A stability criterion for systems with neutrally stable modes and deadzone nonlinearities

Stability analysis is considered for feedback interconnections of deadzone nonlinearities with linear systems that has a neutrally stable mode. Such systems do not have a unique equilibrium point and the standard techniques from passivity and Lyapunov theory cannot be applied. A stability criterion that generalizes the Popov criterion for this class of systems is derived in this report and several examples will prove its applicability

Estimating coextinction risks from epidemic tree death

At least 10% of the world's tree species are threatened with extinction and pathogens are increasingly implicated in tree threats. Coextinction and threats to affiliates as a consequence of the loss or decline of their host trees is a poorly understood phenomenon. Ash dieback is an emerging infectious disease causing severe dieback of common ash Fraxinus excelsior throughout Europe. We utilized available empirical data on affiliate epiphytic lichen diversity (174 species and 17,800 observations) among 20 ash dieback infected host tree populations of F. excelsior on the island Gotland in the Baltic Sea, Sweden. From this, we used structured scenario projections scaled with empirical data of ash dieback disease to generate probabilistic models for estimating local and regional lichen coextinction risks. Average coextinction probabilities (A - ) were 0.38 (95% CI 60.09) for lichens occurring on F. excelsior and 0.14 (95% CI 60.03) when considering lichen persistence on all tree species. A - was strongly linked to local disease incidence levels and generally increasing with lichen host specificity to F. excelsior and decreasing population size. Coextinctions reduced affiliate community viability, with significant local reductions in species richness and shifts in lichen species composition. Affiliates were projected to become locally extirpated before their hosts, illuminating the need to also consider host tree declines. Traditionally managed open wooded meadows had the highest incidence of ash dieback disease and significantly higher proportions of affiliate species projected to go extinct, compared with unmanaged closed forests and semi-open grazed sites. Most cothreatened species were not previously red-listed, which suggest that tree epidemics cause many unforeseen threats to species. Our analysis shows that epidemic tree deaths represent an insidious, mostly overlooked, threat to sessile affiliate communities in forested environments. Current conservation and management strategies must account for secondary extinctions associated with epidemic tree death

The modifier effect and property mutability

The modifier effect is the reduction in perceived likelihood of a generic property sentence, when the head noun is modified. We investigated the prediction that the modifier effect would be stronger for mutable than for central properties, without finding evidence for this predicted interaction over the course of five experiments. However Experiment 6, which provided a brief context for the modified concepts to lend them greater credibility, did reveal the predicted interaction. It is argued that the modifier effect arises primarily from a general lack of confidence in generic statements about the typical properties of unfamiliar concepts. Neither prototype nor classical models of concept combination receive support from the phenomenon

Ефект емоційної насиченості аромату відносно впевненості щодо його правильної ідентифікації (Odor emotionally effects the confidence in odor naming)

Попередні дослідження показали, що учасники експериментального дослідження є надміру впевненими у правильності визначення (ідентифікації) запропонованого їм запаху. Це означає, що їх впевненість виражається як суб'єктивна ймовірність, яка в середньому вища, ніж фактична частка правильних визначень запаху. Даний експеримент, що перевіряв гіпотезу про те, чим інтенсивніший запах, тим більше впевненими є досліджувані щодо його ідентифікації. Результати показали, що впевненість у ідентифікації запахів може, дійсно, бути залежною від властивостей ароматів. Це дозволяє припустити, що емоційні змінні повинні бути прийняті до уваги при вивченні метапам’яті. (Previous research has demonstrated that participants are overconfident in the veracity of their odor identifications. This means that their confidence expressed as subjective probabilities is, on average, higher than the actual proportion of correct odor identifications. The current experiment tested the hypothesis that the more arousing an odor is, the more participants are overconfident in their identification of it. The results indicated that part of the overconfidence in odor identification can, indeed, be due to the arousing properties of the odors. This suggests that emotional variables should be taken into account when researching metamemory.

