1,251 research outputs found
Assessing the potential of social media for estimating recreational use of urban and peri-urban forests
Acknowledgements The research for this paper was financially supported through the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN). The views and opinions expressed in this paper are those of the authors, and do not necessarily represent the policies or official positions of the FOEN or the institutions they work for. We thank Rahul Deb Das for his assistance in data collection and processing. We gratefully acknowledge the comments and feedback of two anonymous reviewers.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Testing the limits of tolerance: How inter-group anxiety amplifies negative and offensive responses to out-group-initiated contact
Three studies examine the amplifying effects of intergroup anxiety on individuals â negative and offensive responses to out-group-initiated contact. Because intergroup anxiety typically results in avoidance of the initiation of intergroup contact, we explored how intergroup anxiety affected individuals â interpretation of and responses to out-group-initiated contact. We hypothesized that intergroup anxiety amplifies individuals â threat appraisal of out-group-initiated contact as well as their feelings of anger and offensive action tendencies toward the out-group. Results showed consistent support for these hypotheses by demonstrating that intergroup anxiety amplified individuals â threat appraisal (Studies 2 and 3), anger (Studies 1-3), and offensive action tendencies toward the out-group (Study 2). Anger consistently predicte
Unitary Standard Model from Spontaneous Dimensional Reduction and Weak Boson Scattering at the LHC
Spontaneous dimensional reduction (SDR) is a striking phenomenon predicted by
a number of quantum gravity approaches which all indicate that the spacetime
dimensions get reduced at high energies. In this work, we formulate an
effective theory of electroweak interactions based upon the standard model,
incorporating the spontaneous reduction of space-dimensions at TeV scale. The
electroweak gauge symmetry is nonlinearly realized with or without a Higgs
boson. We demonstrate that the SDR ensures good high energy behavior and
predicts unitary weak boson scattering. For a light Higgs boson of mass 125GeV,
the TeV-scale SDR gives a natural solution to the hierarchy problem. Such a
light Higgs boson can have induced anomalous gauge couplings from the TeV-scale
SDR. We find that the corresponding WW scattering cross sections become unitary
at TeV scale, but exhibit different behaviors from that of the 4d standard
model. These can be discriminated by the WW scattering experiments at the LHC.Comment: 38pp, Eur.Phys.J.(in Press); extended discussions for testing non-SM
Higgs boson(125GeV) via WW scattering; minor clarifications added; references
added; a concise companion is given in the short PLB letter arXiv:1301.457
Towards coherent optical control of a single hole spin: rabi rotation of a trion conditional on the spin state of the hole
A hole spin is a potential solid-state q-bit, that may be more robust against nuclear spin induced dephasing than an electron spin. Here we propose and demonstrate the sequential preparation, control and detection of a single hole spin trapped on a self-assembled InGaAs/GaAs quantum dot. The dot is embedded in a photodiode structure under an applied electric field. Fast, triggered, initialization of a hole spin is achieved by creating a spin-polarized electron-hole pair with a picosecond laser pulse, and in an applied electric field, waiting for the electron to tunnel leaving a spin-polarized hole. Detection of the hole spin with picoseconds time resolution is achieved using a second picosecond laser pulse to probe the positive trion transition, where a trion is created conditional on the hole spin being detected as a change in photocurrent. Finally, using this setup we observe a Rabi rotation of the hole-trion transition that is conditional on the hole spin, which for a pulse area of 2 pi can be used to impart a phase shift of pi between the hole spin states, a non-general manipulation of the hole spin. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
Continuation-Passing C: compiling threads to events through continuations
In this paper, we introduce Continuation Passing C (CPC), a programming
language for concurrent systems in which native and cooperative threads are
unified and presented to the programmer as a single abstraction. The CPC
compiler uses a compilation technique, based on the CPS transform, that yields
efficient code and an extremely lightweight representation for contexts. We
provide a proof of the correctness of our compilation scheme. We show in
particular that lambda-lifting, a common compilation technique for functional
languages, is also correct in an imperative language like C, under some
conditions enforced by the CPC compiler. The current CPC compiler is mature
enough to write substantial programs such as Hekate, a highly concurrent
BitTorrent seeder. Our benchmark results show that CPC is as efficient, while
using significantly less space, as the most efficient thread libraries
available.Comment: Higher-Order and Symbolic Computation (2012). arXiv admin note:
substantial text overlap with arXiv:1202.324
Energy loss of pions and electrons of 1 to 6 GeV/c in drift chambers operated with Xe,CO2(15%)
We present measurements of the energy loss of pions and electrons in drift
chambers operated with a Xe,CO2(15%) mixture. The measurements are carried out
for particle momenta from 1 to 6 GeV/c using prototype drift chambers for the
ALICE TRD. Microscopic calculations are performed using input parameters
calculated with GEANT3. These calculations reproduce well the measured average
and most probable values for pions, but a higher Fermi plateau is required in
order to reproduce our electron data. The widths of the measured distributions
are smaller for data compared to the calculations. The electron/pion
identification performance using the energy loss is also presented.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in Nucl.Instrum.Meth.
