Youth who serve: Mandatory school service experience and consequent civic responsibility

Two phenomena are of interest in this study. One is youth service, in particular, the acts of volunteering by young adults. The second concerns the learning of service, with specific reference to mandatory school service. The aim of the study is to explore to what extent and in what ways young people believe that their sense of civic responsibility and propensity to serve was influenced by their experience of service at school. To achieve this aim, a qualitative study was conducted on a group of post-school youth in Singapore who had participated in mandatory community service while at school, and had continued to serve beyond school. A phenomenological approach was adopted to capture the essence of these young people’s perceptions of their service experience at school and how they interpreted the relationship between their past school service experience and subsequent adult volunteering. Data for this study were collected from interviews and participants’ reflective journals then analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Several key insights emerged from the data, the most significant of which was that students in hindsight believed that there was value in having required service. The majority felt that their school service experience introduced them to the idea of serving and provided them a platform for subsequent volunteering. Although most participants endorsed the principle of mandating service, they believed ultimately, it was the quality of the service programmes and their implementation that mattered. While school service might have played a role in shaping their sense of service, the participants pointed out there were many reasons why they volunteer apart from their past service experience as students. The findings can potentially be significant to educators in Singapore where very little is known about how mandatory school service can contribute to the development of the ethic of care and commitment to service. A more comprehensive picture of the role and relevance of service experience in the lives of students can help educators be more insightful and reflective of their own professional practice. In addition, the ii study may shed light on how students’ sense of civic responsibility develops over time. Information on the longer-term impacts of school service experience on students may provide educators with a better sense of its value and effectiveness as an approach to inculcate civic consciousness

Direct Fragmentation of Quarkonia Including Fermi Motion Using Light-cone Wave Function

We investigate the effect of Fermi motion on the direct fragmentation of the $J/\psi$ and $\Upsilon$ states employing a light-cone wave function. Consistent with such a wave function we set up the kinematics of a heavy quark fragmenting into a quarkonia such that the Fermi motion of the constituents split into longitudinal as well as transverse direction and thus calculate the fragmentation functions for these states. In the framework of our investigation, we estimate that the fragmentation probabilities of $J/\psi$ and $\Upsilon$ may increase at least up to 14 percent when including this degree of freedom.Comment: 7 pages 5 figures Appeared in EPJC; Fig 1 and Appendix revise

Reconstructing World Politics: Norms, Discourse, and Community

This Article argues that the conventional (rationalist) approach to world politics characterized by political bargain cannot fully capture the new social reality under the contemporary global ambience where ideational factors such as ideas, values, culture, and norms have become more salient and influential not only in explaining but also in prescribing state behaviors. After bringing rationalism’s paradigmatic limitations into relief, the Article offers a sociological framework that highlights a reflective, intersubjective communication among states and consequent norm-building process. Under this new paradigm, one can understand an international organization as a “community” (Gemeinschaft), not as a mere contractual instrument of its contracting parties (Gesellschaft). The Article applies the new paradigm to the World Trade Organization (WTO) as it describes the WTO’s institutional evolution from a power-oriented, tariff-reducing contract to a norm-oriented world trade community

The stochastic gravitational wave background from turbulence and magnetic fields generated by a first-order phase transition

We analytically derive the spectrum of gravitational waves due to magneto-hydrodynamical turbulence generated by bubble collisions in a first-order phase transition. In contrast to previous studies, we take into account the fact that turbulence and magnetic fields act as sources of gravitational waves for many Hubble times after the phase transition is completed. This modifies the gravitational wave spectrum at large scales. We also model the initial stirring phase preceding the Kolmogorov cascade, while earlier works assume that the Kolmogorov spectrum sets in instantaneously. The continuity in time of the source is relevant for a correct determination of the peak position of the gravitational wave spectrum. We discuss how the results depend on assumptions about the unequal-time correlation of the source and motivate a realistic choice for it. Our treatment gives a similar peak frequency as previous analyses but the amplitude of the signal is reduced due to the use of a more realistic power spectrum for the magneto-hydrodynamical turbulence. For a strongly first-order electroweak phase transition, the signal is observable with the space interferometer LISA.Comment: 46 pages, 17 figures. Replaced with revised version accepted for publication in JCA

