Scaling Structures in Four-dimensional Simplicial Gravity

Four-dimensional(4D) spacetime structures are investigated using the concept of the geodesic distance in the simplicial quantum gravity. On the analogy of the loop length distribution in 2D case, the scaling relations of the boundary volume distribution in 4D are discussed in various coupling regions i.e. strong-coupling phase, critical point and weak-coupling phase. In each phase the different scaling relations are found.Comment: 4 pages, latex, 4 ps figures, uses espcrc2.sty. Talk presented at LATTICE96(gravity). All figures and its captions have been improve

Crisis signaling: how Italy's coronavirus lockdown affected incumbent support in other European countries

The COVID-19 pandemic is an unparalleled global crisis. Yet, despite the grave adversity faced by citizens, incumbents around the world experienced a boost in popularity during the onset of the outbreak. In this study, we examine how the response to the COVID-19 outbreak in one country affected incumbent support in other countries. Specifically, we leverage the fact that the first country-wide lockdown on European soil, in Italy on 9 March 2020, happened during the fieldwork of surveys conducted in four other European countries, France, Germany, Poland and Spain. This allows us to examine how an event abroad that alerted citizens to an imminent crisis-prior to a similar domestic government response-influenced incumbent support. Our results indicate a crisis signal effect of Italy's COVID-19 lockdown, as support for the incumbent increased domestically in other European countries after the lockdown. Importantly, these findings suggest that incumbents can benefit from a crisis unfolding in other countries, even when their own performance in response to the same crisis is not yet fully clear. They illustrate the importance of developments abroad for incumbent approval and the difficulty facing citizens seeking to disentangle performance signals from exogenous shocks

Wetenschapswinkel Wageningen UR : 25 jaar! : jubileummagazine 25 jaar Wetenschapswinkel Wageningen University & Research Centre

Dertig jaar geleden hielden studenten vier weken lang het hoofdgebouw van de Landbouwhogeschool bezet. Ze wilden niet alleen onderzoek doen voor bedrijven. En niet alleen onderzoek om het onderzoek. Ze wilden probleemgericht onderwijs en onderzoek. De universiteit moest er ook zijn voor die groepen in de samenleving die geen toegang hadden tot de zegeningen van het wetenschappelijk onderzoek. Een groepje studenten en medewerkers van de hogeschool stak tijdens die bezetting de koppen bij elkaar om de voorloper van de Wetenschapswinkel in Wageningen op te richten. De Wetenschapswinkel wilde geen rapportjes opleveren die onderin de la zouden verdwijnen. We besteedden daarom veel tijd aan het vertalen van de vraag waar de ‘klant’ mee binnenkwam naar een onderzoeksvraag die de vragensteller werkelijk verder zou brengen. Nu 25 jaar later. Kennis is voor iedereen, via internet, vrij beschikbaar

Preclinical validation of the advection diffusion flow estimation method using computational patient specific coronary tree phantoms

Coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) does not allow the quantification of reduced blood flow due to coronary artery disease (CAD). In response, numerical methods based on the CCTA image have been developed to compute coronary blood flow and assess the impact of disease. However to compute blood flow in the coronary arteries, numerical methods require specification of boundary conditions that are difficult to estimate accurately in a patient-specific manner. We describe herein a new noninvasive flow estimation method, called Advection Diffusion Flow Estimation (ADFE), to compute coronary artery flow from CCTA to use as boundary conditions for numerical models of coronary blood flow. ADFE uses image contrast variation along the tree-like structure to estimate flow in each vessel. For validating this method we used patient specific software phantoms on which the transport of contrast was simulated. This controlled validation setting enables a direct comparison between estimated flow and actual flow and a detailed investigation of factors affecting accuracy. A total of 10 CCTA image data sets were processed to extract all necessary information for simulating contrast transport. A spectral element method solver was used for computing the ground truth simulations with high accuracy. On this data set, the ADFE method showed a high correlation coefficient of 0.998 between estimated flow and the ground truth flow together with an average relative error of only 1 % . Comparing the ADFE method with the best method currently available (TAFE) for image-based blood flow estimation, which showed a correlation coefficient of 0.752 and average error of 20 % , it can be concluded that the ADFE method has the potential to significantly improve the quantification of coronary artery blood flow derived from contrast gradients in CCTA images. </p

Testing a Prototype Adsorption Cooler in a Research Dwelling

Cooling with heat is hot. Demand for cooling often coincides with the supply of solar heat. This makes thermally driven chillers (TDC's) in combination with solar collectors interesting for improving the energy efficiency of comfort cooling. Several TDC's are already available on the market. Only small scale (comfort) TDC's for applications in dwellings are not commercially available yet. This is why the Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) developed a prototype adsorption chiller, based on silica gel water, with a nominal cooling capacity of 2.5 kW. This paper will explain the working principle of the water-silica adsorption chiller, and will summarize executed measurements and their results. These results show that the choice of water and silica is successful and that the technology is ready to be commercialised

Довідкові регіональні видання з геральдики

Одним з джерел інформації про наявність історичних гербів міст України та новотворів 60-х–80-х рр. ХХ ст. виступає «Алфавитный каталог городов, поселков, сел, губерний и областей России, СНГ, бывших союзных республик СССР, имеющих старые и современные гербы». Автор рецензії проаналізував принципи укладання подібних джерел інформації, зробив свої зауваження та висловив побажання щодо їх вдосконалення.«Alphabetical catalogue of towns, settlements, villages, provinces and regions of Russia, Commonwealth of Independent States, former Soviet Republics of the USSR, which have old and present-day coat of arms» is one of the sources that gives information about historical coat of arms and newly formed emblems of Ukraine during 60th – 80th of XX century. The author of the review analysed the structure of similar sources and made her remarks and suggestion regarding to its improvement