the structure, which could facilitate specific interactions with the microbial membranes

Monolithic and mechanical multijunction space solar cells

High-efficiency, lightweight, radiation-resistant solar cells are essential to meet the large power requirements of future space missions. Single-junction cells are limited in efficiency. Higher cell efficiencies could be realized by developing multijunction, multibandgap solar cells. Monolithic and mechanically stacked tandem solar cells surpassing single-junction cell efficiencies have been fabricated. This article surveys the current status of monolithic and mechanically stacked multibandgap space solar cells, and outlines problems yet to be resolved. The monolithic and mechanically stacked cells each have their own problems related to size, processing, current and voltage matching, weight, and other factors. More information is needed on the effect of temperature and radiation on the cell performance. Proper reference cells and full-spectrum range simulators are also needed to measure efficiencies correctly. Cost issues are not addressed, since the two approaches are still in the developmental stage

Optimal design study of high efficiency indium phosphide space solar cells

Recently indium phosphide solar cells have achieved beginning of life AMO efficiencies in excess of 19 pct. at 25 C. The high efficiency prospects along with superb radiation tolerance make indium phosphide a leading material for space power requirements. To achieve cost effectiveness, practical cell efficiencies have to be raised to near theoretical limits and thin film indium phosphide cells need to be developed. The optimal design study is described of high efficiency indium phosphide solar cells for space power applications using the PC-1D computer program. It is shown that cells with efficiencies over 22 pct. AMO at 25 C could be fabricated by achieving proper material and process parameters. It is observed that further improvements in cell material and process parameters could lead to experimental cell efficiencies near theoretical limits. The effect of various emitter and base parameters on cell performance was studied

Effect of emitter parameter variation on the performance of heteroepitaxial indium phosphide solar cells

Metallorganic chemical-vapor-deposited heteroepitaxial indium phosphide (InP) solar cell experimental results were simulated by using a PC-1D computer model. The effect of emitter parameter variation on the performance of n(+)/p/p(+) heteroepitaxial InP/GaAs solar cell was presented. The thinner and lighter doped emitters were observed to offer higher cell efficiencies. The influence of emitter thickness and minority carrier diffusion length on the cell efficiency with respect to dislocation density was studied. Heteroepitaxial cells with efficiencies similar to present day homojunction InP efficiencies (greater than 16 percent AMO) were shown to be attainable if a dislocation density lower than 10(exp 6)/sq cm could be achieved. A realistic optimized design study yielded InP solar cells of over 22 percent AMO efficiency at 25 C