Spiritual growth through authentic worship

Frequent sharing of the Eucharist guarantees God\u27s grace for us.’ While this slogan which appears at a recent First Holy Communion for children has merit, it calls for deeper reflection. The truth is that years of mechanistic responses at Mass can set in place a spiritual lethargy that drains an enthusiasm to link the Eucharist to life in the real world. Of particular interest for his paper is the Sign of Peace and Presentation of Gifts. In Sacramentum Caritatis, Pope Benedict XVI notes the great value of the Sign of Peace especially in a world fraught with fear and conflict. However, he urges restraint in the liturgical exchange of peace lest it becomes a ‘certain distraction.’ To that end he has asked ‘the competent curial offices to study the possibility of moving the sign of peace to another place, such as before the presentation of gifts to the altar.’ The proposal to link the two activities is noteworthy in view of their potential to promote spiritual growth and Jesus\u27 teaching in Matthew 5:23-24, which the Pope cites. This short paper ponders on the reapplication of Amos 5:21-24 by Jesus in Matthew 5:23-24. It closes with a reflection on Karl Rahner\u27s insight on the inseparable bond between our liturgical life and life in the real world

Financial Frictions and Credit Spreads

This paper uses the credit-friction model developed by Curdia and Woodford, in a series of papers, as the basis for attempting to mimic the behavior of credit spreads in moderate as well as crisis times. We are able to generate movements in representative credit spreads that are, at times, both sharp and volatile. We then study the impact of quantitative easing and credit easing. Credit easing is found to reduce spreads, unlike quantitative easing, which has opposite effects. The relative advantage of credit easing becomes even clearer when we allow borrowers to default on their loans. Since increases in default offset the beneficial effects of credit easing on spreads, the policy implication is that, in times of financial stress, the central bank should be aggressive when applying credit easing policies.Credit easing, credit spread, financial friction, quantitative easing.

A Hybrid Quantum Encoding Algorithm of Vector Quantization for Image Compression

Many classical encoding algorithms of Vector Quantization (VQ) of image compression that can obtain global optimal solution have computational complexity O(N). A pure quantum VQ encoding algorithm with probability of success near 100% has been proposed, that performs operations 45sqrt(N) times approximately. In this paper, a hybrid quantum VQ encoding algorithm between classical method and quantum algorithm is presented. The number of its operations is less than sqrt(N) for most images, and it is more efficient than the pure quantum algorithm. Key Words: Vector Quantization, Grover's Algorithm, Image Compression, Quantum AlgorithmComment: Modify on June 21. 10pages, 3 figure

K-essence Explains a Lorentz Violation Experiment

Recently, a state of the art experiment shows evidence for Lorentz violation in the gravitational sector. To explain this experiment, we investigate a spontaneous Lorentz violation scenario with a generalized scalar field. We find that when the scalar field is nonminimally coupled to gravity, the Lorentz violation induces a deformation in the Newtonian potential along the direction of Lorentz violation.Comment: 8 pages, the final version, discussion and references adde

One-Loop Divergences in 6D Conformal Gravity

Using Exact Renormalization Group Equation approach and background field method, we investigate the one-loop problem in a six-dimensional conformal gravity theory whose Lagrangian takes the same form as holographic Weyl anomaly of multiple coincident M5-branes. We choose the backgrounds to be the symmetric Einstein spaces including S6, CP3, S2 \times S4, S2 \times CP2, S3 \times S3 and S2 \times S2 \times S2. Evaluating the functional sums gives power-law and logarithmic divergences. We extract from the specific values of logarithmic divergence on above backgrounds, the coefficient in front of Euler density and two linear equations constraining the coefficients in front of three type-B conformal invariants. As a test of the effectiveness of Exact Renormalization Group Equation approach to quantum conformal gravity, we reexaminethe one-loop problem in four-dimensional conformal gravity and confirm the logarithmic divergence derived from generalized Schwinger-DeWitt method.Comment: 21 page

Blending and shaking : Chinese students’ perceptions of blended learning in a hospitality and tourism course

Best Refereed Paper Award of the conferenceRefereed conference paper2007-2008 > Academic research: refereed > Refereed conference paperOther VersionPublishe