A Problem with Empirical Studies of Party Policy Shifts: Alternative Measures of Party Shifts are Uncorrelated

Many recent cross-national studies analyze the causes and electoral consequences of party policy shifts, using party position measures derived from (1) election manifestos, (2) expert surveys, or (3) voter surveys. However few studies validate their findings by analyzing multiple measures of party policy shifts. We analyze data on European parties’ position shifts on both European integration and Left-Right ideology and show that this is problematic, because while alternative measures of party policy positions correlate strongly in cross-sectional analyses, alternative measures of parties’ policy shifts are essentially uncorrelated in longitudinal analyses. We offer suggestions on how to address this problem

Comparison of "Live High-Train Low" in Normobaric versus Hypobaric Hypoxia.

We investigated the changes in both performance and selected physiological parameters following a Live High-Train Low (LHTL) altitude camp in either normobaric hypoxia (NH) or hypobaric hypoxia (HH) replicating current "real" practices of endurance athletes. Well-trained triathletes were split into two groups (NH, n = 14 and HH, n = 13) and completed an 18-d LHTL camp during which they trained at 1100-1200 m and resided at an altitude of 2250 m (PiO2  = 121.7±1.2 vs. 121.4±0.9 mmHg) under either NH (hypoxic chamber; FiO2 15.8±0.8%) or HH (real altitude; barometric pressure 580±23 mmHg) conditions. Oxygen saturations (SpO2) were recorded continuously daily overnight. PiO2 and training loads were matched daily. Before (Pre-) and 1 day after (Post-) LHTL, blood samples, VO2max, and total haemoglobin mass (Hbmass) were measured. A 3-km running test was performed near sea level twice before, and 1, 7, and 21 days following LHTL. During LHTL, hypoxic exposure was lower for the NH group than for the HH group (220 vs. 300 h; P<0.001). Night SpO2 was higher (92.1±0.3 vs. 90.9±0.3%, P<0.001), and breathing frequency was lower in the NH group compared with the HH group (13.9±2.1 vs. 15.5±1.5 breath.min-1, P<0.05). Immediately following LHTL, similar increases in VO2max (6.1±6.8 vs. 5.2±4.8%) and Hbmass (2.6±1.9 vs. 3.4±2.1%) were observed in NH and HH groups, respectively, while 3-km performance was not improved. However, 21 days following the LHTL intervention, 3-km run time was significantly faster in the HH (3.3±3.6%; P<0.05) versus the NH (1.2±2.9%; ns) group. In conclusion, the greater degree of race performance enhancement by day 21 after an 18-d LHTL camp in the HH group was likely induced by a larger hypoxic dose. However, one cannot rule out other factors including differences in sleeping desaturations and breathing patterns, thus suggesting higher hypoxic stimuli in the HH group

Detection of magnetized quark-nuggets, a candidate for dark matter

AbstractQuark nuggets are theoretical objects composed of approximately equal numbers of up, down, and strange quarks and are also called strangelets and nuclearites. They have been proposed as a candidate for dark matter, which constitutes ~85% of the universe’s mass and which has been a mystery for decades. Previous efforts to detect quark nuggets assumed that the nuclear-density core interacts directly with the surrounding matter so the stopping power is minimal. Tatsumi found that quark nuggets could well exist as a ferromagnetic liquid with a ~1012-T magnetic field. We find that the magnetic field produces a magnetopause with surrounding plasma, as the earth’s magnetic field produces a magnetopause with the solar wind, and substantially increases their energy deposition rate in matter. We use the magnetopause model to compute the energy deposition as a function of quark-nugget mass and to analyze testing the quark-nugget hypothesis for dark matter by observations in air, water, and land. We conclude the water option is most promising.</jats:p

Multifractal stationary random measures and multifractal random walks with log-infinitely divisible scaling laws

We define a large class of continuous time multifractal random measures and processes with arbitrary log-infinitely divisible exact or asymptotic scaling law. These processes generalize within a unified framework both the recently defined log-normal Multifractal Random Walk (MRW) [Bacry-Delour-Muzy] and the log-Poisson "product of cynlindrical pulses" [Barral-Mandelbrot]. Our construction is based on some ``continuous stochastic multiplication'' from coarse to fine scales that can be seen as a continuous interpolation of discrete multiplicative cascades. We prove the stochastic convergence of the defined processes and study their main statistical properties. The question of genericity (universality) of limit multifractal processes is addressed within this new framework. We finally provide some methods for numerical simulations and discuss some specific examples.Comment: 24 pages, 4 figure

Many-body theory of pump-probe spectra for highly excited semiconductors

We present a unified theory for pump-probe spectra in highly excited semiconductors, which is applicable throughout the whole density regime including the high-density electron-hole BCS state and the low-density excitonic Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). The analysis is based on the BCS-like pairing theory combined with the Bethe-Salpeter (BS) equation, which first enables us to incorporate the state-filling effect, the band-gap renormalization and the strong/weak electron-hole pair correlations in a unified manner. We show that the electron-hole BCS state is distinctly stabilized by the intense pump-light, and this result strongly suggests that the macroscopic quantum state can be observed under the strong photoexcitation. The calculated spectra considerably deviate from results given by the BCS-like mean field theory and the simple BS equation without electron-hole pair correlation especially in the intermediate density states between the electron-hole BCS state and the excitonic BEC state. In particular, we find the sharp stimulated emission and absorption lines which originate from the optical transition accompanied by the collective phase fluctuation mode in the electron-hole BCS state. From the pump-probe spectral viewpoint, we show that this fluctuation mode changes to the exciton mode with decreasing carrier densityComment: RevTeX 11 pages, 10 figures. To appear in Phys.Rev.B1

Possible Observation of the 1/2+ [880] Orbital in 249-Cm

This research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation Grant NSF PHY-931478

The effect of collisions on wave-breaking in a cold plasma

The effect of electron collisions on reducing the wave-breaking amplitude of resonantly-driven electrostatic fields in a cold plasma is investigated. By means of a simple theory collisions are shown to compete with wave-breaking in dissipating wave energy.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/47032/1/339_2004_Article_BF00899888.pd

Ultrasound attenuation in gap-anisotropic systems

Transverse ultrasound attenuation provides a weakly-coupled probe of momentum current correlations in electronic systems. We develop a simple theory for the interpretation of transverse ultrasound attenuation coefficients in systems with nodal gap anisotropy. Applying this theory we show how ultrasound can delineate between extended-s and d-wave scenarios for the cuprate superconductors.Comment: Uuencode file: 4 pages (Revtex), 3 figures. Some references adde