Spatial chaos in weakly dispersive and viscous media: a nonperturbative theory of the driven KdV-Burgers equation

The asymptotic travelling wave solution of the KdV-Burgers equation driven by the long scale periodic driver is constructed. The solution represents a shock-train in which the quasi-periodic sequence of dispersive shocks or soliton chains is interspersed by smoothly varying regions. It is shown that the periodic solution which has the spatial driver period undergoes period doublings as the governing parameter changes. Two types of chaotic behavior are considered. The first type is a weak chaos, where only a small chaotic deviation from the periodic solution occurs. The second type corresponds to the developed chaos where the solution ``ignores'' the driver period and represents a random sequence of uncorrelated shocks. In the case of weak chaos the shock coordinate being repeatedly mapped over the driver period moves on a chaotic attractor, while in the case of developed chaos it moves on a repellor. Both solutions depend on a parameter indicating the reference shock position in the shock-train. The structure of a one dimensional set to which this parameter belongs is investigated. This set contains measure one intervals around the fixed points in the case of periodic or weakly chaotic solutions and it becomes a fractal in the case of strong chaos. The capacity dimension of this set is calculated.Comment: 32 pages, 12 PostScript figures, useses elsart.sty and boxedeps.tex, fig.11 is not included and can be requested from <[email protected]

Tick size and price diffusion

A tick size is the smallest increment of a security price. It is clear that at the shortest time scale on which individual orders are placed the tick size has a major role which affects where limit orders can be placed, the bid-ask spread, etc. This is the realm of market microstructure and there is a vast literature on the role of tick size on market microstructure. However, tick size can also affect price properties at longer time scales, and relatively less is known about the effect of tick size on the statistical properties of prices. The present paper is divided in two parts. In the first we review the effect of tick size change on the market microstructure and the diffusion properties of prices. The second part presents original results obtained by investigating the tick size changes occurring at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). We show that tick size change has three effects on price diffusion. First, as already shown in the literature, tick size affects price return distribution at an aggregate time scale. Second, reducing the tick size typically leads to an increase of volatility clustering. We give a possible mechanistic explanation for this effect, but clearly more investigation is needed to understand the origin of this relation. Third, we explicitly show that the ability of the subordination hypothesis in explaining fat tails of returns and volatility clustering is strongly dependent on tick size. While for large tick sizes the subordination hypothesis has significant explanatory power, for small tick sizes we show that subordination is not the main driver of these two important stylized facts of financial market.Comment: To be published in the "Proceedings of Econophys-Kolkata V International Workshop on "Econophysics of Order-driven Markets" March 9-13, 2010, The New Economic Windows series of Springer-Verlag Italia

Arsenic accumulation in rice (Oryza sativa L.): Human exposure through food chain

Although human exposure to arsenic is thought to be caused mainly through arsenic-contaminated underground drinking water, the use of this water for irrigation enhances the possibility of arsenic uptake into crop plants. Rice is the staple food grain in Bangladesh. Arsenic content in straw, grain and husk of rice is especially important since paddy fields are extensively irrigated with underground water having high level of arsenic concentration. However, straw and husk are widely used as cattle feed. Arsenic concentration in rice grain was 0.5±0.02 mg kg-1 with the highest concentrations being in grains grown on soil treated with 40 mg As kg-1 soil. With the average rice consumption between 400 and 650 g/day by typical adults in the arsenic-affected areas of Bangladesh, the intake of arsenic through rice stood at 0.20-0.35 mg/day. With a daily consumption of 4 L drinking water, arsenic intake through drinking water stands at 0.2 mg/day. Moreover, when the rice plant was grown in 60 mg of As kg-1 soil, arsenic concentrations in rice straw were 20.6±0.52 at panicle initiation stage and 23.7±0.44 at maturity stage, whereas it was 1.6±0.20 mg kg-1 in husk. Cattle drink a considerable amount of water. So alike human beings, arsenic gets deposited into cattle body through rice straw and husk as well as from drinking water which in turn finds a route into the human body. Arsenic intake in human body from rice and cattle could be potentially important and it exists in addition to that from drinking water. Therefore, a hypothesis has been put forward elucidating the possible food chain pathways through which arsenic may enter into human body. © 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Human Rights and the Pink Tide in Latin America : Which Rights Matter?

Latin America witnessed the election of ‘new Left’ governments in the early 21 st century that, in different ways, sought to open a debate about alternatives to paradigms of neoliberal development. What has this meant for the way that human rights are understood and for patterns of human rights compliance? Using qualitative and quantitative evidence, this article discusses how human rights are imagined and the compliance records of new Left governments through the lens of the three ‘generations’ of human rights — political and civil, social and economic, and cultural and environmental rights. The authors draw in particular on evidence from Andean countries and the Southern Cone. While basic civil and individual liberties are still far from guaranteed, especially in the Andean region, new Left countries show better overall performances in relation to socio-economic rights compared to the past and to other Latin American countries. All new Left governments also demonstrate an increasing interest in ‘third generation’ (cultural and environmental) rights, though this is especially marked in the Andean Left. The authors discuss the tensions around interpretations and categories of human rights, reflect on the stagnation of first generation rights and note the difficulties associated with translating second and third generation rights into policy

National identity predicts public health support during a global pandemic

Changing collective behaviour and supporting non-pharmaceutical interventions is an important component in mitigating virus transmission during a pandemic. In a large international collaboration (Study 1, N = 49,968 across 67 countries), we investigated self-reported factors associated with public health behaviours (e.g., spatial distancing and stricter hygiene) and endorsed public policy interventions (e.g., closing bars and restaurants) during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic (April-May 2020). Respondents who reported identifying more strongly with their nation consistently reported greater engagement in public health behaviours and support for public health policies. Results were similar for representative and non-representative national samples. Study 2 (N = 42 countries) conceptually replicated the central finding using aggregate indices of national identity (obtained using the World Values Survey) and a measure of actual behaviour change during the pandemic (obtained from Google mobility reports). Higher levels of national identification prior to the pandemic predicted lower mobility during the early stage of the pandemic (r = −0.40). We discuss the potential implications of links between national identity, leadership, and public health for managing COVID-19 and future pandemics.publishedVersio

The energy spectrum of cosmic rays beyond the turn-down around 10^17 eV as measured with the surface detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory

We present a measurement of the cosmic-ray spectrum above 100&nbsp;PeV using the part of the surface detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory that has a spacing of 750&nbsp;m. An inflection of the spectrum is observed, confirming the presence of the so-called second-knee feature. The spectrum is then combined with that of the 1500&nbsp;m array to produce a single measurement of the flux, linking this spectral feature with the three additional breaks at the highest energies. The combined spectrum, with an energy scale set calorimetrically via fluorescence telescopes and using a single detector type, results in the most statistically and systematically precise measurement of spectral breaks yet obtained. These measurements are critical for furthering our understanding of the highest energy cosmic rays

Reconstruction of events recorded with the surface detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory

Cosmic rays arriving at Earth collide with the upper parts of the atmosphere, thereby inducing extensive air showers. When secondary particles from the cascade arrive at the ground, they are measured by surface detector arrays. We describe the methods applied to the measurements of the surface detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory to reconstruct events with zenith angles less than 60o using the timing and signal information recorded using the water-Cherenkov detector stations. In addition, we assess the accuracy of these methods in reconstructing the arrival directions of the primary cosmic ray particles and the sizes of the induced showers