6,392 research outputs found

    Reflecting on the technical development of the Mapping Sculpture project

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    This paper explains, evaluates and reflects on the technical challenges and opportunities that underpin both the Mapping Sculpture project and its mobile interface. It provides insights into the development process as an integral component of the research methodology, and highlights the importance of meaningful collaboration between researchers and software developers. Just as the project questions the conventional notion of the lone sculpture practitioner, so the technical development needed to mirror the complex web of connections between people, places, objects, organizations and events through enabling large-scale, distributed and collaborative research. Enabling access to these rich resources on mobile devices was a further innovative and challenging development, but one that opens up the possibility for fresh modes of access and development of new audiences. The success of this technical development offers a model for representing complex relationships hidden in multiple sources, enabling innovative research and enhancing access

    How a Non-hierarchical Neutrino Mass Matrix Can Arise

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    One puzzle of neutrino masses and mixings is that they do not exhibit the kind of strong "hierarchy" that is found for the quarks and charged leptons. Neutrino mass ratios and mixing angles are not small. A possible reason for this is proposed here. It is based on the fact that typical realistic grand unified models contain particles with unification-scale masses which, when integrated out, can yield a neutrino mass matrix that is not of the standard seesaw form.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, LaTe

    Impact of habitat structure on fish populations in kelp forests at a seascape scale

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    Habitat use by a species is a vital component in explaining the dynamics of natural populations. For mobile marine species such as fishes, describing habitat heterogeneity at a seascape scale is essential because it quantifies the spatial extent to which fishes are interacting with their environment. Here, we explored the relationships between habitat metrics and the density and size of kelp forest fishes across a seascape that is naturally fragmented. Multibeam sonar and GIS analysis were employed to create a seascape map that explicitly defined bathymetry and spatial configuration of rocky reefs in southern California (USA). Georeferenced subtidal transects were conducted across this seascape to describe habitat attributes, including the density of macroalgae, and record the number and size of fishes. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to identify which variables of habitat structure were most important in describing numerical density, biomass density, average size, and maximum size for fishes. Responses to different habitat components were dependent on particular species, choice of spatial scale, and the inherent characteristics of the seascape itself. Notably, the relative influence of seascape components was dependent on the configuration of the seascape, where fishes in a more isolated and less connected seascape were more influenced by spatial configuration than fishes in a seascape with greater habitat connectedness. This study demonstrates that explicit habitat maps allow for a more comprehensive understanding of population structure when describing fishes across large spatial scales

    Naturally Light Higgs Doublet in the Spinor Representation of SUSY SO(10)

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    Within the supersymmetric SO(10) GUT we explore the possibility of the light Higgs doublet being a member of the 16-dimensional spinorial representation. This fact is ultimately related with the assumption that the light matter (at least partially) resides in some of the tensor representations as well. Several interesting features emerge. First, provided that the same 16-plet is responsible for the breaking SO(10)→SU(5)SO(10) \rightarrow SU(5), the heaviness of the top can automatically follow from the field content at MGUTM_{GUT}, without need of any flavour symmetries. Secondly, the doublet--triplet splitting problem receives a new natural solution. In addition, a dimension=5 (Higgsino mediated) proton decay can be naturally suppressed. We construct explicit SO(10) models with the above properties, with most general superpotentials under the symmetries.Comment: 13 pages, Late

    Factors Influencing the Implementation and Receptivity of a Physical Activity Intervention in Three Middle Schools

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    Introduction: Recent trials with adolescents have intervened to increase physical activity levels. Primary results report on the outcome (change in physical activity) with less focus on the evaluation of the intervention strategies and activities. This dissertation project presents an in-depth analysis of the extent to which Trial of Activity of Adolescent Girls (TAAG), a physical activity intervention targeting middle school girls, was implemented and received in three Maryland schools. Individual, social, and environmental factors were explored. Methods: Responses from select quantitative process evaluation data were used to assess dose, fidelity, and reach for each TAAG component. Information was integrated with data from nine focus groups with girls and 24 in-depth interviews with school staff, community partners, and TAAG university staff, who were key participants of the intervention activities. The focus group and interview data were analyzed using thematic methodology to identify key concepts, categories, and themes. Results: Implementation of the intervention varied by school and by intervention component. Qualitative interviews suggested that school differences could be attributed to school staff buy-in, administrative and faculty/staff support, and student behavior. Study staff implemented the intervention to teachers with higher levels of dose, fidelity, and reach than what teachers delivered to students. Notably, fidelity for physical education (PE) concepts and health education with activity challenges (HEAC) lessons was lower. Class observations indicated that PE objectives were observed 6% to 93% of the time, and 38% to 82% of HEAC lesson components were fully completed. Reasons reported by teachers for low fidelity were lack of time, administrative barriers, and limited space for activities. Reach for most components were high. Participation in after school programs ranged from approximately 9-22 girls. Girls reported lack of transportation, cost of programs, lack of interest, and time conflict as reasons for not joining programs. Conclusion: To maximize intervention efforts, it is important for researchers to decrease factors that negatively influence how well physical activity initiatives are executed as planned. Different data sources can provide information to better understand factors influencing program implementation

