Transition to parenthood: The role of social interaction and endogenous networks

Empirical studies indicate that the transition to parenthood is influenced by an individual's peer group. To study the mechanisms creating interdepen- dencies across individuals' transition to parenthood and its timing we apply an agent-based simulation model. We build a one-sex model and provide agents with three different characteristics regarding age, intended education and parity. Agents endogenously form their network based on social closeness. Network members then may influence the agents' transition to higher parity levels. Our numerical simulations indicate that accounting for social inter- actions can explain the shift of first-birth probabilities in Austria over the period 1984 to 2004. Moreover, we apply our model to forecast age-specific fertility rates up to 2016.

Liquid-gas phase transition in nuclear matter from realistic many-body approaches

The existence of a liquid-gas phase transition for hot nuclear systems at subsaturation densities is a well-established prediction of finite-temperature nuclear many-body theory. In this paper, we discuss for the first time the properties of such a phase transition for homogeneous nuclear matter within the self-consistent Green's function approach. We find a substantial decrease of the critical temperature with respect to the Brueckner-Hartree-Fock approximation. Even within the same approximation, the use of two different realistic nucleon-nucleon interactions gives rise to large differences in the properties of the critical point.

Iowa Prison Industries Five Year Transition and Business Plan 2011-2015, 2011

IPI is comprised of three divisions. Private Sector funds are handed over to the General Fund. Traditional Industries and Farms funds are managed by IPI. The auditor of the state provides oversight on policies, procedures, and compliance with state law. Each year, the auditor is responsible for providing the Governor, legislature, Director of Corrections, and the public the findings of their comprehensive audits. IPI has received a clean bill of health and has not been cited for any violations in ten (10) years. IPI operates under the guidance of an advisory board, comprised of seven members. The advisory board meets at least four (4) times per year at a location of the board‟s choice, generally at a different prison each quarter. The board reviews the financials, policies, approves any new private sector ventures and offers comprehensive guidance on issues that will impact correctional industries as well as the public and local businesses. Each member serves for two (2) years and may be re-appointed. IPI has found that retaining board members has helped immensely with the continuity of transition and has afforded IPI with superb leadership and guidance. IPI is 100% self-funding. We receive no appropriations from the general fund. We hire our staff, pay their salaries, and pay the stipend of the offenders. We pay for our raw materials, equipment, and construct our buildings all from the proceeds of our sales. We operate with a revolving fund and retain any earnings at year-ends. The retained earnings are used for expansion of our work programs.

The QCD Potential at O(1/m2): Complete spin-dependent and spin-independent result

Within an effective field theory framework, we obtain an expression, with O(1/m2) accuracy, for the energies of the gluonic excitations between heavy quarks, which holds beyond perturbation theory. For the singlet heavy-quarkantiquark energy, in particular, we also obtain an expression in terms of Wilson loops. This provides, twenty years after the seminal work of Eichten and Feinberg, the first complete expression for the heavy quarkonium potential up to O(1/m2) for pure gluodynamics. Several errors present in the previous literature (also in the work of Eichten and Feinberg) have been corrected. We also briefly discuss the power counting of NRQCD in the nonperturbative regime.

Premartensitic transition driven by magnetoelastic interaction in bcc ferromagnetic Ni2MnGa

We show that the magnetoelastic coupling between the magnetization and the amplitude of a short wavelength phonon enables the existence of a first order premartensitic transition from a bcc to a micromodulated phase in Ni2MnGa. Such a magnetoelastic coupling has been experimentally evidenced by ac susceptibility and ultrasonic measurements under an applied magnetic field. A latent heat around 9 J/mol has been measured using a highly sensitive calorimeter. This value is in very good agreement with the value predicted by a proposed model.

Elastocaloric effect associated with the martensitic transition in shape-memory alloys

The elastocaloric effect in the vicinity of the martensitic transition of a Cu-Zn-Al single crystal has been studied by inducing the transition by strain or stress measurements. While transition trajectories show significant differences, the entropy change associated with the whole transformation (DeltaSt) is coincident in both kinds of experiments since entropy production is small compared to DeltaSt. The values agree with estimations based on the Clausius-Clapeyron equation. The possibility of using these materials for mechanical refrigeration is also discussed.

Numerical signs fos a transition in the 2d Random Field Ising Model at T=0

Intensive numerical studies of exact ground states of the two-dimensional ferromagnetic random field Ising model at T=0, with a Gaussian distribution of fields, are presented. Standard finite size scaling analysis of the data suggests the existence of a transition at ¿c=0.64±0.08. Results are compared with existing theories and with the study of metastable avalanches in the same model.

Reentrant transition induced by multiplictative noise in the Time Dependent Ginzburg-Landau model

An effect of multiplicative noise in the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau model is reported, namely, that noise at a relatively low intensity induces a phase transition towards an ordered state, whereas strong noise plays a destructive role, driving the system back to its disordered state through a reentrant phase transition. The phase diagram is calculated analytically using a mean-field theory and a more sophisticated approach and is compared with the results from extensive numerical simulations.

Magnetic properties and martensitic transition in annealed Ni50Mn30Al20

We have studied the effect of heat treatment on the magnetic properties and on the martensitic transition of the Ni50Mn30Al20 alloy. A mixed L21+B2 state is obtained in the as-prepared sample, while no L21 order is retained in the sample quenched from high temperature. For the two heat treatments, the samples order antiferromagnetically, but there is evidence of coexisting ferromagnetic interactions. A martensitic transition occurs below the magnetic one for quenched samples. However, the martensitic transition is inhibited in the as-prepared sample.

Transition écologique, plutôt que développement durable. Entretien

Entretien

Premartensitic and martensitic phase transition in ferromagnetic Ni2MnGa

We present an experimental study of the premartensitic and martensitic phase transitions in a Ni2MnGa single crystal by using ultrasonic techniques. The effect of applied magnetic field and uniaxial compressive stress has been investigated. It has been found that they substantially modify the elastic and magnetic behavior of the alloy. These experimental findings are a consequence of magnetoelastic effects. The measured magnetic and vibrational behavior agrees with the predictions of a recently proposed Landau-type model [A. Planes et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 79, 3926 (1997)] that incorporates a magnetoelastic coupling as a key ingredient.

Depinning transition of dislocation assemblies: Pileups and low-angle grain boundaries

We investigate the depinning transition occurring in dislocation assemblies. In particular, we consider the cases of regularly spaced pileups and low-angle grain boundaries interacting with a disordered stress landscape provided by solute atoms, or by other immobile dislocations present in nonactive slip systems. Using linear elasticity, we compute the stress originated by small deformations of these assemblies and the corresponding energy cost in two and three dimensions. Contrary to the case of isolated dislocation lines, which are usually approximated as elastic strings with an effective line tension, the deformations of a dislocation assembly cannot be described by local elastic interactions with a constant tension or stiffness. A nonlocal elastic kernel results as a consequence of long-range interactions between dislocations. In light of this result, we revise statistical depinning theories of dislocation assemblies and compare the theoretical results with numerical simulations and experimental data.