Spectral Properties of Correlated Materials: Local Vertex and Non-Local Two-Particle Correlations from Combined GW and Dynamical Mean Field Theory

We present a fully self-consistent combined GW and dynamical mean field (GW+DMFT) study of the spectral properties of the extended two-dimensional Hubbard model. The inclusion of the local dynamical vertex stemming from the DMFT self-energy and polarization is shown to cure the problems of self-consistent GW in the description of spectral properties. We calculate the momentum-resolved spectral functions, the two-particle polarization and electron loss spectra, and show that the inclusion of GW in extended DMFT leads to a narrowing of the quasi-particle width and more pronounced Hubbard bands in the metallic regime as one approaches the charge-ordering transition. Finally, the momentum-dependence introduced by GW into the extended DMFT description of collective modes is found to affect their shape, giving rise to dispersive plasmon-like long-wavelength and stripe modes.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Deprivation as an outcome determinant in emergency medical admissions

Background: Deprivation in the general population predicts mortality. We have investigated its relevance to an acute medical admission, using a database of all emergency admissions to St James’ Hospital, Dublin, over a ten year period (2002-2011). <p/>Methods: All emergency admissions, based on geocoding of residence, were allocated to a Small Area Health Research Unit (SAHRU) division, with a corresponding deprivation index. We then examined this index as a univariate (unadjusted) and independent (adjusted) predictor of 30-day in-hospital mortality. <p/>Results: The 30-day in-hospital mortality, over the 10 year period was higher, for those in the upper half of the deprivation distribution (9.6% vs 8.6%: p = 0.002). Indeed, there was a stepwise increase in 30-day mortality over the quintiles of deprivation from 7.3% (Quintile 1) to 8.8%, 10.0%, 10.0% and 9.3% respectively. Univariate logistic regression of the deprivation indices (quintiles) against outcome showed an increased risk (p = 0.002) of a 30-day death with OR’s respectively (compared with lowest deprivation quintile) of 1.23 (95% CI 1.07, 1.40), 1.41 (95% CI 1.24, 1.60), 1.41 (95% CI 1.24, 1.61) and 1.30 (95% CI 1.14, 1.48). The deprivation index was an independent predictor of outcome in a model when adjusted for illness severity and co-morbidity. The fully adjusted OR for a 30-day death was increased by 31% (p=0.001) for patients in the upper half of the deprivation index distribution (OR 1.31: 95% CI 1.20, 1.44). <p/>Conclusion: Deprivation independently of co-morbidity or acute illness severity is a powerful outcome predictor in acute medical admissions

The Taste for Variety: A Hedonic Analysis

Based on the model of consumers' variety-seeking behavior introduced by Anderson et al. (1992), this paper derives a hedonic price function for a households' consumption bundle. The price a consumer pays for her consumption bundle reflects the values of the underlying attributes of goods purchased but also accounts for any preference for variety that she might have. The empirical analysis is conducted for 3,240 German households and their expenditure on 182 different soft drinks over a six-month period. We find that consumers have a preference for variety in food consumption, ceteris paribus. Furthermore, the per-unit price is found to be significantly larger for higher income households, as well as households where the principal wage earner has a high level of education. Larger households tend to spend less on soft drinks per unit.consumer demand, taste for variety, food products, hedonic analysis, Germany, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, C21, D12,

Gender and authoritarian regimes:a review

Although the scientific community attests a “renaissance” (Bank 2009) of authoritarianism political science has no focus on the research field of gender and authoritarianism yet. The strengthening of authoritarianism research within political science is mostly located in comparative politics and regional studies. But most recent studies on authoritarian regimes do not focus on gender questions explicitly. This review gives a structured overview on recent literature on authoritarianism and gender and focusses on recent theoretical approaches to authoritarianism and authoritarian regimes. Furthermore interesting policies within a gender perspective and how they are looked upon in mainstream and feminist political science and in part recent historical research as well will be described: state formation and gender; political rights, suffrage rights and women’s rights activism; women’s representation; social hierarchies and social processes; family policy, the role of domestic violence and abortion rights as measuring degrees of women’s autonomy and eventually the socio-economic gender orders

Structural analysis of the Arunta Block and Amadeus Basin (Central Australia) by means of digital remote sensing techniques and field data

