897 research outputs found
Social Conformity in Autism
Humans are extremely susceptible to social influence. Here, we examine whether this susceptibility is altered in autism, a condition characterized by social difficulties. Autistic participants (N=22) and neurotypical controls (N=22) completed a memory test of previously seen words and were then exposed to answers supposedly given by four other individuals. Autistic individuals and controls were as likely to alter their judgements to align with inaccurate responses of group members. These changes reflected both temporary judgement changes (public conformity) and long-lasting memory changes (private conformity). Both groups were more susceptible to answers believed to be from other humans than from computer algorithms. Our results suggest that autistic individuals and controls are equally susceptible to social influence when reporting their memories
Extended Lyman alpha emission around bright quasars
Quasars trace the most massive structures at high redshifts and their
presence may influence the evolution of the massive host galaxies. We study the
extended Lyman alpha emission line regions (EELRs) around seven bright, mostly
radio-quiet quasars (QSOs) at 2.7<z<4.5, and compare luminosities with EELRs
around radio-loud QSOs reported in the literature. Using integral field
spectroscopy, we analyse the morphology and kinematics of the quiescent Lya
EELRs around the QSOs. We find evidence for the presence of EELRs around four
radio-quiet and one radio-loud QSO. All EELRs appear asymmetric and the
optically brightest QSOs also have the brightest Lya nebulae. For the two
brightest nebulae we find velocities between ~600 km s^-1 at the QSO position
to ~200 km s^-1 at a distance of 3-4 arcsec from the QSO and surface flux
densities up to 2-3*10^{-16} erg cm^-2 s^-1 arcsec^-2. The five EELRs have
total Lya luminosities which correspond to ~0.5% of the luminosities from the
QSOs broad Lya emission lines. This fraction is an order of magnitude smaller
than found for EELRs around radio-loud, steep spectrum QSOs reported in the
literature. While the nebulae luminosities are correlated with the QSO Lya
luminosities, we find that nebulae luminosities are not correlated with the
central QSO ionising fluxes. The presence of gas in the EELRs can be
interpreted based on two competing scenarios: either from quasar feedback
mechanisms, or from infalling matter. Apart from these two effects, the Lya
flux around radio-loud objects can be enhanced due to interactions with the
radio jets. The relatively fainter nebulae around radio-quiet QSOs compared to
lobe-dominated radio-loud QSOs can be ascribed to this effect, or to
significant differences in the environments between the two classes.Comment: 15 pages, A&A accepted. Section 4 revise
High-T_{c} Superconductors with AF Order: Limitations on Spin-Fluctuation Pairing Mechanism
The very intriguing antagonistic interplay of antiferromagnetism (AF) and
superconductivity (SC), recently discovered in high-temperature
superconductors, is studied in the framework of a microscopic theory. We
explain the surprisingly large increase of the magnetic Bragg peak intensity
at in the magnetic field at low
temperatures in . Good agreement
with experimental results is found. The theory predicts large anisotropy of the
relative intensity %, i.e.
. The quantum (T=0) phase
diagram at H=0 is constructed. The theory also predicts: (i) the magnetic field
induced AF order in the SC state; (ii) small value for the spin-fluctuation
coupling constant . The latter gives very small SC
critical temperature , thus questioning the spin-fluctuation
mechanism of pairing in HTS oxides.Comment: Linguistic changes, improved readabilty, changed titl
Deer reduce habitat quality for a woodland songbird: evidence from settlement patterns, demographic parameters, and body condition.
