Exchange energy calculation of He-He with supermolecular one-matrix

Exch~nge energy of the He-He system is calculated using the one-density matrix which has been modified according to the supermolecular density formula quoted by Kolos. The exchange energy integrals are computed analytically and by the Monte Carlo method. The results obtained from both ways compared favourably,with the results obtained from the SCF program HONDO

National energy policies of the Federal Republic of Germany and Canada in the 1970s and 1980s: are economic and/or environmental concerns responsible for change?

The thesis presents a comparison of the national energy policies of the Federal Republic of Germany and Canada from 1973 until the late 1980s. The purpose of this paper is to analyze whether economic and/or environmental concerns were responsible for changes in the· West-German and Canadian national energy policies. Furthermore, the feasibility of implementing a soft energy path in West-Germany and Canada is examined. For better comprehension of the policy-making process and implemented changes in the national energy policies of the two states, the West-German and Canadian parliamentary systems and the political cultures were compared. For the analysis, several events with international impact were taken as guidelines. Furthermore, based on statistical data, the West-German and Canadian energy production and consumption were analyzed. With reference to these results the degree of the de facto changes in the national energy policies were analyzed. In addition, the thesis discusses the possibilities which a soft energy path offers to both national governments to renounce themselves from the dependencies on a few energy resources. The thesis reveals that changes in the West-German and Canadian national energy policies, in their energy production and consumption are correlated to various world events. In particular, governmental reponses security of energy supply by the two international oil crises of 1973 and 1979/1980 demonstrate that changes in the West-German and Canadian national energy policies were implemented in reaction to economic concerns than environmental ones. With the policies "away from oil" and "off oil", the West-German and Canadian government implemented the i i substitution of oil through various diverse energy supply resources. However, energy savings concepts and policies were initiated through the first oil crisis in 1973. The world recessions in 1975 and 1982 had no 'profound impacts on the agenda of West-German and Canadian energy policies. As a consequence of the stagnation or the negative growth of the world economic market, changes in their energy production and consumption can be perceived. However, the West-German and Canadian energy production and consumption intensified with the augmentation of the world economy. During the period of study, environmental concerns were taken into account in the energy policy agendas of the Federal Republic of Germany and Canada but they were not of primary concern. wi thin the decade of. the 1980s notably more environmental considerations were taken into account in the energy policies of the two states. The two nuclear reactor accidents in 1979 and 1986 sharpened to various degrees West-German and Canadian public discourse of present energy supply mix and attitude towards energy production and consumption. The statistical data reflects yet no changes in the energy policies in regard to the position of nuclear power. However, in the next several years possible changes can be observed through statistical data, because the planning, the construction and possible phase out of nuclear power requires several years. Finally, the thesis reveals that the implementation of a soft energy path requires profound changes in the consumer behaviour. As several studies indicate, a soft energy path is technological and economically feasible for the Federal Republic of Germany and Canada, its implementation remains to be a political decision.

Optimization of the valence energy variance of the CuH molecule

We developed the concept of split-'t to deal with the large molecules (in terms of the number of electrons and nuclear charge Z). This naturally leads to partitioning the local energy into components due to each electron shell. The minimization of the variation of the valence shell local energy is used to optimize a simple two parameter CuH wave function. Molecular properties (spectroscopic constants and the dipole moment) are calculated for the optimized and nearly optimized wave functions using the Variational Quantum Monte Carlo method. Our best results are comparable to those from the single and double configuration interaction (SDCI) method.

Rhapsodes of social science : Herodotus' performance of politeic inquiry

Herodotus' logos represents many examples ofthe relationship between political and paradigmatic authority, and the synthesis ofthese examples in a community characterized by free and equal speech. Herodotus' walkabout narrator sets forth an inquiry into knowledge-seeking he extends the isegoria principle from Athenian politics to the broader world. The History demonstrates (a) various modes of constructing meaning, (b) interacting notions ofhow people have lived and living questions as to how we ought to live, and (c) an investigation ofthe nature and limits ofhuman knowledge. Representing diverse wisdom, publicly and privately discovered and presented, Herodotus sets forth Solon's wise advice and law-making, the capital punishment of the learned Anacharsis, the investigative outrages of Cambyses and Psammetichus' more pious experiments. Their stories challenge and complement their communities' characters - the relative constraint under which the Egyptians and Persians make their investigations, the Scythians' qualified openness and the relative fearlessness and freedom in which the Greeks set forth their inquiries. Setting forth the investigator-storykeeper as a poetic historian, Herodotus shows that history as poetry thwarts natural decay by allowing custom to be reformed in an open milieu, and thus win through and survive. Despite the potential dangers that openness shares with tyranny, Herodotus' inquiry sets up a contest ofworld-views in which it is mutability that openness affords a community that ensures its survival.

Spelling performance of third grade students : a comparison of whole-language-plus-strategy instruction, strategy instruction only, and the whole language approach

This study investigated three methods for teaching children how to spell. Third grade students were divided into three conditions for a one-week training period consisting of 15- to 20-minute lessons. One of the two experimental conditions used a whole language approach along with explicit strategy instruction. The second condition used strategy instruction within a traditional setting. The control used strictly a whole language approach to le~ing hO\\l to spell. The spelling perfonnance of all three conditions improved after the one-week training period. However, students in the strategy instruction groups did significantly better on the study "'7ords than the whole language only group. The students in whole-Ianguage-plusstrateg)! instruction outperformed both other groups. Significantly better spelling perfonnance was observed even at the nine-week posttest. This study frrst supported the hypothesis that children can make significantly greater improven1ents in their spelling when explicitly taught how to use spelling strategies. Secondl)', this study indicated that whole language provided a relevant context for the study words, clearly giving the students in the whole-Ianguage-plus-strategy condition an additional advantage.

