117 research outputs found
Food Pantries and Stigma: Users’ Concerns and Public Support
This study compares the perception of stigma measured as social distance between users (n = 40) and non-users (n = 202) of local food pantries in the Upper Midwest. Utilizing the concept of social distance to measure social disapproval and stigma with a new Food Pantry Stigma Scale, these nonprobability results indicated that users’ perception of stigma was significantly higher than the non-using public (Cohen’s d = 1.56). These findings suggest that public support for need-based use of local food pantries in the Upper Midwest is substantially higher than those facing food insecurity anticipate
Identifying coherent patterns of environmental change between multiple, multivariate records: an application to four 1000-year diatom records from Victoria, Australia
Empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs) of indirect archives of environmental change are increasingly used to identify coherent trends between palaeoclimate records, to separate externally forced patterns from locally driven idiosyncrasies. Lake sediments are particularly suited to such syntheses: they are abundant in most landscapes and record a wide array of information, yet local complexities often conceal or confuse the climate signal recorded at individual sites. Lake sediment parameters usually exhibit non-linear, multivariate and indirect responses to climate, therefore identifying coherent patterns between two or more lake records presents a complex challenge. Ideally, the selection of representative variables should be non-subjective and inclusive of as many different variables as possible, allowing for unexpected correlations between sites. In order to meet such demands, we propose a two-tier ordination procedure whereby site-specific (local) ordinations, obtained using Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA), are nested within a second, regional EOF. Using the local DCAs as representative variables allows the retention of a larger fraction of variance from each site, removes any subjectivity from variable selection and retains the potential for observing multiple, coherent signals from within and between each dataset. We explore this potential using four decadally resolved diatom records from volcanic lakes in Western Victoria, Australia. The records span the 1000 years prior to European settlement in CE 1803. Our analyses reveal at least two coherent patterns of ecological change that are manifest in each of the four datasets, patterns which may have been overlooked by a single-variable, empirical orthogonal function approach. This intra-site coherency provides a valuable step towards understanding multi-decadal hydroclimate variability in southeastern Australia
Morphology, ecology and biogeography of Stauroneis pachycephala P.T. Cleve (Bacillariophyta) and its transfer to the genusEnvekadea
Stauroneis pachycephala was described in 1881 from the Baakens River, Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Recently, it was found during surveys of the MacKenzie River (Victoria, Australia), the Florida Everglades (USA) and coastal marshes of Louisiana (USA). The morphology, ecology and geographic distribution of this species are described in this article. This naviculoid species is characterised by lanceolate valves with a gibbous centre, a sigmoid raphe, an axial area narrowing toward the valve ends, and capitate valve apices. The central area is a distinct stauros that is slightly widened near the valve margin. The raphe is straight and filiform, and the terminal raphe fissures are strongly deflected in opposite directions. Striae are fine and radiate in the middle of the valve, becoming parallel and eventually convergent toward the valve ends. The external surface of the valves and copulae is smooth and lacks ornamentation. We also examined the type material of S. pachycephala. Our observations show this species has morphological characteristics that fit within the genus Envekadea. Therefore, the transfer of S. pachycephala to Envekadea is proposed and a lectotype is designated
On the quest for unification - simplicity and antisimplicity
The road towards unification of elementary interactions is thought to start
on the solid ground of a universal local gauge principle. I discuss the
different types of bosonic gauge symmetries in gravitational and
nongravitational (standard model) interactions and their extensions both
fermionic, bosonic and with respect to space-time dimensions. The apparently
paradoxical size and nature of the cosmological constant is sketched, which at
first sight does not readily yield a clue as to the envelopping symmetry
structure of a unified theory. Nevertheless a tentative outlook is given
encouraging to proceed on this road.Comment: 29 pages, 4 figure
The experience of enchantment in human-computer interaction
Improving user experience is becoming something of a rallying call in human–computer interaction but experience is not a unitary thing. There are varieties of experiences, good and bad, and we need to characterise these varieties if we are to improve user experience. In this paper we argue that enchantment is a useful concept to facilitate closer relationships between people and technology. But enchantment is a complex concept in need of some clarification. So we explore how enchantment has been used in the discussions of technology and examine experiences of film and cell phones to see how enchantment with technology is possible. Based on these cases, we identify the sensibilities that help designers design for enchantment, including the specific sensuousness of a thing, senses of play, paradox and openness, and the potential for transformation. We use these to analyse digital jewellery in order to suggest how it can be made more enchanting. We conclude by relating enchantment to varieties of experience.</p
Unified Universal Seesaw Models
A set of Grand Unified Theories based upon the gauge groups SU(5)_\L \times
SU(5)_\R, SO(10)_\L \times SO(10)_\R and SU(4)_\C \times SU(4)_\L \times
SU(4)_\R is explored. Several novel features distinguish these theories from
the well-known , and SU(4)_\C \times SU(2)_\L \times SU(2)_\R
models which they generalize. Firstly, Standard Model quarks and leptons are
accompanied by and mix with heavy SU(2)_\L \times SU(2)_\R singlet partners.
