785 research outputs found
Introduction: The effectiveness of impact assessment instruments
The global application of impact assessment instruments to achieve a variety of policy integration goals (e.g. the mainstreaming of environmental, gender or economic efficiency concerns) continues to proliferate. These instruments represent important components of contemporary political governance and hence are an important locus for applied research. This special issue of Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal critically examines 'state-of-the-art' knowledge and understanding of the effectiveness of impact assessment instruments. Six articles explore this subject from a variety of orientations (in terms of theoretical versus empirical emphasis, policy integration concerns, contributors' beliefs and framing etc.). Individually and cumulatively, these articles make a powerful contribution to learning about the 'thorny' issue of effectiveness and its implications for the theory and practice of impact assessment
Using Neural Networks for Aerodynamic Parameter Modeling
Neural networks are being developed at McDonnell Douglas Corporation to provide an onboard model of an aircraft\u27s aerodynamics to support advanced flight control systems. These flight control systems, constructed using neural networks and advanced controllers, have the potential to reduce flight control development costs and to improve inflight performance. Neural networks are useful in this situation because they can compactly represent the data and operate in real-tim
Confirmation of the Planetary Microlensing Signal and Star and Planet Mass Determinations for Event OGLE-2005-BLG-169
We present Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3)
observations of the source and lens stars for planetary microlensing event
OGLE-2005-BLG-169, which confirm the relative proper motion prediction due to
the planetary light curve signal observed for this event. This (and the
companion Keck result) provide the first confirmation of a planetary
microlensing signal, for which the deviation was only 2%. The follow-up
observations determine the flux of the planetary host star in multiple
passbands and remove light curve model ambiguity caused by sparse sampling of
part of the light curve. This leads to a precise determination of the
properties of the OGLE-2005-BLG-169Lb planetary system. Combining the
constraints from the microlensing light curve with the photometry and
astrometry of the HST/WFC3 data, we find star and planet masses of M_* = 0.69+-
0.02 M_solar and m_p = 14.1 +- 0.9 M_earth. The planetary microlens system is
located toward the Galactic bulge at a distance of D_L = 4.1 +- 0.4 kpc, and
the projected star-planet separation is a_perp = 3.5 +- 0.3 AU, corresponding
to a semi-major axis of a = 4.0 (+2.2 -0.6) AU.Comment: 21 pages, including 5 figures, published in Ap
Habituation and sensitization of protective reflexes: dissociation between cardiac defense and eye-blink startle
We examined the habituation and recovery of two protective reflexes, cardiac defense and eye-blink startle, simultaneously elicited by a white noise of 500 ms as a function of the time interval between stimulus presentations. Participants were 90 volunteers (54 women) randomly distributed into 6 inter-trial interval (ITI) conditions. They all received three presentations of the stimulus with a time interval of 30 min between the first and third noise. The timing of the second noise was manipulated in six steps, using a between-group design, in order to increase the ITI between Trials I and 2 and symmetrically decrease the ITI between Trials 2 and 3. Cardiac defense showed fast habituation at the shortest ITI (2.5 min), but reduced habituation and increased recovery at the longest ITI (27.5 min). In contrast, eye-blink startle showed sensitization irrespective of the ITI. This pattern of findings highlights dissociations between protective reflexes when simultaneously examined. The results are discussed in the context of the cascade model of defense reactions. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
The relative influence of neighbourhood incivilities, cognitive social capital, club membership and individual characteristics on positive mental health
Previous research indicates that residentsŚł perceptions of their neighbourhoods can have an adverse influence on their health and wellbeing over and above the influence of structural disadvantage. Contrary to most prior research, this study employed an indicator of positive wellbeing and assessed the impact of individual characteristics, perceived social and environmental incivilities, indicators of cognitive and structural social capital, and perceived safety. Analyses of data from a large regional UK representative study (n=8237; 69.64% response rate) found the most influential determinants of wellbeing were physical health problems, age, SES and cognitive social capital. Smaller, significant effects were also found for environmental and social incivilities, and for perceived safety. The effect of cognitive social capital was moderated by age, with a stronger effect found among those aged 65 years and over than among younger participants. Findings indicate that the promotion of positive mental health within communities may be facilitated by efforts to foster a greater sense of belonging among residents, and that older adults may benefit most from such efforts
