313 research outputs found
q-Deforming Maps for Lie Group Covariant Heisenberg Algebras
We briefly summarize our systematic construction procedure of q-deforming
maps for Lie group covariant Weyl or Clifford algebras.Comment: latex file, 4 pages. Contribution to the proceedings of the 5th
Wigner Symposium. Slight modification
Social Interactions vs Revisions, What is important for Promotion in Wikipedia?
In epistemic community, people are said to be selected on their knowledge
contribution to the project (articles, codes, etc.) However, the socialization
process is an important factor for inclusion, sustainability as a contributor,
and promotion. Finally, what does matter to be promoted? being a good
contributor? being a good animator? knowing the boss? We explore this question
looking at the process of election for administrator in the English Wikipedia
community. We modeled the candidates according to their revisions and/or social
attributes. These attributes are used to construct a predictive model of
promotion success, based on the candidates's past behavior, computed thanks to
a random forest algorithm.
Our model combining knowledge contribution variables and social networking
variables successfully explain 78% of the results which is better than the
former models. It also helps to refine the criterion for election. If the
number of knowledge contributions is the most important element, social
interactions come close second to explain the election. But being connected
with the future peers (the admins) can make the difference between success and
failure, making this epistemic community a very social community too
Anyonic behavior of quantum group gases
We first introduce and discuss the formalism of -bosons and fermions
and consider the simplest Hamiltonian involving these operators. We then
calculate the grand partition function for these models and study the high
temperature (low density) case of the corresponding gases for . We show
that quantum group gases exhibit anyonic behavior in and spatial
dimensions. In particular, for a boson gas at the parameter
interpolates within a wider range of attractive and repulsive systems than the
anyon statistical parameter.Comment: LaTeX file, 19 pages, two figures ,uses epsf.st
WYNIKI PRODUKCYJNE KRÓLIKÓW ŻYWIONYCH PODCZAS TUCZU MIESZANKĄ BEZ DODATKU KOKCYDIOSTAKTYKU
The objective of this study was to determine whether meat-type rabbits can be fed a diet without coccidiostatics during the fattening period. The effect of feeding two pelleted diets was compared during the experiment. The control diet was supplemented with the coccidiostatic drug robenidine, while the experimental diet contained no coccidiostatics. Over the experimental period the animals were weighed at 35, 56, 70, 77 and 90 days of age. Feces samples were taken for parasitological analysis and assayed for the presence of coccidia. Mortality rates were determined at particular stages of the experiment. It was found that a diet without the coccidiostatic drug had no statistically significant effect on the final body weights of rabbits. It was also demonstrated that coccidian infection rates and mortality rates were slightly higher in the experimental group.Badania miały na celu wykazanie możliwości żywienia królików mięsnych podczas tuczu mieszanką pełnoporcjową nie zawierającą kokcydiostatyku. W trakcie eksperymentu porównano wpływ żywienia mieszankami pełnoporcjowymi granulowanymi, z których kontrolna zawierała kokcydiostatyk – robenidynę a doświadczalna była go pozbawiona. Podczas badań zwierzęta ważono w 35, 56, 70, 77 i 90 dniu życia, ponadto z pod każdej klatki pobierano próbki kału do badań parazytologicznych na obecność kokcydii. Dodatkowo obliczono procent upadków królików podcza poszczególnych etapów trwania eksperymentu. Przeprowadzone badania pozwoliły na stwierdzenie, że brak kokcydiostatyku w mieszance nie wpłynął statystycznie na końcową masę ciała królików. Wykazano, że poziom
zarażenia kokcydiami i procent upadków był nieco wyższy w grupie doświadczalnej, jednak nie został potwierdzony statystycznie
Towards environmentally sustainable human behaviour: targeting non-conscious and conscious processes for effective and acceptable policies.
