Deserted Medieval Villages : determining whether landscape was a significant factor in the depopulation and desertion of medieval villages within the East Riding of Yorkshire

[From the introduction:]The purpose of this dissertation is to determine whether landscape was a significant factor in the depopulation and desertion of medieval villages within the East Riding of Yorkshire.In a previous study on the subject, the author determined that the majority of desertions within the East Riding of Yorkshire were due to the enclosure of common land (Coulson, 2019). This study aims to view deserted medieval villages from a landscape-oriented perspective. This paper will analyse how significant the landscape was in the depopulation of the villages of the East Riding and will compare and contrast different theories and factors which led to the desertion of these once bustling villages

Facial structures for various notions of positivity and applications to the theory of entanglement

In this expository note, we explain facial structures for the convex cones consisting of positive linear maps, completely positive linear maps, decomposable positive linear maps between matrix algebras, respectively. These will be applied to study the notions of entangled edge states with positive partial transposes and optimality of entanglement witnesses.Comment: An expository note. Section 7 and Section 8 have been enlarge

European household waste management schemes: Their effectiveness and applicability in England.

This paper reviews European household waste management schemes and provides an insight into their effectiveness in reducing or diverting household waste. The paper also considers the feasibility of replicating such schemes in England. Selected case studies include those implemented using variable charging schemes, direct regulation and household incentivisation (reduced disposal charges). A total of 15 case studies were selected from developed countries in the EU where some schemes have operated for more than a decade. Criteria for assessing the effectiveness and replicability of schemes were developed using scheme progress towards targets, response time, compatibility with government policy, ease of administration and operation, and public acceptance as attributes. The study demonstrates the capability of these schemes to significantly reduce household waste and suggests changes to allow their possible adoption in England. One of the main barriers to their adoption is the Environmental Protection Act, 1990 that prevents English local authorities (LAs) from implementing the variable charging method for household waste management. This barrier could be removed through a change in legislation. The need to derive consistent data and standardise the method of measuring the effectiveness of schemes is also highlighted

The Normal State Resistivity of Grain Boundaries in YBa2Cu3O7-delta

Using an optimized bridge geometry we have been able to make accurate measurements of the properties of YBa2Cu3O7-delta grain boundaries above Tc. The results show a strong dependence of the change of resistance with temperature on grain boundary angle. Analysis of our results in the context of band-bending allows us to estimate the height of the potential barrier present at the grain boundary interface.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure

Topical rosiglitazone is an effective anti-scarring agent in the cornea

Corneal scarring remains a major cause of blindness world-wide, with limited treatment options, all of which have side-effects. Here, we tested the hypothesis that topical application of Rosiglitazone, a Thiazolidinedione and ligand of peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma (PPARγ), can effectively block scar formation in a cat model of corneal damage. Adult cats underwent bilateral epithelial debridement followed by excimer laser ablation of the central corneal stroma to a depth of ~160 µm as a means of experimentally inducing a reproducible wound. Eyes were then left untreated, or received 50 µl of either 10 µM Rosiglitazone in DMSO/Celluvisc, DMSO/Celluvisc vehicle or Celluvisc vehicle twice daily for 2 weeks. Cellular aspects of corneal wound healing were evaluated with in vivo confocal imaging and post-mortem immunohistochemistry for alpha smooth muscle actin (αSMA). Impacts of the wound and treatments on optical quality were assessed using wavefront sensing and optical coherence tomography at 2, 4, 8 and 12 weeks post-operatively. In parallel, cat corneal fibroblasts were cultured to assess the effects of Rosiglitazone on TGFβ-induced αSMA expression. Topical application of Rosiglitazone to cat eyes after injury decreased αSMA expression and haze, as well as the induction of lower-order and residual, higher-order wavefront aberrations compared to vehicle-treated eyes. Rosiglitazone also inhibited TGFβ-induced αSMA expression in cultured corneal fibroblasts. In conclusion, Rosiglitazone effectively controlled corneal fibrosis in vivo and in vitro, while restoring corneal thickness and optics. Its topical application may represent an effective, new avenue for the prevention of corneal scarring with distinct advantages for pathologically thin corneas

Synchronization of Chaotic Oscillators due to Common Delay Time Modulation

We have found a synchronization behavior between two identical chaotic systems^M when their delay times are modulated by a common irregular signal. ^M This phenomenon is demonstrated both in two identical chaotic maps whose delay times are driven by a common^M chaotic or random signal and in two identical chaotic oscillators whose delay times are driven by^M a signal of another chaotic oscillator. We analyze the phenomenon by using^M the Lyapunov exponents and discuss it in relation with generalized synchronization.^MComment: 5 pages, 4 figures (to be published in PRE

Separability problem for multipartite states of rank at most four

One of the most important problems in quantum information is the separability problem, which asks whether a given quantum state is separable. We investigate multipartite states of rank at most four which are PPT (i.e., all their partial transposes are positive semidefinite). We show that any PPT state of rank two or three is separable and has length at most four. For separable states of rank four, we show that they have length at most six. It is six only for some qubit-qutrit or multiqubit states. It turns out that any PPT entangled state of rank four is necessarily supported on a 3x3 or a 2x2x2 subsystem. We obtain a very simple criterion for the separability problem of the PPT states of rank at most four: such a state is entangled if and only if its range contains no product vectors. This criterion can be easily applied since a four-dimensional subspace in the 3x3 or 2x2x2 system contains a product vector if and only if its Pluecker coordinates satisfy a homogeneous polynomial equation (the Chow form of the corresponding Segre variety). We have computed an explicit determinantal expression for the Chow form in the former case, while such expression was already known in the latter case.Comment: 19 page

A characterization of positive linear maps and criteria of entanglement for quantum states

Let $H$ and $K$ be (finite or infinite dimensional) complex Hilbert spaces. A characterization of positive completely bounded normal linear maps from ${\mathcal B}(H)$ into ${\mathcal B}(K)$ is given, which particularly gives a characterization of positive elementary operators including all positive linear maps between matrix algebras. This characterization is then applied give a representation of quantum channels (operations) between infinite-dimensional systems. A necessary and sufficient criterion of separability is give which shows that a state $\rho$ on $H\otimes K$ is separable if and only if $(\Phi\otimes I)\rho\geq 0$ for all positive finite rank elementary operators $\Phi$. Examples of NCP and indecomposable positive linear maps are given and are used to recognize some entangled states that cannot be recognized by the PPT criterion and the realignment criterion.Comment: 20 page