Gatekeepers of financial power: from London to Lagos
The main premise of this paper is that, until recently, African elites did not regulate or control financial flows moving across the continent. They were not financial gatekeepers. In Africa Since 1940, Cooper identified African elites as gatekeepers regulating access to resources and opportunities passing through strategic sites. This paper makes a case for revision of existing notions of the gatekeeper state in an ongoing effort to (re)negotiate the continentâs colonial past through two new arguments. The first is that financial power was never located at a âperipheralâ African gate, but resolutely held onto within leading financial centres, circumventing any opportunity for African elites to control financial flows. Failure to distinguish between types of flows distorts analysis of African political economic power under colonialism. It is only in the post-2000 period, that we see powerful African states driving the integration of African markets into the global financial system. The second argument is that these African goals to control financial flows correspond more to âgatewayâ strategies than to gatekeeper. Drawing on the case of Lagos, I demonstrate how this âgatewayâ concept better captures trans-scalar processes of new financial clustering in Africaâs emerging markets than a concept associated with âgatesâ under Empire
A Planetary Microlensing Event with an Unusually Red Source Star: MOA-2011-BLG-291
We present the analysis of planetary microlensing event MOA-2011-BLG-291,
which has a mass ratio of and a source star that
is redder (or brighter) than the bulge main sequence. This event is located at
a low Galactic latitude in the survey area that is currently planned for NASA's
WFIRST exoplanet microlensing survey. This unusual color for a microlensed
source star implies that we cannot assume that the source star is in the
Galactic bulge. The favored interpretation is that the source star is a lower
main sequence star at a distance of kpc in the Galactic disk.
However, the source could also be a turn-off star on the far side of the bulge
or a sub-giant in the far side of the Galactic disk if it experiences
significantly more reddening than the bulge red clump stars. However, these
possibilities have only a small effect on our mass estimates for the host star
and planet. We find host star and planet masses of and from a Bayesian
analysis with a standard Galactic model under the assumption that the planet
hosting probability does not depend on the host mass or distance. However, if
we attempt to measure the host and planet masses with host star brightness
measurements from high angular resolution follow-up imaging, the implied masses
will be sensitive to the host star distance. The WFIRST exoplanet microlensing
survey is expected to use this method to determine the masses for many of the
planetary systems that it discovers, so this issue has important design
implications for the WFIRST exoplanet microlensing survey
A spectral atlas of post-main-sequence stars in omega Centauri: kinematics, evolution, enrichment and interstellar medium
We present a spectral atlas of the post-main-sequence population of the most
massive Galactic globular cluster, omega Centauri. Spectra were obtained of
more than 1500 stars selected as uniformly as possible from across the (B, B-V)
colour-magnitude diagram of the proper motion cluster member candidates of van
Leeuwen et al. (2000). The spectra were obtained with the 2dF multi-fibre
spectrograph at the Anglo Australian Telescope, and cover the approximate range
lambda~3840-4940 Angstroem. We measure the radial velocities, effective
temperatures, metallicities and surface gravities by fitting ATLAS9 stellar
atmosphere models. We analyse the cluster membership and stellar kinematics,
interstellar absorption in the Ca II K line at 3933 Angstroem, the RR Lyrae
instability strip and the extreme horizontal branch, the metallicity spread and
bimodal CN abundance distribution of red giants, nitrogen and s-process
enrichment, carbon stars, pulsation-induced Balmer line emission on the
asymptotic giant branch (AGB), and the nature of the post-AGB and UV-bright
stars. Membership is confirmed for the vast majority of stars, and the radial
velocities clearly show the rotation of the cluster core. We identify
long-period RR Lyrae-type variables with low gravity, and low-amplitude
variables coinciding with warm RR Lyrae stars. A barium enhancement in the
coolest red giants indicates that 3rd dredge-up operates in AGB stars in omega
Cen. This is distinguished from the pre-enrichment by more massive AGB stars,
which is also seen in our data. The properties of the AGB, post-AGB and
UV-bright stars suggest that RGB mass loss may be less efficient at very low
metallicity, [Fe/H]<<-1, increasing the importance of mass loss on the AGB. The
catalogue and spectra are made available via CDS.Comment: accepted for publication in MNRA
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