Temporal variations in English Populations of a forest insect pest, the green spruce aphid (Elatobium abietinum), associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation and global warming

Based on an exceptionally long modern ecological dataset (41 years), it has been possible to show that warm weather in England associated with a positive North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index causes the spring migration of the green spruce aphid (Elatobium abietinum), a pest species of spruce trees (Picea) to start earlier, continue for longer and contain more aphids. An upward trend in the NAO index during the period 1966-2006 is associated with an increasing population size of E. abietinum. It is important to understand the mechanisms behind the population fluctuations, because this aphid causes considerable damage to Picea plantations. Present day weather associated fluctuations in forest insect pests may be useful analogues in understanding past pest outbreaks in forests

Family of Zeilinger-Horne-Greenberger "W" states lead to stronger nonclassicality than family of Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger "GHZ" states

The N-qubit states of the W class, for N>10, lead to more robust (against noise admixture) violations of local realism, than the GHZ states. These violations are most pronounced for correlations for a pair of qubits, conditioned on specific measurement results for the remaining (N-2) qubits. The considerations provide us with a qualitative difference between the W state and GHZ state in the situation when they are separately sent via depolarizing channels. For sufficiently high amount of noise in the depolarizing channel, the GHZ states cannot produce a distillable state between two qubits, whereas the W states can still produce a distillable state in a similar situation.Comment: v3: 7 pages, 2 figures, REVTeX4; v2: result on comparative yield of singlets added, 1 new figur

Laws of large numbers for eigenvectors and eigenvalues associated to random subspaces in a tensor product

Given two positive integers $n$ and $k$ and a parameter $t\in (0,1)$, we choose at random a vector subspace $V_{n}\subset \mathbb{C}^{k}\otimes\mathbb{C}^{n}$ of dimension $N\sim tnk$. We show that the set of $k$-tuples of singular values of all unit vectors in $V_n$ fills asymptotically (as $n$ tends to infinity) a deterministic convex set $K_{k,t}$ that we describe using a new norm in $\R^k$. Our proof relies on free probability, random matrix theory, complex analysis and matrix analysis techniques. The main result result comes together with a law of large numbers for the singular value decomposition of the eigenvectors corresponding to large eigenvalues of a random truncation of a matrix with high eigenvalue degeneracy.Comment: v3 changes: minor typographic improvements; accepted versio

Interplay of quantum and thermal fluctuations in a frustrated magnet

We demonstrate the presence of an extended critical phase in the transverse field Ising magnet on the triangular lattice, in a regime where both thermal and quantum fluctuations are important. We map out a complete phase diagram by means of quantum Monte Carlo simulations, and find that the critical phase is the result of thermal fluctuations destabilising an order established by the quantum fluctuations. It is separated by two Kosterlitz-Thouless transitions from the paramagnet on one hand and the quantum-fluctuation driven three-sublattice ordered phase on the other. Our work provides further evidence that the zero temperature quantum phase transition is in the 3d XY universality class.Comment: 9 pages, revtex

Acceptance of candidate baits by domestic dogs for delivery of oral rabies vaccines

Protocols for evaluating oral rabies vaccine baits for domestic dogs were field tested in central Mexico, after which dog-food manufacturers and suppliers to the pet-food industry were advised as to potential ingredients for use in prototype dog baits. Bait-preference trials in which confined dogs were used were then undertaken, followed by field tests of free-ranging farmer-owned dogs in three towns in the Nile River Delta region of Egypt. Both confined and free-ranging dogs showed strong preferences for certain baits or bait coatings (poultry, beef tallow, cheese, egg and a proprietary product). Fish-meal polymer baits, widely used for wildlife species, were less preferred. In Egypt, a commercial dog-food-meal bait coated with beef tallow and dry cheese was consumed at a rate approaching that of a chicken-head bait. The percentage baits that were actually eaten after they had been offered to dogs, ranged from 71-96% for household dogs tested in Mexico, 65-91% for confined dogs (beagles and mixed breeds) tested in the United States, and 32-88% for farmer-owned dogs tested in Egypt.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat X Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format

