Are lepton flavor mixings in the democratic mass matrix stable against quantum corrections?

We investigate whether the lepton flavor mixing angles in the so-called democratic type of mass matrix are stable against quantum corrections or not in the minimal supersymmetric standard model with dimension five operator which induces neutrino mass matrix. By taking simple breaking patterns of $S_3{}_L \times S_3{}_R$ or $O(3)_L \times O(3)_R$ flavor symmetries and the scale where democratic textures are induced as $O(10^{13})$ GeV, we find that the stability of the lepton flavor mixing angles in the democratic type of mass matrix against quantum corrections depends on the solar neutrino solutions. The maximal flavor mixing of the vacuum oscillation solution is spoiled by the quantum corrections in the experimental allowed region of $\tan \beta$. The large angle MSW solution is spoiled by the quantum corrections in the region of $\tan \beta > 10$. The condition of $\tan \beta \leq 10$ is needed in order to obtain the suitable mass squared difference of the small angle MSW solution. These strong constraints must be regarded for the model building of the democratic type of mass matrixComment: 12pages,LaTe

Factors related to hospital nurse intention to leave: Does striving for work-life balance and sense of coherence affect wishes to stay in the organization?

The aim of this study is to identify relationships between striving for work-life balance (S-WLB), sense of coherence (SOC), and intention to leave among hospital nurses. In August of 2017, we conducted a self-administered questionnaire survey to 2239 nurses at nine public hospitals. The questionnaire included demographic factors, work environmental factors, organizational factors, striving for worklife balance, a 13-item SOC, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and intention to leave. We carried out a multiple regression analysis with intention to leave as the dependent variable and others as independent variables. We obtained valid responses from 1368 full-time employed nurses (61.1%). The mean age of respondents was 36.38 ± 10.18 years, and the length of clinical experience 13.4 ± 9.65 years. The mean total score of the intention to leave was 14.58 ± 5.09. As a result of the multiple regression analysis, the SWLB and the SOC were found to be statistically related to the intention to leave even after controlling for the confounding factor of burnout. In addition, the satisfaction of desire level for the actual working assignment at the workplace was a significant independent factor. In this study, the full-time nursing staff had a low intention to leave score when they had a high score in the SWLB and the SOC. It was also found that the level of satisfaction with appointment to a desired assignment is a significant factor in the intention to leave. In establishing an attractive workplace for nursing staff, it is important to create a workplace environment and supports to be able to properly evaluate workplace satisfaction after assignments are made while taking into account individual S-WLB and SOC functions

Advanced aging effects on implicit motor imagery and its links to motor performance: An investigation via mental rotation of letters, hands, and feet

This study focuses on changes in implicit motor imagery during advanced aging and these changes’ co-occurrences with physical motor deficits. We administered a mental rotation (MR) task with letters, hands, and feet to 28 young adults (20–27 years) and to 71 older adults (60–87 years), and assessed motor skills (gait mobility and hand dexterity) and neuropsychological performance. Compared to young adults, older adults showed lower MR performance for all stimuli and stronger biomechanical constraint effects on both hand and foot rotation. Moreover, the foot biomechanical constraint effect continued to increase during late adulthood, and declines in hand and foot motor imagery emerged at earlier old ages than declines in visual imagery. These results first demonstrated distinct aging trajectories of hand motor imagery, foot motor imagery, and visual imagery. Exploratory partial correlation analysis for older adults showed positive associations of low-level perceptual-motor skills (Trail Making Test-A performance) with hand and foot MR performance and positive associations of mobility (Timed Up and Go test performance) with foot and letter MR performance. These associations exhibited somewhat different patterns from those of young adults and raised the possibility that age-related declines in motor (and visual) imagery co-occur with declines in motor functioning

Gap Symmetry and Thermal Conductivity in Nodal Superconductors

Here we consider the universal heat conduction and the angular dependent thermal conductivity in the vortex state for a few nodal superconductors. We present the thermal conductivity as a function of impurity concentration and the angular dependent thermal conductivity in a few nodal superconductors. This provides further insight in the gap symmetry of superconductivity in Sr$_2$RuO$_4$ and UPd$_2$Al$_3$.Comment: 2 pages, proceedings of SCES '0

Bubbly Flows through a Convergent-Divergent Nozzle

Characteristics of bubbly flow with a small void fraction through a vertical, two-dimensional, converging-diverging nozzle are investigated experimentally and numerically. Emphasis is placed on the mechanism for large velocity slip near the nozzle throat, where the pressure gradient is very large. Bubble velocities are measured by taking double-exposure photographs with stroboscopic light sources having a flash duration of a few μ sec. The pressure distribution of the mixture along the nozzle axis is measured by semiconductor pressure transducers. The local liquid velocity is determined through continuity equations of gas and liquid in conjunction with the measured data of pressure distribution and experimental conditions at the nozzle inlet and exit. The power spectrum density of the pressure fluctuations is measured to investigate some instabilty of the bubbly flow, which is believed to be inherent to the velocity slip. It is proved that the numerical results using Wijngaarden's model equations agree well with the experiments. The characteristics of flow instability are explained according to the theoretical predictions of Morioka et al

