839 research outputs found
The Electronic Commonwealth: The Impact of New Media Technologies on Democratic Politics
A Review of The Electronic Commonwealth: The Impact of New Media Technologies on Democratic Politics by Jeffrey B. Abramson, F. Christopher Arterton, and Gary R. Orre
Heisenberg antiferromagnet with anisotropic exchange on the Kagome lattice: Description of the magnetic properties of volborthite
We study the properties of the Heisenberg antiferromagnet with spatially
anisotropic nearest-neighbour exchange couplings on the kagome net, i.e. with
coupling J in one lattice direction and couplings J' along the other two
directions. For J/J' > 1, this model is believed to describe the magnetic
properties of the mineral volborthite. In the classical limit, it exhibits two
kinds of ground states: a ferrimagnetic state for J/J' < 1/2 and a large
manifold of canted spin states for J/J' > 1/2. To include quantum effects
self-consistently, we investigate the Sp(N) symmetric generalisation of the
original SU(2) symmetric model in the large-N limit. In addition to the
dependence on the anisotropy, the Sp(N) symmetric model depends on a parameter
kappa that measures the importance of quantum effects. Our numerical
calculations reveal that in the kappa-J/J' plane, the system shows a rich phase
diagram containing a ferrimagnetic phase, an incommensurate phase, and a
decoupled chain phase, the latter two with short- and long-range order. We
corroborate these results by showing that the boundaries between the various
phases and several other features of the Sp(N) phase diagram can be determined
by analytical calculations. Finally, the application of a block-spin
perturbation expansion to the trimerised version of the original spin-1/2 model
leads us to suggest that in the limit of strong anisotropy, J/J' >> 1, the
ground state of the original model is a collinearly ordered antiferromagnet,
which is separated from the incommensurate state by a quantum phase transition.Comment: 21 pages, 22 figures. Final version, PRB in pres
Spatially anisotropic Heisenberg Kagome antiferromagnet
In the search for spin-1/2 kagome antiferromagnets, the mineral volborthite
has recently been the subject of experimental studies [Hiroi et al.,2001]. It
has been suggested that the magnetic properties of this material are described
by a spin-1/2 Heisenberg model on the kagome lattice with spatially anisotropic
exchange couplings. We report on investigations of the Sp(N) symmetric
generalisation of this model in the large N limit. We obtain a detailed
description of the dependence of possible ground states on the anisotropy and
on the spin length S. A fairly rich phase diagram with a ferrimagnetic phase,
incommensurate phases with and without long range order and a decoupled chain
phase emerges.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, proceedings of the HFM2006 conference, to appear
in a special issue of J. Phys.: Condens. Matte
Finite-temperature ordering in a two-dimensional highly frustrated spin model
We investigate the classical counterpart of an effective Hamiltonian for a
strongly trimerized kagome lattice. Although the Hamiltonian only has a
discrete symmetry, the classical groundstate manifold has a continuous global
rotational symmetry. Two cases should be distinguished for the sign of the
exchange constant. In one case, the groundstate has a 120^\circ spin structure.
To determine the transition temperature, we perform Monte-Carlo simulations and
measure specific heat, the order parameter as well as the associated Binder
cumulant. In the other case, the classical groundstates are macroscopically
degenerate. A thermal order-by-disorder mechanism is predicted to select
another 120^\circ spin-structure. A finite but very small transition
temperature is detected by Monte-Carlo simulations using the exchange method.Comment: 11 pages including 9 figures, uses IOP style files; to appear in J.
