Marketing implications of traditional and ICT-mediated leisure activities

This study investigates the role of traditional and information and communication technology (ICT)-mediated leisure activities in consumer behaviour. An online survey of 558 members and 1319 ex-members of an Australian DVD rental company gathered preferences for nine traditional leisure activities and seven ICT-mediated leisure activities. The results of a cluster analysis showed four clusters with significant cluster differences across leisure activities and across demographics and consumer behaviours. For practitioners, the study illustrates how profiling customers on their leisure preferences can increase advertising effectiveness, reflect loyalty and help predict customer lifetime value. For academia, the results reveal how another consumer dimension, leisure activities, relates to demographic and behavioural characteristics

A closed-loop analysis of grid scale battery systems providing frequency response and reserve services in a variable inertia grid

With increasing penetration of wind and solar generation the deployment of fast response plant, principally batteries, is currently considered necessary to mitigate reduced system inertia and the possibility of demand-supply imbalances. In this work the impact of these factors on battery cycling rates, taking into account the input from the batteries themselves, are analysed by applying the swing equation to a future inertia based on forecast generation mix. The operational capacity of batteries is a determining factor in their cycling rate, though the depth of discharge appears to be less well correlated. It is found that reducing system inertia does not, of itself, significantly impact on frequency volatility where the volatility of the generation to load imbalance is unchanged. However, the potential for a reduction in the damping of frequency deviations as a result of an increase in inverter connected motor drives may have a large impact on battery cycling characteristics. Provision of reserve services from battery systems requires a more complex operational strategy to ensure services are always deliverable and results in a significantly different cycling profile that may lead to greater battery degradation and consequently higher operational costs

Low-Frequency Optical Conductivity in Inhomogeneous d-wave Superconductors

Motivated by the recent optical conductivity experiments on Bi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O_{8+delta} films, we examine the possible origin of low-frequency dissipation in the superconducting state. In the presence of spatial inhomogeneity of the local phase stiffness rho_s, it is shown that some spectral weight is removed from omega=0 to finite frequencies and contribute to dissipation. A case where both rho_s and the local normal fluid density are inhomogeneous is also considered. We find an enhanced dissipation at low frequency if the two variations are anti-correlated.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev.

Predicted Infrared and Raman Spectra for Neutral Ti_8C_12 Isomers

Using a density-functional based algorithm, the full IR and Raman spectra are calculated for the neutral Ti_8C_12 cluster assuming geometries of Th, Td, D2d and C3v symmetry. The Th pentagonal dodecahedron is found to be dynamically unstable. The calculated properties of the relaxed structure having C3v symmetry are found to be in excellent agreement with experimental gas phase infrared results, ionization potential and electron affinity measurements. Consequently, the results presented may be used as a reference for further experimental characterization using vibrational spectroscopy.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures. Physical Review A, 2002 (in press

Path Integrals in Polar Field Variables in QFT

We show how to transform a $d$-dimensional Euclidean path integral in terms of two (Cartesian) fields to a path integral in terms of polar field variables. First we present a conjecture that states how this transformation should be done. Then we show that this conjecture is correct in the case of two toy models. Finally the conjecture will be proven for a general QFT model with two fields

Generating asymptotically plane wave spacetimes

In an attempt to study asymptotically plane wave spacetimes which admit an event horizon, we find solutions to vacuum Einstein's equations in arbitrary dimension which have a globally null Killing field and rotational symmetry. We show that while such solutions can be deformed to include ones which are asymptotically plane wave, they do not posses a regular event horizon. If we allow for additional matter, such as in supergravity theories, we show that it is possible to have extremal solutions with globally null Killing field, a regular horizon, and which, in addition, are asymptotically plane wave. In particular, we deform the extremal M2-brane solution in 11-dimensional supergravity so that it behaves asymptotically as a 10-dimensional vacuum plane wave times a real line.Comment: 23 pages, 1 eps figure; harvmac; v2:refs added; v3:minor comments adde

Comparison of Genomes of Three Xanthomonas oryzae Bacteriophages

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Xp10 and OP1 are phages of <it>Xanthomonas oryzae </it>pv. oryzae (Xoo), the causative agent of bacterial leaf blight in rice plants, which were isolated in 1967 in Taiwan and in 1954 in Japan, respectively. We recently isolated the Xoo phage Xop411.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The linear Xop411 genome (44,520 bp, 58 ORFs) sequenced here is 147 bp longer than that of Xp10 (60 ORFs) and 735 bp longer than that of OP1 (59 ORFs). The G+C contents of OP1 (51%) and Xop411 and Xp10 (52% each) are less than that of the host (65%). The 9-bp 3'-overhangs (5'-GGACAGTCT-3') in Xop411 and Xp10 are absent from OP1. More of the deduced Xop411 proteins share higher degrees of identity with Xp10 than with OP1 proteins, while the right end of the genomes of Xp10 and OP1, containing all predicted promoters, share stronger homology. Xop411, Xp10, and OP1 contain 8, 7, and 6 freestanding HNH endonuclease genes, respectively. These genes can be classified into five groups depending on their possession of the HNH domain (HNN or HNH type) and/or AP2 domain in intact or truncated forms. While the HNN-AP2 type endonuclease genes dispersed in the genome, the HNH type endonuclease genes, each with a unique copy, were located within the same genome context. Mass spectrometry and N-terminal sequencing showed nine Xop411 coat proteins, among which three were identified, six were assigned as coat proteins (4) and conserved phage proteins (2) in Xp10. The major coat protein, in which only the N-terminal methionine is removed, appears to exist in oligomeric forms containing 2 to 6 subunits. The three phages exhibit different patterns of domain duplication in the N-terminus of the tail fiber, which are involved in determination of the host range. Many short repeated sequences are present in and around the duplicated domains.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Geographical separation may have confined lateral gene transfer among the Xoo phages. The HNN-AP2 type endonucleases were more likely to transfer their genes randomly in the genome and may degenerate after successful transmission. Some repeated sequences may be involved in duplication/loss of the domains in the tail fiber genes.</p

Family Unification, Exotic States and Light Magnetic Monopoles

Models with fermions in bifundamental representations can lead naturally to family unification as opposed to family replication. Such models typically predict (exotic) color singlet states with fractional electric charge, and magnetic monopoles with multiple Dirac charge. The exotics may be at the TeV scale, and relatively light magnetic monopoles (greater than about 10^7 GeV) can be present in the galaxy with abundance near the Parker bound. We focus on three family SU(4)XSU(3)XSU(3) models.Comment: 37 page

Causality in quantum teleportation: information extraction and noise effects in entanglement distribution

Quantum teleportation is possible because entanglement allows a definition of precise correlations between the non-commuting properties of a local system and corresponding non-commuting properties of a remote system. In this paper, the exact causality achieved by maximal entanglement is analyzed and the results are applied to the transfer of effects acting on the entanglement distribution channels to the teleported output state. In particular, it is shown how measurements performed on the entangled system distributed to the sender provide information on the teleported state while transferring the corresponding back-action to the teleported quantum state.Comment: 14 pages, including three figures, discussion of fidelity adde