Assessing flow in physical activity: The Flow State Scale-2 and Dispositional Flow Scale-2

The Flow State Scale-2 (FSS-2) and Dispositional Flow Scale-2 (DFS-2) are presented as two self-report instruments designed to assess flow experiences in physical activity. Item modifications were made to the original versions of these scales in order to improve the measurement of some of the flow dimensions. Confirmatory factor analyses of an item identification and a cross-validation sample demonstrated a good fit of the new scales. There was support for both a 9-first-order factor model and a higher order model with a global flow factor. The item identification sample yielded mean item loadings on the first-order factor of .78 for the FSS-2 and .77 for the DFS-2. Reliability estimates ranged from .80 to .90 for the FSS-2, and .81 to .90 for the DFS-2. In the cross-validation sample, mean item loadings on the first-order factor were .80 for the FSS-2, and .73 for the DFS-2. Reliability estimates ranged between .80 to .92 for the FSS-2 and .78 to .86 for the DFS-2. The scales are presented as ways of assessing flow experienced within a particular event (FSS-2) or the frequency of flow experiences in chosen physical activity in general (DFS-2).

Interspecific and intraspecific horizontal transfer of Wolbachia in Drosophila

Cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) in Drosophila simulans is related to infection of the germ line by a rickettsial endosymbiont (genus Wolbachia). Wolbachia were transferred by microinjection of egg cytoplasm into uninfected eggs of both D. simulans and D. melanogaster to generate infected populations. Transinfected strains of D. melanogaster with lower densities of Wolbachia than the naturally infected D. simulans strain did not express high levels of CI. However, transinfected D. melanogaster egg cytoplasm, transferred back into D. simulans, generated infected populations that expressed CI at levels near those of the naturally infected strain. A transinfected D. melanogaster line selected for increased levels of CI expression also displayed increased symbiont densities. These data suggest that a threshold level of infection is required for normal expression of CI and that host factors help determine the density of the symbiont in the host.

Religious Information Poverty in Australian State Schools

This paper introduces the concept of religious information poverty in Australian state schools from an information science perspective. Information scientists have been theorising about the global information society for some time, along with its increased provision of vital information for the good of the world. Australian state schools see themselves as preparing children for effective participation in the information society, yet Australian children are currently suffering a religious illiteracy that undermines this goal. Some reasons and theories are offered to explain the existence of religious information poverty in state schools, and suggestions for professional stakeholders are offered for its alleviation.

Gauge fields, geometric phases, and quantum adiabatic pumps

Quantum adiabatic pumping of charge and spin between two reservoirs (leads) has recently been demonstrated in nanoscale electronic devices. Pumping occurs when system parameters are varied in a cyclic manner and sufficiently slowly that the quantum system always remains in its ground state. We show that quantum pumping has a natural geometric representation in terms of gauge fields (both Abelian and non-Abelian) defined on the space of system parameters. Tunneling from a scanning tunneling microscope tip through a magnetic atom could be used to demonstrate the non-Abelian character of the gauge field.

Exact solution of the A(n-1)((1)) trigonometric vertex model with non-diagonal open boundaries

The A(n-1)((1)) trigonometric vertex model with generic non-diagonal boundaries is studied. The double-row transfer matrix of the model is diagonalized by algebraic Bethe ansatz method in terms of the intertwiner and the corresponding face-vertex relation. The eigenvalues and the corresponding Bethe ansatz equations are obtained.

Analysis of heat transfer and entropy generation for a thermally developing Brinkman–Brinkman forced convection problem in a rectangular duct with isoflux walls

Heat transfer and entropy generation analysis of the thermally developing forced convection in a porous-saturated duct of rectangular cross-section, with walls maintained at a constant and uniform heat flux, is investigated based on the Brinkman flow model. The classical Galerkin method is used to obtain the fully developed velocity distribution. To solve the thermal energy equation, with the effects of viscous dissipation being included, the Extended Weighted Residuals Method (EWRM) is applied. The local (three dimensional) temperature field is solved by utilizing the Green’s function solution based on the EWRM where symbolic algebra is being used for convenience in presentation. Following the computation of the temperature field, expressions are presented for the local Nusselt number and the bulk temperature as a function of the dimensionless longitudinal coordinate, the aspect ratio, the Darcy number, the viscosity ratio, and the Brinkman number. With the velocity and temperature field being determined, the Second Law (of Thermodynamics) aspect of the problem is also investigated. Approximate closed form solutions are also presented for two limiting cases of MDa values. It is observed that decreasing the aspect ratio and MDa values increases the entropy generation rate.

Finite element analysis of steady-state natural convection problems in fluid-saturated porous media heated from below

In this paper, a progressive asymptotic approach procedure is presented for solving the steady-state Horton-Rogers-Lapwood problem in a fluid-saturated porous medium. The Horton-Rogers-Lapwood problem possesses a bifurcation and, therefore, makes the direct use of conventional finite element methods difficult. Even if the Rayleigh number is high enough to drive the occurrence of natural convection in a fluid-saturated porous medium, the conventional methods will often produce a trivial non-convective solution. This difficulty can be overcome using the progressive asymptotic approach procedure associated with the finite element method. The method considers a series of modified Horton-Rogers-Lapwood problems in which gravity is assumed to tilt a small angle away from vertical. The main idea behind the progressive asymptotic approach procedure is that through solving a sequence of such modified problems with decreasing tilt, an accurate non-zero velocity solution to the Horton-Rogers-Lapwood problem can be obtained. This solution provides a very good initial prediction for the solution to the original Horton-Rogers-Lapwood problem so that the non-zero velocity solution can be successfully obtained when the tilted angle is set to zero. Comparison of numerical solutions with analytical ones to a benchmark problem of any rectangular geometry has demonstrated the usefulness of the present progressive asymptotic approach procedure. Finally, the procedure has been used to investigate the effect of basin shapes on natural convection of pore-fluid in a porous medium. (C) 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.