463 research outputs found
‘This Tobacco Has Always Been Here for Us,’ American Indian Views of Smoking: Risk and Protective Factors
We utilized eight talking circles to elicit American Indian views of smoking on a U.S. reservation. We report on (1) the historical context of tobacco use among Ojibwe Indians; (2) risk factors that facilitate use: peer/parental smoking, acceptability/availability of cigarettes; (3) cessation efforts/ inhibiting factors for cessation: smoking while pregnant, smoking to reduce stress , beliefs that cessation leads to debilitating withdrawals; and (4) protective factors that inhibit smoking initiation/use: negative health effects of smoking, parental and familial smoking behaviors, encouragement from youth to quit smoking, positive health benefits, “cold turkey” quitting, prohibition of smoking in tribal buildings/homes. Smoking is prevalent, but protective behaviors are evident and can assist in designing culturally sensitive prevention, intervention and cessation programs
The Free Quon Gas Suffers Gibbs' Paradox
We consider the Statistical Mechanics of systems of particles satisfying the
-commutation relations recently proposed by Greenberg and others. We show
that although the commutation relations approach Bose (resp.\ Fermi) relations
for (resp.\ ), the partition functions of free gases are
independent of in the range . The partition functions exhibit
Gibbs' Paradox in the same way as a classical gas without a correction factor
for the statistical weight of the -particle phase space, i.e.\ the
Statistical Mechanics does not describe a material for which entropy, free
energy, and particle number are extensive thermodynamical quantities.Comment: number-of-pages, LaTeX with REVTE
Adiabatic limit and the slow motion of vortices in a Chern-Simons-Schr\"odinger system
We study a nonlinear system of partial differential equations in which a
complex field (the Higgs field) evolves according to a nonlinear Schroedinger
equation, coupled to an electromagnetic field whose time evolution is
determined by a Chern-Simons term in the action. In two space dimensions, the
Chern-Simons dynamics is a Galileo invariant evolution for A, which is an
interesting alternative to the Lorentz invariant Maxwell evolution, and is
finding increasing numbers of applications in two dimensional condensed matter
field theory. The system we study, introduced by Manton, is a special case (for
constant external magnetic field, and a point interaction) of the effective
field theory of Zhang, Hansson and Kivelson arising in studies of the
fractional quantum Hall effect. From the mathematical perspective the system is
a natural gauge invariant generalization of the nonlinear Schroedinger
equation, which is also Galileo invariant and admits a self-dual structure with
a resulting large space of topological solitons (the moduli space of self-dual
Ginzburg-Landau vortices). We prove a theorem describing the adiabatic
approximation of this system by a Hamiltonian system on the moduli space. The
approximation holds for values of the Higgs self-coupling constant close to the
self-dual (Bogomolny) value of 1. The viability of the approximation scheme
depends upon the fact that self-dual vortices form a symplectic submanifold of
the phase space (modulo gauge invariance). The theorem provides a rigorous
description of slow vortex dynamics in the near self-dual limit.Comment: Minor typos corrected, one reference added and DOI give
Bessel Process and Conformal Quantum Mechanics
Different aspects of the connection between the Bessel process and the
conformal quantum mechanics (CQM) are discussed. The meaning of the possible
generalizations of both models is investigated with respect to the other model,
including self adjoint extension of the CQM. Some other generalizations such as
the Bessel process in the wide sense and radial Ornstein- Uhlenbeck process are
discussed with respect to the underlying conformal group structure.Comment: 28 Page
The 3D Structure of N132D in the LMC: A Late-Stage Young Supernova Remnant
We have used the Wide Field Spectrograph (WiFeS) on the 2.3m telescope at
Siding Spring Observatory to map the [O III] 5007{\AA} dynamics of the young
oxygen-rich supernova remnant N132D in the Large Magellanic Cloud. From the
resultant data cube, we have been able to reconstruct the full 3D structure of
the system of [O III] filaments. The majority of the ejecta form a ring of
~12pc in diameter inclined at an angle of 25 degrees to the line of sight. We
conclude that SNR N132D is approaching the end of the reverse shock phase
before entering the fully thermalized Sedov phase of evolution. We speculate
that the ring of oxygen-rich material comes from ejecta in the equatorial plane
of a bipolar explosion, and that the overall shape of the SNR is strongly
influenced by the pre-supernova mass loss from the progenitor star. We find
tantalizing evidence of a polar jet associated with a very fast oxygen-rich
knot, and clear evidence that the central star has interacted with one or more
dense clouds in the surrounding ISM.Comment: Accepted for Publication in Astrophysics & Space Science, 18pp, 8
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Interaction between optical fibre sensors and matrix cracks in cross-ply GFRP laminates. Part 2: Crack detection
The influence of vegetation on turbulence and flow velocities in European salt-marshes
