Noise Effects on Synchronized Globally Coupled Oscillators

The synchronized phase of globally coupled nonlinear oscillators subject to noise fluctuations is studied by means of a new analytical approach able to tackle general couplings, nonlinearities, and noise temporal correlations. Our results show that the interplay between coupling and noise modifies the effective frequency of the system in a non trivial way. Whereas for linear couplings the effect of noise is always to increase the effective frequency, for nonlinear couplings the noise influence is shown to be positive or negative depending on the problem parameters. Possible experimental verification of the results is discussed.Comment: 6 Pages, 4 EPS figures included (RevTeX and epsfig needed). Submitted to Phys. Re

Influence of interstellar and atmospheric extinction on light curves of eclipsing binaries

Interstellar and atmospheric extinctions redden the observational photometric data and they should be handled rigorously. This paper simulates the effect of reddening for the modest case of two main sequence T1 = 6500K and T2 = 5500K components of a detached eclipsing binary system. It is shown that simply subtracting a constant from measured magnitudes (the approach often used in the field of eclipsing binaries) to account for reddening should be avoided. Simplified treatment of the reddening introduces systematics that reaches \~0.01mag for the simulated case, but can be as high as ~0.2mag for e.g. B8V--K4III systems. With rigorous treatment, it is possible to uniquely determine the color excess value E(B-V) from multi-color photometric light curves of eclipsing binaries.Comment: 6 pages, 9 figures, 1 table, Kopal's Binary Star Legacy conference contribution (Litomysl 2004), to be published by Kluwer A&S

Trauma-related psychological disorders among Palestinian children and adults in Gaza and West Bank, 2005-2008

BACKGROUND: Trauma from war and violence has led to psychological disorders in individuals living in the Gaza strip and West Bank. Few reports are available on the psychiatric disorders seen in children and adolescents or the treatment of affected populations. This study was conducted in order to describe the occurrence and treatment of psychiatric disorders in the Palestinian populations of the Gaza strip and Nablus district in the West Bank. METHODS: From 2005 to 2008, 1369 patients aged more than 1 year were identified through a local mental health and counseling health network. All were clinically assessed using a semi-structured interview based on the DSM-IV-TR criteria. RESULTS: Among 1254 patients, 23.2% reported post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD], 17.3% anxiety disorder (other than PTSD or acute stress disorder), and 15.3% depression. PTSD was more frequently identified in children < or = 15 years old, while depression was the main symptom observed in adults. Among children < or = 15 years old, factors significantly associated with PTSD included being witness to murder or physical abuse, receiving threats, and property destruction or loss (p < 0.03). Psychological care, primarily in the form of individual, short-term psychotherapy, was provided to 65.1% of patients, with about 30.6% required psychotropic medication. Duration of therapy sessions was higher for children < or = 15 years old compared with adults (p = 0.05). Following psychotherapy, 79.0% had improved symptoms, and this improvement was significantly higher in children < or = 15 years old (82.8%) compared with adults (75.3%; p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: These observations suggest that short-term psychotherapy could be an effective treatment for specific psychiatric disorders occurring in vulnerable populations, including children, living in violent conflict zones, such as in Gaza strip and the West Bank

Disentangling effective temperatures of individual eclipsing binary components by means of color-index constraining

Eclipsing binary stars are gratifying objects because of their unique geometrical properties upon which all important physical parameters such as masses, radii, temperatures, luminosities and distance may be obtained in absolute scale. This poses strict demand on the model to be free of systematic effects that would influence the results later used for calibrations, catalogs and evolution theory. We present an objective scheme of obtaining individual temperatures of both binary system components by means of color-index constraining, with the only requirement that the observational data-set is acquired in a standard photometric system. We show that for a modest case of two similar main-sequence components the erroneous approach of assuming the temperature of the primary star from the color index yields temperatures which are systematically wrong by ~100K.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, 1 table; to appear in proceedings of the Close Binaries in the 21st Century conference in Syros, Greec

General and specific combinig ability for yield in a diallel cross among 18 maize populations (Zea mays L.).

A study was carried out no diallel crosses among 18 maize populations. An analysis was conducted on ear weight data using Grigging's Method 2, Model I to determine general and specific combinig ability effects. General combining ability (GCA) was found to be significant but specific combinig ability (SCA) was not. Both location x GCA and location x SCA interactions were found to be significant. The results showed that populations CMS 06 and CMS 05 have the highest GCA effects. The cross (CMS 07 x CMS 10) gave the highest SCA effects

Correlações e análises do coeficiente-vetor (Path-coefficient em linhagens endogamicas de milho (Zea mays L.).

Objetivou-se determinar as inter-relacoes entre sete caracteres em progenies de milho, obtida de cruzamentos entre linhagens "dent" e "flint" com os compostos "Flint B" e "Dent B", respectivamente. Encontraram-se correlacoes significativas para peso de graos com alturas de planta e espiga e com prolificidade, indicando a importancia destes caracteres no aumento da produtividade do milho, em condicoes brasileiras. Prolificidade e peso de 50 graos correlacionaram-se negativa e significativamente. Observou-se uma correlacao significativa e positiva entre numero de dias ate o florescimento e porcentagem de umidade nos graos, mostrando que precocidade esta diretamente ligada com maturacao fisiologica, nestes materiais. Encontraram-se pequenas diferencas de valores de coeficientes vetor (path-coefficient) para as progenies dos cruzamentos contrastantes entre linhagens e compostos, possivelmente devido a erros de amostragens ou a variabilidade genetica entre estas progenies. Os valores elevados e positivo de coeficiente-vetor encontrados para alguns caracteres, como prolificidade e peso de 50 graos, mostraram uma influencia direta e significativa destes caracteres no peso de graos

Seleção entre e dentro de progênies de irmãos germanos na população de milho "Suwan DMR" (Zea mays L.).

