The limit space of a Cauchy sequence of globally hyperbolic spacetimes

In this second paper, I construct a limit space of a Cauchy sequence of globally hyperbolic spacetimes. In the second section, I work gradually towards a construction of the limit space. I prove the limit space is unique up to isometry. I als show that, in general, the limit space has quite complicated causal behaviour. This work prepares the final paper in which I shall study in more detail properties of the limit space and the moduli space of (compact) globally hyperbolic spacetimes (cobordisms). As a fait divers, I give in this paper a suitable definition of dimension of a Lorentz space in agreement with the one given by Gromov in the Riemannian case.Comment: 31 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Classical and Quantum gravity, seriously improved presentatio

A Lorentzian Gromov-Hausdoff notion of distance

This paper is the first of three in which I study the moduli space of isometry classes of (compact) globally hyperbolic spacetimes (with boundary). I introduce a notion of Gromov-Hausdorff distance which makes this moduli space into a metric space. Further properties of this metric space are studied in the next papers. The importance of the work can be situated in fields such as cosmology, quantum gravity and - for the mathematicians - global Lorentzian geometry.Comment: 20 pages, 0 figures, submitted to Classical and quantum gravity, seriously improved presentatio

The moduli space of isometry classes of globally hyperbolic spacetimes

This is the last article in a series of three initiated by the second author. We elaborate on the concepts and theorems constructed in the previous articles. In particular, we prove that the GH and the GGH uniformities previously introduced on the moduli space of isometry classes of globally hyperbolic spacetimes are different, but the Cauchy sequences which give rise to well-defined limit spaces coincide. We then examine properties of the strong metric introduced earlier on each spacetime, and answer some questions concerning causality of limit spaces. Progress is made towards a general definition of causality, and it is proven that the GGH limit of a Cauchy sequence of $\mathcal{C}^{\pm}_{\alpha}$, path metric Lorentz spaces is again a $\mathcal{C}^{\pm}_{\alpha}$, path metric Lorentz space. Finally, we give a necessary and sufficient condition, similar to the one of Gromov for the Riemannian case, for a class of Lorentz spaces to be precompact.Comment: 29 pages, 9 figures, submitted to Class. Quant. Gra

The NITE XML Toolkit Meets the ICSI Meeting Corpus: Import, Annotation, and Browsing

Abstract. The NITE XML Toolkit (NXT) provides library support for working with multimodal language corpora. We describe work in progress to explore its potential for the AMI project by applying it to the ICSI Meeting Corpus. We discuss converting existing data into the NXT data format; using NXT’s query facility to explore the corpus; hand-annotation and automatic indexing; and the integration of data obtained by applying NXT-external processes such as parsers. Finally, we describe use of NXT as a meeting browser itself, and how it can be used to integrate other browser components.

Disentangling rodent behaviors to improve automated behavior recognition

Automated observation and analysis of behavior is important to facilitate progress in many fields of science. Recent developments in deep learning have enabled progress in object detection and tracking, but rodent behavior recognition struggles to exceed 75–80% accuracy for ethologically relevant behaviors. We investigate the main reasons why and distinguish three aspects of behavior dynamics that are difficult to automate. We isolate these aspects in an artificial dataset and reproduce effects with the state-of-the-art behavior recognition models. Having an endless amount of labeled training data with minimal input noise and representative dynamics will enable research to optimize behavior recognition architectures and get closer to human-like recognition performance for behaviors with challenging dynamics

Pollen Processing Behavior of Heliconius Butterflies: A Derived Grooming Behavior

