Extrapolated High-Order Propagators for Path Integral Monte Carlo Simulations

We present a new class of high-order imaginary time propagators for path-integral Monte Carlo simulations by subtracting lower order propagators. By requiring all terms of the extrapolated propagator be sampled uniformly, the subtraction only affects the potential part of the path integral. The negligible violation of positivity of the resulting path integral at small time steps has no discernable affect on the accuracy of our method. Thus in principle arbitrarily high order algorithms can be devised for path-integral Monte Carlo simulations. We verify this claim is by showing that fourth, sixth, and eighth order convergence can indeed be achieved in solving for the ground state of strongly interacting quantum many-body systems such as bulk liquid $^4$He.Comment: 9 pages and 3 figures. Submitted to J. Chem. Phy

Panama "Barro Blancho" case report

The case study report presents the results of the Barro Blanco case study by combining and elaborating on information and data collected during a pre-study report and data and insights gathered during field research. It analyzes the case study according to international human rights standards and applicable institutional safeguards. It also investigates to which extent public owners/shareholders of development banks can be heal responsible for the implementation of climate projects

Early Life Relict Feature in Peptide Mass Distribution

Molecular mass of a biomolecule is characterized in mass spectroscopy by the monoisitopic mass M~mono~ and the average isotopic mass M~av~. We found that peptide masses mapped on a plane made by two parameters derived from M~mono~ and M~av~ form a peculiar global feature in form of a band-gap 5-7 ppm wide stretching across the whole peptide galaxy, with a narrow (FWHM 0.2 ppm) line in the centre. The a priori probability of such a feature to emerge by chance is less than 1:100. Peptides contributing to the central line have elemental compositions following the rules S=0; Z = (2C - N - H)/2 =0, which nine out of 20 amino acid residues satisfy. The relative abundances of amino acids in the peptides contributing to the central line correlate with the consensus order of emergence of these amino acids, with ancient amino acids being overrepresented in on-line peptides. Thus the central line is a relic of ancient life, and likely a signature of its emergence in abiotic synthesis. The linear correlation between M~av~ and M~mono~ reduces the complexity of polypeptide molecules, which may have increased the rate of their abiotic production. This, in turn may have influenced the selection of these amino acid residues for terrestrial life. Assuming the line feature is not spurious, life has emerged from elements with isotopic abundances very close to terrestrial levels, which rules out most of the Galaxy

Crossing the streams: HRM in multinational enterprises and comparative HRM

This paper examines the differences between the stream of international HRM that focuses on comparative HRM and the one that focuses on HRM in multinational enterprises (MNEs). More specifically, we review how the aspects of time, process and context have been treated within the two streams and argue that the streams have largely developed in isolation as opposed to informing one another. Drawing on this analysis we propose a research agenda that illustrates how the crossing of these streams can advance theory and empirical research in both HRM in MNEs and comparative HRM, to the benefit of both.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

High‐commitment HRM practices during the financial crisis in Portugal: Employees' and HR perspectives

Over the recent decades, organizations have had to face a number of major external shocks and crises. Acquiring a better understanding of how human resources are managed under such critical conditions constitutes the main purpose of this study. We conducted a study triangulating different sources (employees, HR managers, and secondary data) and types of data (quantitative and qualitative) to explore how employees in Portuguese organizations perceived the HR practices' implementation during the years of the financial crisis (2011–2014) and how HR managers explained it. Longitudinal evidence from 53 organizations attests to perceived decreasing trends, particularly in training and development and performance management. HR managers legitimize these trends, embracing conventions and revealing the impact of coercive and normative pressures. Our findings highlight the need for renewed attention to be paid to the contextual pressures on HR managers' decision-making and actions that could severely endanger their role as strategic partners and their embrace of sustainable HRM.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Evolutionary Trends in the Physciaceae

