IMPLICATIONS OF THE CONSUMER RESPONSE TO EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES AND DISEASES FOR INTERNATIONAL TRADE: THE CASE OF JAPAN

International Relations/Trade,

Linking glacial and future climates through an ensemble of GCM simulations

In this paper we explore the relationships between the modelled climate of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and that for doubled atmospheric carbon dioxide compared to the pre-industrial climate by analysing the output from an ensemble of runs from the MIROC3.2 GCM. <br><br> Our results lend support to the idea in other recent work that the Antarctic is a useful place to look for historical data which can be used to validate models used for climate forecasting of future greenhouse gas induced climate changes, at local, regional and global scales. Good results may also be obtainable using tropical temperatures, particularly those over the ocean. While the greater area in the tropics makes them an attractive area for seeking data, polar amplification of temperature changes may mean that the Antarctic provides a clearer signal relative to the uncertainties in data and model results. Our result for Greenland is not so strong, possibly due to difficulties in accurately modelling the sea ice extent. <br><br> The MIROC3.2 model shows an asymmetry in climate sensitivity calculated by decreasing rather than increasing the greenhouse gases, with 80% of the ensemble having a weaker cooling than warming. This asymmetry, if confirmed by other studies would mean that direct estimates of climate sensitivity from the LGM are likely to be underestimated by the order of half a degree. Our suspicion is, however, that this result may be highly model dependent. Analysis of the parameters varied in the model suggest the asymmetrical response may be linked to the ice in the clouds, which is therefore indicated as an important area for future research

Deep rest-frame far-UV spectroscopy of the giant Lyman-alpha emitter 'Himiko'

We present deep 10h VLT/XSHOOTER spectroscopy for an extraordinarily luminous and extended Lya emitter at z=6.595 referred to as Himiko and first discussed by Ouchi et al. (2009), with the purpose of constraining the mechanisms powering its strong emission. Complementary to the spectrum, we discuss NIR imaging data from the CANDELS survey. We find neither for HeII nor any metal line a significant excess, with 3 sigma upper limits of 6.8, 3.1, and 5.8x10^{-18} erg/s/cm^2 for CIV $\lambda$1549, HeII $\lambda$1640, CIII] $\lambda$1909, respectively, assuming apertures with 200 km/s widths and offset by -250 km/s w.r.t to the peak Lya redshift. These limits provide strong evidence that an AGN is not a major contribution to Himiko's Lya flux. Strong conclusions about the presence of PopIII star-formation or gravitational cooling radiation are not possible based on the obtained HeII upper limit. Our Lya spectrum confirms both spatial extent and flux (8.8+/-0.5x10^{-17} erg/s/cm^2) of previous measurements. In addition, we can unambiguously exclude any remaining chance of it being a lower redshift interloper by significantly detecting a continuum redwards of Lya, while being undetected bluewards

Consumer Response to Genetically Modified Food Products in Japan

In Japan, a large U.S. export market, there has been growing public opposition against genetically modified (GM) foods. Using a dichotomous choice contingent valuation method, findings show the discount needed for Japanese Seikyou consumers to purchase GM food products is positively affected (i.e., a greater discount is required) by higher levels of self-reported risk perceptions toward GM food, higher levels of concern about food safety and the environment, higher self-reported knowledge about biotechnology, education levels, and income. Interestingly, gender does not significantly affect the discount needed for GM food. Further, it can be inferred from the results that a transformation of Japanese consumers' perceptions and attitudes is needed for GM food products to successfully enter the Japanese market.Consumer/Household Economics,

Linking glacial and future climates through an ensemble of GCM simulations

International audienceIn this paper we explore the relationships between the modelled climate of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and that for doubled atmospheric carbon dioxide compared to the pre-industrial climate by analysing the output from an ensemble of runs from the MIROC3.2 GCM. Our results lend support to the idea in other recent work that the Antarctic is a useful place to look for historical data which can be used to validate models used for climate forecasting of future greenhouse gas induced climate changes, at local, regional and global scales. Good results may also be obtainable using tropical temperatures, particularly those over the ocean. While the greater area in the tropics makes them an attractive area for seeking data, polar amplification of temperature changes may mean that the Anatarctic provides a clearer signal relative to the uncertainties in data and model results. Our result for Greenland is not so strong, possibly due to difficulties in accurately modelling the sea ice extent. The MIROC3.2 model shows an asymmetry in climate sensitivity calculated by decreasing rather than increasing the greenhouse gases, with 80% of the ensemble having a weaker cooling than warming. This asymmetry, if confirmed by other studies would mean that direct estimates of climate sensitivity from the LGM are likely to be underestimated by the order of half a degree. Our suspicion is, however, that this result may be highly model dependent. Analysis of the parameters varied in the model suggest the asymmetrical response may be linked to the ice in the clouds, which is therefore indicated as an important area for future research

Spectroscopic Confirmation of Three z-Dropout Galaxies at z = 6.844 - 7.213: Demographics of Lyman-Alpha Emission in z ~ 7 Galaxies