Pollen feeding behaviors Heliconius and Laparus (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) represent a key innovation that has shaped other life history traits of these neotropical butterflies. Although all flower visiting Lepidoptera regularly come in contact with pollen, only Heliconius and Laparus butterflies actively collect pollen with the proboscis and subsequently take up nutrients from the pollen grains. This study focused on the behavior of pollen processing and compared the movement patterns with proboscis grooming behavior in various nymphalid butterflies using video analysis. The proboscis movements of pollen processing behavior consisted of a lengthy series of repeated coiling and uncoiling movements in a loosely coiled proboscis position combined with up and down movements and the release of saliva. The proboscis-grooming behavior was triggered by contamination of the proboscis in both pollen feeding and non-pollen feeding nymphalid butterflies. Proboscis grooming movements included interrupted series of coiling and uncoiling movements, characteristic sideways movements, proboscis lifting, and occasionally full extension of the proboscis. Discharge of saliva was more pronounced in pollen feeding species than in non-pollen feeding butterfly species. We conclude that the pollen processing behavior of Heliconius and Laparus is a modified proboscis grooming behavior that originally served to clean the proboscis after contamination with particles

CatWalk XT gait parameters: a review of reported parameters in pre-clinical studies of multiple central nervous system and peripheral nervous system disease models

Automated gait assessment tests are used in studies of disorders characterized by gait impairment. CatWalk XT is one of the first commercially available automated systems for analyzing the gait of rodents and is currently the most used system in peer-reviewed publications. This automated gait analysis system can generate a large number of gait parameters. However, this creates a new challenge in selecting relevant parameters that describe the changes within a particular disease model. Here, for the first time, we performed a multi-disorder review on published CatWalk XT data. We identify commonly reported CatWalk XT gait parameters derived from 91 peer-reviewed experimental studies in mice, covering six disorders of the central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral nervous system (PNS). The disorders modeled in mice were traumatic brain injury (TBI), stroke, sciatic nerve injury (SNI), spinal cord injury (SCI), Parkinson’s disease (PD), and ataxia. Our review consisted of parameter selection, clustering, categorization, statistical evaluation, and data visualization. It suggests that certain gait parameters serve as potential indicators of gait dysfunction across multiple disease models, while others are specific to particular models. The findings also suggest that the more site-specific the injury is, the fewer parameters are reported to characterize its gait abnormalities. This study strives to present a clearly organized picture of gait parameters used in each one of the different mouse models, potentially helping novel CatWalk XT users to apply this information to similar or related mouse models they are working on

Variation in grouping patterns, mating systems and social structure: what socio-ecological models attempt to explain

Socio-ecological models aim to predict the variation in social systems based on a limited number of ecological parameters. Since the 1960s, the original model has taken two paths: one relating to grouping patterns and mating systems and one relating to grouping patterns and female social structure. Here, we review the basic ideas specifically with regard to non-human primates, present new results and point to open questions. While most primates live in permanent groups and exhibit female defence polygyny, recent studies indicate more flexibility with cooperative male resource defence occurring repeatedly in all radiations. In contrast to other animals, the potential link between ecology and these mating systems remains, however, largely unexplored. The model of the ecology of female social structure has often been deemed successful, but has recently been criticized. We show that the predicted association of agonistic rates and despotism (directional consistency of relationships) was not supported in a comparative test. The overall variation in despotism is probably due to phylogenetic grade shifts. At the same time, it varies within clades more or less in the direction predicted by the model. This suggests that the model's utility may lie in predicting social variation within but not across clades

Evidence for an entropy bound from fundamentally discrete gravity

The various entropy bounds that exist in the literature suggest that spacetime is fundamentally discrete, and hint at an underlying relationship between geometry and "information". The foundation of this relationship is yet to be uncovered, but should manifest itself in a theory of quantum gravity. We present a measure for the maximal entropy of spherically symmetric spacelike regions within the causal set approach to quantum gravity. In terms of the proposal, a bound for the entropy contained in this region can be derived from a counting of potential "degrees of freedom" associated to the Cauchy horizon of its future domain of dependence. For different spherically symmetric spacelike regions in Minkowski spacetime of arbitrary dimension, we show that this proposal leads, in the continuum approximation, to Susskind's well-known spherical entropy bound.Comment: 25 pages, 9 figures. Comment on Bekenstein bound added and smaller corrections. To be published in Class.Quant.Gra