2,760 research outputs found
Performance in Mixed-Sex and Single-Sex Tournaments: What We Can Learn from Speedboat Races in Japan
In speedboat racing in Japan, women racers participate and compete in races under the same conditions as men, and all individuals are randomly assigned to mixed-gender or single-gender groups for each race. In this paper we use a sample of over 140,000 observations of individual-level racing records provided by the Japanese Speedboat Racing Association to examine how male-dominated circumstances affect women's racing performance. We control for individual fixed-effects plus a host of other factors affecting performance (such as starting lane, fitness and weather conditions). Our estimates reveal that women's race-time is slower in mixed-gender races than in all-women races, whereas men racer's time is faster in mixed-gender races than men-only races. In mixed-gender races, male racers are found to be more 'aggressive' – as proxied by lane-changing – in spite of the risk of being penalized if they contravene the rules, whereas women follow less aggressive strategies. We find no difference in disqualifications between genders. We suggest that gender-differences in risk-attitudes and over-confidence may result in different responses to the competitive environment and penalties for rule-breaking, and that gender-identity also plays a role
AKARI Mission Program: Excavating Mass Loss History in Extended Dust Shells of Evolved Stars (MLHES) I. Far-IR Photometry
We performed a far-IR imaging survey of the circumstellar dust shells of 144
evolved stars as a mission programme of the AKARI infrared astronomical
satellite using the Far-Infrared Surveyor (FIS) instrument. With this survey,
we deliver far-IR surface brightness distributions of roughly 10' x 40' or 10'
x 20' areas of the sky around the target evolved stars in the four FIS bands at
65, 90, 140, and 160 microns. Our objectives are to characterize the far-IR
surface brightness distributions of the cold dust component in the
circumstellar dust shells, from which we derive the amount of cold dust grains
as low as 20 K and empirically establish the history of the early mass loss
history. In this first installment of the series, we introduce the project and
its aims, describe the observations, data reduction, and surface brightness
correction process, and present the entire data set along with the results of
integrated photometry measurements (i.e., the central source and circumstellar
dust shell altogether). We find that (1) far-IR emission is detected from all
but one object at the spatial resolution about 30" - 50" in the corresponding
bands, (2) roughly 60 - 70 % of the target sources show some extension, (3)
previously unresolved nearby objects in the far-IR are now resolved around 28
target sources, (4) the results of photometry measurements are reasonable with
respect to the entries in the AKARI/FIS Bright Source Catalogue, despite the
fact that the targets are assumed to be point-sources when catalogue flux
densities were computed, and (5) an IR two-color diagram would place the target
sources in a roughly linear distribution that may correlate with the age of the
circumstellar dust shell and can potentially be used to identify which targets
are more extended than others.Comment: To be published in PASJ AKARI Special Issue: 25 pages, 5 figures, 5
tables (and 28 supplementary figures available only in PASJ on-line
Nonlinear Quantum Behavior of Ultrashort-Pulse Optical Parametric Oscillators
The quantum features of ultrashort-pulse optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) are theoretically investigated in the nonlinear regime near and above threshold. Starting from basic premises of input-output theory, we derive a general quantum model for pulsed OPOs subject to χ(2) interactions between a multimode signal cavity and a non-resonant broadband pump field, elucidating time scale conditions required for such pulsed OPOs to admit an input-output description. By employing a supermode decomposition of the nonlinear Lindblad operators governing pump-signal interactions, we perform multimode quantum simulations in the regime of strong nonlinearity and study effects such as pump depletion and corrections to the squeezing spectrum of the linearized model. We observe non-Gaussian states with Wigner function negativity and show that multimode interactions with the pump can act as decoherence channels
Quantum deformation of the Dirac bracket
The quantum deformation of the Poisson bracket is the Moyal bracket. We
construct quantum deformation of the Dirac bracket for systems which admit
global symplectic basis for constraint functions. Equivalently, it can be
considered as an extension of the Moyal bracket to second-class constraints
systems and to gauge-invariant systems which become second class when
gauge-fixing conditions are imposed.Comment: 18 pages, REVTe
Water vapor on supergiants. The 12 micron TEXES spectra of mu Cephei
Several recent papers have argued for warm, semi-detached, molecular layers
surrounding red giant and supergiant stars, a concept known as a MOLsphere.
Spectroscopic and interferometric analyses have often corroborated this general
picture. Here, we present high-resolution spectroscopic data of pure rotational
lines of water vapor at 12 microns for the supergiant mu Cephei. This star has
often been used to test the concept of molecular layers around supergiants.
