The Information Metric on the moduli space of instantons with global symmetries

In this note we revisit Hitchin's prescription \cite{Hitchin} of the Fisher metric as a natural measure on the moduli space of instantons that encodes the space-time symmetries of a classical field theory. Motivated by the idea of the moduli space of supersymmetric instantons as an emergent space in the sense of the gauge/gravity duality, we extend the prescription to encode also global symmetries of the underlying theory. We exemplify our construction with the instanton solution of the $\mathbb{CP}^{N}$ sigma model on $\mathbb{R}^{2}$.Comment: 5 pages, no figures, sorr

On a discrete version of Tanaka's theorem for maximal functions

In this paper we prove a discrete version of Tanaka's Theorem \cite{Ta} for the Hardy-Littlewood maximal operator in dimension $n=1$, both in the non-centered and centered cases. For the discrete non-centered maximal operator $\widetilde{M}$ we prove that, given a function $f: \mathbb{Z} \to \mathbb{R}$ of bounded variation, $$\textrm{Var}(\widetilde{M} f) \leq \textrm{Var}(f),$$ where $\textrm{Var}(f)$ represents the total variation of $f$. For the discrete centered maximal operator $M$ we prove that, given a function $f: \mathbb{Z} \to \mathbb{R}$ such that $f \in \ell^1(\mathbb{Z})$, $$\textrm{Var}(Mf) \leq C \|f\|_{\ell^1(\mathbb{Z})}.$$ This provides a positive solution to a question of Haj{\l}asz and Onninen \cite{HO} in the discrete one-dimensional case.Comment: V4 - Proof of Lemma 3 update

Upwards Tropospheric Influence on Tropical Stratospheric Upwelling

The response of the stratosphere to a steady geopotential forcing is considered in two separate theoretical models. Solutions to the linearized quasi-geostrophic potential vorticity equations are first used to show that the vertical length scale of a tropopause geopotential anomaly is initially shallow, but significantly increased by diabatic heating from radiative relaxation. This process is deemed as geostrophic adjustment of the stratosphere to tropospheric forcing. Idealized, time-dependent calculations show that tropopause geopotential anomalies can appreciably rise in the stratosphere on time scales of a couple months. A previously developed, coupled troposphere-stratosphere model is introduced and modified to further understand how tropospheric geopotential forcing can induce upwelling in the stratosphere. Solutions to steady, zonally-symmetric sea-surface-temperature forcings in the linear $\beta$-plane model show that the upwards stratospheric penetration of the thermally induced tropopause geopotential anomaly is controlled by a non-dimensional parameter that depends on the ratio between the time scale of wave-drag to that of radiation. It is also shown that the horizontal scale of the tropopause geopotential anomaly modulates the vertical scale of the anomaly. When Earth-like non-dimensional parameters are used, the theoretical model predicts stratospheric temperature anomalies around two times larger in magnitude than those in the boundary layer, approximately in line with observational data. The results are argued to show that wave-drag alone may not suffice to explain certain observed features of the lower stratosphere, foremost of which is the anti-correlation between sea-surface temperature and lower stratospheric temperature

Stratospheric Modulation of the MJO through Cirrus Cloud Feedbacks

Recent observations have indicated significant modulation of the Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO) by the phase of the stratospheric Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO) during boreal winter. Composites of the MJO show that upper tropospheric ice cloud fraction and water vapor anomalies are generally collocated, and that an eastward tilt with height in cloud fraction exists. Through radiative transfer calculations, it is shown that ice clouds have a stronger tropospheric radiative forcing than do water vapor anomalies, highlighting the importance of incorporating upper tropospheric/lower stratospheric processes into simple models of the MJO. The coupled troposphere-stratosphere linear model previously developed by the authors is extended by including a mean wind in the stratosphere and a prognostic equation for cirrus clouds, which are forced dynamically and allowed to modulate tropospheric radiative cooling, similar to the effect of tropospheric water vapor in previous formulations. Under these modifications, the model still produces a slow, eastward propagating mode that resembles the MJO. The sign of zonal mean wind in the stratosphere is shown to control both the upward wave propagation and tropospheric vertical structure of the mode. Under varying stratospheric wind and interactive cirrus cloud radiation, the MJO-like mode has weaker growth rates under stratospheric westerlies than easterlies, consistent with the observed MJO-QBO relationship. These results are directly attributable to an enhanced barotropic mode under QBO easterlies. It is also shown that differential zonal advection of cirrus clouds leads to weaker growth rates under stratospheric westerlies than easterlies. Implications and limitations of the linear theory are discussed

