2,979 research outputs found
Pseudotemporal invitations: 6- to 9-year-old maltreated children’s tendency to misinterpret invitations referencing “time” as solely requesting conventional temporal information
Forensic interviewers ask children broad input-free recall questions about individual episodes in order to elicit complete narratives, often asking about “the first time,” “the last time,” and “one time.” An overlooked problem is that the word “time” is potentially ambiguous, referring both to a particular episode and to conventional temporal information. We examined 191 6-9-year-old maltreated children’s responses to questions about recent events varying the wording of the invitations, either asking children to “tell me about” or “tell me what happened” one time/the first time/the last time the child experienced recent recurrent events. Additionally, half of the children were asked a series of “when” questions about recurrent events before the invitations. Children were several times more likely to provide exclusively conventional temporal information to “tell me about” invitations compared to “tell me what happened” invitations, and asking “when” questions before the invitations increased children’s tendency to give exclusively conventional temporal information. Children who answered a higher proportion of “when” questions with conventional temporal information were also more likely to do so in response to the invitations. The results suggest that children may often fail to provide narrative information because they misinterpret invitations using the word “time.
Private quantum decoupling and secure disposal of information
Given a bipartite system, correlations between its subsystems can be
understood as information that each one carries about the other. In order to
give a model-independent description of secure information disposal, we propose
the paradigm of private quantum decoupling, corresponding to locally reducing
correlations in a given bipartite quantum state without transferring them to
the environment. In this framework, the concept of private local randomness
naturally arises as a resource, and total correlations get divided into
eliminable and ineliminable ones. We prove upper and lower bounds on the amount
of ineliminable correlations present in an arbitrary bipartite state, and show
that, in tripartite pure states, ineliminable correlations satisfy a monogamy
constraint, making apparent their quantum nature. A relation with entanglement
theory is provided by showing that ineliminable correlations constitute an
entanglement parameter. In the limit of infinitely many copies of the initial
state provided, we compute the regularized ineliminable correlations to be
measured by the coherent information, which is thus equipped with a new
operational interpretation. In particular, our results imply that two
subsystems can be privately decoupled if their joint state is separable.Comment: Child of 0807.3594 v2: minor changes v3: presentation improved, one
figure added v4: extended version with a lot of discussions and examples v5:
published versio
Monogamy of entanglement and other correlations
It has been observed by numerous authors that a quantum system being
entangled with another one limits its possible entanglement with a third
system: this has been dubbed the "monogamous nature of entanglement". In this
paper we present a simple identity which captures the trade-off between
entanglement and classical correlation, which can be used to derive rigorous
monogamy relations.
We also prove various other trade-offs of a monogamy nature for other
entanglement measures and secret and total correlation measures.Comment: 7 pages, revtex
Dredging fundamentally reshapes the ecological significance of 3D terrain features for fish in estuarine seascapes
Context: Landscape modification alters the condition of ecosystems and the structure of terrain, with widespread impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Seafloor dredging impacts a diversity of flora and fauna in many coastal landscapes, and these processes also transform three-dimensional terrain features. The potential ecological significance of these terrain changes in urban seascapes has, however, not been investigated.
Objectives: We examined the effects of terrain variation on fish assemblages in 29 estuaries in eastern Australia, and tested whether dredging changes how fish associate with terrain features.
Methods: We surveyed fish assemblages with baited remote underwater video stations and quantified terrain variation with nine complementary metrics (e.g. depth, aspect, curvature, slope, roughness), extracted from bathymetry maps created with multi-beam sonar.
Results: Fish diversity and abundance were strongly linked to seafloor terrain in both natural and dredged estuaries, and were highest in shallow waters and near features with high curvature. Dredging, however, significantly altered the terrain of dredged estuaries and transformed the significance of terrain features for fish assemblages. Abundance and diversity switched from being correlated with lower roughness and steeper slopes in natural estuaries to being linked to features with higher roughness and gentler slopes in dredged estuaries.
Conclusions: Contrasting fish-terrain relationships highlight previously unrecognised ecological impacts of dredging, but indicate that plasticity in terrain use might be characteristic of assemblages in urban landscapes. Incorporating terrain features into spatial conservation planning might help to improve management outcomes, but we suggest that different approaches would be needed in natural and modified landscapes
On asymptotic continuity of functions of quantum states
A useful kind of continuity of quantum states functions in asymptotic regime
is so-called asymptotic continuity. In this paper we provide general tools for
checking if a function possesses this property. First we prove equivalence of
asymptotic continuity with so-called it robustness under admixture. This allows
us to show that relative entropy distance from a convex set including maximally
mixed state is asymptotically continuous. Subsequently, we consider it arrowing
- a way of building a new function out of a given one. The procedure originates
from constructions of intrinsic information and entanglement of formation. We
show that arrowing preserves asymptotic continuity for a class of functions
(so-called subextensive ones). The result is illustrated by means of several
examples.Comment: Minor corrections, version submitted for publicatio
Seafloor Terrain Shapes the Three-dimensional Nursery Value of Mangrove and Seagrass Habitats
Mangroves and seagrasses are important nurseries for many marine species, and this function is linked to the complexity and context of these habitats in coastal seascapes. It is also connected to bathymetric features that influence habitat availability, and the accessibility of refuge habitats, but the significance of terrain variation for nursery function is unknown. To test whether seafloor terrain influences nursery function, we surveyed fish assemblages from mangrove and seagrass habitats in 29 estuaries in eastern Australia with unbaited underwater cameras and quantified the surrounding three-dimensional terrain with a set of complementary surface metrics (that is, depth, aspect, curvature, slope, roughness) applied to sonar-derived bathymetric maps. Terrain metrics explained variability in assemblages in both mangroves and seagrasses, with differing effects for the entire fish assemblage and nursery species composition, and between habitats. Higher depth, plan curvature (concavity or convexity) and roughness (backscatter) were negatively correlated with abundance and diversity in mangroves and positively linked to abundance and diversity in seagrass. Mangrove nursery species (6 species) were most abundant in forests adjacent to flats with concave holes, rough substrates and low-moderate depths, whereas seagrass nursery species (3 species) were most abundant in meadows adjacent to deep channels with soft mounds and ledges. These findings indicate that seafloor terrain influences nursery function and demonstrate contrasting effects of terrain variation in mangroves and seagrass. We suggest that incorporating three-dimensional terrain into coastal conservation and restoration plans could help to improve outcomes for fisheries management, but contrasting strategies might be needed for different nursery habitats
Experimental investigation of classical and quantum correlations under decoherence
It is well known that many operations in quantum information processing
depend largely on a special kind of quantum correlation, that is, entanglement.
