Faithful test of nonlocal realism with entangled coherent states

We investigate the violation of Leggett's inequality for nonlocal realism using entangled coherent states and various types of local measurements. We prove mathematically the relation between the violation of the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt form of Bell's inequality and Leggett's one when tested by the same resources. For Leggett inequalities, we generalize the nonlocal realistic bound to systems in Hilbert spaces larger than bidimensional ones and introduce an optimization technique that allows one to achieve larger degrees of violation by adjusting the local measurement settings. Our work describes the steps that should be performed to produce a self-consistent generalization of Leggett's original arguments to continuous-variable states.

Rotating massive main-sequence stars II. Simulating a population of LMC early B-type stars as a test of rotational mixing

Context. Rotational mixing in massive stars is a widely applied concept, with far-reaching consequences for stellar evolution, nucleosynthesis, and stellar explosions.

Committing to Effective Climate Governance in Northern Ireland: A Defining Test of Devolution

This is the second of a two-part analysis exploring the interaction between UK devolution and governance of the national low carbon transition. It argues that devolution shaped the national climate governance regime created by the Climate Change Act 2008, but will itself be tested and even altered as the traction of the low carbon imperative intensifies. This dynamic is explored in the specific context of the UK’s most devolved region. The first article argued that devolution facilitated and arguably forced Northern Ireland’s devolved administration to give a highly qualified and potentially illusory consent to the regional application of the UK Act. The second article argues that making a more effective commitment to climate governance will be a defining test of its devolution arrangements but will require constitutional arrangements designed for conflict resolution to mature. Failure to do so will have important implications for the UK’s putative ‘national’ low carbon transition and the longer-term viability of devolution in the region.

Factor structure and validity of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) in a sample of mentally disordered offenders

Investigations of the factor structure of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) have produced conflicting results. The current study assessed the factor structure of the AUDIT for a group of Mentally Disordered Offenders (MDOs) and examined the pattern of scoring in specific subgroups. The sample comprised 2005 MDOs who completed a battery of tests including the AUDIT. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that a two-factor solution – alcohol consumption and alcohol-related consequences – provided the best data fit for AUDIT scores. A three-factor solution provided an equally good fit, but the second and third factors were highly correlated and a measure of parsimony also favoured the two-factor solution. This study provides useful information on the factor structure of the AUDIT amongst a large MDO population, while also highlighting the difficulties associated with the presence of people with mental health problems in the criminal justice system.

The effects of temperature on the performance of electrochemical double layer capacitors

An electrochemical double layer capacitor test cell containing activated carbon xerogel electrodes and ionic liquid electrolyte was tested at 15, 25 and 40 OC to examine the effect of temperature on electrolyte resistance (RS) and equivalent series resistance (ESR) measured using impedance spectroscopy and capacitance using charge/discharge cycling. A commercial 10F capacitor was used as a comparison. Viscosity, ionic self-diffusion coefficients and differential scanning calorimetry measurements were used to provide an insight into the behaviour of the 1,2-dimethyl-3-propylimdazolium electrolyte. Both RS and ESR decreased with increasing temperature for both capacitors. Increasing the temperature also increased the capacitance for both the test cell and the commercial capacitor but proportionally more for the test cell. An increase in temperature decreased the ionic liquid electrolyte viscosity and increased the self diffusion coefficients of both the anion and the cation indicating an increase in dissociation and increase in ionic mobility.

PicSOr - An objective test of perceptual skill that predicts laparoscopic technical skill in three initial studies of laparoscopic performance

Background: Laparoscopic surgery requires surgeons to infer the shape of 3-D structures, such as the internal organs of patients, from 2-D displays on a video monitor. Recent evidence indicates that the issue is not resolved by the use of contemporary 3-D camera systems. It is therefore crucial to find ways of measuring differences in aptitude for recovering 3-D structure from 2-D images, and assessing its impact on performance. Our aim was to test empirically for a relationship between laparoscopic ability and the perceptual skill of recovering information about 3-D structures from 2-D monitor displays.

Comparison of two assays, a faecal egg count reduction test (FECRT) and a coproantigen reduction test (CRT), for the diagnosis of resistance to triclabendazole in Fasciola hepatica in sheep

A sheep trial was performed to evaluate two diagnostic assays, a faecal egg count reduction test (FECRT) and a coproantigen reduction test (CRT), for the diagnosis of resistance of Fasciola hepatica to triclabendazole (TCBZ). The FECRT defines successful TCBZ treatment as a 95% or greater reduction in fluke faecal egg counts (FECs) at 14 days post-treatment (dpt). The CRT defines effective TCBZ treatment as faeces negative for Fasciola coproantigens at 14 dpt, as measured by the commercial BIO K201 coproantigen ELISA (Bio-X Diagnostics, Jemelle, Belgium).