Direct determination of the solar neutrino fluxes from solar neutrino data

We determine the solar neutrino fluxes from a global analysis of the solar and terrestrial neutrino data in the framework of three-neutrino mixing. Using a Bayesian approach we reconstruct the posterior probability distribution function for the eight normalization parameters of the solar neutrino fluxes plus the relevant masses and mixing, with and without imposing the luminosity constraint. This is done by means of a Markov Chain Monte Carlo employing the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm. We also describe how these results can be applied to test the predictions of the Standard Solar Models. Our results show that, at present, both models with low and high metallicity can describe the data with good statistical agreement.Comment: 24 pages, 1 table, 7 figures. Acknowledgments correcte

Civil Society Iraq: Ethnic, Religious, and Location Influences on Outgroup Perception

Civil Society Iraq: Ethnic, Religious, and Location Influences on Outgroup Perception Jon Gresham* April 2004 A significant research question in the immediate post-war (May 2003) environment of Iraq was: "How do Iraqis’ ethnicity, religious affiliation, and location affect expressed perceptions of threat from outgroups?" We collected 479 surveys of Iraqi opinions, in five locations in Iraq, Jordan, and The Netherlands, with a single page instrument. Religion, ethnic origin, and location alone had little direct bearing on respondents’ attitudes towards outgroups or change (another type of threat) in Iraq. However, certain sets of interacting elements did reflect significant differences in perceptions of threat. For example, Shi’a Muslims of urban Basra had very different expressions towards return of expatriate Iraqis than did Baghdad residents. A serendipitous innovation was that of publishing our research process onto a "wiki" web page where visitors could add to or change contents of the documents. The wiki live publishing helped fellow scientists, decision-makers, resource agencies, and Iraq fieldworkers participate in our project. Why Civil Society? The term describes both behavior and social systems and provides a sociological framework from which to explore social interactions in Iraq. Follow-up is warranted. We found, for example, that "moderate Arabs" in Iraq were the most opposed to foreign involvement and were the most opposed to expatriate Iraqis returning to Iraq. This finding is relevant to decision-makers and field workers in relief, development, and reconstruction in Iraq. This paper describes our research process in a post-regime-change environment. I would welcome comments onto the web site: http://CivilSocietyIraq.seedwiki.com. _____________ * Jon Gresham is a visiting scholar at the University of Utrecht, Netherlands. His work focuses on the Cyprus-Syria-Iraq-Iran area. Special thanks are given to Hub Linssen, Assistant Professor at the University of Utrecht, with interest in cross-national comparative survey methodology

How do Perceptions of Outgroups Indicate Barriers to Civil Society in Iraq?

At the Iraq "liberation" in 2003, many of us asked, "Is there really hope for civil society to emerge from the chaos?" We guessed about how Sunni, Shi'a and Kurdish factions could be brought together, and if it was likely that ethnic conflicts would lead to civil war. Seeking a better understanding of the situation, this project tried to address: "How do Iraqis' ethnic and religious identities relate to perceptions of other groups (outgroups)?" and "how does place of residence relate to those perceptions about outgroups?" I collected 479 surveys of Iraqi opinions in Iraq, Jordan, and The Netherlands. I asked Iraqis for their own ideas about their future, personal and collective, and their perceptions of Those Other Groups, their "outgroups." What did I find? That background items of religion, ethnic origin, and location, alone, did not relate strongly to respondents’ attitudes towards outgroups. But, some combinations of background items did give significant differences in perceptions towards other groups. For example, "moderate” Arabs in Iraq were the group most opposed to foreigners, and were the group most opposed to expatriate Iraqis returning to Iraq. This project, and the follow-up project on social networks of Iraqis, presents one approach from which researchers and fieldworkers can develop theories to explore and explain elements of civil society in Iraq, and beyond. ____ Jon Gresham is a visiting scholar at the University of Utrecht, Netherlands. His work focuses on the Middle East; he worked twelve years there

Civil Society Iraq: Location Influences on Outgroup Perception (June 2004)