    A Prediction from the Type III See-saw Mechanism

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    A simple ansatz that is well-motivated by group-theoretical considerations is proposed in the context of the type III neutrino see-saw mechanism. It results in predictions for m_s/m_b and m_b/m_tau that relate these quantities to the masses and mixings of neutrinos.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure, references added and various clarifications included, version to appear in PL

    Socio-Cultural and Environmental Factors that Influence Weight-Related Behaviors: Focus Group Results from African-American Girls and Their Mothers

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    African-American girls experience higher rates of obesity than other youth and are more likely to live in environments that may inhibit healthy lifestyles. Focus groups with African-American girls (14.2 ± 2.36 years) and their mothers were conducted to explore socio-cultural and physical factors within the home, neighborhood, and school environments that influence physical activity (PA) and food choices (i.e., availability and accessibility). Being active at home was dependent on availability of unstructured PA, possibility of activity with family/friends/pet, structured sports in the community, and perceived safety of neighborhood. Girls reported unhealthy foods and excessive snacking as issues at home while citing choice of school meals vs. vending machine items and easy accessibility to fast food restaurants as concerns at school. Learning more about the PA and food environments is a fundamental step to develop effective and innovative, environmental strategies to address unhealthy weight-related behaviors in this population

    Inverse Hierarchy Approach to Fermion Masses

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    The first fermion family might play a special role in understanding the physics of flavour. This possibility is suggested by the observation that the up-down splitting within quark families increases with the family number: mu∌md m_u\sim m_d, mc>msm_c>m_s, mt≫mbm_t\gg m_b. We construct a model that realizes this feature of the spectrum in a natural way. The inter-family hierarchy is first generated by radiative phenomena in a sector of heavy isosinglet fermions and then transferred to quarks by means of a universal seesaw. A crucial role is played by left-right parity and up-down isotopic symmetry. No family symmetry is introduced. The model implies mu/md>m_u/m_d> 0.5 and the Cabibbo angle is forced to be ∌md/ms\sim\sqrt{m_d/m_s}. The top quark is naturally in the 100 GeV range, but not too heavy: mt<m_t< 150 GeV. Inspired by the mass matrices obtained in the model for quarks, we suggest an ansatz also including charged leptons. The differences between uu-, dd- and ee-type fermions are simply parametrized by three complex coefficients \eps{u}, \eps{d} and \eps{e}. Additional consistent predictions are obtained: msm_s=100-150 MeV and mu/md<m_u/m_d< 0.75.Comment: 19 pages (standard TeX) + 1 table (cut out and LaTeX separately) + 1 figure (cut out and postscript separately); 2 additional figures available by fax upon request, LBL-32889, LMU-13/9

    Culturally-appropriate, family- and community-based physical activity and healthy eating Intervention for african-american middle school-aged girls: A feasibility pilot

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    This study tested the feasibility and acceptability of a physical activity, healthy eating, and social support intervention. Twelve African-American daughter-mother dyads (BMI percentile: daughters=92.6±12.79; BMI: mothers=38.8±5.81 kg/m2) met weekly during the 8-week Intensive Phase; throughout the 6-month Maintenance Phase, participants received monthly newsletters for 3 months and attended monthly face-to-face sessions for 3 months. Daughters and mothers reported positive feedback about intervention activities and educational curriculum. Post-intervention daughter survey results revealed positive trends towards increasing PA; increasing breakfast, water, and fruit/vegetable intake; and reducing sugar sweetened drink consumption. Mothers reported similar behavioral changes. This unique intervention was highly enjoyed by participants and utilized feasible, family-involved strategies to address obesity-related behaviors among African-American females
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