The Search for Beauty-fully Bound Tetraquarks Using Lattice Non-Relativistic QCD

Motivated by multiple phenomenological considerations, we perform the first search for the existence of a $\bar{b}\bar{b}bb$ tetraquark bound state with a mass below the lowest non-interacting bottomonium-pair threshold using the first-principles lattice non-relativistic QCD methodology. We use a full $S$-wave colour/spin basis for the $\bar{b}\bar{b}bb$ operators in the three $0^{++}$, $1^{+-}$ and $2^{++}$ channels. We employ four gluon field ensembles at multiple lattice spacing values ranging from $a = 0.06 - 0.12$ fm, all of which include $u$, $d$, $s$ and $c$ quarks in the sea, and one ensemble which has physical light-quark masses. Additionally, we perform novel exploratory work with the objective of highlighting any signal of a near threshold tetraquark, if it existed, by adding an auxiliary potential into the QCD interactions. With our results we find no evidence of a QCD bound tetraquark below the lowest non-interacting thresholds in the channels studied.Comment: 24 Pages; 19 Figures; Accepted By PRD; Unaveraged Correlator Data Publicly Available in SQLite Databas

Model studies of fluctuations in the background for jets in heavy ion collisions

Jets produced in high energy heavy ion collisions are quenched by the production of the quark gluon plasma. Measurements of these jets are influenced by the methods used to suppress and subtract the large, fluctuating background and the assumptions inherent in these methods. We compare the measurements of the background in Pb+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 2.76 TeV by the ALICE collaboration to calculations in TennGen (a data-driven random background generator) and PYTHIA Angantyr. The standard deviation of the energy in random cones in TennGen is approximately in agreement with the form predicted in the ALICE paper, with deviations of 1-6 $\%$. The standard deviation of energy in random cones in Angantyr exceeds the same predictions by approximately 40 $\%$. Deviations in both models can be explained by the assumption that the single particle $d^2N/dydp_T$ is a Gamma distribution in the derivation of the prediction. This indicates that model comparisons are potentially sensitive to the treatment of the background

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationThis qualitative research study attempted to understand and unpack the caregiving experience in the illness of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Ten couples were interviewed separately and later as a dyad to discuss care, care responsibilities and support systems to see how gender influenced either the caregiving or care receiving experience. The purpose of this research was to explore, develop, and understand perceptions of care between care providers and caregivers of MS under the lens of feminist care theory/ethics of care within a social model of disability. Caregivers and those diagnosed with MS experience the caregiving relationship in a variety of ways where gender does indeed influence the experience of care. Gender provides a dimension for understanding the social construction of the disease including daily responsibilities of both the care giver and care receiver. Participants were acutely aware of gender when required to complete a care event or task outside of traditional gender roles. The social construction of gender provided a point of awareness for participants to examine care roles. Those tasks falling outside traditional gender roles were frequently brought to consciousness and provided an area of potential provocation. Additionally, this research examined care needs and the role of social support in the care experience. Care needs differed among participants depending on the availability of resources. Resources include: financial, time and social support. Access to these various resources affected the outcome of the care situation. Gender in turn influenced the understanding and use of resources as a dynamic in the experience. The social construction of gender also affected participants' ability to clarify and understand their experience in terms of accessing resources

Snapshots of informed learning: LIS and beyond

Responding to the need for innovative LIS curriculum and pedagogy, grounded in both information and learning theory, this paper introduces the theory and practice of informed learning. After explaining how informed learning originated within the LIS discipline we outline the principles and characteristics of informed learning. Then we present snapshots of three units of study from LIS programs at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), followed by an overview of informed learning developments in a varied range of educational contexts beyond LIS programs. Finally, we reflect upon the relevance of informed learning to LIS education and its wider contribution to learning and teaching in higher education

