1,957 research outputs found
Women’s adaptation to STEM domains promotes resilience and a lesser reliance on heuristic thinking
Experiences that compel people to challenge social stereotypes can promote enhanced cognitive flexibility on a range of judgmental domains. Women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields are chronically exposed to such experiences and may therefore also demonstrate these benefits. Two studies examined the differential effects of counterstereotypical experiences on women from STEM and non-STEM fields. Results showed that imagining or recollecting these experiences led women from STEM fields to exhibit a lesser reliance on heuristic thinking compared to women from non-STEM fields, and this difference was mediated by self-perceived resilience to the negative impact of gender stereotyping. Implications for psychologists’ and educators’ understanding of the relationship between counterstereotypical experiences and heuristic thinking are discussed
Phase Dependent Thermopower in Andreev Interferometers
We report measurements of the thermopower S of mesoscopic Andreev
interferometers, which are hybrid loops with one arm fabricated from a
superconductor (Al), and one arm from a normal metal (Au). S depends on the
phase of electrons in the interferometer, oscillating as a function of magnetic
flux with a period of one flux quantum (= h/2e). The magnitude of S increases
as the temperature T is lowered, reaching a maximum around T = 0.14 K, and
decreases at lower temperatures. The symmetry of S oscillations with respect to
magnetic flux depends on the topology of the sample.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
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Hybrid Decay: A Transgenerational Epigenetic Decline in Vigor and Viability Triggered in Backcross Populations of Teosinte with Maize.
In the course of generating populations of maize with teosinte chromosomal introgressions, an unusual sickly plant phenotype was noted in individuals from crosses with two teosinte accessions collected near Valle de Bravo, Mexico. The plants of these Bravo teosinte accessions appear phenotypically normal themselves and the F1 plants appear similar to typical maize × teosinte F1s. However, upon backcrossing to maize, the BC1 and subsequent generations display a number of detrimental characteristics including shorter stature, reduced seed set, and abnormal floral structures. This phenomenon is observed in all BC individuals and there is no chromosomal segment linked to the sickly plant phenotype in advanced backcross generations. Once the sickly phenotype appears in a lineage, normal plants are never again recovered by continued backcrossing to the normal maize parent. Whole-genome shotgun sequencing reveals a small number of genomic sequences, some with homology to transposable elements, that have increased in copy number in the backcross populations. Transcriptome analysis of seedlings, which do not have striking phenotypic abnormalities, identified segments of 18 maize genes that exhibit increased expression in sickly plants. A de novo assembly of transcripts present in plants exhibiting the sickly phenotype identified a set of 59 upregulated novel transcripts. These transcripts include some examples with sequence similarity to transposable elements and other sequences present in the recurrent maize parent (W22) genome as well as novel sequences not present in the W22 genome. Genome-wide profiles of gene expression, DNA methylation, and small RNAs are similar between sickly plants and normal controls, although a few upregulated transcripts and transposable elements are associated with altered small RNA or methylation profiles. This study documents hybrid incompatibility and genome instability triggered by the backcrossing of Bravo teosinte with maize. We name this phenomenon "hybrid decay" and present ideas on the mechanism that may underlie it
Delay-dependent amplification of a probe pulse via stimulated Rayleigh scattering
Stimulated Rayleigh scattering of pump and probe light pulses of close
carrier frequencies is considered. A nonzero time delay between the two pulses
is shown to give rise to amplification of the delayed (probe) pulse accompanied
by attenuation of the pump, both on resonance and off resonance. In either
case, phase-matching effects are shown to provide a sufficiently large gain,
which can exceed significantly direct one-photon-absorption losses
Abiotic formation of O2 and O3 in high-CO2 terrestrial atmospheres
Previous research has indicated that high amounts of ozone (O3) and oxygen
(O2) may be produced abiotically in atmospheres with high concentrations of
CO2. The abiotic production of these two gases, which are also characteristic
of photosynthetic life processes, could pose a potential "false-positive" for
remote-sensing detection of life on planets around other stars.We show here
that such false positives are unlikely on any planet that possesses abundant
liquid water, as rainout of oxidized species onto a reduced planetary surface
should ensure that atmospheric H2 concentrations remain relatively high, and
that O2 and O3 remain low. Our aim is to determine the amount of O3 and O2
formed in a high CO2 atmosphere for a habitable planet without life. We use a
photochemical model that considers hydrogen (H2) escape and a detailed hydrogen
balance to calculate the O2 and O3 formed on planets with 0.2 of CO2 around the
Sun, and 0.02, 0.2 and 2 bars of CO2 around a young Sun-like star with higher
UV radiation. The concentrations obtained by the photochemical model were used
as input in a radiative transfer model that calculated the spectra of the
modeled planets. The O3 and O2 concentrations in the simulated planets are
extremely small, and unlikely to produce a detectable signature in the spectra
of those planets. We conclude that with a balanced hydrogen budget, and for
planets with an active hydrological cycle, abiotic formation of O2 and O3 is
unlikely to create a possible false positive for life detection in either the
visible/near-infrared or mid-infrared wavelength regimes.Comment: 27 pages, 15 figures, Astronomy & Astrophysics accepte
