Constraints on Dark Energy from Supernovae, Gamma Ray Bursts, Acoustic Oscillations, Nucleosynthesis and Large Scale Structure and the Hubble constant

The luminosity distance vs. redshift law is now measured using supernovae and gamma ray bursts, and the angular size distance is measured at the surface of last scattering by the CMB and at z = 0.35 by baryon acoustic oscillations. In this paper this data is fit to models for the equation of state with w = -1, w = const, and w(z) = w_0+w_a(1-a). The last model is poorly constrained by the distance data, leading to unphysical solutions where the dark energy dominates at early times unless the large scale structure and acoustic scale constraints are modified to allow for early time dark energy effects. A flat LambdaCDM model is consistent with all the data.Comment: 19 pages Latex with 8 Postscript figure files. A new reference and constraint, w vs w' contour plots updated. Version accepted by the the Ap

Think about your heart: The Effects of Cognitive Dissonance on cardiovascular functioning

Cognitive dissonance (CD) occurs when an individual’s attitudes are inconsistent with his/her behavior, and can result in emotional distress. Individuals may regulate and reduce this emotional distress by changing their attitudes to match behaviors. Individuals with higher resting heart rate variability (HRV), a marker of overall health, have been shown to better regulate and control negative emotions. Thus, the following investigation sought to examine the relationship between cognitive dissonance, emotional distress, HRV, and other physiological indicators of health. HRV data were collected using an electrocardiogram (EKG) from 81 participants during a baseline evaluation, randomized CD induction of high or low choice, and recovery. In the low choice group, individuals were instructed to write a counter-attitudinal essay and therefore, attribute feelings of dissonance to experimenter demands. In the high choice condition, while urging them to comply, individuals were told that it is optional to write the counter-attitudinal essay; here, participants are motivated to change their attitudes to match behavior due to their compliance. I hypothesized that (1) The high choice group would be more likely to change their attitudes following the essay in comparison to the low choice group; (2) baseline HRV would predict attitude change following dissonance, especially in the high choice condition; (3) measures of arousal (e.g. self-reported mood, blood pressure) would be elevated in the high choice group in comparison to the low choice group. Results partially supported these hypotheses, showing that resting HRV does predict attitude change in both experimental conditions. Implication and future directions are discussed.Department of Psychology Summer Research FellowshipNo embargoAcademic Major: Psycholog

Language Use in the Indigenous Southern Plateau

The aim of this study is to provide a broad cultural description and analysis of Cayuse, Nez Perce, and Sahaptin language use. Investigative priority is given to the behavioral correlates of fluent and semi-fluent speaker choices and the discursive consciousness that informs them. The findings show how language use is organized and embodied as ‘ways of speaking’ in traditional cultures of the Indigenous Southern Plateau region both as a responsive system to societal change and as a semiotic behavioral resource for cultural continuity. The motivation for this study arises from my belonging to the Cayuse, Nez Perce, and Sahaptin speech communities where this research was conducted as well as from the growing global awareness concerning the endangered status of Indigenous languages in the Indigenous Southern Plateau and elsewhere throughout the world. It is hoped that the findings and language data contained in this language documentation research can inform and contribute to positive outcomes centering in the revitalization of culture and language in the Indigenous Southern Plateau

Daily Life Depicted in the \u3ci\u3eCantigas de Santa Maria\u3c/i\u3e

The hundreds of illuminated miniatures found in the Cantigas de Santa Maria, sponsored by King Alfonso X (1252–84), reveal many vistas of daily life in thirteenth century Spain. No other source provides such an encyclopedic view of all classes of medieval European society, from kings and popes to the lowest peasants. Men and women are seen farming, hunting, on pilgrimage, watching bullfights, in gambling dens, making love, tending silkworms, eating, cooking, and writing poetry, to name only a few of the human activities represented here. Combining keen observation of detail with years of experience in the field, John Keller and Annette Grant Cash bring to life a world previously little explored. Winner of the 1999 SAMLA Studies Book Award John E. Keller, professor emeritus of Spanish at the University of Kentucky, is coauthor of Iconography in Medieval Spanish Literature. Annette Grant Cash, visiting assistant professor of Spanish at Georgia State University, is the co-translator of Miracles of Our Lady by Gonzalo de Berceo.https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_spanish_literature/1033/thumbnail.jp

The Role of Sensory Experiences and Information on the Willingness to Pay for Organic Wheat Bread

