430 research outputs found
Communication, Social Norms, and the Intention to Get Vaccinated Against Covid-19
Social norms are a promising factor for pandemic control, as they motivate people to engage in preventive behaviours. However, little is known about the influence of perceived social norms on the intention to get vaccinated against Covid-19 and the role of communication in shaping such normative perceptions. Moreover, despite the pandemic’s global scale, a cross-cultural perspective is scant in research on Covid-19 preventive behaviour. The present study examined the relationships between communication (i.e., attention to mass media and social media), social norms (i.e., perceived norms in the population and personal environment), and people’s intention to get vaccinated against Covid-19 using a cross-national survey in Singapore (N = 998) and Switzerland (N = 1,022). Multigroup structural equation modelling revealed that attention to mass media was positively correlated with perceived norms in both countries, whereas attention to social media was correlated with normative perceptions only in Singapore. Normative perceptions regarding the population and personal environment were positively correlated with vaccination intention in Singapore. However, in Switzerland, only perceived norms in the personal environment were positively related to vaccination intention. The results are discussed against the background of both countries’ media systems and cultural values (i.e., individualism/collectivism) and are instructive for norms-based interventions in times of crises
Communication, Social Norms, and the Intention to Get Vaccinated Against Covid-19
Social norms are a promising factor for pandemic control, as they motivate people to engage in preventive behaviours. However, little is known about the influence of perceived social norms on the intention to get vaccinated against Covid-19 and the role of communication in shaping such normative perceptions. Moreover, despite the pandemic’s global scale, a cross-cultural perspective is scant in research on Covid-19 preventive behaviour. The present study examined the relationships between communication (i.e., attention to mass media and social media), social norms (i.e., perceived norms in the population and personal environment), and people’s intention to get vaccinated against Covid-19 using a cross-national survey in Singapore (N = 998) and Switzerland (N = 1,022). Multigroup structural equation modelling revealed that attention to mass media was positively correlated with perceived norms in both countries, whereas attention to social media was correlated with normative perceptions only in Singapore. Normative perceptions regarding the population and personal environment were positively correlated with vaccination intention in Singapore. However, in Switzerland, only perceived norms in the personal environment were positively related to vaccination intention. The results are discussed against the background of both countries’ media systems and cultural values (i.e., individualism/collectivism) and are instructive for norms-based interventions in times of crises
: Learning Galaxy Properties from Merger Trees
Efficiently mapping baryonic properties onto dark matter is a major challenge
in astrophysics. Although semi-analytic models (SAMs) and hydrodynamical
simulations have made impressive advances in reproducing galaxy observables
across cosmologically significant volumes, these methods still require
significant computation times, representing a barrier to many applications.
Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) have recently proven to be the natural choice for
learning physical relations. Among the most inherently graph-like structures
found in astrophysics are the dark matter merger trees that encode the
evolution of dark matter halos. In this paper we introduce a new, graph-based
emulator framework, , and show that it emulates the galactic
stellar mass, cold gas mass and metallicity, instantaneous and time-averaged
star formation rate, and black hole mass -- as predicted by a SAM -- with root
mean squared error up to two times lower than other methods across a simulation box in 40 seconds, 4 orders of magnitude faster than the
SAM. We show that allows for quantification of the
dependence of galaxy properties on merger history. We compare our results to
the current state of the art in the field and show significant improvements for
all target properties. is publicly available.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, 3 tables, 10 pages of Appendices. Accepted for
publication in Ap
Halal or not? Exploring Muslim perceptions of cultured meat in Singapore
Singapore was the first country to approve cultured meat for public consumption. However, it remains unclear whether Muslims, who adhere to religious dietary restrictions and constitute a significant proportion of Singapore's population, are willing to consume cultured meat. Informed by the cognitive miser model, this study explores how Muslims make sense of cultured meat through their religious beliefs, trust in different stakeholders, as well as their risk or benefit perceptions of cultured meat. The findings from online focus group discussions showed that Muslim participants would only consider consuming cultured meat if it is certified halal (i.e., compliant with Islamic laws) and they also voiced religious concerns about cultured meat. Muslims have strong trust in food regulatory authorities in providing information about the safety and halal status of cultured meat. In addition to religious concerns, Muslims had similar risk and benefit perceptions of cultured meat compared to those of the non-Muslims. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed
To Work or Not to Work: The Hand and Embodied Wisdom of the Valiant Woman in Proverbs 31:10–31
The discipline of embodied cognitive science and associated concept of intercorporeality provide the theoretical framework of our analysis of Proverbs 31:10–31. This essay fleshes out the underlying cognitive and meaning-making processes and entailments inherent in the valiant woman’s use of her hands and body as depicted in the poem. The valiant woman is contrasted with the hands and body of the sluggard fool to unveil how the activity or inactivity of the hands (and body) substantially affects the knowing of the valiant woman and the fool. Knowledge and wisdom emerged and are shaped by one’s hands and bodily interaction with the real world
Surrogate Modeling for Computationally Expensive Simulations of Supernovae in High-Resolution Galaxy Simulations
Some stars are known to explode at the end of their lives, called supernovae
(SNe). The substantial amount of matter and energy that SNe release provides
significant feedback to star formation and gas dynamics in a galaxy. SNe
release a substantial amount of matter and energy to the interstellar medium,
resulting in significant feedback to star formation and gas dynamics in a
galaxy. While such feedback has a crucial role in galaxy formation and
evolution, in simulations of galaxy formation, it has only been implemented
using simple {\it sub-grid models} instead of numerically solving the evolution
of gas elements around SNe in detail due to a lack of resolution. We develop a
method combining machine learning and Gibbs sampling to predict how a supernova
(SN) affects the surrounding gas. The fidelity of our model in the thermal
energy and momentum distribution outperforms the low-resolution SN simulations.
