Reduced sensitivity to visual looming inflates the risk posed by speeding vehicles when children try to cross the road

Almost all locomotor animals respond to visual looming or to discrete changes in optical size. The need to detect and process looming remains critically important for humans in everyday life. Road traffic statistics confirm that children up to 15 years old are overrepresented in pedestrian casualties. We demonstrate that, for a given pedestrian crossing time, vehicles traveling faster loom less than slower vehicles, which creates a dangerous illusion in which faster vehicles may be perceived as not approaching. Our results from perceptual tests of looming thresholds show strong developmental trends in sensitivity, such that children may not be able to detect vehicles approaching at speeds in excess of 20 mph. This creates a risk of injudicious road crossing in urban settings when traffic speeds are higher than 20 mph. The risk is exacerbated because vehicles moving faster than this speed are more likely to result in pedestrian fatalities

Frequency modulated self-oscillation and phase inertia in a synchronized nanowire mechanical resonator

Synchronization has been reported for a wide range of self-oscillating systems. However, even though it has been predicted theoretically for several decades, the experimental realization of phase self-oscillation, sometimes called phase trapping, in the high driving regime has been studied only recently. We explored in detail the phase dynamics in a synchronized field emission SiC nanoelectromechanical system with intrinsic feedback. A richer variety of phase behavior has been unambiguously identified, implying phase modulation and inertia. This synchronization regime is expected to have implications for the comprehension of the dynamics of interacting self-oscillating networks and for the generation of frequency modulated signals at the nanoscal

Role of fluctuations and nonlinearities on field emission nanomechanical self-oscillators

A theoretical and experimental description of the threshold, amplitude, and stability of a self-oscillating nanowire in a field emission configuration is presented. Two thresholds for the onset of self-oscillation are identified, one induced by fluctuations of the electromagnetic environment and a second revealed by these fluctuations by measuring the probability density function of the current. The ac and dc components of the current and the phase stability are quantified. An ac to dc ratio above 100% and an Allan deviation of 1.3x10-5 at room temperature can be attained. Finally, it is shown that a simple nonlinear model cannot describe the equilibrium effective potential in the self-oscillating regime due to the high amplitude of oscillations

A survey for redshifted molecular and atomic absorption lines - II. Associated HI, OH and millimetre lines in the z >~ 3 Parkes quarter-Jansky flat-spectrum sample

We present the results of a z>2.9 survey for HI 21-cm and molecular absorption in the hosts of radio quasars using the GMRT and the Tidbinbilla 70-m telescope. Previously published searches, which are overwhelmingly at redshifts of z<1, exhibit a 42% detection rate (31 out of 73 sources), and the inclusion of our survey yields a 17% detection rate (2 out of 12 sources) at z>2.5. We therefore believe that our high redshift selection is responsible for our exclusive non-detections, and find that at ultra-violet luminosities of >10e23 W/Hz, 21-cm absorption has never been detected. We also find this to not only apply to our targets, but also those at low redshift exhibiting similar luminosities, giving zero detections out of a total of 16 sources over z=0.24 to 3.8. This is in contrast to the < 10e23 W/Hz sources where there is a near 50% detection rate of 21-cm absorption. The mix of 21-cm detections and non-detections is currently attributed to orientation effects, where according to unified schemes of active galactic nuclei, 21-cm absorption is more likely to occur in sources designated as radio galaxies (type-2 objects, where the nucleus is viewed through dense obscuring circumnuclear gas) than in quasars(type-1 objects, where we have a direct view to the nucleus). However, due to the exclusively high ultra-violet luminosities of our targets it is not clear whether orientation effects alone can wholly account for the distribution, although there exists the possibility that the large luminosities are indicative of a changing demographic of galaxy types. We also find that below luminosities of ~10e23 W/Hz, both type-1 and type-2 objects have a 50% likelihood of exhibiting 21-cm absorption.Comment: 21 pages, accepted by MNRA

Color Fields on the Light-Shell

We study the classical color radiation from very high energy collisions that produce colored particles. In the extreme high energy limit, the classical color fields are confined to a light-shell expanding at $c$ and are associated with a non-linear $\sigma$-model on the 2D light-shell with specific symmetry breaking terms. We argue that the quantum version of this picture exhibits asymptotic freedom and may be a useful starting point for an effective light-shell theory of the structure between the jets at a very high energy collider.Comment: 11 pages, no figure

DC field induced enhancement and inhibition of spontaneous emission in a cavity

We demonstrate how spontaneous emission in a cavity can be controlled by the application of a dc field. The method is specially suitable for Rydberg atoms. We present a simple argument for the control of emission.Comment: 3-pages, 2figure. accepted in Phys. Rev.

Researching Bradford: A review of social research on Bradford District

A synthesis of findings from social research on the District of Bradford. This report synthesises the findings from a wide range of social research undertaken on the District of Bradford, primarily between 1995 and 2005. The researchers reviewed almost 200 pieces of work. The key results are summarised under thematic headings: - The social, economic and institutional context - Community cohesion - Housing, neighbourhoods and regeneration - Business and enterprise - Health, disability and social care - Children and young people - Education, skills and the labour market - Crime and community safety It also identifies a future research agenda. The main purpose of the review was to provide the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and local organisations in Bradford with a firm basis upon which to build future work in the District

Evaluation of different internal standards for precious metals quantification

The current study involved the evaluation of five different internal standards (Sc, Co, Y, In and La) as well as normal external or direct calibration methods in the simultaneous quantification of all six platinum group metals (PGMs) and gold (precious metals). The use of Sc as internal standard in the quantitative determination of precious metals in a liquid reference material (RM) and the geological Pyroxenite CRM was shown to yield excellent recoveries (&gt; 99%) compared to the other metals used as internal standard in this study and the direct calibration method (&gt; 91 %).Os recovered only 89% of the expected metal content. The evaluation of different proposed models (wavelength combinations, ionization and/or excitation energy) did not succeed in identifying or discriminating between the unsuccessful and successful internal standards. The robustness of the Sc internal standard addition method was evaluated with the variation in solution matrix (addition of HCl and NaCl). The analytical method (total metal recovery) proved to be very sensitive to elevated unmatched HCl matrix levels (above 1.0 mL of HCl (32% v/v) added) and Na+ addition larger than 4 ppm sodium using ICP-OES. KEY WORDS: Internal standard, Scandium, Precious metals, Spectrometric techniques, ICP-OES Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2016, 30(1), 55-70.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v30i1.