Background-independent charges in Topologically Massive Gravity

We construct background-independent Noether charges in Topologically Massive Gravity with negative cosmological constant using its first-order formulation. The procedure is carried out by keeping track of the surface terms in the variation of the action, regardless the value of the gravitational Chern-Simons coupling $\mu$. In particular, this method provides a definition of conserved quantities for solutions at the chiral point $\mu l = 1$ ($l$ is the AdS radius) that contain logarithmic terms (Log Gravity). It is also shown that the charge formula gives a finite result for warped AdS black holes without the need for any background-substraction procedure.Comment: 23 pages; appendix and a few references added; final version for JHE

Optimisation of a neuromuscular electrical stimulation paradigm for targeted strengthening of an intrinsic foot muscle

The intrinsic foot muscles stabilise and stiffen the foot during posture and locomotion. Since they are placed under continued load, these muscles merit training to meet the weight-bearing demands of everyday activities. Their strengthening is however a largely neglected area and furthermore, the occurrence of common foot-related pathologies is associated with their dysfunction. Indeed, atrophy and dysfunction of the strongest intrinsic foot muscle, abductor hallucis (AbH), is symptomatic to pes planus and Hallux Valgus. AbH’s oblique mechanical action along with an inability for its voluntary activation in many individuals limits the strengthening capacity of existing training modalities. Due to the superficial location of AbH, neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) offers a solution to this problem; however, its efficacy for muscle strength gains relies on high stimulation-intensity protocols, which are uncomfortable and limit participant adherence. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis was to develop an optimised NMES paradigm that is tolerable and efficacious for a targeted strengthening intervention of AbH. The studies reported in this thesis were undertaken with the overarching aim to systematically establish a tolerable and low stimulation-intensity NMES paradigm to train AbH. With this motivation in mind, four sequential experimental studies were designed to identify the optimal mode of NMES application (muscle vs nerve) and stimulation pulse duration (Chapter 3), pulse frequency and train duration (Chapter 4), training stimulus intensity (Chapter 5), and duty-cycle (Chapter 6), respectively. A major finding from the work undertaken in this thesis was the prevalent inability to voluntary activate AbH that exists in healthy participants. Since this inability also limits the measurement of voluntary force generation following an intervention, this thesis also developed a methodological approach that overcomes this limitation. Collectively, the studies in this thesis demonstrated that NMES successfully evokes contractions from AbH irrespective of ability for its voluntary activation and can therefore be used as a training modality. The optimised NMES paradigm presented in this thesis targets the motor point of AbH using 22s-trains of 1ms pulses at 20-100-20Hz with an intensity of 200% motor threshold and a 1:4 duty-cycle. This wide-pulse, high-frequency, low-intensity paradigm promotes adherence and has the potential to depolarise sensory axons due to their lower rheobase, and evoke contractions with a contribution of the central nervous system. When delivered using long trains and an alternating frequency pattern, it can take advantage of post-tetanic potentiation to produce force, which is then preserved across trains using a duty-cycle with long rest periods. This thesis intended to bind the aforementioned experimental chapters together with a final chapter investigating the effectiveness of the developed NMES paradigm instrengthening AbH following long-term exposure. However, the implementation of this study was not possible in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and is therefore not reportedin this thesis. Nevertheless, future work in this area can benefit from the extensive methodological work undertaken in this thesis and implement a longitudinal study to better understand the clinical implications for targeted AbH strengthening via NMES

Finite-temperature properties of frustrated classical spins coupled to the lattice

We present extensive Monte Carlo simulations for a classical antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model with both nearest ($J_1$) and next-nearest ($J_2$) exchange couplings on the square lattice coupled to the lattice degrees of freedom. The Ising-like phase transition, that appears for $J_2/J_1>1/2$ in the pure spin model, is strengthened by the spin-lattice coupling, and is accompanied by a lattice deformation from a tetragonal symmetry to an orthorhombic one. Evidences that the universality class of the transition does not change with the inclusion of the spin-lattice coupling are reported. Implications for ${\rm Li_2VOSiO_4}$, the prototype for a layered $J_1{-}J_2$ model in the collinear regime, are also discussed.Comment: 6 pages and 8 figure

Implementing a subnational results-oriented management and budgeting system. Lessons from Medellín, Colombia.

"The purpose of this paper is to describe the budget process reform implemented in Medellín, and to analyze its actual performance and evaluate its success. The reform is changing the way public resources are allocated and executed, while gradually institutionalizing supply and demand-side practices beyond the government´s political cycles.This paper describes and analyzes how the RoB was designed and implemented, and the achievements of the system to date, in terms of resource allocation and the policy-making process. The following section describes the context of Medellín: political and economic trends, and the objectives of the budget reform. The third section presents the state of the budget process in Medellín as it was diagnosed before implementation. Section four describes the implementation process of the system, and section five addresses its major achievements. A final section includes some policy recommendations, which can be divided into two parts: (i) recommendations for consolidating the system as a main support tool of a RoM approach, and (ii) recommendations for replicating the system in other municipalities and subnational governments".Budget process reform, Budget reform, Medellín, Colombia

Specialised Lexicography for Learners: Specific Proposals for the Construction of Pedagogically-oriented Printed Business Dictionaries

The function theory of lexicography argues that specialised lexicographical products must help learners to transform their information needs into aspects of knowledge of the discipline, and of its discursive properties. Lexicographers, then, must combine information and data access with the user’s need for information and knowledge. To achieve this aim they need to devise theories providing solutions to different lexicographical problems. One such theory has recently been proposed by Tarp (2008), who claims that there are four categories which are central to a general theory of learner’s lexicography: users, user situation, user needs, and dictionary assistance. This paper focuses on dictionary assistance and addresses several lexicographical issues connected with polysemy: the selection of the lemmata of some printed English-Spanish/Spanish-English business dictionaries, their entry structures, sense differentiation, and sense ordering. The analysis leads the author to discuss some proposals with the aim of making business dictionaries more pedagogically oriented, and to include a set of principles pedagogically-oriented business dictionaries must have. They are illustrated in a model entry which has been compiled by rearranging one of the entries studied according to the proposals and principles previously discussed

Specialised Dictionaries of Economics and Translation

This article describes the “Dictionary of Economics” in terms of the Function Theory of Lexicography. It defends the thesis that such information tools must be designed for assisting specific users to solve the specific needs they have in a translation situation. In particular, I will focus on the solutions offered for individualising data retrieval, which will in turn eliminate the so-called information stress or information death produced when users retrieve so much data that they cannot cope with it. This process is illustrated in two recent online dictionaries, the Diccionario Inglés-Español de Contabilidad: Traducción (Fuertes-Olivera et al. 2012a) and the Diccionario Inglés-Español de Contabilidad: Traducción de Frases y Expresiones (Fuertes-Olivera et al. 2012b). They are especially suitable when translating English accounting texts into Spanish. These two dictionaries are considered high quality 21st Century dictionaries, e.g., as candidates for assisting in the training of professional translators within the field of Economics, one of the topics discussed in this Special Issue of Hermes