The resulting fermion mass matrices are seesaw in form. Discrete parity
symmetries render the determinants of these mass matrices real and eliminate CP
violating gauge terms. The unified seesaw models consequently provide a
possible resolution to the strong CP problem. Secondly, \sinsq at the
unification scale is numerically smaller than the experimentally measured
scale value. The weak angle must therefore increase as it evolves down in
energy. Finally, proton decay is suppressed by small seesaw mixing factors in
all these theories.Comment: 22 pages with 2 figures not included but available upon request,
CALT-68-185
Braneworld Dynamics of Inflationary Cosmologies with Exponential Potentials
In this work we consider Randall-Sundrum braneworld type scenarios, in which
the spacetime is described by a five-dimensional manifold with matter fields
confined in a domain wall or three-brane. We present the results of a
systematic analysis, using dynamical systems techniques, of the qualitative
behaviour of Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker type models, whose matter is
described by a scalar field with an exponential potential. We construct the
state spaces for these models and discuss how their structure changes with
respect to the general-relativistic case, in particular, what new critical
points appear and their nature and the occurrence of bifurcation.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, RevTex 4. Submitted to Physical Review
Relationship between quantum decoherence times and solvation dynamics in condensed phase chemical systems
A relationship between the time scales of quantum coherence loss and
short-time solvent response for a solute/bath system is derived for a Gaussian
wave packet approximation for the bath. Decoherence and solvent response times
are shown to be directly proportional to each other, with the proportionality
coefficient given by the ratio of the thermal energy fluctuations to the
fluctuations in the system-bath coupling. The relationship allows the
prediction of decoherence times for condensed phase chemical systems from well
developed experimental methods.Comment: 10 pages, no figures, late
The Two-Loop Scale Dependence of the Static QCD Potential including Quark Masses
The interaction potential V(Q^2) between static test charges can be used to
define an effective charge and a physically-based
renormalization scheme for quantum chromodynamics and other gauge theories. In
this paper we use recent results for the finite-mass fermionic corrections to
the heavy-quark potential at two-loops to derive the next-to-leading order term
for the Gell Mann-Low function of the V-scheme. The resulting effective number
of flavors in the scheme is determined as a
gauge-independent and analytic function of the ratio of the momentum transfer
to the quark pole mass. The results give automatic decoupling of heavy quarks
and are independent of the renormalization procedure. Commensurate scale
relations then provide the next-to-leading order connection between all
perturbatively calculable observables to the analytic and gauge-invariant
scheme without any scale ambiguity and a well defined number of
active flavors. The inclusion of the finite quark mass effects in the running
of the coupling is compared with the standard treatment of finite quark mass
effects in the scheme.Comment: 27 pages, 13 figure
The Chiral Fermion Meson Model at Finite Temperature
We study the chiral fermion meson model which is the well known linear sigma
model of Gell-Mann-and-Levy at finite temperature.A modified self-consistent
resummation (MSCR) which resums higher order terms in the perturbative
expansion is proposed. It is shown that with the MSCR the problem of tachyonic
masses is solved, the renormalization of the gap equations is carried out and
the Goldstone's theorem is verified. We also apply the method to investigate
another known case at high temperature and compare with results found in the
literature.Comment: 31 pages, 9 EPS figures. Final version with extended Concluding
Remarks section, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
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