951 research outputs found
Determinants of UK studentsâ financial anxiety amidst Covid-19: Financial literacy and attitudes towards debt
Due to the increased financial pressureâexacerbated by
the COVID-19 pandemicâthat students in higher education need to endure, considerable attention is being drawn
towards the determinants of student financial anxiety. A
conflicting picture has been captured about financial literacy, which has been shown to either be associated with
better financial well-being or to be unrelated to financial
stress. While discerning between financial knowledge (âobjectiveâ financial literacy) and perceived ability to manage personal finances (âsubjectiveâ financial literacy), this study also explores the impact that students' attitudes towards debt may exert on their financial anxiety. In a sample of 174 university students from the UK, we measured students' financial anxiety, objective and subjective financial literacy, attitudes towards debt and perceived impact of COVID-19 on financial behaviour. Bayesian analyses revealed that only attitudes towards debt and perception of
the impact of the pandemic predicted students' financial
anxiety. While the evidence in regard to financial literacy
was inconclusive, mediation analyses showed that objective financial literacy indirectly impacted financial anxiety by increasing fear of debt. The findings suggest that students' financial anxiety may be reduced by adopting strategies that focus on the subjective perception of debt and of economic circumstances
Tachyon Hair for Two-Dimensional Black Holes
Using a combination of analytical and numerical methods, we obtain a
two-dimensional spacetime describing a black hole with tachyon hair. The
physical ADM mass of the black hole is finite. The presence of tachyon hair
increases the Hawking temperature.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures (not included), DAMTP-R93-16, IUHET 261 (Sept.
1993
The Beginning of the End of the Anthropic Principle
We argue that if string theory as an approach to the fundamental laws of
physics is correct, then there is almost no room for anthropic arguments in
cosmology. The quark and lepton masses and interaction strengths are
determined.Comment: 12 page
Process Development for Removal of Siloxanes from ISS Atmosphere
Dimethylsilanediol (DMSD) has been identified as a problematic organic contaminant aboard the ISS. This contaminant was initially identified in humidity condensate and in the Water Processor Assembly (WPA) product water in 2010 when routine water quality monitoring an increasing total organic carbon (TOC) trend in the WPA product water. Although DMSD is not a crew health hazard at the levels observed in the product water, it can degrade the WPA catalytic reactor's effectiveness and cause early replacement of Multifiltration Beds. DMSD may also degrade the performance of the Oxygen Generation System (OGS) which uses the WPA product water for electrolysis. An investigation into the source of DMSD has determined that polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) compounds are likely hydrolyzing in the Condensing Heat Exchangers (CHX) to form DMSD. PDMS compounds are prevalent aboard ISS from a variety of sources, including crew hygiene products, adhesives, caulks, lubricants, and various nonmetallic materials. PDMS compounds are also known to contribute to CHX hydrophilic coating degradation by rendering it hydrophobic and therefore adversely affecting its ability to effectively transmit water to the condensate bus. Eventually this loss in performance results in water droplets in the air flow exiting the CHX, which may lead to microbial growth in the air ducts and may impact the performance of downstream systems. Several options have been evaluated to address these concerns. Modifications to the Water Processor Multifiltration Beds and Catalytic Reactor for removal of DMSD were not considered viable, and did not address the issue with PDMS compound degradation of the CHX coating. Design concepts are now in development for removing PDMS compounds from the air stream before they can reach the CHX coating, thus preventing coating degradation and hydrolysis of the PDMS compounds to DMSD. This paper summarizes the current status of the effort to treat these contaminants on ISS
Eyetracking-enhanced VEP for nystagmus
Visual evoked potentials (VEPs) are an important prognostic indicator of visual ability in patients with nystagmus. However, VEP testing requires stable fixation, which is impossible with nystagmus. Fixation instability reduces VEP amplitude, and VEP reliability is therefore low in this important patient group. We investigated whether VEP amplitude can be increased using an eye tracker by triggering acquisition only during slow periods of the waveform. Data were collected from 10 individuals with early-onset nystagmus. VEP was obtained under continuous (standard) acquisition, or triggered during periods of low eye velocity, as detected by an eye tracker. VEP amplitude was compared using Bonferroni corrected paired samples t-tests. VEP amplitude is significantly increased when triggered during low eye velocity (95% CI 1.42â6.83 ”V, t(15)â=â3.25, pâ=â0.0053). This study provides proof-of-concept that VEP amplitude (and therefore prognostic reliability) can be increased in patients with early onset nystagmus by connecting an eye tracker and triggering acquisition during periods of lower eye velocity
Accommodating 'others'?: housing dispersed, forced migrants in the UK
