Discrete Scale Relativity

The possibility that global discrete dilation invariance is a fundamental symmetry principle of nature is explored. If the discrete self-similarity observed in nature is exact, then the Principle of General Covariance needs to be broadened in order to accommodate this form of discrete conformal invariance, and a further generalization of relativity theory is required.Comment: 9 pages, minor revisions, accepted at Astrophys. Space Sci., comments welcom

Some Issues in Modelling the Impact of Changes in Transport Costs on Residential and Employment Locations.

This paper is written as part of a project on the effects of increases in rail fares on location and commuting decisions in London and South East England. The main theme of the paper is the relationship between accessibility and locational choice. The various factors determining the choice of residence, and to a lesser extent, job, are discussed, in particular, the importance of accessibility in the process. A wide variety of urban locational models are then discussed, in particular frm the point of view of how accessibility is taken into account. The models described are urban economic, spatial. interaction, regression, disaggregate and demographic. A model of the relationships between land use and transport that has already been applied elsewhere is then examined in terms of its suitability for analysis of the processes being studied in this project. A variety of possible extensions to the model are then put forward including the treatment of interaction with the rest of the country, the relationship between transport costs and the overall level of activity in the study area, the use of the different transport costs for different purposes, and an accounting framework including population, households and employment. The implication of these ideas for the survey are then discussed. The conclusion of this work is that the problem should be divided into a set of topics, with a variety of different analytical techniques being used, rather than a single comprehensive model of all the relevant decision processes involved in the impact of rail fares on location and commuting in London and South East England

The biographical construction of Robert Fergusson, 1774-1900

This article traces the biographical construction of Robert Fergusson from his death to the nineteenth-century biography by A.B. Grosart. It explores the influence of Romanticism, the Burns cult and the literature of sensibility on the construction of Fergusson's life, and explores some fictional representations of the poet

Modelling the Impact of Transport Planning Policy Upon Land Use

In this paper the results from the validation of an integrated land use and transport model are described. The goodness-of-fit for the forecasts are considered not only for the time horizon, but also in terms of the change over time, which is a much more sensitive test. The sensitivity of the land use and transport forecasts to changes in the monetary cost of travel are examined to see to what extent the location of housing, population, employment and jobs, and the journey to work respond to such changes. The spatial effects of these changes are demonstrated by finding the land use distribution for three concentric rings. The influence of land use changes upon time and money expenditure are examined by using the relevant elements of the generalised cost functions with the trip matrices computed under three different assumptions when the monetary cost of travel is varied: keeping modal split and land use constant, keeping only land use constant, and allowing both to respond. The paper is concluded with discussion of further model improvements and applications of the model

The Influence of Surface Detail on Object Identification in Alzheimer's Patients and Healthy Participants

Image format (Laws, Adlington, Gale, Moreno-Martínez, & Sartori, 2007), ceiling effects in controls (Fung et al., 2001; Laws et al., 2005; Moreno-Martínez, & Laws, 2007; 2008), and nuisance variables (Funnell & De Mornay Davis, 1996; Funnell & Sheridan, 1992; Stewart, Parkin & Hunkin, 1992) all influence the emergence of category specific deficits in Alzheimer‟s dementia (AD). Thus, the predominant use of line drawings of familiar, everyday items in category specific research is problematic. Moreover, this does not allow researchers to explore the extent to which format may influence object recognition. As such, the initial concern of this thesis was the development of a new corpus of 147 colour images of graded naming difficulty, the Hatfield Image Test (HIT; Adlington, Laws, & Gale, 2009), and the collection of relevant normative data including ratings of: age of acquisition, colour diagnosticity, familiarity, name agreement, visual complexity, and word frequency. Furthermore, greyscale and line-drawn versions of the HIT corpus were developed (and again, the associated normative data obtained), to permit research into the influence of image format on the emergence of category specific effects in patients with AD, and in healthy controls. Using the HIT, several studies were conducted including: (i) a normative investigation of the effects of category and image format on naming accuracy and latencies in healthy controls; (ii) an exploration of the effects of image format (using the HIT images presented in colour, greyscale, and line-drawn formats) and category on the naming performance of AD patients, and age-matched controls performing below ceiling; (iii) a longitudinal investigation comparing AD patient performance to that of age-matched controls, on a range of semantic tasks (naming, sorting, word-picture matching), using colour, greyscale, and line-drawn versions of the HIT; (iv) a comparison of naming in AD patients and age-matched controls on the HIT and the (colour, greyscale and line-drawn) images from the Snodgrass and Vanderwart (1980) corpus; and (v) a meta-analysis to explore category specific naming in AD using the Snodgrass and Vanderwart (1980) versus other corpora. Taken together, the results of these investigations showed first, that image format interacts with category. For both AD patients and controls, colour is more important for the recognition of living things, with a significant nonliving advantage emerging for the line-drawn images, but not the colour images. Controls benefitted more from additional surface information than AD patients, which chapter 6 shows results from low-level visual cortical impairment in AD. For controls, format was also more important for the recognition of low familiarity, low frequency items. In addition, the findings show that adequate control data affects the emergence of category specific deficits in AD. Specifically, based on within-group comparison chapters 6, 7, and 8 revealed a significant living deficit in AD patients. However, when compared to controls performing below ceiling, as demonstrated in chapters 7 and 8, this deficit was only significant for the line drawings, showing that the performance observed in AD patients is simply an exaggeration of the norm

