285 research outputs found
Performance, Politics and Media: How the 2010 British General Election leadership debates generated ‘talk’ amongst the electorate.
During the British General Election 2010 a major innovation was introduced in part to improve engagement: a series of three live televised leadership debates took place where the leader of each of the three main parties, Labour, Liberal Democrat and Conservative, answered questions posed by members of the public and subsequently debated issues pertinent to the questions. In this study we consider these potentially ground breaking debates as the kind of event that was likely to generate discussion. We investigate various aspects of the ‘talk’ that emerged as a result of watching the debates. As an exploratory study concerned with situated accounts of the participants experiences we take an interpretive perspective. In this paper we outline the meta-narratives (of talk) associated with the viewing of the leadership debates that were identified, concluding our analysis by suggesting that putting a live debate on television and promoting and positioning it as a major innovation is likely to mean that is how the audience will make sense of it – as a media event
Vulnerability of tropical forest ecosystems and forest dependent communities to droughts
Energy captured by and flowing through a forest ecosystem can be indexed by its total Net Primary Productivity (NPP). This forest NPP can also be a reflection of its sensitivity to, and its ability to adapt to, any climate change while also being harvested by humans. However detecting and identifying the vulnerability of forest and human ecosystems to climate change requires information on whether these coupled social and ecological systems are able to maintain functionality while responding to environmental variability.
To better understand what parameters might be representative of environmental variability, we compiled a metadata analysis of 96 tropical forest sites. We found that three soil textural classes (i.e., sand, sandy loam and clay) had significant but different relationships between NPP and precipitation levels. Therefore, assessing the vulnerability of forests and forest dependent communities to drought was carried out using data from those sites that had one of those three soil textural classes. For example, forests growing on soil textures of sand and clay had NPP levels decreasing as precipitation levels increased, in contrast to those forest sites that had sandy loam soils where NPP levels increased. Also, forests growing on sandy loam soil textures appeared better adapted to grow at lower precipitation levels compared to the sand and clay textured soils. In fact in our tropical database the lowest precipitation level found for the sandy loam soils was 821 mm yr−1 compared to sand at 1739 mm yr−1 and clay at 1771 mm yr−1. Soil texture also determined the level of NPP reached by a forest, i.e., forest growing on sandy loam and clay reached low-medium NPP levels while higher NPP levels (i.e., medium, high) were found on sand-textured soils. Intermediate precipitation levels (>1800–3000 mm yr−1) were needed to grow forests at the medium and high NPP levels. Low thresholds of NPP were identified at both low (∼750 mm) and high precipitation (>3500 mm) levels.
By combining data on the ratios of precipitation to the amount of biomass produced in a year with how much less precipitation input occurs during a drought year, it is possible to estimate whether productivity levels are sufficient to support forest growth and forest dependent communities following a drought. In this study, the ratios of annual precipitation inputs required to produce 1 Mg ha−1 yr−1 biomass by soil texture class varied across the three soil textural classes. By using a conservative estimate of 20% of productivity collected or harvested by people and 30% precipitation reduction level as triggering a drought, it was possible to estimate a potential loss of annual productivity due to a drought. In this study, the total NPP unavailable due to drought and harvest by forest dependent communities per year was 10.2 Mg ha−1 yr−1 for the sandy textured soils (64% of NPP still available), 8.4 Mg ha−1 yr−1 for the sandy loam textured soils (60% available) and 12.7 Mg ha−1 yr−1 for the clay textured soils (29% available). Forests growing on clay textured soils would be most vulnerable to drought triggered reductions in productivity so NPP levels would be inadequate to maintain ecosystem functions and would potentially cause a forest-to-savanna shift. Further, these forests would not be able to provide sufficient NPP to satisfy the requirements of forest dependent communities. By predicting the productivity responses of different tropical forest ecosystems to changes in precipitation patterns coupled with edaphic data, it could be possible to spatially identify where tropical forests are most vulnerable to climate change impacts and where mitigation efforts should be concentrated