Assessment of pelvic lymph node metastasis in FIGO IB and IIA cervical cancer using quantitative dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI parameters

PURPOSEWe prospectively determined whether the quantitative parameters derived from dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) are useful for predicting pelvic lymph node (LN) status in cervical cancer through node-by-node pathologic validation of images.METHODSOverall, 182 LNs harvested from 200 consecutive patients with 2018 FIGO stage IB-IIA cervical cancer (82 metastatic and 100 nonmetastatic) were used for node-by-node assessment. Each LN was quantitatively assessed using Ktrans, Ve, and Kep values. The short-axis diameter, ratio of the long-axis to short-axis diameter, and long-axis diameter were also assessed. Data on metastatic LNs were divided into four groups according to the FIGO staging system. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to evaluate statistically significant parameters derived from DCE-MRI for the differentiation of metastatic LNs from nonmetastatic LNs.RESULTSThe mean short-axis diameter of metastatic LNs was significantly larger than that of nonmetastatic LNs (all P 0.05). For IB3 and IIA2 cervical cancer, Ktrans had moderate diagnostic ability for differentiating metastatic LNs from nonmetastatic LNs (for IB3: area under the curve [AUC] 0.740, 95% CI 0.657–0.838, 61.7% sensitivity, 80.2% specificity, P = 0.007; for IIA2: AUC 0.786, 95% CI 0.650–0.846, 60.2% sensitivity, 81.8% specificity, P = 0.008).CONCLUSIONKtrans appears to be a useful parameter for detecting metastatic LNs, especially for IB3 and IIA2 cervical cancer

h analogue of Newton's binomial formula

In this letter, the $h$--analogue of Newton's binomial formula is obtained in the $h$--deformed quantum plane which does not have any $q$--analogue. For $h=0$, this is just the usual one as it should be. Furthermore, the binomial coefficients reduce to $\frac{n!}{(n-k)!}$ for $h=1$. \\ Some properties of the $h$--binomial coefficients are also given. \\ Finally, I hope that such results will contribute to an introduction of the $h$--analogue of the well--known functions, $h$--special functions and $h$--deformed analysis.Comment: 6 pages, latex Jounal-ref: J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 31 (1998) L75

Z₃-Vestigial Nematic Order Due to Superconducting Fluctuations in the Doped Topological Insulators NbₓBi₂Se₃ and CuₓBi₂Se₃

A state of matter with a multi-component order parameter can give rise to vestigial order. In the vestigial phase, the primary order is only partially melted, leaving a remaining symmetry breaking behind, an effect driven by strong classical or quantum fluctuations. Vestigial states due to primary spin and charge-density-wave order have been discussed in iron-based and cuprate materials. Here we present the observation of a partially melted superconductivity in which pairing fluctuations condense at a separate phase transition and form a nematic state with broken Z3, i.e., three-state Potts-model symmetry. Thermal expansion, specific heat and magnetization measurements of the doped topological insulators NbxBi2Se3 and CuxBi2Se3 reveal that this symmetry breaking occurs at Tnem ≃ 3.8K above Tc ≃ 3.25K, along with an onset of superconducting fluctuations. Thus, before Cooper pairs establish long-range coherence at Tc, they fluctuate in a way that breaks the rotational invariance at Tnem and induces a crystalline distortion

Delayed-Onset Continuous Bruxism with Olivary Hypertrophy After Top of the Basilar Syndrome

Delayed-onset continuous bruxism due to brain stem infarction has not yet been reported. A 49-year old man presented with quadriplegia and ophthalmoplegia. Brain MRI showed acute infarction in the bilateral midbrain, right thalamus and the superior cerebellum. One month later, the patient developed bruxism which persisted during sleep. A palatal myoclonus was not observed. Follow up MRI taken 4 months later showed bilateral olivary hypertrophy. We suggest that the patient's bruxism may be related to the olivary hypertrophy. The bruxism generator may be located in the pontine-reticular-formation (PRF). Bilateral large midbrain lesions interrupting the cortical inhibition may have produced bilateral olivary hypertrophy, which could stimulate the PRF, producing continuous bruxism