795 research outputs found
Where You Are and What You Know: Impact of Location and Education on Individual Engagement with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
The United Nations created the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015 to include 17 goals and 169 targets that foster ongoing environmental, social, and global economic development and aims to accomplish each goal by 2030. There has been considerable enthusiasm in various sectors since the SDGs have been in place; however, there is still a significant amount of work to be done to engage experts and young scholars (the future experts) in the SDGs. According to Salvia, et al., researchers at institutions of higher learning from around the globe found a relation between locality and research, though questions remain concerning the role vocation and locality play in determining one\u27s predilection for a given SDG. This project analyzes individual rankings of the SDGs by comparing responses from college students interested in environmental sciences and academic and field professionals engaged in ecological work or research
Scientific Visualization Using the Flow Analysis Software Toolkit (FAST)
Over the past few years the Flow Analysis Software Toolkit (FAST) has matured into a useful tool for visualizing and analyzing scientific data on high-performance graphics workstations. Originally designed for visualizing the results of fluid dynamics research, FAST has demonstrated its flexibility by being used in several other areas of scientific research. These research areas include earth and space sciences, acid rain and ozone modelling, and automotive design, just to name a few. This paper describes the current status of FAST, including the basic concepts, architecture, existing functionality and features, and some of the known applications for which FAST is being used. A few of the applications, by both NASA and non-NASA agencies, are outlined in more detail. Described in the Outlines are the goals of each visualization project, the techniques or 'tricks' used lo produce the desired results, and custom modifications to FAST, if any, done to further enhance the analysis. Some of the future directions for FAST are also described
Nanoindentation and Strain Characteristics of Nanostructured Boride/Nitride Films
The hardness, elastic modulus, and elastic recovery of nanostructured boride/nitride films 1–2 µm thick have been investigated by the nanoindentation technique under the maximum loads over a wide range (from 5 to 100 mN). It is demonstrated that only the hardness parameters remain constant at small loads (5–30 mN). The data obtained are discussed and compared with the parameters determined by other methods
A Parallactic Distance of 389 +24/-21 parsecs to the Orion Nebula Cluster from Very Long Baseline Array Observations
We determine the parallax and proper motion of the flaring, non-thermal radio
star GMR A, a member of the Orion Nebula Cluster, using Very Long Baseline
Array observations. Based on the parallax, we measure a distance of 389 +24/-21
parsecs to the source. Our measurement places the Orion Nebula Cluster
considerably closer than the canonical distance of 480 +/- 80 parsecs
determined by Genzel et al. (1981). A change of this magnitude in distance
lowers the luminosities of the stars in the cluster by a factor of ~ 1.5. We
briefly discuss two effects of this change--an increase in the age spread of
the pre-main sequence stars and better agreement between the zero-age
main-sequence and the temperatures and luminosities of massive stars.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, emulateapj, accepted to Ap
Metamaterials for light rays: ray optics without wave-optical analog in the ray-optics limit
Volumes of sub-wavelength electromagnetic elements can act like homogeneous
materials: metamaterials. In analogy, sheets of optical elements such as prisms
can act ray-optically like homogeneous sheet materials. In this sense, such
sheets can be considered to be metamaterials for light rays (METATOYs).
METATOYs realize new and unusual transformations of the directions of
transmitted light rays. We study here, in the ray-optics and scalar-wave
limits, the wave-optical analog of such transformations, and we show that such
an analog does not always exist. Perhaps, this is the reason why many of the
ray-optical possibilities offered by METATOYs have never before been
considered.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, references update
Extracellular ascorbate modulates glutamate dynamics: role of behavioral activation
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A physiological increase in extracellular ascorbate (AA), an antioxidant vitamin found throughout the striatum, elevates extracellular glutamate (GLU). To determine the role of behavioral arousal in this interaction, microdialysis was used to measure striatal GLU efflux in rats tested in either a lights-off or lights-on condition while reverse dialysis either maintained the concentration of AA at 250 μM or increased it to 1000 μM to approximate endogenous changes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>When lights were off, both locomotion and GLU increased regardless of AA dose. In contrast, animals in the lights-on condition were behaviorally inactive, and infusion of 1000, but not 250, μM AA significantly increased extracellular GLU. Interestingly, when ambient light returned to the lights-off group, 1000 μM prolonged the GLU increase relative to the 250 μM group.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results not only support evidence that elevated striatal AA increases extracellular GLU but also indicate that this effect depends on behavioral state and the corresponding level of endogenous GLU release.</p
Galactic Parameters from Masers with Trigonometric Parallaxes
Spatial velocities of all currently known 28 masers having trigonometric
parallaxes, proper motion and line-of-site velocities are reanalyzed using
Bottlinger's equations. These masers are associated with 25 active star-forming
regions and are located in the range of galactocentric distances 3<R<14 kpc. To
determine the Galactic rotation parameters, we used the first three Taylor
expansion terms of angular rotation velocity {\Omega} at the galactocentric
distance of the Sun R0=8 kpc. We obtained the following solutions:
{\Omega}o=-31.0 +/- 1.2 km/s/kpc, {\Omega}o'=4.46 +/- 0.21 km/s/kpc^2,
{\Omega}o"=-0.876 +/- 0.067 km/s/kpc^3, Oort constants: A=17.8 +/- 0.8
km/s/kpc, B=-13.2 +/- 1.5 km/s/kpc and circular velocity of the Solar
neighborhood rotation Vo=248 +/- 14 km/s. Fourier analysis of galactocentric
radial velocities of masers VR allowed us to estimate the wavelength
{\lambda}=2.0 +/- 0.2 kpc and peak velocity f_R=6.5 +/- 2 km/s of periodic
perturbations from the density wave and velocity of the perturbations 4 +/- 1
km/s near the location of the Sun. Phase of the Sun in the density wave is
estimated as {\chi}o ~ -130^o +/- 10^o. Taking into account perturbations
evoked by spiral density wave we obtained the following non-perturbed
components of the peculiar Solar velocity with respect to the local standard of
rest (LSR) (Uo,Vo,Wo)LSR=(5.5,11,8.5) +/- (2.2,1.7,1.2) km/s.Comment: 8 pages, 1table, 9 figures, accepte
Kondo resonance effect on persistent currents through a quantum dot in a mesoscopic ring
The persistent current through a quantum dot inserted in a mesoscopic ring of
length L is studied. A cluster representing the dot and its vicinity is exactly
diagonalized and embedded into the rest of the ring. The Kondo resonance
provides a new channel for the current to flow. It is shown that due to scaling
properties, the persistent current at the Kondo regime is enhanced relative to
the current flowing either when the dot is at resonance or along a perfect ring
of same length. In the Kondo regime the current scales as , unlike
the scaling of a perfect ring. We discuss the possibility of detection
of the Kondo effect by means of a persistent current measurement.Comment: 11 pages, 3 Postscript figure
Charge and Spin Effects in Mesoscopic Josephson Junctions
We consider the charge and spin effects in low dimensional superconducting
weak links. The first part of the review deals with the effects of
electron-electron interaction in Superconductor/Luttinger liquid/Superconductor
junctions. The experimental realization of this mesoscopic hybrid system can be
the individual single wall carbon nanotube that bridges the gap between two
bulk superconductors. The dc Josephson current through a Luttinger liquid in
the limits of perfectly and poorly transmitting junctions is evaluated. The
relationship between the Josephson effect in a long SNS junction and the
Casimir effect is discussed. In the second part of the paper we review the
recent results concerning the influence of the Zeeman and Rashba interactions
on the thermodynamical properties of ballistic S/QW/S junction fabricated in
two dimensional electron gas. It is shown that in magnetically controlled
junction there are conditions for resonant Cooper pair transition which results
in giant supercurrent through a tunnel junction and a giant magnetic response
of a multichannel SNS junction. The supercurrent induced by the joint action of
the Zeeman and Rashba interactions in 1D quantum wires connected to bulk
superconductors is predicted.Comment: 36 pages, 8 figures; minor changes in reference
Recommended from our members
Cool dust heating and temperature mixing in nearby star-forming galaxies
Physical conditions of the interstellar medium in galaxies are closely linked
to the ambient radiation field and the heating of dust grains. In order to
characterize dust properties in galaxies over a wide range of physical
conditions, we present here the radial surface brightness profiles of the
entire sample of 61 galaxies from Key Insights into Nearby Galaxies:
Far-Infrared Survey with Herschel (KINGFISH). The main goal of our work is the
characterization of the grain emissivities, dust temperatures, and interstellar
radiation fields responsible for heating the dust. After fitting the dust and
stellar radial profiles with exponential functions, we fit the far-infrared
spectral energy distribution (SED) in each annular region with
single-temperature modified black bodies using both variable (MBBV) and fixed
(MBBF) emissivity indices beta, as well as with physically motivated dust
models. Results show that while most SED parameters decrease with radius, the
emissivity index beta also decreases with radius in some galaxies, but in
others is increasing, or rising in the inner regions and falling in the outer
ones. Despite the fixed grain emissivity (average beta~ 2.1) of the
physically-motivated models, they are well able to accommodate flat spectral
slopes with beta<= 1. We find that flatter slopes (beta<= 1.5) are associated
with cooler temperatures, contrary to what would be expected from the usual
Tdust-beta degeneracy. This trend is related to variations in Umin since beta
and Umin are very closely linked over the entire range in Umin sampled by the
KINGFISH galaxies: low Umin is associated with flat beta<=1. Both these results
strongly suggest that the low apparent \beta values (flat slopes) in MBBV fits
are caused by temperature mixing along the line-of-sight, rather than by
intrinsic variations in grain properties. Abstract truncated for arXiv.Comment: 28 pages, 20 figures, accepted for publication in A&
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