This study examined the size and the determinants of the price premium a sample of Edmonton-area consumers was willing to pay for organic wheat bread. The development of these premiums included consideration of providing information on health or environmental advantages of organic production and consideration of sensory (taste) acceptance. To do this conventional and organic wheat was grown under similar conditions and milled and baked into 60% whole wheat bread under identical conditions. Samples of these breads were presented to consumers for sensory acceptance and a survey of their attitudes, behaviours and characteristics. The survey included a closed-ended contingent valuation question to examine consumers' willingness-to-pay (WTP) premiums for the organic bread. A trained sensory panel was used to quantify differences in the sensory characteristics of the two breads. The results suggest that in the absence of taste information respondents' WTP when environmental information was provided was greater than WTP when health information was given. When sensory taste information was included, however, the WTP estimates under the health information treatment were about twice those under the environmental information. The trained sensory panel observed the two treatments of bread to differ in texture but not in flavor, aroma or colour characteristics. The implications of these findings are that successful marketing of organic foods depends on circumstance - in the absence of sensory experience the environmental benefits of organic production appear to be more appealing than potential health benefits. Health claims are only viewed positively when the product can be tasted. Sensory scientists should use caution in interpreting WTP estimates in that they must take into account the type of information and placement of WTP questions in their study designs. We also found that sensory variables when included in the regression model had statistically significant effects on WTP estimates. The economic significance of including these variables in the logit model was limited, however. Nevertheless we feel that under some circumstances economists may find it advantageous to include sensory information in their models of food demand.Organic foods, price premium, willingness to pay, taste, health, environment, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Q13, Q18,

Narrative Distance in the Works of George Gordon, Lord Byron, and Jonathan Swift, or A Digression in Praise of Digressions

This thesis reviews and discusses narrative distance in the works of George Gordon, Lord Byron, and Jonathan Swift or “A Digression in Praise of Digressions.” Byron takes on multiple roles in his poetry. Swift provided Byron a model for how to negotiate the boundaries of fictional self-fashioning and biographical revelation. Bryon’s technique of presenting a version of himself while simultaneously maintaining narrative distance is a distinct characteristics of Swift’s work. The thesis adapts to an important fact in that Byron, although writing in the age of Romanticism, significantly and unflinchingly sought distance between himself and Romantic figures

Circumnuclear Gas in Seyfert 1 Galaxies: Morphology, Kinematics, and Direct Measurement of Black Hole Masses

(Abridged) The two-dimensional distribution and kinematics of the molecular, ionized, and highly ionized gas in the nuclear regions of Seyfert 1 galaxies have been measured using high spatial resolution (~0''.09) near-infrared spectroscopy from NIRSPEC with adaptive optics on the Keck telescope. Molecular hydrogen, H2, is detected in all nine Seyfert 1 galaxies and, in the majority of galaxies, has a spatially resolved flux distribution. In contrast, the narrow component of the BrG emission has a distribution consistent with that of the K-band continuum. In general, the kinematics of H2 are consistent with thin disk rotation, with a velocity gradient of over 100 km/s measured across the central 0''.5 in three galaxies, and across the central 1''.5 in two galaxies. The kinematics of BrG are in agreement with the H2 rotation, except in all four cases the central 0''.5 is either blue- or redshifted by more than 75 km/s. The highly ionized gas, measured with the [Ca VIII] and [Si VII] coronal lines, is spatially and kinematically consistent with BrG in the central 0''.5. Dynamical models have been fitted to the two-dimensional H2 kinematics, taking into account the stellar mass distribution, the emission line flux distribution, and the point spread function. For NGC 3227 the modeling indicates a black hole mass of Mbh = 2.0{+1.0/-0.4} x 10^7 Msun, and for NGC 4151 Mbh = 3.0{+0.75/-2.2} x 10^7 Msun. In NGC 7469 the best fit model gives Mbh < 5.0 x 10^7 Msun. In all three galaxies, modeling suggests a near face-on disk inclination angle, which is consistent with the unification theory of active galaxies. The direct black hole mass estimates verify that masses determined from the technique of reverberation mapping are accurate to within a factor of three with no additional systematic errors.Comment: 43 pages, including 47 figures; Accepted for publication in ApJ. All 2-D maps (in high resolution) are available at http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~ehicks . Minor changes to the text and updated reverberation mapped black hole mass estimates; the conclusions are unchange

Does Sarbanes-Oxley Protect Whistleblowers? The Recent Experience of Companies and Whistleblowing Workers Under SOX

The Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) attempts to prevent fraud in the business activities of public companies. SOX includes regulations designed to protect whistleblowing employees that may be triggered if workers allege fraudulent activity by their employers, and, in response, their employers retaliate. This Essay discusses the strength of the whistleblowing protection provided by SOX, the conduct covered by the SOX whistleblower provisions, and specifically the application of the law by the court

A New Family of Multistep Methods with Improved Phase Lag Characteristics for the Integration of Orbital Problems

In this work we introduce a new family of ten-step linear multistep methods for the integration of orbital problems. The new methods are constructed by adopting a new methodology which improves the phase lag characteristics by vanishing both the phase lag function and its first derivatives at a specific frequency. The efficiency of the new family of methods is proved via error analysis and numerical applications.Comment: 21 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl