187 research outputs found
2-loop Functional Renormalization Group Theory of the Depinning Transition
We construct the field theory which describes the universal properties of the
quasi-static isotropic depinning transition for interfaces and elastic periodic
systems at zero temperature, taking properly into account the non-analytic form
of the dynamical action. This cures the inability of the 1-loop flow-equations
to distinguish between statics and quasi-static depinning, and thus to account
for the irreversibility of the latter. We prove two-loop renormalizability,
obtain the 2-loop beta-function and show the generation of "irreversible"
anomalous terms, originating from the non-analytic nature of the theory, which
cause the statics and driven dynamics to differ at 2-loop order. We obtain the
roughness exponent zeta and dynamical exponent z to order epsilon^2. This
allows to test several previous conjectures made on the basis of the 1-loop
result. First it demonstrates that random-field disorder does indeed attract
all disorder of shorter range. It also shows that the conjecture zeta=epsilon/3
is incorrect, and allows to compute the violations, as zeta=epsilon/3 (1 +
0.14331 epsilon), epsilon=4-d. This solves a longstanding discrepancy with
simulations. For long-range elasticity it yields zeta=epsilon/3 (1 + 0.39735
epsilon), epsilon=2-d (vs. the standard prediction zeta=1/3 for d=1), in
reasonable agreement with the most recent simulations. The high value of zeta
approximately 0.5 found in experiments both on the contact line depinning of
liquid Helium and on slow crack fronts is discussed.Comment: 32 pages, 17 figures, revtex
Determinants of serum zinc in a random population sample of four Belgian towns with different degrees of environmental exposure to cadmium
This report investigated the distribution of serum zinc and the factors determining serum zinc concentration in a large random population sample. The 1977 participants (959 men and 1018 women), 20–80 years old, constituted a stratified random sample of the population of four Belgian districts, representing two areas with low and two with high environmental exposure to cadmium. For each exposure level, a rural and an urban area were selected. The serum concentration of zinc, frequently used as an index for zinc status in human subjects, was higher in men (13.1 μmole/L, range 6.5–23.0 μmole/L) than in women (12.6 μmole/L, range 6.3–23.2 μmole/L). In men, 20% of the variance of serum zinc was explained by age (linear and squared term, R = 0.29), diurnal variation (r = 0.29), and total cholesterol (r = 0.16). After adjustment for these covariates, a negative relationship was observed between serum zinc and both blood (r = −0.10) and urinary cadmium (r = −0.14). In women, 11% of the variance could be explained by age (linear and squared term, R = 0.15), diurnal variation in serum zinc (r = 0.27), creatinine clearance (r = −0.11), log γ-glutamyltranspeptidase (r = 0.08), cholesterol (r = 0.07), contraceptive pill intake (r = −0.07), and log serum ferritin (r = 0.06). Before and after adjustment for significant covariates, serum zinc was, on average, lowest in the two districts where the body burden of cadmium, as assessed by urinary cadmium excretion, was highest. These results were not altered when subjects exposed to heavy metals at work were excluded from analysis
The Effects of Media and their Logic on Legitimacy Sources within Local Governance Networks: A Three-Case Comparative Study
__Abstract__
Although theoretical and empirical work on the democratic legitimacy of
governance networks is growing, little attention has been paid to the impact of mediatisation
on democracies. Media have their own logic of news-making led by the media’s rules,
aims, production routines and constraints, which affect political decision-making processes.
In this article, we specifically study how media and their logic affect three
democratic legitimacy sources of political decision-making within governance networks:
voice, due deliberation and accountability. We conducted a comparative case study of
three local governance networks using a mixed method design, combining extensive
qualitative case studies, interviews and a quantitative content analysis of media reports.
In all three cases, media logic increased voice possibilities for citizen groups.
Furthermore, it broadened the deliberation process, although this did not improve the
quality of this process per se, because the media focus on drama and negativity. Finally,
media logic often pushed political authorities into a reactive communication style as they
had to fight against negative images in the media. Proactive communication about
projects, such as public relation (PR) strategies and branding, is difficult in such a
media landscape
System Size and Energy Dependence of Jet-Induced Hadron Pair Correlation Shapes in Cu+Cu and Au+Au Collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 and 62.4 GeV
We present azimuthal angle correlations of intermediate transverse momentum
(1-4 GeV/c) hadrons from {dijets} in Cu+Cu and Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) =
62.4 and 200 GeV. The away-side dijet induced azimuthal correlation is
broadened, non-Gaussian, and peaked away from \Delta\phi=\pi in central and
semi-central collisions in all the systems. The broadening and peak location
are found to depend upon the number of participants in the collision, but not
on the collision energy or beam nuclei. These results are consistent with sound
or shock wave models, but pose challenges to Cherenkov gluon radiation models.Comment: 464 authors from 60 institutions, 6 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables.
