Electronic structure and magneto-optical Kerr spectra of an epitaxial Ni54.3Mn31.9Sn13.8 Heusler alloy film.

In this joint experimental and ab initio study, we investigated the influence of chemical composition and martensitic phase transition on the electronic, magnetic, optical and magneto-optical properties of ferromagnetic shape-memory Ni-Mn-Sn alloys. Optical properties and polar magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) spectra for Ni-Mn-Sn alloy film of composition Ni54.3Mn31.9Sn13.8 deposited epitaxially on MgO(0 0 1) substrate were measured over the photon energy range [Formula: see text] eV, and the complete set of optical conductivity tensor elements were determined. To explain the microscopic origin of the optical and magneto-optical spectra, extensive first-principles calculations were made, using the spin-polarized fully relativistic linear-muffin-tin-orbital method. The electronic, magnetic and magneto-optical properties of Ni-Mn-Sn Heusler alloys were investigated for the cubic austenitic and 4O orthorhombic martensitic phases, in stoichiometric and off-stoichiometric compositions. The MOKE properties of Ni-Mn-Sn systems are very sensitive to deviation from stoichiometry. It was shown that the ab initio calculations reproduce experimental spectra well, and help to explain the microscopic origin of Ni-Mn-Sn optical and magneto-optical responses. The interband transitions responsible for the prominent structures in the Ni-Mn-Sn MOKE spectra have been identified-they come from relatively narrow energy intervals at several well-defined vicinities of high-symmetry directions of the Brillouin zone. Significant modification of the MOKE spectra can be considered as a fingerprint of martensitic phase transition in Ni-Mn-Sn alloys.

Cultural barriers to health care for southeast Asian refugees.

Many Southeast Asians now living in the United States experience severe health problems, attributable to physical trauma and inadequate health care in Asia, and low socioeconomic status in this country. Evidence indicates that despite their health problems, Southeast Asian refugees underuse the American health care system. Cultural reasons for this underuse are examined. Southeast Asian cultural attitudes toward suffering, such as beliefs that suffering is inevitable or that one's life span is predetermined, can cause Southeast Asians not to seek health care. Cultural beliefs about the sources of illness and correspondingly appropriate forms of treatment can be a barrier to Western health care. Many lack familiarity with Western diagnostic techniques and treatments and thus are apprehensive. Health care providers' ignorance of Southeast Asian cultures can interfere with communication with patients, resulting in culturally irrelevant services or misinterpretation of side effects of Southeast Asian folk medicines. Southeast Asians' lack of familiarity with American culture can make health care services geographically and economically inaccessible and can cause Southeast Asians to be ignorant of available services or how to access them. An understanding of Southeast Asian cultures and additional outreach efforts by Western medical practitioners and health care providers are needed to improve the use of health care services by Southeast Asian refugees in this country.

The relationship between trauma and financial and physical well-being among Cambodians in the United States.

This study focused on the relationship between trauma and financial and physical well-being of Cambodian refugees in the United States. Trauma was defined by three variables: whether or not trauma had been experienced in Cambodia, the number of traumas experienced, and the number of years spent in refugee camps. It was hypothesized that these trauma variables would predict financial and physical health among Cambodians in the United States. A discriminant analysis showed significant relationships between the trauma variables and current employment status, and multiple regression analyses showed that trauma predicted income and physical health.

A method for eliminating Faraday rotation in cryostat windows in longitudinal magneto-optical Kerr effect measurements.

A solution to the problem of disturbing effect of the background Faraday rotation in the cryostat windows on longitudinal magneto-optical Kerr effect (LMOKE) measured under vacuum conditions and/or at low temperatures is proposed. The method for eliminating the influence of Faraday rotation in cryostat windows is based on special arrangement of additional mirrors placed on sample holder. In this arrangement, the orientation of the cryostat window is perpendicular to the light beam direction and parallel to an external magnetic field generated by the H-frame electromagnet. The operation of the LMOKE magnetometer with the special sample holder based on polarization modulation technique with a photo-elastic modulator is theoretically analyzed with the use of Jones matrices, and formulas for evaluating of the actual Kerr rotation and ellipticity of the sample are derived. The feasibility of the method and good performance of the magnetometer is experimentally demonstrated for the LMOKE effect measured in Fe/Au multilayer structures. The influence of imperfect alignment of the magnetometer setup on the Kerr angles, as derived theoretically through the analytic model and verified experimentally, is examined and discussed.

Premarital sexual behavior among Chinese college students in the United States.

Little is known about sexuality among Chinese in the U.S. There are reasons to believe that their sexual attitudes and behaviors would differ from those of Chinese in Asia as well as other groups in the U.S. This survey of ethnic Chinese college students in the U.S. examined the permissiveness of their attitudes toward premarital sex and their premarital sexual behavior with an eye toward their levels of acculturation. Over 60% approved of premarital sexual intercourse when the partners were in love or engaged. There was no significant gender difference in sexual permissiveness. Most of the men and women had engaged in kissing, necking, and petting, but most had not engaged in sexual intercourse. Gender differences were found in sexual experience: Chinese men were less experienced than Chinese women. Sexual permissiveness and experience were related to level of acculturation. Those who dated only Caucasians were more sexually experienced than those who dated only Chinese. Results are discussed in terms of differences in sexual attitudes and behaviors between Caucasian Americans and Chinese Americans and in terms of acculturation.