Global Citizens and Family Relations

__Abstract__ As globalisation progresses, cross-border movements of people are becoming dynamic and multilateral. The existence of different groups and minorities within the community renders the society multiethnic and multicultural. As individuals acquire new affiliation and belonging, the conventional conflict of laws methods may no longer be viable and should be subject to a thorough re-examination. Against this background, this paper analyses appropriate conflicts rules in international family relations to reflect an individual’s identity. Furthermore, in light of the contemporary law fragmentation, this study also analyses interactions between state law and non-state cultural, religious or customary norms

Multidimensional replica-exchange method for free-energy calculations

We have developed a new simulation algorithm for free-energy calculations. The method is a multidimensional extension of the replica-exchange method. While pairs of replicas with different temperatures are exchanged during the simulation in the original replica-exchange method, pairs of replicas with different temperatures and/or different parameters of the potential energy are exchanged in the new algorithm. This greatly enhances the sampling of the conformational space and allows accurate calculations of free energy in a wide temperature range from a single simulation run, using the weighted histogram analysis method.Comment: 13 pages, (ReVTeX), 9 figures. J. Chem. Phys. 113 (2000), in pres

Effective Sampling in the Configurational Space by the Multicanonical-Multioverlap Algorithm

We propose a new generalized-ensemble algorithm, which we refer to as the multicanonical-multioverlap algorithm. By utilizing a non-Boltzmann weight factor, this method realizes a random walk in the multi-dimensional, energy-overlap space and explores widely in the configurational space including specific configurations, where the overlap of a configuration with respect to a reference state is a measure for structural similarity. We apply the multicanonical-multioverlap molecular dynamics method to a penta peptide, Met-enkephalin, in vacuum as a test system. We also apply the multicanonical and multioverlap molecular dynamics methods to this system for the purpose of comparisons. We see that the multicanonical-multioverlap molecular dynamics method realizes effective sampling in the configurational space including specific configurations more than the other two methods. From the results of the multicanonical-multioverlap molecular dynamics simulation, furthermore, we obtain a new local-minimum state of the Met-enkephalin system.Comment: 15 pages, (Revtex4), 9 figure

The Stellar Population of Lyman-alpha Emitting Galaxies at z ~ 5.7

We present a study of three Lyman-alpha emitting galaxies (LAEs), selected via a narrow-band survey in the GOODS northern field, and spectroscopically confirmed to have redshifts of z ~ 5.65. Using HST ACS and Spitzer IRAC data, we constrain the rest-frame UV-to-optical spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of the galaxies. Fitting stellar population synthesis models to the observed SEDs, we find best-fit stellar populations with masses between ~ 10^9 - 10^10 M_sun and ages between ~ 5 - 100 Myr, assuming a simple starburst star formation history. However, stellar populations as old as 700 Myr are admissible if a constant star formation rate model is considered. Very deep near-IR observations may help to narrow the range of allowed models by providing extra constraints on the rest-frame UV spectral slope. Our narrow-band selected objects and other IRAC-detected z ~ 6 i'-dropout galaxies have similar 3.6 um magnitudes and z' - [3.6] colors, suggesting that they posses stellar populations of similar masses and ages. This similarity may be the result of a selection bias, since the IRAC-detected LAEs and i'-dropouts probably only sample the bright end of the luminosity function. On the other hand, our LAEs have blue i' - z' colors compared to the i'-dropouts, and would have been missed by the i'-dropout selection criterion. A better understanding of the overlap between the LAE and the i'-dropout populations is necessary in order to constrain the properties of the overall high-redshift galaxy population, such as the total stellar mass density at z ~ 6.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap

Chiral Phase Transitions in QCD at Finite Temperature: Hard-Thermal-Loop Resummed Dyson-Schwinger Equation in the Real Time Formalism

Chiral phase transition in thermal QCD is studied by using the Dyson-Schwinger (DS) equation in the real time hard thermal loop approximation. Our results on the critical temperature and the critical coupling are significantly different from those in the preceding analyses in the ladder DS equation, showing the importance of properly taking into account the essential thermal effects, namely the Landau damping and the unstable nature of thermal quasiparticles.Comment: 4 pages including 2 figures (ps file), to appear in the proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Physics and Astrophysics of Quark-Gluon Plasma (ICPAQGP-2001), 26-30 November 2001, Jaipur, Indi

The Change in Mental Health Status of Indonesian Health Care Migrant Worker in Japan

Under the Japan – Indonesia Economic Partnership Agreement, more than 1,000 of Indonesian health care workers have migrated to Japan. Social adjustment during the process of migration is linked to mental health changes. This study aimed to figure out the strongest predictor that influences the change in mental health status as a result of migration. Baseline data were collected in Jakarta in 2013 during pre-departure orientation. Follow-up study was conducted one year after the study participants migrated to Japan in 2014. Using longitudinal design, this study employed 92 participants consisting of nurse and certified care worker candidates. The multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to figure out the predictors that influence the change in mental health status. The prediction model expected to explain 39.9% of the change in mental health status, p value < 0.01, while sex (b = 0.201, p value < 0.05), economic conditions in pre-migration (b = -0.200, p value < 0.05), and the socio cultural adaptation competency (b = -0.238, p value < 0.05). This finding assumed that female candidates and those who have economic constraint in pre-migration stage, and those who have declining in socio-cultural adaptation competency tend to have lower mental health one year after the migration

Dominance of gauge artifact in the consistency relation for the primordial bispectrum

The conventional cosmological perturbation theory has been performed under the assumption that we know the whole spatial region of the universe with infinite volume. This is, however, not the case in the actual observations because observable portion of the universe is limited. To give a theoretical prediction to the observable fluctuations, gauge-invariant observables should be composed of the information in our local observable universe with finite volume. From this point of view, we reexamine the primordial non-Gaussianity in single field models, focusing on the bispectrum in the squeezed limit. A conventional prediction states that the bispectrum in this limit is related to the power spectrum through the so-called consistency relation. However, it turns out that, if we adopt a genuine gauge invariant variable which is naturally composed purely of the information in our local universe, the leading term for the bispectrum in the squeezed limit predicted by the consistency relation vanishes.Comment: 12 pages; v2: accepted version in JCA

First-principles study on the intermediate compounds of LiBH4_4

We report the results of the first-principles calculation on the intermediate compounds of LiBH$_4$. The stability of LiB$_3$H$_8$ and Li$_2$B$_n$H$_n (n=5-12)$ has been examined with the ultrasoft pseudopotential method based on the density functional theory. Theoretical prediction has suggested that monoclinic Li$_2$B$_{12}$H$_{12}$ is the most stable among the candidate materials. We propose the following hydriding/dehydriding process of LiBH$_4$ via this intermediate compound : LiBH$_4 \leftrightarrow {1/12}$Li$_{2}$B$_{12}$H$_{12} + {5/6}$ LiH $+ {13/12}$H$_2 \leftrightarrow$LiH $+$ B $+ {3/2}$H$_2$. The hydrogen content and enthalpy of the first reaction are estimated to be 10 mass% and 56 kJ/mol H$_2$, respectively, and those of the second reaction are 4 mass% and 125 kJ/mol H$_2$. They are in good agreement with experimental results of the thermal desorption spectra of LiBH$_4$. Our calculation has predicted that the bending modes for the $\Gamma$-phonon frequencies of monoclinic Li$_2$B$_{12}$H$_{12}$ are lower than that of LiBH$_4$, while stretching modes are higher. These results are very useful for the experimental search and identification of possible intermediate compounds.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, submitted to PR