1,743 research outputs found
Racial equity in social psychological science: A guide for scholars, institutions, and the field
How can social psychologists ensure their scholarship does not maintain racial inequality—or better, is anti-racist? This article serves as a reference for scholars by briefly reviewing the state of racial inequality in psychological science before providing concise yet comprehensive recommendations. Challenges include (a) the field's historic role in inequality-maintenance (especially by reinforcing harmful stereotypes), (b) pervasive objectivity norms that reify Whiteness as the status quo, and (c) the inequitable allocation of resources to White scholars and White-centered scholarship. Recommendations center on (a) methodological practices during the research process (from idea generation to manuscript preparation), (b) empirical transparency from scholars during the publication process, and (c) institutional, resource-focused support from gatekeepers (e.g., editors, senior faculty) to incentivize the diversification of our science
NuSTAR hard X-ray observation of a sub-A class solar flare
We report a NuSTAR observation of a solar microflare, SOL2015-09-01T04.
Although it was too faint to be observed by the GOES X-ray Sensor, we estimate
the event to be an A0.1 class flare in brightness. This microflare, with only 5
counts per second per detector observed by RHESSI, is fainter than any hard
X-ray (HXR) flare in the existing literature. The microflare occurred during a
solar pointing by the highly sensitive NuSTAR astrophysical observatory, which
used its direct focusing optics to produce detailed HXR microflare spectra and
images. The microflare exhibits HXR properties commonly observed in larger
flares, including a fast rise and more gradual decay, earlier peak time with
higher energy, spatial dimensions similar to the RHESSI microflares, and a
high-energy excess beyond an isothermal spectral component during the impulsive
phase. The microflare is small in emission measure, temperature, and energy,
though not in physical size; observations are consistent with an origin via the
interaction of at least two magnetic loops. We estimate the increase in thermal
energy at the time of the microflare to be 2.4x10^27 ergs. The observation
suggests that flares do indeed scale down to extremely small energies and
retain what we customarily think of as "flarelike" properties.Comment: Status: Accepted by the Astrophysical Journal, 2017 July 1
Inferring hidden Markov models from noisy time sequences: a method to alleviate degeneracy in molecular dynamics
We present a new method for inferring hidden Markov models from noisy time
sequences without the necessity of assuming a model architecture, thus allowing
for the detection of degenerate states. This is based on the statistical
prediction techniques developed by Crutchfield et al., and generates so called
causal state models, equivalent to hidden Markov models. This method is
applicable to any continuous data which clusters around discrete values and
exhibits multiple transitions between these values such as tethered particle
motion data or Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) spectra. The
algorithms developed have been shown to perform well on simulated data,
demonstrating the ability to recover the model used to generate the data under
high noise, sparse data conditions and the ability to infer the existence of
degenerate states. They have also been applied to new experimental FRET data of
Holliday Junction dynamics, extracting the expected two state model and
providing values for the transition rates in good agreement with previous
results and with results obtained using existing maximum likelihood based
methods.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figure
On the Cosmology of Massive Vector Fields with SO(3) Global Symmetry
A relevant reference ([14]) has been added.Comment: 19 pages, plain tex, DF/IST-3/92 and DFFCUL 03-5/199
Imaging the Two Gaps of the High-TC Superconductor Pb-Bi2Sr2CuO6+x
The nature of the pseudogap state, observed above the superconducting
transition temperature TC in many high temperature superconductors, is the
center of much debate. Recently, this discussion has focused on the number of
energy gaps in these materials. Some experiments indicate a single energy gap,
implying that the pseudogap is a precursor state. Others indicate two,
suggesting that it is a competing or coexisting phase. Here we report on
temperature dependent scanning tunneling spectroscopy of Pb-Bi2Sr2CuO6+x. We
have found a new, narrow, homogeneous gap that vanishes near TC, superimposed
on the typically observed, inhomogeneous, broad gap, which is only weakly
temperature dependent. These results not only support the two gap picture, but
also explain previously troubling differences between scanning tunneling
microscopy and other experimental measurements.Comment: 6 page
Ultracold dense gas of deeply bound heteronuclear molecules
Recently, the quest for an ultracold and dense ensemble of polar molecules
has attracted strong interest. Polar molecules have bright prospects for novel
quantum gases with long-range and anisotropic interactions, for quantum
information science, and for precision measurements. However, high-density
clouds of ultracold polar molecules have so far not been produced. Here, we
report a key step towards this goal. Starting from an ultracold dense gas of
heteronuclear 40K-87Rb Feshbach molecules with typical binding energies of a
few hundred kHz and a negligible dipole moment, we coherently transfer these
molecules into a vibrational level of the ground-state molecular potential
bound by >10 GHz. We thereby increase the binding energy and the expected
dipole moment of the 40K-87Rb molecules by more than four orders of magnitude
in a single transfer step. Starting with a single initial state prepared with
Feshbach association, we achieve a transfer efficiency of 84%. While dipolar
effects are not yet observable, the presented technique can be extended to
access much more deeply bound vibrational levels and ultimately those
exhibiting a significant dipole moment. The preparation of an ultracold quantum
gas of polar molecules might therefore come within experimental reach.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
A retrospective review of oral low-dose sirolimus (rapamycin) for the treatment of active uveitis
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to elicit the role of oral low-dose sirolimus as a corticosteriod-sparing agent for active uveitis. Methods: A retrospective, interventional case series was performed by reviewing the clinical records of all patients treated with oral, low-dose sirolimus (1-4 mg daily) for severe uveitis. Data reviewed included symptomatic improvement, Snellen best-corrected visual acuity, corticosteroid requirement, sirolimus levels, intraocular inflammation, spectral-domain optical coherence tomography, and fluorescein angiogram. Primary outcome measures were determined by the ability to decrease the intraocular inflammation, corticosteroid requirement, and frequency of flares. Results: Eight patients with varied diagnoses were treated with oral low-dose sirolimus for severe, chronic uveitis between 2008 and 2010. In four of the eight patients, there was an improvement of all primary outcome measures. While sirolimus monotherapy was successful in only one patient, a sirolimus/methotrexate combination was successful in three patients. Although there was a good initial response in three patients, treatment was a failure after serious side effects forced the cessation of sirolimus therapy. One patient was lost to follow-up. Conclusion: Sirolimus may have a limited role in severe uveitis as an adjunct corticosteroid-sparing agent in combination with more standard immunosuppressive agents. Oral low-dose sirolimus appeared to be better tolerated than higher doses, but there were a significant number of adverse events, requiring therapy to be stopped. © 2010 The Author(s)
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