7,714 research outputs found
Fair trade learning: ethical standards for community-engaged international volunteer tourism
The purpose of this paper is to articulate a set of ethical standards for international volunteer tourism. The standards are focused on promoting fair trade learning principles in the management and operation of volunteer programmes. Because of the unique social mission, research, and evaluation capacities of higher education, we propose first applying these principles specifically to international volunteer programmes operating at the university-community nexus. These standards have emerged through a collaborative, in-person and online process during the last two years with input by numerous concerned global citizens, international education practitioners and researchers, nongovernmental organization representatives, and community members. The document shared below represents current âbest practiceâ for maximizing the benefits and minimizing the negative impacts of volunteer tourism programmes for both host communities and volunteers
A Nearly Polar Orbit for the Extrasolar Hot Jupiter WASP-79b
We report the measurement of a spin-orbit misalignment for WASP-79b, a
recently discovered, bloated transiting hot Jupiter from the WASP survey. Data
were obtained using the CYCLOPS2 optical-fiber bundle and its simultaneous
calibration system feeding the UCLES spectrograph on the Anglo-Australian
Telescope. We have used the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect to determine the
sky-projected spin-orbit angle to be lambda = -106+19-13 degrees. This result
indicates a significant misalignment between the spin axis of the host star and
the orbital plane of the planet -- the planet being in a nearly polar orbit.
WASP-79 is consistent with other stars that have Teff > 6250K and host hot
Jupiters in spin-orbit misalignment.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, in press ApJL (accepted 2 August 2013
Quantitative characterization of the x-ray imaging capability of rotating modulation collimators with laser light
We developed a method for making quantitative characterizations of bi-grid rotating modulation collimators (RMC âs) that are used in a Fourier transform x-ray imager. With appropriate choices of the collimator spacings, this technique can be implemented with a beam-expanded He -Ne laser to simulate the plane wave produced by a point source at infinity even though the RMC âs are diffraction limited at the He -Ne wavelength of 632.8 nm. The expanded beam passes through the grid pairs at a small angle with respect to their axis of rotation, and the modulated transmission through the grids as the RMC âs rotate is detected with a photomultiplier tube. In addition to providing a quantitative characterization of the RMC âs, the method also produces a measured point response function and provides an end-to-end check of the imaging system. We applied our method to the RMC âs on the high-energy imaging device (HEIDI) balloon payload in its preflight configuration. We computed the harmonic ratios of the modulation time profile from the laser measurements and compared them with theoretical calculations, including the diffraction effects on irregular grids. Our results indicate the 25-in. (64-cm) x-ray imaging optics on HEIDI are capable of achieving images near the theoretical limit and are not seriously compromised by imperfections in the grids
SAS-2 observations of the diffuse gamma radiation in the galactic latitude interval 10 deg absolute b or equal to 90 deg
An analysis of all of the second small astronomy satellite gamma-ray data for galactic latitudes with the absolute value of b 10 deg has shown that the intensity varies with galactic latitude, being larger near 10 deg than 90 deg. For energies above 100 MeV the gamma-ray data are consistent with a latitude distribution of the form I(b) = C sub 1 + C sub 2/sin b, with the second term being dominant. This result suggests that the radiation above 100 MeV is coming largely from local regions of the galactic disk. Between 35 and 100 MeV, a similar equation is also a good representation of the data, but here the two terms are comparable. These results indicate that the diffuse radiation above 35 MeV consists of two parts, one with a relatively hard galactic component and the other an isotropic, steep spectral component which extrapolates back well to the low energy diffuse radiation. The steepness of the diffuse isotropic component places significant constraints on possible theoretical models of this radiation
Synthetic Mudscapes: Human Interventions in Deltaic Land Building
In order to defend infrastructure, economy, and settlement in Southeast Louisiana, we must construct new land to
mitigate increasing risk. Links between urban environments and economic drivers have constrained the dynamic delta
landscape for generations, now threatening to undermine the ecological fitness of the entire region. Static methods of
measuring, controlling, and valuing land fail in an environment that is constantly in flux; change and indeterminacy are
denied by traditional inhabitation.
