Distance Scale Research Articles

Hierarchical Social Distance: Social Attitudes Toward Ethnic and Immigrant Groups in a Midwestern City

Using the Bogardus social distance scale, the study examined residents' social attitudes toward 10 ethnic and immigrant groups. The analysis focused on Burmese immigrants, a rapidly growing ethnic group in the community. Findings suggest that residents consider whites the closest in social distance, followed by African Americans and Latino immigrants. Burmese immigrants are positioned only slightly closer than Russian immigrants and Muslims. Respondents who are male, Roman Catholic, hold a college degree or higher, and have a higher income demonstrate a greater level of social acceptance of Burmese immigrants. Those who had direct interaction with Burmese, support public resources for diversity and cultural events, maintain optimistic perspectives about the economy and community safety, and believe that immigrants strengthen American society also prefer a closer social distance with Burmese immigrants compared to their counterparts. When comparing these findings with previous research, the rank order of whites–African Americans–Latinos–Asians–Muslims on the social distance scale remains consistent across studies. We argue that social distance scores reveal hierarchical group positions in the larger society.

Medicinal Plant Microbiomes: Factors Affecting Bacterial and Fungal Community Composition.

This exploratory study was designed to identify factors implicating microbial influence on medicinal plant metabolomes. Utilizing a whole-microbiome approach, amplicon sequencing was used to identify the makeup of fungal and bacterial assemblages from endophytic (interior) and epiphytic (external) environments in two different sets of congeneric host-plant pairs, with collection of multiple samples of two medicinal plant species (Actaea racemosa, Rhodiola rosea) and two generic analogs (Actaea rubra, Rhodiola integrifolia). Diversity analysis of microbial assemblages revealed the influence of three primary factors driving variance in microbial community composition: host-plant taxonomy, the compartmentalization of microbial communities within discrete plant parts, and the scale of distance (microhabitat heterogeneity) between sampling locations. These three factors accounted for ~ 60% of variance within and between investigated microbiomes. Across all our collections, bacterial populations were more diverse than fungi (per compartment), and microbial density in epiphytic compartments (aerial parts, rhizosphere) were higher than those of endophytes (leaf and root). These comparative data point to key loci associated with variation between congeneric pairs and plant genera, providing insight into the complex and contrasting relationships found within this multi-kingdom coevolutionary relationship. Although reflective of only a limited set of botanical source materials, these data document the richness of a relatively unexplored component of the plant world and highlight the relevance of a whole-microbiome ecology-driven approach to botanical research and directed natural product investigations.

Quantum Locally Testable Code with Constant Soundness

In this paper, we present two constructions of quantum locally testable codes (QLTC) with constant soundness. In the first approach, we introduce an operation called check product, and show how this operation gives rise to QLTCs of constant soundness, constant rate, and distance scaling with locality. In the second approach, we consider hypergraph product of a quantum code and a classical repetition code, and observe a special case in which the soundness of component codes is preserved. This insight leads us to construct QLTCs of constant soundness, scalable rate and distance, and constant average locality. Our work marks a step towards constructing QLTCs of high soundness and distance, which would give a different construction to the No Low-Energy Trivial States (NLTS) theorem.

Discovering implicit role of tourists’ perceived distance and emotions in decision-making: combing grounded theory and sentiment analysis

ABSTRACT Analysing the attitudes and emotions behind tourists’ perceptions of distance provides powerful assistance for destination marketers and scholars. However, there is yet to be a universally adopted scale of tourists’ perceived distance. It is hard to effectively extract tourists’ attitudes from the distance scale toward a destination. This paper identifies the critical dimensions of perceived distance voiced by 19 Chinese tourists with grounded analysis, an inductive, comparative, and interactive method that effectively captures nuanced information. Advanced techniques for linguistic analysis provide the opportunity to extract emotional meaning from tourists’ textual data through the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) algorithm. The results identify a set of appraisal dimensions as antecedents to perceived distance. With cognitive appraisal theory (CAT), different evaluations on these dimensions provide multiple paths to eliciting emotion change. The findings contrast with previous research in the distance decay model, which noted a single distance involving tourism demand. We also find differences based on demographic segments. Social network analysis helps further identify the relationship between dimensions. We conclude by discussing the study's implications for future studies and practice.