Given the prediction of an isothermal, optically thick water-vapor layer in
Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium around the star (MOLsphere), we expected the 12
micron lines to be in emission or at least in absorption but filled in by
emission from the molecular layer around the star. Our data, however, show the
contrary; we find definite absorption. Thus, our data do not easily fit into
the suggested isothermal MOLsphere scenario. The 12 micron lines, therefore,
put new, strong constraints on the MOLsphere concept and on the nature of water
seen in signatures across the spectra of early M supergiants. We also find that
the absorption is even stronger than that calculated from a standard,
spherically symmetric model photosphere without any surrounding layers. A cool
model photosphere, representing cool outer layers is, however, able to
reproduce the lines, but this model does not account for water vapor emission
at 6 microns. Thus, a unified model for water vapor on mu Cephei appears to be
lacking. It does seem necessary to model the underlying photospheres of these
supergiants in their whole complexity. The strong water vapor lines clearly
reveal inadequacies of classical model atmospheres.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa
Exact Ground States in Spin Systems with Orbital Degeneracy
We present exact ground states in spin models with orbital generacy in one
and higher dimensions. A method to obtain the exact ground states of the models
when the Hamiltonians are composed of the products of two commutable operators
is proposed. For the case of the spin-1/2 model with two-fold degeneracy some
exact ground states are given, such as the Valence-Bond (VB), the magnetically
ordered, and the orbitally ordered states under particular parameter regimes.
We also find the models with the higher spin and degeneracy which have the new
types of VB ground states in the spin and the orbital sectors.Comment: 4 pages(JPSJ.sty), 2 figures(EPS), to appear in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn.
68, No.2 (1999) 32
Far-infrared imaging of post-AGB stars and (proto)-planetary nebulae with the AKARI Far-Infrared Surveyor
By tracing the distribution of cool dust in the extended envelopes of
post-AGB stars and (proto)-planetary nebulae ((P)PNe) we aim to recover, or
constrain, the mass loss history experienced by these stars in their recent
past. The Far-Infrared Surveyor (FIS) instrument on board the AKARI satellite
was used to obtain far-infrared maps for a selected sample of post-AGB stars
and (P)PNe. We derived flux densities (aperture photometry) for 13 post-AGB
stars and (P)PNe at four far-infrared wavelengths (60, 90, 140, and 160 um).
Radial (azimuthally averaged) profiles are used to investigate the presence of
extended emission from cool dust. No (detached) extended emission is detected
for any target in our sample at levels significant with respect to background
and cirrus emission. Only IRAS 21046+4739 reveals tentative excess emission
between 30 and 130". Estimates of the total dust and gas mass from the obtained
maps indicate that the envelope masses of these stars should be large in order
to be detected with the AKARI FIS. Imaging with higher sensitivity and higher
spatial resolution is needed to detect and resolve, if present, any cool
compact or extended emission associated with these evolved stars.Comment: accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal (16 pages, 3
figures and 4 tables
Intracellular calcium transients are necessary for platelet-derived growth factor but not extracellular matrix protein–induced vascular smooth muscle cell migration
AbstractPurposeVascular smooth muscle cell (SMC) migration is a critical component of the hyperplastic response that leads to recurrent stenosis after interventions to treat arterial occlusive disease. We investigated the relationship between intracellular calcium ([Ca2+]i) and migration of vascular SMCs in response to platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins.MethodsHuman saphenous vein SMCs were used for all experiments. SMC migration in response to agonists was measured with a microchemotaxis assay. A standard fluorimetric assay was used to assess changes in [Ca2+]i in response to the various combinations of growth factors and ECM proteins.ResultsThe calcium ionophore A23187 produced a rapid rise in [Ca2+]i and a corresponding 60% increase in SMC migration, whereas chelation of [Ca2+]i with BAPTA (1,2-bis [aminophenoxy] ethane-N,N,N′,N′-tetraacetic acid) produced a fivefold decrease in PDGF-induced chemotaxis, suggesting that [Ca2+]i is both sufficient and necessary for SMC migration. Stimulation of SMCs with PDGF produced an early peak followed by a late plateau in [Ca2+]i. To establish a relationship between temporal fluctuations in [Ca2+]i and SMC migration, SMCs were pretreated with caffeine and ryanadine, which eliminated the initial peak but not the late plateau in [Ca2+]i, and had no effect on chemotaxis in response to PDGF. Incubation of SMCs with nickel chloride eliminated the late plateau, but had no effect on the initial peak in [Ca2+]i, and reduced PDGF-stimulated migration by fivefold. We then evaluated the role of calcium in SMC migration induced by ECM proteins such as laminin, fibronectin, and collagen types I and IV. All four matrix proteins stimulated SMC migration, but none produced an elevation in [Ca2+]i. Moreover, preincubation of SMCs with caffeine and ryanadine or nickel chloride had no effect on ECM protein-induced chemotaxis.Conclusion[Ca2+]i transients are necessary for PDGF but not ECM protein-induced SMC chemotaxis. Moreover, the ability of PDGF to stimulate vascular SMC migration appears dependent on influx of extracellular calcium through membrane channels.AbstractClinical relevanceRecurrent stenosis after angioplasty or surgical bypass remains a significant challenge in treating vascular occlusive disease. In addition to growth factors, extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins may be potent agonists of this process. In this study we show that the influx of extracellular calcium is an important mechanism for platelet-derived growth factor–induced smooth muscle cell migration but not ECM-induced migration. Of note, in clinical trials calcium channel blockers failed to inhibit recurrent stenosis. Our data provide mechanistic insight to help explain this negative outcome in that therapies designed to inhibit restenosis depend on the effects of both growth factors and ECM proteins
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