Gravitational Dynamics From Entanglement "Thermodynamics"

In a general conformal field theory, perturbations to the vacuum state obey the relation \delta S = \delta E, where \delta S is the change in entanglement entropy of an arbitrary ball-shaped region, and \delta E is the change in "hyperbolic" energy of this region. In this note, we show that for holographic conformal field theories, this relation, together with the holographic connection between entanglement entropies and areas of extremal surfaces and the standard connection between the field theory stress tensor and the boundary behavior of the metric, implies that geometry dual to the perturbed state satisfies Einstein's equations expanded to linear order about pure AdS.Comment: v2: references added, problematic section on Radon transform remove

Dos Hambres to Gran Cacao Archaeological Mapping

This map displays the spatial relationships and distribution of residential features throughout a portion of the Maya hinterlands near the site of Dos Hombres in Northwest Belize. Combining high resolution LiDAR data with detailed archaeology field data has allowed for accurate mapping of the features in this Mayan landscape. A unique aspect of this particular site is the presence of a causeway or “sacbe” which was used by the ancient Mayan people to distribute resources and move throughout their environment. The background terrain was created by manipulating the LiDAR data to generate a unique visualization that displays the human modified features throughout the terrain

Vestibular Migraine Following Radiosurgery for Vestibular Schwannoma

Vestibular schwannoma (VS) is associated with dizziness and vertigo during all stages of treatment. This report describes a patient who presented with a one-year history of intermittent motion sickness, dizziness, headache, imbalance, and nausea. MRI showed a right-side VS in the cerebellopontine angle and internal auditory canal. The patient elected to undergo Gamma Knife radiosurgery for treatment. Within two to three months, she continued to experience recurring dizziness, vertigo, neck stiffness, and head pressure. She was referred for neurotology evaluation, which led to a diagnosis of vestibular migraine (VM). Her vestibular reflexes were intact. Subsequently, she was treated with diet modification and low-dose venlafaxine. She reported dramatically improved dizziness and vertigo symptoms at six-month follow-up. VM is a very common cause of dizziness that should always be included in the differential diagnosis, even in VS patients

PonyGE2: Grammatical Evolution in Python

Grammatical Evolution (GE) is a population-based evolutionary algorithm, where a formal grammar is used in the genotype to phenotype mapping process. PonyGE2 is an open source implementation of GE in Python, developed at UCD's Natural Computing Research and Applications group. It is intended as an advertisement and a starting-point for those new to GE, a reference for students and researchers, a rapid-prototyping medium for our own experiments, and a Python workout. As well as providing the characteristic genotype to phenotype mapping of GE, a search algorithm engine is also provided. A number of sample problems and tutorials on how to use and adapt PonyGE2 have been developed.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, submitted to the 2017 GECCO Workshop on Evolutionary Computation Software Systems (EvoSoft

International Environmental Disputes and the Need for Court-Commissioned Independent Experts

In complex environmental disputes the International Court of Justice should utilize its investigatory powers to identify long-term environmental impacts before reaching legal conclusions. Pulp Mills on the River Uruguay highlights the ICJ’s current reluctance to utilize its investigatory powers—instead, the court relies on the parties’ contentious scientific submissions and fails to verify all potential environmental harms. In so doing, the court fails to conform to the international principle of sustainable development. This Comment identifies the Rules of Court and past cases that demonstrate that justices have the power to question expert witnesses and request independent investigation when evaluating questionable or incomplete scientific evidence. Additionally, this Comment argues that such ICJ-ordered independent investigations will bolster growing international support for the principle of sustainable developmen

Constitutionalizing an Enforceable Right to Food: A Tool for Combating Hunger

Although international treaties recognize a right to food, few nations have established a domestic, legally enforceable right to food. A justiciable national right to food can provide a basis for legal redress, national food policies, and state aid programs. India, South Africa, and Brazil pro-vide insight and lessons that can be applied to other nations, like Mexico, to identify effective means for creating a national right to food. This Note compares effective national right to food efforts and identifies essential elements underlying a justiciable national right to food. By evaluating the development of a right to food within in the international and national systems it is clear that the right to food is most effective when national constitutions provide justiciable means for legal redress and enforcement of that right

Landscapes and the machine : addressing wicked valuation problems when north, south, east and west meet

University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building.This thesis is about engaging with the dynamic relationship between “landscapes”, “land tenure”, and the “machine”. The first term can be so broad as to mean every process and thing encountered, the second means the way that land is held by a person or group of persons, and the third means things both put together and used by humans to fulfil their wants and needs from the landscape. As a professional valuer I have been traditionally trained to engage at arms-length with the normative behaviour of persons or groups at the intersection of these three concepts, wherein those people and groups were willing but not compelled to engage. Such traditional valuation approaches are increasingly recognised as being insufficient to address wicked valuation problems of the diverse peoples and groups that inhabit the globe from North, South, East to West. This thesis develops a means of engaging with these wicked valuation problems in a suitably knowledgeable and prudent way. To do so the thesis adopts an exploratory approach guided by Whitehead’s process philosophy injunction of a creative advance into novelty. This approach is enacted through a range of data collection and analysis methods. Autoethnography is used to draw on knowledge and experience from over the past 40 years in land valuation in Africa and the Asia-Pacific, whilst documentary analysis is used to draw in the views of other valuation practitioners and scholars who are becoming increasingly aware of the need to develop ways to adapt land valuation processes to the complexity of our contemporary landscapes. These two threads are woven together as I discuss my professional career in valuing real property rights, and the effects such rights have had on the peoples in countries that I have travelled through since first qualifying as a valuer. Drawing on lessons that emerge from this reflective journey, and through a series of workshops in different countries, I develop and pilot a tool I call “HVN↔HBA”, which is specifically designed to address wicked valuation problems through engagement with small groups, particularly, but not exclusively, value juries