4,702 research outputs found
Representation in Westminster in the 1990s : The ghost of Edmund Burke
Why are 'trustee' notions of representation still invoked in the UK House of Commons in the 1990s? In answering this question this article analyses the premises of Burkean theory and the arguments that these premises are of little relevance in the late twentieth century. Despite these dismissals of trusteeship, Burkean ideas are still articulated in the Commons some 200 years after they were first voiced. The idea of trusteeship can prove extremely useful to justify the actions of representatives when those actions conflict with constituency 'opinion', party policy or the wishes of interest groups. Examples of the occasions when Burkean notions have been invoked in the 1990s are provided
"Come i secchi nel pozzo". Scienza ed etica negli scritti contro la vivisezione delle femministe britanniche (1870-1910)
Il saggio ripercorre le riflessioni teoriche delle femministe britanniche su scienza ed etica in relazione al dibattito sulla vivisezion
Robust Weak-lensing Mass Calibration of Planck Galaxy Clusters
In light of the tension in cosmological constraints reported by the Planck
team between their SZ-selected cluster counts and Cosmic Microwave Background
(CMB) temperature anisotropies, we compare the Planck cluster mass estimates
with robust, weak-lensing mass measurements from the Weighing the Giants (WtG)
project. For the 22 clusters in common between the Planck cosmology sample and
WtG, we find an overall mass ratio of \left =
0.688 \pm 0.072. Extending the sample to clusters not used in the Planck
cosmology analysis yields a consistent value of from 38 clusters in common. Identifying the
weak-lensing masses as proxies for the true cluster mass (on average), these
ratios are lower than the default mass bias of 0.8 assumed in
the Planck cluster analysis. Adopting the WtG weak-lensing-based mass
calibration would substantially reduce the tension found between the Planck
cluster count cosmology results and those from CMB temperature anisotropies,
thereby dispensing of the need for "new physics" such as uncomfortably large
neutrino masses (in the context of the measured Planck temperature anisotropies
and other data). We also find modest evidence (at 95 per cent confidence) for a
mass dependence of the calibration ratio and discuss its potential origin in
light of systematic uncertainties in the temperature calibration of the X-ray
measurements used to calibrate the Planck cluster masses. Our results exemplify
the critical role that robust absolute mass calibration plays in cluster
cosmology, and the invaluable role of accurate weak-lensing mass measurements
in this regard.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure
Phycomyces
This monographic review on a fungus is not addressed to mycologists. None of the authors has been trained or has otherwise acquired a general proficiency in mycology. They are motivated by a common interest in the performances of signal handling exhibited by the sense organs of all organisms and by the desire to attack these as yet totally obscure aspects of molecular biology by the study of a microorganism with certain desirable properties.
The sporangiophore of the fungus Phycomyces is a gigantic, single-celled, erect, cylindrical, aerial hypha. It is sensitive to at least four distinct stimuli: light, gravity, stretch, and some unknown stimulus by which it avoids solid objects. These stimuli control a common output, the growth rate, producing either temporal changes in growth rate or tropic responses.
We are interested in the output because it gives us information about the reception of the various signals. In the absence of external stimuli, the growth rate is controlled by internal signals keeping the network of biochemical processes in balance. The external stimuli interact with the internal signals. We wish to inquire into the early steps of this interaction. For light, for instance, the cell must have a receptor pigment as the first
mediator. What kind of a molecule is this pigment? Which organelle contains it? What chemical reaction happens after a light quantum has been absorbed? And how is the information introduced by this primary photochemical event amplified in a controlled manner and processed in the next step? How do a few quanta or a few molecules trigger macroscopic responses? Will we find ourselves confronted with devices wholly distinct from anything now known in biology
Protecting the Record for Appeal: A Reference Guide in Texas Civil Cases.
Abstract Forthcoming
Traffic Aware Planner for Cockpit-Based Trajectory Optimization
The Traffic Aware Planner (TAP) software application is a cockpit-based advisory tool designed to be hosted on an Electronic Flight Bag and to enable and test the NASA concept of Traffic Aware Strategic Aircrew Requests (TASAR). The TASAR concept provides pilots with optimized route changes (including altitude) that reduce fuel burn and/or flight time, avoid interactions with known traffic, weather and restricted airspace, and may be used by the pilots to request a route and/or altitude change from Air Traffic Control. Developed using an iterative process, TAP's latest improvements include human-machine interface design upgrades and added functionality based on the results of human-in-the-loop simulation experiments and flight trials. Architectural improvements have been implemented to prepare the system for operational-use trials with partner commercial airlines. Future iterations will enhance coordination with airline dispatch and add functionality to improve the acceptability of TAP-generated route-change requests to pilots, dispatchers, and air traffic controllers
Towards More Precise Survey Photometry for PanSTARRS and LSST: Measuring Directly the Optical Transmission Spectrum of the Atmosphere
Motivated by the recognition that variation in the optical transmission of
the atmosphere is probably the main limitation to the precision of ground-based
CCD measurements of celestial fluxes, we review the physical processes that
attenuate the passage of light through the Earth's atmosphere. The next
generation of astronomical surveys, such as PanSTARRS and LSST, will greatly
benefit from dedicated apparatus to obtain atmospheric transmission data that
can be associated with each survey image. We review and compare various
approaches to this measurement problem, including photometry, spectroscopy, and
LIDAR. In conjunction with careful measurements of instrumental throughput,
atmospheric transmission measurements should allow next-generation imaging
surveys to produce photometry of unprecedented precision. Our primary concerns
are the real-time determination of aerosol scattering and absorption by water
along the line of sight, both of which can vary over the course of a night's
observations.Comment: 41 pages, 14 figures. Accepted PAS
NLTT 41135: a field M-dwarf + brown dwarf eclipsing binary in a triple system, discovered by the MEarth observatory
We report the discovery of an eclipsing companion to NLTT 41135, a nearby M5
dwarf that was already known to have a wider, slightly more massive common
proper motion companion, NLTT 41136, at 2.4 arcsec separation. Analysis of
combined-light and radial velocity curves of the system indicates that NLTT
41135B is a 31-34 +/- 3 MJup brown dwarf (where the range depends on the
unknown metallicity of the host star) on a circular orbit. The visual M-dwarf
pair appears to be physically bound, so the system forms a hierarchical triple,
with masses approximately in the ratio 8:6:1. The eclipses are grazing,
preventing an unambiguous measurement of the secondary radius, but follow-up
observations of the secondary eclipse (e.g. with the James Webb Space
Telescope) could permit measurements of the surface brightness ratio between
the two objects, and thus place constraints on models of brown dwarfs.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, 10 tables, emulateapj format. Accepted for
publication in Ap
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