Impoliteness Strategies and Social Dimensions in Enola Holmes 2 Movie: Socio-Pragmatics Study

This research aims to identify the types of impoliteness strategies and to analyze the social dimensions in the Enola Holmes 2 movie. This research uses descriptive qualitative method as the purpose of making this research is to analyze the phenomenon of impoliteness. This research aims to identify the types of impoliteness strategies and analyze the social dimensions that influence the use of impoliteness. The theory used is Culpeper (2011) theory of impoliteness strategies and Holmes (2013) theory of the social dimension. The results of the research, there are 5 Bald on Record Impoliteness (23,8%), 11 Positive Impoliteness (52,4%), 2 Negative Impoliteness (9,5%), 3 Sarcasm or Mock Politeness (14,3%) and 0 Withhold Politeness (0%), and also found the social dimension that influence the use of impoliteness, there are 10 Social Distance Scale (47,6%), 8 Status Scale (38%), 0 Formality Scale (0%) and 3 Functional Scale (14,4%). The most common found types of impoliteness strategies found are Positive Impoliteness and most common found for the social dimensions that influence the use of impoliteness is Social Distance.

Generative Adversarial Networks-Based Ground-Motion Model for Crustal Earthquakes in Japan Considering Detailed Site Conditions

ABSTRACT We develop a ground-motion model (GMM) for crustal earthquakes in Japan that can directly model the probability distribution of ground-motion acceleration time histories based on generative adversarial networks (GANs). The proposed model can generate ground motions conditioned on moment magnitude, rupture distance, and detailed site conditions defined by the average shear-wave velocity in the top 5, 10, and 20 m (VS5, VS10, and VS20) and the depth to shear-wave velocities of 1.0 km/s and 1.4 km/s (Z1.0 and Z1.4). We construct the neural networks based on styleGAN2 and introduce a novel neural network architecture to generate ground motions considering the effect of source, path, and such detailed site conditions. The resulting 5% damped spectral acceleration from the proposed GMM is consistent with empirical GMMs in terms of magnitude and distance scaling. The proposed GMM can also generate ground motions accounting for the shear-wave velocity profiles of surface soil with different magnitudes and distances and represent characteristics that are not explained solely byVS30.

Binegativity and Social Distance Toward Bisexual Women and Men Among Hispanics Puerto Ricans: A Brief Report

This brief report aimed to geographically describe binegativity and social distance among Hispanic Puerto Ricans, and to explore social determinants related to binegativity and social distance toward bisexual women and men. The team employed secondary research data based on a quantitative, cross-sectional study. Data from a sociodemographic questionnaire, a binegativity scale, and a social distance scale were extracted. Demographic data of a sample of 177 participants were poststratified and divided into binary categories for analysis. Results showed that half of the sample (54.2%) reported high or very high binegativity. Similarly, half of the sample (50.8%) also reported moderate or high social distance toward bisexual individuals. The study also found that participants under 30 years of age and without a religion significantly reported less binegativity. In addition, participants who identify as men, as lesbian/gay, and know a bisexual person significantly reported less social distance. The need for more research is discussed.

Islam and ethnic tolerance: assessing Kyrgyz’ Muslim religiosity and acceptance of Uzbeks in Kyrgyzstan

ABSTRACT Using a national opinion survey conducted in 2009 in Kyrgyzstan, we focused on responses from ethnic Kyrgyz respondents in the south where major riots between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks occurred in 1990 and 2010. We performed latent class analyses on these responses to assign Kyrgyz into Muslim religiosity categories and construct a social distance scale to measure Kyrgyz’ levels of acceptance of Uzbeks living in Kyrgyzstan. We discovered that, in spite of ongoing unresolved interethnic grievances in the south, Kyrgyz who were members of the highly active Muslim religiosity category exhibited a significantly higher probability for accepting the closest relations (kin through marriage) with Uzbeks than Kyrgyz who were members of the non-religious category. Because other researchers indicated that religion did not play any role in causing the riots in 2010, we believe that Muslim religiosity could potentially play a role in developing beneficial relations between these ethnic groups.

Baryon Acoustic Oscillation Theory and Modelling Systematics for the DESI 2024 results

Abstract This paper provides a comprehensive overview of how fitting of Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) is carried out within the upcoming Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument’s (DESI) 2024 results using its DR1 dataset, and the associated systematic error budget from theory and modelling of the BAO. We derive new results showing how non-linearities in the clustering of galaxies can cause potential biases in measurements of the isotropic (αiso) and anisotropic (αap) BAO distance scales, and how these can be effectively removed with an appropriate choice of reconstruction algorithm. We then demonstrate how theory leads to a clear choice for how to model the BAO and develop, implement and validate a new model for the remaining smooth-broadband (i.e., without BAO) component of the galaxy clustering. Finally, we explore the impact of all remaining modelling choices on the BAO constraints from DESI using a suite of high-precision simulations, arriving at a set of best-practices for DESI BAO fits, and an associated theory and modelling systematic error. Overall, our results demonstrate the remarkable robustness of the BAO to all our modelling choices and motivate a combined theory and modelling systematic error contribution to the post-reconstruction DESI BAO measurements of no more than 0.1% (0.2%) for its isotropic (anisotropic) distance measurements. We expect the theory and best-practices laid out to here to be applicable to other BAO experiments in the era of DESI and beyond.

