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The following routine was published in the October, 1987 issue of The Linking Ring, the trade journal of the International Brotherhood of Magicians

The impact of periodicity on the zero-crossings of random functions

Continuous random processes are used to model a huge variety of real world phenomena. In particular, the zero-crossings of such processes find application in modelling processes of diffusion, meteorology, genetics, finance and applied probability. Understanding the zero-crossings behaviour improves prediction of phenomena initiated by a threshold crossing, as well as extremal problems where the turning points of the process are of interest. To identify the Probability Density Function (PDF) for the times between successive zero-crossings of a stochastic process is a challenging problem with a rich history. This thesis considers the effect of an oscillatory auto-correlation function on the zero-crossings of a Gaussian process. Examining statistical properties of the number of zeros in a fixed time period, it is found that increasing the rate of oscillations in the auto-correlation function results in more ‘deterministic’ realisations of the process. The random interval times between successive zeros become more regular, and the variance is reduced. Accurate calculation of the variance is achieved through analysing the correlation between intervals,which numerical simulations show can be anti-correlated or correlated, depending on the rate of oscillations in the auto-correlation function. The persistence exponent describes the tail of the inter-event PDF, which is steeper where zero-crossings occur more regularly. It exhibits a complex phenomenology, strongly influenced by the oscillatory nature of the auto-correlation function. The interplay between random and deterministic components of a system governs its complexity. In an ever-more complex world, the potential applications for this scale of ‘regularity’ in a random process are far reaching and powerful

Consumer perceptions of free-range laying hen welfare

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand which factors and resources free-range egg consumers believe are important for hen welfare. Design/methodology/approach – An online survey was distributed via the mailing list of a UK free-range egg brand receiving 6,378 responses. The survey was mostly five-point Likert-scale based. The same survey was also distributed to a group of animal welfare specialists receiving 34 responses. Findings – Respondents bought free-range eggs because hens are “happier” (74.2 per cent) and “healthier” (69.0 per cent) and because they believed such eggs to taste better (57.9 per cent). They rated all the suggested factors that might contribute to hen welfare as “important” or “very important” (on average) but believed outside access and fresh air to be most important. Respondents rated the suitability of resources relating to behavioural needs high (“suitable” or “very suitable”) indoors and shelter as the most suitable outdoors. Consumers differed from welfare specialists in their views on factors contributing to hen welfare, but their views on resource suitability were similar. Research limitations/implications – The sample was biased towards free-range egg consumers who had expressed an interest in a brand marketed as high welfare. Originality/value – This is the first study to ask consumers what they consider to be important for hen welfare and how they think hen welfare can be improved. Because consumers can affect on-farm welfare through their purchasing habits assessing the degree of agreement between consumers and animal welfare specialists is important.</p

Perspective on Employment Opportunities of People with Disabilities in San Gabriel, La Union

For PWDs, employment is not only a way to gain income; it also gives a chance to showcase untapped skills, provide opportunities and allow social inclusion. However, PWDs still experience common patterns of discrimination and suffer high unemployment rates. In spite of several promotions worldwide, the employment rate is considerably lower for PWDs than for people without disabilities. This study sought to know the status of inclusion of PWDs in employment in San Gabriel, La Union, the opportunities present, and the interventions to address them. The descriptive qualitative design was utilized in this study. A semi-structured interview was conducted with the PWDs. Thematization was used to analyze the responses. Results revealed that the respondents face difficulties in finding a job before the pandemic because of the limited number of jobs available and became even more challenging during the pandemic due to imposed restrictions. Although they find it difficult because of limitations, results showed that they are not discriminated against in the workplace. Moreover, the available employment opportunities for PWDs are classified under blue-collar jobs. Additionally, respondents recommend giving attention to PWDs in order to address the employment opportunities through interventions. The researchers concluded that the status of inclusion of PWDs in employment is considerably low because of the limited jobs available. Similarly, work opportunities are also insufficient. Interventions to address the employment opportunities include facilitating programs and skills training for PWDs and opening simple job positions in the municipality or barangays