Regresión cuantil para predicción de caracteres complejos en bovinos Suizo Europeo usando marcadores SNP y pedigrí

Genomic prediction models generally assume that errors are distributed as normal, independent, and identically distributed random variables with zero mean and equal variance. This is not always true, in addition there may be phenotypes distant from the population mean, which are usually removed when making the prediction. Quantile regression (QR) deals with statistical aspects such as high dimensionality, multicollinearity and phenotypic distribution different from the normal one. The objective of this work was to compare QR using marker and pedigree information with alternative methods such as genomic best linear unbiased prediction (GBLUP) and single-step genomic best linear unbiased prediction (ssGBLUP) to analyze the birth (BW), weaning (WW) and yearling (YW) weights of Braunvieh cattle and simulated data with different degrees of asymmetry and proportion of outliers. The predictive capacity of the models was assessed by cross-validation. The predictive performance of QR both with marker information alone and with information of markers plus pedigree, with the actual dataset, was better than the GBLUP and ssGBLUP methodologies for WW and YW. For BW, GBLUP and ssGBLUP were better, however, only quantiles 0.25, 0.50 and 0.75 were used, and the BW distribution was not asymmetric. In the simulated data experiment, correlations between “true” marker effects and estimated effects, as well as “true” and estimated signal correlations were higher when QR was used compared to GBLUP. The advantages of QR were more noticeable with asymmetric distribution of phenotypes and with a higher proportion of outliers, as was the case with the simulated dataset.Los modelos de predicción genómica generalmente suponen que los errores se distribuyen como variables aleatorias normales, independientes e idénticamente distribuidas con media cero e igual varianza. Esto no siempre se cumple, además puede haber fenotipos distantes de la media poblacional, los que usualmente se eliminan al realizar la predicción. La regresión cuantil (QR) afronta aspectos estadísticos como alta dimensionalidad, multicolinealidad y distribución fenotípica diferente de la normal. El objetivo de este trabajo fue comparar QR utilizando información de marcadores y pedigrí con los métodos alternativos tales como mejor predicción lineal insesgada genómica (GBLUP) y mejor predicción lineal insesgada genómica en un solo paso (ssGBLUP) para analizar los pesos al nacimiento (PN), destete (PD) y al año (PA) de bovinos Suizo Europeo y datos simulados con diferente grado de asimetría y proporción de datos atípicos. La capacidad predictiva de los modelos se evaluó mediante validación cruzada. El desempeño predictivo de QR tanto sólo con información de marcadores como con marcadores más pedigrí, con el conjunto de datos reales, fue mejor que las metodologías GBLUP y ssGBLUP para PD y PA. Para PN GBLUP y ssGBLUP fueron mejores, sin embargo, solo se utilizaron los cuantiles 0.25, 0.50 y 0.75, y la distribución de PN no fue asimétrica. En el experimento de datos simulados, las correlaciones entre efectos de marcador “verdadero” y efectos estimados, así como las correlaciones de señales “verdaderas” y estimadas fueron más altas cuando se usó QR comparado con GBLUP. Las ventajas de QR fueron más notorias con distribución asimétrica de los fenotipos y con mayor proporción de datos atípicos, como fue el caso del conjunto de datos simulados

Assessing sedimentary records of paleohurricane activity using modeled hurricane climatology