The current delimitation of the family Physciaceae has been generally accepted since detailed descriptions of ascus characters allowed for a more natural circumscription of lichenized ascomycetes. The generic relations within the family are, however, still controversial and depend on the importance different authors attribute to specific morphological or chemical characteristics. The aim of this paper is to describe ascospore ontogeny and to test the present taxonomic structure of the family against a parsimony-based cladistic analysis, which includes three different scenarios of a priori character weighting. A study of ascospore ontogeny revealed two distinct developmental lines. One line revealed a delayed septum formation, which clearly showed transitions from spores with apical and median thickenings to spores without apical, but still well developed median thickenings, and to spores without any thickenings. In the second developmental line with an early septum formation again taxa with no thickenings, median thickenings, and both median and apical thickenings were found. Although these characters were constant at a species level, median wall thickenings especially varied among otherwise closely related taxa. In the cladistic analyses the current taxonomic structure of the Physciaceae was only obtained after the five character groups, namely morphology and anatomy of the vegetative thallus, conidiomata and conidia, morphology and anatomy of the apothecia, ontogeny of the ascospores, and secondary metabolites of the thallus, were given equal importance, and after a subjective a priori weighting further increased the weight of the three characters ‘conidial shape', ‘presence of apical thickenings', and ‘spore septation delayed'. This structure was not supported by a cladistic analysis with equally weighted characters but reflected the biased character weighting of the present day Physdaceae taxonomy. The taxonomic importance of conidial characters and of anatomical and ontogenetical spore characteristics need, therefore, a careful reconsideration in futur

Causal learning from interventions and dynamics in continuous time

Event timing and interventions are important and intertwinedcues to causal structure, yet they have typically been studiedseparately. We bring them together for the first time in an ex-periment where participants learn causal structure by perform-ing interventions in continuous time. We contrast learning inacyclic and cyclic devices, with reliable and unreliable cause–effect delays. We show that successful learners use interven-tions to structure and simplify their interactions with the de-vices and that we can capture judgment patterns with heuristicsbased on online construction and testing of a single structura

Novel Approaches towards Highly Selective Self-Powered Gas Sensors

The prevailing design approaches of semiconductor gas sensors struggle to overcome most of their current limitations such as poor selectivity, and high power consumption. Herein, a new sensing concept based on devices that are capable of detecting gases without the need of any external power sources required to activate interaction of gases with sensor or to generate the sensor read out signal. Based on the integration of complementary functionalities (namely; powering and sensing) in a singular nanostructure, self-sustained gas sensors will be demonstrated. Moreover, a rational methodology to design organic surface functionalization that provide high selectivity towards single gas species will also be discussed. Specifically, theoretical results, confirmed experimentally, indicate that precisely tuning of the sterical and electronic structure of sensor material/organic interfaces can lead to unprecedented selectivity values, comparable to those typical of bioselective processes. Finally, an integrated gas sensor that combine both the self-powering and selective detection strategies in one single device will also be presented. © 2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

A synthesis: what works to deliver optimal health outcomes for uk care home residents

The detailed reviews, interviews and subsequent longitudinal case studies structured around a unifying realist analytical framework allowed us to establish a theory of commissioning for health care provision to care homes which proposes health services will work better when: staff are explicitly tasked to work with care homes at an institutional level as well as individual residents; healthcare and care home staff are empowered to co-design their working models; where explicit expertise in dementia care is available; the role of GP as a medical care provider is supported by access to a wider array of services; and they incorporate care management. There was no evidence from our study that a short term focus on avoiding admissions to acute hospitals from care homes added any value to service specification or care delivery

New species and new records of buellioid lichens (Physciaceae, Ascomycota) from New Zealand

Amandinea rangitatensis Elix & H.Mayrhofer, Buellia haywardii Elix, A.Knight & H.Mayrhofer, B. maungatuensis Elix & H.Mayrhofer, B. papanui Elix & H.Mayrhofer, and Tetramelas allisoniae Elix, H.Mayrhofer & Glenny are described as new to science. Rinodinella fertilis var. hypostictica (Elix) Elix is recorded for the first time from New Zealand. Tetramelas allisoniae also occurs in Tasmania