Cloud Chamber: A Performance with Real Time Two-Way Interaction between Subatomic Particles and Violinist

‘Cloud Chamber’ - a composition by Alexis Kirke, Antonino Chiaramonte, and Anna Troisi - is a live performance in which the invisible quantum world becomes visible as a violinist and subatomic particle tracks interact together. An electronic instrument was developed which can be “played” live by radioactive atomic particles. Electronic circuitry was developed enabling a violin to create a physical force field that directly affects the ions generated by cosmic radiation particles. This enabled the violinist and the ions to influence each other musically in real time. A glass cloud chamber was used onstage to make radioactivity visible in bright white tracks moving within, with the tracks projected onto a large screen

Intersectionality and Non-Heterosexual British South Asian Women: A Critical Narrative Analysis

Relatively recently there has been a significant increase in literature concerning non-heterosexual women and also a substantial increase in the study of non-heterosexual identities and the prevalence of mental health difficulties within this minority group. However, the study of British South Asian non-heterosexual women is noticeably absent in the areas of lived experience, mental health and well-being. This study was prompted by the relative absence of literature on the lived experience of non-heterosexual British South Asian Women and by the fact that much of the existing literature focuses on homosexual Asian men, thus ignoring the lives of non-heterosexual women within British South Asian culture. Opportunity or convenience sampling was utilised to recruit participants through Hindu Sikh and Muslim lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender support groups, through strategically placed flyers and through social media. Using Critical Narrative Analysis based on the hermeneutic phenomenological approach of Paul Ricouer the lifeworld of eleven self-identified non-heterosexual British South Asian woman is explored in terms of lived experience, mental health and resilience through the analysis of semi-structured interviews. Key narratives such as the "good" daughter, coming out, queer Asian identity, cultural connectedness, mental distress and help seeking are identified, and explored, through the lens of minority stress (Meyer, 2003),Psychological processes (Hatzenbeuhler, 2009) and Identity Process Theory (Breakwell, 1986). The lives of the women in this study demonstrate unique intersections between gender, sexuality, culture, spirituality and ethnicity in an environment of religiously and culturally endorsed homophobia, which prevents their freedom to openly explore and express their sexuality. This study explores the difficulties faced by non-heterosexual British South Asian Women due to their invisibility and the impact of this on their mental health and well-being. Future research identifying links between collectivist cultures and other-focussed emotions suggest that collectivist cultures may experience minority stress, general psychological processes and identity integration in other-focussed ways that may moderate psychopathology is suggested. Furthermore, the application of identity Process Theory (Breakwell, 1986; Jaspal and Cinnirella, 2012), as an interpretive tool, to the minority stress processes in LGB individuals framework proposed by Meyer (2003) may further enhance minority stress theory and offer a more complete interpretative framework for assessing mental health outcomes in specific minority groups

Clustering of Luminous Red Galaxies III: Detection of the Baryon Acoustic Peak in the 3-point Correlation Function

We present the 3-point function \xi_3 and Q_3=\xi_3/\xi_2^2 for a spectroscopic sample of luminous red galaxies (LRG) from SDSS DR6 & DR7. We find a strong (S/N$>$6) detection of $Q_3$ on scales of 55-125 Mpc/h, with a well defined peak around 105 Mpc/h in all \xi_2, \xi_3 and Q_3, in excellent agreement with the predicted shape and location of the imprint of the baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO). We use very large simulations to asses and test the significance of our measurement. Models without the BAO peak are ruled out by the $Q_3$ data with 99% confidence. Our measurements show the expected shape for Q_3 as a function of the triangular configuration. This provides a first direct measurement of the non-linear mode coupling coefficients of density and velocity fluctuations which, on these large scales, are independent of cosmic time, the amplitude of fluctuations or cosmological parameters. The location of the BAO peak in the data indicates \Omega_m =0.28 \pm 0.05 and \Omega_B=0.079 \pm 0.025 (h=0.70) after marginalization over spectral index (n_s=0.8-1.2) linear b_1 and quadratic c_2 bias,which are found to be in the range: b_1=1.7-2.2 and c_2=0.75-3.55. The data allows a hierarchical contribution from primordial non-Gaussianities in the range Q_3=0.55-3.35. These constraints are independent and complementary to the ones that can be obtained using the 2-point function, which are presented in a separate paper. This is the first detection of the shape of $Q_3$ on BAO scales, but our errors are shot-noise dominated and the SDSS volume is still relatively small, so there is ample room for future improvement in this type of measurements.Comment: New figure checking to different systematic effects and to DR7 dat

