11,358 research outputs found
A Markov model for inferring flows in directed contact networks
Directed contact networks (DCNs) are a particularly flexible and convenient
class of temporal networks, useful for modeling and analyzing the transfer of
discrete quantities in communications, transportation, epidemiology, etc.
Transfers modeled by contacts typically underlie flows that associate multiple
contacts based on their spatiotemporal relationships. To infer these flows, we
introduce a simple inhomogeneous Markov model associated to a DCN and show how
it can be effectively used for data reduction and anomaly detection through an
example of kernel-level information transfers within a computer.Comment: 12 page
Load Measurements of an Anchored Retaining Wall
Thirty six anchors, corresponding approximately to five per cent of the total anchors of a retaining wall, were instrumented using electrical load cells, aiming to study the variation of the applied load with time associated with the sequencing of construction. It was observed that the average total loss was 25% of the average applied load, which consisted of three major component: rapid loss; long term loss and loss due to adjacent anchors loading
Towards absolute calibration of optical tweezers
Aiming at absolute force calibration of optical tweezers, following a
critical review of proposed theoretical models, we present and test the results
of MDSA (Mie-Debye-Spherical Aberration) theory, an extension of a previous
(MD) model, taking account of spherical aberration at the glass/water
interface. This first-principles theory is formulated entirely in terms of
experimentally accessible parameters (none adjustable). Careful experimental
tests of the MDSA theory, undertaken at two laboratories, with very different
setups, are described. A detailed description is given of the procedures
employed to measure laser beam waist, local beam power at the transparent
microspheres trapped by the tweezers, microsphere radius and the trap
transverse stiffness, as a function of radius and height in the (inverted
microscope) sample chamber. We find generally very good agreement with MDSA
theory predictions, for a wide size range, from the Rayleigh domain to large
radii, including the values most often employed in practice, and at different
chamber heights, both with objective overfilling and underfilling. The results
asymptotically approach geometrical optics in the mean over size intervals, as
they should, and this already happens for size parameters not much larger than
unity. MDSA predictions for the trapping threshold, position of stiffness peak,
stiffness variation with height, multiple equilibrium points and `hopping'
effects among them are verified. Remaining discrepancies are ascribed to focus
degradation, possibly arising from objective aberrations in the infrared, not
yet included in MDSA theory.Comment: 15 pages, 20 figure
Revisiting Clifford algebras and spinors III: conformal structures and twistors in the paravector model of spacetime
This paper is the third of a series of three, and it is the continuation of
math-ph/0412074 and math-ph/0412075. After reviewing the conformal spacetime
structure, conformal maps are described in Minkowski spacetime as the twisted
adjoint representation of the group Spin_+(2,4), acting on paravectors.
Twistors are then presented via the paravector model of Clifford algebras and
related to conformal maps in the Clifford algebra over the lorentzian R{4,1}$
spacetime. We construct twistors in Minkowski spacetime as algebraic spinors
associated with the Dirac-Clifford algebra Cl(1,3)(C) using one lower spacetime
dimension than standard Clifford algebra formulations, since for this purpose
the Clifford algebra over R{4,1} is also used to describe conformal maps,
instead of R{2,4}. Although some papers have already described twistors using
the algebra Cl(1,3)(C), isomorphic to Cl(4,1), the present formulation sheds
some new light on the use of the paravector model and generalizations.Comment: 17 page
Probing the stability of gravastars by dropping dust shells onto them
As a preparation for the dynamical investigations, this paper begins with a
short review of the three-layer gravastar model with distinguished attention to
the structure of the pertinent parameter space of gravastars in equilibrium.
