1,476 research outputs found
A Failure of Serendipity: the Square Kilometre Array will struggle to eavesdrop on Human-like ETI
The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will operate in frequency ranges often used
by military radar and other communications technology. It has been shown that
if Extraterrestrial Intelligences (ETIs) communicate using similar technology,
then the SKA should be able to detect such transmissions up to distances of
~100 pc (~300 light years) from Earth. However, Mankind has greatly improved
its communications technology over the last century, dramatically reducing
signal leakage and making the Earth "radio quiet". If ETIs follow the same
pattern as the human race, will we be able to detect their signal leakage
before they become radio quiet? We investigate this question using Monte Carlo
Realisation techniques to simulate the growth and evolution of intelligent life
in the Galaxy. We show that if civilisations are "human" in nature (i.e. they
are only "radio loud" for ~100 years, and can only detect each other with an
SKA-like instrument out to 100 pc, within a maximum communication time of 100
years), then the probability for such civilisations accidentally detecting each
other is low (~10^{-7}), much lower than if other, dedicated communication
techniques are permissible (e.g. optical SETI or neutrino communication).Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in the International
Journal of Astrobiolog
Random walk on disordered networks
Random walks are studied on disordered cellular networks in 2-and
3-dimensional spaces with arbitrary curvature. The coefficients of the
evolution equation are calculated in term of the structural properties of the
cellular system. The effects of disorder and space-curvature on the diffusion
phenomena are investigated. In disordered systems the mean square displacement
displays an enhancement at short time and a lowering at long ones, with respect
to the ordered case. The asymptotic expression for the diffusion equation on
hyperbolic cellular systems relates random walk on curved lattices to
hyperbolic Brownian motion.Comment: 10 Pages, 3 Postscript figure
A cluster randomised controlled trial to investigate the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of the 'Girls Active' intervention: a study protocol
Background: Despite the health benefits of physical activity, data from the UK suggest that a large proportion of adolescents do not meet the recommended levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). This is particularly evident in girls, who are less active than boys across all ages and may display a faster rate of decline in physical activity throughout adolescence. The ‘Girls Active’ intervention has been designed by the Youth Sport Trust to target the lower participation rates observed in adolescent girls. ‘Girls Active’ uses peer leadership and marketing to empower girls to influence decision making in their school, develop as role models and promote physical activity to other girls. Schools are provided with training and resources to review their physical activity, sport and PE provision, culture and practices to ensure they are relevant and attractive to adolescent girls. Methods/Design: This study is a two-arm cluster randomised controlled trial (RCT) aiming to recruit 20 secondary schools. Clusters will be randomised at the school level (stratified by school size and proportion of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) pupils) to receive either the ‘Girls Active’ intervention or carry on with usual practice (1:1). The 20 secondary schools will be recruited from state secondary schools within the Midlands area. We aim to recruit 80 girls aged 11–14 years in each school. Data will be collected at three time points; baseline and seven and 14months after baseline. Our primary aim is to investigate whether ‘Girls Active’ leads to higher objectively measured (GENEActiv) moderate-to-vigorous physical activity in adolescent girls at 14months after baseline assessment compared to the control group. Secondary outcomes include other objectively measured physical activity variables, adiposity, physical activity-related psychological factors and the cost-effectiveness of the ‘Girls Active’ intervention. A thorough process evaluation will be conducted during the course of the intervention delivery. Discussion: The findings of this study will provide valuable information on whether this type of school-based approach to increasing physical activity in adolescent girls is both effective and cost-effective in the UK
HI in the Outskirts of Nearby Galaxies
The HI in disk galaxies frequently extends beyond the optical image, and can
trace the dark matter there. I briefly highlight the history of high spatial
resolution HI imaging, the contribution it made to the dark matter problem, and
the current tension between several dynamical methods to break the disk-halo
degeneracy. I then turn to the flaring problem, which could in principle probe
the shape of the dark halo. Instead, however, a lot of attention is now devoted