Spin glass like transition in a highly concentrated Fe-C nanoparticle system

A highly concentrated (17 vol.%) Fe-C nano-particle system, with a narrow size distribution $d = 5.4\pm 0.4$ nm, has been investigated using magnetic ac susceptibility measurements covering a wide range of frequencies (17 mHz - 170 Hz). A dynamic scaling analysis gives evidence for a phase transition to a low temperature spin-glass-like phase. The critical exponents associated with the transition are $z\nu = 10.5 \pm 2$ and $\beta = 1.1 \pm 0.2$. The reason why the scaling analysis works for this sample, while it may not work for other samples exhibiting collective behavior as evidenced by aging phenomena, is that the single particle contribution to $\chi''$ is vanishingly small for $T>T_g$ and hence all slow dynamics is due to collective behavior. This criterion can only be fulfilled for a highly concentrated nano-particle sample with a narrow size distribution.Comment: 2 pages, 3 figures, Proceeding for ICM200

Delensing Gravitational Wave Standard Sirens with Shear and Flexion Maps

Supermassive black hole binary systems (SMBHB) are standard sirens -- the gravitational wave analogue of standard candles -- and if discovered by gravitational wave detectors, they could be used as precise distance indicators. Unfortunately, gravitational lensing will randomly magnify SMBHB signals, seriously degrading any distance measurements. Using a weak lensing map of the SMBHB line of sight, we can estimate its magnification and thereby remove some uncertainty in its distance, a procedure we call "delensing." We find that delensing is significantly improved when galaxy shears are combined with flexion measurements, which reduce small-scale noise in reconstructed magnification maps. Under a Gaussian approximation, we estimate that delensing with a 2D mosaic image from an Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) could reduce distance errors by about 30-40% for a SMBHB at z=2. Including an additional wide shear map from a space survey telescope could reduce distance errors by 50%. Such improvement would make SMBHBs considerably more valuable as cosmological distance probes or as a fully independent check on existing probes.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, submitted to MNRA

Використання методу багатофакторного шкалювання у дослідженні основного принципу суджень про легкість вивчення. (Using a multidimensional scaling approach to investigate the underlying basis of ease of learning judgments.)

Перед вивченням матеріалу важливо спершу оцінити його складність, висловити так звані судження про легкість вивчення (ЛВ). Процедура багатофакторного шкалювання (БФШ) була використана з метою дослідження основного принципу ЛВ суджень для 24 іменників, що, на думку автора, є новизною дослідження. До того ж, судження про оцінку вивченого (СОВ) супроводжувалися тестом довільного згадування. Аналіз БФШ вказує на те, що ЛВ судження про іменники базуються на кількох показниках (факторах), а саме довжина слова, частота, та конкретність. Більш того, значення конкретності іменників, згідно з оцінкою незалежної групи, співвідносилися як з СОВ так і показником конкретності отриманого після аналізу БФШ. Це вказує на те, що ЛВ та СОВ декою мірою базуються на однакових показниках. Результати подані зважаючи на наявну літературу. (Before studying a material it may be important to first assess the difficulty of it, so called Ease of Learning (EOL) judgments. A multidimensional scaling (MDS) procedure was used to investigate the underlying basis of EOL judgments for 24 nouns, which to the authors’ knowledge has not been done before. In addition, Judgments of Learning (JOL) followed by a free recall test was performed. The MDS analysis indicate that EOL judgments for the nouns are based on multiple cues (dimensions), namely word length, frequency, and concreteness. Moreover, the concreteness values of the nouns, as judged by an independent group, were correlated with both the JOLs and the concreteness dimension from the MDS analysis. This indicates that EOLs and JOLs to some extent are based on the same cues. The results are discussed in relation to the available literature.

Extended transition rates and lifetimes in Al I and Al II from systematic multiconfiguration calculations

Multiconfiguration Dirac-Hartree-Fock (MCDHF) and relativistic configuration interaction (RCI) calculations were performed for 28 and 78 states in neutral and singly ionized aluminium, respectively. In Al I, the configurations of interest are $3s^2nl$ for $n=3,4,5$ with $l=0$ to $4$, as well as $3s3p^2$ and $3s^26l$ for $l=0,1,2$. In Al II, the studied configurations are, besides the ground configuration $3s^2$, $3snl$ with $n=3$ to $6$ and $l=0$ to $5$, $3p^2$, $3s7s$, $3s7p$ and $3p3d$. Valence and core-valence electron correlation effects are systematically accounted for through large configuration state function (CSF) expansions. Calculated excitation energies are found to be in excellent agreement with experimental data from the NIST database. Lifetimes and transition data for radiative electric dipole (E1) transitions are given and compared with results from previous calculations and available measurements, for both Al I and Al II. The computed lifetimes of Al I are in very good agreement with the measured lifetimes in high-precision laser spectroscopy experiments. The present calculations provide a substantial amount of updated atomic data, including transition data in the infrared region. This is particularly important since the new generation of telescopes are designed for this region. There is a significant improvement in accuracy, in particular for the more complex system of neutral Al I. The complete tables of transition data are available