Cementation and Aqueous Alteration of a Sandstone Unit Under Acidic Conditions in Gale Crater, Mars
The Curiosity rover landed on Mars in August 2012 to explore the sedimentary history and to assess the habitability of Gale Crater. After 1200 sols of surface operations and over 12 km of traverse distance, the mineralogy of 10 samples has been determined by the CheMin X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and the chemical composition of nearly 300 targets has been established by the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS). Light-toned fracture zones containing elevated concentrations of silica have been studied by Curiosity's instruments to determine the nature of the fluids that resulted in the enrichment of SiO2. Multiple fluid exposures are evident, and the chemistry and mineralogy data indicate at least two aqueous episodes may have occurred under acidic conditions
Primary accumulation in the Soviet transition
The Soviet background to the idea of primary socialist accumulation is presented. The mobilisation of labour power and of products into public sector investment from outside are shown to have been the two original forms of the concept. In Soviet primary accumulation the mobilisation of labour power was apparently more decisive than the mobilisation of products. The primary accumulation process had both intended and unintended results. Intended results included bringing most of the economy into the public sector, and industrialisation of the economy as a whole. Unintended results included substantial economic losses, and the proliferation of coercive institutions damaging to attainment of the ultimate goal - the building of a communist society
Overview of the Mars Science Laboratory mission: Bradbury Landing to Yellowknife Bay and beyond
The Mars Science Laboratory mission reached Bradbury Landing in August 2012. In its first 500 sols, the rover Curiosity was commissioned and began its investigation of the habitability of past and present environments within Gale Crater. Curiosity traversed eastward toward Glenelg, investigating a boulder with a highly alkaline basaltic composition, encountering numerous exposures of outcropping pebble conglomerate, and sampling aeolian sediment at Rocknest and lacustrine mudstones at Yellowknife Bay. On sol 324, the mission turned its focus southwest, beginning a year‐long journey to the lower reaches of Mt. Sharp, with brief stops at the Darwin and Cooperstown waypoints. The unprecedented complexity of the rover and payload systems posed challenges to science operations, as did a number of anomalies. Operational processes were revised to include additional opportunities for advance planning by the science and engineering teams
System design study of a VLEO satellite platform using the IRS RF helicon-based plasma thruster
To achieve a feasible lifetime of several years, most satellites are deployed in orbits higher than 400 km. Drag of residual atmosphere causes a slow orbit decay, resulting in the deorbit of the spacecraft. However, e.g. optical instruments or communication devices would significantly benefit from lower altitudes in the range of 150–250 km. A solution to achieve this could be the application of atmosphere-breathing electric propulsion (ABEP), where the residual atmosphere is used to generate continuous thrust that compensates the drag.Within the EU-funded DISCOVERER project, the Institute of Space Systems (IRS) developed an electrode-less RF Helicon-based Plasma Thruster (IPT) suitable for such applications. Ignition and preliminary discharge characterizations of the IPT have been carried out at IRS facilities, using argon, nitrogen and oxygen. To further characterize the plasma plume, a torsional pendulum has been designed to determine the (local) momentum flux in the plasma jet, as well as a three-axis magnetic B-dot probe to carry out time-varying magnetic field measurements. Various intake designs were investigated, opening the possibility to conduct studies on potential satellite platforms within the frame of the ESA-funded project RAM-CLEP.A design study for an Earth Observation and Telecommunication satellite operating at 150–250 km with an extended mission lifetime is currently being carried out. The first system assessment focused on the comparison of different spacecraft configurations (“slender body” and “flat body”) and intake designs (specular or diffuse) with regard to overall drag and ABEP performance requirements.In this contribution, the design approaches for the current thruster and the diagnostic methods are depicted. Moreover, the current status of the system assessment is presented. Upcoming experimental studies of the ABEP system e.g. within the ESA-project RAM-CLEP and additional activities planned on system assessment are outlined.<br/
Resonant nonstationary amplification of polychromatic laser pulses and conical emission in an optically dense ensemble of neon metastable atoms
Experimental and numerical investigation of single-beam and pump-probe
interaction with a resonantly absorbing dense extended medium under strong and
weak field-matter coupling is presented. Significant probe beam amplification
and conical emission were observed. Under relatively weak pumping and high
medium density, when the condition of strong coupling between field and
resonant matter is fulfilled, the probe amplification spectrum has a form of
spectral doublet. Stronger pumping leads to the appearance of a single peak of
the probe beam amplification at the transition frequency. The greater probe
intensity results in an asymmetrical transmission spectrum with amplification
at the blue wing of the absorption line and attenuation at the red one. Under
high medium density, a broad band of amplification appears. Theoretical model
is based on the solution of the Maxwell-Bloch equations for a two-level system.
Different types of probe transmission spectra obtained are attributed to
complex dynamics of a coherent medium response to broadband polychromatic
radiation of a multimode dye laser.Comment: 9 pages, 13 figures, corrected, Fig.8 was changed, to be published in
Phys. Rev.
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