Trees as Dialogue: Negotiating Boundaries with the Anne Frank Sapling Project

My qualitative research paper focuses on the Anne Frank sapling installation at the Clinton Presidential Museum and Library in Little Rock, Arkansas. Saplings grafted from the tree that grew outside Anne Frank’s window in Amsterdam while she wrote her famous diary are provided by the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect to organizations that will link the tree to dialogues about past and present social justice issues. Building on Thomas Gieryn’s recent work on “truth-spots,” I explore the sapling installation as a possible “truth-spot,” and reflect on what kind of truth is supported there. From a symbolic interactionist perspective, I consider the sapling as a boundary-crossing entity that, together with other elements of the installation, stimulates reflection and inclusive dialogue, and fosters hope without shunning complexity. I discuss the sapling’s ecological needs and material agency, since it is not a passive recipient of human meanings and orchestrations. I also comment on the changing role of museum installations and exhibit space in the context of social justice

A Stochastic Liouville Equation Approach for the Effect of Noise in Quantum Computations

We propose a model based on a generalized effective Hamiltonian for studying the effect of noise in quantum computations. The system-environment interactions are taken into account by including stochastic fluctuating terms in the system Hamiltonian. Treating these fluctuations as Gaussian Markov processes with zero mean and delta function correlation times, we derive an exact equation of motion describing the dissipative dynamics for a system of n qubits. We then apply this model to study the effect of noise on the quantum teleportation and a generic quantum controlled-NOT (CNOT) gate. For the quantum CNOT gate, we study the effect of noise on a set of one- and two-qubit quantum gates, and show that the results can be assembled together to investigate the quality of a quantum CNOT gate operation. We compute the averaged gate fidelity and gate purity for the quantum CNOT gate, and investigate phase, bit-flip, and flip-flop errors during the CNOT gate operation. The effects of direct inter-qubit coupling and fluctuations on the control fields are also studied. We discuss the limitations and possible extensions of this model. In sum, we demonstrate a simple model that enables us to investigate the effect of noise in arbitrary quantum circuits under realistic device conditions.Comment: 36 pages, 6 figures; to be submitted to Phys. Rev.

Did the Hilda collisional family form during the late heavy bombardment?

We model the long-term evolution of the Hilda collisional family located in the 3/2 mean-motion resonance with Jupiter. Its eccentricity distribution evolves mostly due to the Yarkovsky/YORP effect and assuming that: (i) impact disruption was isotropic, and (ii) albedo distribution of small asteroids is the same as for large ones, we can estimate the age of the Hilda family to be $4_{-1}^{+0}\,{\rm Gyr}$. We also calculate collisional activity in the J3/2 region. Our results indicate that current collisional rates are very low for a 200\,km parent body such that the number of expected events over Gyrs is much smaller than one. The large age and the low probability of the collisional disruption lead us to the conclusion that the Hilda family might have been created during the Late Heavy Bombardment when the collisions were much more frequent. The Hilda family may thus serve as a test of orbital behavior of planets during the LHB. We tested the influence of the giant-planet migration on the distribution of the family members. The scenarios that are consistent with the observed Hilda family are those with fast migration time scales $\simeq 0.3\,{\rm Myr}$ to $3\,{\rm Myr}$, because longer time scales produce a family that is depleted and too much spread in eccentricity. Moreover, there is an indication that Jupiter and Saturn were no longer in a compact configuration (with period ratio $P_{\rm S}/P_{\rm J} > 2.09$) at the time when the Hilda family was created

In situ tension-tension strain path changes of cold-rolled Mg AZ31B

The mechanical behavior of cold-rolled Mg AZ31B is studied during in-plane multiaxial loading and tension-tension strain path changes performed on cruciform samples using in situ neutron diffraction and EBSD. The results are compared with uniaxial tension loading of dogbone-shaped samples measured with in situ neutron diffraction and acoustic emission. The activity of slip and twinning mechanisms and the active twin variants are discussed for the different strain paths. It is shown that initial strains of 4–5% cause a strengthened yield stress during reload for strain path change angles of 90 and 135°. The strengthening is primarily due to dislocation accumulation during the initial load impeding dislocation motion during the reload. The twinning observed during the prestrain activates complex multivariant secondary twinning which may also contribute to the strengthening in the reload

Тренінгові технології у підготовці перекладачів-синхроністів з використанням спеціалізованого обладнання

The article deals with the search for ways to improve the training of simultaneous interpreters in accordance with modern requirements for their professional activities. It has been suggested that special training should be incorporated into the training of these professionals to develop and improve a range of specific abilities, skills and attitudes. They are classified into five groups (linguistic, cognitive, psychological, physical, technical). Particular attention is paid to the technological support for the work of the simultaneous interpreters. A training programme for simultaneous interpreters has been developed and its effectiveness has been tested. It is proposed to conduct training sessions under the modelling of real working conditions of simultaneous interpreters.Стаття присвячена пошуку шляхів удосконалення підготовки перекладачів-синхроністів відповідно до сучасних вимог до їх професійної діяльності. Запропоновано включити до програми підготовки цих фахівців спеціальну підготовку, спрямовану на розвиток і вдосконалення низки специфічних здібностей, навичок і установок. Їх класифіковано на п'ять груп (лінгвістичні, когнітивні, психологічні, фізичні, технічні). Особлива увага приділяється технологічному забезпеченню роботи перекладачів-синхроністів. Розроблено програму підготовки перекладачів-синхроністів та перевірено її ефективність. Запропоновано проводити навчальні заняття в умовах моделювання реальних умов роботи перекладачів-синхроністів

Can discrete time make continuous space look discrete?

