7,602 research outputs found
Youth opportunity spaces in low-emission dairy development in Kenya: Research findings and policy recommendations
The dairy sector in Kenya produces over 4 billion liters of milk per year and supports 1.3 million producer households with a vital contribution to incomes and nutrition. However, total national production fails to meet demand. There is a need for increased efforts to support value chain development growth in the sector. In addition to the potential of dairy to support economic growth, the dairy sector is receiving substantial attention as a pathway to achieve Kenya’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), commitments to international agreements to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emission intensities. Intensification of production would reduce emission intensities by generating a higher volume of milk per unit of GHG emission. However, Kenya’s NDCs
specify that the environmental target of GHG emissions reduction should be pursued in accordance with its broader sustainable development agenda. Low-emission development has significant implications for reaching International Sustainable Development Goals; specifically, Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG #8) and Gender Equality (SDG #5)
Empirical orbit determination using Apollo 14 data
An empirical orbit determination method is shown to yield highly accurate navigation results when applied to lunar orbit tracking data. Regressions and predictions of free flight Apollo 14 tracking data exhibit minimal residual growth, and the solution orbital elements behave in a very consistent manner. Solutions from data acquired during propulsive maneuvers result in degraded predictions. The residual patterns from free flight processing are shown to be consistent from pass to pass and are correlated with lunar topographic features
The Implications of Galaxy Formation Models for the TeV Observations of Current Detectors
This paper represents a step toward constraining galaxy formation models via
TeV gamm a ray observations. We use semi-analytic models of galaxy formation to
predict a spectral distribution for the intergalactic infrared photon field,
which in turn yields information about the absorption of TeV gamma rays from
extra-galactic sources. By making predictions for integral flux observations at
>200 GeV for several known EGRE T sources, we directly compare our models with
current observational upper limits obtained by Whipple. In addition, our
predictions may offer a guide to the observing programs for the current
population of TeV gamma ray observatories.Comment: 6 pages, 11 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the 6th TeV
Workshop at Snowbird, U
Minimal Universal Two-qubit Quantum Circuits
We give quantum circuits that simulate an arbitrary two-qubit unitary
operator up to global phase. For several quantum gate libraries we prove that
gate counts are optimal in worst and average cases. Our lower and upper bounds
compare favorably to previously published results. Temporary storage is not
used because it tends to be expensive in physical implementations.
For each gate library, best gate counts can be achieved by a single universal
circuit. To compute gate parameters in universal circuits, we only use
closed-form algebraic expressions, and in particular do not rely on matrix
exponentials. Our algorithm has been coded in C++.Comment: 8 pages, 2 tables and 4 figures. v3 adds a discussion of asymetry
between Rx, Ry and Rz gates and describes a subtle circuit design problem
arising when Ry gates are not available. v2 sharpens one of the loose bounds
in v1. Proof techniques in v2 are noticeably revamped: they now rely less on
circuit identities and more on directly-computed invariants of two-qubit
operators. This makes proofs more constructive and easier to interpret as
algorithm
Angular Momentum Profiles of Warm Dark Matter Halos
We compare the specific angular momentum profiles of virialized dark halos in
cold dark matter (CDM) and warm dark matter (WDM) models using high-resolution
dissipationless simulations. The simulations were initialized using the same
set of modes, except on small scales, where the power was suppressed in WDM
below the filtering length. Remarkably, WDM as well as CDM halos are
well-described by the two-parameter angular momentum profile of Bullock et al.
(2001), even though the halo masses are below the filtering scale of the WDM.
Although the best-fit shape parameters change quantitatively for individual
halos in the two simulations, we find no systematic variation in profile shapes
as a function of the dark matter type. The scatter in shape parameters is
significantly smaller for the WDM halos, suggesting that substructure and/or
merging history plays a role producing scatter about the mean angular momentum
distribution, but that the average angular momentum profiles of halos originate
from larger-scale phenomena or a mechanism associated with the virialization
process. The known mismatch between the angular momentum distributions of dark
halos and disk galaxies is therefore present in WDM as well as CDM models. Our
WDM halos tend to have a less coherent (more misaligned) angular momentum
structure and smaller spin parameters than do their CDM counterparts, although
we caution that this result is based on a small number of halos.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, Submitted to ApJ
Multimedia Techniques for Construction Education and Training
The current profession of civil engineering often focuses education and training on code compliance rather than constructability and construction techniques. Also, it is well accepted that it takes a decade or more for engineers to develop a high-level project construction understanding, that and many state departments of transportation rely on in-field training for entry-level inspectors, with little or no education provisions for contractors. This research investigated the use of time-lapse photography to develop training and education material that will improve the understanding of project construction and crucial quality control specifications of an entry-level engineer, contractor, or inspector. Overall, the project team has deployed more than 160 time-lapse cameras to capture and document various construction activities since the project inception in May 2015 on over 25 construction sites throughout the state of Indiana.
