1,324 research outputs found
Rethinking globalised resistance : feminist activism and critical theorising in international relations
This article argues that a feminist approach to the 'politics of resistance' offers a number of important empirical insights which, in turn, open up lines of theoretical inquiry which critical theorists in IR would do well to explore. Concretely, we draw on our ongoing research into feminist 'anti-globalisation' activism to rethink the nature of the subject of the politics of resistance, the conditions under which resistance emerges and how resistance is enacted and expressed. We begin by discussing the relationship of feminism to critical IR theory as a way of situating and explaining the focus and approach of our research project. We then summarise our key empirical arguments regarding the emergence, structure, beliefs, identities and practices of feminist 'anti-globalisation' activism before exploring the implications of these for a renewed critical theoretical agenda in IR
Quantum teleportation and entanglement swapping with linear optics logic gates
We report on the usage of a linear optics phase gate for distinguishing all
four Bell states simultaneously in a quantum teleportation and entanglement
swapping protocol. This is demonstrated by full state tomography of the one and
two qubit output states of the two protocols, yielding average state fidelities
of about 0.83 and 0.77, respectively. In addition, the performance of the
teleportation channel is characterised by quantum process tomography. The non
classical properties of the entanglement swapping output states are further
confirmed by the violation of a CHSH-type Bell inequality of 2.14 on average.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure
Weak lensing surveys and the intrinsic correlation of galaxy ellipticities
We explore the possibility that an intrinsic correlation between galaxy
ellipticities arising during the galaxy formation process may account for part
of the shear signal recently reported by several groups engaged in weak lensing
surveys. Using high resolution N-body simulations we measure the projected
ellipticities of dark matter halos and their correlations as a function of pair
separation. With this simplifying, but not necessarily realistic assumption
(halo shapes as a proxy for galaxy shapes), we find a positive detection of
correlations up to scales of at least 20 h^-1mpc (limited by the box size). The
signal is not strongly affected by variations in the halo finding technique, or
by the resolution of the simulations. We translate our 3d results into angular
measurements of ellipticity correlation functions and shear variance which can
be directly compared to observations. We also measure similar results from
simulated angular surveys made by projecting our simulation boxes onto the
plane of the sky and applying a radial selection function. Interestingly, the
shear variance we measure is a small, but not entirely negligible fraction
(from ~10-20 %) of that seen by the observational groups, and the ellipticity
correlation functions approximately mimic the functional form expected to be
caused by weak lensing. The amplitude depends on the width in redshift of the
galaxy distribution. If photometric redshifts are used to pick out a screen of
background galaxies with a small width, then the intrinsic correlation may
become comparable to the weak lensing signal. Although we are dealing with
simulated dark matter halos, whether there is a signal from real galaxies could
be checked with a nearby sample with known redshifts.Comment: 12 pages, 11 ps figures, emulateapj.sty, submitted to Ap
The weakly coupled fractional one-dimensional Schr\"{o}dinger operator with index
We study fundamental properties of the fractional, one-dimensional Weyl
operator densely defined on the Hilbert space
and determine the asymptotic behaviour of
both the free Green's function and its variation with respect to energy for
bound states. In the sequel we specify the Birman-Schwinger representation for
the Schr\"{o}dinger operator
and extract the finite-rank portion which is essential for the asymptotic
expansion of the ground state. Finally, we determine necessary and sufficient
conditions for there to be a bound state for small coupling constant .Comment: 16 pages, 1 figur
Sensorimotor Adaptations Following Exposure to Ambiguous Inertial Motion Cues
The central nervous system must resolve the ambiguity of inertial motion sensory cues in order to derive accurate spatial orientation awareness. We hypothesize that multi-sensory integration will be adaptively optimized in altered gravity environments based on the dynamics of other sensory information available, with greater changes in otolith-mediated responses in the mid-frequency range where there is a crossover of tilt and translation responses. The primary goals of this ground-based research investigation are to explore physiological mechanisms and operational implications of tilt-translation disturbances during and following re-entry, and to evaluate a tactile prosthesis as a countermeasure for improving control of whole-body orientation
The cosmological evolution of metal enrichment in quasar host galaxies
