Patterns of behavior in lodgings exposed to traffic noise

Threshold values for public services interferent on the attenuation to noise nuisance were defined. Daily life at home was described and collected on the use of residences, the effects of noise on health and sleep, and the incidence of running away from home. A correlation was made with the equipment and noise insulation of homes. It is shown that there are behavior patterns in the modification of considerable manner in the way of life for people who live in apartments and in individual houses, above 66 dB during daytime

Freund-Rubin Revisited

We utilise the duality between M theory and Type IIA string theory to show the existence of Freund-Rubin compactifications of M theory on 7-manifolds with singularities supporting chiral fermions. This leads to a concrete way to study phenomenologically interesting quantum gravity vacua using a holographically dual three dimensional field theory.Comment: reference adde

Numerical radiative transfer with state-of-the-art iterative methods made easy

This article presents an on-line tool (rttools.irap.omp.eu) and its accompanying software ressources for the numerical solution of basic radiation transfer out of local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE). State-of-the-art stationary iterative methods such as Accelerated $\Lambda$-Iteration and Gauss-Seidel schemes, using a short characteristics-based formal solver are used. We also comment on typical numerical experiments associated to the basic non-LTE radiation problem. These ressources are intended for the largest use and benefit, in support to more classical radiation transfer lectures usually given at the Master level.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, accepted for Eur. J. Phys. - see also (and use!) http://rttools.irap.omp.e

Capital controls and spillover effects: evidence from Latin-American countries

The surge in capital inflows towards emerging countries after 2009 has revived the debate about capital controls. This paper analyzes some of the international implications of restrictions on capital inflows. Focusing on a sample of Latin-American countries, we use detailed balance of payments data and higher frequency data on portfolio bond and equity flows to investigate the potential spillover effects that capital controls imposed in one country may have on neighboring economies. Using various econometric approaches, we find that a rise in the Brazilian tax on portfolio bond inflows has been affecting other Latin-American economies through significant surges in portfolio funds invested either in fixed income or equity securities. The effect is usually short lasting and followed by rapid reductions in those inflows. Yet it can be large. According to our estimates, the increase in the Brazilian tax on portfolio bond inflows may account for the entire surge in bond inflows to Mexico between September and October 2010.capital flows, capital controls, spillovers, Latin America, VAR.

Effect of habituation on the susceptibility of the rat to restraint ulcers

The frequency and gravity of restraint ulcers were found to significantly diminish in rats previously exposed to brief periods of immobilization. The rats' becoming habituated to restraint conditions probably explains this phenomenon

Quasiparticle interference from different impurities on the surface of pyrochlore iridates: signatures of the Weyl phase

Weyl semimetals are gapless three-dimensional topological materials where two bands touch at an even number of points in the bulk Brillouin zone. These semimetals exhibit topologically protected surface Fermi arcs, which pairwise connect the projected bulk band touchings in the surface Brillouin zone. Here, we analyze the quasiparticle interference patterns of the Weyl phase when time-reversal symmetry is explicitly broken. We use a multi-band $d$-electron Hubbard Hamiltonian on a pyrochlore lattice, relevant for the pyrochlore iridate R$_2$Ir$_2$O$_7$ (where R is a rare earth). Using exact diagonalization, we compute the surface spectrum and quasiparticle interference (QPI) patterns for various surface terminations and impurities. We show that the spin and orbital texture of the surface states can be inferred from the absence of certain backscattering processes and from the symmetries of the QPI features for non-magnetic and magnetic impurities. Furthermore, we show that the QPI patterns of the Weyl phase in pyrochlore iridates may exhibit additional interesting features that go beyond those found previously in TaAs.Comment: 15 pages, 16 figure

O/Fe in metal-poor main sequence and subgiant stars

A study of the O/Fe ratio in metal-poor main sequence and subgiant stars is presented using the [OI] 6300A line, the OI 7774A triplet, and a selection of weak FeII lines observed on high-resolution spectra acquired with the VLT UVES spectrograph. The [OI] line is detected in the spectra of 18 stars with -0.5 < [Fe/H] < -2.4, and the triplet is observed for 15 stars with [Fe/H] ranging from -1.0 to -2.7. The abundance analysis was made first using standard model atmospheres taking into account non-LTE effects on the triplet: the [OI] line and the triplet give consistent results with [O/Fe] increasing quasi-linearly with decreasing [Fe/H] reaching [O/Fe] ~ +0.7 at [Fe/H] = -2.5. When hydrodynamical model atmospheres representing stellar granulation in dwarf and subgiant stars replace standard models, the [O/Fe] from the [OI] and FeII lines is decreased by an amount which increases with decreasing [Fe/H]. The [O/Fe] vs [Fe/H] relation remains quasi-linear extending to [O/Fe] ~ +0.5 at [Fe/H] = -2.5, but with a tendency of a plateau with [O/Fe] ~ +0.3 for -2.0 < [Fe/H] < -1.0, and a hint of cosmic scatter in [O/Fe] at [Fe/H] ~ -1.0. Use of the hydrodynamical models disturbs the broad agreement between the oxygen abundances from the [OI], OI, and OH lines, but 3D non-LTE effects may serve to erase these differences.Comment: ps file, 18 pages (including 10 figures) - Accepted for publication in A&