501 research outputs found
Experimental observation of high-order quantum accelerator modes.
Using a freely falling cloud of cold cesium atoms periodically kicked by pulses from a vertical standing wave of laser light, we present the first experimental observation of high-order quantum accelerator modes. This confirms the recent prediction by Fishman, Guarneri, and Rebuzzini [Phys. Rev. Lett.10.1103/PhysRevLett.89.084101 89, 084101 (2002)]. We also show how these accelerator modes can be identified with the stable regions of phase space in a classical-like chaotic system, despite their intrinsically quantum origin
Modelling Housing Market Fundamentals and the Response to Economic and Political Events: Empirical Evidence from Kuwait
Kuwait provides an interesting housing market to examine given its place as a major oil producer, its sensitivity to geo-political events and its unusual demographic characteristics. This paper firstly models the dynamics of the Kuwaiti housing market, using an errorcorrection framework. The findings highlight that the market is relatively volatile, with evidence of mean-reverting behaviour. The paper also examines the response of the market to seven regional and local events. Of particular interest is that the one event that results in a consistent significant response is domestic legislation directly concerned with housing. This has a far greater impact than local or regional geo-political events
An updated measurement of the Hubble constant from near-infrared observations of Type Ia supernovae
We present a measurement of the Hubble constant () using type Ia
supernova (SNe Ia) in the near-infrared (NIR) from the recently updated sample
of SNe Ia in nearby galaxies with distances measured via Cepheid
period-luminosity relations by the SHOES project. We collect public
near-infrared photometry of up to 19 calibrator SNe Ia and further 57 SNe Ia in
the Hubble flow (), and directly measure their peak magnitudes in the
and band by Gaussian processes and spline interpolation. Calibrator
peak magnitudes together with Cepheid-based distances are used to estimate the
average absolute magnitude in each band, while Hubble-flow SNe are used to
constrain the zero-point intercept of the magnitude-redshift relation. Our
baseline result of is (stat) (syst) km s
Mpc in the band and (stat) (syst) km s
Mpc in the band, where the systematic uncertainties include the
standard deviation of up to 21 variations of the analysis, the 0.7\% distance
scale systematic from SHOES Cepheid anchors, a photometric zeropoint
systematic, and a cosmic variance systematic. Our final measurement represents
a measurement with a precision of 2.8\% in both bands. The variant with the
largest change in is when limiting the sample to SNe from CSP and CfA
programmes, noteworthy because these are the best calibrated, yielding
km s Mpc in both bands. We demonstrate stretch and
reddening corrections are still useful in the NIR to standardize SN Ia NIR peak
magnitudes. Based on our results, in order to improve the precision of the
measurement with SNe Ia in the NIR in the future, we would need to
increase the number of calibrator SNe Ia, be able to extend the
Hubble-Lema\^itre diagram to higher-z, and include standardization procedures
to help reducing the NIR intrinsic scatter.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures. Accepted in A&
Control of Dynamical Localization
Control over the quantum dynamics of chaotic kicked rotor systems is
demonstrated. Specifically, control over a number of quantum coherent phenomena
is achieved by a simple modification of the kicking field. These include the
enhancement of the dynamical localization length, the introduction of classical
anomalous diffusion assisted control for systems far from the semiclassical
regime, and the observation of a variety of strongly nonexponential lineshapes
for dynamical localization. The results provide excellent examples of
controlled quantum dynamics in a system that is classically chaotic and offer
new opportunities to explore quantum fluctuations and correlations in quantum
chaos.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, to appear in Physical Review
Mental Health of Parents and Life Satisfaction of Children: A Within-Family Analysis of Intergenerational Transmission of Well-Being
This paper addresses the extent to which there is an intergenerational transmission of mental health and subjective well-being within families. Specifically it asks whether parentsâ own mental distress influences their childâs life satisfaction, and vice versa. Whilst the evidence on daily contagion of stress and strain between members of the same family is substantial, the evidence on the transmission between parental distress and childrenâs well-being over a longer period of time is sparse. We tested this idea by examining the within-family transmission of mental distress from parent to childâs life satisfaction, and vice versa, using rich longitudinal data on 1,175 British youths. Results show that parental distress at year t-1 is an important determinant of childâs life satisfaction in the current year. This is true for boys and girls, although boys do not appear to be affected by maternal distress levels. The results also indicated that the childâs own life satisfaction is related with their fatherâs distress levels in the following year, regardless of the gender of the child. Finally, we examined whether the underlying transmission correlation is due to shared social environment, empathic reactions, or transmission via parent-child interaction
Discourse markers activate their, <i>like</i>, cohort competitors
Speech in everyday conversations is riddled with discourse markers (DMs), such as well, you know, and like. However, in many lab-based studies of speech comprehension, such DMs are typically absent from the carefully articulated and highly controlled speech stimuli. As such, little is known about how these DMs influence online word recognition. The present study specifically investigated the online processing of DM like and how it influences the activation of words in the mental lexicon. We specifically targeted the cohort competitor (CC) effect in the Visual World Paradigm: Upon hearing spoken instructions to âpick up the beaker,â human listeners also typically fixateânext to the target objectâreferents that overlap phonologically with the target word (cohort competitors such as beetle; CCs). However, several studies have argued that CC effects are constrained by syntactic, semantic, pragmatic, and discourse constraints. Therefore, the present study investigated whether DM like influences online word recognition by activating its cohort competitors (e.g., lightbulb). In an eye-tracking experiment using the Visual World Paradigm, we demonstrate that when participants heard spoken instructions such as âNow press the button for the, like ⊠unicycle,â they showed anticipatory looks to the CC referent (lightbulb)well before hearing the target. This CC effect was sustained for a relatively long period of time, even despite hearing disambiguating information (i.e., the /k/ in like). Analysis of the reaction times also showed that participants were significantly faster to select CC targets (lightbulb) when preceded by DM like. These findings suggest that seemingly trivial DMs, such as like, activate their CCs, impacting online word recognition. Thus, we advocate a more holistic perspective on spoken language comprehension in naturalistic communication, including the processing of DMs
Menstruation as a Weapon of War â The Politics of the Bleeding Body for Women on Political Protest at Armagh Prison Northern Ireland.
This article draws on the voices of women political prisoners who were detained at Armagh Prison during the period of the Troubles or the Conflict in Northern Ireland. It focuses on women who undertook an extraordinary form of protest against the prison authorities during the 1980s, known as the No Wash Protest. As the prisoners were prevented from leaving their cells by prison officer either to wash or to use the toilet, the women, living in the midst of their own dirt and body waste, added menstrual blood as a form of protest
The Gestalt of functioning in autism revisited: First revision of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health Core Sets
Functioning is a construct capturing how an individualâs engagement in everyday life emerges from the interaction between the individual and their environment. The World Health Organizationâs International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) provides a biopsychosocial framework of functioning. Previously, the ICF was adapted for use in autism by developing Core Sets, a selection of ICF codes from the entire classification for specific conditions. Here, we present the first revision of the ICF of the Core sets for autism from a Delphi-like technique, based on evidence from Core Sets validation/linking studies, stakeholder feedback, and the development and piloting of the autism ICF Core Sets platform. Two ICF second-level codes were removed, and 12 were added to the comprehensive autism Core Set. The added codes reflect body functions in various sensory domains, fine hand use, and environmental factors. Changes were extensive for the age-appropriate brief Core Sets where ICF codes from the initial Core Sets were added or removed. The revisions conducted indicate a continued need for regularly updating Core Sets, based on empirical evidence and stakeholder involvement. We recommend the updated Core Sets for future use in autism research and practice in different age groups and contexts
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