On the Holomorphic Structure of a Low Energy Supersymmetric Wilson Effective Action

The Wilson (exact) renormalization group equations are used to determine the evolution of a general low energy N=1 supersymmetric action containing a U(1) gauge vector multiplet and a neutral chiral multiplet. The effective theory evolves towards satisfying a fixed relation where the K\"ahler potential and effective gauge coupling are obtained from a N=2 supersymmetric holomorphic prepotential.Comment: 10 pages, LaTe

The conformation of conducting polymer chains: Hubbard polymers

The conformational and electronic properties of conducting flexible random and self-avoiding walk polymer chains are under investigation. A Hamiltonian for conjugated flexible polymers is introduced and its physical consequences are presented. One important result is that the electronic degrees of freedom greatly affect the conformational statistics of the walks and vice versa. The electronic degrees of freedom extend the size of the chain. The end-to-end distance behaves as $R\propto L^{\nu}$ with $\nu=(d+1)/(d+2)$, where $d$ is the spatial dimension.Comment: 11 pages of Latex + uuencoded postscript figur

Equation of state and coarse grained free energy for matrix models

We investigate phase transitions in three dimensional scalar matrix models, with special emphasis on complex $2 \times 2$ matrices. The universal equation of state for weak first order phase transitions is computed. We also study the coarse grained free energy. Its dependence on the coarse graining scale gives a quantitative criterion for the validity of the standard treatment of bubble nucleation.Comment: Latex, 48 page

Curriculum transformation: a proposed route to reflect a political consciousness in occupational therapy education

Introduction: Curriculum review is an ongoing, dynamic, long-term process that forms part of occupational therapy education. The Department of Occupational Therapy, University of the Western Cape (UWC) recently responded to the challenge of becoming socially responsive and politically relevant by engaging in curriculum review. The review revealed that political reasoning was not clearly delineated previously in the curriculum. In response to this problem, over a period of several years we engaged in a process of curriculum transformation so that students become politically conscious. Methods: The process entailed environmental scanning, feedback from teaching staff and clinicians, students’ evaluations, regular curriculum revision meetings, academic development meetings, workshops and seminars. A qualitative study using a cooperative enquiry approach was conducted to analyse the data. Findings: From the analysis the following themes emerged: (1) identifying the essence of occupational therapy education at UWC, (2) understanding political practice on a theoretical and then a personal level, (3) integrating and operationalising political consciousness into the curriculum. We discuss the debates and critical questions raised in our efforts to develop a curriculum that prepares graduates to be politically conscious and socially responsive. Finally, we present key strategies for the way forward. Conclusion: Curriculum transformation around a political practice of occupational therapy does not merely mean just a change in curriculum content, but requires the internalisation of a political consciousness by educators individually and collectively.Department of HE and Training approved lis

Ages and Metallicities of Early-Type Void Galaxies from Line Strength Measurements

We present spectroscopic observations of 26 galaxies of type E and S0, based on their blue morphologies, located in voids by the study of Grogin & Geller (1999). Measurements of redshift, velocity dispersion, and four Lick line indices, Mgb, Fe5270, Fe5335, and Hbeta with their errors are given for all of these galaxies, along with Hbeta, [OIII], Halpha, and [NII] emission line strengths for a subset of these objects. These sources are brighter than M star for low density regions and tend to be bluer than their counterpart early-type objects in high density regions. Using the models of Thomas et al. (2003) gives metal abundances and ages with a median alpha enhancement, [alpha/Fe] = +0.13, and median metals abundance, [Z/H] = +0.22, values comparable to those found for E and S0 galaxies in clusters, but with a wider spread in [Z/H] towards low values. If the emission line subsample is interpreted as younger, the proportion of young objects is higher than for early-types in higher density regions. There is a significant incidence of sources in the sample with emission lines in their spectra (46% with Hbeta and [OIII] and 69% with Halpha or [NII]) as well as shells and rings in their morphologies (19%). The diagnostic log[NII/Halpha], log[OIII/Hbeta] diagram places 10 of 12 emission line galaxies in or near the star forming and liner region and two among the Seyferts. The Halpha fluxes indicate star formation rates of 0.2 to 1.0 Msun per yr. The percentage of these early-type void galaxies undergoing star formation appears to be higher compared to their cluster counterparts and the range of ages wider.Comment: 45 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journa

