660 research outputs found
Physical Processes at the Surface of the Arctic Tundra
The results of measurements of net total radiation flux and temperatures in the air and surface layers of the tundra and snow near Barrow, Alaska, are presented for the period September 1965 to September 1966. Lowest average monthly temperatures occurred in March, the highest in July. The minimum average net total radiation occurred in January with the maximum in July. The tundra surface began to thaw by 18 June and to freeze by September.Processus physiques à la surface de la toundra arctique. Les auteurs présentent les résultats de mesures du flux de rayonnement total net et des températures dans l'air et dans les niveaux de surface de la toundra et de la neige, près de Barrow, Alaska, pour la période de septembre 1965 à septembre 1966. Les températures mensuelles moyennes minimales se retrouvent en mars, les maximales en juillet. Le minimum de rayonnement total net moyen se produit en janvier, avec un maximum en juillet. La surface de la toundra commence à dégeler vers le 18 juin et à regeler en septembre
Environmental Radiocesium in Subarctic and Arctic Alaska Following Chernobyl
Radiocesium (134Cs and 137Cs) concentrations were measured in soil, plant and wildlife samples from subarctic to arctic Alaska. Concentrations of 137Cs ranged from below detectable or low levels in whale and fish samples to as high as 242 Bq/kg in lichen. For all potential human food items, the radiocesium concentrations measured in this study were below accepted permissible levels for human consumption. Chernobyl-derived radiocesium concentrations ranged from below detectable or low levels in all arctic samples (soil, sediment, lichen, whale, fish and caribou) to 32 Bq/kg in subarctic moss. Therefore the distribution and subsequent deposition of Chernobyl-derived radiocesium appears to be variable but decreasing significantly from the Subarctic (Fairbanks) to the Arctic. The present data support the suggestion that Chernobyl-derived debris arrived from western Canada into central Alaska and subsequently moved to the north (arctic) and to the west, decreasing in the quantity deposited as the debris transversed the state.Key words: Chemobyl, radiocesium, lichen, mushroom, caribou, reindeer, soil, fallout, depositionMots clés: Chernobyl, césium radioactif, lichen, champignon, caribou, renne, sol, retombées, dépô
Constrained dogleg methods for nonlinear systems with simple bounds
We focus on the numerical solution of medium scale bound-constrained systems of nonlinear equations. In this context, we consider an affine-scaling trust region approach that allows a great flexibility in choosing the scaling matrix used to handle the bounds. The method is based on a dogleg procedure tailored for constrained problems and so, it is named Constrained Dogleg method. It generates only strictly feasible iterates. Global and locally fast convergence is ensured under standard assumptions. The method has been implemented in the Matlab solver CoDoSol that supports several diagonal scalings in both spherical and elliptical trust region frameworks. We give a brief account of CoDoSol and report on the computational experience performed on a number of representative test problem
Identity and integration of Russian speakers in the Baltic states: a framework for analysis
Following a review of current scholarship on identity and integration patterns of Russian speakers in the Baltic states, this article proposes an analytical framework to help understand current trends. Rogers Brubaker's widely employed triadic nexus is expanded to demonstrate why a form of Russian-speaking identity has been emerging, but has failed to become fully consolidated, and why significant integration has occurred structurally but not identificationally. By enumerating the subfields of political, economic, and cultural âstancesâ and ârepresentationsâ the model helps to understand the complicated integration processes of minority groups that possess complex relationships with âexternal homelandsâ, ânationalizing statesâ and âinternational organizationsâ. Ultimately, it is argued that socio-economic factors largely reduce the capacity for a consolidated identity; political factors have a moderate tendency to reduce this capacity, whereas cultural factors generally increase the potential for a consolidated group identity
Qualidade de Vida e Atitudes dos Idosos Face Ă Velhice
A problemĂĄtica do envelhecimento tem assumido, nos Ășltimos anos, uma
crescente importĂąncia na consciĂȘncia coletiva da população, tornando-se cada vez mais importante compreender a população idosa e a sua realidade.
Posto isto, foi realizado um estudo quantitativo e correlacional, que teve como
objectivo avaliar a qualidade de vida e atitudes face Ă velhice de idosos, bem como a
relação entre estas e as variåveis sociodemogråficas e familiares.
Foram inquiridos 100 idosos, com mais de 65 anos e sem deficit cognitivo . Para
a recolha de dados utilizou-se uma entrevista estruturada, constituĂda dados
sĂłciodemogrĂĄficos do idoso, WHOQOL-AGE (Caballero, Miret, Power, Chatterji,
Tobiasz-Adamczyk, Koskinen, Leonardi, Olaya, Haro &Ayuso-Mateos, 2013) e o AAQ
( Laidlaw, Power, Schmidt and the WHOQOL-OLD Group, 2007).
Dos resultados destacamos os seguintes: A amostra Ă© constituĂda por 52% de
idosos do sexo masculino tendo uma média de idades de 74,7 (DP=6,8). à no fator
Perdas Psicossociais e no Desenvolvimento PsicolĂłgico que os idosos tĂȘm uma melhor
atitude face ao envelhecimento. Ă no item âTem dinheiro suficiente para satisfazer as
suas necessidades?â que os idosos apresentam uma menor qualidade de vida.
Não ter doença diagnosticada e ser do sexo masculino permitem ter melhores
atitudes face ao envelhecimento.
A Qualidade de Vida estĂĄ relacionada com a idade, com o estado de saĂșde e com
a intensidade de preocupação da famĂlia. Constatou-se que os idosos que nĂŁo estĂŁo
institucionalizados apresentam uma melhor qualidade de vida e uma melhor atitude face à velhice. Quem não precisa de ajudas técnicas para se movimentar apresenta uma melhor qualidade de vida.