Then the radial stability of these types of gravastars is studied by
determining their response for the totally inelastic collision of their surface
layer with a dust shell. It is assumed that the dominant energy condition holds
and the speed of sound does not exceed that of the light in the matter of the
surface layer. While in the analytic setup the equation of state is kept to be
generic, in the numerical investigations three functionally distinct classes of
equations of states are applied. In the corresponding particular cases the
maximal mass of the dust shell that may fall onto a gravastar without
converting it into a black hole is determined. For those configurations which
remain stable the excursion of their radius is assigned. It is found that even
the most compact gravastars cannot get beyond the lower limit of the size of
conventional stars, provided that the dominant energy condition holds in both
cases. It is also shown---independent of any assumption concerning the matter
interbridging the internal de Sitter and the external Schwarzschild
regions---that the better is a gravastar in mimicking a black hole the easier
is to get the system formed by a dust shell and the gravastar beyond the event
horizon of the composite system. In addition, a generic description of the
totally inelastic collision of spherical shells in spherically symmetric
spacetimes is also provided in the appendix.Comment: 29 pages, 10 figure
Effect of soliton interaction on timing jitter in communication systems
Timing jitter in soliton communication systems is studied, taking into account both soliton interaction and amplifier noise, Deviations from Gordon-Haus jitter for closely spaced solitons are observed. A new analytical model for the timing jitter is proposed, The model presented considers interaction in a random sequence of solitons and the effect of the amplified spontaneous emission noise added in each amplification stage, We obtain a good agreement between the new analytical model and simulation results for practical communication systems
2D pattern evolution constrained by complex network dynamics
Complex networks have established themselves along the last years as being
particularly suitable and flexible for representing and modeling several
complex natural and human-made systems. At the same time in which the
structural intricacies of such networks are being revealed and understood,
efforts have also been directed at investigating how such connectivity
properties define and constrain the dynamics of systems unfolding on such
structures. However, lesser attention has been focused on hybrid systems,
\textit{i.e.} involving more than one type of network and/or dynamics. Because
several real systems present such an organization (\textit{e.g.} the dynamics
of a disease coexisting with the dynamics of the immune system), it becomes
important to address such hybrid systems. The current paper investigates a
specific system involving a diffusive (linear and non-linear) dynamics taking
place in a regular network while interacting with a complex network of
defensive agents following Erd\"os-R\'enyi and Barab\'asi-Albert graph models,
whose nodes can be displaced spatially. More specifically, the complex network
is expected to control, and if possible to extinguish, the diffusion of some
given unwanted process (\textit{e.g.} fire, oil spilling, pest dissemination,
and virus or bacteria reproduction during an infection). Two types of pattern
evolution are considered: Fick and Gray-Scott. The nodes of the defensive
network then interact with the diffusing patterns and communicate between
themselves in order to control the spreading. The main findings include the
identification of higher efficiency for the Barab\'asi-Albert control networks.Comment: 18 pages, 32 figures. A working manuscript, comments are welcome
GeoCLEF 2006: the CLEF 2006 Ccross-language geographic information retrieval track overview
After being a pilot track in 2005, GeoCLEF advanced to be a regular track within CLEF 2006. The
purpose of GeoCLEF is to test and evaluate cross-language geographic information retrieval (GIR): retrieval for
topics with a geographic specification. For GeoCLEF 2006, twenty-five search topics were defined by the
organizing groups for searching English, German, Portuguese and Spanish document collections. Topics were
translated into English, German, Portuguese, Spanish and Japanese. Several topics in 2006 were significantly
more geographically challenging than in 2005. Seventeen groups submitted 149 runs (up from eleven groups and
117 runs in GeoCLEF 2005). The groups used a variety of approaches, including geographic bounding boxes,
named entity extraction and external knowledge bases (geographic thesauri and ontologies and gazetteers)
The History of Cosmological Star Formation: Three Independent Approaches and a Critical Test Using the Extragalactic Background Light
Taking three independent approaches, we investigate the simultaneous
constraints set on the cosmic star formation history from various observations,
including stellar mass density and extragalactic background light (EBL). We
compare results based on: 1) direct observations of past light-cone, 2) a model
using local fossil evidence constrained by SDSS observations at z~0 (the
`Fossil' model), and 3) theoretical ab initio models from three calculations of
cosmic star formation history: (a) new (1024)^3 Total Variation Diminishing
(TVD) cosmological hydrodynamic simulation, (b) analytic expression of
Hernquist & Springel based on cosmological Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics
(SPH) simulations, and (c) semi-analytic model of Cole et al. We find good
agreement among the three independent approaches up to the order of
observational errors, except that all the models predict bolometric EBL of
I_tot ~= 37-52 nW m^-2 sr^-1, which is at the lower edge of the the
observational estimate by Hauser & Dwek. We emphasize that the Fossil model
that consists of two components -- spheroids and disks --, when normalized to
the local observations, provides a surprisingly simple but accurate description
of the cosmic star formation history and other observable quantities. Our
analysis suggests that the consensus global parameters at z=0 are: Omega_* =
0.0023+-0.0004, I_EBL = 43+-7 nW m^-2 sr^-1 rho_SFR=(1.06+-0.22)e-2 Msun yr^-1
Mpc^-3, j_bol = (3.1+-0.2)e8 Lsun Mpc^-3.Comment: 40 page, 10 figures. ApJ in press. Matched to the accepted versio
Crescimento e produção de matéria seca de mudas de dendezeiro em função do tempo de pré-viveiro e da percentagem de ocupação da bandeja pelos tubetes.
Este trabalho teve como objetivo verificar a influência do tempo de permanência das mudas no pré-viveiro e da percentagem de ocupação da bandeja pelos tubetes no crescimento e na partição de matéria seca de mudas de dendezeiro
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