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2008. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems 9 (2008): Q09V10, doi:10.1029/2008GC002043.Patterns of overwash deposition observed within back-barrier sediment archives can indicate past changes in tropical cyclone activity; however, it is necessary to evaluate the significance of observed trends in the context of the full range of variability under modern climate conditions. Here we present a method for assessing the statistical significance of patterns observed within a sedimentary hurricane-overwash reconstruction. To alleviate restrictions associated with the limited number of historical hurricanes affecting a specific site, we apply a recently published technique for generating a large number of synthetic storms using a coupled ocean-atmosphere hurricane model set to simulate modern climatology. Thousands of overwash records are generated for a site using a random draw of these synthetic hurricanes, a prescribed threshold for overwash, and a specified temporal resolution based on sedimentation rates observed at a particular site. As a test case we apply this Monte Carlo technique to a hurricane-induced overwash reconstruction developed from Laguna Playa Grande (LPG), a coastal lagoon located on the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico in the northeastern Caribbean. Apparent overwash rates in the LPG overwash record are observed to be four times lower between 2500 and 1000 years B.P. when compared to apparent overwash rates during the last 300 years. However, probability distributions based on Monte Carlo simulations indicate that as much as 65% of this drop can be explained by a reduction in the temporal resolution for older sediments due to a decrease in sedimentation rates. Periods of no apparent overwash activity at LPG between 2500 and 3600 years B.P. and 500–1000 years B.P. are exceptionally long and are unlikely to occur (above 99% confidence) under the current climate conditions. In addition, breaks in activity are difficult to produce even when the hurricane model is forced to a constant El Niño state. Results from this study continue to support the interpretation that the western North Atlantic has exhibited significant changes in hurricane climatology over the last 5500 years.Funding for this research was provided by the Earth Systems History Program of the National Science Foundation, Risk Prediction Initiative, National Geographic Society, Coastal Ocean Institute at WHOI, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Endowed Fund for Innovative Research

Spatial Cognitive Implications of Teleporting Through Virtual Environments

Teleporting is a popular interface to allow virtual reality users to explore environments that are larger than the available walking space. When teleporting, the user positions a marker in the virtual environment and is instantly transported without any self-motion cues. Five experiments were designed to evaluate the spatial cognitive consequences of teleporting and to identify environmental cues that could mitigate those costs. Participants performed a triangle completion task by traversing 2 outbound path legs before pointing to the unmarked path origin. Locomotion was accomplished via walking or 2 common implementations of the teleporting interface distinguished by the concordance between movement of the body and movement through the virtual environment. In the partially concordant teleporting interface, participants teleported to translate (change position) but turned the body to rotate. In the discordant teleporting interface, participants teleported to translate and rotate. Across all 5 experiments, discordant teleporting produced larger errors than partially concordant teleporting which produced larger errors than walking, reflecting the importance of translational and rotational self-motion cues. Furthermore, geometric boundaries (room walls or a fence) were necessary to mitigate the spatial cognitive costs associated with teleporting, and landmarks were helpful only in the context of a geometric boundary

Evaluación del grado de aceptación de un producto integrador en las UA de Física por el estudiante de la FIME

La física como ciencia básica es parte fundamental del desarrollo de los estudiantes de ingeniería que permiten potencializar o incrementar las habilidades de los mismos, en el contexto de la resolución de problemas actuales. El desarrollo y creación de prototipos como proyecto integrador contribuye a la implementación de conocimientos adquiridos en la asignatura de tal modo que, mediante esta actividad, se atrae la atención de los estudiantes hacia la investigación y resolución de problemas de campo abierto. Además, coadyuvar al desarrollo académico del alumnado, que le permiten adquirir habilidades de trabajo en equipo inter y multidisciplinario, siendo esto la base para la creación de un proyecto final que impacta de manera directa en la ponderación de las asignaturas

Optimización del capital humano en una institución de educación superior a través de un sistema de calidad

Las instituciones de educación superior deben mostrar, educar y mantener un eje rector basado en la administración, en la que se apoye para el crecimiento y fortalecimiento de su capital humano. Existen autores que reflejan el procedimiento de la contratación de empleados, sin embargo, es necesario llevar un riguroso control para tener un plantel competente y de calidad. En esta investigación se toma en cuenta una metodología de ingreso de nuevos empleados, así como los requerimientos de una dependencia de educación superior, creando una plataforma que sirva de base para las futuras contrataciones, programas de capacitación, o toma de decisiones únicos del departamento de capital humano