This document uses time-lapse photography and other media forms to monitor construction projects such as roadway construction on US 31 in Carmel and Westfield, construction of mechanically stabilized earth walls, roundabout construction, and bridge demolition in West Lafayette and Cedar Grove in order to develop educational and training materials for engineering students, construction inspectors, and contractors.
This is accomplished in this document through construction case studies, time-lapse images, YouTube videos, and references to relevant INDOT Standard Specifications. Additionally, the project team has acquired quantitative data on the effectiveness of utilizing time-lapse photography to better educate in a classroom setting. The project team discovered that time-lapse photography did indeed enhance the lecture and following its use, students showed improvement
Time Reversal and n-qubit Canonical Decompositions
For n an even number of qubits and v a unitary evolution, a matrix
decomposition v=k1 a k2 of the unitary group is explicitly computable and
allows for study of the dynamics of the concurrence entanglement monotone. The
side factors k1 and k2 of this Concurrence Canonical Decomposition (CCD) are
concurrence symmetries, so the dynamics reduce to consideration of the a
factor. In this work, we provide an explicit numerical algorithm computing v=k1
a k2 for n odd. Further, in the odd case we lift the monotone to a two-argument
function, allowing for a theory of concurrence dynamics in odd qubits. The
generalization may also be studied using the CCD, leading again to maximal
concurrence capacity for most unitaries. The key technique is to consider the
spin-flip as a time reversal symmetry operator in Wigner's axiomatization; the
original CCD derivation may be restated entirely in terms of this time
reversal. En route, we observe a Kramers' nondegeneracy: the existence of a
nondegenerate eigenstate of any time reversal symmetric n-qubit Hamiltonian
demands (i) n even and (ii) maximal concurrence of said eigenstate. We provide
examples of how to apply this work to study the kinematics and dynamics of
entanglement in spin chain Hamiltonians.Comment: 20 pages, 3 figures; v2 (17pp.): major revision, new abstract,
introduction, expanded bibliograph
3D stellar kinematics at the Galactic center: measuring the nuclear star cluster spatial density profile, black hole mass, and distance
We present 3D kinematic observations of stars within the central 0.5 pc of
the Milky Way nuclear star cluster using adaptive optics imaging and
spectroscopy from the Keck telescopes. Recent observations have shown that the
cluster has a shallower surface density profile than expected for a dynamically
relaxed cusp, leading to important implications for its formation and
evolution. However, the true three dimensional profile of the cluster is
unknown due to the difficulty in de-projecting the stellar number counts. Here,
we use spherical Jeans modeling of individual proper motions and radial
velocities to constrain for the first time, the de-projected spatial density
profile, cluster velocity anisotropy, black hole mass (), and
distance to the Galactic center () simultaneously. We find that the inner
stellar density profile of the late-type stars, to
have a power law slope , much more shallow than
the frequently assumed Bahcall Wolf slope of . The measured
slope will significantly affect dynamical predictions involving the cluster,
such as the dynamical friction time scale. The cluster core must be larger than
0.5 pc, which disfavors some scenarios for its origin. Our measurement of
and
kpc is consistent with that derived from stellar
orbits within 1 of Sgr A*. When combined with the orbit of
S0-2, the uncertainty on is reduced by 30% ( kpc).
We suggest that the MW NSC can be used in the future in combination with
stellar orbits to significantly improve constraints on .Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables, ApJL accepte
The view from elsewhere: perspectives on ALife Modeling
Many artificial life researchers stress the interdisciplinary character of the field. Against such a backdrop, this report reviews and discusses artificial life, as it is depicted in, and as it interfaces with, adjacent disciplines (in particular, philosophy, biology, and linguistics), and in the light of a specific historical example of interdisciplinary research (namely cybernetics) with which artificial life shares many features. This report grew out of a workshop held at the Sixth European Conference on Artificial Life in Prague and features individual contributions from the workshop's eight speakers, plus a section designed to reflect the debates that took place during the workshop's discussion sessions. The major theme that emerged during these sessions was the identity and status of artificial life as a scientific endeavor
- …