1,674 research outputs found
Toward a spatial understanding of staple food and nonstaple food production in Brazil
Brazilian agricultural census data at the municipal level are used to develop and map a simple index of staple food versus nonstaple food agriculture for Brazil over time (1996-2006). The results show spatial variation in the direction and degree of the shift toward or away from staple food cropping across Brazil. The index is presented as an important methodological step toward a systematic geographic understanding of crop share changes surrounding food versus fuel and other nonfood crop production. (1996 ?? 2006 ?) Los datos del censo agropecuario brasileno a nivel municipal se utilizan para desarrollar y cartografiar un indice simple de la agricultura de alimentos esenciales versus la de alimentos no esenciales del Brasil durante un tiempo (1996-2006). Los resultados muestran variacion espacial en la direccion y grado del cambio hacia cultivos para alimentacion esencial, o lo contrario, en Brasil. El indice se presenta como un paso metodologico importante hacia un entendimiento geografico sistematico de cambios hacia un tipo de cosecha compartida que privilegia la produccion de alimentos, contra las cosechas para combustibles y otra produccion no alimentaria66224925
Collective decision-making on triadic graphs
Many real-world networks exhibit community structures and non-trivial clustering associated with the occurrence of a considerable number of triangular subgraphs known as triadic motifs. Triads are a set of distinct triangles that do not share an edge with any other triangle in the network. Network motifs are subgraphs that occur significantly more often compared to random topologies. Two prominent examples, the feedforward loop and the feedback loop, occur in various real-world networks such as gene-regulatory networks, food webs or neuronal networks. However, as triangular connections are also prevalent in communication topologies of complex collective systems, it is worthwhile investigating the influence of triadic motifs on the collective decision-making dynamics. To this end, we generate networks called Triadic Graphs (TGs) exclusively from distinct triadic motifs. We then apply TGs as underlying topologies of systems with collective dynamics inspired from locust marching bands. We demonstrate that the motif type constituting the networks can have a paramount influence on group decision-making that cannot be explained solely in terms of the degree distribution. We find that, in contrast to the feedback loop, when the feedforward loop is the dominant subgraph, the resulting network is hierarchical and inhibits coherent behavior
The Optical Design and Characterization of the Microwave Anisotropy Probe
The primary goal of the MAP satellite, now in orbit, is to make high fidelity
polarization sensitive maps of the full sky in five frequency bands between 20
and 100 GHz. From these maps we will characterize the properties of the cosmic
microwave background (CMB) anisotropy and Galactic and extragalactic emission
on angular scales ranging from the effective beam size, <0.23 degree, to the
full sky. MAP is a differential microwave radiometer. Two back-to-back shaped
offset Gregorian telescopes feed two mirror symmetric arrays of ten corrugated
feeds. We describe the prelaunch design and characterization of the optical
system, compare the optical models to the measurements, and consider multiple
possible sources of systematic error.Comment: ApJ in press; 22 pages with 11 low resolution figures; paper is
available with higher quality figures at
http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/m_mm/tp_links.htm
Superconductors with Magnetic Impurities: Instantons and Sub-gap States
When subject to a weak magnetic impurity potential, the order parameter and
quasi-particle energy gap of a bulk singlet superconductor are suppressed.
According to the conventional mean-field theory of Abrikosov and Gor'kov, the
integrity of the energy gap is maintained up to a critical concentration of
magnetic impurities. In this paper, a field theoretic approach is developed to
critically analyze the validity of the mean field theory. Using the
supersymmetry technique we find a spatially homogeneous saddle-point that
reproduces the Abrikosov-Gor'kov theory, and identify instanton contributions
to the density of states that render the quasi-particle energy gap soft at any
non-zero magnetic impurity concentration. The sub-gap states are associated
with supersymmetry broken field configurations of the action. An analysis of
fluctuations around these configurations shows how the underlying supersymmetry
of the action is restored by zero modes. An estimate of the density of states
is given for all dimensionalities. To illustrate the universality of the
present scheme we apply the same method to study `gap fluctuations' in a normal
quantum dot coupled to a superconducting terminal. Using the same instanton
approach, we recover the universal result recently proposed by Vavilov et al.
Finally, we emphasize the universality of the present scheme for the
description of gap fluctuations in d-dimensional superconducting/normal
structures.Comment: 18 pages, 9 eps figure
Les Houches 2011: Physics at TeV Colliders New Physics Working Group Report
We present the activities of the "New Physics" working group for the "Physics
at TeV Colliders" workshop (Les Houches, France, 30 May-17 June, 2011). Our
report includes new agreements on formats for interfaces between computational
tools, new tool developments, important signatures for searches at the LHC,
recommendations for presentation of LHC search results, as well as additional
phenomenological studies.Comment: 243 pages, report of the Les Houches 2011 New Physics Group; fix
three figure
Macrophage phenotype in response to ECM bioscaffolds
Macrophage presence and phenotype are critical determinants of the healing response following injury. Downregulation of the pro-inflammatory macrophage phenotype has been associated with the therapeutic use of bioscaffolds composed of extracellular matrix (ECM), but phenotypic characterization of macrophages has typically been limited to small number of non-specific cell surface markers or expressed proteins. The present study determined the response of both primary murine bone marrow derived macrophages (BMDM) and a transformed human mononuclear cell line (THP-1 cells) to degradation products of two different, commonly used ECM bioscaffolds; urinary bladder matrix (UBM-ECM) and small intestinal submucosa (SIS-ECM). Quantified cell responses included gene expression, protein expression, commonly used cell surface markers, and functional assays. Results showed that the phenotype elicited by ECM exposure (MECM) is distinct from both the classically activated IFNγ + LPS phenotype and the alternatively activated IL-4 phenotype. Furthermore, the BMDM and THP-1 macrophages responded differently to identical stimuli, and UBM-ECM and SIS-ECM bioscaffolds induced similar, yet distinct phenotypic profiles. The results of this study not only characterized an MECM phenotype that has anti-inflammatory traits but also showed the risks and challenges of making conclusions about the role of macrophage mediated events without consideration of the source of macrophages and the limitations of individual cell markers
On supersymmetric quantum mechanics
This paper constitutes a review on N=2 fractional supersymmetric Quantum
Mechanics of order k. The presentation is based on the introduction of a
generalized Weyl-Heisenberg algebra W_k. It is shown how a general Hamiltonian
can be associated with the algebra W_k. This general Hamiltonian covers various
supersymmetrical versions of dynamical systems (Morse system, Poschl-Teller
system, fractional supersymmetric oscillator of order k, etc.). The case of
ordinary supersymmetric Quantum Mechanics corresponds to k=2. A connection
between fractional supersymmetric Quantum Mechanics and ordinary supersymmetric
Quantum Mechanics is briefly described. A realization of the algebra W_k, of
the N=2 supercharges and of the corresponding Hamiltonian is given in terms of
deformed-bosons and k-fermions as well as in terms of differential operators.Comment: Review paper (31 pages) to be published in: Fundamental World of
Quantum Chemistry, A Tribute to the Memory of Per-Olov Lowdin, Volume 3, E.
Brandas and E.S. Kryachko (Eds.), Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 200
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