61 research outputs found

    Into the digital wild: Utilizing Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook for effective science and environmental communication

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    Recent years have seen an upsurge in the digital environment and the reliance placed upon it by society. This case study reports on a project which sought to examine how the digital environment can be utilized for science communication, exploring the role of social media and particularly short online videos, as an effective means through which to engage the public with science, environment and conservation messages. Using as its focus a 300-mile trek around the coast of Cornwall (Sophie's Wild Cornwall) we examine how science was communicated real-time using online videos and social media over a 5-week period, as well as data from an online public opinion survey (n = 129). The observations gleaned identify a number of key themes for others wishing to adopt digital approaches within their science communication activities, including the role of web-based presenter-led narratives, the value of accessibility and interaction on social media platforms, and online videos potential for stimulating proactive, participatory engagement, and interest in an environmental context. Effective online video use requires a balance between crafting an informative yet entertaining narrative without compromising scientific accuracy; yet ultimately, social media platforms may represent a potential "stepping-stone"for practitioners to consider implementing in a journey toward "upstream engagement"

    Yang's gravitational theory

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    Yang's pure space equations (C.N. Yang, Phys. Rev. Lett. v.33, p.445 (1974)) generalize Einstein's gravitational equations, while coming from gauge theory. We study these equations from a number of vantage points: summarizing the work done previously, comparing them with the Einstein equations and investigating their properties. In particular, the initial value problem is discussed and a number of results are presented for these equations with common energy-momentum tensors.Comment: 28 pages, to appear in Gen. Rel. Gra

    Black hole entropy, curved space and monsters

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    We investigate the microscopic origin of black hole entropy, in particular the gap between the maximum entropy of ordinary matter and that of black holes. Using curved space, we construct configurations with entropy greater than their area in Planck units. These configurations have pathological properties and we refer to them as monsters. When monsters are excluded we recover the entropy bound on ordinary matter S<A3/4S < A^{3/4}. This bound implies that essentially all of the microstates of a semiclassical black hole are associated with the growth of a slightly smaller black hole which absorbs some additional energy. Our results suggest that the area entropy of black holes is the logarithm of the number of distinct ways in which one can form the black hole from ordinary matter and smaller black holes, but only after the exclusion of monster states.Comment: 5 pages, revtex. Final version to appear Physics Letters

    Quadratic metric-affine gravity

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    We consider spacetime to be a connected real 4-manifold equipped with a Lorentzian metric and an affine connection. The 10 independent components of the (symmetric) metric tensor and the 64 connection coefficients are the unknowns of our theory. We introduce an action which is quadratic in curvature and study the resulting system of Euler-Lagrange equations. In the first part of the paper we look for Riemannian solutions, i.e. solutions whose connection is Levi-Civita. We find two classes of Riemannian solutions: 1) Einstein spaces, and 2) spacetimes with metric of a pp-wave and parallel Ricci curvature. We prove that for a generic quadratic action these are the only Riemannian solutions. In the second part of the paper we look for non-Riemannian solutions. We define the notion of a "Weyl pseudoinstanton" (metric compatible spacetime whose curvature is purely Weyl) and prove that a Weyl pseudoinstanton is a solution of our field equations. Using the pseudoinstanton approach we construct explicitly a non-Riemannian solution which is a wave of torsion in Minkowski space. We discuss the possibility of using this non-Riemannian solution as a mathematical model for the graviton or the neutrino.Comment: 25 pages, LaTeX2

    Invariant conserved currents for gravity

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    We develop a general approach, based on the Lagrange-Noether machinery, to the definition of invariant conserved currents for gravity theories with general coordinate and local Lorentz symmetries. In this framework, every vector field \xi on spacetime generates, in any dimension n, for any Lagrangian of gravitational plus matter fields and for any (minimal or nonminimal) type of interaction, a current J[\xi] with the following properties: (1) the current (n-1)-form J[\xi] is constructed from the Lagrangian and the generalized field momenta, (2) it is conserved, d J[\xi] = 0, when the field equations are satisfied, (3) J[\xi]= d\Pi[\xi] "on shell", (4) the current J[\xi], the superpotential \Pi[\xi], and the charge Q[\xi] = \int J[\xi] are invariant under diffeomorphisms and the local Lorentz group. We present a compact derivation of the Noether currents associated with diffeomorphisms and apply the general method to compute the total energy and angular momentum of exact solutions in several physically interesting gravitational models.Comment: 15 pages, Revte

    Proceedings of the 3rd Biennial Conference of the Society for Implementation Research Collaboration (SIRC) 2015: advancing efficient methodologies through community partnerships and team science

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    It is well documented that the majority of adults, children and families in need of evidence-based behavioral health interventionsi do not receive them [1, 2] and that few robust empirically supported methods for implementing evidence-based practices (EBPs) exist. The Society for Implementation Research Collaboration (SIRC) represents a burgeoning effort to advance the innovation and rigor of implementation research and is uniquely focused on bringing together researchers and stakeholders committed to evaluating the implementation of complex evidence-based behavioral health interventions. Through its diverse activities and membership, SIRC aims to foster the promise of implementation research to better serve the behavioral health needs of the population by identifying rigorous, relevant, and efficient strategies that successfully transfer scientific evidence to clinical knowledge for use in real world settings [3]. SIRC began as a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-funded conference series in 2010 (previously titled the “Seattle Implementation Research Conference”; $150,000 USD for 3 conferences in 2011, 2013, and 2015) with the recognition that there were multiple researchers and stakeholdersi working in parallel on innovative implementation science projects in behavioral health, but that formal channels for communicating and collaborating with one another were relatively unavailable. There was a significant need for a forum within which implementation researchers and stakeholders could learn from one another, refine approaches to science and practice, and develop an implementation research agenda using common measures, methods, and research principles to improve both the frequency and quality with which behavioral health treatment implementation is evaluated. SIRC’s membership growth is a testament to this identified need with more than 1000 members from 2011 to the present.ii SIRC’s primary objectives are to: (1) foster communication and collaboration across diverse groups, including implementation researchers, intermediariesi, as well as community stakeholders (SIRC uses the term “EBP champions” for these groups) – and to do so across multiple career levels (e.g., students, early career faculty, established investigators); and (2) enhance and disseminate rigorous measures and methodologies for implementing EBPs and evaluating EBP implementation efforts. These objectives are well aligned with Glasgow and colleagues’ [4] five core tenets deemed critical for advancing implementation science: collaboration, efficiency and speed, rigor and relevance, improved capacity, and cumulative knowledge. SIRC advances these objectives and tenets through in-person conferences, which bring together multidisciplinary implementation researchers and those implementing evidence-based behavioral health interventions in the community to share their work and create professional connections and collaborations

    A decomposition identity for a class of Riemannian invariants

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    Applications of computer algebra

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    Today, certain computer software systems exist which surpass the computational ability of researchers when their mathematical techniques are applied to many areas of science and engineering. These computer systems can perform a large portion of the calculations seen in mathematical analysis. Despite this massive power, thousands of people use these systems as a routine resource for everyday calculations. These software programs are commonly called "Computer Algebra" systems. They have names such as MACSYMA, MAPLE, muMATH, REDUCE and SMP. They are receiving credit as a computational aid with in­ creasing regularity in articles in the scientific and engineering literature. When most people think about computers and scientific research these days, they imagine a machine grinding away, processing numbers arithmetically. It is not generally realized that, for a number of years, computers have been performing non-numeric computations. This means, for example, that one inputs an equa­ tion and obtains a closed form analytic answer. It is these Computer Algebra systems, their capabilities, and applications which are the subject of the papers in this volume
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