However, there are also quantum tasks that display the quantum advantage
without entanglement. Distinguishing classical and quantum correlations in
quantum systems is therefore of both fundamental and practical importance. In
consideration of the unavoidable interaction between correlated systems and the
environment, understanding the dynamics of correlations would stimulate great
interest. In this study, we investigate the dynamics of different kinds of
bipartite correlations in an all-optical experimental setup. The sudden change
in behaviour in the decay rates of correlations and their immunity against
certain decoherences are shown. Moreover, quantum correlation is observed to be
larger than classical correlation, which disproves the early conjecture that
classical correlation is always greater than quantum correlation. Our
observations may be important for quantum information processing.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Nature Communication
Entanglement distribution and quantum discord
Establishing entanglement between distant parties is one of the most
important problems of quantum technology, since long-distance entanglement is
an essential part of such fundamental tasks as quantum cryptography or quantum
teleportation. In this lecture we review basic properties of entanglement and
quantum discord, and discuss recent results on entanglement distribution and
the role of quantum discord therein. We also review entanglement distribution
with separable states, and discuss important problems which still remain open.
One such open problem is a possible advantage of indirect entanglement
distribution, when compared to direct distribution protocols.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, contribution to "Lectures on general quantum
correlations and their applications", edited by Felipe Fanchini, Diogo
Soares-Pinto, and Gerardo Adess
Telomere disruption results in non-random formation of de novo dicentric chromosomes involving acrocentric human chromosomes
Copyright: © 2010 Stimpson et al.Genome rearrangement often produces chromosomes with two centromeres (dicentrics) that are inherently unstable because of bridge formation and breakage during cell division. However, mammalian dicentrics, and particularly those in humans, can be quite stable, usually because one centromere is functionally silenced. Molecular mechanisms of centromere inactivation are poorly understood since there are few systems to experimentally create dicentric human chromosomes. Here, we describe a human cell culture model that enriches for de novo dicentrics. We demonstrate that transient disruption of human telomere structure non-randomly produces dicentric fusions involving acrocentric chromosomes. The induced dicentrics vary in structure near fusion breakpoints and like naturally-occurring dicentrics, exhibit various inter-centromeric distances. Many functional dicentrics persist for months after formation. Even those with distantly spaced centromeres remain functionally dicentric for 20 cell generations. Other dicentrics within the population reflect centromere inactivation. In some cases, centromere inactivation occurs by an apparently epigenetic mechanism. In other dicentrics, the size of the alpha-satellite DNA array associated with CENP-A is reduced compared to the same array before dicentric formation. Extrachromosomal fragments that contained CENP-A often appear in the same cells as dicentrics. Some of these fragments are derived from the same alpha-satellite DNA array as inactivated centromeres. Our results indicate that dicentric human chromosomes undergo alternative fates after formation. Many retain two active centromeres and are stable through multiple cell divisions. Others undergo centromere inactivation. This event occurs within a broad temporal window and can involve deletion of chromatin that marks the locus as a site for CENP-A maintenance/replenishment.This work was supported by the Tumorzentrum Heidelberg/Mannheim grant (D.10026941)and by March of Dimes Research Foundation grant #1-FY06-377 and NIH R01 GM069514
Single hadron response measurement and calorimeter jet energy scale uncertainty with the ATLAS detector at the LHC
The uncertainty on the calorimeter energy response to jets of particles is
derived for the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). First, the
calorimeter response to single isolated charged hadrons is measured and
compared to the Monte Carlo simulation using proton-proton collisions at
centre-of-mass energies of sqrt(s) = 900 GeV and 7 TeV collected during 2009
and 2010. Then, using the decay of K_s and Lambda particles, the calorimeter
response to specific types of particles (positively and negatively charged
pions, protons, and anti-protons) is measured and compared to the Monte Carlo
predictions. Finally, the jet energy scale uncertainty is determined by
propagating the response uncertainty for single charged and neutral particles
to jets. The response uncertainty is 2-5% for central isolated hadrons and 1-3%
for the final calorimeter jet energy scale.Comment: 24 pages plus author list (36 pages total), 23 figures, 1 table,
submitted to European Physical Journal
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