Exploring Prejudicial Ethnic Attitudes Among Young Malaysian Adults: A Case Study Of Malay And Chinese Students In A Public University

This study attempts to model and explain ethnic attitudes among undergraduates in a public university in Malaysia (n=1551) using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Malaysia’s socio-historical background of ethnic relations and theories that explain individual’s ethnic attitudes are introduced. The research provides theoretical significance by suggesting new executable variables, introducing multivariate framework situated in the Malaysia context. Various variables and their operationalization such as upbringing backgrounds, psycho-social indicators and their interplay in relation to ethnic attitudes were proposed. The proposed models suggest that Malaysian young adults’ prejudiced attitudes are mainly driven by these factors: 1) in-group cohesion to defend one’s self-interest, 2) frustration from perceived deprivation and, 3) value-culture conflicts. Multi-group analysis supported unconstrained model paths coefficients for Malays and Chinese students, indicates that each group’s ethnic attitudes are qualitatively different. Group size is related to willingness to befriend others of different ethnicity, Chinese and Malay respondents reported significant resistance to multi-ethnic friendships. Conversely, minority groups also reported significant egalitarian values. The insights engendered provide important complementary understanding to other structural factors underlying ethnic relations in Malaysia. (181 words)

TESTING THE THREE-FOLD MODEL OF INTELLECTUAL STYLES ON ADOLESCENTS' SCHOOL PERFORMANCES: A LONGITUDINAL INVESTIGATION

This survey project aims to examine changes and malleability of intellectual styles employed by students during the transition from Secondary 3 to Secondary 4, in relation to their school performances (academic, extra-curriculum and social) and streaming (science, pure arts, technical and commerce). Specifically, the styles concept refers to an application of a threefold model of intellectual styles proposed by Zhang and Sternberg (2005). Six schools from both Malaysia and Hong Kong comprising students of the four streams will be selected. For measurement, back-translated revised Thinking Styles Inventories (TSI) and Iowa Managing Emotions Inventory (IMEI) will be used. Data analyses are primarily latent class analysis (LCA), aided with other complimentary analyses. Additionally, 6 focus group discussions will be conducted in between two survey data collection using another sample. Based on the results, the relationship of intellectual styles, performances, school subjects and intelligence following Sternberg's Triarchic intellectual components (Analytical, Creativity and Practical) are further explored. The project's major academic novelty lies in being the first longitudinal study, and in relation to multiple performances. The results are expected to provide new evidences on several contested issues on styles such as values ascribed to styles, malleability, and styles as traits or states. (198 words)

Semiclassical spin liquid state of easy axis Kagome antiferromagnets

Motivated by recent experiments on Nd-langasite, we consider the effect of strong easy axis single-ion anisotropy $D$ on $S > 3/2$ spins interacting with antiferromagnetic exchange $J$ on the Kagome lattice. When $T \ll DS^2$, the collinear low energy states selected by the anisotropy map on to configurations of the classical Kagome lattice Ising antiferromagnet. However, the low temperature limit is quite different from the cooperative Ising paramagnet that obtains classically for $T \ll JS^2$. We find that sub-leading ${\mathcal O}(J^3S/D^2)$ multi-spin interactions arising from the transverse quantum dynamics result in a crossover from an intermediate temperature classical cooperative Ising paramagnet to a semiclassical spin liquid with distinct short-ranged correlations for $T \ll J^3S/D^2$.Comment: 4 pages, 3 eps figure

Multi-scalar tachyon potential on non-BPS domain walls

We have considered the multi-scalar and multi-tachyon fields living on a 3d domain wall embedded in a 5d dimensional Minkowski spacetime. The effective action for such a domain wall can be found by integrating out the normal modes as vibrating modes around the domain wall solution of a truncated 5d supergravity action. The multi-scalar tachyon potential are good enough to modeling assisted inflation scenario with multi-tachyon fields. The tachyon condensation are also briefly addressed.Comment: version to appear in JHEP, 18 pages, 3 figure