Meeting climate change targets to limit global warming to 2°C requires rapid and large reductions in demand for products that most contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These include production of bulk materials (e.g. steel and cement), energy supply (e.g. fossil fuels) and animal source foods (particularly ruminants and their products). Effective strategies to meet these targets require transformative changes in supply as well as demand, involving changes in economic, political and legal systems at local, national and international levels, building on evidence from many disciplines. This paper outlines contributions from behavioural science in reducing demand. Grounded in dual-process models of human behaviour (involving non-conscious and conscious processes) this paper considers first why interventions aimed at changing population values towards the environment are usually insufficient or unnecessary for reducing demand although they may be important in increasing public acceptability of policies that could reduce demand. It then outlines two sets of evidence from behavioural science towards effective systems-based strategies, to identify interventions likely to be effective at: (i) reducing demand for products that contribute most to GHG emissions, mainly targeting non-conscious processes and (ii) increasing public acceptability for policy changes to enable these interventions, targeting conscious processes.This article is part of the themed issue 'Material demand reduction'
Systemic pro-inflammatory cytokine status following therapeutic hypothermia in a piglet hypoxia-ischemia model
BACKGROUND: Inflammatory cytokines are implicated in the pathogenesis of perinatal hypoxia-ischemia (HI). The influence of hypothermia (HT) on cytokines after HI is unclear. Our aim was to assess in a piglet asphyxia model, under normothermic (NT) and HT conditions: (i) the evolution of serum cytokines over 48 h and (ii) cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cytokine levels at 48 h; (iii) serum pro/anti-inflammatory cytokine profile over 48 h and (iv) relation between brain injury measured by magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and brain TUNEL positive cells with serum cytokines, serum pro/anti-inflammatory cytokines and CSF cytokines. METHODS: Newborn piglets were randomized to NT (n = 5) or HT (n = 6) lasting 2-26 h after HI. Serum samples were obtained 4-6 h before, during and at 6-12 h intervals after HI; CSF was obtained at 48 h. Concentrations of interleukin (IL)-1beta, -4, -6, -8, -10 and TNF-alpha were measured and pro/anti-inflammatory status compared between groups. White matter and thalamic voxel lactate/N-acetyl aspartate (Lac/NAA) (a measure of both oxidative metabolism and neuronal loss) were acquired at baseline, after HI and at 24 and 36 h. RESULTS: Lac/NAA was reduced at 36 h with HT compared to NT (p = 0.013 basal ganglia and p = 0.033 white matter). HT showed lower serum TNF-alpha from baseline to 12 h (p < 0.05). Time-matched (acquired within 5 h of each other) serum cytokine and MRS showed correlations between Lac/NAA and serum IL-1beta and IL-10 (all p < 0.01). The pro/anti-inflammatory ratios IL-1beta/IL-10, IL-6/IL-10, IL-4/IL-10 and IL-8/IL-10 were similar in NT and HT groups until 36 h (24 h for IL-6/IL-10); after this, 36 h pro/anti-inflammatory cytokine ratios in the serum were higher in HT compared to NT (p < 0.05), indicating a pro-inflammatory cytokine surge after rewarming in the HT group. In the CSF at 48 h, IL-8 was lower in the HT group (p < 0.05). At 48 h, CSF TNF-alpha correlated with Lac/NAA (p = 0.02) and CSF IL-8 correlated with white matter TUNEL positive cell death (p = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Following cerebral HI, there was a systemic pro-inflammatory surge after rewarming in the HT group, which is counterintuitive to the putative neuroprotective effects of HT. While serum cytokines were variable, elevations in CSF inflammatory cytokines at 48 h were associated with MRS Lac/NAA and white matter cell death
Recommended from our members
Environmental justice and conceptions of the green economy
Green economy has become one of the most fashionable terms in global environmental public policy discussions and forums. Despite this popularity, and its being selected as one of the organizing themes of the United Nations Rio+20 Conference in Brazil, June 2012, its prospects as an effective mobilization tool for global environmental sustainability scholarship and practice remains unclear. A major reason for this is that much like its precursor concepts such as environmental sustainability and sustainable development, green economy is a woolly concept which lends itself to many interpretations. Hence, rather than resolve long-standing controversies, green economy merely reinvigorates existing debates over the visions, actors and policies best suited to secure a more sustainable future for all. In this review article, we aim to fill an important gap in scholarship by suggesting various ways in which green economy may be organized and synthesized as a concept, and especially in terms of its relationship with the idea of social and environmental justice. Accordingly, we offer a systemization of possible interpretations of green economy mapped onto a synthesis of existing typologies of environmental justice. This classification provides the context for future analysis of which, and how, various notions of green economy link with various conceptions of justice
Unequal household carbon footprints in China
Households’ carbon footprints are unequally distributed among the rich and poor due to differences in the scale and patterns of consumption. We present distributional focused carbon footprints for Chinese households and use a carbon-footprint-Gini coefficient to quantify inequalities. We find that in 2012 the urban very rich, comprising 5% of population, induced 19% of the total carbon footprint from household consumption in China, with 6.4 tCO2/cap. The average Chinese household footprint remains comparatively low (1.7 tCO2/cap), while those of the rural population and urban poor, comprising 58% of population, are 0.5–1.6 tCO2/cap. Between 2007 and 2012 the total footprint from households increased by 19%, with 75% of the increase due to growing consumption of the urban middle class and the rich. This suggests that a transformation of Chinese lifestyles away from the current trajectory of carbon-intensive consumption patterns requires policy interventions to improve living standards and encourage sustainable consumption
- …
