10,845 research outputs found
An Alternative Mechanism for the Delivery of Scholarly Journal Articles: ReadCube Access at the University of Utah
Traditional collection management of serials through site licenses and subscriptions is increasingly unsustainable due to rising costs and steady or falling library budgets. The ensuing gaps in access have led to widespread illicit file sharing, resulting in the disintermediation of libraries and the devaluing of publishers. It has therefore become essential to explore alternatives for the delivery of journal literature. We report on the exploration of a new mechanism for the provision of scholarly articles using patron-driven acquisition (PDA). During the 2012–2013 academic year, the University of Utah Marriott Library, ReadCube, and Nature Publishing Group collaborated on the development and testing of ReadCube Access, an article delivery service designed to allow researchers to immediately access individual articles at a cost lower than traditional interlibrary loan, pay per view, or document delivery.
The goal of this session is to explore the economics of collection management from the perspective of supplying needed scholarly articles and discuss how new technologies like ReadCube Access and PDA can support that aim. The session will involve a frank discussion of the effects of and attitudes toward illicit file sharing, from which the audience will learn about the scale of file sharing and how it affects the perceived value and, therefore, funding of libraries. An interactive workshop on cost-per-use assessment for various acquisition mechanisms will elucidate how the economics of acquisition mechanisms change with demand and under which conditions PDA will save libraries money while increasing patron engagement and satisfaction
ECONOMICS OF SEQUESTERING CARBON IN THE U.S. AGRICULTURAL SECTOR
Atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases can be reduced by withdrawing carbon from the atmosphere and sequestering it in soils and biomass. This report analyzes the performance of alternative incentive designs and payment levels if farmers were paid to adopt land uses and management practices that raise soil carbon levels. At payment levels below $10 per metric ton for permanently sequestered carbon, analysis suggests landowners would find it more cost effective to adopt changes in rotations and tillage practices. At higher payment levels, afforestation dominates sequestration activities, mostly through conversion of pastureland. Across payment levels, the economic potential to sequester carbon is much lower than the technical potential reported in soil science studies. The most cost-effective payment design adjusts payment levels to account both for the length of time farmers are willing to commit to sequestration activities and for net sequestration. A 50-percent cost-share for cropland conversion to forestry or grasslands would increase sequestration at low carbon payment levels but not at high payment levels.Carbon sequestration, greenhouse gas mitigation, afforestation, conservation tillage, no-till, incentive design, leakage, carbon stock, permanence, Environmental Economics and Policy,
Strictly Anomaly Mediated Supersymmetry Breaking
We consider an MSSM extension with anomaly mediation as the source of
supersymmetry-breaking, and a U(1) symmetry which solves the tachyonic slepton
problem, and introduces both the see-saw mechanism for neutrino masses, and the
Higgs mu-term. We compare its spectra with those from so-called minimal anomaly
mediated supersymmetry breaking. We find a Standard Model-like Higgs of mass
125 GeV with a gravitino mass of 140 TeV and tan(beta)=16. However, the muon
anomalous magnetic moment is 3 sigma away from the experimental value.
