Effects of Anisotropy in QED3 from Dyson-Schwinger equations in a box

We investigate the effect of anisotropies in the fermion velocities of 2+1 dimensional QED on the critical number N_f^c of fermions for dynamical mass generation. Our framework are the Dyson-Schwinger equations for the gauge boson and fermion propagators formulated in a finite volume. In contrast to previous Dyson-Schwinger studies we do not rely on an expansion in small anisotropies but keep the full velocity dependence of fermion equations intact. As result we find sizable variations of N_f^c away from the isotropic point in agreement with other approaches. We discuss the relevance of our findings for models of high-T_c superconductors.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, v2: minor changes, typos corrected, version accepted by PR

An Exploration Of The Development Of Resilience In Student Midwives.

Student midwives have to complete a demanding programme to become a midwife, and therefore it is questioned whether they need resilience to be successful. The study‟s aims were to explore whether resilience developed in one cohort of 25 undergraduate student midwives and what the concept of resilience meant to them. This study adopted a longitudinal case study approach, in one Higher Education Institution (HEI) in England, during the first 18 months of their programme. The study used Wagnild and Young‟s (1993) (updated 2015) True Resilience Scale©, administered on three occasions. Additionally, four focus groups were conducted twice and six participants were involved in one-to-one interviews, to explore issues raised in the focus group. Version 24 of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyse the findings of the True Resilience Scale©. Pairwise comparisons revealed that there were significant differences in True Resilience Scale© scores between the first and the second completion (p= 0.034) and time 1 and time 3 (p= 0.002); there were no significant differences between time 2 and time 3 (p=1.0). In this cohort of student midwives the scale showed that the majority had developed their resilience during the study. The qualitative data were thematically analysed using Braun and Clarke‟s (2013) stages. The participants described themselves as developing resilience despite the programme being very hard. They believed that being passionate about midwifery, being adaptable and learning from reflection was key to being resilient as a student midwife. The importance of support and belonging in clinical practice and their mentors were key to success. Despite the challenges they encountered on the programme, they felt supported and prepared to become midwives. A model, which defines resilience for student midwives, is presented for consideration in midwifery curricula to strengthen how reflexivity is taught and supported

New Modulators of the trace amine associated receptor: Meta linked ureas

Millions of people suffer from thyroid hormone disorders. However, many more are unaware of their condition. Symptoms of thyroid conditions fall into two basic categories: hyperthyroidism with excessive thyroid hormone (TH) levels and hypothyroidism with lower TH levels. The thyroid gland is responsible for the synthesis and secretion of the (TH), which includes both thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3). The predominant TH produced by the thyroid gland is T4, which is the inactive form. Recent studies have shown, that T3 is a metabolite of T4. This typically takes place at the target tissue or in the liver. The active hormone, T3, is then transported into the cell and binds to a thyroid nuclear receptor (TR). Normally, T3 mediated TR activation leads to the control of various biological processes: core body temperature, heart rate and metabolism. This activation process is typically slow ranging anywhere from hours to days. In the case of hyperthyroidism, patients exhibit increases in their core body temperature, heart rate and metabolism. Alternatively, patients with hypothyroidism experience a decrease in these biological processes. Recently, a naturally occurring metabolite, 3-iodothyronamine (T1AM) was discovered to elicit a rapid physiological response in mice. These include a decrease in core body temperature, metabolism and heart rate. T1AM is a potent agonist of an orphan G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR) known as the trace amine-associated receptor (TAAR1). GPCRs are known to mediate rapid cellular responses. If we consider these opposing physiological effects of T1AM and TH it is possible that T1AM and T3 work in conjunction to provide a regulatory mechanism of TH activity including cardiac output, body temperature, and metabolism. Studying this mechanism may lead to a greater understanding of TH biology. Our lab has been interested in developing novel derivatives of T1AM as a means of examining this mechanism. Previously, we have found that incorporating a urea functional group in place of the ether linkage of T1AM has led to significant TAAR1 activation. These derivatives contained a para-linked aromatic system. The goal of this project is to expand on this structure activity relationship by examining a meta-linked aromatic system. Additionally, the length between the two aryl groups will be examined by insert 0 to 4 methylenes. To this end, the five targeted meta-linked ureas were synthesized utilizing a four step synthesis. These compounds now await biological evaluation in the next phase of the project. By achieving a greater understanding of T1AMs role in thyroid hormone biology there may be more opportunities for treatments of patients who are suffering from thyroid hormone disorders. *This scholar and faculty mentor have requested that only an abstract be published

New Zealand’s Performance Based Research Funding (PBRF) model undermines Maori research

The Performance Based Research Funding (PBRF) model was instigated in 2002 to increase “the quality of research through peer assessment and performance indicators” in New Zealand (Ministry of Education 2002: 17). It is used to allocate funding between universities, departments and researchers according to the putative quality and quantity of their research outputs over the preceding 6 years. PBRF is expected to incentivise improved research excellence and efficiency, and allow government to invest research funds where greatest returns will result. This is potentially a huge gain for Māori. However, “by changing the conditions of knowledge production, research assessment exercises may also alter the shape and direction of disciplines by diverting and channelling researchers’ intellectual attention and political engagement, influencing what they study, how they do it, and how they report and write” (Middleton 2009: 194). Indeed, universities repeatedly encourage researchers to focus on activities that will improve their PBRF rankings. We believe that an unintended consequence of PBRF is the creation of significant barriers to increasing the volume, scope and quality of environmental research for Māori

Understanding how local climatic changes modify the response of biodiversity to land-use changes

Anthropogenic changes to Earth’s ecosystems are putting global biodiversity under ever-increasing pressure. Land-use and climate change are two of the biggest pressures facing terrestrial species. These environmental changes, however, are not occurring in isolation and, consequently, may interact. One route by which these two pressures could interact is through the local-scale climatic changes that occur due to land-use change. Human-altered land uses are often hotter and drier than natural habitats, which may lead to these land uses (such as agricultural areas) favouring certain species. Moreover, environmental changes do not impact species uniformly across their distributions. Populations’ climatic positions (i.e., how close the environmental climatic conditions populations experience are to their species’ climatic tolerance limits) have been found to influence populations’ responses to global climate change, but whether they impact responses to land-use change remains unknown. By using three of the most comprehensive assemblage databases to date (the PREDICTS, Living Planet and BioTIME databases), this thesis investigates the impact of local climatic changes on vertebrate responses to land-use changes. I find that human-altered land uses are reshaping communities by favouring species affiliated with more extreme climatic conditions, especially at tropical latitudes. Further, responses differ across species ranges, with populations’ climatic positions influencing abundances within human-altered land uses. In particular, those populations experiencing temperatures closer to their thermal limits are filtered out of human-altered land uses. In addition, population trends were influenced by interactions between land use, habitat loss, climatic position, and climate change. These results are likely, at least in part, due to the local climatic changes ensuing land-use change. Overall, accounting for these local climatic differences between land uses is essential if we are to fully understand the impacts of environmental changes on biodiversity, set up suitable conservation and management plans to mitigate their effects, and minimise future biodiversity loss