A Bayesian Account of Quantum Histories

We investigate whether quantum history theories can be consistent with Bayesian reasoning and whether such an analysis helps clarify the interpretation of such theories. First, we summarise and extend recent work categorising two different approaches to formalising multi-time measurements in quantum theory. The standard approach consists of describing an ordered series of measurements in terms of history propositions with non-additive `probabilities'. The non-standard approach consists of defining multi-time measurements to consist of sets of exclusive and exhaustive history propositions and recovering the single-time exclusivity of results when discussing single-time history propositions. We analyse whether such history propositions can be consistent with Bayes' rule. We show that certain class of histories are given a natural Bayesian interpretation, namely the linearly positive histories originally introduced by Goldstein and Page. Thus we argue that this gives a certain amount of interpretational clarity to the non-standard approach. We also attempt a justification of our analysis using Cox's axioms of probability theory.Comment: 24 pages, accepted for publication in Annals of Physics, minor correctio

Constraints on SN Ia progenitor time delays from high-z SNe and the star formation history

We re-assess the question of a systematic time delay between the formation of the progenitor and its explosion in a type Ia supernova (SN Ia) using the Hubble Higher-z Supernova Search sample (Strolger et al. 2004). While the previous analysis indicated a significant time delay, with a most likely value of 3.4 Gyr, effectively ruling out all previously proposed progenitor models, our analysis shows that the time-delay estimate is dominated by systematic errors, in particular due to uncertainties in the star-formation history. We find that none of the popular progenitor models under consideration can be ruled out with any significant degree of confidence. The inferred time delay is mainly determined by the peak in the assumed star-formation history. We show that, even with a much larger Supernova sample, the time delay distribution cannot be reliably reconstructed without better constraints on the star-formation history.Comment: accepted for publication in MNRA

Evaluation of Three Constitutive Models for the Prediction of Hastelloy X Elevated Temperature Cyclic Response

The approach for the method development assumes that, for a thermally loaded structure, the overall strain history is defined by linear elastic analysis. The local stress history at a fatigue critical location is then determined from a one dimensional material behavior model and the local strain and temperature conditions. Three material models are currently being evaluated to assess their ability to predict relevant high temperature cyclic material response characteristics. They are: a time independent classical plasticity and creep representation, a time dependent viscoplastic model capable of predicting combined creep and plasticity effects, and an approximate elastic analysis approach that uses a series of stress-strain curves and a cyclic hardening model to determine reverse plasticity

Breaking the rules: Summer camping experiences and the lives of Ontario children growing up with polio in the 1940s and 1950s

This chapter presents an analysis from a critical disability studies history framework developed for a research project. It discusses how the research was conducted using an oral history method and how the analysis was produced. Oral history narratives of individuals living with polio are viewed as the most appropriate and important way to learn about and understand the meaning of polio for Canadians during the time period of 1927–1957. The chapter provides a historical backdrop to describe the development of some Ontario Society for Crippled Children (OSCC) camps, the philosophic basis for the camps, and the intended goals of the camping program. It deconstructs the philosophy of the OSCC, and presents some overarching themes. Each of the themes illustrates an aspect of the ableist dominant view of disability in relation to understandings of disabled children's lives at that time. The chapter introduces the counter narratives of the participants who attended these camps and their everyday lived experiences

The polar cap absorption on July 7-10, 1966

Time history analysis for polar cap absorption of solar flare in July, 196

Ranking Economic History Journals: A Citation-Based Impact-Adjusted Analysis

This study ranks - for the first time - 12 international academic journals that have economic history as their main topic. The ranking is based on data collected for the year 2007. Journals are ranked using standard citation analysis where we adjust for age, size and self-citation of journals. We also compare the leading economic history journals with the leading journals in economics in order to measure the influence on economics of economic history, and vice versa. With a few exceptions, our results confirm the general idea about what economic history journals are the most influential for economic history, and that, although economic history is quite independent from economics as a whole, knowledge exchange between the two fields is indeed going on.economic history; journal ranking; citation analysis; scientometrics; impact factor

UNH School of Law IP Library: 20th Anniversary Reflection on the Only Academic IP Library in the United States

[Excerpt] The UNH School of Law Intellectual Property Library celebrates its twentieth anniversary this year. It is a fortuitous time for this look back and for strategic considerations for the future. This anniversary comes at a time in the history of legal education when conditions over the past few years have intensified the analysis of mission and resources for law school libraries. This article is a retrospective review of the history and dynamics surrounding the founding and first twenty years of growth. It is also an analysis of the future growth and mission of the IP Library during times that demand more strategic vision, taking into consideration the explosion of information, formats, scope of intellectual property (IP) and allied areas of practice, competitor IP programs at other U.S. law schools, and greater scrutiny of expenses of U.S. law school libraries generally

Clinical Severity Score System in Dogs with Degenerative Mitral Valve Disease

BACKGROUND: Several risk factors already have been determined for dogs with degenerative mitral valve disease (DMVD). Risk factors often have been considered in isolation and have not always taken into account additional information provided by the history and physical examination (PE). HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: Data obtained from history and PE of dogs with DMVD provide prognostic information and can be used for risk stratification. ANIMALS: Client‐owned dogs (n = 244) with DMVD recruited from first opinion practice. METHODS: Prospective longitudinal follow‐up of dogs with DMVD. History and PE data were obtained at 6‐month intervals and analyzed with time‐dependent Cox models to derive relative risk of cardiac death. Independent hazard ratios were used to derive a clinical severity score (CSS), the prognostic value of which was evaluated by analyzing the median survival times for different risk groups and ROC analysis. Analysis of the progression of CSS over time also was undertaken. RESULTS: History of cough, exercise intolerance, decreased appetite, breathlessness (difficulty breathing) and syncope with PE findings of heart murmur intensity louder than III/VI and absence of respiratory sinus arrhythmia were independently associated with outcome and allowed development of the CSS. Clinical severity score distinguished groups of dogs with significantly different outcomes. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Routinely obtained clinical findings allow risk stratification of dogs with DMVD. Results of ancillary diagnostic tests may be complementary to history and PE findings and always should be interpreted in conjunction with these findings

Demographic analysis of continuous-time life-history models

I present a computational approach to calculate the population growth rate, its sensitivity to life-history parameters and associated statistics like the stable population distribution and the reproductive value for exponentially growing populations, in which individual life history is described as a continuous development through time. The method is generally applicable to analyse population growth and performance for a wide range of individual life-history models, including cases in which the population consists of different types of individuals or in which the environment is fluctuating periodically. It complements comparable methods developed for discrete-time dynamics modelled with matrix or integral projection models. The basic idea behind the method is to use Lotka's integral equation for the population growth rate and compute the integral occurring in that equation by integrating an ordinary differential equation, analogous to recently derived methods to compute steady-states of physiologically structured population models. I illustrate application of the method using a number of published life-history models

Remnants of the past, history and the present.

The article interprets that it is hardly surprising then that philosophers of history point to the slender relationship between the raw facts of the past and understanding the past. The latter is an act of interpreting fragments from the past and not infrequently these support several points of view. This question has particular significance at a time when historians are increasingly thinking about historical materials and evidence in radically new ways that are fundamentally changing the nature of history as an academic discipline. In the light of these changes, the first part of the article sketches three different sets of epistemological assumptions that operate in contemporary history; the second applies these assumptions to a more detailed analysis of four pieces of historical material. Reflecting on the analysis in part two, the conclusion discusses the complex relations between the present and the past