Evidence for a first order transition in a plaquette 3d Ising-like action

We investigate a 3d Ising action which corresponds to a a class of models defined by Savvidy and Wegner, originally intended as discrete versions of string theories on cubic lattices. These models have vanishing bare surface tension and the couplings are tuned in such a way that the action depends only on the angles of the discrete surface, i.e. on the way the surface is embedded in ${\bf Z}^3$. Hence the name gonihedric by which they are known. We show that the model displays a rather clear first order phase transition in the limit where self-avoidance is neglected and the action becomes a plaquette one. This transition persists for small values of the self avoidance coupling, but it turns to second order when this latter parameter is further increased. These results exclude the use of this type of action as models of gonihedric random surfaces, at least in the limit where self avoidance is neglected.Comment: 4 pages Latex text, 4 postscript figure

String tension in gonihedric 3D Ising models

For the 3D gonihedric Ising models defined by Savvidy and Wegner the bare string tension is zero and the energy of a spin interface depends only on the number of bends and self-intersections, in antithesis to the standard nearest-neighbour 3D Ising action. When the parameter kappa weighting the self-intersections is small the model has a first order transition and when it is larger the transition is continuous. In this paper we investigate the scaling of the renormalized string tension, which is entirely generated by fluctuations, using Monte Carlo simulations This allows us to obtain an estimate for the critical exponents alpha and nu using both finite-size-scaling and data collapse for the scaling function.Comment: Latex + postscript figures. 8 pages text plus 7 figures, spurious extra figure now removed

VEGETATIVE PROPAGATION OF Dipterocarpus zeylanicus BY CUTIINGS

Dipterocarpus zeylanicus, an endemic tree in Sri Lanka offers great potential forbridging the gap between supply and demand of timber in the country. However,at present it has not been widely used as a plantation species. Establishment ofplantation by seeds has proved somewhat difficult due to low viability etc.Genetically uniform planting stock can be obtained rapidly through vegetativepropagation.With the above objective in mind an experiment was conducted to propagate stemcuttings of Ir.zeylanicus using a variety of rooting hormones under both mist andnon-mist conditions. In all the instances. cuttings of 15 em length and 0.3-0.4 mrnbasal diameter with two and half leaves were used. The hormone concentrationsused were, Indole Butyic Acid (lBA) 500 pprn, 1000 ppm and 1500 ppm and thecommercial hormone Sector (NAA + fungicide). Control did not have anyhormone treatment. The medium used was sand. The experiment was conductedunder two conditional environments; under a automatic mist and in a non-mistpolypropagator, a low cost alternative which was also designed to maintain a highhumidity through water manipulation.After the experimental period of 10 weeks, there was a marked differencebetween the mist and non-mist conditions in percentage survival of cuttings. Inall the treatments, % survival was higher under mist. In terms of percentagerooting, the cuttings under the non-mist propagator did not show rooting at allalthough callusing was observed in all the treatments at varying success levels.Among the rooting treatments, the highest percentage rooting (38. 10%) wasshown in the control without rooting hormones closely followed by otherhormone treatments. However, the treatment 1000 pprn of IBA showed thelowest percentage rooting (11.11 %).From these results, it can be concluded that

Antecedents of Facebook Updates, and the Role of Personality of Facebook Users in Sri Lanka

This study is to prove the impact of different motives in updating Facebook status and role of personality in Facebook updates. Therefore, the study is focus to identify the impact of motive namely validation, communication and self-expression on Facebook status updates while it is examining the moderation effect of individual personality on original relationship. As study is based on the Facebook users, population of the study consist of all Facebook users and based on the convenience sampling method researchers have selected 252 Facebook users in Sri Lanka as the sample of the study. Data were collected from the sample using a researcher developed questionnaire. In order to prove hypotheses and make inferences, regression analysis was employed in the study. Moreover, regression analysis proved that there is an impact from validation, communication and self-expression on Facebook status updates. Further, the relationship between validation, communication and self-expression with Facebook status update is moderated by the extraversion and openness to experience. Based on the inferences of the study, it can be concluded that validation, communication and self-expression act as motives to update Facebook status and the intensity of that motives depend on the personality of an individua

Programmatic use of molecular xenomonitoring at the level of evaluation units to assess persistence of lymphatic filariasis in Sri Lanka

BACKGROUND:Sri Lanka's Anti Filariasis Campaign distributed 5 rounds of mass drug administration (MDA with DEC plus albendazole) to all endemic regions in the country from 2002-2006. Post-MDA surveillance results have generally been encouraging. However, recent studies have documented low level persistence of Wuchereria bancrofti in Galle district based on comprehensive surveys that include molecular xenomonitoring (MX, detection of filarial DNA in mosquitoes) results. The purposes of this study were to demonstrate the use of MX in large evaluation units (EUs) and to field test different mosquito sampling schemes. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:Galle district (population 1.1 million) was divided into two EUs. These included a coastal EU with known persistent LF and an inland EU with little persistent LF. Mosquitoes were systematically sampled from ~300 trap locations in 30 randomly selected clusters (health administrative units) per EU. Approximately 28,000 Culex quinquefasciatus were collected with gravid traps and tested for filarial DNA by qPCR. 92/625 pools (14.7%) from the coastal EU and 8/583 pools (1.4%) from the inland EU were positive for filarial DNA. Maximum likelihood estimates (MLE) for filarial DNA rates were essentially the same when the same number of mosquito pools were collected and tested from 75, 150, or 300 trap sites (range 0.61-0.78% for the coastal EU and 0.04-0.07% for the inland EU). The ability to use a smaller number of trap sites reduces the cost and time required for mosquito sampling. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:These results suggest there is widespread persistence of W. bancrofti infection in the coastal Galle EU 8 years after the last round of MDA in 2006, and this is consistent with other data from the district. This study has shown that MX can be used by national programs to assess and map the persistence of W. bancrofti at the level of large EUs in areas with Culex transmission