A Novel Surgical Technique: Single-Incision Transumbilical Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass

Conventional laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGB) is a gold standard for bariatric surgery, but the procedure requires five to seven incisions for placement of multiple trocars and thus may produce less-than-ideal cosmetic results. We have developed a new approach, single-incision transumbilical LRYGB (SITU-LRYGB) to treat morbid obesity. We compared the surgical results and patient satisfaction in a study of five-port LRYGB and SITU-LRYGB. Fifty morbidly obese patients (14 males, 36 females) underwent either Roux-en-Y gastric bypass with five-port LRYGB or the SITU-LRYGB approach. During the operation, we used a novel intraoperative liver traction method with a “liver suspension tape” that we specifically designed for SITU-LRYGB. Compared to five-port surgery with SITU-LRYGB, there were no intraoperative complications, wound healing was excellent, and there was no abdominal scarring. SITU surgical time was longer than that with five-port LRYGB (99.8 vs. 67.6 min, P < 0.001). Patients treated with the five-port method were more obese than those in the SITU group (127.9 vs. 112.4 kg, P = 0.016). After the bariatric surgery, no difference in comorbidity was found in both groups. Patient satisfaction was greater with SITU than with the five-port method (4.48 vs. 3.96, P = 0.006). Roux-en-Y gastric bypass can be successfully achieved via a single umbilical incision, a method that provides a short operative time and good recovery and eliminates abdominal scarring

Optogenetic determination of dynamic and cell-type-specific inhibitory reversal potentials

The reversal potential refers to the membrane potential at which the net current flow through a channel reverses direction. The reversal potential is determined by transmembrane ion gradients and, in turn, determines how the channel's activity will affect the membrane potential. Traditional investigation into the reversal potential of inhibitory ligand-gated ion channels (EInh) has relied upon the activation of endogenous receptors, such as the GABA-A receptor (GABAAR). There are, however, challenges associated with activating endogenous receptors, including agonist delivery, isolating channel responses, and the effects of receptor saturation and desensitization. Here, we demonstrate the utility of using a light-gated anion channel, stGtACR2, to probe EInh in the rodent brain. Using mice of both sexes, we demonstrate that the properties of this optically activated channel make it a suitable proxy for studying GABAAR receptor-mediated inhibition. We validate this agonist-independent optogenetic strategy in vitro and in vivo and further show how it can accurately capture differences in EInh dynamics following manipulations of endogenous ion fluxes. This allows us to explore distinct resting EInh differences across genetically defined neuronal subpopulations. Using this approach to challenge ion homeostasis mechanisms in neurons, we uncover cell-specific EInhdynamics that are supported by the differential expression of endogenous ion handling mechanisms. Our findings therefore establish an effective optical strategy for revealing novel aspects of inhibitory reversal potentials and thereby expand the repertoire of optogenetics

Rigid Supersymmetric Theories in Curved Superspace

We present a uniform treatment of rigid supersymmetric field theories in a curved spacetime $\mathcal{M}$, focusing on four-dimensional theories with four supercharges. Our discussion is significantly simpler than earlier treatments, because we use classical background values of the auxiliary fields in the supergravity multiplet. We demonstrate our procedure using several examples. For $\mathcal{M}=AdS_4$ we reproduce the known results in the literature. A supersymmetric Lagrangian for $\mathcal{M}=\mathbb{S}^4$ exists, but unless the field theory is conformal, it is not reflection positive. We derive the Lagrangian for $\mathcal{M}=\mathbb{S}^3\times \mathbb{R}$ and note that the time direction $\mathbb{R}$ can be rotated to Euclidean signature and be compactified to $\S^1$ only when the theory has a continuous R-symmetry. The partition function on $\mathcal{M}=\mathbb{S}^3\times \S^1$ is independent of the parameters of the flat space theory and depends holomorphically on some complex background gauge fields. We also consider R-invariant $\mathcal{N}=2$ theories on $\mathbb{S}^3$ and clarify a few points about them.Comment: 26 pages, uses harvmac; v2 with added reference