to understanding the role of gas accretion via galactic fountains. The current
cold dark matter theory has problems on galactic scales, such as
the core-cusp problem, which can be addressed with HI observations of dwarf
galaxies. For a similar range in rotation velocities, galaxies of type Sd have
thin disks, while those of type Im are much thicker. After a few comments on
modified Newtonian dynamics and on irregular galaxies, I close with statistics
on the HI extent of galaxies.Comment: 38 pages, 17 figures, invited review, book chapter in "Outskirts of
Galaxies", Eds. J. H. Knapen, J. C. Lee and A. Gil de Paz, Astrophysics and
Space Science Library, Springer, in pres
Sharp Trace Hardy-Sobolev-Maz'ya Inequalities and the Fractional Laplacian
In this work we establish trace Hardy and trace Hardy-Sobolev-Maz'ya
inequalities with best Hardy constants, for domains satisfying suitable
geometric assumptions such as mean convexity or convexity. We then use them to
produce fractional Hardy-Sobolev-Maz'ya inequalities with best Hardy constants
for various fractional Laplacians. In the case where the domain is the half
space our results cover the full range of the exponent of the
fractional Laplacians. We answer in particular an open problem raised by Frank
and Seiringer \cite{FS}.Comment: 42 page
The impact of neighbourhood walkability on the effectiveness of a structured education programme to increase objectively measured walking
Background: Incorporating physical activity into daily activities is key for the effectiveness of lifestyle education interventions aimed at improving health outcomes; however, consideration of the environmental context in which individuals live is not always made. Walkability is a characteristic of the physical environment, and may be a potential facilitator to changing physical activity levels. Methods: Using data collected during the Walking Away from Diabetes randomised controlled trial, we examined the association between the walkability of the home neighbourhood and physical activity of participants. We also determined whether home neighbourhood walkability of participants was associated with the intervention effect of the education programme. Results: Data from 706 participants were available for analysis. Neighbourhood walkability was not significantly associated with any of the physical activity measures at baseline, or at 12, 24 or 36 months following the intervention (p>0.05 for all). There was no association between walkability and change in purposeful steps/ day from baseline to 36months in the usual care or intervention arm; 25.77 (-99.04, 150.58) and 42.97 (-327.63, 413.45) respectively. Conclusion: Neighbourhood walkability appeared to have no association with objectively-measured physical activity in this population. Furthermore, the walkability of participant’s neighbourhood did not influence the effectiveness of a lifestyle programme
Physics in the Real Universe: Time and Spacetime
The Block Universe idea, representing spacetime as a fixed whole, suggests
the flow of time is an illusion: the entire universe just is, with no special
meaning attached to the present time. This view is however based on
time-reversible microphysical laws and does not represent macro-physical
behaviour and the development of emergent complex systems, including life,
which do indeed exist in the real universe. When these are taken into account,
the unchanging block universe view of spacetime is best replaced by an evolving
block universe which extends as time evolves, with the potential of the future
continually becoming the certainty of the past. However this time evolution is
not related to any preferred surfaces in spacetime; rather it is associated
with the evolution of proper time along families of world linesComment: 28 pages, including 9 Figures. Major revision in response to referee
comment
The Isgur-Wise function in a relativistic model for system
We use the Dirac equation with a ``(asymptotically free) Coulomb + (Lorentz
scalar) linear '' potential to estimate the light quark wavefunction for mesons in the limit . We use these wavefunctions to
calculate the Isgur-Wise function for orbital and radial
ground states in the phenomenologically interesting range . We find a simple expression for the zero-recoil slope, , where is the energy eigenvalue
of the light quark, which can be identified with the parameter
of the Heavy Quark Effective Theory. This result implies an upper bound of
for the slope . Also, because for a very light quark the size of the meson is determined mainly by the
``confining'' term in the potential , the shape of
is seen to be mostly sensitive to the dimensionless
ratio . We present results for the ranges of
parameters , and
light quark masses and compare to existing
experimental data and other theoretical estimates. Fits to the data give:
,
and [ARGUS
'93]; , and
[CLEO '93]; ${\bar\Lambda_{u,d}}^2/Comment: 22 pages, Latex, 4 figures (not included) available by fax or via
email upon reques
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