696 research outputs found
Observaciones sobre las madrigueras y comportamiento enterrador de Brachynotus gemmellari y otras especies de los fondos de Squilla en Ancona, Adriático Central
The paper presents information on the burrows of a number of species that occur on Squilla grounds in the coastal Adriatic off Ancona, Italy. The burrows and burrowing behaviour of Brachynotus gemmellari are described for the first time. For Upogebia tipica, Solecurtus strigilatus and Gobius niger, the observations add to sparse burrow information in the literature. Little is known of the burrows of Echiura in the Mediterranean: those of two species are briefly described from surface features.Este trabajo presenta información sobre las madrigueras de diversas especies presentes en los fondos de Squilla en las costas de Ancona, Italia, en el Adriático central. Se describen por vez primera las madrigueras y el comportamiento excavador de Brachynotus gemmellari. En el caso de Upogebia tipica, Solecurtus strigilatus y Gobius niger, las presentes observaciones se añaden a información dispersa sobre las madrigueras de Echiura en el Mediterráneo: se describen brevemente las de dos especies a partir de características de la superfície
D-optimal designs via a cocktail algorithm
A fast new algorithm is proposed for numerical computation of (approximate)
D-optimal designs. This "cocktail algorithm" extends the well-known vertex
direction method (VDM; Fedorov 1972) and the multiplicative algorithm (Silvey,
Titterington and Torsney, 1978), and shares their simplicity and monotonic
convergence properties. Numerical examples show that the cocktail algorithm can
lead to dramatically improved speed, sometimes by orders of magnitude, relative
to either the multiplicative algorithm or the vertex exchange method (a variant
of VDM). Key to the improved speed is a new nearest neighbor exchange strategy,
which acts locally and complements the global effect of the multiplicative
algorithm. Possible extensions to related problems such as nonparametric
maximum likelihood estimation are mentioned.Comment: A number of changes after accounting for the referees' comments
including new examples in Section 4 and more detailed explanations throughou
FIRI - a Far-Infrared Interferometer
Half of the energy ever emitted by stars and accreting objects comes to us in
the FIR waveband and has yet to be properly explored. We propose a powerful
Far-InfraRed Interferometer mission, FIRI, to carry out high-resolution imaging
spectroscopy in the FIR. This key observational capability is essential to
reveal how gas and dust evolve into stars and planets, how the first luminous
objects in the Universe ignited, how galaxies formed, and when super-massive
black holes grew. FIRI will disentangle the cosmic histories of star formation
and accretion onto black holes and will trace the assembly and evolution of
quiescent galaxies like our Milky Way. Perhaps most importantly, FIRI will
observe all stages of planetary system formation and recognise Earth-like
planets that may harbour life, via its ability to image the dust structures in
planetary systems. It will thus address directly questions fundamental to our
understanding of how the Universe has developed and evolved - the very
questions posed by ESA's Cosmic Vision.Comment: Proposal developed by a large team of astronomers from Europe, USA
and Canada and submitted to the European Space Agency as part of "Cosmic
Vision 2015-2025
Jockeying for position: the construction of masculine identities
In this paper we examine the construction of masculine identities within a real-life social situation. Using data from an extensive series of interviews with small groups of sixth-form (17-18-year-old) students attending a UK-based, single-sex independent school, the analysis looks at the action orientation of different constructions of identity. More specifically, it focuses upon how the identity talk of one particular group of students were oriented towards managing their subordinate status within the school. In a number of instances the identity of the `new man' was adopted as a strategy of resistance. However, it was found that the more common strategy involved buying back into values embodied within a more traditional definition of masculinity
Rice plants overexpressing OsEPF1 show reduced stomatal density and increased root cortical aerenchyma formation
Stomata are adjustable pores in the aerial epidermis of plants. The role of stomata is usually described in terms of the trade-off between CO2 uptake and water loss. Little consideration has been given to their interaction with below-ground development or diffusion of other gases. We overexpressed the rice EPIDERMAL PATTERNING FACTOR1 (OsEPF1) to produce rice plants with reduced stomatal densities, resulting in lowered leaf stomatal conductance and enhanced water use efficiency. Surprisingly, we found that root cortical aerenchyma (RCA) is formed constitutively in OsEPF1OE lines regardless of tissue age and position. Aerenchyma is tissue containing air-spaces that can develop in the plant root during stressful conditions, e.g. oxygen deficiency when it functions to increase O2 diffusion from shoot to root. The relationship with stomata is unknown. We conclude that RCA development and stomatal development are linked by two possible mechanisms: first that reduced stomatal conductance inhibits the diffusion of oxygen to the root, creating an oxygen deficit and stimulating the formation of RCA, second that an unknown EPF signalling pathway may be involved. Our observations have fundamental implications for the understanding of whole plant gas diffusion and root-to-shoot signalling events
The Gribov-Zwanziger action in the presence of the gauge invariant, nonlocal mass operator in the Landau gauge
We prove that the nonlocal gauge invariant mass dimension two operator
can be consistently added to the
Gribov-Zwanziger action, which implements the restriction of the path
integral's domain of integration to the first Gribov region when the Landau
gauge is considered. We identify a local polynomial action and prove the
renormalizability to all orders of perturbation theory by employing the
algebraic renormalization formalism. Furthermore, we also pay attention to the
breaking of the BRST invariance, and to the consequences that this has for the
Slavnov-Taylor identity.Comment: 30 page
Large Nc and Chiral Dynamics
We study the dependence on the number of colors of the leading pi pi
scattering amplitude in chiral dynamics. We demonstrate the existence of a
critical number of colors for and above which the low energy pi pi scattering
amplitude computed from the simple sum of the current algebra and vector meson
terms is crossing symmetric and unitary at leading order in a truncated and
regularized 1/Nc expansion. The critical number of colors turns out to be Nc=6
and is insensitive to the explicit breaking of chiral symmetry.
Below this critical value, an additional state is needed to enforce the
unitarity bound; it is a broad one, most likely of "four quark" nature.Comment: RevTeX4, 6 fig., 5 page
Couplings of light I=0 scalar mesons to simple operators in the complex plane
The flavour and glue structure of the light scalar mesons in QCD are probed
by studying the couplings of the I=0 mesons and to the
operators , and to two photons. The Roy dispersive
representation for the amplitude is used to determine the
pole positions as well as the residues in the complex plane. On the real axis,
is constrained to solve the Roy equation together with elastic
unitarity up to the K\Kbar threshold leading to an improved description of
the . The problem of using a two-particle threshold as a matching
point is discussed. A simple relation is established between the coupling of a
scalar meson to an operator and the value of the related pion form-factor
computed at the resonance pole. Pion scalar form-factors as well as two-photon
partial-wave amplitudes are expressed as coupled-channel Omn\`es dispersive
representations. Subtraction constants are constrained by chiral symmetry and
experimental data. Comparison of our results for the couplings with
earlier determinations of the analogous couplings of the lightest I=1 and
scalar mesons are compatible with an assignment of the ,
, , into a nonet. Concerning the gluonic operator
we find a significant coupling to both the and the
.Comment: 31 pages, 5 figure
- …