STUDIES IN NONEQUILIBRIUM QUANTUM THERMODYNAMICS

The first part of this thesis focuses on verifying the quantum nonequilibrium work relation in the presence of decoherence. The nonequilibrium work relation is a generalization of the second law of thermodynamics that links nonequilibrium work measurements to equilibrium free energies via an equality. Despite being well established for classical systems, a quantum work relation is conceptually difficult to construct for systems that interact with their environment. We argue that for a quantum system which undergoes decoherence but not dissipation, these conceptual difficulties do not arise and the work relation can be proven similarly to the case of an isolated system. This result is accompanied by an experimental demonstration using trapped ions. The second part of this thesis examines the relationship between quantum work and coherence by constructing analogous quantities in classical physics. It has recently been shown that quantum coherence can function as a resource for work extraction. Furthermore, it has been suggested that this property could be a truly quantum aspect of thermodynamics with no classical analog. We examine this assertion within the framework of classical Hamiltonian mechanics and canonical quantization. For classical states we define a so called non-uniformity measure and show that it is a resource for work extraction similar to quantum coherence. Additionally, we show that work extracted from non-uniformity and coherence agree in the classical limit. This calls into question the idea that coherence qualitatively separates classical and quantum thermodynamics. The final part of this thesis explores the connection between decoherence and adiabatic (quasistatic) driving. This topic is inspired by an experiment where it was seen that strong dephasing suppressed energy level transitions. Using a perturbative method we investigate this mechanism in the regime of small to moderate decoherence rate and ask if decoherence can help suppress energy transitions when compared with an adiabatic process without decoherence. We find that strategies that include decoherence are inferior to those where decoherence is absent

The impact of periodicity on the zero-crossings of random functions

Continuous random processes are used to model a huge variety of real world phenomena. In particular, the zero-crossings of such processes find application in modelling processes of diffusion, meteorology, genetics, finance and applied probability. Understanding the zero-crossings behaviour improves prediction of phenomena initiated by a threshold crossing, as well as extremal problems where the turning points of the process are of interest. To identify the Probability Density Function (PDF) for the times between successive zero-crossings of a stochastic process is a challenging problem with a rich history. This thesis considers the effect of an oscillatory auto-correlation function on the zero-crossings of a Gaussian process. Examining statistical properties of the number of zeros in a fixed time period, it is found that increasing the rate of oscillations in the auto-correlation function results in more ‘deterministic’ realisations of the process. The random interval times between successive zeros become more regular, and the variance is reduced. Accurate calculation of the variance is achieved through analysing the correlation between intervals,which numerical simulations show can be anti-correlated or correlated, depending on the rate of oscillations in the auto-correlation function. The persistence exponent describes the tail of the inter-event PDF, which is steeper where zero-crossings occur more regularly. It exhibits a complex phenomenology, strongly influenced by the oscillatory nature of the auto-correlation function. The interplay between random and deterministic components of a system governs its complexity. In an ever-more complex world, the potential applications for this scale of ‘regularity’ in a random process are far reaching and powerful

Rate Coefficients for the Reactions of CO2+ With O: Lessons From MAVEN at Mars

In the lower ionosphere of Mars, the relative density distributions of the major ions CO2+, O2+, and O+ are largely determined by three reactions, including the two channels of the reaction of CO2+ with O, which yield either O2+ (R1) or O+ (R2), and the reaction of O+ with CO2, which yields solely O2+ (R3). There have been only two measurements of the rate coefficients for reactions (R1) and (R2) in the last 50 years, and they are very different (Fehsenfeld et al., 1970; Tenewitz et al., 2018). Although we have carried out a fairly thorough exploration of parameter space in our quest to fit the density profiles of the major ions and O atoms as measured by instruments on the MAVEN spacecraft, we report here only a small fraction of that exploration. In this investigation, we have used the atmosphere of Mars as a laboratory to distinguish between the two sets of rate coefficients. We find that the best fits to the O2+, CO2+, and O+ densities are for the three models in which the Fehsenfeld et al. rate coefficients are adopted, each of which has its advantages. We conclude that the favored O density profile is 1.5±0.5 times the measured profile, and that the rate coefficients measured 50 years ago are much better than those recently measured at explaining the density profiles of O2+, CO2+, and O+ in the Martian ionosphere as we know it