Perfectionism explains variance in self-defeating behaviors beyond self-criticism: Evidence from a cross-national sample

Does perfectionism predict maladjustment beyond self-criticism? Attention to this key question is needed as some studies suggest perfectionism may not explain variance in maladjustment beyond self-criticism. Using a large cross-national sample of 524 undergraduates (229 Canadian, 295 British), this study examined whether evaluative concerns perfectionism (socially prescribed perfectionism, concern over mistakes, doubts about actions) explained variance in self-defeating behaviors (binge eating, procrastination, interpersonal conflict) after controlling for selfcriticism. Results showed that—after controlling for self-criticism—concern over mistakes predicted binge eating, doubts about actions predicted procrastination, and socially prescribed perfectionism and concern over mistakes predicted interpersonal conflict. Self-criticism also uniquely predicted self-defeating behaviors beyond evaluative concerns perfectionism. The relationships that evaluative concerns perfectionism shows with self-defeating behaviors appear neither redundant with nor fully captured by self-criticism. Results dovetail with theoretical accounts suggesting evaluative concerns perfectionism is a uniquely important part of the personality of people prone to self-defeating behaviors

Large-Scale Polarized Foreground Component Separation for Planck

We use Bayesian component estimation methods to examine the prospects for large-scale polarized map and cosmological parameter estimation with simulated Planck data assuming simplified white noise properties. The sky signal is parametrized as the sum of the CMB, synchrotron emission, and thermal dust emission. The synchrotron and dust components are modelled as power-laws, with a spatially varying spectral index for synchrotron and a uniform index for dust. Using the Gibbs sampling technique, we estimate the linear polarisation Q and U posterior amplitudes of the CMB, synchrotron and dust maps as well as the two spectral indices in ~4 degree pixels. We use the recovered CMB map and its covariance in an exact pixel likelihood algorithm to estimate the optical depth to reionization tau, the tensor-to-scalar ratio r, and to construct conditional likelihood slices for the EE and BB spectra. Given our foreground model, we find sigma(tau)~0.004 for tau=0.1, sigma(r)~0.03 for a model with r=0.1, and a 95% upper limit of r<0.02 for r=0.0.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures, submitted to MNRA

A Small-Scale Modification to the Lensing Kernel

Calculations of the Cosmic Microwave Background lensing power implemented into the standard cosmological codes such as CAMB and CLASS usually treat the surface of last scatter as an infinitely thin screen. However, since the CMB anisotropies are smoothed out on scales smaller than the diffusion length due to the effect of Silk damping, the photons which carry information about the small-scale density distribution come from slightly earlier times than the standard recombination time. The dominant effect is the scale dependence of the mean redshift associated with the fluctuations during recombination. We find that fluctuations at $k = 0.01 {\rm \ Mpc^{-1}}$ come from a characteristic redshift of $z \approx 1090$, while fluctuations at $k = 0.3 {\rm \ Mpc^{-1}}$ come from a characteristic redshift of $z \approx 1130$. We then estimate the corrections to the lensing kernel and the related power spectra due to this effect. We conclude that neglecting it would result in a deviation from the true value of the lensing kernel at the half percent level at small CMB scales. For an all-sky, noise-free experiment, this corresponds to a $\sim 0.1 \sigma$ shift in the observed temperature power spectrum on small scales ($2500 \lesssim l \lesssim 4000$).Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Children's access to urban gardens in Norway, India and the United Kingdom

Background: This study investigates access to gardens for children in Norway, India and the United Kingdom and their respective potentials for sustainability learning. The focus is set upon the significant variations concerning garden access within these three countries, within the specific context of urban gardening at a city scale. The article explores three case study cities: Stavanger, Norway; Mumbai, India; and Cardiff, UK. Previous research has shown that nature and garden experiences can provide play opportunities, skills and sensuous perceptions that may lead to the permanent retention of knowledge, and may awaken and unfold the child’s interests. Material and methods: Conceptualized in theories of situated learning and place-based learning, each researcher - native and/or living in Norway, UK and India, respectively - has gathered qualitative data and focused on the phenomena she found to be appropriate for the study of each respective city. The findings, based on literature studies and the author’s own experiences and observations, are presented in form of narratives. A phenomenological and hermeneutical framework and critical inquiry is used to give relevance to the complex interrelations between the three researcher’s different backgrounds and perspectives. Results: The narratives elucidate rather different characteristics, practices, activities and values related to gardens in the three cities, where children interact in multiple ways with various kinds of garden spaces. Children are typically close to nature in Stavanger, while very small ‘windowsills’ characterize the many childhood interactions with gardens in Mumbai and in Cardiff, children may have access to both private and public gardens, depending upon their circumstances. Conclusions: The three perspectives give inspirations for promoting children’s ecology, sustainability, and intergenerational learning in urban garden spaces