Understanding avian responses to ungulate-induced habitat modification is important because deer populations are increasing across much of temperate Europe and North America. Our experimental study examined whether habitat quality for Blackcaps (Sylvia atricapilla) in young woodland in eastern England was affected by deer, by comparing Blackcap behavior, abundance, and condition between paired plots (half of each pair protected from deer). The vegetation in each pair of plots was the same age. The Blackcap is an ideal model species for testing effects of deer on avian habitat quality because it is dependent on dense understory vegetation and is abundant throughout much of Europe. We compared timing of settlement, abundance, age structure (second-year vs. after-second-year), and phenotypic quality (measured as a body condition index, body mass divided by tarsus length) between experimental and control plots. We used point counts to examine Blackcap distribution, and standardized mist netting to collect demographic and biometric data. Incidence of singing Blackcaps was higher in nonbrowsed than in browsed plots, and singing males were recorded in nonbrowsed plots earlier in the season, indicating earlier and preferential territory establishment. Most Blackcaps, both males and females, were captured in vegetation prior to canopy closure (2–4 years of regrowth). Body condition was superior for male Blackcaps captured in nonbrowsed plots; for second-year males this was most marked in vegetation prior to canopy closure. We conclude that deer browsing in young woodland can alter habitat quality for understory-dependent species, with potential consequences for individual fitness and population productivity beyond the more obvious effects on population density
Proliferation and patterning are mediated independently in the dorsal spinal cord downstream of canonical Wnt signaling
AbstractCanonical Wnt signaling can regulate proliferation and patterning in the developing spinal cord, but the relationship between these functions has remained elusive. It has been difficult to separate the distinct activities of Wnts because localized changes in proliferation could conceivably alter patterning, and gain and loss of function experiments have resulted in both types of defects. To resolve this issue we have investigated canonical Wnt signaling in the zebrafish spinal cord using multiple approaches. We demonstrate that Wnt signaling is required initially for proliferation throughout the entire spinal cord, and later for patterning dorsal progenitor domains. Furthermore, we find that spinal cord patterning is normal in embryos after cell division has been pharmacologically blocked. Finally, we determine the transcriptional mediators of Wnt signaling that are responsible for patterning and proliferation. We show that tcf7 gene knockdown results in dorsal patterning defects without decreasing the mitotic index in dorsal domains. In contrast, tcf3 gene knockdown results in a reduced mitotic index without affecting dorsal patterning. Together, our work demonstrates that proliferation and patterning in the developing spinal cord are separable events that are regulated independently by Wnt signaling
Screening of qubit from zero-temperature reservoir
We suggest an application of dynamical Zeno effect to isolate a qubit in the
quantum memory unit against decoherence caused by coupling with the reservoir
having zero temperature. The method is based on using an auxiliary casing
system that mediate the qubit-reservoir interaction and is simultaneously
frequently erased to ground state. This screening procedure can be implemented
in the cavity QED experiments to store the atomic and photonic qubit states.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Universal Continuous Variable Quantum Computation in the Micromaser
We present universal continuous variable quantum computation (CVQC) in the
micromaser. With a brief history as motivation we present the background theory
and define universal CVQC. We then show how to generate a set of operations in
the micromaser which can be used to achieve universal CVQC. It then follows
that the micromaser is a potential architecture for CVQC but our proof is
easily adaptable to other potential physical systems.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, accepted for a presentation at the 9th
International Conference on Unconventional Computation (UC10) and LNCS
proceedings
A jet-cloud interaction in the 3C 196 environment
Powerful radio galaxies and radio-loud quasars at high redshifts are
frequently associated with extended emission-line regions (EELRs). Here we
investigate the [O II] EELR around the quasar 3C 196 at z=0.871 using integral
field spectroscopy. We also detect extended [Ne II] emission at a distance of
about 30 kpc from the core. The emission is aligned with the radio hot spots
and shows a redshifted and a blueshifted component with a velocity difference
of ~800 km s^-1. The alignment effect and large velocities support the
hypothesis that the EELR is caused by a jet-cloud interaction, which is
furthermore indicated by the presence of a pronounced bend in the radio
emission at the location of the radio hot spots. We also report observations of
two other systems which do not show as clear indications of interactions. We
find a weaker alignment of an [O II] EELR from the z=0.927 quasar 3C 336, while
no EELR is found around the core-dominated quasar OI 363 at z=0.63.Comment: 7 pages, accepted for publication in A&
An attempt to partition stomatal and non-stomatal ozone deposition parts on a short grassland
To evaluate the damaging effect of tropospheric ozone on vegetation, it is important to evaluate the stomatal uptake of ozone. Although the stomatal flux is a dominant pathway of ozone deposition onto vegetated surfaces, non-stomatal uptake mechanisms such as soil and cuticular deposition also play a vital role, especially when the leaf area index LAI<4. In this study, we partitioned the canopy conductance into stomatal and non-stomatal components. To calculate the stomatal conductance of water vapour for sparse vegetation, we firstly partitioned the latent heat flux into effects of transpiration and evaporation using the Shuttleworth–Wallace (SW) model. We then derived the stomatal conductance of ozone using the Penman–Monteith (PM) theory based on the similarity to water vapour conductance. The non-stomatal conductance was calculated by subtracting the stomatal conductance from the canopy conductance derived from directly-measured fluxes. Our results show that for short vegetation (LAI=0.25) dry deposition of ozone was dominated by the non-stomatal flux, which exceeded the stomatal flux even during the daytime. At night the stomatal uptake of ozone was found to be negligibly small. In the case of vegetation with LAI≈1, the daytime stomatal and non-stomatal fluxes were of the same order of magnitude. These results emphasize that non-stomatal processes must be considered even in the case of well-developed vegetation where cuticular uptake is comparable in magnitude with stomatal uptake, and especially in the case of vegetated surfaces with LAI<4 where soil uptake also has a role in ozone deposition
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