Studies on Hong Kong hepatics : 2., notes on some newly recorded liverworts from Hong Kong

Based on field work and herbarium studies, 44 species belonging to 21 genera and 11 families of hepatics are newly reported for Hong Kong. A first checklist of liverworts and hornworts in Hong Kong is also included

A theoretical and experimental investigation into multilayered piezoelectric composite transducers

The behaviour of a number of 3-1 connectivity piezoelectric composite plate transducers is presented. The fundamental thickness mode resonance of such devices is found to be contaminated by lateral resonant activity; this is evidenced in the measured and predicted electrical impedance profile and the surface displacement data at the,fundamental thickness mode. Measurements taken on the 3-1 devices infer that they are not acting as true composites. In addition to this the finite element technique is applied to a number of stacked 3-1 and 1-3 connectivity devices to predict the mechanical Q-factor, and hence bandwidth, as a function of polymer filler properties

Circular 21

Developed from the hybrid Diamond x Khogot by the Alaska Agricultural Experiment Station, Gasser wheat was released to seed producers in 1955. This variety exhibits an excellent combination of high yield and agronomic desirability m Alaska. It is superior to the standard variety Khogot in lodging resistance, shattering resistance, and grain quality. Gasser wheat is not satisfactory for commercial milling and baking. Its chief value in Alaska will be as a feed for poultry and livestock. Gasser is recommended for production in the Matanuska and Tanana Valleys when a wheat crop is desired. Later maturing than other cereals, Gasser must be planted early to insure maturity during the short growing season. Cultural recommendations are the same as for other cereals.In cooperation with the United States Department of Agricultur

Studies on Hong Kong Cheilolejeunea with two species new to China

Five species of the genus Cheilolejeunea are reported from Hong Kong. Among them, Cheilolejeunea osumiensis (Hatt.) Mizut. and Cheilolejeunea ryukyuensis Mizut. are new to China. Cheilolejeunea intertexta (Lindenb.) Steph. is newly reported for China except Taiwan, and Cheilolejeunea trifaria (Reinw. et al.) Mizut. is documented for the first time for mainland China except Hainan and Taiwan. The detailed description and illustration of Cheilolejeunea osumiensis as well as the key to the five Cheilolejeunea species of Hong Kong are also presented

Dynamical Kohn Anomaly in Surface Acoustic Wave Response in Quantum Hall Systems Near ν=1/2\nu = 1/2

The dynamical analog of the Kohn Anomaly image of the Fermi Surface is demonstrated for the response functions to the surface acoustic waves in Quantum Hall Systems near $\nu = 1/2$. Kinks appear in the velocity shift $Delta s/s$ and attenuation coefficient $\Gamma$. The effect is considerably enhanced under periodic modulation and should be observable.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, the published versio