Population of dipole states via isoscalar probes: the splitting of pygmy dipole resonance in 124^{124}Sn}

Inelastic $\alpha$-scattering excitation cross sections are calculated for electric dipole excitations in $^{124}$Sn based on the transition densities obtained from the relativistic quasiparticle time-blocking approximation (RQTBA) in the framework of a semiclassical model. The calculation provides the missing link to directly compare the results from the microscopic RQTBA calculations to recent experimental data measured via the $(\alpha ,\alpha '\gamma)$ reaction, which show a structural splitting of the low-lying E1 strength often denoted as pygmy dipole resonance (PDR). The experimentally observed splitting is reproduced by the cross section calculations, which allows to draw conclusion on the structure of the PDR.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures; accepted in Phys. Rev C as Rapid Communicatio

Prison architecture a typological analysis of spatial organizations in respect to punishment systems

Thesis (Master)--İzmir Institute of Technology, Architecture, İzmir, 2002Includes bibliographical references (leaves: 113--118)Text in English; Abstract: Turkish and Englishxii, 119 leavesThe concepts of crime and punishment have always been a part of culture in every society throughout the history of mankind. However, the acts accepted as .crime. and the penalties imposed upon criminals for the same crime have revealed differences in each society and in each era. Prior to the Modern Age, almost in all societies, punishment was an open public activity to warn people and imprisonment was not a way of punishment; instead it was only a measure impeding the criminal.s escape until the execution of punishment. Modern world, at the beginning, has tried to use punishment for dictating definite .norms. instead of frightening; later on, instead of corporal execution some other punishment systems have been used as a means of creating individuals submitting to the authority on the way to the formation of inspection oriented .New Society.. This new approaches in punishment systems has required spatial and organizational solutions. As a result, prisons in which imprisonment would be executed have developed as a new building type requiring architectural design as other new building types developed during modernization. However, prison architecture is different from all other buildings as an architectural end product. This architectural product is such a place that whoever stays in never wants to live in there and wants to get out it as soon as possible since there is no relation between the spatial properties of the building and the preferences of a person staying in it, in other words, the criminal. Although debate on prison buildings seems to be a current issue in public opinion, discussions on the spatial organizations of prisons. coincides with the of F-type applications of Ministry of Justice in Turkey. On the other hand, the problems of this building type haven.t been examined enough in terms of architectural design approaches. It is important to discuss how prisons. spatial design have been developed throughout the history; and which architectural properties a prison has to have today must be considered. Whether a prison system, in which the person serving his/her sentence will not be damaged both physically and mentally by public authority, environment and other criminals during its detention period, is created or not, or relevance of the created spaces to the prevailing understanding of punishment and their appropriateness to its functions should also be studied. Therefore, this study aims at understanding prison architecture., their development and change in relation to changing social structures. A typological analysis on case studies is used to understand their spatial organizations in a retrospective perspective. Key words: Crime, Punishment, Prison, Prison Architecture, Type, and Typology

Fast Fight Detection

Action recognition has become a hot topic within computer vision. However, the action recognition community has focused mainly on relatively simple actions like clapping, walking, jogging, etc. The detection of specific events with direct practical use such as fights or in general aggressive behavior has been comparatively less studied. Such capability may be extremely useful in some video surveillance scenarios like prisons, psychiatric centers or even embedded in camera phones. As a consequence, there is growing interest in developing violence detection algorithms. Recent work considered the well-known Bag-of-Words framework for the specific problem of fight detection. Under this framework, spatio-temporal features are extracted from the video sequences and used for classification. Despite encouraging results in which high accuracy rates were achieved, the computational cost of extracting such features is prohibitive for practical applications. This work proposes a novel method to detect violence sequences. Features extracted from motion blobs are used to discriminate fight and non-fight sequences. Although the method is outperformed in accuracy by state of the art, it has a significantly faster computation time thus making it amenable for real-time applications

Connectivity-Driven Coherence in Complex Networks

We study the emergence of coherence in complex networks of mutually coupled non-identical elements. We uncover the precise dependence of the dynamical coherence on the network connectivity, on the isolated dynamics of the elements and the coupling function. These findings predict that in random graphs, the enhancement of coherence is proportional to the mean degree. In locally connected networks, coherence is no longer controlled by the mean degree, but rather on how the mean degree scales with the network size. In these networks, even when the coherence is absent, adding a fraction s of random connections leads to an enhancement of coherence proportional to s. Our results provide a way to control the emergent properties by the manipulation of the dynamics of the elements and the network connectivity.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Covariant Symplectic Structure and Conserved Charges of New Massive Gravity

We show that the symplectic current obtained from the boundary term, which arises in the first variation of a local diffeomorphism invariant action, is covariantly conserved for any gravity theory described by that action. Therefore, a Poincare invariant 2-form can be constructed on the phase space, which is shown to be closed without reference to a specific theory. Finally, we show that one can obtain a charge expression for gravity theories in various dimensions, which plays the role of the Abbott-Deser-Tekin (ADT) charge for spacetimes with non-constant curvature backgrounds, by using the diffeomorphism invariance of the symplectic 2-form. As an example, we calculate the conserved charges of some solutions of New Massive Gravity (NMG) and compare the results with the previous works.Comment: 18 pages, No figures, RevTEX4.1; ver 2: minor corrections, version accepted for publication in Physical Review