Phys.: Condensed Matter (proceedings of HFM2006
Play is indispensable for an adequate development of coping with social challenges in the rat
In this study, young rats were deprived of early social interactions during weeks 4 and 5 of life. Different behavior al tests were conducted in adulthood to study the behavioral responses of rats lacking ear ly social experiences. Juvenile deprivation resulted in decreased social activity and an altered sexual pattern, but did not affect locomotor activity or the performance in the elevated plus maze. Furthermore, behavioral and neuroendocrine responses of juvenile isolated rats were dramatically altered when they were confronted with territorial aggression. Juvenile deprived rats did not readily display a submissive posture in response to the resident and showed no immobility behavior after being returned to the resident's territory, while their plasma corticosterone and adrenaline concentrations;were significantly increased compared to nonisolated controls. In contrast, behavioral responses in the shock prod test were not affected by previous isolation. The results suggest that early social experiences are vital for interactions with conspecifics later in life, i.e., aggression, sexual, and social interactions; (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc
In vivo bone regeneration induced by a scaffold of chitosan/dicarboxylic acid seeded with human periodontal ligament cells
Validation of the Dutch Freiburg mindfulness inventory in patients with medical illness
Most validation studies of the Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI) involved healthy subjects. Validation in patients who suffer from a life-threatening medical illness is needed, to investigate the FMI’s validity in medical psychology research and practice. Psychometric properties of the Dutch FMI were examined in two patient groups of two different studies: (Sample 1) cardiac patients (n = 114, M age = 56 ± 7 years, 18% women) and (Sample 2) severely fatigued cancer survivors (n = 158, M age = 50 ± 10 years, 77% women). Confirmatory factor analysis (studied only in Sample 2) provided good fit for the two-factor solution (Acceptance and Presence), while the one-factor solution provided suboptimal fit indices. Internal consistency was good for the whole scale in both samples (Sample 1 α = .827 and Sample 2 α = .851). The two-factor model showed acceptable to good internal consistency in Sample 2 (Presence: α = .823; Acceptance α = .744), but poor to acceptable in Sample 1 (Presence subscale: α = .577, Acceptance subscale: α = .791). Clinical sensitivity was supported in both samples, and construct validity (studied only in Sample 1) was acceptable. The Dutch FMI is an acceptable instrument to measure mindfulness in patients who experienced a life-threatening illness in a Dutch-speaking populatio
Tissue identification with micro-magnetic resonance imaging in a caprine spinal fusion model
Nonunion is a major complication of spinal
interbody fusion. Currently X-ray and computed tomography
(CT) are used for evaluating the spinal fusion process.
However, both imaging modalities have limitations in
judgment of the early stages of this fusion process, as they
only visualize mineralized bone. Magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI) could be of great value as it is able to discriminate
between different types of tissue. A feasibility
study was performed in nine animals from a goat spinal
fusion study, to evaluate the detection capacity of different
tissues with micro-MRI. In this study bioresorbable polylactic
acid cages were used. Six- and 12-months follow-up
specimens were scanned in a 6.3 T micro-MRI scanner.
After scanning, the specimens were processed for histology.
Different types of tissue as well as the degradable cage
material were identified in the fusion zone and designated as
regions of interest (ROIs). Subsequently, the location of
these ROIs was determined on the corresponding micro-
MRI image, and average signal intensities of every individual
ROI were measured. An excellent match was seen
between the histological sections and micro-MRI images.
The micro-MRI images showed quantifiable differences in
signal intensity between bone with adipose marrow, bone
with hematopoietic marrow, fibrocartilage, fibrous tissue,
and degradable implant material. In time the signal intensity
of bone with adipose marrow, bone with hematopoietic red
marrow, and of fibrous tissue remained relatively constant.
On the other hand, the signal intensity of the degradable
implant material and the fibrocartilage changed significantly
in time, indicating change of structure and
composition. In conclusion, in our model using bioresorbable
cages the MRI provides us with detailed information
about the early fusion process and may therefore, allow
early diagnosis of non-union
Peculiarities of the function of cardiomyocytes in patients with ischemic heart disease associated with diabetes mellitus type 2
The functional activity of myocardium in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM) and coronary heart disease (CAD) was studied. The study included patients with CAD with T2DM as representatives of the main group, the comparison group consisted of patients with univariant course of ischemic heart disease without violation of carbohydrate metabolism. Contractile activity of the myocardium was evaluated by the inotroic reaction of isolated trabeculae of patients according to the Protocol tests "Post-rest" and "Ekstrasistoliei test". As a result, it was found that rhythm-inotropic myocardial response in patients with comorbid pathology persists to a greater extent than in the one-dimensional flow of CAD
- …