Interacting Influences of Diurnal Tides, Winds, and River Discharge on a Large Coastal Plume

AbstractThe dispersal of large river plumes in the coastal ocean depends on multiple factors, and in some cases, can be categorized into distinct dynamical regimes: a tidally dominated near‐field, a rotational mid‐field, and a coastal current far‐field. In this study, observations and modeling are used to evaluate the factors controlling the variability in the buoyant plume from Mobile Bay. Rather than distinct dynamical regimes, the Mobile Bay plume depends on forcings that act at overlapping temporal and spatial scales: diurnal tides, river discharge events, and winds. Satellite synthetic aperture radar images along with shipboard in‐situ sampling and marine radar are used to observe plume fronts in spring 2021. Hydrodynamic model simulations are compared with observations and used to characterize a large coastal plume at consistent tidal phase across a range of forcing conditions. The along‐shore position of the plume depends primarily on advection by wind‐driven surface currents. The cross‐shore extent and plume area depend primarily on the tidal amplitude and river discharge, and secondarily on northerly (seaward) winds. Along‐shore winds influence the buoyancy anomaly by altering salinity in the estuary and offshore. Upwelling winds increase the buoyancy anomaly and advect previous plumes away from the mouth. Downwelling winds reduce the buoyancy anomaly by trapping previous plumes near the coast and directing freshwater discharge toward a secondary outlet. Thus, the combined, overlapping influences of the tide, wind, and discharge dominate the variability in freshwater delivery to the shelf at time scales of days and distances of tens of km.

Projection factor and radii of Type II Cepheids

Context. Type II Cepheids are old pulsating stars that can be used to trace the distribution of an old stellar population and to measure distances to globular clusters and galaxies within several megaparsecs, and by extension, they can improve our understanding of the cosmic distance scale. One method that can be used to measure the distances of Type II Cepheids relies on period-luminosity relations, which are quite widely explored in the literature. The semi-geometrical Baade-Wesselink technique is another method that allows distances of radially pulsating stars, such as Type II Cepheids, to be measured if the so-called projection factor is known. However, the literature concerning this parameter for Type II Cepheids is limited to just a few pioneering works. Aims. In determining projection factors for eight nearby short-period Type II Cepheids, also known as BL Her type stars, we aim to calibrate the Baade-Wesselink method for measuring distances for this class of stars. Methods. Using the surface brightness-colour relation version of the Baade-Wesselink technique, we determined the projection factors and radii of eight nearby BL Her type stars. We adopted accurate distances of target stars from Gaia Data Release 3. Time series photometry in the V and KS bands have been collected with two telescopes located at the RolfChini Cerro Murphy Observatory (former Cerro Armazones Observatory), while spectroscopic data have been obtained within dedicated programmes with instruments hosted by the European Southern Observatory. Results. The measured projection factors for the stars with good quality data are in the range between 1.21 and 1.36. The typical uncertainty of projection factors is 0.1. The mean value is 1.330 ± 0.058, which gives the uncertainty of ∼4%. The main sources of uncertainty on the p-factors are statistical errors of the Baade-Wesselink fit (related to the dispersion and coverage of light and radial velocity curves) and parallax. In the case of radii, the biggest contribution to the error budget comes from the KS band photometry’s systematic uncertainty and parallax. The determined radii allowed us to construct the period-radius relation for BL Her stars. Our period-radius relation is in good agreement with the previous empirical calibration, while two theoretical calibrations found in the literature agree with our relation within 2σ. We also confirm that BL Her and RR Lyr stars obey an apparent common period-radius relation.

The Valuable Long-period Cluster Cepheid KQ Scorpii and other Calibration Candidates

The classical Cepheid KQ Sco is a valuable anchor for the distance scale because of its long pulsation period (28.ͩ7) and evidence implying membership in the open cluster UBC 1558. Analyses tied to Gaia DR3 astrometry, photometry, spectroscopy, radial velocities, and 2MASS-VVV photometry indicate a common distance of 2.15 ± 0.15 kpc (L21 DR3 corrections applied). Additional cluster Cepheid candidates requiring follow-up are identified, and it is suggested that a team of international researchers could maintain a cluster Cepheid database to guide the broader community to cases where consensus exists.