Katherine Drexel: Mystery, mission, spirituality and sainthood

Katherine Drexel (1858-1955), the founder of the sisters of the blessed. Sacrament, was canonized by Pope John Paul II on October 1, 2000. This thesis analyzes Drexel’s life and virtues to establish why she became a saint. The examination of Drexel’s life begins in Chapter 2, which discloses the family life of a wealthy Philadelphia debutante, who, nonetheless, learned charity and philanthropy from her banker father and her religious mother. Following the deaths of her parents, Drexel wanted to enter a Catholic convent to spend her life in prayer and contemplation. Chapter 3 details the process of her vocational discernment that was carried out over several years in an epistolary argument with her spiritual director, Bishop O'Connor of Omaha. While he first believed that her vocation was to remain a single woman dedicated to serving the poor through judicial disbursement of her large inheritance, he later decided that she should found a new order of missionary nuns dedicated to the needs of the Native- Americans and African-Americans. Chapter 3 details the difficulties she encountered in the establishing of her new order at a time when the United States was racially divided by both law and custom. Drexel's order grew slowly in the face of open hostility towards her mission, including that of the Ku Klux Klan, and it then declined following the upheavals that came in the wake of the Second Vatican Council. Chapter 4 addresses the spirituality that sustained Drexel throughout her long life. Her deep spirituality was both kenotic and Eucharistie, and it allowed her to face daunting challenges in the mission field. Chapter 5 analyzes why the pope chose to canonize Drexel and entails a study of the process of saint-making as it evolved over the centuries

Apparent Consumption of Selected Foods and Household Food Expenditure.

This report aims to describe trends in the apparent consumption of key core and non-core foods, food prices and household expenditure to understand population level dietary patterns. Findings indicate that Australians have made substantial changes in their diet in the past four decades. The observed trends in increasing apparent consumption of sugar in manufactured foods, and increased expenditure on takeaway food and snacks, are consistent with the increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity amongst Australian adults and children. Statistics on supply and demand of selected foods can provide an indication of consumer and industry trends, and contribute to a comprehensive system for monitoring population weight status

‘Green’ and ‘Amber’ Foods: Analysing the Nutritional Content of Food and Beverage Products Registered with Healthy Kids Association.

The Healthy Kids Association (HKA) is a NSW-based not-for profit, non-government, health promotion organisation offering a product registration scheme to support NSW schools in identifying and selecting healthier foods and beverages to sell from their school canteen.  This report describes the key nutritional characteristics of food and beverage products registered with the HKA (formerly the New South Wales School Canteen Association). Nutrient content data were obtained from the product nutrition information panels for each product, within popular product subcategories, registered as of October 2009. The level of key nutrients (including saturated fat, sugar, calcium and fibre) was identified and analysed in relation to the nutrient criteria threshold levels for green and amber products specified by the HKA. The results indicated that for most product subcategories, the nutrient content of products clustered just below the nutrient criteria thresholds for total energy, saturated fat, sodium and sugar, while the nutrient content for the positive nutrients (calcium and fibre) frequently clustered just above the thresholds. In addition, small package sizes were found to be common among products classified as amber. The distribution of key nutrients around the criteria thresholds suggests that products are formulated with reference to these thresholds, although manufacturers may also achieved the nutrient thresholds through smaller portion sizes. The potential of nutrient thresholds as levers to influence the nutritional profile of foods needs further research and industry dialogue

International students’ experiences of informed learning: a pedagogical case study

This case study explores the theory and practice of informed learning (Bruce, 2008) in a culturally diverse higher education context. It presents research findings about learning and teaching in a postgraduate unit of study entitled Personalised Language Development, an elective in the Master of TESOL and TEFL programs at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). This unit aims to enable international students to extend their disciplinary knowledge of English language teaching, their academic and linguistic fluency and awareness of their own information using processes. The paper outlines the case study research approach; describes the design and implementation of the unit; demonstrates how informed learning principles and characteristics underpin the unit design; presents findings about the international students’ experiences of informed learning through their reflections; and finally the paper discusses the implications of the findings for educators, including the potential transferability of informed learning across higher education disciplines