Van Bendegem has recently offered an argument to the effect that, if time is discrete, then there should exist a correspondence between the motions of massive bodies and a discrete geometry. On this basis, he concludes that, even if space is continuous, it should nonetheless appear discrete. This paper examines the two possible ways of making sense of that correspondence, and shows that in neither case van Bendegem's conclusion logically follows

Diversity and Distribution of Braconidae, a Family of Parasitoid Wasps in the Central European Peatbogs of South Bohemia, Czech Republic

An ecological overview of seven years investigation of Braconidae, a family of parasitoid wasps (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonoidea) and a tyrpho-classification of parasitoids in peatbog areas of South Bohemia, Czech Republic are given. A total of 350 species were recorded in investigated sites, but only five tyrphobionts (1.4%) are proposed: Microchelonus basalis, Microchelonus koponeni, Coloneura ate, Coloneura danica and Myiocephalus niger. All of these species have a boreal-alpine distribution that, in Central Europe, is associated only with peatbogs. Tyrphophilous behaviour is seen in at least four (1.1%) species: Microchelonus pedator, Microchelonus subpedator, Microchelonus karadagi and Microchelonus gravenhorstii; however, a number of other braconids prefer peatbogs because they were more frequently encountered within, rather than outside, the bog habitat. The rest of the braconids (342 species, 97.5%) are tyrphoneutrals, many of them being eurytopic components of various habitats throughout their current ranges. Lists of tyrphobiontic braconids and a brief commentary on species composition, distributional picture of actual ranges, and parasitoid association to bog landscape are provided. Being true refugial habitats for populations in an ever-changing world, peatbogs play a significant role in harboring insect communities

Asteroids' physical models from combined dense and sparse photometry and scaling of the YORP effect by the observed obliquity distribution

The larger number of models of asteroid shapes and their rotational states derived by the lightcurve inversion give us better insight into both the nature of individual objects and the whole asteroid population. With a larger statistical sample we can study the physical properties of asteroid populations, such as main-belt asteroids or individual asteroid families, in more detail. Shape models can also be used in combination with other types of observational data (IR, adaptive optics images, stellar occultations), e.g., to determine sizes and thermal properties. We use all available photometric data of asteroids to derive their physical models by the lightcurve inversion method and compare the observed pole latitude distributions of all asteroids with known convex shape models with the simulated pole latitude distributions. We used classical dense photometric lightcurves from several sources and sparse-in-time photometry from the U.S. Naval Observatory in Flagstaff, Catalina Sky Survey, and La Palma surveys (IAU codes 689, 703, 950) in the lightcurve inversion method to determine asteroid convex models and their rotational states. We also extended a simple dynamical model for the spin evolution of asteroids used in our previous paper. We present 119 new asteroid models derived from combined dense and sparse-in-time photometry. We discuss the reliability of asteroid shape models derived only from Catalina Sky Survey data (IAU code 703) and present 20 such models. By using different values for a scaling parameter cYORP (corresponds to the magnitude of the YORP momentum) in the dynamical model for the spin evolution and by comparing synthetics and observed pole-latitude distributions, we were able to constrain the typical values of the cYORP parameter as between 0.05 and 0.6.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, January 15, 201

Reviews and syntheses: Carbon use efficiency from organisms to ecosystems – definitions, theories, and empirical evidence

The cycling of carbon (C) between the Earth surface and the atmosphere is controlled by biological and abiotic processes that regulate C storage in biogeochemical compartments and release to the atmosphere. This partitioning is quantified using various forms of C-use efficiency (CUE) – the ratio of C remaining in a system to C entering that system. Biological CUE is the fraction of C taken up allocated to biosynthesis. In soils and sediments, C storage depends also on abiotic processes, so the term C-storage efficiency (CSE) can be used. Here we first review and reconcile CUE and CSE definitions proposed for autotrophic and heterotrophic organisms and communities, food webs, whole ecosystems and watersheds, and soils and sediments using a common mathematical framework. Second, we identify general CUE patterns; for example, the actual CUE increases with improving growth conditions, and apparent CUE decreases with increasing turnover. We then synthesize &gt;&thinsp;5000&thinsp;CUE estimates showing that CUE decreases with increasing biological and ecological organization – from unicellular to multicellular organisms and from individuals to ecosystems. We conclude that CUE is an emergent property of coupled biological–abiotic systems, and it should be regarded as a flexible and scale-dependent index of the capacity of a given system to effectively retain C.</p