2,686 research outputs found
Creep motion of a model frictional system
We report on the dynamics of a model frictional system submitted to minute
external perturbations. The system consists of a chain of sliders connected
through elastic springs that rest on an incline. By introducing cyclic
expansions and contractions of the springs we observe a reptation of the chain.
We account for the average reptation velocity theoretically. The velocity of
small systems exhibits a series of plateaus as a function of the incline angle.
Due to elastic e ects, there exists a critical amplitude below which the
reptation is expected to cease. However, rather than a full stop of the creep,
we observe in numerical simulations a transition between a continuous-creep and
an irregular-creep regime when the critical amplitude is approached. The latter
transition is reminiscent of the transition between the continuous and the
irregular compaction of granular matter submitted to periodic temperature
changes
A behavioural model of heuristics and biases in frontline policy implementation
This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Policy Press via the DOI in this record This article theorises how behavioural public administration can help improve our understanding of frontline policy implementation. The human factors that characterise policy implementation remain undertheorised: individual variation in policy implementation is dismissed as mere “noise” that hinders predictability in policy implementation. This article aims to fill this gap. We provide a model for street level decision-making which outlines the role of heuristics and biases in frontline workers’ allocation of resources and sanctions. Based on an analysis of the behavioural and street-level bureaucracy literature, we present 11 testable propositions that point to predictable patterns in the ways that bounded rationality influences policy implementation and outcomes. Heuristics can help hard-pressed frontline public service workers to make decisions but may also produce social inequity or inefficient or ineffective service. Therefore, we need to improve understanding of biases that are common among frontline workers in order to inform the development of appropriate mitigation strategies, such as de-biasing or even ‘re-biasing’ (nudging)
Deletion of the Na/K-ATPase alpha1-subunit gene (Atp1a1) does not prevent cavitation of the preimplantation mouse embryo.
Increases in Na/K-ATPase activity occur concurrently with the onset of cavitation and are associated with increases in Na(+)-pump subunit mRNA and protein expression. We have hypothesized that the alpha1-isozyme of the Na/K-ATPase is required to mediate blastocyst formation. We have tested this hypothesis by characterizing preimplantation development in mice with a targeted disruption of the Na/K-ATPase alpha1-subunit (Atp1a1) using embryos acquired from matings between Atp1a1 heterozygous mice. Mouse embryos homozygous for a null mutation in the Na/K-ATPase alpha1-subunit gene are able to undergo compaction and cavitation. These findings demonstrate that trophectoderm transport mechanisms are maintained in the absence of the predominant isozyme of the Na(+)-pump that has previously been localized to the basolateral membranes of mammalian trophectoderm cells. The presence of multiple isoforms of Na/K-ATPase alpha- and beta-subunits at the time of cavitation suggests that there may be a degree of genetic redundancy amongst isoforms of the catalytic alpha-subunit that allows blastocyst formation to progress in the absence of the alpha1-subunit
The Miraflores El Nino Disaster: Convergent Catastrophes and Prehistoric Agrarian Change in Southern Peru
Cognitive Performance May be Impaired by Exercise in a Hot, Humid Environment: A Preliminary Investigation
The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of acute active dehydration by exercise in a hot, humid environment on cognitive performance. Our findings were inconclusive compared to previous studies that reported decreased cognitive performance in manual laborers and military personnel working in extreme environmental conditions
Quantum secrecy in thermal states II
In this paper we consider a scheme for cryptographic key distribution based on a variation of continuous variable quantum key distribution called central broadcast. In the continuous variable central broadcast scheme, security arises from discord present in the Hanbury Brown and Twiss effect from a thermal source. The benefit of this scheme is that it expands the range of frequencies into the microwave regime. Longer wavelengths—where the thermal photon number is higher and correlations remain robust over long distances—may even be preferable to optical wavelengths. Assuming that Alice controls the source but not the distribution of the light (e.g. satellite broadcasts), then we demonstrate that the central broadcast scheme is robust to an entangling cloner attack. We establish the security of the protocol both experimentally and theoretically
