Carleton University

About: Carleton University is a education organization based out in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 15852 authors who have published 39650 publications receiving 1106610 citations.

The tipping point trend in climate change communication

Abstract: This article documents the use of tipping points in climate change discourse to discuss their significance. We review the relevant literature, and discuss the popular emergence of tipping points before their adoption in climate change discourse. We describe the tipping point trend in mainstream US and UK print news media and in the primary scientific literature on climate change by replicating the methodologies of Oreskes [Oreskes, N., 2004. The scientific consensus on climate change. Nature 306, 1686] and Boykoff and Boykoff [Boykoff, M.T., Boykoff, J.M., 2004. Balance as bias: global warming and the US prestige press. Global Environmental Change 14, 125–136]. We then discuss the significance of climate change tipping points and their popular use in terms of generative metaphor.

Observation of two-neutrino double-beta decay in 136Xe with the EXO-200 detector.

Abstract: We report the observation of two-neutrino double-beta decay in ^(136)Xe with T_(1/2)=2.11±0.04(stat)±0.21(syst)×10^(21) yr. This second-order process, predicted by the standard model, has been observed for several nuclei but not for ^(136)Xe. The observed decay rate provides new input to matrix element calculations and to the search for the more interesting neutrinoless double-beta decay, the most sensitive probe for the existence of Majorana particles and the measurement of the neutrino mass scale.

A comparative analysis of the evolution of imperfect mimicry

Abstract: Although exceptional examples of adaptation are frequently celebrated, some outcomes of natural selection seem far from perfect. For example, many hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae) are harmless (Batesian) mimics of stinging Hymenoptera. However, although some hoverfly species are considered excellent mimics, other species bear only a superficial resemblance to their models and it is unclear why this is so. To evaluate hypotheses that have been put forward to explain interspecific variation in the mimetic fidelity of Palearctic Syrphidae we use a comparative approach. We show that the most plausible explanation is that predators impose less selection for mimetic fidelity on smaller hoverfly species because they are less profitable prey items. In particular, our findings, in combination with previous results, allow us to reject several key hypotheses for imperfect mimicry: first, human ratings of mimetic fidelity are positively correlated with both morphometric measures and avian rankings, indicating that variation in mimetic fidelity is not simply an illusion based on human perception; second, no species of syrphid maps out in multidimensional space as being intermediate in appearance between several different hymenopteran model species, as the multimodel hypothesis requires; and third, we find no evidence for a negative relationship between mimetic fidelity and abundance, which calls into question the kin-selection hypothesis. By contrast, a strong positive relationship between mimetic fidelity and body size supports the relaxed-selection hypothesis, suggesting that reduced predation pressure on less profitable prey species limits the selection for mimetic perfection.

Ultrasensitive plasmonic sensing in air using optical fibre spectral combs.

Abstract: Surface plasmon polaritons (SPP) can be excited on metal-coated optical fibres, enabling the accurate monitoring of refractive index changes. Configurations reported so far mainly operate in liquids but not in air because of a mismatch between permittivities of guided light modes and the surrounding medium. Here we demonstrate a plasmonic optical fibre platform that overcomes this limitation. The underpinning of our work is a grating architecture—a gold-coated highly tilted Bragg grating—that excites a spectral comb of narrowband-cladding modes with effective indices near 1.0 and below. Using conventional spectral interrogation, we measure shifts of the SPP-matched resonances in response to static atmospheric pressure changes. A dynamic experiment conducted using a laser lined-up with an SPP-matched resonance demonstrates the ability to detect an acoustic wave with a resolution of 10−8 refractive index unit (RIU). We believe that this configuration opens research directions for highly sensitive plasmonic sensing in gas. Fibre sensors are key to many minimally-invasive detection techniques but, owing to an index mismatch, they are often limited to aqueous environments. Here, Caucheteur et al. develop a high-resolution fibre gas sensor with a tilted in-fibre grating that allows coupling to higher-order plasmon modes.

Measurement of inclusive jet and dijet cross sections in proton-proton collisions at 7 TeV centre-of-mass energy with the ATLAS detector

Abstract: Jet cross sections have been measured for the first time in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV using the ATLAS detector. The measurement uses an integrated luminosity of 17 nb-1 recorded at the Large Hadron Collider. The anti-kt algorithm is used to identify jets, with two jet resolution parameters, R = 0.4 and 0.6. The dominant uncertainty comes from the jet energy scale, which is determined to within 7% for central jets above 60 GeV transverse momentum. Inclusive single-jet differential cross sections are presented as functions of jet transverse momentum and rapidity. Dijet cross sections are presented as functions of dijet mass and the angular variable $\chi$. The results are compared to expectations based on next-to-leading-order QCD, which agree with the data, providing a validation of the theory in a new kinematic regime.