10,996 research outputs found
An initial-boundary value problem for the Korteweg-de Vries equation on the negative quarter-plane
For the abstract of this paper, please see the PDF file
Baby Boomers & adult Ageing: Issues for Social and Public policy
This paper provides a critical assessment of academic and policy approaches to population ageing with an emphasis on the baby boomer cohort and constructions of late-life identity. It is suggested that policy towards an ageing population has shifted in focus, away from particular social hazards and towards an attempt to re-engineer the meaning of legitimate ageing and social participation in later life. Three themes are identified: constructing the baby boomers as a force for social change, a downward drift of the age associated with 'older people' and a shift away from defining ageing identities through consumption, bacl towards work and production. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications for future social and public policy
The Age-shift: observations on social policy, ageism and the dynamics of the adult lifecourse
Through a critical engagement with policy trends, we ask how shifts in ideologies of ageing might influence the possibilities available to adults as they grow older. Of particular interest are the implications for how people are being encouraged to think about the adult lifecourse. We address these questions by looking at policy development, taking the 2000–2005 period in the UK as a case example, and by comparing this period to wider regional and international trends. Finally, we assess the implications of contemporary policy, from a psychodynamic point of view, for the maintenance of a viable identity in later life and for intergenerational relationships
CMB Constraints on Principal Components of the Inflaton Potential
We place functional constraints on the shape of the inflaton potential from
the cosmic microwave background through a variant of the generalized slow roll
approximation that allows large amplitude, rapidly changing deviations from
scale-free conditions. Employing a principal component decomposition of the
source function G'~3(V'/V)^2 - 2V''/V and keeping only those measured to better
than 10% results in 5 nearly independent Gaussian constraints that maybe used
to test any single-field inflationary model where such deviations are expected.
The first component implies < 3% variations at the 100 Mpc scale. One component
shows a 95% CL preference for deviations around the 300 Mpc scale at the ~10%
level but the global significance is reduced considering the 5 components
examined. This deviation also requires a change in the cold dark matter density
which in a flat LCDM model is disfavored by current supernova and Hubble
constant data and can be tested with future polarization or high multipole
temperature data. Its impact resembles a local running of the tilt from
multipoles 30-800 but is only marginally consistent with a constant running
beyond this range. For this analysis, we have implemented a ~40x faster WMAP7
likelihood method which we have made publicly available.Comment: 12 pages, 14 figures, submitted to Phys.Rev.D. Optimized WMAP7
likelihood code and principal component functions of the GSR source function
available at http://background.uchicago.edu/wmap_fast
Biochemical responses of the Skylab crewman
The biochemical investigations of the Skylab crewmen were designed to study the physiological changes that were observed on flight crews returning from previous space flight missions as well as to study those changes expected to result from prolonged weightless exposure. These studies can be divided into two broad categories. One category included routine blood studies similar to those used in clinical medical practice. The second included research-type endocrine analyses used to investigate more thoroughly the metabolic/endocrine responses to the space flight environment. The premission control values indicated that all Skylab crewmen were healthy and were free from biochemical abnormalities. The routine results during and after flight showed slight but significant changes in electrolytes, glucose, total protein, osmolality, uric acid, cholesterol, and creatinine. Plasma hormal changes included adrenocorticotrophic hormone, cortisol, angiotensin I, aldosterone, insulin, and thyroxine. The 24-hour urine analyses results revealed increased excretion of cortisol, catecholamines, antidiuretic hormone, and aldosterone as well as excretion of significant electrolyte and uric acid during the Skylab flights
Cosmological dynamics of Scalar--Tensor Gravity
We study the phase--space of FLRW models derived from Scalar--Tensor Gravity
where the non--minimal coupling is and the effective
potential is . Our analysis allows to unfold many
feature of the cosmology of this class of theories. For example, the evolution
mechanism towards states indistinguishable from GR is recovered and proved to