Effectiveness of the wearable sensor based ambient intelligent geriatric management system (AmbIGeM) in preventing falls in older people in hospitals

Background: The Ambient Intelligent Geriatric Management (AmbIGeM) system augments best practice and involves a novel wearable sensor (accelerometer and gyroscope) worn by patients where the data captured by the sensor are interpreted by algorithms to trigger alerts on clinician handheld mobile devices when risk movements are detected. Methods: A 3-cluster stepped-wedge pragmatic trial investigating the effect on the primary outcome of falls rate and secondary outcome of injurious fall and proportion of fallers. Three wards across 2 states were included. Patients aged ≥65 years were eligible. Patients requiring palliative care were excluded. The trial was registered with the Australia and New Zealand Clinical Trials registry, number 12617000981325. Results: A total of 4924 older patients were admitted to the study wards with 1076 excluded and 3240 (1995 control, 1245 intervention) enrolled. The median proportion of study duration with valid readings per patient was 49% ((interquartile range [IQR] 25%-67%)). There was no significant difference between intervention and control relating to the falls rate (adjusted rate ratio = 1.41, 95% confidence interval [0.85, 2.34]; p = .192), proportion of fallers (odds ratio = 1.54, 95% confidence interval [0.91, 2.61]; p = .105), and injurious falls rate (adjusted rate ratio = 0.90, 95% confidence interval [0.38, 2.14]; p = .807). In a post hoc analysis, falls and injurious falls rate were reduced in the Geriatric Evaluation and Management Unit wards when the intervention period was compared to the control period. Conclusions: The AmbIGeM system did not reduce the rate of falls, rate of injurious falls, or proportion of fallers. There remains a case for further exploration and refinement of this technology given the post hoc analysis findings with the Geriatric Evaluation and Management Unit wards.Renuka Visvanathan, Damith C Ranasinghe, Kylie Lange, Anne Wilson, Joanne Dollard, Eileen Boyle ... et al

Natural hazards in Australia : sea level and coastal extremes

The Australian coastal zone encompasses tropical, sub- and extra-tropical climates and accommodates about 80 % of Australia’s population. Sea level extremes and their physical impacts in the coastal zone arise from a complex set of atmospheric, oceanic and terrestrial processes that interact on a range of spatial and temporal scales and will be modified by a changing climate, including sea level rise. This review details significant progress over recent years in understanding the causes of past and projections of future changes in sea level and coastal extremes, yet a number of research questions, knowledge gaps and challenges remain. These include efforts to improve knowledge on past sea level extremes, integrate a wider range of processes in projections of future changes to sea level extremes, and focus efforts on understanding long-term coastline response from the combination of contributing factors

Capital structure revisited. Do crisis and competition matter in a Keiretsu corporate structure?

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version.open accessWe investigate firm-level determinants of capital structure using a large sample of 4,284 Japanese firms over a nineteen-year period (i.e., over 61,000 firm-year observations), a hitherto less examined sample for this purpose. We conduct our analysis and interpret our findings predominantly within the pecking order, the trade-off and the agency theoretical frameworks. We uncover three new findings. First, our evidence indicates that insights derived from the extant literature on capital structure are cross-national and are applicable in the context of Japan, despite the unique characteristics of Japanese firms. Second, financial crisis significantly impacts the relationship between leverage and firm-level determinants, particularly accentuating the effect of asset tangibility and growth. Third, product market competition significantly impacts the observed relationship between firm-level determinants and leverage. Our results are robust, controlling for the joint effects of competition and crisis

Australasia

Observed changes and impacts Ongoing climate trends have exacerbated many extreme events (very high confidence). The Australian trends include further warming and sea level rise sea level rise (SLR), with more hot days and heatwaves, less snow, more rainfall in the north, less April–October rainfall in the southwest and southeast and more extreme fire weather days in the south and east. The New Zealand trends include further warming and sea level rise (SLR), more hot days and heatwaves, less snow, more rainfall in the south, less rainfall in the north and more extreme fire weather in the east. There have been fewer tropical cyclones and cold days in the region. Extreme events include Australia’s hottest and driest year in 2019 with a record-breaking number of days over 39°C, New Zealand’s hottest year in 2016, three widespread marine heatwaves during 2016–2020, Category 4 Cyclone Debbie in 2017, seven major hailstorms over eastern Australia and two over New Zealand from 2014–2020, three major floods in eastern Australia and three over New Zealand during 2019–2021 and major fires in southern and eastern Australia during 2019–2020