Magnetism in Semiconducting Molybdenum Dichalcogenides
Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are interesting for understanding
fundamental physics of two-dimensional materials (2D) as well as for many
emerging technologies, including spin electronics. Here, we report the
discovery of long-range magnetic order below TM = 40 K and 100 K in bulk
semiconducting TMDs 2H-MoTe2 and 2H-MoSe2, respectively, by means of muon
spin-rotation (muSR), scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), as well as density
functional theory (DFT) calculations. The muon spin rotation measurements show
the presence of a large and homogeneous internal magnetic fields at low
temperatures in both compounds indicative of long-range magnetic order. DFT
calculations show that this magnetism is promoted by the presence of defects in
the crystal. The STM measurements show that the vast majority of defects in
these materials are metal vacancies and chalcogen-metal antisites which are
randomly distributed in the lattice at the sub-percent level. DFT indicates
that the antisite defects are magnetic with a magnetic moment in the range of
0.9-2.8 mu_B. Further, we find that the magnetic order stabilized in 2H-MoTe2
and 2H-MoSe2 is highly sensitive to hydrostatic pressure. These observations
establish 2H-MoTe2 and 2H-MoSe2 as a new class of magnetic semiconductors and
opens a path to studying the interplay of 2D physics and magnetism in these
interesting semiconductors.Comment: 13 pages, 10 Figure
Polarization Dependence of Bulk Ion Acceleration from Ultrathin Foils Irradiated by High-Intensity Ultrashort Laser Pulses
The acceleration of ions from ultrathin (10-100 nm) carbon foils has been investigated using intense (∼ 6 x1020 Wcm-2), ultrashort (45 fs) laser pulses, highlighting a strong dependence of the ion beam parameters on the laser polarization, with circularly polarized (CP) pulses producing the highest energies for both protons and carbons (25-30 MeV/nucleon); carbon ion energies obtained employing CP pulses were signicantly higher (∼2.5 times) than for irradiations employing linearly polarized (LP) pulses. Particle-in-cell simulations indicate that Radiation Pressure Acceleration becomes the dominant mechanism for the thinnest targets and CP pulses
Solar science with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array - A new view of our Sun
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is a new powerful
tool for observing the Sun at high spatial, temporal, and spectral resolution.
These capabilities can address a broad range of fundamental scientific
questions in solar physics. The radiation observed by ALMA originates mostly
from the chromosphere - a complex and dynamic region between the photosphere
and corona, which plays a crucial role in the transport of energy and matter
and, ultimately, the heating of the outer layers of the solar atmosphere. Based
on first solar test observations, strategies for regular solar campaigns are
currently being developed. State-of-the-art numerical simulations of the solar
atmosphere and modeling of instrumental effects can help constrain and optimize
future observing modes for ALMA. Here we present a short technical description
of ALMA and an overview of past efforts and future possibilities for solar
observations at submillimeter and millimeter wavelengths. In addition, selected
numerical simulations and observations at other wavelengths demonstrate ALMA's
scientific potential for studying the Sun for a large range of science cases.Comment: 73 pages, 21 figures ; Space Science Reviews (accepted December 10th,
2015); accepted versio
Angularly resolved characterization of ion beams from laser-ultrathin foil interactions
Methods and techniques used to capture and analyze beam profiles produced from the interaction of intense, ultrashort laser pulses and ultrathin foil targets using stacks of Radiochromic Film (RCF) and Columbia Resin #39 (CR-39) are presented. The identification of structure in the beam is particularly important in this regime, as it may be indicative of the dominance of specific acceleration mechanisms. Additionally, RCF can be used to deconvolve proton spectra with coarse energy resolution while mantaining angular information across the whole beam
Re-presenting the Paralympics: (contested) philosophies, production practices and the hypervisibility of disability