Neutrino masses and beyond-Λ\LambdaCDM cosmology with LSST and future CMB experiments

Cosmological measurements over the next decade will enable us to shed light on the content and evolution of the Universe. Complementary measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) and Baryon Acoustic Oscillations are expected to allow an indirect determination of the sum of neutrino masses, within the framework of the flat $\Lambda$CDM model. However, possible deviations from $\Lambda$CDM such as a non-zero cosmological curvature or a dark energy equation of state with $w\neq -1$ would leave similar imprints on the expansion rate of the Universe and clustering of matter. We show how future CMB measurements can be combined with late-time measurements of galaxy clustering and cosmic shear from the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope to alleviate this degeneracy. Together, they are projected to reduce the uncertainty on the neutrino mass sum to 30 meV within this more general cosmological model. Achieving a 3$\sigma$ measurement of the minimal 60 meV mass (or 4$\sigma$ assuming $w=-1$) will require a five-fold improved measurement of the optical depth to reionization, obtainable through a large-scale CMB polarization measurement.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures; v2, updated to PRD version, references adde

Reheating temperature from the CMB

In the recent paper by Mielczarek \emph{et al.} (JCAP {\bf 1007} (2010) 004) an idea of the method which can be used to put some constraint for the reheating phase was proposed. Another method of constraining the reheating temperature has been recently studied by Martin and Ringeval (Phys.\ Rev.\ D {\bf 82} (2010) 023511). Both methods are based on observations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation. In this paper, we develop the idea introduced in this first article to put constraint on the reheating after the slow-roll inflation. We restrict our considerations to the case of a massive inflaton field. The method can be, however, easily extended to the different inflationary scenarios. As a main result, we derive an expression on the reheating temperature $T_{\text{RH}}$. Surprisingly, the obtained equation is independent on the unknown number of relativistic degrees of freedom $g_*$ produced during the reheating. Based on this equation and the WMAP 7 observations, we find $T_{\text{RH}}=3.5\cdot 10^6$ GeV, which is consistent with the current constraints. The relative uncertainty of the result is, however, very high and equal to $\sigma(T_{\text{RH}})/T_{\text{RH}} \approx 53$. As we show, this uncertainty will be significantly reduced with future CMB experiments.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures. Matches version published in Phys. Rev.

Simulated forecasts for primordial B-mode searches in ground-based experiments

Detecting the imprint of inflationary gravitational waves on the $B$-mode polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) is one of the main science cases for current and next-generation CMB experiments. In this work we explore some of the challenges that ground-based facilities will have to face in order to carry out this measurement in the presence of Galactic foregrounds and correlated atmospheric noise. We present forecasts for Stage-3 (S3) and planned Stage-4 (S4) experiments based on the analysis of simulated sky maps using a map-based Bayesian foreground cleaning method. Our results thus consistently propagate the uncertainties on foreground parameters such as spatially-varying spectral indices, as well as the bias on the measured tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$ caused by an incorrect modelling of the foregrounds. We find that S3 and S4-like experiments should be able to put constraints on $r$ of the order $\sigma(r)=(0.5-1.0)\times10^{-2}$ and $\sigma(r)=(0.5-1.0)\times10^{-3}$ respectively, assuming instrumental systematic effects are under control. We further study deviations from the fiducial foreground model, finding that, while the effects of a second polarized dust component would be minimal on both S3 and S4, a 2\% polarized anomalous dust emission (AME) component would be clearly detectable by Stage-4 experiments.Comment: 19 pages, 11 figure

Time-ordered data simulation and map-making for the PIXIE Fourier transform spectrometer

We develop a time-ordered data simulator and map-maker for the proposed PIXIE Fourier transform spectrometer and use them to investigate the impact of polarization leakage, imperfect collimation, elliptical beams, sub-pixel effects, correlated noise and spectrometer mirror jitter on the PIXIE data analysis. We find that PIXIE is robust to all of these effects, with the exception of mirror jitter which could become the dominant source of noise in the experiment if the jitter is not kept significantly below $0.1\mu m\sqrt{s}$. Source code is available at https://github.com/amaurea/pixie.Comment: 27 pages, 15 figures. Accepted for publication in JCA