220 research outputs found
The Climate Gap: Inequalities in How Climate Change Hurts Americans & How to Close the Gap
By now, virtually all Americans concur that climate change is real, and could pose devastating consequences for our nation and our children. Equally real is the "Climate Gap" -- the sometimes hidden and often-unequal impact climate change will have on people of color and the poor in the United States. This report helps to document the Climate Gap, connecting the dots between research on heat waves, air quality, and other challenges associated with climate change. But we do more than point out an urgent problem; we also explore how we might best combine efforts to both solve climate change and close the Climate Gap -- including an appendix focused on California's global warming policy and a special accompanying analysis of the federal-level American Clean Energy Security Act
Thermal characteristics of a classical solar telescope primary mirror
We present a detailed thermal and structural analysis of a 2m class solar
telescope mirror which is subjected to a varying heat load at an observatory
site. A 3-dimensional heat transfer model of the mirror takes into account the
heating caused by a smooth and gradual increase of the solar flux during the
day-time observations and cooling resulting from the exponentially decaying
ambient temperature at night. The thermal and structural response of two
competing materials for optical telescopes, namely Silicon Carbide -best known
for excellent heat conductivity and Zerodur -preferred for its extremely low
coefficient of thermal expansion, is investigated in detail. The insight gained
from these simulations will provide a valuable input for devising an efficient
and stable thermal control system for the primary mirror.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures, Accepted for publication in New Astronom
Pinning of quantized vortices in helium drop by dopant atoms and molecules
Using a density functional method, we investigate the properties of liquid
4He droplets doped with atoms (Ne and Xe) and molecules (SF_6 and HCN). We
consider the case of droplets having a quantized vortex pinned to the dopant. A
liquid drop formula is proposed that accurately describes the total energy of
the complex and allows one to extrapolate the density functional results to
large N. For a given impurity, we find that the formation of a
dopant+vortex+4He_N complex is energetically favored below a critical size
N_cr. Our result support the possibility to observe quantized vortices in
helium droplets by means of spectroscopic techniques.Comment: Typeset using Revtex, 3 pages and 5 figures (4 Postscript, 1 jpeg
Nonlocal density functionals and the linear response of the homogeneous electron gas
The known and usable truly nonlocal functionals for exchange-correlation
energy of the inhomogeneous electron gas are the ADA (average density
approximation) and the WDA (weighted density approximation). ADA, by design,
yields the correct linear response function of the uniform electron gas. WDA is
constructed so that it is exact in the limit of one-electron systems. We derive
an expression for the linear response of the uniform gas in the WDA, and
calculate it for several flavors of WDA. We then compare the results with the
Monte-Carlo data on the exchange-correlation local field correction, and
identify the weak points of conventional WDA in the homogeneous limit. We
suggest how the WDA can be modified to improve the response function. The
resulting approximation is a good one in both opposite limits, and should be
useful for practical nonlocal density functional calculations.Comment: 4 pages, two eps figures embedde
Static spectroscopy of a dense superfluid
Dense Bose superfluids, as HeII, differ from dilute ones by the existence of
a roton minimum in their excitation spectrum. It is known that this roton
minimum is qualitatively responsible for density oscillations close to any
singularity, such as vortex cores, or close to solid boundaries. We show that
the period of these oscillations, and their exponential decrease with the
distance to the singularity, are fully determined by the position and the width
of the roton minimum. Only an overall amplitude factor and a phase shift are
shown to depend on the details of the interaction potential. Reciprocally, it
allows for determining the characteristics of this roton minimum from static
"observations" of a disturbed ground state, in cases where the dynamics is not
easily accessible. We focus on the vortex example. Our analysis further shows
why the energy of these oscillations is negligible compared to the kinetic
energy, which limits their influence on the vortex dynamics, except for high
curvatures.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, extended version, published in J. Low Temp. Phy
A report on the nonlinear squeezed states and their non-classical properties of a generalized isotonic oscillator
We construct nonlinear squeezed states of a generalized isotonic oscillator
potential. We demonstrate the non-existence of dual counterpart of nonlinear
squeezed states in this system. We investigate statistical properties exhibited
by the squeezed states, in particular Mandel's parameter, second-order
correlation function, photon number distributions and parameter in
detail. We also examine the quadrature and amplitude-squared squeezing effects.
Finally, we derive expression for the -parameterized quasi-probability
distribution function of these states. All these information about the system
are new to the literature.Comment: Accepted for publication in J. Phys. A: Math. Theo
Lack of phenotypic and evolutionary cross-resistance against parasitoids and pathogens in Drosophila melanogaster
BackgroundWhen organisms are attacked by multiple natural enemies, the evolution of a resistance mechanism to one natural enemy will be influenced by the degree of cross-resistance to another natural enemy. Cross-resistance can be positive, when a resistance mechanism against one natural enemy also offers resistance to another; or negative, in the form of a trade-off, when an increase in resistance against one natural enemy results in a decrease in resistance against another. Using Drosophila melanogaster, an important model system for the evolution of invertebrate immunity, we test for the existence of cross-resistance against parasites and pathogens, at both a phenotypic and evolutionary level.MethodsWe used a field strain of D. melanogaster to test whether surviving parasitism by the parasitoid Asobara tabida has an effect on the resistance against Beauveria bassiana, an entomopathogenic fungus; and whether infection with the microsporidian Tubulinosema kingi has an effect on the resistance against A. tabida. We used lines selected for increased resistance to A. tabida to test whether increased parasitoid resistance has an effect on resistance against B. bassiana and T. kingi. We used lines selected for increased tolerance against B. bassiana to test whether increased fungal resistance has an effect on resistance against A. tabida.Results/ConclusionsWe found no positive cross-resistance or trade-offs in the resistance to parasites and pathogens. This is an important finding, given the use of D. melanogaster as a model system for the evolution of invertebrate immunity. The lack of any cross-resistance to parasites and pathogens, at both the phenotypic and the evolutionary level, suggests that evolution of resistance against one class of natural enemies is largely independent of evolution of resistance against the other
Dynamics of Immune System Gene Expression upon Bacterial Challenge and Wounding in a Social Insect (Bombus terrestris)
The innate immune system which helps individuals to combat pathogens comprises a set of genes representing four immune system pathways (Toll, Imd, JNK and JAK/STAT). There is a lack of immune genes in social insects (e.g. honeybees) when compared to Diptera. Potentially, this might be compensated by an advanced system of social immunity (synergistic action of several individuals). The bumble bee, Bombus terrestris, is a primitively eusocial species with an annual life cycle and colonies headed by a single queen. We used this key pollinator to study the temporal dynamics of immune system gene expression in response to wounding and bacterial challenge
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