How to make complexity look simple? Conveying ecosystems restoration complexity for socio-economic research and public engagement
Ecosystems degradation represents one of the major global challenges at the present time, threating people’s livelihoods and well-being worldwide. Ecosystem restoration therefore seems no longer an option, but an imperative. Restoration challenges are such that a dialogue has begun on the need to re-shape restoration as a science. A critical aspect of that reshaping process is the acceptance that restoration science and practice needs to be coupled with socio-economic research and public engagement. This inescapably means conveying complex ecosystem’s information in a way that is accessible to the wider public. In this paper we take up this challenge with the ultimate aim of contributing to making a step change in science’s contribution to ecosystems restoration practice. Using peatlands as a paradigmatically complex ecosystem, we put in place a transdisciplinary process to articulate a description of the processes and outcomes of restoration that can be understood widely by the public. We provide evidence of the usefulness of the process and tools in addressing four key challenges relevant to restoration of any complex ecosystem: (1) how to represent restoration outcomes; (2) how to establish a restoration reference; (3) how to cope with varying restoration time-lags and (4) how to define spatial units for restoration. This evidence includes the way the process resulted in the creation of materials that are now being used by restoration practitioners for communication with the public and in other research contexts. Our main contribution is of an epistemological nature: while ecosystem services-based approaches have enhanced the integration of academic disciplines and non-specialist knowledge, this has so far only followed one direction (from the biophysical underpinning to the description of ecosystem services and their appreciation by the public). We propose that it is the mix of approaches and epistemological directions (including from the public to the biophysical parameters) what will make a definitive contribution to restoration practice
Prospective organisation of neonatal arm movements : a motor foundation of embodied agency, disrupted in premature birth
Prospective motor control moves the body into the future, from where one is to where one wants to be. It is a hallmark of intentionality. But its origins in development is uncertain. In this study, we tested whether or not the arm movements of newborn infants were prospectively controlled. We measured the spatiotemporal organisation of 480 neonatal arm movements and 384 arm movements of infants prematurely born at-risk for neurodevelopmental disorder. We found 75% of healthy term-birth neonatal movements and 68% of prematurely-born infant movements conformed to the tauG-coupling model of prospective sensorimotor control. Prospective coupling values were significantly reduced in the latter (p = .010, r = .087). In both cases prospectively controlled movements were tightly organised by fixed-duration units with a base duration of 218 ms and additional temporal units of 145 ms. Yet distances remained constant. Thus, we demonstrate for the first time a precise prospective spatiotemporal organisation of neonatal arm movements and demonstrate at-risk infants exhibit reduced sensorimotor control. Prospective motor control is a hallmark of primary sensorimotor intentionality and gives a strong embodied foundation to conscious motor agency
The ‘mosaic habitat’ concept in human evolution: past and present
The habitats preferred by hominins and other species are an important theme in palaeoanthropology, and the ‘mosaic habitat’ (also referred to as habitat heterogeneity) has been a central concept in this regard for the last four decades. Here we explore the development of this concept – loosely defined as a range of different habitat types, such as woodlands, riverine forest and savannah within a limited spatial area– in studies of human evolution in the last sixty years or so. We outline the key developments that took place before and around the time when the term ‘mosaic’ came to wider palaeoanthropological attention. To achieve this we used an analysis of the published literature, a study of illustrations of hominin evolution from 1925 onwards and an email survey of senior researchers in palaeoanthropology and related fields. We found that the term mosaic starts to be applied in palaeoanthropological thinking during the 1970’s due to the work of a number of researchers, including Karl Butzer and Glynn Isaac , with the earliest usage we have found of ‘mosaic’ in specific reference to hominin habitats being by Adriaan Kortlandt (1972). While we observe a steady increase in the numbers of publications reporting mosaic palaeohabitats, in keeping with the growing interest and specialisation in various methods of palaeoenvironmental reconstruction, we also note that there is a lack of critical studies that define this habitat, or examine the temporal and spatial scales associated with it. The general consensus within the field is that the concept now requires more detailed definition and study to evaluate its role in human evolution
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