Der proterozoische Arunta Block und das altpaläozoische Amadeus Basin zeichnen sich durch jeweils eigenständige lithologische Abfolgen und tektonische Deformationstypen aus. Der Kontaktbereich dieser intrakratonen Blöcke wirft seit Jahren Diskussionen hinsichtlich des tektonischen Baus auf: von hypothetischen weitreichenden Überschiebungsdecken (nappes) bis hin zu einfachen kleindimensionierten Störungen oder Verschleppungen (thrusts). Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wird versucht, diese Elemente anhand von multispektralen Landsat-TM-Daten und Analysen von Luftbildern und ERS-1-Daten makroskopisch zu erfassen und zu deuten. Es ist möglich, Gesteinseinheiten und die unterschiedlichen Deformationsstile repräsentativer Untersuchungsgebiete zu differenzieren, sowie auf der Basis der topographischenKarten ein digitales Höhenmodell der Region zu erstellen, das die Zusammenhänge zwischen morphologischen Gegebenheiten vor Ort und imSatellitenbild in Bezug auf die Verbreitung von Lithologien und Störungszonen verdeutlicht. Auf diese Weise entsteht das Bild eines komplexen tektonischen Spannungsfeldes, das für jeden intrakratonen Block individuelle, zeitlich voneinander getrennt wirkende Ereignisse als Auslöser für die anzutreffenden Strukturen vorsieht.The Proterozoic Arunta Block and the younger late Palaeozoic Amadeus Basin each show significant lithological sequences and tectonic deformation styles. Since years the contact zone of these intracratonic blocks raises controversial discussions concerning its tectonic origin: from hypothetic widespread nappes to simple faults and thrusts of smaller dimension everything is taken into consideration. Within the scope of this paper it is attempted to detect their macroscopic pattern by applying multispectral and further remote sensing data analysis of aerial photographs, Landsat-TM and ERS-1data. It is possible to distinguish rock units and different deformation styles of representative areas as well as to create a digital elevation model of the region on the basis of topographic maps that elucidates the coherence of morphological features in place and in the satellite image as far as the propagation of lithologies and fault zones is concerned. It arises the picture of a complex tectonictension field, that contains individual tectonic events separated by time for each structure within the intracratonic blocks

Disentangling genetic and environmental risk factors for individual diseases from multiplex comorbidity networks

Most disorders are caused by a combination of multiple genetic and/or environmental factors. If two diseases are caused by the same molecular mechanism, they tend to co-occur in patients. Here we provide a quantitative method to disentangle how much genetic or environmental risk factors contribute to the pathogenesis of 358 individual diseases, respectively. We pool data on genetic, pathway-based, and toxicogenomic disease-causing mechanisms with disease co-occurrence data obtained from almost two million patients. From this data we construct a multiplex network where nodes represent disorders that are connected by links that either represent phenotypic comorbidity of the patients or the involvement of a certain molecular mechanism. From the similarity of phenotypic and mechanism-based networks for each disorder we derive measure that allows us to quantify the relative importance of various molecular mechanisms for a given disease. We find that most diseases are dominated by genetic risk factors, while environmental influences prevail for disorders such as depressions, cancers, or dermatitis. Almost never we find that more than one type of mechanisms is involved in the pathogenesis of diseases

Exponential signaling gain at the receptor level enhances signal-to-noise ratio in bacterial chemotaxis

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Entropy and Temperature of a Static Granular Assembly

Granular matter is comprised of a large number of particles whose collective behavior determines macroscopic properties such as flow and mechanical strength. A comprehensive theory of the properties of granular matter, therefore, requires a statistical framework. In molecular matter, equilibrium statistical mechanics, which is founded on the principle of conservation of energy, provides this framework. Grains, however, are small but macroscopic objects whose interactions are dissipative since energy can be lost through excitations of the internal degrees of freedom. In this work, we construct a statistical framework for static, mechanically stable packings of grains, which parallels that of equilibrium statistical mechanics but with conservation of energy replaced by the conservation of a function related to the mechanical stress tensor. Our analysis demonstrates the existence of a state function that has all the attributes of entropy. In particular, maximizing this state function leads to a well-defined granular temperature for these systems. Predictions of the ensemble are verified against simulated packings of frictionless, deformable disks. Our demonstration that a statistical ensemble can be constructed through the identification of conserved quantities other than energy is a new approach that is expected to open up avenues for statistical descriptions of other non-equilibrium systems.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Cross-cultural emotional prosody recognition: Evidence from Chinese and British listeners

This cross-cultural study of emotional tone of voice recognition tests the in-group advantage hypothesis (Elfenbein & Ambady, 2002) employing a quasi-balanced design. Individuals of Chinese and British background were asked to recognise pseudosentences produced by Chinese and British native speakers, displaying one of seven emotions (anger, disgust, fear, happy, neutral tone of voice, sad, and surprise). Findings reveal that emotional displays were recognised at rates higher than predicted by chance; however, members of each cultural group were more accurate in recognising the displays communicated by a member of their own cultural group than a member of the other cultural group. Moreover, the evaluation of error matrices indicates that both culture groups relied on similar mechanism when recognising emotional displays from the voice. Overall, the study reveals evidence for both universal and culture-specific principles in vocal emotion recognition. © 2013 © 2013 Taylor & Francis