Implicit Environmental Attitudes: Critique and Technique to Promote Awareness

open access articleAttitudes toward the environment are understood in psychological science as the result of separate mental systems, one conscious and the other unconscious, and capable of affecting behavior outside of awareness. For example, the common incongruity between what people say about global sustainability and what they do about the environment has been explicated by the influence of implicit environmental attitudes. This study examined the operational adequacy of the commonly used Implicit Association Test (IAT) by directly asking participants to report their recognition of behavioral influences whilst performing an IAT. An analytic technique of awareness assessment was introduced to improve on traditional post-experimental questioning, by requiring a constrained report that provided introspective access to task-related knowledge in awareness. Results revealed participants were very aware of their IAT response latencies, they accurately recognized IAT features that produced those latencies, and the validity of this awareness predicted their test scores, challenging the claim to attitude effects of which individuals are unaware. Thus, the critical evaluation showed the IAT method to be inadequate as a measure of environmental attitudes that are implicit. Applications of the awareness assessment technique are discussed for evaluating tests of implicit cognition, and for promoting individual mindfulness of one’s own environmental attitude

Near-band‐gap photoluminescence of Hg_(1−x)Cd_xTe

The results of photoluminescence studies of Hg_(1−x)Cd_xTe with x=0.32 and 0.48 for temperatures between 5 and 30 K are described. In the x=0.32 and x=0.48 material, band‐to‐band, band‐to‐acceptor, and donor‐to‐acceptor luminescencelines are observed. We report the first observation of bound‐exciton luminescence in HgCdTe, which we observe in the samples with x=0.48

Stabilizing the surface morphology of Si1–x–yGexCy/Si heterostructures grown by molecular beam epitaxy through the use of a silicon-carbide source

Si1–x–yGexCy/Si superlattices were grown by solid-source molecular beam epitaxy using silicon carbide as a source of C. Samples consisting of alternating layers of nominally 25 nm Si1–x–yGexCy and 35 nm Si for 10 periods were characterized by high-resolution x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry to determine strain, thickness, and composition. C resonance backscattering and secondary ion mass spectrometries were used to measure the total C concentration in the Si1–x–yGexCy layers, allowing for an accurate determination of the substitutional C fraction to be made as a function of growth rate for fixed Ge and substitutional C compositions. For C concentrations close to 1%, high-quality layers were obtained without the use of Sb-surfactant mediation. These samples were found to be structurally perfect to a level consistent with cross-sectional TEM (< 10^7 defects/cm^2) and showed considerably improved homogeneity as compared with similar structures grown using graphite as the source for C. For higher Ge and C concentrations, Sb-surfactant mediation was found to be required to stabilize the surface morphology. The maximum value of substitutional C concentration, above which excessive generation of stacking fault defects caused polycrystalline and/or amorphous growth, was found to be approximately 2.4% in samples containing between 25 and 30% Ge. The fraction of substitutional C was found to decrease from roughly 60% by a factor of 0.86 as the Si1–x–yGexCy growth rate increased from 0.1 to 1.0 nm/s

Understanding small music venues: a report by the Music Venue Trust

This report presents the findings of a research project undertaken by the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance (hereafter The Institute) investigating the experiences of small music venues in the UK. The project was commissioned by the Music Venue Trust (MVT) and funded by Arts Council England (ACE) via an allocation of a grant awarded to MVT (Grant for the Arts ref. 27555752) and by The Institute

Edible crabs “Go West”: migrations and incubation cycle of Cancer pagurus revealed by electronic tags

Crustaceans are key components of marine ecosystems which, like other exploited marine taxa, show seasonable patterns of distribution and activity, with consequences for their availability to capture by targeted fisheries. Despite concerns over the sustainability of crab fisheries worldwide, difficulties in observing crabs’ behaviour over their annual cycles, and the timings and durations of reproduction, remain poorly understood. From the release of 128 mature female edible crabs tagged with electronic data storage tags (DSTs), we demonstrate predominantly westward migration in the English Channel. Eastern Channel crabs migrated further than western Channel crabs, while crabs released outside the Channel showed little or no migration. Individual migrations were punctuated by a 7-month hiatus, when crabs remained stationary, coincident with the main period of crab spawning and egg incubation. Incubation commenced earlier in the west, from late October onwards, and brooding locations, determined using tidal geolocation, occurred throughout the species range. With an overall return rate of 34%, our results demonstrate that previous reluctance to tag crabs with relatively high-cost DSTs for fear of loss following moulting is unfounded, and that DSTs can generate precise information with regards life-history metrics that would be unachievable using other conventional means

Digging into NGC 6334I(N): Multiwavelength Imaging of a Massive Protostellar Cluster

We present a high-resolution, multi-wavelength study of the massive protostellar cluster NGC 6334I(N) that combines new spectral line data from the Submillimeter Array (SMA) and VLA with a reanalysis of archival VLA continuum data, 2MASS and Spitzer images. As shown previously, the brightest 1.3 mm source SMA1 contains substructure at subarcsecond resolution, and we report the first detection of SMA1b at 3.6 cm along with a new spatial component at 7 mm (SMA1d). We find SMA1 (aggregate of sources a, b, c, and d) and SMA4 to be comprised of free-free and dust components, while SMA6 shows only dust emission. Our 1.5" resolution 1.3 mm molecular line images reveal substantial hot-core line emission toward SMA1 and to a lesser degree SMA2. We find CH3OH rotation temperatures of 165\pm 9 K and 145\pm 12 K for SMA1 and SMA2, respectively. We estimate a diameter of 1400 AU for the SMA1 hot core emission, encompassing both SMA1b and SMA1d, and speculate that these sources comprise a >800 AU separation binary that may explain the previously-suggested precession of the outflow emanating from the SMA1 region. The LSR velocities of SMA1, SMA2, and SMA4 all differ by 1-2 km/s. Outflow activity from SMA1, SMA2, SMA4, and SMA6 is observed in several molecules including SiO(5--4) and IRAC 4.5 micron emission; 24 micron emission from SMA4 is also detected. Eleven water maser groups are detected, eight of which coincide with SMA1, SMA2, SMA4, and SMA6. We also detect a total of 83 Class I CH3OH 44GHz maser spots which likely result from the combined activity of many outflows. Our observations paint the portrait of multiple young hot cores in a protocluster prior to the stage where its members become visible in the near-infrared.Comment: Accepted to ApJ, 24 pages, a full high resolution version is available at http://www.cv.nrao.edu/~cbrogan/ms.long.pd

Clustered Star Formation in W75 N

We present 2" to 7" resolution 3 mm continuum and CO(J=1-0) line emission and near infrared Ks, H2, and [FeII] images toward the massive star forming region W75 N. The CO emission uncovers a complex morphology of multiple, overlapping outflows. A total flow mass of greater than 255 Msun extends 3 pc from end-to-end and is being driven by at least four late to early-B protostars. More than 10% of the molecular cloud has been accelerated to high velocities by the molecular flows (> 5.2 km/s relative to v{LSR}) and the mechanical energy in the outflowing gas is roughly half the gravitational binding energy of the cloud. The W75 N cluster members represent a range of evolutionary stages, from stars with no apparent circumstellar material to deeply embedded protostars that are actively powering massive outflows. Nine cores of millimeter-wavelength emission highlight the locations of embedded protostars in W75 N. The total mass of gas & dust associated with the millimeter cores ranges from 340 Msun to 11 Msun. The infrared reflection nebula and shocked H2 emission have multiple peaks and extensions which, again, suggests the presence of several outflows. Diffuse H2 emission extends about 0.6 parsecs beyond the outer boundaries of the CO emission while the [FeII] emission is only detected close to the protostars. The infrared line emission morphology suggests that only slow, non-dissociative J-type shocks exist throughout the pc-scale outflows. Fast, dissociative shocks, common in jet-driven low-mass outflows, are absent in W75 N. Thus, the energetics of the outflows from the late to early B protostars in W75 N differ from their low-mass counterparts -- they do not appear to be simply scaled-up versions of low-mass outflows.Comment: Astrophysical Journal, in press. 23 pages plus 10 figures (jpg format). See http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/~dshepher/science.shtml for reprint with full resolution figure

Place matters: but does local leadership?

The arrival of New Labour into Government witnessed the prominent re-emergence of place onto the policy agenda. This heralded a range of area-based-initiatives designed to both tackle neighbourhood forms of deprivation and to re-establish a sense of identity and connection between individuals and their local community. In terms of place-making, effective and inclusive participation, representation and leadership were all identified as prerequisites for the creation of sustainable communities . But how important is local leadership and strategic vision within local public service organisations in achieving the desired place-making outcomes? This paper examines the extent to which local leadership and strategic vision represents a significant factor in promoting higher levels of satisfaction, belonging, cohesion and participation across single tier councils in England. The ensuing empirical evidence raises significant questions not only about the importance of local leadership in place-making, but also the environmental and organizational factors that shape local places

Near-band‐gap photoluminescence of Hg_(1−x)Cd_xTe

The results of photoluminescence studies of Hg_(1−x)Cd_xTe with x=0.32 and 0.48 for temperatures between 5 and 30 K are described. In the x=0.32 and x=0.48 material, band‐to‐band, band‐to‐acceptor, and donor‐to‐acceptor luminescencelines are observed. We report the first observation of bound‐exciton luminescence in HgCdTe, which we observe in the samples with x=0.48