Management of Volunteer Activities among Elderly Persons

Purpose: Volunteer activities in Japan may be expected to result in a variety of effects on health conditions and social contributions of the elderly depending on the degree of their activity participation. This study aims to identify differences in the health conditions and social contributions of the elderly in relation to the degree of volunteer activity participation, and determine what effective support can be provided for these elderly persons. Further, focusing on the differences in the level of activity of the elderly persons in volunteer activities, we discuss the effect of management through SWOT analysis from the perspectives suggested by the Balanced Scorecard (BSC), which is a performance management tool. Participants and Methods: The participants are elderly persons participating in volunteer activities, living in municipal housing owned by the Kumamoto prefecture in Japan. We classified the participants into an active group who contributed to the raising of funds for activities, and a non-active group. We conducted group interviews with the volunteers, organized interview data on the thoughts of the two groups according to the five perspectives of the balanced score card (BSC) management tool: (1) learning and development, (2) participants, (3) financial matters, (4) process of conducting activities, and (5) social contributions, and conducted a Strength-Weakness-OpportunityThreat (SWOT) analysis. In the SWOT analysis internal factors are distinguished into strengths and weaknesses, and external factors into opportunities and threats. Combining the internal and external factors, problems were extracted from the perspective of a positive strategy (S+O: strength + opportunity), a differentiation strategy (S+T: strength L threat), a stepwise strategy (W+O: weakness + opportunity), and a defensive strategy (W+T: weakness + threat). Then, we confirmed the main results by identifying the major factors in success to achieve salient aims, activity goals, and specific measures from the five perspectives provided by the BSC. Results: When comparing thestrengths of the two groups, the active group showed the following characteristics in the information collecting: more variety in the collected information (perspective of learning and development), ease of obtaining information of potential volunteers (perspective of participants), knowledge of how to raise funds (perspective of financial matters), and being physically more active and knowledgeable of the local community (perspective of social contributions).From the perspective of the process of conducting activities, both groups place importance on the relations among people. For weaknesses, and from the perspective of learning and development, the active group had difficulty in maintaining their motivation, and from the perspective of financial matters this group had difficulties in securing funds. From the perspective of social contributions, the non-active group depended on the active members. From the perspective of participants, both groups experienced a decline in physical function with age, and from the perspective of the process of activities there was a possibility that family or individual circumstances make it difficult to participate in all activities. In the SWOT analysis, combining the internal and external factors, we evaluated the directionality of volunteer activities from the five perspectives of the BSC. From the perspective of learning and development, regardless of the differences in the level of activity of the elderly persons in the volunteer activities, the volunteer members conducted a signature-collecting campaign to call for continuing volunteer activities for residents among those in their surroundings, and this made it possible to continue volunteer activities. From the perspective of the process of conducting activities, regardless of the differences in the level of activity of the elderly persons in the volunteer activities, the volunteer members became active in making remarks, and started to assume roles voluntarily. From the perspective of financial matters, the volunteer members were able to obtain donations for volunteer activities from neighboring establishments, as well as financial support from the social welfare council, by applying for subsidies for activities. From the perspective of participants, the number of new members increased through word of mouth spread by the existing membership. From the perspective of social cost, there was a remark that “I would like my schedule to be full of enjoyable events so that I become too busy to go to the hospital”, and in fact some members did reduce the frequency of hospital visitsDiscussion: Participants in this study are members of a volunteer group of elderly persons voluntarily formed in a regional city in Kumamoto prefecture where the elderly population accounts for 25.7% and is expected to increase. It appears that there is a self- and mutual- help relationship between active and non-active members where non-active members rely on the active members who assist the non-active members to be in harmony with the volunteer activities led by the active members, and that this relationship helps maintain independent lives. For the strengths, active members were able to collect more information from the perspective of learning and development, and contributed more through physical activity from the perspective of social contributions. It can be inferred that physically more active elderly persons are in a situation where they remain able to use their cognitive functions to collect information. For the weaknesses, the active members experienced loss of motivation. This may be due to the possibility that active members feel it a burden to assist non-active members. We wish to conduct further studies to understand how to maintain and improve motivation. The results of the SWOT analysis from the perspectives suggested by the BSC showed that there are differences in health conditions and social contributions of the elderly depending on the participation in volunteer activities, and what types of support from health services can be expected to be effective. This study evaluated the achievements of the volunteer activity goals of elderly persons by identifying the details of volunteer activities and quantifying the goals. The elderly members began to seek for new ideas to achieve better results when they were convinced that there were favorable results of their activities. This suggests that the PDCA cycle in volunteer activities may work by effecting empowerment in the process of BSC.