Anchoring In Action: Manual Estimates Of Slant Are Powerfully Biased Toward Initial Hand Orientation And Are Correlated With Verbal Report

People verbally overestimate hill slant by approximately 15 degrees to 25 degrees, whereas manual estimates (e. g., palm board measures) are thought to be more accurate. The relative accuracy of palm boards has contributed to the widely cited theoretical claim that they tap into an accurate, but unconscious, motor representation of locomotor space. In the current work, 4 replications (total N = 204) carried out by 2 different laboratories tested an alternative anchoring hypothesis that manual action measures give low estimates because they are always initiated from horizontal. The results of all 4 replications indicate that the bias from response anchoring can entirely account for the difference between manual and verbal estimates. Moreover, consistent correlations between manual and verbal estimates given by the same observers support the conclusion that both measures are based on the same visual representation. Concepts from the study of judgment under uncertainty apply even to action measures in information rich environments

Extended Tuning of an Injection-Locked Diode Laser

We have investigated the application of an electronic feedback technique recently reported by Repasky, et.al. [Appl. Opt. 45, 9013 (2006)] to an injection-locked semiconductor diode laser. We find that without electronic feedback, the injection-locked slave laser will only follow the master for less than 1 GHz, but once the electronic feedback is applied, the slave laser is capable of following for more than 20 GHz, corresponding to the full scan range of the master laser

Trap Loss in a Dual-Species Rb-Ar* Magneto-Optical Trap

We have investigated trap loss in a dual-species magneto-optical trap (MOT) comprised of 85Rb and metastable 40Ar. We measure the trap loss rate coefficients for each species due to the presence of the other as a function of trap light intensity. We clearly identify both Penning ionization of Rb by Ar* and associative ionization to form the molecular ion RbAr+ as two of the trap loss channels. We have also measured the trap loss rate coefficient for the Ar* MOT alone and observe production of Ar+ and Ar2+ ions

Photoassociative Spectroscopy of Ultracold Metastable Argon

We present results of photoassociative spectroscopy performed on ultracold metastable argonatoms in a magneto-optical trap. Ion spectra are obtained with laser detuning up to a few gigahertz below the 4s[3/2]2 → 4p[5/2]3 trapping transition at 811 nm and with intensities in a range of ~(102-105)ISat. We also compute dipole-dipole potentials for both singly and doubly excited diatomic molecules and use a Leroy-Bernstein analysis to determine the approximate vibrational spacings in the (s+p) and (p+p) manifolds. Based on this theoretical framework, we explain a broad background feature in our data and suggest that double-excitation mechanisms are likely responsible for sharp dips in the ion signal

Low Frequency Tilt Seismology with a Precision Ground Rotation Sensor

We describe measurements of the rotational component of teleseismic surface waves using an inertial high-precision ground-rotation-sensor installed at the LIGO Hanford Observatory (LHO). The sensor has a noise floor of 0.4 nrad$/ \sqrt{\rm Hz}$ at 50 mHz and a translational coupling of less than 1 $\mu$rad/m enabling translation-free measurement of small rotations. We present observations of the rotational motion from Rayleigh waves of six teleseismic events from varied locations and with magnitudes ranging from M6.7 to M7.9. These events were used to estimate phase dispersion curves which shows agreement with a similar analysis done with an array of three STS-2 seismometers also located at LHO

Examining Gender Differences in the Relationship Between Active Travel and Fitness Outcomes

Please refer to the pdf version of the abstract located adjacent to the title

Leak-Path Factor Analysis for the Nuclear Materials Storage Facility

Leak-path factors (LPFs) were calculated for the Nuclear Materials Storage Facility (NMSF) located in the Plutonium Facility, Building 41 at the Los Alamos National Laboratory Technical Area 55. In the unlikely event of an accidental fire powerful enough to fail a container holding actinides, the subsequent release of oxides, modeled as PuO{sub 2} aerosols, from the facility and into the surrounding environment was predicted. A 1-h nondestructive assay (NDA) laboratory fire accident was simulated with the MELCOR severe accident analysis code. Fire-driven air movement along with wind-driven air infiltration transported a portion of these actinides from the building. This fraction is referred to as the leak-path factor. The potential effect of smoke aerosol on the transport of the actinides was investigated to verify the validity of neglecting the smoke as conservative. The input model for the NMSF consisted of a system of control volumes, flow pathways, and surfaces sufficient to model the thermal-hydraulic conditions within the facility and the aerosol transport data necessary to simulate the transport of PuO{sub 2} particles. The thermal-hydraulic, heat-transfer, and aerosol-transport models are solved simultaneously with data being exchanged between models. A MELCOR input model was designed such that it would reproduce the salient features of the fire per the corresponding CFAST calculation. Air infiltration into and out of the facility would be affected strongly by wind-driven differential pressures across the building. Therefore, differential pressures were applied to each side of the building according to guidance found in the ASHRAE handbook using a standard-velocity head equation with a leading multiplier to account for the orientation of the wind with the building. The model for the transport of aerosols considered all applicable transport processes, but the deposition within the building clearly was dominated by gravitational settling

High-precision calculations of van der Waals coefficients for heteronuclear alkali-metal dimers

Van der Waals coefficients for the heteronuclear alkali-metal dimers of Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, and Fr are calculated using relativistic ab initio methods augmented by high-precision experimental data. We argue that the uncertainties in the coefficients are unlikely to exceed about 1%.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figs, graphicx.st

Explaining Evidence Denial as Motivated Pragmatically Rational Epistemic Irrationality

This paper introduces a model for evidence denial that explains this behavior as a manifestation of rationality and it is based on the contention that social values (measurable as utilities) often underwrite these sorts of responses. Moreover, it is contended that the value associated with group membership in particular can override epistemic reason when the expected utility of a belief or belief system is great. However, it is also true that it appears to be the case that it is still possible for such unreasonable believers to reverse this sort of dogmatism and to change their beliefs in a way that is epistemically rational. The conjecture made here is that we should expect this to happen only when the expected utility of the beliefs in question dips below a threshold where the utility value of continued dogmatism and the associated group membership is no longer sufficient to motivate defusing the counter-evidence that tells against such epistemically irrational beliefs