We study the gas metallicity of quasar hosts using cosmological hydrodynamic
simulations of the Lambda-cold dark matter model. Galaxy formation in the
simulations is coupled with a prescription for black hole activity enabling us
to study the evolution of the metal enrichment in quasar hosts and hence
explore the relationship between star/spheroid formation and black hole
growth/activity. We find a steep radial metallicity gradient in quasar host
galaxies, with gas metallicities close to solar values in the outer parts but
becoming supersolar in the center. The hosts of the rare bright quasars at
z~5-6 have star formation rates of several hundred solar masses per year and
halo masses of order ~10^12 solar masses. Already at these redshifts they have
supersolar (Z ~2-3 solar) central metallicities, with a mild dependence of
metallicity on luminosity, consistent with observed trends. The mean value of
metallicity is sensitive to the assumed quasar lifetime, providing a useful new
probe of this parameter. We find that lifetimes from 10^7-4x10^7yr are favored
by comparison to observational data. In both the models and observations, the
rate of evolution of the mean quasar metallicity as a function of redshift is
generally flat out to z ~ 4-5. Beyond the observed redshift range and out to
redshift z ~ 6-8, we predict a slow decline of the mean central metallicity
towards solar and slightly subsolar values as we approach the epoch of the
first significant star formation activityComment: submitted to ApJ, 13 pages, 9 figures, emulateapj.sty, corrected
typos and added referenc
How data visualisation using historical medical journals can contribute to current debates around antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance in primary care
BackgroundThe early years of antibiotic use in primary care (c1950-1969) has received little attention. Medical journals provide a rich source for studying historic healthcare practitionersâ views and interests, with the potential to inform contemporary debate around issues of overuse and antimicrobial resistance. AimsPilot study to test the application of digital methods to interrogate historical medical journal data in relation to antibiotic use.Methods / ApproachMeta-data and scanned articles were extracted from the online British Journal of General Practice (BJGP) archive from inception (1953) to 1969. Searchable text was generated using an application called ABBYY optical character recognition, and Python used to generate data visualisations exploring (1) how BJGP changed during the period, (2) mentions of terms âantibiotic(s)â, âpenicillinâ, âresistance/resistantâ and mapping when and where they occurred.Results / EvaluationFrom 1953-1969, BJGP expanded in terms of number of annual issues (4 to 17) and annual pages (<25 to >1100). Heatmap visualisations were used to facilitate understanding of the frequency with which use of the term âantibiotic(s)â occurred. By 1969 an article mentioning âantibiotic(s)â was published monthly. Bigram searches found âtreatmentâ and âtherapyâ to be the two most common terms that appeared with âantibiotic(s)â. The fourth and seventh most common terms were âresistantâ (first appearing in 1955) and âresistanceâ (1962).ConclusionsThis pilot work shows that primary care publications increased considerably between 1953-1969. Articles on antibiotics featured frequently in relation to therapeutic intervention, and concerns around resistance occurred at an early stage. This approach provides new insights into how attitudes and behaviours around antibiotic use by primary care have evolved over time. It may also have the potential to inform study of the future use of antibiotics in primary care. <br/
Crystallographic structure of ultrathin Fe films on Cu(100)
We report bcc-like crystal structures in 2-4 ML Fe films grown on fcc Cu(100)
using scanning tunneling microscopy. The local bcc structure provides a
straightforward explanation for their frequently reported outstanding magnetic
properties, i.e., ferromagnetic ordering in all layers with a Curie temperature
above 300 K. The non-pseudomorphic structure, which becomes pseudomorphic above
4 ML film thickness is unexpected in terms of conventional rules of thin film
growth and stresses the importance of finite thickness effects in ferromagnetic
ultrathin films.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, RevTeX/LaTeX2.0
Cosmological Limits on the Neutrino Mass from the Lya Forest
The Lya forest in quasar spectra probes scales where massive neutrinos can
strongly suppress the growth of mass fluctuations. Using hydrodynamic
simulations with massive neutrinos, we successfully test techniques developed
to measure the mass power spectrum from the forest. A recent observational
measurement in conjunction with a conservative implementation of other
cosmological constraints places upper limits on the neutrino mass: m_nu < 5.5
eV for all values of Omega_m, and m_nu < 2.4 (Omega_m/0.17 -1) eV, if 0.2 <
Omega_m <0.5 as currently observationally favored (both 95 % C.L.).Comment: 4 pages, 2 ps figures, REVTex, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
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