19,028 research outputs found
New Hampshire civic health index
The Carsey Institute is participating in a study to examine America\u27s civic health. Led by the Conference on Citizenship (NCoC), America\u27s Civic Health Index is an annual study that measures a wide variety of civic indicators, such as community involvement and helping others. New Hampshire is one of six states partnering with NCoC to produce a state-specific report that examines the civic health in the Granite State
Walking builds community cohesion: Survey of two New Hampshire communities looks at social capital and walkability
This brief reports the results of a survey conducted in 2009 of approximately 2,000 households in Portsmouth and Manchester, New Hampshire, to examine the connection between walkability and social capital. Authors Shannon Rogers, Kevin Gardner, and Cynthia Carlson report that higher levels of social capital are found in areas that are perceived to be more walkable, as measured by the number of places people can walk to in their community. In addition, walkability is influenced by concerns of safety, access, time, and health and by physical characteristics such as proximity, scale, and aesthetics. Given the link between walkability and greater social capital, and in turn the link between social capital and numerous positive outcomes, refitting communities with greater walkability can have short- and longer-term payoffs. The authors conclude that more walkable communities are healthier communities, and as the research in the brief shows, residents in them are more connected to one another not only by sidewalks but also through the social networks and social capital they form when they live in communities that encourage gathering and meeting face-to-face
Competition between supersolid phases and magnetisation plateaux in the frustrated easy-axis antiferromagnet on a triangular lattice
The majority of magnetic materials possess some degree of magnetic
anisotropy, either at the level of a single ion, or in the exchange
interactions between different magnetic ions. Where these exchange interactions
are also frustrated, the competition between them and anisotropy can stabilize
a wide variety of new phases in applied magnetic field. Motivated by the
hexagonal delafossite 2H-AgNiO 2, we study the Heisenberg antiferromagnet on a
layered triangular lattice with competing first- and second-neighbour
interactions and single-ion easy-axis anisotropy. Using a combination of
classical Monte Carlo simulation, mean-field analysis, and Landau theory, we
establish the magnetic phase diagram of this model as a function of temperature
and magnetic field for a fixed ratio of exchange interactions, but with values
of easy-axis anisotropy D extending from the Heisenberg (D =0) to the Ising
(D=∞) limits. We uncover a rich variety of different magnetic phases.
These include several phases which are magnetic supersolids (in the sense of
Matsuda and Tstuneto or Liu and Fisher), one of which may already have been
observed in AgNiO 2. We explore how this particular supersolid arises through
the closing of a gap in the spin-wave spectrum, and how it competes with rival
collinear phases as the easy-axis anisotropy is increased. The finite
temperature properties of this phase are found to be different from those of
any previously studied magnetic supersolid.Comment: 25 pages; 29 figures; minor revisions; accepted for publication in
Phys. Rev.
A study to determine the applicability of noise abatement approach procedures to McDonnell Douglas Aircraft
Analyses of McDonnell Douglas DC-8, DC-9, and DC-10 jet transports were conducted to investigate the applicability of two segment approach noise abatement procedures to these airplanes. All models had the required glide slope capability at the certified landing flap settings. The DC-8 models would probably be limited to an upper segment glide slope of 5.5 degrees and would probably not be suitable for the two segment procedure in icing conditions. The DC-8 would not be compatible with this procedure at a reduced landing flap setting. The feasibility of installing a two segment approach system in the Douglas-built fleet of commercial jet transports from a hardware viewpoint is discussed. The candidate system consists of a two segment computer plus the necessary peripheral equipment interfaced with the existing autopilot and associated avionics. The required modifications and additions to existing equipment are described and the attendant costs estimated. Potential problems which may be encountered are also discussed
Telling time with an intrinsically noisy clock
Intracellular transmission of information via chemical and transcriptional
networks is thwarted by a physical limitation: the finite copy number of the
constituent chemical species introduces unavoidable intrinsic noise. Here we
provide a method for solving for the complete probabilistic description of
intrinsically noisy oscillatory driving. We derive and numerically verify a
number of simple scaling laws. Unlike in the case of measuring a static
quantity, response to an oscillatory driving can exhibit a resonant frequency
which maximizes information transmission. Further, we show that the optimal
regulatory design is dependent on the biophysical constraints (i.e., the
allowed copy number and response time). The resulting phase diagram illustrates
under what conditions threshold regulation outperforms linear regulation.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure
Time's Barbed Arrow: Irreversibility, Crypticity, and Stored Information
We show why the amount of information communicated between the past and
future--the excess entropy--is not in general the amount of information stored
in the present--the statistical complexity. This is a puzzle, and a
long-standing one, since the latter is what is required for optimal prediction,
but the former describes observed behavior. We layout a classification scheme
for dynamical systems and stochastic processes that determines when these two
quantities are the same or different. We do this by developing closed-form
expressions for the excess entropy in terms of optimal causal predictors and
retrodictors--the epsilon-machines of computational mechanics. A process's
causal irreversibility and crypticity are key determining properties.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Half-magnetization plateaux in Cr spinels
Magnetization plateaux, visible as anomalies in magnetic susceptibility at
low temperatures, are one of the hallmarks of frustrated magnetism. An
extremely robust half-magnetization plateau is observed in the spinel oxides
CdCr2O4 and HgCr2O4, where it is accompanied by a substantial lattice
distortion. We give an overview of the present state experiment for CdCr2O4 and
HgCr2O4, and show how such a half-magnetization plateau arises quite naturally
in a simple model of these systems, once coupling to the lattice is taken into
account.Comment: 8 pages latex using IOP macros, from review talk given at RHMF 2006
(Sendai
A General Information Theoretical Proof for the Second Law of Thermodynamics
We show that the conservation and the non-additivity of the information,
together with the additivity of the entropy make the entropy increase in an
isolated system. The collapse of the entangled quantum state offers an example
of the information non-additivity. Nevertheless, the later is also true in
other fields, in which the interaction information is important. Examples are
classical statistical mechanics, social statistics and financial processes. The
second law of thermodynamics is thus proven in its most general form. It is
exactly true, not only in quantum and classical physics but also in other
processes, in which the information is conservative and non-additive.Comment: 4 page
Addressing neuroticism in psychological treatment
Neuroticism has long been associated with psychopathology and there is increasing evidence that this trait represents a shared vulnerability responsible for the development and maintenance of a range of common mental disorders. Given that neuroticism may be more malleable than previously thought, targeting this trait in treatment, rather than its specific manifestations (e.g., anxiety, mood, and personality disorders), may represent a more efficient and cost-effective approach to psychological treatment. The goals of the current manuscript are to (a) review the role of neuroticism in the development of common mental disorders, (b) describe the evidence of its malleability, and (c) review interventions that have been explicitly developed to target this trait in treatment. Implications for shifting the focus of psychological treatment to underlying vulnerabilities, such as neuroticism, rather than on the manifest symptoms of mental health conditions, are also discussed.First author draf
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