Studies that have engaged para-sport broadcasting, particularly through a narrative lens, have almost exclusively relied on textual and/or content analysis of the Paralympic Games as the source of cultural critique. We know far less about the decisions taken inside Paralympic broadcasters that have led to such representations. In this study – based on interviews with senior production and promotion staff at the UK’s Paralympic broadcaster, Channel 4 – we provide the first detailed examination of mediated para-sport from this vantage point. We explore the use of promotional devices such as athletes’ backstories – the “Hollywood treatment” – to both hook audiences and serve as a vehicle for achieving its social enterprise mandate to change public attitudes toward disability. In so doing, we reveal myriad tensions that coalesce around representing the Paralympics; with respect to the efforts made to balance the competing goals of key stakeholders and a stated desire to make the Paralympics both a commercial and socially progressive success
Dynamic Behavior of Spicules Inferred from Perpendicular Velocity Components
Understanding the dynamic behavior of spicules, e.g., in terms of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) wave mode(s), is
key to unveiling their role in energy and mass transfer from the photosphere to corona. The transverse, torsional,
and field-aligned motions of spicules have previously been observed in imaging spectroscopy and analyzed
separately for embedded wave-mode identification. Similarities in the Doppler signatures of spicular structures for
both kink and torsional Alfvén wave modes have led to the misinterpretation of the dominant wave mode in these
structures and is a subject of debate. Here, we aim to combine line- of-sight (LOS) and plane-of-sky (POS) velocity
components using the high spatial/temporal resolution Hα imaging-spectroscopy data from the CRisp Imaging
SpectroPolarimeter based at the Swedish Solar Telescope to achieve better insight into the underlying nature of
these motions as a whole. The resultant three-dimensional velocity vectors and the other derived quantities (e.g.,
magnetic pressure perturbations) are used to identify the MHD wave mode(s) responsible for the observed spicule
motion. We find a number of independent examples where the bulk transverse motion of the spicule is dominant
either in the POS or along the LOS. It is shown that the counterstreaming action of the displaced external plasma
due to spicular bulk transverse motion has a similar Doppler profile to that of the m = 0 torsional Alfvén wave
when this motion is predominantly perpendicular to the LOS. Furthermore, the inferred magnetic pressure
perturbations support the kink wave interpretation of observed spicular bulk transverse motion rather than any
purely incompressible MHD wave mode, e.g., the m = 0 torsional Alfvén wav
The electrophotonic silicon biosensor
The emergence of personalized and stratified medicine requires label-free and low-cost diagnostic technology capable of monitoring multiple disease biomarkers in parallel. Silicon photonic biosensors combine high sensitivity analysis with scalable, low-cost manufacturing technology but they tend to measure only a single biomarker and provide no information about their (bio)chemical activity. Here, we introduce an electrochemical silicon photonic sensor capable of highly sensitive and multiparameter profiling of biomolecules. Our electro-photonic technology consists of microring resonators optimally n-doped to support high Q resonances alongside electrochemical processes in situ. The inclusion of electrochemical processes enables site selective immobilization of different biomolecules, here single stranded DNA, onto individual microrings within a sensor array. The combination of photonic and electrochemical characterization of molecules bound to the sensor surface also provides direct quantification of binding density and unique insight into chemical reactivity that is unavailable with photonic detection alone. By exploiting both the photonic and the electrical properties of silicon, the sensor opens new modalities for sensing on the micro-scale
BETWEEN BROADCASTING POLITICAL MESSAGES AND INTERACTING WITH VOTERS
Politicians across Western democracies are increasingly adopting and experimenting with Twitter, particularly during election time. The purpose of this article is to investigate how candidates are using it during an election campaign. The aim is to create a typology of the various ways in which candidates behaved on Twitter. Our research, which included a content analysis of tweets (n = 26,282) from all twittering Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat candidates (n = 416) during the 2010 UK General Election campaign, focused on four aspects of tweets: type, interaction, function and topic. By examining candidates' twittering behaviour, the authors show that British politicians mainly used Twitter as a unidirectional form of communication. However, there were a group of candidates who used it to interact with voters by, for example, mobilizing, helping and consulting them, thus tapping into the potential Twitter offers for facilitating a closer relationship with citizens
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