Quantum field theory and the limits of reductionism

I suggest that the current situation in quantum field theory (QFT) provides some reason to question the universal validity of ontological reductionism. I argue that the renormalization group flow is reversible except at fixed points, which makes the relation between large and small distance scales quite symmetric in QFT, opening up at least the technical possibility of a non-reductionist approach to QFT. I suggest that some conceptual problems encountered within QFT may potentially be mitigated by moving to an alternative picture in which it is no longer the case that the large supervenes on the small. Finally, I explore some specific models in which a form of non-reductionism might be implemented, and consider the prospects for future development of these models.

Approximate Quantum Codes From Long Wormholes

We discuss families of approximate quantum error correcting codes which arise as the nearly-degenerate ground states of certain quantum many-body Hamiltonians composed of non-commuting terms. For exact codes, the conditions for error correction can be formulated in terms of the vanishing of a two-sided mutual information in a low-temperature thermofield double state. We consider a notion of distance for approximate codes obtained by demanding that this mutual information instead be small, and we evaluate this mutual information for the SYK model and for a family of low-rank SYK models. After an extrapolation to nearly zero temperature, we find that both kinds of models produce fermionic codes with constant rate as the number, N, of fermions goes to infinity. For SYK, the distance scales as N1/2, and for low-rank SYK, the distance can be arbitrarily close to linear scaling, e.g. N.99, while maintaining a constant rate. We also consider an analog of the no low-energy trivial states property which we dub the no low-energy adiabatically accessible states property and show that these models do have low-energy states that can be prepared adiabatically in a time that does not scale with system size N. We discuss a holographic model of these codes in which the large code distance is a consequence of the emergence of a long wormhole geometry in a simple model of quantum gravity.

Investigation of community knowledge, attitudes and stigma towards leprosy in Nigeria: a mixed-methods study.

Little is known about community knowledge and stigma towards leprosy in endemic settings. The aim of this study was to evaluate community knowledge, attitudes and stigma towards leprosy in Nigeria. This was a mixed-methods study consisting of a quantitative cross-sectional survey of community members and qualitative focus group discussions with community members and people affected by leprosy as well as key informant interviews with healthcare workers and community leaders. Of the 811 survey participants, 401 (49.4%) had a poor knowledge of leprosy that was driven by cultural beliefs, fear of its contagiousness and poor knowledge of its means of transmission. The participants reported high stigma levels with a mean score of 18.96±7.73 on the Explanatory Model Interview Catalogue Community Stigma Scale and 9.39±7.03 on the Social Distance Scale. Stigma levels were influenced by age, residence, education and knowledge of leprosy. Qualitative data suggested that community members were scared of leprosy infectiousness, and local illness concepts and misconceptions informed attitudes and behaviour towards leprosy in the community. Community members have a poor knowledge of, and high stigma levels towards leprosy. Culture-specific health education and behavioural change interventions are needed to address the identified gaps.

Bessel beam propagation using radial beam propagation method at different propagation scales

This paper is devoted to studying the Bessel beam propagation in cylindrical coordinates using the Hankel transform beam propagation method (HT-BPM) and their behavior in different scenarios in the microscale and meter scale of propagation distances. The study compares the results obtained from the HT-BPM with another fast Fourier transform beam propagation method (FFT-BPM) to validate the accuracy and effectiveness of the HT-BPM in modeling Bessel beam propagation. The axial intensity of Bessel beam propagation is analyzed using the HT-BPM. The simulation results obtained from the HT-BPM are compared with those from the FFT-BPM to evaluate the agreement and consistency between the two methods in predicting the axial intensity of Bessel beam propagation. The results show that the HT-BPM is numerically faster than the FFT-BPM by ten times for different sampling points, furthermore, the FFT-BPM accuracy for evaluating the Bessel beam spot radius is 89.9% of the analytical value, while the HT-BPM is 99% relative to analytical value. The prediction of the axial intensity of the Bessel beam has been tested at different types of phase functions and different propagation distances: micrometer, centimeter, and meter scales. The results of the HT-BPM are matched with the analytical and experimental values. Finally, the HT-BPM is tested when the input light source takes different profiles.

Stigma toward people with mental disorders in mental healthcare in Chile.