depend critically on the form of the potential . Also, transient
almost--Friedmann phases evolving towards accelerated expansion and unstable
inflationary phases evolving towards stable ones are found. Some of our results
are shown to hold also for the String-Dilaton action.Comment: 25 pages, 4 figures, 12 tables, submitted to CQ
Material Flow Analysis: Outcome Focus (MFA:OF) for Elucidating the Role of Infrastructure in the Development of a Liveable City
Engineered infrastructures (i.e., utilities, transport & digital) underpin modern society. Delivering services via these
is especially challenging in cities where differing infrastructures form a web of interdependencies. There must be a
step change in how infrastructures deliver services to cities, if those cities are to be liveable in the future (i.e., provide
for citizen wellbeing, produce less CO2 & ensure the security of the resources they use). Material Flow Analysis
(MFA) is a useful methodology for understanding how infrastructures transfer resources to, within and from cities
and contribute to the city’s metabolism. Liveable Cities, a five-year research programme was established to identify
& test radical engineering interventions leading to liveable cities of the future. In this paper, the authors propose an
outcome-focussed variation on the MFA methodology (MFA: OF), evidenced through work on the resource flows of
Birmingham, UK. These flows include water, energy, food & carbon-intensive materials (e.g., steel, paper, glass), as
well as their associated waste. The contribution MFA: OF makes to elucidating the interactions & interdependencies
between the flows is highlighted and suggestions are made for how it can contribute to the (radical) rethinking of the
engineered infrastructure associated with such flow
On the Hojman conservation quantities in Cosmology
We discuss the application of the Hojman's Symmetry Approach for the
determination of conservation laws in Cosmology, which has been recently
applied by various authors in different cosmological models. We show that
Hojman's method for regular Hamiltonian systems, where the Hamiltonian function
is one of the involved equations of the system, is equivalent to the
application of Noether's Theorem for generalized transformations. That means
that for minimally-coupled scalar field cosmology or other modified theories
which are conformally related with scalar-field cosmology, like gravity,
the application of Hojman's method provide us with the same results with that
of Noether's theorem. Moreover we study the special Ansatz. , which has been introduced for
a minimally-coupled scalar field, and we study the Lie and Noether point
symmetries for the reduced equation. We show that under this Ansatz, the
unknown function of the model cannot be constrained by the requirement of the
existence of a conservation law and that the Hojman conservation quantity which
arises for the reduced equation is nothing more than the functional form of
Noetherian conservation laws for the free particle. On the other hand, for
teleparallel gravity, it is not the existence of Hojman's conservation
laws which provide us with the special function form of functions, but
the requirement that the reduced second-order differential equation admits a
Jacobi Last multiplier, while the new conservation law is nothing else that the
Hamiltonian function of the reduced equation.Comment: 6 pages; minor corrections; accepted for publication by Physics
Letters B. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1503.0846
Effects of Weightlessness on Human Fluid and Electrolyte Physiology
The changes that occur in human fluid and electrolyte physiology during the acute and adaptive phases of adaptation to spaceflight are summarized. A number of questions remain to be answered. At a time when plasma volume and extracellular fluid volume are contracted and salt and water intake is unrestricted. ADH does not correct the volume deficit and serum sodium decreases. Change in secretion or activity of a natriuretic factor during spaceflight is one possible explanation. Recent identification of a polypeptide hormone produced in cardiac muscle cells which is natiuretic, is hypotensive, and has an inhibitory effect on renin and aldosterone secretion has renewed interest in the role of a natriuretic factor. The role of this atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) in both long- and short-term variation in extracellular volumes and in the inability of the kidney to bring about an escape from the sodium-retaining state accompanying chronic cardiac dysfunction makes it reasonable to look for a role of ANF in the regulation of sodium during exposure to microgravity. Prostaglandin-E is another hormone that may antagonize the action of ADH. Assays of these hormones will be performed on samples from crew members in the future
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