492 research outputs found
A note on the algebraic growth rate of Poincar\'e series for Kleinian groups
In this note we employ infinite ergodic theory to derive estimates for the
algebraic growth rate of the Poincar\'e series for a Kleinian group at its
critical exponent of convergence.Comment: 8 page
Optical characterization of marine phytoplankton assemblages within surface waters of the western Arctic Ocean.
An extensive data set of measurements within the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas is used to characterize the optical properties of seawater associated with different phytoplankton communities. Hierarchical cluster analysis of diagnostic pigment concentrations partitioned stations into four distinct surface phytoplankton communities based on taxonomic composition and average cell size. Concurrent optical measurements of spectral absorption and backscattering coefficients and remote-sensing reflectance were used to characterize the magnitudes and spectral shapes of seawater optical properties associated with each phytoplankton assemblage. The results demonstrate measurable differences among communities in the average spectral shapes of the phytoplankton absorption coefficient. Similar or smaller differences were also observed in the spectral shapes of nonphytoplankton absorption coefficients and the particulate backscattering coefficient. Phytoplankton on average, however, contributed only 25% or less to the total absorption coefficient of seawater. Our analyses indicate that the interplay between the magnitudes and relative contributions of all optically significant constituents generally dampens any influence of varying phytoplankton absorption spectral shapes on the total absorption coefficient, yet there is still a marked discrimination observed in the spectral shape of the ratio of the total backscattering to total absorption coefficient and remote-sensing reflectance among the phytoplankton assemblages. These spectral variations arise mainly from differences in the bio-optical environment in which specific communities were found, as opposed to differences in the spectral shapes of phytoplankton optical properties per se. These results suggest potential approaches for the development of algorithms to assess phytoplankton community composition from measurements of seawater optical properties in western Arctic waters
The effect of neural adaptation of population coding accuracy
Most neurons in the primary visual cortex initially respond vigorously when a
preferred stimulus is presented, but adapt as stimulation continues. The
functional consequences of adaptation are unclear. Typically a reduction of
firing rate would reduce single neuron accuracy as less spikes are available
for decoding, but it has been suggested that on the population level,
adaptation increases coding accuracy. This question requires careful analysis
as adaptation not only changes the firing rates of neurons, but also the neural
variability and correlations between neurons, which affect coding accuracy as
well. We calculate the coding accuracy using a computational model that
implements two forms of adaptation: spike frequency adaptation and synaptic
adaptation in the form of short-term synaptic plasticity. We find that the net
effect of adaptation is subtle and heterogeneous. Depending on adaptation
mechanism and test stimulus, adaptation can either increase or decrease coding
accuracy. We discuss the neurophysiological and psychophysical implications of
the findings and relate it to published experimental data.Comment: 35 pages, 8 figure
A simple proof of the Markoff conjecture for prime powers
We give a simple and independent proof of the result of Jack Button and Paul
Schmutz that the Markoff conjecture on the uniqueness of the Markoff triples
(a,b,c), where a, b, and c are in increasing order, holds whenever is a
prime power.Comment: 5 pages, no figure
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Understanding touch screen mobile phone users by Taxonomy of Experience (ToE)
This seminar was delivered on 25th January 2011 by Wen-Chia Wang, a PhD researcher in the School of Engineering and Design at Brunel University. During her PhD, Wen-Chia worked on several projects with the telecommunication company 3 in the UK to understand user experience with mobile phones. Her PhD research addresses the importance of understanding users before conducting design; especially how individual differences of cognitive styles (holistic - serialistic) affect human operational behaviour with mobile phone interfaces. More importantly, her research seeks to establish the linkage between psychology and design, and to provide design guidelines that are based on individual differences. The presentation was hosted at Brunel University as part of the Human Centred Design Institute (HCDI) Research Seminar Series. HCDI is a University Research Centre (URC) that brings together expertise in Human-centred Design which combines methodologies and technologies from design, engineering, computer science, artificial intelligence and philosophy. Human-centred Design leads to machines, systems and products which are physically, cognitively and emotionally intuitive to their users. The Human Centre Design seminar series are events designed to encourage communication and teamwork with colleagues across