The spinorial energy functional: solutions of the gradient flow on Berger spheres

We study the negative gradient flow of the spinorial energy functional (introduced by Ammann, Wei{\ss}, and Witt) on 3-dimensional Berger spheres. For a certain class of spinors we show that the Berger spheres collapse to a 2-dimensional sphere. Moreover, for special cases, we prove that the volume-normalized standard 3-sphere together with a Killing spinor is a stable critical point of the volume-normalized version of the flow. Our results also include an example of a critical point of the volume-normalized flow on the 3-sphere, which is not a Killing spinor.Comment: Minor typo corrected, added a sentence in the abstrac

Languages and Postmodern Ethnic Identities

Specific discourses of our mother tongue (which is not always our mother\u27s tongue) are supposed to decisively constitute our subjectivity. These discourses which are constituting us and are available to us offer possible identities. These identities carry ethno-culturally-specific meanings, which are symbolised within and by spoken, written, and non-verbal language/s. Are languages given the same relevance when giving meaning to postmodern ethnicity, if one understands postmodern ethnicity as a stance of simultaneously transcending ethnicity as a complete, self-contained system but retaining it as a selectively preferred, evolving, participatory system? Multilinguality, as it may correspond with aspects of postmodern ethnicity, seems to imply an interaction between different languages with their distinct understanding of self and the world which manifests in a kaleidoscopic view, temporarily creating new constellations of meaning

Surface tension of isotropic-nematic interfaces: Fundamental Measure Theory for hard spherocylinders

A fluid constituted of hard spherocylinders is studied using a density functional theory for non-spherical hard particles, which can be written as a function of weighted densities. This is based on an extended deconvolution of the Mayer $f$-function for arbitrarily shaped convex hard bodies in tensorial weight functions, which depend each only on the shape and orientation of a single particle. In the course of an examination of the isotropic- nematic interface at coexistence the functional is applied to anisotropic and inhomogeneous problems for the first time. We find good qualitative agreement with other theoretical predictions and also with Monte-Carlo simulations

Memory Performance for Everyday Motivational and Neutral Objects Is Dissociable from Attention

Episodic memory is typically better for items coupled with monetary reward or punishment during encoding. It is yet unclear whether memory is also enhanced for everyday objects with appetitive or aversive values learned through a lifetime of experience, and to what extent episodic memory enhancement for motivational and neutral items is attributable to attention. In a first experiment, we investigated attention to everyday motivational objects using eye-tracking during free-viewing and subsequently tested episodic memory using a remember/know procedure. Attention was directed more to aversive stimuli, as evidenced by longer viewing durations, whereas recollection was higher for both appetitive and aversive objects. In the second experiment, we manipulated the visual salience of neutral objects through changes of contrast to further dissociate attention and memory encoding. While objects presented with high visual contrast were looked at longer, recollection was best for objects presented in unmodified, medium contrast. Generalized logistic mixed models on recollection performance showed that total viewing duration did not predict subsequent memory, while motivational value (experiment 1) and visual contrast (experiment 2) had quadratic effects in opposite directions. Our findings suggest that an enhancement of incidental memory encoding for appetitive items can occur without an increase in attention and, vice versa, that enhanced attention towards salient neutral objects is not necessarily associated with memory improvement. Together, our results provide evidence for a double dissociation of attention and memory effects under certain conditions

Automation of preparation of nonmetallic samples for analysis by atomic absorption and inductively coupled plasma spectrometry

For a rapid preparation of solutions intended for analysis by inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometry or atomic absorption spectrometry, an automatic device called Plasmasol was developed. This apparatus used the property of nonwettability of glassy C to fuse the sample in an appropriate flux. The sample-flux mixture is placed in a composite crucible, then heated at high temperature, swirled until full dissolution is achieved, and then poured into a water-filled beaker. After acid addition, dissolution of the melt, and filling to the mark, the solution is ready for analysis. The analytical results obtained, either for oxide samples or for prereduced iron ores show that the solutions prepared with this device are undistinguished from those obtained by manual dissolutions done by acid digestion or by high temperature fusion. Preparation reproducibility and analytical tests illustrate the performance of Plasmasol

Multicore-aware parallel temporal blocking of stencil codes for shared and distributed memory

New algorithms and optimization techniques are needed to balance the accelerating trend towards bandwidth-starved multicore chips. It is well known that the performance of stencil codes can be improved by temporal blocking, lessening the pressure on the memory interface. We introduce a new pipelined approach that makes explicit use of shared caches in multicore environments and minimizes synchronization and boundary overhead. For clusters of shared-memory nodes we demonstrate how temporal blocking can be employed successfully in a hybrid shared/distributed-memory environment.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure