Encountering soviet geography: oral histories of British geographical studies of the USSR and Eastern Europe 1945-1991

This paper considers the history of British geographical studies of the USSR and Eastern Europe 1945-1991, presenting material from a research project which has included thirty-two oral history interviews. Oral history is an especially fruitful research methodology in this context due to the distinct issues of formality and informality involved in researching the Soviet bloc. After discussing the nature of the subdiscipline and the Cold War context, including the role of the British state in shaping the field, the paper considers the role of formal academic meetings and exchanges, and the place of unofficial spaces of encounter in the formation of an intellectual culture. The paper concludes by reflecting on the merits of oral history in studies of the production of geographical knowledge

Massive relic neutrinos in the galactic halo and the knee in the cosmic ray spectrum

Despite many efforts to find a reasonable explanation, the origin of the "knee" in the cosmic ray spectrum at energy around 10**15.5 eV remains mysterious. In this letter we suggest that the "knee" may be due to a GZK-like effect of cosmic rays interacting with massive neutrinos in the galactic halo. Simple kinematics connects the location of the "knee" with the mass of the neutrinos, and, while the required interaction cross section is larger than that predicted by the Standard Model, it can be accommodated by a small neutrino magnetic dipole moment. The values for the neutrino parameters obtained from the analysis of existing experimental data are compatible with present laboratory bounds.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure, uses RevTe

An exploration of Keyes’ two-continuum model of mental health in athletes: resilience, mental illness and performance

Keyes’ (2005) two-continuum model of mental health posits two related, but distinct dimensions (1: the presence or absence of mental health – MH; 2: the presence or absence of mental illness - MI). Theoretically, athletes could experience both positive MH and symptoms of MI. Alternatively, athletes could be free from MI, but experience low levels of MH (what Keyes, 2005 terms languishing). This study presents preliminary results from an online survey examining (a) associations between resilience, MH, and MI, and (b) associations between MH, MI and performance. Participants comprised (male, n = 29; female, n = 28) athletes from a range of team (e.g., soccer, netball) and individual (e.g., triathlon, golf) sports (mean age = 23 ± 7 years). The survey comprised measures of MH (Keyes et al., 2008), MI (Connell et al., 2007), resilience (Wagnild & Young, 1987), and performance [the mean of 3 items assessing satisfaction in training, competition, and in sport generally from 0 (totally dissatisfied) to 100 (totally satisfied)]. Using proposed cut-off criteria (Connell et al, 2007; Keyes et al, 2008), some individuals (12%) reported both severe MI and high MH. In addition, a modest, negative relationship (r = -.40, p = .003) between MH and MI lends some support to Keyes’ model. Resilience (personal competence) was associated with MH (r = .50, p < .01), and MI(r = -.34, p = .01). Resilience (acceptance of self and life) was not associated with MI (r = -.24, p = .08), but was associated with MH (r = .39, p = .003). Zero-order correlations between MH and performance (r = .63, p < .001), and MI and performance (r = -.40, p = .003) are qualified by partial correlation analyses. The correlation between MH and performance remains significant when MI is controlled for (r = .59, p < .001). When MH is controlled for, the relationship between MI and performance (r = -.05, p = .76) is attenuated. Collectively, results provide some support for Keyes’ model and for considering MI and MH as separate factors influencing sport performance

A case study using ECHO(Extraction and Classification of Homogeneous Objects) for analysis of multispectral scanner data

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

On the accuracy of pixel relaxation labeling

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

Pixel labeling by supervised probabilistic relaxation

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

Numerical Construction of Likelihood Distributions and the Propagation of Errors

The standard method for the propagation of errors, based on a Taylor series expansion, is approximate and frequently inadequate for realistic problems. A simple and generic technique is described in which the likelihood is constructed numerically, thereby greatly facilitating the propagation of errors

First unitarity-independent determination of the CKM matrix elements VtdV_{td}, VtsV_{ts}, and VtbV_{tb} and the implications for unitarity

The magnitudes of the CKM matrix elements $V_{td}$, $V_{ts}$, and $V_{tb}$ are determined for the first time without any assumptions of unitarity. The implications for the unitarity of the CKM matrix as a whole are discussed