the university and experts leaders in human-centred related topics.The aim of this study is to understand user experience of touch screen mobile phones and to provide design principles from users’ perspectives. The importance of user experience in the product design process has been discussed in recent decades. Diverse quantitative methodologies attempt to understand users by evaluating their attitudes, expectations, emotion, concept of the object, judgment of the product and so forth. However, user experience is subjective and difficult to measure. Whilst many researchers tend to transform user experience to quantitative data, Coxon’s (2007) Taxonomy of Experience (ToE), and its analytic approach of SEEing, uncover an understanding of the user experience through qualitative analysis. The term ‘SEEing’ attempts to differentiate from the processes of thinking, but still associates with the thinking process. The nine steps of the SEEing process aim to clarify the user’s experience. It begins by transforming the user’s verbal commentary and ends in a synthesis of super-ordinary metaphors. This study thus applies ToE-SEEing to deeply understand mobile phone users, especially their interaction experience with touch screen mobile phones. The outcomes of this research study provide alternative design elements from the users’ perspectives whilst designing the interface for the touch screen mobile phone
Phase Transitions on Nonamenable Graphs
We survey known results about phase transitions in various models of
statistical physics when the underlying space is a nonamenable graph. Most
attention is devoted to transitive graphs and trees
A hierarchical model for aging
We present a one dimensional model for diffusion on a hierarchical tree
structure. It is shown that this model exhibits aging phenomena although no
disorder is present. The origin of aging in this model is therefore the
hierarchical structure of phase space.Comment: 10 pages LaTeX, 4 postscript-figures include
Quantum computing of semiclassical formulas
We show that semiclassical formulas such as the Gutzwiller trace formula can
be implemented on a quantum computer more efficiently than on a classical
device. We give explicit quantum algorithms which yield quantum observables
from classical trajectories, and which alternatively test the semiclassical
approximation by computing classical actions from quantum evolution. The gain
over classical computation is in general quadratic, and can be larger in some
specific cases.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figur
Ethical issues in implementation research: a discussion of the problems in achieving informed consent
Background: Improved quality of care is a policy objective of health care systems around the world. Implementation research is the scientific study of methods to promote the systematic uptake of clinical research findings into routine clinical practice, and hence to reduce inappropriate
care. It includes the study of influences on healthcare professionals' behaviour and methods to enable them to use research findings more effectively. Cluster randomized trials represent the optimal design for evaluating the effectiveness of implementation strategies. Various codes of
medical ethics, such as the Nuremberg Code and the Declaration of Helsinki inform medical research, but their relevance to cluster randomised trials in implementation research is unclear. This paper discusses the applicability of various ethical codes to obtaining consent in cluster trials in implementation research.
Discussion: The appropriate application of biomedical codes to implementation research is not obvious. Discussion of the nature and practice of informed consent in implementation research cluster trials must consider the levels at which consent can be sought, and for what purpose it can be sought. The level at which an intervention is delivered can render the idea of patient level
consent meaningless. Careful consideration of the ownership of information, and rights of access to and exploitation of data is required. For health care professionals and organizations, there is a balance between clinical freedom and responsibility to participate in research.
Summary: While ethical justification for clinical trials relies heavily on individual consent, for
implementation research aspects of distributive justice, economics, and political philosophy underlie the debate. Societies may need to trade off decisions on the choice between individualized consent and valid implementation research. We suggest that social sciences codes could usefully inform the consideration of implementation research by members of Research Ethics Committees
Phase transitions for suspension flows
This paper is devoted to study thermodynamic formalism for suspension flows
defined over countable alphabets. We are mostly interested in the regularity
properties of the pressure function. We establish conditions for the pressure
function to be real analytic or to exhibit a phase transition. We also
construct an example of a potential for which the pressure has countably many
phase transitions.Comment: Example 5.2 expanded. Typos corrected. Section 6.1 superced the note
"Thermodynamic formalism for the positive geodesic flow on the modular
surface" arXiv:1009.462
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