10,402 research outputs found
Statistical Modelling of Information Sharing: Community, Membership and Content
File-sharing systems, like many online and traditional information sharing
communities (e.g. newsgroups, BBS, forums, interest clubs), are dynamical
systems in nature. As peers get in and out of the system, the information
content made available by the prevailing membership varies continually in
amount as well as composition, which in turn affects all peers' join/leave
decisions. As a result, the dynamics of membership and information content are
strongly coupled, suggesting interesting issues about growth, sustenance and
stability.
In this paper, we propose to study such communities with a simple statistical
model of an information sharing club. Carrying their private payloads of
information goods as potential supply to the club, peers join or leave on the
basis of whether the information they demand is currently available.
Information goods are chunked and typed, as in a file sharing system where
peers contribute different files, or a forum where messages are grouped by
topics or threads. Peers' demand and supply are then characterized by
statistical distributions over the type domain.
This model reveals interesting critical behaviour with multiple equilibria. A
sharp growth threshold is derived: the club may grow towards a sustainable
equilibrium only if the value of an order parameter is above the threshold, or
shrink to emptiness otherwise. The order parameter is composite and comprises
the peer population size, the level of their contributed supply, the club's
efficiency in information search, the spread of supply and demand over the type
domain, as well as the goodness of match between them.Comment: accepted in International Symposium on Computer Performance,
Modeling, Measurements and Evaluation, Juan-les-Pins, France, October-200
Effective models of two-flavor QCD: from small towards large
We study effective models of chiral fields and Polyakov loop expected to
describe the dynamics responsible for the phase structure of two-flavor QCD. We
consider chiral sector described either using linear sigma model or
Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model and study how these models, on the mean-field level
when coupled with the Polyakov loop, behave as a function of increasing bare
quark (or pion) mass. We find qualitatively similar behaviors for the cases of
linear sigma model and Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model and, relating to existing
lattice data, show that one cannot conclusively decide which or the two
approximate symmetries drives the phase transitions near the physical point
Influence of retardation effects on 2D magnetoplasmon spectrum
Within dissipationless limit the magnetic field dependence of magnetoplasmon
spectrum for unbounded 2DEG system found to intersect the cyclotron resonance
line, and, then approaches the frequency given by light dispersion relation.
Recent experiments done for macroscopic disc-shape 2DEG systems confirm theory
expectations.Comment: 2 pages,2 figure
Chiral fermions on the lattice and index relations
Comparing recent lattice results on chiral fermions and old continuum results
for the index puzzling questions arise. To clarify this issue we start with a
critical reconsideration of the results on finite lattices. We then work out
various aspects of the continuum limit. After determining bounds and norm
convergences we obtain the limit of the anomaly term. Collecting our results
the index relation of the quantized theory gets established. We then compare in
detail with the Atiyah-Singer theorem. Finally we analyze conventional
continuum approaches.Comment: 34 pages; a more detaild introduction and a subsection with remarks
on literature adde
Seventy-One New L and T Dwarfs from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
We present near-infrared observations of 71 newly discovered L and T dwarfs,
selected from imaging data of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) using the
i-dropout technique. Sixty-five of these dwarfs have been classified
spectroscopically according to the near-infrared L dwarf classification scheme
of Geballe et al. and the unified T dwarf classification scheme of Burgasser et
al. The spectral types of these dwarfs range from L3 to T7, and include the
latest types yet found in the SDSS. Six of the newly identified dwarfs are
classified as early- to mid-L dwarfs according to their photometric
near-infrared colors, and two others are classified photometrically as M
dwarfs. We also present new near-infrared spectra for five previously published
SDSS L and T dwarfs, and one L dwarf and one T dwarf discovered by Burgasser et
al. from the Two Micron All Sky Survey. The new SDSS sample includes 27 T
dwarfs and 30 dwarfs with spectral types spanning the complex L-T transition
(L7-T3). We continue to see a large (~0.5 mag) spread in J-H for L3 to T1
types, and a similar spread in H-K for all dwarfs later than L3. This color
dispersion is probably due to a range of grain sedimentation properties,
metallicity, and gravity. We also find L and T dwarfs with unusual colors and
spectral properties that may eventually help to disentangle these effects.Comment: accepted by AJ, 18 pages, 10 figures, 5 tables, emulateapj layou
Social Media Analytics for Non-Governmental Organizations
Social media has provided promotion and communication channels for organizations to reach their target audience efficiently and cost-effectively. Despite wide social media analytics applications in different areas, scant studies focus on NGOs. This research analyzes the use of social media by a well-known NGO, the Hong Kong Generation Next Arts Limited (HKGNA), on its presence and user sentiment on Twitter and Facebook to evaluate the brand image, engagement conditions, and promotion effectiveness. These findings showed a low usage frequency of their Twitter channel. Despite the overall positive sentiment, there are some deviations from their charity mission. Yet, their Facebook channel serves well for publicity, and the interaction is relatively active. Thus, more measures are necessary to improve the digital relationship between HKGNA and its targeted audience. Moreover, this methodology for data analysis serves as an example for other NGOs to improve their communication
On Recognizing Transparent Objects in Domestic Environments Using Fusion of Multiple Sensor Modalities
Current object recognition methods fail on object sets that include both
diffuse, reflective and transparent materials, although they are very common in
domestic scenarios. We show that a combination of cues from multiple sensor
modalities, including specular reflectance and unavailable depth information,
allows us to capture a larger subset of household objects by extending a state
of the art object recognition method. This leads to a significant increase in
robustness of recognition over a larger set of commonly used objects.Comment: 12 page
A Perturbative Study of a General Class of Lattice Dirac Operators
A perturbative study of a general class of lattice Dirac operators is
reported, which is based on an algebraic realization of the Ginsparg-Wilson
relation in the form
where stands for a non-negative integer.
The choice corresponds to the commonly discussed Ginsparg-Wilson relation
and thus to the overlap operator. We study one-loop fermion contributions to
the self-energy of the gauge field, which are related to the fermion
contributions to the one-loop function and to the Weyl anomaly. We
first explicitly demonstrate that the Ward identity is satisfied by the
self-energy tensor. By performing careful analyses, we then obtain the correct
self-energy tensor free of infra-red divergences, as a general consideration of
the Weyl anomaly indicates. This demonstrates that our general operators give
correct chiral and Weyl anomalies. In general, however, the Wilsonian effective
action, which is supposed to be free of infra-red complications, is expected to
be essential in the analyses of our general class of Dirac operators for
dynamical gauge field.Comment: 30 pages. Some of the misprints were corrected. Phys. Rev. D (in
press
Case Report: Spinal Anesthesia by Mini-laminotomy for a Patient with Ankylosing Spondylitis who was Difficult to Anesthetize
Case reportBackground: Orthopaedic surgeons frequently encounter patients with ankylosing spondylitis who would benefit from various types of lower limb operations; however, some of these patients present challenges for anesthesiologists. Case Description: We report the case of a 65-year-old patient with a fractured femoral component 30 years after a cemented THA. The patient had severe tracheal stenosis and ankylosing spondylitis making general endotracheal and conventional neuraxial anesthesia nearly impossible. Literature Review: Possible alternative anesthetic approaches described in the literature include awake fiberoptic bronchoscopic guided intubation, laryngeal mask airway, and caudal anesthesia. Purposes and Clinical Relevance: We achieved successful anesthesia using spinal laminotomy with the patient under local anesthesia followed by insertion of a spinal catheter and injection of an anesthetic agent. The loosened component was revised to a cementless THA. © 2010 The Author(s).published_or_final_versionSpringer Open Choice, 31 May 201
- …