A linguistic approach to the psychosis continuum: (dis)similarities and (dis)continuities in how clinical and non-clinical voice-hearers talk about their voices
Introduction: “Continuum” approaches to psychosis have generated reports of similarities and differences in voice-hearing in clinical and non-clinical populations at the cohort level, but not typically examined overlap or degrees of difference between groups. /
Methods: We used a computer-aided linguistic approach to explore reports of voice-hearing by a clinical group (Early Intervention in Psychosis service-users; N = 40) and a non-clinical group (spiritualists; N = 27). We identify semantic categories of terms statistically overused by one group compared with the other, and by each group compared to a control sample of non-voice-hearing interview data (log likelihood (LL) value 6.63+=p < .01; effect size measure: log ratio 1.0+). We consider whether individual values support a continuum model. /
Results: Notwithstanding significant cohort-level differences, there was considerable continuity in language use. Reports of negative affect were prominent in both groups (p < .01, log ratio: 1.12+). Challenges of cognitive control were also evident in both cohorts, with references to “disengagement” accentuated in service-users (p < .01, log ratio: 1.14+). /
Conclusion: A corpus linguistic approach to voice-hearing provides new evidence of differences between clinical and non-clinical groups. Variability at the individual level provides substantial evidence of continuity with implications for cognitive mechanisms underlying voice-hearing
Characterization of Mott-insulating and superfluid phases in the one-dimensional Bose--Hubbard model
We use strong-coupling perturbation theory, the variational cluster approach
(VCA), and the dynamical density-matrix renormalization group (DDMRG) method to
investigate static and dynamical properties of the one-dimensional
Bose--Hubbard model in both the Mott-insulating and superfluid phases. From the
von Neumann entanglement entropy we determine the central charge and the
transition points for the first two Mott lobes. Our DMRG results for the
ground-state energy, momentum distribution function, boson correlation function
decay, Mott gap, and single particle-spectral function are reproduced very well
by the strong-coupling expansion to fifth order, and by VCA with clusters up to
12 sites as long as the ratio between the hopping amplitude and on-site
repulsion, t/U, is smaller than 0.15 and 0.25, respectively. In addition, in
the superfluid phase VCA captures well the ground-state energy and the sound
velocity of the linear phonon modes. This comparison provides an authoritative
estimate for the range of applicability of these methods. In strong-coupling
theory for the Mott phase, the dynamical structure factor is obtained from the
solution of an effective single-particle problem with an attractive potential.
The resulting resonances show up as double-peak structure close to the
Brillouin zone boundary. These high-energy features also appear in the
superfluid phase which is characterized by a pronounced phonon mode at small
momenta and energies, as predicted by Bogoliubov and field theory. In one
dimension, there are no traces of an amplitude mode in the dynamical
single-particle and two-particle correlation functions.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figure
Characterization of a submillimeter high-angular-resolution camera with a monolithic silicon bolometer array for the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory
We constructed a 24-pixel bolometer camera operating in the 350- and 450-µm atmospheric windows for the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO). This instrument uses a monolithic silicon bolometer array that is cooled to approximately 300 mK by a single-shot 3 He refrigerator. First-stage amplification is provided by field-effect transistors at approximately 130 K. The sky is imaged onto the bolometer array by means of several mirrors outside the Dewar and a cold off-axis elliptical mirror inside the cryostat. The beam is defined by cold aperture and field stops, which eliminates the need for any condensing horns. We describe the instrument, present measurements of the physical properties of the bolometer array, describe the performance of the electronics and the data-acquisition system, and demonstrate the sensitivity of the instrument operating at the observatory. Approximate detector noise at 350 µm is 5 x 10^-15 W/√Hz, referenced to the entrance of the Dewar, and the CSO system noise-equivalent flux density is approximately 4 Jy/√Hz. These values are within a factor of 2.5 of the background limit
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