Submitted to Physical Review Letters. Plain text data tables for the points
plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be)
publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm
Improved Measurement of Double Helicity Asymmetry in Inclusive Midrapidity pi^0 Production for Polarized p+p Collisions at sqrt(s)=200 GeV
We present an improved measurement of the double helicity asymmetry for pi^0
production in polarized proton-proton scattering at sqrt(s) = 200 GeV employing
the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The
improvements to our previous measurement come from two main factors: Inclusion
of a new data set from the 2004 RHIC run with higher beam polarizations than
the earlier run and a recalibration of the beam polarization measurements,
which resulted in reduced uncertainties and increased beam polarizations. The
results are compared to a Next to Leading Order (NLO) perturbative Quantum
Chromodynamics (pQCD) calculation with a range of polarized gluon
distributions.Comment: 389 authors, 4 pages, 2 tables, 1 figure. Submitted to Phys. Rev. D,
Rapid Communications. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in
figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly
available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm
Source size scaling of fragment production in projectile breakup
Fragment production has been studied as a function of the source mass and
excitation energy in peripheral collisions of Cl+Au at 43
MeV/nucleon and Ge+Ti at 35 MeV/nucleon. The results are
compared to the Au+Au data at 600 MeV/nucleon obtained by the ALADIN
collaboration. A mass scaling, by 35 to 190, strongly
correlated to excitation energy per nucleon, is presented, suggesting a thermal
fragment production mechanism. Comparisons to a standard sequential decay model
and the lattice-gas model are made. Fragment emission from a hot, rotating
source is unable to reproduce the experimental source size scaling.Comment: 13 pages LaTeX file, including 3 postscript figures (in .tar.gz
fornmat), accepted in Phys. Rev. C . Also available at
http://thomson.phy.ulaval.ca/ions_lourds/gil-en.htm
Maintaining understory vegetation in oil palm plantations supports higher assassin bug numbers
1. The expansion of oil palm agriculture across Southeast Asia has caused significant biodiversity losses, with the reduction in habitat heterogeneity that accompanies the conversion of forest to oil palm being a major contributing factor. However, owing to their long commercial lifespan, oil palm plantations can support relatively high levels of vegetation complexity compared to annual crops. There is therefore potential for the implementation of management strategies to increase vegetation complexity and associated within-plantation habitat heterogeneity, enhancing species richness and associated ecosystem functioning within productive oil palm landscapes. 2. This study focusses on two species of assassin bugs Cosmolestes picticeps and Sycanus dichotomus, which are important agents of pest control within oil palm systems. Using a Before-After Control-Impact experimental manipulation in Sumatra, Indonesia, we tested the effect of three alternative herbicide spraying regimes and associated vegetation complexity treatments on assassin bug numbers. Our treatments encompass a range of current understory vegetation management practices used in oil palm plantations and include removing vegetation only in areas key to harvesting (“Normal”), removing all understory vegetation (“Reduced”), and allowing native vegetation to regrow naturally (“Enhanced”). We assessed both the long-term (18 months) and short-term (within 2 weeks) effects of our treatments following herbicide spraying. 3. Pre-treatment, we found high numbers of assassin bugs of both species in all plots. Long-term post-treatment, the abundance of both C. picticeps and S. dichotomus declined in Reduced understory plots, although this decline was only significant for C. picticeps (98%). In contrast, there were no significant differences in the post-treatment abundance of either species in the short-term. 4. These results suggest that the long-term decline in assassin bug abundance was likely to be caused by loss of vegetation, rather than any immediate effects of the herbicide spraying. Our findings have clear management implications as they demonstrate that maintaining vegetation in oil palm understories can benefit an important pest control agent
Guidelines for Genome-Scale Analysis of Biological Rhythms
Genome biology approaches have made enormous contributions to our understanding of biological rhythms, particularly in identifying outputs of the clock, including RNAs, proteins, and metabolites, whose abundance oscillates throughout the day. These methods hold significant promise for future discovery, particularly when combined with computational modeling. However, genome-scale experiments are costly and laborious, yielding “big data” that are conceptually and statistically difficult to analyze. There is no obvious consensus regarding design or analysis. Here we discuss the relevant technical considerations to generate reproducible, statistically sound, and broadly useful genome-scale data. Rather than suggest a set of rigid rules, we aim to codify principles by which investigators, reviewers, and readers of the primary literature can evaluate the suitability of different experimental designs for measuring different aspects of biological rhythms. We introduce CircaInSilico, a web-based application for generating synthetic genome biology data to benchmark statistical methods for studying biological rhythms. Finally, we discuss several unmet analytical needs, including applications to clinical medicine, and suggest productive avenues to address them
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