AEGIS at CERN: Measuring Antihydrogen Fall
The main goal of the AEGIS experiment at the CERN Antiproton Decelerator is
the test of fundamental laws such as the Weak Equivalence Principle (WEP) and
CPT symmetry. In the first phase of AEGIS, a beam of antihydrogen will be
formed whose fall in the gravitational field is measured in a Moire'
deflectometer; this will constitute the first test of the WEP with antimatter.Comment: Presented at the Fifth Meeting on CPT and Lorentz Symmetry,
Bloomington, Indiana, June 28-July 2, 201
Functional diversity of chemokines and chemokine receptors in response to viral infection of the central nervous system.
Encounters with neurotropic viruses result in varied outcomes ranging from encephalitis, paralytic poliomyelitis or other serious consequences to relatively benign infection. One of the principal factors that control the outcome of infection is the localized tissue response and subsequent immune response directed against the invading toxic agent. It is the role of the immune system to contain and control the spread of virus infection in the central nervous system (CNS), and paradoxically, this response may also be pathologic. Chemokines are potent proinflammatory molecules whose expression within virally infected tissues is often associated with protection and/or pathology which correlates with migration and accumulation of immune cells. Indeed, studies with a neurotropic murine coronavirus, mouse hepatitis virus (MHV), have provided important insight into the functional roles of chemokines and chemokine receptors in participating in various aspects of host defense as well as disease development within the CNS. This chapter will highlight recent discoveries that have provided insight into the diverse biologic roles of chemokines and their receptors in coordinating immune responses following viral infection of the CNS
Advances in multispectral and hyperspectral imaging for archaeology and art conservation
Multispectral imaging has been applied to the field of art conservation and art history since the early 1990s. It is attractive as a noninvasive imaging technique because it is fast and hence capable of imaging large areas of an object giving both spatial and spectral information. This paper gives an overview of the different instrumental designs, image processing techniques and various applications of multispectral and hyperspectral imaging to art conservation, art history and archaeology. Recent advances in the development of remote and versatile multispectral and hyperspectral imaging as well as techniques in pigment identification will be presented. Future prospects including combination of spectral imaging with other noninvasive imaging and analytical techniques will be discussed
The influences of stomatal size and density on rice abiotic stress resilience
A warming climate coupled with reductions in water availability and rising salinity are increasingly affecting rice (Oryza sativa) yields. Elevated temperatures combined with vapour pressure deficit (VPD) rises are causing stomatal closure, further reducing plant productivity and cooling. It is unclear what stomatal size (SS) and stomatal density (SD) will best suit all these environmental extremes. To understand how stomatal differences contribute to rice abiotic stress resilience, we screened the stomatal characteristics of 72 traditionally bred varieties. We found significant variation in SS, SD and calculated anatomical maximal stomatal conductance (gsmax ) but did not identify any varieties with SD and gsmax as low as transgenic OsEPF1oe plants. Traditionally bred varieties with high SD and small SS (resulting in higher gsmax ) typically had lower biomasses, and these plants were more resilient to drought than low SD and large SS plants, which were physically larger. None of the varieties assessed were as resilient to drought or salinity as low SD OsEPF1oe transgenic plants. High SD and small SS rice displayed faster stomatal closure during increasing temperature and VPD, but photosynthesis and plant cooling were reduced. Compromises will be required when choosing rice SS and SD to tackle multiple future environmental stresses
- âŠ