A study of selected factors influencing the reproductive performance of the common tern (Sterna hirundo) at Port Colborne, Ontario in 1973 and 1974

Several study areas were investigated at two Port Colborne terneries during the summers of 1973 and 1974 in an attempt to determine the influence of clutch size, time of clutch initiation, position in the colony, proximity to Ring-billed Gulls, vegetation and nesting substrate on the reproductive performance of the Common Tern. Hatching success and reproductive success (the number of chicks fledged per egg laid) were generally higher for 3-egg than 2-egg clutches but fledging (the number of chicks fledged per egg hatched) success was usually independant of clutch size. Hatching, fledging and reproductive success declined as a function of time of clutch initiation. Mean clutch sizes also generally declined as a function of time. Nests located in the center of the colony exhibited higher fledging success than those on the periphery. Rock-based clutches had a lower hatching success than clutches initiated on sand or dried vegetation. Reproductive performance did not appear to be related to proximity to Ring-billed Gulls or vegetation within the study area.

The influence of myosin regulatory light chain phosphorylation on the contractile performance of fatigued mammalian skeletal muscle

ABSTRACT The myosm regulatory light chain (RLC) of type II fibres is phosphorylated by Ca2+ -calmodulin dependent myosin light chain kinase (skMLCK) during muscular activation. The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of skMLCK gene ablation on the fatigability of mouse skeletal muscles during repetitive stimulation. The absence of myosin RLC phosphorylation in skMLCK knockout muscles attenuated contractile performance without a significant metabolic cost. Twitch force was potentiated to a greater extent in wildtype muscles until peak force had diminished to ~60% of baseline (37.2 ± 0.05% vs. 14.3 ± 0.02%). Despite no difference in peak force (Po) and shortening velocity (Vo), rate of force development (+dP/dt) and shortening-induced deactivation (SID) were almost two-fold greater in WT muscles. The present results demonstrate that myosin RLC phosphorylation may improve contractile performance during fatigue; providing a contractile advantage to working muscles and protecting against progressive fatigue.

The effect of governance mechanism and structure on fees and performance of Mutual Funds in Canada

Taking advantage of the unique Canadian setting, this study empirically analyzes the impact of presence of the board of directors, as an internal governance mechanism, on fees and performance of mutual funds. Further, the impact of the board structure on fees and performance of corporate class funds is analyzed. We find that corporate class funds, which have a separate board of directors for the fund, charge higher fees; however, they also provide superior performance than trust funds. Furthermore, we find that for corporate class funds, smaller board, with higher percentage of independent directors, and with the fund CEO acting as the chairman of the board is likely to charge lower fees. Also, more independent boards are strongly associated with superior fee-adjusted performance.

ASSESSING THE PERFORMANCE OF EMERGING MARKET MUTUAL FUNDS IN CANADA

Emerging markets have received wide attention from investors around the globe because of their return potential and risk diversification. This research examines the selection and timing performance of Canadian mutual funds which invest in fixed-income and equity securities in emerging markets. We use (un)conditional two- and five-factor benchmark models that accommodate the dynamics of returns in emerging markets. We also adopt the cross-sectional bootstrap methodology to distinguish between ‘skill’ and ‘luck’ for individual funds. All the tests are conducted using a comprehensive data set of bond and equity emerging funds over the period of 1989-2011. The risk-adjusted measures of performance are estimated using the least squares method with the Newey-West adjustment for standard errors that are robust to conditional heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation. The performance statistics of the emerging funds before (after) management-related costs are insignificantly positive (significantly negative). They are sensitive to the chosen benchmark model and conditional information improves selection performance. The timing statistics are largely insignificant throughout the sample period and are not sensitive to the benchmark model. Evidence of timing and selecting abilities is obtained in a small number of funds which is not sensitive to the fees structure. We also find evidence that a majority of individual funds provide zero (very few provide positive) abnormal return before fees and a significantly negative return after fees. At the negative end of the tail of performance distribution, our resampling tests fail to reject the role of bad luck in the poor performance of funds and we conclude that most of them are merely ‘unlucky’.

Improving Performance of Open Access Clinics

Open Access Scheduling has shown great promise in allowing health care practices to provide same-day access, and to match patients with their regular physicians. However, similarly to traditional clinics where appointments are pre-booked, open access clinics are also frustrated with long waits, long idle time and long overtime due to uncertainties such as patient no-shows, variable service time and variable daily demand. These aspects have not been studied previously in an open access setting. This study investigates different management options to improve clinical performance in terms of patient waiting time, doctor idle time and clinic overtime. Other factors studied with a simulation model include client load and placement of pre-booked slots. Results show that a proper panel size is critical to obtain good performance for open access clinics, and that good choices for management options depend on the client load.

Chute Losses Aren't Accidents! Most Injuries can be Avoided. Here's How to Rate the Performance of Your Chute and Crew

The conclusion of the article reads "good handling during processing and re-implanting could mean the difference between a going operation and financial disaster. But it's up to you to make certain your crew understands and follows proper chute practices. When they do, it will mean more money in your pocket."