Utilising insights from a qualitative study in the city of Leeds (UK), this paper considers issues related to the housing of dispersed forced migrants. The term 'dispersed forced migrants' is used here as a general label to include four groups of international migrants (i.e. refugees, asylum seekers, those with humanitarian protection status and failed asylum seekers) who have previously been dispersed, on a no choice basis, to a variety of locations across the UK under the requirements of the Immigration and Asylum Act (1999). The tiering of housing entitlement that exists within the generic population of dispersed forced migrants (a consequence of the particular socio-legal status assigned to individuals), and its role in rendering migrants susceptible to homelessness is outlined. The adequacy/standard of accommodation made available to forced migrants is also discussed. It is concluded that current arrangements fail to meet the basic housing needs of many forced migrants. Any future improvement in this situation will require a significant shift in government policy
Rotating Hairy Black Holes
We construct stationary black holes in SU(2) Einstein-Yang-Mills theory,
which carry angular momentum and electric charge. Possessing non-trivial
non-abelian magnetic fields outside their regular event horizon, they represent
non-perturbative rotating hairy black holes.Comment: 13 pages, including 4 eps figures, LaTex forma
The chromospheric emission of solar-type stars in the young open clusters IC 2391 and IC 2602
In this paper we present chromospheric emission levels of the solar-type
stars in the young open clusters IC 2391 and IC 2602. High resolution
spectroscopic data were obtained for over 50 F, G, and K stars from these
clusters over several observing campaigns using the University College London
Echelle Spectrograph on the 3.9-m Anglo-Australian Telescope. Unlike older
clusters, the majority (28/52) of the solar-type stars in the two clusters are
rapid-rotators (vsini > 20 km/s) with five of the stars being classified as
ultra-rapid rotators (vsini > 100 km/s). The emission levels in the Calcium
infrared triplet lines were then used as a measure of the chromospheric
activity of the stars. When plotted against Rossby number (NR) the star's
chromospheric emission levels show a plateau in the emission for Log(NR) < -1.1
indicating chromospheric saturation similar to the coronal saturation seen in
previously observed X-ray emission from the same stars. However, unlike the
coronal emission, the chromospheric emission of the stars show little evidence
of a reduction in emission (i.e. supersaturation) for the ultra-rapid rotators
in the clusters. Thus we believe that coronal supersaturation is not the result
of an overall decrease in magnetic dynamo efficiency for ultra-rapid rotators.Comment: 19 pages, 14 figures, Landscape tables in separate tex file, Accepted
by MNRA
Reliability and usability of tourism climate indices.
Tourism climate indices (TCI) are commonly used to describe the climate conditions suitable for tourism activities, from the planning, investment or daily operations perspectives. A substantial amount of research has been carried out, in particular with respect to new indices formulae adapted to specific tourism products, and parameters and their weighting, taking into account surveys on the stated preferences of tourists, especially in terms of comfort. This paper illustrates another field of research, which seeks to better understand the different sources of uncertainty associated with indices. Indeed, slight differences in formula thresholds, variations in computation methods, and also the use of multimodel ensembles create nuances that affect the ways in which indices projections are usually presented. Firstly, we assess the impact of differences in preference surveys on the definition of indices thresholds, in particular for thermal comfort. Secondly, we compare computation methods for France, showing the need to better specify detailed data sources and their use to ensure the comparability of results. Thirdly, using multimodel ensembles for the Mediterranean basin, we assess the uncertainty inherent in long-term projections, which are used in modelling the economic impact of climate change. This paper argues in favour of a more cautious use of tourism comfort indices, with more consideration given to the robustness of data (validation, debiasing, uncertainty assessment, etc.) and usersâ needs, from the climate services perspective.This paper was written by a team participating in the EU FP7 project CLIM-RUN
âClimate Local Information in the Mediterranean region Responding Users Needsâ (2011â2014)
Gravitational quasinormal modes for Kerr Anti-de Sitter black holes
We investigate the quasinormal modes for gravitational perturbations of
rotating black holes in four dimensional Anti-de Sitter (AdS) spacetime. The
study of the quasinormal frequencies related to these modes is relevant to the
AdS/CFT correspondence. Although results have been obtained for Schwarzschild
and Reissner-Nordstrom AdS black holes, quasinormal frequencies of Kerr-AdS
black holes are computed for the first time. We solve the Teukolsky equations
in AdS spacetime, providing a second order and a Pade approximation for the
angular eigenvalues associated to the Teukolsky angular equation. The
transformation theory and the Regge-Wheeler-Zerilli equations for Kerr-AdS are
obtained.Comment: 20 pages, 13 figures, ReVTe
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