Critical wave-packet dynamics in the power-law bond disordered Anderson Model

We investigate the wave-packet dynamics of the power-law bond disordered one-dimensional Anderson model with hopping amplitudes decreasing as $H_{nm}\propto |n-m|^{-\alpha}$. We consider the critical case ($\alpha=1$). Using an exact diagonalization scheme on finite chains, we compute the participation moments of all stationary energy eigenstates as well as the spreading of an initially localized wave-packet. The eigenstates multifractality is characterized by the set of fractal dimensions of the participation moments. The wave-packet shows a diffusive-like spread developing a power-law tail and achieves a stationary non-uniform profile after reflecting at the chain boundaries. As a consequence, the time-dependent participation moments exhibit two distinct scaling regimes. We formulate a finite-size scaling hypothesis for the participation moments relating their scaling exponents to the ones governing the return probability and wave-function power-law decays

Benchmarking computer platforms for lattice QCD applications

We define a benchmark suite for lattice QCD and report on benchmark results from several computer platforms. The platforms considered are apeNEXT, CRAY T3E, Hitachi SR8000, IBM p690, PC-Clusters, and QCDOC.Comment: 3 pages, Lattice03, machines and algorithm

Synthesis and Diels-Alder Reactions of 1,2-Dimethylene- and 1,2,9,10-Tetramethylene-[2.2]paracyclophane: New Routes to Bridge-Anellated[2.2]Paracyclophanedienes

The title compounds 8 and 1 have been synthesized in three steps each from 1,2-dibromo[2.2]paracyclophan-1-ene (2) and 1,2,9,10-tetrabromo[2.2]paracyclophane-1,9-diene (4), respectively. Copper-mediated coupling of vinyl bromides 2 and 4 with methyl- and phenylmagnesium bromide gives substituted [2.2]paracyclophanes 3-CH3, 3-Ph, 5-CH3, and 5-Ph in good yields. The high reactivity of the [2.2]paracyclophane-1,2-dimethylene moieties in 8 and 1 in Diels-Alder reactions has been verified in cycloadditions with p-benzoquinone to give 10 and 13 and with naphthalene 1,4-endoxide to yield 12

“This pandemic has changed our daily living”: Young adults’ leisure experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa

The COVID-19 pandemic is a global human ecosystem disruption affecting almost every facet of daily living. South Africa adopted a risk-adjusted approach comprising five-levels to curb the spread of COVID-19. Early in 2020, the country experienced level 5 and 4 restrictions, indicating high COVID-19 spread with low to moderate health system readiness. South Africans were largely confined to their homes. This study explored young adults’ experiences of leisure engagement during the confinement, adaptations made, and the influence on health and wellbeing. Thirteen occupational therapy student researchers conducted individual qualitative, exploratory-descriptive studies on young adults’ leisure experiences during the level 5 and 4 confinements. The authors used a qualitative meta-analytic approach to review the student researchers’ primary studies and synthesize findings for this paper. The sample comprised 65 participants aged 18 to 32 years (mean age 22.2 years), the majority being either students or employed. Participants were interviewed online or submitted written responses to open-ended questions focusing on their leisure engagement during the confinement. Relevant data were extracted from the primary studies and analyzed thematically. Four themes emerged: 1) disruption, 2) time, 3) adaptations to change, and 4) leisure benefits. Although participants experienced the confinement as disruptive, and restricting their leisure and social engagement, they adapted and developed new leisure occupations, which had a positive influence on their health and wellbeing. In conclusion, the young adults dealt with the occupational injustices of confinement by adapting their leisure engagement, thus displaying occupational resilience, which positively influenced health and well-being