Supersymmetry Breaking with Periodic Potentials

We discuss supersymmetry breaking in some supersymmetric quantum mechanical models with periodic potentials. The sensitivity to the parameters appearing in the superpotential is more acute than in conventional nonperiodic models. We present some simple elliptic models to illustrate these points.Comment: 10 pp; Latex; 3 figures using eps

Lucene4IR: Developing information retrieval evaluation resources using Lucene

The workshop and hackathon on developing Information Retrieval Evaluation Resources using Lucene (L4IR) was held on the 8th and 9th of September, 2016 at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, UK and funded by the ESF Elias Network. The event featured three main elements: (i) a series of keynote and invited talks on industry, teaching and evaluation; (ii) planning, coding and hacking where a number of groups created modules and infrastructure to use Lucene to undertake TREC based evaluations; and (iii) a number of breakout groups discussing challenges, opportunities and problems in bridging the divide between academia and industry, and how we can use Lucene for teaching and learning Information Retrieval (IR). The event was composed of a mix and blend of academics, experts and students wanting to learn, share and create evaluation resources for the community. The hacking was intense and the discussions lively creating the basis of many useful tools but also raising numerous issues. It was clear that by adopting and contributing to most widely used and supported Open Source IR toolkit, there were many benefits for academics, students, researchers, developers and practitioners - providing a basis for stronger evaluation practices, increased reproducibility, more efficient knowledge transfer, greater collaboration between academia and industry, and shared teaching and training resources

Child car restraint use among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children

Background: In Australia, road related fatality rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 0-4 years are 4 times higher than for other Australian children the same age. Children are less likely to be severely injured in a car crash if they are restrained in an age-appropriate car restraint and if the restraint is used correctly. Despite this, little is known about how Aboriginal children are travelling and whether or not they are being correctly restrained in age appropriate child restraints. Methods: Working with community and following extensive consultation and engagement in four urban communities in New South Wales, Australia, we recruited and trained local Aboriginal people to conduct surveys with parents and carers and to observe how children were restrained as they arrived at early childhood services attended by community members. Results: In 2015, we conducted interviews with 147 parents and carers and completed 109 observations of child restraint use at the 4 study sites. Parents or carers provided responses to the structured survey for 183 children. The average age was 3.0 ± 1.3 years (range 0-7 years) and 137/183 (75%) were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander children. There were 36/176 (20%) not in the right restraint for their age; significant errors ranged from belt buckle not being engaged (11%) to internal/shoulder harness being incorrectly or not used (31%). Conclusions: These findings are the first stage of the baseline data collection for a large trial involving 12 Aboriginal communities across New South Wales. It is the first large scale trial to measure the effectiveness of a culturally appropriate child restraint program among Aboriginal people in Australia. In a country where adult restraint use is close to 100%, these preliminary findings highlight the need for a program aimed at increasing the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children restrained in age appropriate restraints