Study of the Local Interstellar Medium using Pulsar Scintillation

We present here the results from an extensive scintillation study of twenty pulsars in the dispersion measure (DM) range 3 - 35 pc cm^-3 carried out using the Ooty Radio Telescope, to investigate the distribution of ionized material in the local interstellar medium (LISM). Our analysis reveals several anomalies in the scattering strength, which suggest that the distribution of scattering material in the Solar neighborhood is not uniform. Our model suggests the presence of a low density bubble surrounded by a shell of much higher density fluctuations. We are able to put some constraints on geometrical and scattering properties of such a structure, and find it to be morphologically similar to the Local Bubble known from other studies.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Observation of hypertritons in Au+Au collisions at \sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200 GeV

We report preliminary results of hypertriton observation in heavy-ion collisions at RHIC. We have identified 157 +- 30 candidates in the current sample containing ~10^8 Au+Au events at \sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200 GeV. The production rate of hypertriton is close to that of helium 3. No extra penalty factor is observed for hypertriton, in contrast to results observed at the AGS.Comment: Turn off the line number package for QM09 proceeding publicatio

Actors that Unify Threads and Events

There is an impedance mismatch between message-passing concurrency and virtual machines, such as the JVM. VMs usually map their threads to heavyweight OS processes. Without a lightweight process abstraction, users are often forced to write parts of concurrent applications in an event-driven style which obscures control flow, and increases the burden on the programmer. In this paper we show how thread-based and event-based programming can be unified under a single actor abstraction. Using advanced abstraction mechanisms of the Scala programming language, we implemented our approach on unmodified JVMs. Our programming model integrates well with the threading model of the underlying VM

Using tourism free-choice learning experiences to promote environmentally sustainable behaviour: The role of post-visit ‘action resources’

This paper argues the need for the providers of ecotourism and other free‐choice environmental learning experiences to promote the adoption of environmentally sustainable actions beyond their own sites, when visitors return to their home environments. Previous research indicates that although visitors often leave such experiences with a heightened awareness of conservation issues and intentions to adopt environmentally responsible behaviours, only a minority translate these intentions into real actions. Building on research and theory in relation to visitor experiences in free‐choice learning environments, the paper identifies three different stages in the educational process and proposes a strategy for facilitating the translation of visitors' behavioural intentions into the adoption of sustainable actions through the provision of post‐visit action resources

Playing safe: Assessing the risk of sexual abuse to elite child athletes

Young athletes frequently suffer from being seen as athletes first and children second. This has consequences for their legal, civil and human rights as children (Kelly et al., 1995) and for the way in which sport organisations choose to intervene on their behalf to protect them from physical, psychological and sexual abuses (Brackenridge, 1994). Sport careers peak at different ages depending on the sport: in some, children as young as 12 or 13 may reach the highest levels of competitive performance; in others, full maturity as an athlete may come late into adulthood or even middle age. Recognition of this variation has given rise to the concept of ‘sport age’ (Kirby, 1986) referring to sport-specific athlete development. This concept is of significance in helping to identify the developmental process in terms of athletic, rather than chronological, maturity. The risk of sexual abuse in sport, formerly ignored or denied, has now been documented in a number of studies, using both quantitative and qualitative methods (Kirby & Greaves, 1996; Brackenridge, 1997; Volkwein, 1996). Drawing on data from these studies and from the previous work on sport age and athletic maturation, this paper proposes a possible means of identifying and assessing relative risk of sexual abuse to elite young athletes in selected sports. The concept of a ‘stage of imminent achievement’ (SIA) is proposed as the period of peak vulnerability of young athletes to sexual abuse

Effect of rhenium irradiations on the mechanical properties of tungsten for nuclear fusion applications

As-received and annealed tungsten samples were irradiated at a temperature of 400 °C with Re and W ions to peak concentrations of 1600 appm (atomic parts per million) and damage levels of 40 dpa (displacements per atom). Mechanical properties were investigated using nanoindentation, and the orientation and depth dependence of irradiation damage was investigated using Electron Back Scatter Diffraction (EBSD). Following irradiation there was a 13% increase in hardness in the as received sheet and a 23% increase in the annealed material for both tungsten and rhenium irradiation. The difference between the tungsten and rhenium irradiated samples was negligible, suggesting that for the concentrations and damage levels employed, the presence of rhenium does not have a significant effect on the hardening mechanism. Energy dependent EBSD of annealed samples provided information about the depth distribution of the radiation damage in individual tungsten grains and confirmed that the radiation damage is orientation dependant

Nuclear Photoabsorption at Photon Energies between 300 and 850 Mev

We construct the formula for the photonuclear total absorption cross section using the projection method and the unitarity relation. Our treatment is very effective when interference effects in the absorption processes on a nucleon are strong. The disappearance of the peak around the position of the $D_{13}$ resonance in the nuclear photoabsorption can be explained with the cooperative effect of the interference in two-pion production processes,the Fermi motion, the collision broadenings of $\Delta$ and $N^*$, and the pion distortion in the nuclear medium. The change of the interference effect by the medium plays an important role.Comment: 22pages,7figures,revtex

Effects of C, Cu and Be substitutions in superconducting MgB2

Density functional calculations are used to investigate the effects of partial substitutional alloying of the B site in MgB2 with C and Be alone and combined with alloying of the Mg site with Cu. The effect of such substitutions on the electronic structure, electron phonon coupling and superconductivity are discussed. We find that Be substitution for B is unfavorable for superconductivity as it leads to a softer lattice and weaker electron-phonon couplings. Replacement of Mg by Cu leads to an increase in the stiffness and doping level at the same time, while the carrier concentration can be controlled by partial replacement of B by C. We estimate that with full replacement of Mg by Cu and fractional substitution of B by C, Tc values of 50K may be attainable.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Small scale, big deal: Sampling catches from European small-scale fisheries.

Small-scale fleets (SSF) are important components of many ICES fisheries and are receiving growing attention within the CFP-reform and Marine Spatial Planning initiatives. In order to assess the importance of SSF within Europe, 2015 ICES WGCATCH compiled descriptions and data (effort, catch and value) of SSF fishing in EU waters, using 2012 as reference year and categorizing fleets by vessel length. The compiled information covered 17 countries describing a range of scenarios, spanning from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean. The <10m and 10–12m vessels were ranked highest in importance in nearly all countries in terms of number of vessels and employment. They were generally involved in multi-gear and multi-species fisheries developing seasonal or part-time activities into coastal areas with generally more sensitive habitats as nursery grounds or spawning aggregations. SSF were also found to be important for several fisheries in terms of effort, value and landings, and to represent a significant share of some TAC-quota or catches of regulated species, even though their landings may be under-reported. Group members also described the way SSF are sampled and estimated in their countries. The wide diversity in methodologies used to sample and estimate the impacts of SSF creates challenges to harmonize and standardize data quality indicators across European countries. We put forward some best practice guidelines for sampling SSF and show that these will have to be adapted at regional level in order to encompass existing variability at fleet and fisheries level

Shadowing in photo-production : role of in-medium hadrons

We study the effects of in-medium hadronic properties on shadowing in photon-nucleus interactions in Glauber model as well as in the multiple scattering approach. A reasonable agreement with the experimental data is obtained in a scenario of downward spectral shift of the hadrons. Shadowing is found to be insensitive to the broadening of the spectral functions. An impact parameter dependent analysis of shadowing might shed more light on the role of in-medium properties of hadrons.Comment: Title modified; version to appear in PRC, Rapid Communication