O presente trabalho trata da avaliacao de um ciclo de selecao entre e dentro de progenies de irmaos germanos no milho "Suwan DMR", objetivando principalmente a obtencao de uma variedade (BR 105) de menor porte, alta produtividade, resistente as principais pragas, doencas e ao acamamento. Testaram-se 800 progenies, usando-se dois experimentos em lattice 20 x 20, com duas repeticoes, em Sete Lagoas, MG, em 1977/78. A densidade do ensaio foi de 58 666 plantas/ha. Os resultados indicaram que houve diferenca significativa entre tratamentos para todos os caracteres em ambos os experimentos, exceto para stand final no experimento I. As estimativas do coeficiente de variacao genetica, associadas as do coeficiente de variacao de ambiente, para prolificidade e peso de espigas, apresentaram boa magnitude. As estimativas co coeficiente de variacao genetica, associadas as do coeficiente de variacao de ambiente, para prolificidade e peso de espigas, apresentaram boa magnitude. As estimativas de herdabilidade nao foram altas, destacando-se apenas a de altura de planta e umidade dos graos. As producoes medias equivalentes a peso de graos foram de 6 509 e 6 753 kg/ha e os progressos esperados pela selecao de 10% das familias, para este caracter, foram correspondentemente de 870 kg/ha (13,4%) e 1067 kg/ha (15,8%), para os experimentos 1 e 2, respectivamente. Observou-se que producao correlacionou diretamente com alturas de planta e espiga e com prolificidade. A selecao de progenies, efetuada visualmente e baseada na produção de espigas, resultou na escolha de um material mais precoce no florescimento ou com maior período de enchimento de grãos. Concluiu-se que a poupulação "Suwan DMR" possui variabilidade genética e alto potencial para os caracteres de maior importância agronômica

Signatures of Planets in Spatially Unresolved Disks

Main sequence stars are commonly surrounded by debris disks, composed of cold dust continuously replenished by a reservoir of undetected dust-producing planetesimals. In a planetary system with a belt of planetesimals (like the Solar System's Kuiper Belt) and one or more interior giant planets, the trapping of dust particles in the mean motion resonances with the planets can create structure in the dust disk, as the particles accumulate at certain semimajor axes. Sufficiently massive planets may also scatter and eject dust particles out of a planetary system, creating a dust depleted region inside the orbit of the planet. In anticipation of future observations of spatially unresolved debris disks with the Spitzer Space Telescope, we are interested in studying how the structure carved by planets affects the shape of the disk's spectral energy distribution (SED), and consequently if the SED can be used to infer the presence of planets. We numerically calculate the equilibrium spatial density distributions and SEDs of dust disks originated by a belt of planetesimals in the presence of interior giant planets in different planetary configurations, and for a representative sample of chemical compositions. The dynamical models are necessary to estimate the enhancement of particles near the mean motion resonances with the planets, and to determine how many particles drift inside the planet's orbit. Based on the SEDs and predicted $\it{Spitzer}$ colors we discuss what types of planetary systems can be distinguishable from one another and the main parameter degeneracies in the model SEDs.Comment: 40 pages (pre-print form), including 16 figures. Published in ApJ 200

Structure of 8B from elastic and inelastic 7Be+p scattering

Motivation: Detailed experimental knowledge of the level structure of light weakly bound nuclei is necessary to guide the development of new theoretical approaches that combine nuclear structure with reaction dynamics. Purpose: The resonant structure of 8B is studied in this work. Method: Excitation functions for elastic and inelastic 7Be+p scattering were measured using a 7Be rare isotope beam. Excitation energies ranging between 1.6 and 3.4 MeV were investigated. An R-matrix analysis of the excitation functions was performed. Results: New low-lying resonances at 1.9, 2.5, and 3.3 MeV in 8B are reported with spin-parity assignment 0+, 2+, and 1+, respectively. Comparison to the Time Dependent Continuum Shell (TDCSM) model and ab initio no-core shell model/resonating-group method (NCSM/RGM) calculations is performed. This work is a more detailed analysis of the data first published as a Rapid Communication. [J.P. Mitchell, et al, Phys. Rev. C 82, 011601(R) (2010)] Conclusions: Identification of the 0+, 2+, 1+ states that were predicted by some models at relatively low energy but never observed experimentally is an important step toward understanding the structure of 8B. Their identification was aided by having both elastic and inelastic scattering data. Direct comparison of the cross sections and phase shifts predicted by the TDCSM and ab initio No Core Shell Model coupled with the resonating group method is of particular interest and provides a good test for these theoretical approaches.Comment: 15 pages, 19 figures, 3 tables, submitted to PR