The model naturally produces a period of hybrid inflation, which can exit to
a false vacuum characterised by large Higgs vevs, reaching the true ground
state after a period of thermal inflation. The scalar spectral index is reduced
to approximately 0.975, and the correct abundance of neutralino dark matter can
be produced by decays of thermally-produced gravitinos, provided the gravitino
mass (and hence the Higgs mass) is high. Naturally light cosmic strings are
produced, satisfying bounds from the Cosmic Microwave Background. The
complementary pulsar timing and cosmic ray bounds require that strings decay
primarily via loops into gravitational waves. Unless the loops are extremely
small, the next generation pulsar timing array will rule out or detect the
string-derived gravitational radiation background in this model.Comment: 38 pages, 1 figure. Discussion of 125GeV Higgs possibility, and of
U(1) decoupling limi
The incidence of mid-infrared excesses in G and K giants
Using photometric data from the 2MASS and GLIMPSE catalogues, I investigate
the incidence of mid-infrared excesses (~10 microns) of G and K stars of
luminosity class III. In order to obtain a large sample size, stars are
selected using a near-IR colour-magnitude diagram. Sources which are candidates
for showing mid-IR excess are carefully examined and modelled to determined
whether they are likely to be G/K giants. It is found that mid-IR excesses are
present at a level of (1.8 +/- 0.4) x 10^-3. While the origin of these excesses
remains uncertain, it is plausible that they arise from debris discs around
these stars. I note that the measured incidence is consistent with a scenario
in which dust lifetimes in debris discs are determined by Poynting-Robertson
drag rather than by collisions.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 13 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables (1
landscape table
Many-body Electronic Structure of Metallic alpha-Uranium
We present results for the electronic structure of alpha uranium using a
recently developed quasiparticle self-consistent GW method (QSGW). This is the
first time that the f-orbital electron-electron interactions in an actinide has
been treated by a first-principles method beyond the level of the generalized
gradient approximation (GGA) to the local density approximation (LDA). We show
that the QSGW approximation predicts an f-level shift upwards of about 0.5 eV
with respect to the other metallic s-d states and that there is a significant
f-band narrowing when compared to LDA band-structure results. Nonetheless,
because of the overall low f-electron occupation number in uranium,
ground-state properties and the occupied band structure around the Fermi energy
is not significantly affected. The correlations predominate in the unoccupied
part of the f states. This provides the first formal justification for the
success of LDA and GGA calculations in describing the ground-state properties
of this material.Comment: 4 pages, 3 fihgure
Toxicity of cancer therapy: what the cardiologist needs to know about angiogenesis inhibitors
Clinical outcomes for patients with a wide range of malignancies have improved substantially over the last two decades. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are potent signalling cascade inhibitors and have been responsible for significant advances in cancer therapy. By inhibiting vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR)-mediated tumour blood vessel growth, VEGFR-TKIs have become a mainstay of treatment for a number of solid malignancies. However, the incidence of VEGFR-TKI-associated cardiovascular toxicity is substantial and previously under-recognised. Almost all patients have an acute rise in blood pressure, and the majority develop hypertension. They are associated with the development of left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD), heart failure and myocardial ischaemia and can have effects on myocardial repolarisation. Attention should be given to rigorous baseline assessment of patients prior to commencing VEGFR-TKIs, with careful consideration of baseline cardiovascular risk factors. Baseline blood pressure measurement, ECG and cardiac imaging should be performed routinely. Hypertension management currently follows national guidelines, but there may be a future role forendothelin-1 antagonism in the prevention or treatment of VEGFR-TKI-associated hypertension. VEGFR-TKI-associated LVSD appears to be independent of dose and is reversible. Patients who develop LVSD and heart failure should be managed with conventional heart failure therapies, but the role of prophylactic therapy is yet to be defined. Serial monitoring of left ventricular function and QT interval require better standardisation and coordinated care. Management of these complex patients requires collaborative, cardio-oncology care to allow the true therapeutic potential from cancer treatment while minimising competing cardiovascular effects
Quantum measurements of atoms using cavity QED
Generalized quantum measurements are an important extension of projective or
von Neumann measurements, in that they can be used to describe any measurement
that can be implemented on a quantum system. We describe how to realize two
non-standard quantum measurements using cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED).
The first measurement optimally and unabmiguously distinguishes between two
non-orthogonal quantum states. The second example is a measurement that
demonstrates superadditive quantum coding gain. The experimental tools used are
single-atom unitary operations effected by Ramsey pulses and two-atom
Tavis-Cummings interactions. We show how the superadditive quantum coding gain
is affected by errors in the field-ionisation detection of atoms, and that even
with rather high levels of experimental imperfections, a reasonable amount of
superadditivity can still be seen. To date, these types of measurement have
only been realized on photons. It would be of great interest to have
realizations using other physical systems. This is for fundamental reasons, but
also since quantum coding gain in general increases with code word length, and
a realization using atoms could be more easily scaled than existing
realizations using photons.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure
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