Discriminatory experiences predict neuroanatomical changes and anxiety among healthy individuals and those at clinical high risk for psychosis

Individuals face discrimination based on characteristics including race/ethnicity, gender, age, and disability. Discriminatory experiences (DE) are associated with poor psychological health in the general population and with worse outcomes among individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR). Though the brain is sensitive to stress, and brain structural change is a well-documented precursor to psychosis, potential relationships between DE and brain structure among CHR or healthy individuals are not known. This report assessed whether lifetime DE are associated with cortical thinning and clinical outcomes across time, after controlling for discrimination-related demographic factors among CHR individuals who ultimately do (N = 57) and do not convert to psychosis (N = 451), and healthy comparison (N = 208) participants in the North American Prodrome Longitudinal Study 2. Results indicate that DE are associated with thinner cortex across time in several cortical areas. Thickness in several right hemisphere regions partially mediates associations between DE and subsequent anxiety symptoms, but not attenuated positive symptoms of psychosis. This report provides the first evidence to date of an association between DE and brain structure in both CHR and healthy comparison individuals. Results also suggest that thinner cortex across time in areas linked with DE may partially explain associations between DE and cross-diagnostic indicators of psychological distress

Toward an internally consistent astronomical distance scale

Accurate astronomical distance determination is crucial for all fields in astrophysics, from Galactic to cosmological scales. Despite, or perhaps because of, significant efforts to determine accurate distances, using a wide range of methods, tracers, and techniques, an internally consistent astronomical distance framework has not yet been established. We review current efforts to homogenize the Local Group's distance framework, with particular emphasis on the potential of RR Lyrae stars as distance indicators, and attempt to extend this in an internally consistent manner to cosmological distances. Calibration based on Type Ia supernovae and distance determinations based on gravitational lensing represent particularly promising approaches. We provide a positive outlook to improvements to the status quo expected from future surveys, missions, and facilities. Astronomical distance determination has clearly reached maturity and near-consistency.Comment: Review article, 59 pages (4 figures); Space Science Reviews, in press (chapter 8 of a special collection resulting from the May 2016 ISSI-BJ workshop on Astronomical Distance Determination in the Space Age

Dynamics of the Universe with global rotation

We analyze dynamics of the FRW models with global rotation in terms of dynamical system methods. We reduce dynamics of these models to the FRW models with some fictitious fluid which scales like radiation matter. This fluid mimics dynamically effects of global rotation. The significance of the global rotation of the Universe for the resolution of the acceleration and horizon problems in cosmology is investigated. It is found that dynamics of the Universe can be reduced to the two-dimensional Hamiltonian dynamical system. Then the construction of the Hamiltonian allows for full classification of evolution paths. On the phase portraits we find the domains of cosmic acceleration for the globally rotating universe as well as the trajectories for which the horizon problem is solved. We show that the FRW models with global rotation are structurally stable. This proves that the universe acceleration is due to the global rotation. It is also shown how global rotation gives a natural explanation of the empirical relation between angular momentum for clusters and superclusters of galaxies. The relation $J \sim M^2$ is obtained as a consequence of self similarity invariance of the dynamics of the FRW model with global rotation. In derivation of this relation we use the Lie group of symmetry analysis of differential equation.Comment: Revtex4, 22 pages, 5 figure

Marking gender studies:the (Radical) value of creative-critical assessment

Feminist pedagogies have established the need to query power structures in terms of curriculum content and teaching praxis. However, the topic of student assessment poses difficulties: it is a means through which students’ performance is evaluated and quantified according to set institutionalised criteria that values particular forms of hegemonic knowledge. The following article presents a self-reflexive exploration of assessment within a Gender Studies module taught in the Autumn semesters of the 2017/18 and 2018/19 academic years at a UK university. The module was a core component of the institution’s MA in Gender Studies. This was an exciting opportunity to experiment with assessment styles corresponding to feminist pedagogies to help develop students’ and instructors’ disciplinary scope and explore the radical potential for creative-critical approaches to assessment. This article outlines some the challenges of employing alternative modes of learning and teaching from a feminist perspective and suggests some strategies to address these