Our method can replace the SN sub-grid models and help properly simulate
un-resolved SN feedback in galaxy formation simulations. We find that employing
our new approach reduces the necessary computational cost to 1 percent
compared to directly resolving SN feedback.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures, Accepted for the NeurIPS 2023 AI4Science
Worksho
Cluster Ellipticities as a Cosmological Probe
We investigate the dependence of ellipticities of clusters of galaxies on
cosmological parameters using large-scale cosmological simulations. We
determine cluster ellipticities out to redshift unity for LCDM models with
different mean densities and amplitudes of mass fluctuation
. The mean ellipticity increases monotonically with redshift for
all models. Larger values of , i.e., earlier cluster formation
time, produce lower ellipticities. The dependence of ellipticity on
is relatively weak in the range for high mass
clusters. The mean ellipticity decreases linearly with the
amplitude of fluctuations at the cluster redshift , nearly independent of
; on average, older clusters are more relaxed and are thus less
elliptical. The distribution of ellipticities about the mean is approximated by
a Gaussian, allowing a simple characterization of the evolution of ellipticity
with redshift as a function of cosmological parameters. At , the mean
ellipticity of high mass clusters is approximated by . This relation opens up the
possibility that, when compared with future observations of large cluster
samples, the mean cluster ellipticity and its evolution could be used as a new,
independent tool to constrain cosmological parameters, especially the amplitude
of mass fluctuations, .Comment: 16 pages, 4 figure
The structure of Onsala 1 star forming region
We present new high-sensitivity high-resolution mm-wave observations of the
Onsala 1 ultra-compact HII region that bring to light the internal structure of
this massive star forming cloud. The 1.2 mm continuum map obtained with the
IRAM 30-m radiotelescope (~11" resolution) shows a centrally peaked
condensation of 1' size (~0.5 pc at the assumed distance of 1.8 kpc) which has
been further investigated at higher resolution in the 3 mm continuum and in the
emission lines of H13CO+ J=1--0 and SiO J=2--1 with the IRAM Plateau de Bure
interferometer. The 3 mm data, with a resolution of ~5" X 4", displays a
unresolved continuum source at the peak of the extended 1.2 mm emission and
closely associated with the ultra-compact HII region. The H13CO+ map traces the
central condensation in good agreement with previous NH_3 maps of Zheng et al.
(1985). However, the velocity field of this central condensation, which was
previously thought to arise in a rapidly rotating structure, is better
explained in terms of the dense and compact component of a bipolar outflow.
This interpretation is confirmed by SiO and CO observations of the full region.
In fact, our new SiO data unveils the presence of multiple (at least 4)
outflows in the region. In particular, there is an important center of outflow
activity in the region at about 1' north of the UCHII region. Indeed the
different outflows are related to different members of the Onsala 1 cluster.
The data presented here support a scenario in which the phases of massive star
formation begin much later in the evolution of a cluster and/or UCHII region
last for much longer than 10^5 yrs.Comment: 6 pages and 3 figure
Astrometry with the Wide-Field InfraRed Space Telescope
The Wide-Field InfraRed Space Telescope (WFIRST) will be capable of
delivering precise astrometry for faint sources over the enormous field of view
of its main camera, the Wide-Field Imager (WFI). This unprecedented combination
will be transformative for the many scientific questions that require precise
positions, distances, and velocities of stars. We describe the expectations for
the astrometric precision of the WFIRST WFI in different scenarios, illustrate
how a broad range of science cases will see significant advances with such
data, and identify aspects of WFIRST's design where small adjustments could
greatly improve its power as an astrometric instrument.Comment: version accepted to JATI
Connecting Dense Gas Tracers of Star Formation in our Galaxy to High-z Star Formation
Observations have revealed prodigious amounts of star formation in starburst
galaxies as traced by dust and molecular emission, even at large redshifts.
Recent work shows that for both nearby spiral galaxies and distant starbursts,
the global star formation rate, as indicated by the infrared luminosity, has a
tight and almost linear correlation with the amount of dense gas as traced by
the luminosity of HCN. Our surveys of Galactic dense cores in HCN 1-0 emission
show that this correlation continues to a much smaller scale, with nearly the
same ratio of infrared luminosity to HCN luminosity found over 7-8 orders of
magnitude in L_IR, with a lower cutoff around 10^{4.5} L_sun of infrared
luminosity. The linear correlation suggests that we may understand distant star
formation in terms of the known properties of local star-forming regions. Both
the correlation and the luminosity cutoff can be explained if the basic unit of
star formation in galaxies is a dense core, similar to those studied in our
Galaxy.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures. In press for ApJ Letter
- …