Diferenças nas atitudes face ao envelhecimento consoante a residĂȘncia onde
habita sĂŁo significativas nas mudanças fĂsicas e no desenvolvimento psicolĂłgico sendo
que os idosos que nĂŁo vivem em lares tĂȘm uma atitude mais positiva em ambos os
fatores. / Over the past few years the issue of aging has played a growing importance in the population`s collective consciousness becoming increasingly important to
understand the elderly population and this reality.
Therefore a quantitative correlational study was performed to assess the quality
of life of seniors and their attitudes towards old age, and the relationship between these
and the socio-demographic and family factors.
100 seniors with more than 65 years and without cognitive deficit were
surveyed. For data collection we used a structured interview consisting of sociodemographic data of the elderly, WHOQOL-AGE (Caballero Miret Power Chatterji
Tobiasz-Adamczyk Koskinen Leonardi Olaya Ayuso-Mateos & Haro 2013) and AAQ
(Laidlaw Power Schmidt and the WHOQOL-OLD Group 2007).
We highlight: The sample is composed of 52% of males with a mean age of 74.7
(SD = 6.8). It is in the factor Psychosocial Losses and Psychological Development that
elderly people have a better attitude towards aging. It is in the item "Do you have
enough money to meet your needs?" that seniors show less quality of life.
Not having illness and being male allows having better attitudes towards aging.
Quality of Life is related to age, health condition and the intensity of family
concerns. It was observed that the elderly who are not institutionalized have a better
quality of life and a better attitude towards old age. Who does not need assistive devices to move around has a better quality of life.
Differences in attitudes towards aging, according to residency, are significant in
physical changes and psychological development, thus verifying that elderly who do not
live in nursing homes have a more positive attitude in both factors
A Kinematically Complete Measurement of the Proton Structure Function F2 in the Resonance Region and Evaluation of Its Moments
We measured the inclusive electron-proton cross section in the nucleon
resonance region (W < 2.5 GeV) at momentum transfers Q**2 below 4.5 (GeV/c)**2
with the CLAS detector. The large acceptance of CLAS allowed for the first time
the measurement of the cross section in a large, contiguous two-dimensional
range of Q**2 and x, making it possible to perform an integration of the data
at fixed Q**2 over the whole significant x-interval. From these data we
extracted the structure function F2 and, by including other world data, we
studied the Q**2 evolution of its moments, Mn(Q**2), in order to estimate
higher twist contributions. The small statistical and systematic uncertainties
of the CLAS data allow a precise extraction of the higher twists and demand
significant improvements in theoretical predictions for a meaningful comparison
with new experimental results.Comment: revtex4 18 pp., 12 figure
Observation of exclusive DVCS in polarized electron beam asymmetry measurements
We report the first results of the beam spin asymmetry measured in the
reaction e + p -> e + p + gamma at a beam energy of 4.25 GeV. A large asymmetry
with a sin(phi) modulation is observed, as predicted for the interference term
of Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering and the Bethe-Heitler process. The
amplitude of this modulation is alpha = 0.202 +/- 0.028. In leading-order and
leading-twist pQCD, the alpha is directly proportional to the imaginary part of
the DVCS amplitude.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure
Dependence of Quadrupole Strength in the Transition
Models of baryon structure predict a small quadrupole deformation of the
nucleon due to residual tensor forces between quarks or distortions from the
pion cloud. Sensitivity to quark versus pion degrees of freedom occurs through
the dependence of the magnetic (), electric (), and
scalar () multipoles in the
transition. We report new experimental values for the ratios
and over the range = 0.4-1.8 GeV, extracted from
precision data using a truncated multipole expansion.
Results are best described by recent unitary models in which the pion cloud
plays a dominant role.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, 1 table. To be published in Phys. Rev. Lett.
(References, figures and table updated, minor changes.
Measurement of the Polarized Structure Function for in the Resonance Region
The polarized longitudinal-transverse structure function
has been measured using the reaction in the
resonance region at and 0.65 GeV. No previous
data exist for this reaction channel. The kinematically
complete experiment was performed at Jefferson Lab with the CEBAF Large
Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS) using longitudinally polarized electrons at an
energy of 1.515 GeV. A partial wave analysis of the data shows generally better
agreement with recent phenomenological models of pion electroproduction
compared to the previously measured channel. A fit to both
and channels using a unitary isobar model suggests the unitarized
Born terms provide a consistent description of the non-resonant background. The
-channel pion pole term is important in the channel through a
rescattering correction, which could be model-dependent.Comment: 6 pages, LaTex, 5 eps figures: Submitted to PRC/Brief Reports v2:
Updated referenc
Green function techniques in the treatment of quantum transport at the molecular scale
The theoretical investigation of charge (and spin) transport at nanometer
length scales requires the use of advanced and powerful techniques able to deal
with the dynamical properties of the relevant physical systems, to explicitly
include out-of-equilibrium situations typical for electrical/heat transport as
well as to take into account interaction effects in a systematic way.
Equilibrium Green function techniques and their extension to non-equilibrium
situations via the Keldysh formalism build one of the pillars of current
state-of-the-art approaches to quantum transport which have been implemented in
both model Hamiltonian formulations and first-principle methodologies. We offer
a tutorial overview of the applications of Green functions to deal with some
fundamental aspects of charge transport at the nanoscale, mainly focusing on
applications to model Hamiltonian formulations.Comment: Tutorial review, LaTeX, 129 pages, 41 figures, 300 references,
submitted to Springer series "Lecture Notes in Physics
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