Metabolites of 2,3-diketogulonate delay peroxidase action and induce non-enzymic H2O2 generation : Potential roles in the plant cell wall

A proportion of the plant's L-ascorbate (vitamin C) occurs in the apoplast, where it and its metabolitesmay act as pro-oxidants and anti-oxidants. One ascorbate metabolite is 2,3-dilcetogulonate (DKG), preparations of which can non-enzymically generate H2O2 and delay peroxidase action on aromatic substrates. As DKG itself generates several by-products, we characterised these and their ability to generate H2O2 and delay peroxidase action. DKG preparations rapidly produced a by-product, compound (1), with lambda(max) 271 and 251 nm at neutral and acidic pH respectively. On HPLC, (1) co-eluted with the major H2O2-generating and peroxidase-delaying principle. Compound (1) was slowly destroyed by ascorbate oxidase, and was less stable at pH 6 than at pH 1. Electrophoresis of an HPLC-enriched preparation of (1) suggested a strongly acidic (pK(a) approximate to 2.3) compound. Mass spectrometry suggested that un-ionised (1) has the formula C6H6O5, i.e. it is a reduction product of DKG (C6H8O7). In conclusion, compound (1) is the major H2O2-generating, peroxidase-delaying principle formed non-enzymically from DKG in the pathway ascorbate -> dehydroascorbic acid -> DKG -> (1). We hypothesise that (1) generates apoplastic H2O2 (and consequently hydroxyl radicals) and delays cell-wall crosslinking - both these effects favouring wall loosening, and possibly playing a role in pathogen defence. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc.Peer reviewe

Messages to Eleanor Snell From the Class of 1962

These messages from the Ursinus College Class of 1962 congratulate Eleanor Snell on the occasion of her retirement from Ursinus College. They are written in ink on the back of gift wrapping paper.https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/snell_docs/1081/thumbnail.jp

Do soil depth and plant community composition interact to modify the resistance and resilience of grassland ecosystem functioning to drought?

While the effect of drought on plant communities and their associated ecosystem functions is well studied, little research has considered how responses are modified by soil depth and depth heterogeneity. We conducted a mesocosm study comprising shallow and deep soils, and variable and uniform soil depths, and two levels of plant community composition, and exposed them to a simulated drought to test for interactive effects of these treatments on the resilience of carbon dioxide fluxes, plant functional traits, and soil chemical properties. We tested the hypotheses that: 1) shallow and variable depth soils lead to increased resistance and resilience of ecosystem functions to drought due to more exploitative plant trait strategies; 2) plant communities associated with intensively managed high fertility soils, will have more exploitative root traits than extensively managed, lower fertility plant communities. These traits will be associated with higher resistance and resilience to drought and may interact with soil depth and depth heterogeneity to amplify the effects on ecosystem functions.Our results showed that while there were strong soil depth/heterogeneity effects on plant driven carbon fluxes, it did not affect resistance or resilience to drought, and there were no treatment effects on plant available carbon or nitrogen. We did observe a significant increase in exploitative root traits in shallow and variable soils relative to deep and uniform, which may have resulted in a compensation effect which led to the similar drought responses.Plant community compositions representative of intensive management were more drought resilient than more diverse “extensive” communities irrespective of soil depth or soil depth heterogeneity. In intensively managed plant communities, root traits were more representative of exploitative strategies. Taken together our results suggest that reorganisation of root traits in response to soil depth could buffer drought effects on ecosystem functions.<br/