Restoration of Lake Hakanoa: Results of model simulations

This report was requested by Waikato District Council. It covers the lake water quality of, and possible restoration scenarios for, Lake Hakanoa a riverine lake situated in Huntly. The lake is used as a recreational resource by the community. In the past it has been reported to have had very poor water quality and is known to be eutrophic. It is currently in an algal-dominated, devegetated state and has low water clarity. The shallowness of this lake makes it potentially susceptible to resuspension of sediments through wind action. A community group, Friends of Hakanoa, has been responsible for the formation of a path around the perimeter of the lake, retiring about 3.6% of the catchment from pastoral farming and creating a riparian margin. Results from more recent reports and this report indicate a trend of improving water quality which may be related to recent restoration actions such as re-establishment of a riparian margin

Velocity Correlations in Dense Gravity Driven Granular Chute Flow

We report numerical results for velocity correlations in dense, gravity-driven granular flow down an inclined plane. For the grains on the surface layer, our results are consistent with experimental measurements reported by Pouliquen. We show that the correlation structure within planes parallel to the surface persists in the bulk. The two-point velocity correlation function exhibits exponential decay for small to intermediate values of the separation between spheres. The correlation lengths identified by exponential fits to the data show nontrivial dependence on the averaging time \dt used to determine grain velocities. We discuss the correlation length dependence on averaging time, incline angle, pile height, depth of the layer, system size and grain stiffness, and relate the results to other length scales associated with the rheology of the system. We find that correlation lengths are typically quite small, of the order of a particle diameter, and increase approximately logarithmically with a minimum pile height for which flow is possible, \hstop, contrary to the theoretical expectation of a proportional relationship between the two length scales.Comment: 21 pages, 16 figure

Fermi level pinning by integer charge transfer at electrode-organic semiconductor interfaces

The atomic structure of interfaces between conducting electrodes and molecular organic materials varies considerably. Yet experiments show that pinning of the Fermi level, which is observed at such interfaces, does not depend upon the structural details. In this letter, we develop a general model to explain Fermi level pinning, and formulate simple expressions for the pinning levels, based upon integer charge transfer between the conductor and the molecular layer. In particular, we show that DFT calculations give good values for the pinning levels

Examination of foramen tympanicum: an anatomical study using cone-beam computed tomography

Background: The foramen tympanicum (FT) is an osseous dehiscence of the temporal bone and usually closes by the age of 5 years. The foramen is located posteromedial to the temporomandibular joint and anteroinferior of the external auditory canal. The aim of this study is to define the prevalence, location and size of the foramen. Materials and methods: We retrospectively examined 200 cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images (400 ears). We used a CBCT dental imaging system (GALILEOS, Sirona Dental Systems, Bensheim, Germany) working at 15–30 mA and 98 kV. We noted size and location (unilateral and bilateral) of the present FT. Results: Foramen tympanicum was determined in 11.5% of 200 patients (they had FT at least on one side of the head). This was bilateral in 5 (2.5%) patients. Prevalence of the FT was significintly higher in females (8%) than in males (3.5%). FT was found more frequently on the left side (7.5%) than on the right side (4%). Mean axial diameter was 1.13 mm (range 0.23–4.43 mm), and mean sagittal diameter was 1.44 mm (range 0.22–3.99 mm). Conclusions: Considering that FT was present in 11.75% of patients, radiologists and clinicians should be aware of the possible presence of this defect. It is known that this developmental dehiscence may cause herniation of temporomandibular joint, formation of salivary otorrhea, and spread of tumour or infection to the infratemporal fossa from external auditory canal. This study showed that CBCT may be preferred for imaging these conditions. (Folia Morphol 2018; 77, 2: 335–339

The Weevil Next Door: Exploring the impact of associational effects on C. pitcheri to better biological control practices

Lake Michigan dwelling dune thistle, Circium pitcheri, is a federally threatened plant, whose reproduction is affected by a non-native weevil, Larinus planus. Originally introduced as a biological control agent to combat the spread of Canada thistle, Circium arvense, this weevil is instead using C. pitcheri as a host for its larvae. Associational susceptibility is an important factor to consider in hopes of preventing the damage to this endangered plant. The goal of this study was to observe L. planus behavior to determine why there is a correlation between increased density of beach grass and high levels of C. pitcheri damage. We hypothesize that C. pitcheri’s neighboring grass community is used as a dispersal aid for the non-native weevil, making neighboring thistle hosts more susceptible to weevil damage in grassy environments. To test this, we conducted ethogram studies at Whitefish Dunes State Park (WDSP) in Door County, WI. At WDSP, we found that L. planus physically used beach grass to get to C. pitcheri and largely failed to disperse using the sand. These results should help provide ecologically sustainable management strategies, while also promote more in-depth host specific analyses prior to the release of biological control agents