Communication and trust in the bounded confidence model

The communication process in a situation of emergency is discussed within the Scheff theory of shame and pride. The communication involves messages from media and from other persons. Three strategies are considered: selfish (to contact friends), collective (to join other people) and passive (to do nothing). We show that the pure selfish strategy cannot be evolutionarily stable. The main result is that the community structure is statistically meaningful only if the interpersonal communication is weak.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, RevTeX, for ICCCI-201

The Simmel effect and babies names

Simulations of the Simmel effect are performed for agents in a scale-free social network. The social hierarchy of an agent is determined by the degree of her node. Particular features, once selected by a highly connected agent, became common in lower class but soon fall out of fashion and extinct. Numerical results reflect the dynamics of frequency of American babies names in 1880-2011.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure

Line graphs as social networks

The line graphs are clustered and assortative. They share these topological features with some social networks. We argue that this similarity reveals the cliquey character of the social networks. In the model proposed here, a social network is the line graph of an initial network of families, communities, interest groups, school classes and small companies. These groups play the role of nodes, and individuals are represented by links between these nodes. The picture is supported by the data on the LiveJournal network of about 8 x 10^6 people. In particular, sharp maxima of the observed data of the degree dependence of the clustering coefficient C(k) are associated with cliques in the social network.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure

Influence of Heat Treatment on Defect Structures in Single-Crystalline Blade Roots Studied by X-ray Topography and Positron Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy

Single-crystalline superalloy CMSX-4 is studied in the as-cast state and after heat treatment, with material being taken from turbine blade castings. The effect of the heat treatment on the defect structure of the root area near the selector/root connection is emphasized. Multiscale analysis is performed to correlate results obtained by X-ray topography and positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS). Electron microscopy observations were also carried out to characterize the inhomogeneity in dendritic structure. The X-ray topography was used to compare defects of the misorientation nature, occurring in as-cast and treated states. The type and concentration of defects before and after heat treatment in different root areas were determined using the PALS method, which enables voids, mono-vacancies, and dislocations to be taken into account. In this way, differences in the concentration of defects caused by heat treatment are rationalized

Flavor changing Z-decays from scalar interactions at a Giga-Z Linear Collider

The flavor changing decay Z -> d_I \bar{d}_J is investigated with special emphasis on the b \bar{s} final state. Various models for flavor violation are considered: two Higgs doublet models (2HDM's), supersymmetry (SUSY) with flavor violation in the up and down-type squark mass matrices and SUSY with flavor violation mediated by R-parity-violating interaction. We find that, within the SUSY scenarios for flavor violation, the branching ratio for the decay Z -> b \bar{s} can reach 10^{-6} for large \tan\beta values, while the typical size for this branching ratio in the 2HDM's considered is about two orders of magnitudes smaller at best. Thus, flavor changing SUSY signatures in radiative Z decays such as Z -> b \bar{s} may be accessible to future ``Z factories'' such as a Giga-Z version of the TESLA design.Comment: 27 pages, 15 figures, REVTeX4. A new section added and a few minor corrections were made in the tex

Global analysis of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus exoproteins reveals molecules produced in vitro and during infection

Community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) is a threat to human health worldwide. Although progress has been made, mechanisms of CA-MRSA pathogenesis are poorly understood and a comprehensive analysis of CA-MRSA exoproteins has not been conducted. To address that deficiency, we used proteomics to identify exoproteins made by MW2 (USA400) and LAC (USA300) during growth in vitro. Two hundred and fifty unique exoproteins were identified by 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis coupled with automated direct infusion-tandem mass spectrometry (ADI-MS/MS) analysis. Eleven known virulence-related exoproteins differed in abundance between the strains, including alpha-haemolysin (Hla), collagen adhesin (Cna), staphylokinase (Sak), coagulase (Coa), lipase (Lip), enterotoxin C3 (Sec3), enterotoxin Q (Seq), V8 protease (SspA) and cysteine protease (SspB). Mice infected with MW2 or LAC produced antibodies specific for known or putative virulence factors, such as autolysin (Atl), Cna, Ear, ferritin (Ftn), Lip, 1-phosphatidylinositol phosphodiesterase (Plc), Sak, Sec3 and SspB, indicating the exoproteins are made during infection in vivo. We used confocal microscopy to demonstrate aureolysin (Aur), Hla, SspA and SspB are produced following phagocytosis by human neutrophils, thereby linking exoprotein production in vitro with that during host–pathogen interaction. We conclude that the exoproteins identified herein likely account in part for the success of CA-MRSA as a human pathogen

Towards a new image processing system at Wendelstein 7-X: From spatial calibration to characterization of thermal events

Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) is the most advanced fusion experiment in the stellarator line and is aimed at proving that the stellarator concept is suitable for a fusion reactor. One of the most important issues for fusion reactors is the monitoring of plasma facing components when exposed to very high heat loads, through the use of visible and infrared (IR) cameras. In this paper, a new image processing system for the analysis of the strike lines on the inboard limiters from the first W7-X experimental campaign is presented. This system builds a model of the IR cameras through the use of spatial calibration techniques, helping to characterize the strike lines by using the information given by real spatial coordinates of each pixel. The characterization of the strike lines is made in terms of position, size, and shape, after projecting the camera image in a 2D grid which tries to preserve the curvilinear surface distances between points. The description of the strike-line shape is made by means of the Fourier Descriptors

