Tisese, and Its Anthropological Significance

Tisese. Approche anthropologique d’une société à visites : les Moso. – Cet article aborde un certain nombre de problèmes que pose le système à visites, appelé tisese, que l’on rencontre chez les Moso de Chine du Sud, et il tente d’en saisir la signification anthropologique. Sont abordés successivement : la dénomination des Moso par eux-mêmes et par les autres, la nomenclature du système à visites, comment comprendre le caractère unique de tisese, et cette institution peut-elle être considérée comme une forme de mariage, pourquoi les Moso l’ont adoptée et comment appréhender le rôle du père et du mari dans cette société ? Pour l’auteur, il s’agit d’une institution sui generis qui, non seulement constitue un défi à des thèmes fondamentaux de l’anthropologie tels que le mariage et la famille nucléaire, mais présente aussi un intérêt majeur pour l’approche théorique du genre, de l’identité, de l’ethnicité, de l’économie politique et de la démographie.This article addresses some controversial issues around tisese, a visiting sexual-reproductive institution among the Moso in Southwest China, and discusses the anthropological significance of this case. Topics include the group naming of the Moso; the nomenclature of the visiting system, how to understand the uniqueness of tisese, and whether it should be understood as a form of marriage, why the Moso have kept it and how to understand the roles of father and husband in this society. The article argues that tisese is indeed a sui generis institution which does not only challenge the anthropological wisdom of such fondamental human institutions as marriage and nuclear family, but also has broad relevance to current theoretical interests such as gender, identity, ethnicity, political economy and anthropological demography

Phase Diagram of Solitons in the Polar Phase of a Spin-1 Bose-Einstein Condensate

We theoretically study the structure of a stationary soliton in the polar phase of spin-1 Bose--Einstein condensate in the presence of quadratic Zeeman effect at zero temperature. The phase diagram of such solitons is mapped out by finding the states of minimal soliton energy in the defining range of polar phase. The states are assorted into normal, anti-ferromagnetic, broken-axisymmetry, and ferromagnetic phases according to the number and spin densities in the core. The order of phase transitions between different solitons and the critical behaviour of relevant continuous transitions are proved within the mean-field theory

Kibble-Zurek Dynamics in a Trapped Ultracold Bose Gas

The dynamical evolution of an inhomogeneous ultracold atomic gas quenched at different controllable rates through the Bose-Einstein condensation phase transition is studied numerically in the premise of a recent experiment in an anisotropic harmonic trap. Our findings based on the stochastic (projected) Gross-Pitaevskii equation are shown to be consistent at early times with the predictions of the homogeneous Kibble-Zurek mechanism. This is demonstrated by collapsing the early dynamical evolution of densities, spectral functions and correlation lengths for different quench rates, based on an appropriate characterization of the distance to criticality felt by the quenched system. The subsequent long-time evolution, beyond the identified dynamical critical region, is also investigated by looking at the behaviour of the density wavefront evolution and the corresponding phase ordering dynamics

Arrangement of the consolidation works for straight rivers

Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Hydroscience and Engineering, Philadelphia, PA, September 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/1860/732This study is to investigate the difference of river habitat patterns before and after the construction of the consolidation works for the straight rivers based on a series of flume experiments and numerical simulations. The objective of this study was to conduct simulations using SMS model (Surface Water Modeling System) developed by the BOSS Company to search for the optimum arrangements of the consolidation works with consideration of both safety and ecological conditions. It was found that relative accurate flow phenomena can be simulated using RMA2 (Resource Management Associates) model. The results of the simulations indicated that the saw-tooth consolidation work was a better tool for energy dissipation and flow regulation than the conventional consolidation work. In general, highest flow diversity of habitat was observed for a saw-tooth consolidation work with an interval 2.5 times of the channel width, and when the saw interval of the consolidation work was a three-fourths value of the saw width. The above consolidation work arrangements can provide multiplicity of stream habitat, and form a better river habitat environment for aquatic creatures

A Funeral as a Festival: Celebrations of Life in the Mosuo Tribe in China

This article attempts to provoke a discussion concerning the definition and nature of festivals by considering the process of Mosuo funerals in Southwest China as a festival event. The role of women and men in daily life and within the funeral ceremony is discussed – the Mosuo is a matriarchal society – as are the vernacular architectural settings which have evolved for both ritual and everyday activities. The article looks at the religious perception of death in Mosuo culture, which considers funerals as celebrations of a life cycle including birth, growing up and death; through onsite observations, it documents the process of a Mosuo funeral in relation to its physical space. Even though, unlike most other festivals, funerals occur at unpredictable times, it is argued that for the Mosuo the funeral event is also a festival