This research aimed to determine the stigma toward people with mental illness among mental health personnel and identify individual, professional, and contextual predictors. A descriptive, cross-sectional, and correlational design was used. The sample consisted of 218 mental health personnel working in Outpatient Psychiatric Units belonging to hospitals and Community Mental Health Centers in Chile. Stigma was evaluated using a scale of humanized treatment, a scale of social distance, and a scale of attitudes in health personnel. In addition, sociodemographic and professional information was collected from mental health personnel and contextual information, particularly the type of outpatient mental health center and the technical-administrative unit that groups all the health centers in a territory. It was found that mental health personnel, in general terms, present low levels of stigma expressed in behaviors of comfort and support toward users, a desire for closeness and social interaction, and reduced stigmatizing beliefs and attitudes of infantilization toward individuals with MHPs. However, intimacy and trust were lower than expected.Only educational levels and health centers were related to stigma. The low levels of stigma may be due to the evolution of this phenomenon and the country's mental health policies.

Exploring community attitudes towards people labelled as institutional child sex offenders

The sexual abuse of children perpetrated by persons who gain access to the child through their roles within child serving institutions, referred to here as institutional child sexual abuse, appears underexplored within the research community despite gaining considerable attention in the media. This study is a preliminary exploration of the stigmatization of individuals labelled as institutional child sexual offenders (ICSO). We recruited 347 community-based participants for an online survey regarding their desired social distance from, and attitudes towards, people labelled as ICSO as compared to those labelled as sexual offenders (SO). We utilized the CATSO, an 18-item attitudinal scale that measures attitudes towards people labelled as sex offenders, and the Bogardus social distance scale which measures the desired level of distance from outgroups. ICSO condition scores were higher than SO scores on the CATSO and lower than SO scores on the Bogardus. Scores for both scales indicate more negative attitudes and increased social desistance towards people labelled as ICSO than towards those labelled as SO. These preliminary findings support the identification of people labelled as ICSO as unique SO subgroup.

Depth perception optimization of mixed reality simulation systems based on multiple‐cue fusion

AbstractMixed reality technology can be applied to simulation training, improve surgical performance, enhance 3D game experience, and so on, attracting extensive attention of researchers. The perception of the user about head‐mounted display MR using HoloLens is critical, especially for precision applications such as virtual hoisting. Designing and adding appropriate depth cues in MR scenes is an effective way to improve users' depth perception. In this study, taking virtual hoisting training system as an example, the depth perception strategy of multi‐cue fusion is proposed to improve the perception effect. Based on the mechanism of human depth perception, five kinds of depth cues are designed. The depth perception effect of adding single cue is studied by perceptual matching experiment. Based on the principle of fuzzy clustering, a multiple‐cue comprehensive depth optimization strategy on viewing distance scale is proposed. Finally, the perceptual matching results demonstrate the effectiveness of the multi‐cue fusion strategy, and the average error is reduced by 20.68% compared with the single‐cue strategy, which can significantly improve the spatial depth perception. This research can provide a reference for improving users' depth perception in interactive MR simulation systems.

Extended uncertainty principle: A deeper insight into the Hubble tension?

The standard cosmological model, known as the ΛCDM model, has been successful in many respects, but it has some significant discrepancies, some of which have not been resolved yet. In measuring the Hubble-Lemaître parameter, there is an apparent discrepancy which is known as the Hubble tension, defined as differences in values of this parameter measured by the Type Ia Supernovae (SNeIa) data (a model-independent method) and by the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation maps (a model-dependent method). Although many potential solutions have been proposed, the issue still remains unresolved. Recently, it was observed that the Hubble tension can be due to the concept of uncertainty in measuring cosmological parameters at large distance scales through applying the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle (HUP) in cosmological setups. Extending this pioneering idea, in the present study we plan to incorporate the Extended Uncertainty Principle (EUP) containing a minimal fundamental measurable momentum (or equivalently, a maximal fundamental measurable length) as a candidate setup for describing large-scale effects of Quantum Gravity (QG) to address the Hubble tension and constrain the EUP length scale. In this regard, by finding a relevant formula for the effective photon rest mass in terms of the present-time value of the Hubble-Lemaître parameter, we see that discrepancies in the value of photon rest mass associated with the Hubble-Lemaître parameter values estimated from model-independent and model-dependent methods perhaps is the cause of Hubble tension. We show explicitly that the presence of a non-zero minimal uncertainty in momentum (or non-zero maximal uncertainty in position) measurements as a consequence of the large distance quantum gravity effect addresses the Hubble tension satisfactorily without having to invoke new physics. Moreover, we use the formula for the effective photon rest mass to find some relevant lower bounds on the EUP length scale.