Forward modeling of collective Thomson scattering for Wendelstein 7-X plasmas: Electrostatic approximation

In this paper, we present a method for numerical computation of collective Thomson scattering (CTS). We developed a forward model, eCTS, in the electrostatic approximation and benchmarked it against a full electromagnetic model. Differences between the electrostatic and the electromagnetic models are discussed. The sensitivity of the results to the ion temperature and the plasma composition is demonstrated. We integrated the model into the Bayesian data analysis framework Minerva and used it for the analysis of noisy synthetic data sets produced by a full electromagnetic model. It is shown that eCTS can be used for the inference of the bulk ion temperature. The model has been used to infer the bulk ion temperature from the first CTS measurements on Wendelstein 7-X

A Metaheuristic Framework for Bi-level Programming Problems with Multi-disciplinary Applications

Bi-level programming problems arise in situations when the decision maker has to take into account the responses of the users to his decisions. Several problems arising in engineering and economics can be cast within the bi-level programming framework. The bi-level programming model is also known as a Stackleberg or leader-follower game in which the leader chooses his variables so as to optimise his objective function, taking into account the response of the follower(s) who separately optimise their own objectives, treating the leader’s decisions as exogenous. In this chapter, we present a unified framework fully consistent with the Stackleberg paradigm of bi-level programming that allows for the integration of meta-heuristic algorithms with traditional gradient based optimisation algorithms for the solution of bi-level programming problems. In particular we employ Differential Evolution as the main meta-heuristic in our proposal.We subsequently apply the proposed method (DEBLP) to a range of problems from many fields such as transportation systems management, parameter estimation and game theory. It is demonstrated that DEBLP is a robust and powerful search heuristic for this class of problems characterised by non smoothness and non convexity

Higgs Physics at the CLIC Electron-Positron Linear Collider

The Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) is an option for a future e+e- collider operating at centre-of-mass energies up to 3 TeV, providing sensitivity to a wide range of new physics phenomena and precision physics measurements at the energy frontier. This paper is the first comprehensive presentation of the Higgs physics reach of CLIC operating at three energy stages: sqrt(s) = 350 GeV, 1.4 TeV and 3 TeV. The initial stage of operation allows the study of Higgs boson production in Higgsstrahlung (e+e- -> ZH) and WW-fusion (e+e- -> Hnunu), resulting in precise measurements of the production cross sections, the Higgs total decay width Gamma_H, and model-independent determinations of the Higgs couplings. Operation at sqrt(s) > 1 TeV provides high-statistics samples of Higgs bosons produced through WW-fusion, enabling tight constraints on the Higgs boson couplings. Studies of the rarer processes e+e- -> ttH and e+e- -> HHnunu allow measurements of the top Yukawa coupling and the Higgs boson self-coupling. This paper presents detailed studies of the precision achievable with Higgs measurements at CLIC and describes the interpretation of these measurements in a global fit.The Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) is an option for a future ${\mathrm{e}^{+}}{\mathrm{e}^{-}}$ collider operating at centre-of-mass energies up to $3\,\text {TeV}$ , providing sensitivity to a wide range of new physics phenomena and precision physics measurements at the energy frontier. This paper is the first comprehensive presentation of the Higgs physics reach of CLIC operating at three energy stages: $\sqrt{s} = 350\,\text {GeV}$ , 1.4 and $3\,\text {TeV}$ . The initial stage of operation allows the study of Higgs boson production in Higgsstrahlung ( ${\mathrm{e}^{+}}{\mathrm{e}^{-}} \rightarrow {\mathrm{Z}} {\mathrm{H}}$ ) and ${\mathrm{W}} {\mathrm{W}}$ -fusion ( ${\mathrm{e}^{+}}{\mathrm{e}^{-}} \rightarrow {\mathrm{H}} {{\nu }}_{\!\mathrm{e}} {\bar{{\nu }}}_{\!\mathrm{e}}$ ), resulting in precise measurements of the production cross sections, the Higgs total decay width $\varGamma _{{\mathrm{H}}}$ , and model-independent determinations of the Higgs couplings. Operation at $\sqrt{s} > 1\,\text {TeV}$ provides high-statistics samples of Higgs bosons produced through ${\mathrm{W}} {\mathrm{W}}$ -fusion, enabling tight constraints on the Higgs boson couplings. Studies of the rarer processes ${\mathrm{e}^{+}}{\mathrm{e}^{-}} \rightarrow \mathrm{t} {\bar{\mathrm{t}}} {\mathrm{H}}$ and ${\mathrm{e}^{+}}{\mathrm{e}^{-}} \rightarrow {\mathrm{H}} {\mathrm{H}} {{\nu }}_{\!\mathrm{e}} {\bar{{\nu }}}_{\!\mathrm{e}}$ allow measurements of the top Yukawa coupling and the Higgs boson self-coupling. This paper presents detailed studies of the precision achievable with Higgs measurements at CLIC and describes the interpretation of these measurements in a global fit