We present the results of our ultra-deep Keck/DEIMOS spectroscopy of z-dropout galaxies in the SDF and GOODS-N. For 3 out of 11 objects, we detect an emission line at ~ 1um with a signal-to-noise ratio of ~ 10. The lines show asymmetric profiles with high weighted skewness values, consistent with being Lya, yielding redshifts of z=7.213, 6.965, and 6.844. Specifically, we confirm the z=7.213 object in two independent DEIMOS runs with different spectroscopic configurations. The z=6.965 object is a known Lya emitter, IOK-1, for which our improved spectrum at a higher resolution yields a robust skewness measurement. The three z-dropouts have Lya fluxes of 3 x 10^-17 erg s^-1 cm^-2 and rest-frame equivalent widths EW_0^Lya = 33-43A. Based on the largest spectroscopic sample of 43 z-dropouts that is the combination of our and previous data, we find that the fraction of Lya-emitting galaxies (EW_0^Lya > 25A) is low at z ~ 7; 17 +- 10% and 24 +- 12% for bright (Muv ~= -21) and faint (Muv ~= -19.5) galaxies, respectively. The fractions of Lya-emitting galaxies drop from z ~ 6 to 7 and the amplitude of the drop is larger for faint galaxies than for bright galaxies. These two pieces of evidence would indicate that the neutral hydrogen fraction of the IGM increases from z ~ 6 to 7, and that the reionization proceeds from high- to low-density environments, as suggested by an inside-out reionization model.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Very blue UV-continuum slopes of low luminosity z~7 galaxies from WFC3/IR: Evidence for extremely low metallicities?

We use the ultra-deep WFC3/IR data over the HUDF and the Early Release Science WFC3/IR data over the CDF-South GOODS field to quantify the broadband spectral properties of candidate star-forming galaxies at z~7. We determine the UV-continuum slope beta in these galaxies, and compare the slopes with galaxies at later times to measure the evolution in beta. For luminous L*(z=3) galaxies, we measure a mean UV-continuum slope beta of -2.0+/-0.2, which is comparable to the beta~-2 derived at similar luminosities at z~5-6. However, for the lower luminosity 0.1L*(z=3) galaxies, we measure a mean beta of -3.0+/-0.2. This is substantially bluer than is found for similar luminosity galaxies at z~4, just 800 Myr later, and even at z~5-6. In principle, the observed beta of -3.0 can be matched by a very young, dust-free stellar population, but when nebular emission is included the expected beta becomes >~-2.7. To produce these very blue beta's (i.e., beta~-3), extremely low metallicities and mechanisms to reduce the red nebular emission are likely required. For example, a large escape fraction (i.e., f_{esc}>~0.3) could minimize the contribution from this red nebular emission. If this is correct and the escape fraction in faint z~7 galaxies is >~0.3, it may help to explain how galaxies reionize the universe.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal Letter

The Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Survey (SXDS) -VII. Clustering Segregation with Ultraviolet and Optical Luminosities of Lyman-Break Galaxies at z~3

We investigate clustering properties of Lyman-break galaxies (LBGs) at z~3 based on deep multi-waveband imaging data from optical to near-infrared wavelengths in the Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Field. The LBGs are selected by U-V and V-z' colors in one contiguous area of 561 arcmin^2 down to z'=25.5. We study the dependence of the clustering strength on rest-frame UV and optical magnitudes, which can be indicators of star formation rate and stellar mass, respectively. The correlation length is found to be a strong function of both UV and optical magnitudes with brighter galaxies being more clustered than faint ones in both cases. Furthermore, the correlation length is dependent on a combination of UV and optical magnitudes in the sense that galaxies bright in optical magnitude have large correlation lengths irrespective of UV magnitude, while galaxies faint in optical magnitude have correlation lengths decreasing with decreasing UV brightness. These results suggest that galaxies with large stellar masses always belong to massive halos in which they can have various star formation rates, while galaxies with small stellar masses reside in less massive halos only if they have low star formation rates. There appears to be an upper limit to the stellar mass and the star formation rate which is determined by the mass of hosting dark halos.Comment: 16 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Large-scale structure of Lyman break galaxies around a radio galaxy protocluster at z~4

We present broad-band imaging with the Subaru Telescope of a 25'x25' field surrounding the radio galaxy TN J1338-1942 at redshift z=4.1. The field contains excesses of Lyman-alpha emitters (LAEs) and Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) identified with a protocluster surrounding the radio galaxy. Our new wide-field images provide information about the boundary of the protocluster and its surroundings. There are 874 candidate LBGs within our field, having redshifts in the range z=3.5-4.5. An examination of the brightest of these (with i'< 25.0) shows that the most prominent concentration coincides with the previously discovered protocluster. The diameter of this galaxy overdensity corresponds to ~2 Mpc at z=4, consistent with the previous estimation using LAEs. Several other concentrations of LBGs are observed in the field, some of which may well be physically connected with the z=4.1 protocluster. The observed structure in the smoothed LBG distribution can be explained as the projection of large-scale structure, within the redshift range z=3.5-4.5, comprising compact overdensities and prominent larger voids. If the 5-8 observed compact overdensities are associated with protoclusters, the observed protocluster volume density is ~5x10^-6 Mpc^-3, similar to the volume density of rich clusters in the local Universe.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in A&A. Full resolution version available at http://www.strw.leidenuniv.nl/~intema/files/AA_2006_4812.zi