The minimal conformal O(N) vector sigma model at d=3

For the minimal O(N) sigma model, which is defined to be generated by the O(N) scalar auxiliary field alone, all n-point functions, till order 1/N included, can be expressed by elementary functions without logarithms. Consequently, the conformal composite fields of m auxiliary fields possess at the same order such dimensions, which are m times the dimension of the auxiliary field plus the order of differentiation.Comment: 15 page

Negative Results in European Psychology Journals

Psychologists have long speculated that the research literature is largely dominated by positive findings, but yet there is little data to justify these speculations. The present study investigates the extent to which negative findings exist in the literature by reviewing articles published in five European psychology journals. While no temporal change was observed, the results indicate that almost all (95.4%) articles published in 2001, 2006 and 2011 found support for at least one tested hypothesis. Moreover, a sizable number (73%) of papers found support for all tested hypotheses. It is argued that the lack of negative findings can have a detrimental effect on the ability to systemize scientific knowledge, the way science is practiced, and the rate of replications in psychology. Publishing positive findings may be very important for making progress in our field, but negative findings are also crucial for maintaining its scientific integrity. When we base our conclusions on results that support our predictions and ignore data to the contrary, we run the risk of creating a biased view of reality that gives us little confidence in the validity and applicability of our findings

Stability in quadratic torsion theories

We revisit the definition and some of the characteristics of quadratic theories of gravity with torsion. We start from the most general Lagrangian density quadratic in the curvature and torsion tensors. By assuming that General Relativity should be recovered when torsion vanishes and investigating the behaviour of the vector and pseudovector torsion fields in the weak-gravity regime, we present a set of necessary conditions for the stability of these theories. Moreover, we explicitly obtain the gravitational field equations using the Palatini variational principle with the metricity condition implemented via a Lagrange multiplier

Distraction by auditory novelty during reading: Evidence for disruption in saccade planning, but not saccade execution.

Novel or unexpected sounds that deviate from an otherwise repetitive sequence of the same sound cause behavioural distraction. Recent work has suggested that distraction also occurs during reading as fixation durations increased when a deviant sound was presented at the fixation onset of words. The present study tested the hypothesis that this increase in fixation durations occurs due to saccadic inhibition. This was done by manipulating the temporal onset of sounds relative to the fixation onset of words in the text. If novel sounds cause saccadic inhibition, they should be more distracting when presented during the second half of fixations when saccade programming usually takes place. Participants read single sentences and heard a 120 ms sound when they fixated five target words in the sentence. On most occasions (p= 0.9), the same sine wave tone was presented ("standard"), while on the remaining occasions (p= 0.1) a new sound was presented ("novel"). Critically, sounds were played either during the first half of the fixation (0 ms delay) or during the second half of the fixation (120 ms delay). Consistent with the saccadic inhibition hypothesis, novel sounds led to longer fixation durations in the 120 ms compared to the 0 ms delay condition. However, novel sounds did not generally influence the execution of the subsequent saccade. These results suggest that unexpected sounds have a rapid influence on saccade planning, but not saccade execution

Aerobic solid-state fermentation of the solid fraction of pig slurry

Current expansion in the pig number in Russia and their concentration in separate locations contribute to higher environmental risks. One key risk factor is the slurry produced. To utilize it more efficiently, many pig farms introduce its solid-liquid separation. The study objective was to explore the feasibility of accelerated aerobic solid-state fermentation of the solid fraction of pig slurry in closed installations. The stable thermophilic process under the temperature above +55 °C achieves shorter processing time of 3–4 days. To date, however, there is no representative evidence of such an experience. Four options of fermented mixture composition were tested based on two types of the solid fraction of pig slurry: Type 1 fraction coming from a screw separator and Type 2 fraction coming from a decanter centrifuge. The fermenter operating modes were tested in the authors’ previous studies associated with processing of the solid fraction of cattle manure and bedding poultry manure. The intensity measure of fermentation was the temperature reached by the processed material in the fermenter. Under the investigated operation modes, the stable temperature was observed for nine days in the mesophilic process: 20 °С to 55 °С; in some cases, the transition to the thermophilic process – above 55 °С was recorded. Adding the catalytic components to the processed material accelerated the substrate self-heating and a higher temperature up to 59 °С was reached. This suggests that the considered operating modes of the fermenter were suitable for the fermentation of the specified substrate

