Investigation on the Tachyonic Neutrino

According to the experimental data, it is still controversial whether the neutrinos, especially the electron-neutrino and muon-neutrino, can be considered as the fermionic spinorial tachyons, and there is still no reliable report on the existence of the right-handed neutrinos. In this letter, we show that the neutrinos with the single handedness can not be the tachyons, but only those of the both handedness can be. Several implications of this result are discussed.Comment: 13 pages, latex, no figure

On a New Approach for Constructing Wormholes in Einstein-Born-Infeld Gravity

We study a new approach for the wormhole construction in Einstein-Born-Infeld gravity, which does not require exotic matters in the Einstein equation. The Born-Infeld field equation is not modified from "coordinate independent" conditions of continuous metric tensor and its derivatives, even though the Born-Infeld fields have discontinuities in their derivatives at the throat in general. We study the relation of the newly introduced conditions with the usual continuity equation for the energy-momentum tensor and the gravitational Bianchi identity. We find that there is no violation of energy conditions for the Born-Infeld fields contrary to the usual approaches. The exoticity of energy-momentum tensor is not essential for sustaining wormholes. Some open problems are discussed.Comment: Minor revision to improve the clarity, Corrected typos, Added reference and footnot

Quasi-Normal Modes of a Natural AdS Wormhole in Einstein-Born-Infeld Gravity

We study the matter perturbations of a new AdS wormhole in (3+1)-dimensional Einstein-Born-Infeld gravity, called "natural wormhole", which does not require exotic matters. We discuss the stability of the perturbations by numerically computing the quasi-normal modes (QNMs) of a massive scalar field in the wormhole background. We investigate the dependence of quasi-normal frequencies on the mass of scalar field as well as other parameters of the wormhole. It is found that the perturbations are always stable for the wormhole geometry which has the general relativity (GR) limit when the scalar field mass m satisfies a certain, tachyonic mass bound m^2 > m^2_* with m^2_* < 0, analogous to the Breitenlohner-Freedman (BF) bound in the global-AdS space, m^2_BF = 3 Lambda/4. It is also found that the BF-like bound m^2_* shifts by the changes of the cosmological constant Lambda or angular-momentum number l, with a level crossing between the lowest complex and pure-imaginary modes for zero angular momentum l = 0. Furthermore, it is found that the unstable modes can also have oscillatory parts as well as non-oscillatory parts depending on whether the real and imaginary parts of frequencies are dependent on each other or not, contrary to arguments in the literature. For wormhole geometries which do not have the GR limit, the BF-like bound does not occur and the perturbations are stable for arbitrary tachyonic and non-tachyonic masses, up to a critical mass m^2_c > 0 where the perturbations are completely frozen.Comment: Added comments and references, Accepted in EPJ

Non-Abelian Proca model based on the improved BFT formalism

We present the newly improved Batalin-Fradkin-Tyutin (BFT) Hamiltonian formalism and the generalization to the Lagrangian formulation, which provide the much more simple and transparent insight to the usual BFT method, with application to the non-Abelian Proca model which has been an difficult problem in the usual BFT method. The infinite terms of the effectively first class constraints can be made to be the regular power series forms by ingenious choice of $X_{\alpha \beta}$ and $\omega^{\alpha \beta}$-matrices. In this new method, the first class Hamiltonian, which also needs infinite correction terms is obtained simply by replacing the original variables in the original Hamiltonian with the BFT physical variables. Remarkably all the infinite correction terms can be expressed in the compact exponential form. We also show that in our model the Poisson brackets of the BFT physical variables in the extended phase space are the same structure as the Dirac brackets of the original phase space variables. With the help of both our newly developed Lagrangian formulation and Hamilton's equations of motion, we obtain the desired classical Lagrangian corresponding to the first class Hamiltonian which can be reduced to the generalized St\"uckelberg Lagrangian which is non-trivial conjecture in our infinitely many terms involved in Hamiltonian and Lagrangian.Comment: Notable improvements in Sec. I

Understanding and Supporting Asian American Youth’s Mental Health Within Cultural and Family Contexts

Mental health problems are a major health issue among East Asian American (EAA) youth. Although previous research has explored the risk and protective factors associated with mental health problems of EAA youth, many studies have employed Eurocentric perspectives, thereby excluding their unique cultural backgrounds, beliefs, and values. To better understand mental health needs and support these youth, further research that identifies different factors associated with mental health problems in their cultural context and assesses evidence-supported and culturally responsive interventions is needed. This three-manuscript dissertation is presented in three papers. The first manuscript presents an integrative conceptual framework that uses two theoretical frameworks focused on family processes: the triadic model of family process (TMFP) and acculturation gap-distress theory (AGDT). By re-constructing these two theories using a cultural lens approach and integrating them into a new integrative framework, this study identified relevant familial and cultural constructs that influence EAA youth’s mental health problems. The second manuscript is a secondary data analysis study that used the TMFP as a theoretical framework to investigate the relationship between key familial factors and EAA youth’s mental health problems. Specifically, this study examined whether familial factors—maternal culture-specific symptoms of mental distress (i.e., hwa-byung), family enmeshment, intergenerational conflict, and intergenerational cultural conflict—are associated with youth negative emotionality and whether such youth processes led directly to their depression using path analysis. The third manuscript describes a systematic review and meta-analysis study examining the effectiveness of SFBT in reducing mental health issues and school-related risks among youth of East Asian heritage. Taken together, these three papers offer insights into the factors that negatively affect EAA youth’s mental health and the promising role of SFBT in supporting at-risk EAA youth as a culturally adaptive school-based intervention

Factors Affecting the Perception of Importance and Practice of Patient Safety Management among Hospital Employees in Korea

SummaryPurposeThe study was undertaken to identify factors affecting perception of the importance and practice of patient safety management (PSM) among hospital employees in Korea.MethodsThis study was conducted using a descriptive design and a self-report questionnaire. Two hundred and eighty employees were recruited from three hospitals using a convenience sampling method. Measures were perception of the importance, practice, and characteristics of PSM. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics including t test, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson's correlation analysis, and multiple regression.ResultsFactors affecting perception of the importance of PSM were whether hospital employees were in contact with patients while on duty, weekly working hours, education on PSM, and perceived adequacy of PSM system construction. Factors affecting the practice of PSM were perceived adequacy of work load, perceived adequacy of PSM system construction and perception of its importance.ConclusionThe findings of this study indicate a need for developing strategies to improve perception of the importance and practice of PSM among all hospital employees, and provide a reference for future experimental studies