A significant research question in the immediate post-war (May 2003) environment of Iraq was: "How do Iraqis’ location affect expressed perceptions of threat from outgroups?" We collected 479 surveys of Iraqi opinions, in five locations (in Iraq, Jordan, and The Netherlands), with a single page instrument. Religion, ethnic origin, like location alone, had little strong bearing on respondents’ expressed attitudes towards outgroups or the government in Iraq. However, certain sets of interacting elements did reflect significant differences in perceptions of threat. For example, Shi’a Muslims of urban Basra had very different expressions towards return of expatriate Iraqis than did Shi’a Muslims of rural Basra. A serendipitous innovation was that of publishing our research process onto a "wiki" web page where visitors could add to or change contents of the documents. The wiki live publishing helped fellow scientists, decision-makers, resource agencies, and Iraq fieldworkers participate in our project. Why Civil Society? The term describes both behavior and social systems and provides an overarching framework from which to explore social interactions in Iraq. Follow-up is warranted. We found, for example, that "moderate Arabs" in Iraq were the most opposed to foreign involvement and were the most opposed to expatriate Iraqis returning to Iraq. This finding is relevant to decision-makers and field workers in relief, development, and reconstruction in Iraq. This paper describes our research process in a post-regime-change environment. I would welcome comments onto the web site: http://CivilSocietyIraq.seedwiki.com

Testing Contextual and Design Effects on Inter-Urban Motorists’ Responses to Time Savings

In the context of inter-urban motorists' route choices and the travel time savings offered by the UK's first toll motorway, a range of SP exercises tested various contextual and design effects. The design aspects relate to how the marginal benefit of time savings is influenced by the size and sign of the time saving, task complexity, presentation format, and whether the choice context is real. The contextual factors cover the impact of journey duration, attribute credibility, and where in the journey the time savings occur. The conclusions are largely credible but in some cases challenge established views and contribute significantly to understanding in this area

A technical framework to describe occupant behavior for building energy simulations

ABSTRACT Green buildings that fail to meet expected design performance criteria indicate that technology alone does not guarantee high performance. Human influences are quite often simplified and ignored in the design, construction, and operation of buildings. Energy-conscious human behavior has been demonstrated to be a significant positive factor for improving the indoor environment while reducing the energy use of buildings. In our study we developed a new technical framework to describe energyrelated human behavior in buildings. The energy-related behavior includes accounting for individuals and groups of occupants and their interactions with building energy services systems, appliances and facilities. The technical framework consists of four key components: i. the drivers behind energy-related occupant behavior, which are biological, societal, environmental, physical, and economical in nature ii. the needs of the occupants are based on satisfying criteria that are either physical (e.g. thermal, visual and acoustic comfort) or non-physical (e.g. entertainment, privacy, and social reward) iii. the actions that building occupants perform when their needs are not fulfilled iv. the systems with which an occupant can interact to satisfy their needs The technical framework aims to provide a standardized description of a complete set of human energyrelated behaviors in the form of an XML schema. For each type of behavior (e.g., occupants opening/closing windows, switching on/off lights etc.) we identify a set of common behaviors based on a literature review, survey data, and our own field study and analysis. Stochastic models are adopted or developed for each type of behavior to enable the evaluation of the impact of human behavior on energy use in buildings, during either the design or operation phase. We will also demonstrate the use of the technical framework in assessing the impact of occupancy behavior on energy saving technologies. The technical framework presented is part of our human behavior research, a 5-year program under the

Novel gating mechanism of polyamine block in the strong inward rectifier K channel Kir2.1.

Inward rectifying K channels are essential for maintaining resting membrane potential and regulating excitability in many cell types. Previous studies have attributed the rectification properties of strong inward rectifiers such as Kir2.1 to voltage-dependent binding of intracellular polyamines or Mg to the pore (direct open channel block), thereby preventing outward passage of K ions. We have studied interactions between polyamines and the polyamine toxins philanthotoxin and argiotoxin on inward rectification in Kir2.1. We present evidence that high affinity polyamine block is not consistent with direct open channel block, but instead involves polyamines binding to another region of the channel (intrinsic gate) to form a blocking complex that occludes the pore. This interaction defines a novel mechanism of ion channel closure