Photonic qubits, qutrits and ququads accurately prepared and delivered on demand

Reliable encoding of information in quantum systems is crucial to all approaches to quantum information processing or communication. This applies in particular to photons used in linear optics quantum computing (LOQC), which is scalable provided a deterministic single-photon emission and preparation is available. Here, we show that narrowband photons deterministically emitted from an atom-cavity system fulfill these requirements. Within their 500 ns coherence time, we demonstrate a subdivision into d time bins of various amplitudes and phases, which we use for encoding arbitrary qu-d-its. The latter is done deterministically with a fidelity >95% for qubits, verified using a newly developed time-resolved quantum-homodyne method.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Photonic mode density effects on single-molecule fluorescence blinking

We investigated the influence of the photonic mode density (PMD) on the triplet dynamics of individual chromophores on a dielectric interface by comparing their response in the presence and absence of a nearby gold film. Lifetimes of the excited singlet state were evaluated in ordet to measure directly the PMD at the molecules position. Triplet state lifetimes were simultaneously determined by statistical analysis of the detection time of the fluorescence photons. The observed singlet decay rates are in agreement with the predicted PMD for molecules with different orientations. The triplet decay rate is modified in a fashion correlated to the singlet decay rate. These results show that PMD engineering can lead to an important suppression of the fluorescence, introducing a novel aspect of the physical mechanism to enhance fluorescence intensity in PMD-enhancing systems such as plasmonic devices

Reporting of Effect Size and Confidence Intervals: Review and Methods of Calculation

Въпреки критиките към тях, тестовете на статистическа значимост продължават да бъдат основната процедура за правене на статистически изводи в психологията. За да се преодолеят някои от недостатъците свързани с тях, предложено е авторите да докладват големина на ефекта и доверителни интервали като допълнителни методи за анализ на данните. Настоящата статия разглежда аргументи в полза на докладването на големина на ефекта и доверителни интервали, и проверява до колко това се прави чрез преглед на статии публикувани в български списания по психология. Резултатите показват, че мнозинството от статиите все още не докладват големина на ефекта, и че много малко статии докладват доверителни интервали. Статията след това разглежда различни мерки за големина на ефекта и начини за тяхното изчисляване. Представят се също и методи за изчисляване на доверителни интервали за големина на ефекта. Въпреки че отговорността за докладването на тези методи се пада на авторите, в статията се изразява мнението, че по-строги изисквания от страна на редакторите и преподаването на тези методи на студентите ще стимулират психолозите да променят начина, по който анализират данните си.Despite continuous criticism, significance tests remain the main procedure for statistical inference in psychology. In order to avoid some of the problems associated with them, it has been argued that authors should report effect sizes and confidence intervals as supplemental methods of data analysis. The present article discusses arguments in favor of reporting effect sizes and confidence intervals, and investigates how common such practices are by reviewing articles published in Bulgarian psychology journals. The results show that the majority of articles still don’t report effect sizes and that very few articles report confidence intervals. The article then outlines different measures of effect size and methods for their calculation. It also presents methods for calculating confidence intervals for effect sizes. While it is ultimately the authors’ responsibility to report them, it is argued that stronger editorial policies and actively teaching these concepts to psychology students can encourage psychologists to change the way they analyze their data.Language: Bulgaria

What are the costs of degraded parafoveal previews during silent reading?

It has been suggested that the preview benefit effect is actually a combination of preview benefit and preview costs. Marx et al. (2015) proposed that visually degrading the parafoveal preview reduces the costs associated with traditional parafoveal letter masks used in the boundary paradigm (Rayner,1975), thus leading to a more neutral baseline. We report two experiments of skilled adults reading silently. In Experiment 1, we found no compelling evidence that degraded previews reduced processing costs associated with traditional letter masks. Moreover, participants were highly sensitive to detecting degraded display changes. Experiment 2 utilized the boundary detection paradigm (Slattery, Angele, & Rayner, 2011) to explore whether participants were capable of detecting actual letter changes or if they were responding purely to changes in degradation. Half of the participants were instructed to respond to any noticed display changes; the other half were instructed to respond only to changes in letter identities. Participants were highly sensitive to degraded changes. In fact, these changes were so apparent that they reduced the sensitivity to letter masks. In the context of the model proposed by Angele, Slattery, and Rayner (2016), we suggest that degraded previews interfere with the attentional stage, as evidenced by the general lack of foveal load effects. In summary, we found that increasingly degrading parafoveal letter masks does not reduce their processing costs in adults, but that both degraded valid and invalid previews introduce additional costs in terms of greater display change awareness