Multiple land building practices reintroduce deltaic fluctuation and strategic deposition of fertile material to form the
foundations of a multi-layered defence strategy. Manufactured marshlands reduce exposure to storm surge further
inland. Virtual monitoring and communication networks inform design decisions and land use becomes determined
by its ecological health. Mudscapes at the threshold of land and water place new value on former wastelands. The
social, economic, and ecological evolution of the region are defended by an expanded web of growing land
An R- and I-Band Photometric Variability Survey of the Cygnus OB2 Association
We present a catalog of photometrically variable stars discovered within two
21'.3 X 21'.3 fields centered on the Cygnus OB2 association. There have
hitherto been no deep optical variability studies of Cyg OB2 despite it being
replete with early-type massive stars, perhaps due to the high and variable
extinction (up to A_V ~ 20) that permeates much of the region. Here we provide
results of the first variability study with this combination of spatial
coverage (~ 0.5 deg) and photometric depth (R ~ 21 mag). We find 121 stars to
be variable in both R- and I-band, 116 of them newly discovered. Of the 121
variables, we identify 27 eclipsing binaries (EBs) and eclipsing binary
candidates, 20 potential Herbig Ae/Be stars, and 52 pulsating variables.
Confirming both the status and the cluster membership of the Herbig Ae/Be stars
would address the uncertainty regarding the age and star formation history of
Cyg OB2. We match our catalog to known variables and binaries in the region,
2MASS near-IR (NIR) data, and Chandra X-ray observations to find counterparts
to new variables in other wavelengths.Comment: 34 pages, 12 figures, submitted to Ap
Hummingbirds arrest their kidneys at night: diel variation in glomerular filtration rate in Selasphorus platycercus
© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2004Small nectarivorous vertebrates face a quandary. When feeding, they must eliminate prodigious quantities of water; however, when they are not feeding, they are susceptible to dehydration. We examined the role of the kidney in the resolution of this osmoregulatory dilemma. Broad-tailed hummingbirds (Selasphorus platycercus) displayed diurnal variation in glomerular filtration rate (GFR). During the morning, midday and evening, GFRs were 0.9±0.6, 1.8±0.4 and 2.3±0.5 ml hâ1, respectively. At midday, GFR increased linearly with increased water intake. During the evening, hummingbirds decreased renal fractional water reabsorption linearly with increased water intake. Broad-tailed hummingbirds appeared to cease GFR at night (â0.1±0.2 ml hâ1) and decreased GFR in response to short-term (~1.5 h) water deprivation. GFR seems to be very responsive to water deprivation in hummingbirds. Although hummingbirds and other nectarivorous birds can consume astounding amounts of water, a phylogenetically explicit allometric analysis revealed that their diurnal GFRs are not different from the expectation based on body mass.Bradley Hartman Bakken, Todd J. McWhorter, Ella Tsahar and Carlos MartĂnez del Ri
The Hypervelocity Star SDSS J090745.0+024507 is a Short-Period Variable
We present high-precision photometry of the hypervelocity star SDSS
J090745.0+024507 (HVS), which has a Galactic rest-frame radial velocity of
v=709 km/s, and so has likely been ejected from the supermassive black hole in
the Galactic center. Our data were obtained on two nights using the MMT 6.5m
telescope, and is supplemented by lower precision photometry obtained on four
nights using the FLWO 1.2m telescope. The high-precision photometry indicates
that the HVS is a short-period, low-amplitude variable, with period P=0.2-2
days and amplitude A = 2-10%. Together with the known effective temperature of
T_eff ~ 10,500 K (spectral type B9), this variability implies that the HVS is a
member of the class of slowly pulsating B-type main sequence stars, thus
resolving the previously-reported two-fold degeneracy in the luminosity and
distance of the star. The HVS has a heliocentric distance of 71 kpc, and an age
of ~0.35 Gyr. The time of ejection from the center of the Galaxy is < 100 Myr,
and thus the existence of the OS constitutes observational evidence of a
population of young stars in the proximity of the central supermassive black
hole ~0.1 Gyr ago. It is possible that the HVS was a member of a binary that
was tidally disrupted by the central black hole; we discuss constraints on the
properties of the companion's orbit.Comment: ApJL, submitted, 4 pages, 4 figure
Normal frames and the validity of the equivalence principle. III. The case along smooth maps with separable points of self-intersection
The equivalence principle is treated on a mathematically rigorous base on
sufficiently general subsets of a differentiable manifold. This is carried out
using the basis of derivations of the tensor algebra over that manifold.
Necessary and/or sufficient conditions of existence, uniqueness, and
holonomicity of these bases in which the components of the derivations of the
tensor algebra over it vanish on these subsets, are studied. The linear
connections are considered in this context. It is shown that the equivalence
principle is identically valid at any point, and along any path, in every
gravitational theory based on linear connections. On higher dimensional
submanifolds it may be valid only in certain exceptional cases.Comment: 15 standard LaTeX 2e (11pt, A4) pages. The package amsfonts is
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