An examination of the effects of self-regulatory focus on the perception of the media richness: the case of email

Communication is a key element in organizations’ business success. The media richness theory and the channel expansion theory are two of the most influential theories regarding the selection and use of communication media in organizations; however, literature has focused little on the effects of self-regulation by managers and employees in these theories. To analyze these topics, this study develops an empirical investigation by gathering data from 600 managers and employees using a questionnaire. The results suggest that the perception of media richness is positively affected when the individual shows a promotion focus or strategy.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author’s final draft

A growing disconnection from nature is evident in cultural products

Human connection with nature is widely believed to be in decline, even though empirical evidence on the magnitude and temporal pattern of the change is scarce. Studying works of popular culture in English throughout the 20th century and later, we document a cultural shift away from nature, beginning in the 1950s. Since then, references to nature have been decreasing steadily in fiction, song lyrics, and film storylines. No parallel decline is observed in references to the human-made environment. These findings are cause for concern, not only because they imply foregone benefits from engagement with nature, but also because cultural products are agents of socialization that can evoke curiosity, respect, and concern for the natural world

A pp-adic RanSaC algorithm for stereo vision using Hensel lifting

A $p$-adic variation of the Ran(dom) Sa(mple) C(onsensus) method for solving the relative pose problem in stereo vision is developped. From two 2-adically encoded images a random sample of five pairs of corresponding points is taken, and the equations for the essential matrix are solved by lifting solutions modulo 2 to the 2-adic integers. A recently devised $p$-adic hierarchical classification algorithm imitating the known LBG quantisation method classifies the solutions for all the samples after having determined the number of clusters using the known intra-inter validity of clusterings. In the successful case, a cluster ranking will determine the cluster containing a 2-adic approximation to the "true" solution of the problem.Comment: 15 pages; typos removed, abstract changed, computation error remove

Evidence-based prescribing: combining network meta-analysis with multicriteria decision analysis to choose among multiple drugs

What is the drug of choice for condition x? is among the most commonly asked questions in primary care.1 Reflecting the complexity of prescribing decisions, answering this question requires a difficult trade-off between the benefits and harms of multiple drugs for a given condition. The principles of evidence-based medicine suggest that prescribing decisions should be guided by an objective benchmark, namely scientific evidence.2 Such evidence is particularly important when choosing a first-line treatment among multiple alternatives. Unfortunately, existing clinical evidence on benefits and harms is rarely adequate to inform prescribing decisions. A randomized controlled trial comparing all relevant drugs would provide such information. However, clinical trials are often designed for regulatory purposes and, therefore, include selective patient populations and do not include all available comparator drugs.3,4 To obtain insight into the comparative benefits and harms of multiple drugs, prescribers turn to summaries of evidence to discern the most promising drugs from their less effective comparators. Recent methods used to synthesize existing evidence provide much-needed information on the comparative benefits and harms of multiple drugs. Network meta-analysis is one such method that allows for the combination of direct and indirect evidences from randomized trials, facilitating the comparison of all relevant drugs even when they are not directly compared with each other in clinical trials.5 The recent surge in the number of network meta-analyses in the general medical literature is a testament to the increasing need for comparative evidence in prescribing decisions

The Berwald-type linearisation of generalised connections

We study the existence of a natural `linearisation' process for generalised connections on an affine bundle. It is shown that this leads to an affine generalised connection over a prolonged bundle, which is the analogue of what is called a connection of Berwald type in the standard theory of connections. Various new insights are being obtained in the fine structure of affine bundles over an anchored vector bundle and affineness of generalised connections on such bundles.Comment: 25 page

GCIP water and energy budget synthesis (WEBS)

As part of the World Climate Research Program\u27s (WCRPs) Global Energy and Water-Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) Continental-scale International Project (GCIP), a preliminary water and energy budget synthesis (WEBS) was developed for the period 1996–1999 from the “best available” observations and models. Besides this summary paper, a companion CD-ROM with more extensive discussion, figures, tables, and raw data is available to the interested researcher from the GEWEX project office, the GAPP project office, or the first author. An updated online version of the CD-ROM is also available at http://ecpc.ucsd.edu/gcip/webs.htm/. Observations cannot adequately characterize or “close” budgets since too many fundamental processes are missing. Models that properly represent the many complicated atmospheric and near-surface interactions are also required. This preliminary synthesis therefore included a representative global general circulation model, regional climate model, and a macroscale hydrologic model as well as a global reanalysis and a regional analysis. By the qualitative agreement among the models and available observations, it did appear that we now qualitatively understand water and energy budgets of the Mississippi River Basin. However, there is still much quantitative uncertainty. In that regard, there did appear to be a clear advantage to using a regional analysis over a global analysis or a regional simulation over a global simulation to describe the Mississippi River Basin water and energy budgets. There also appeared to be some advantage to using a macroscale hydrologic model for at least the surface water budgets

Fast Evaluation of Feynman Diagrams

We develop a new representation for the integrals associated with Feynman diagrams. This leads directly to a novel method for the numerical evaluation of these integrals, which avoids the use of Monte Carlo techniques. Our approach is based on based on the theory of generalized sinc ($\sin(x)/x$) functions, from which we derive an approximation to the propagator that is expressed as an infinite sum. When the propagators in the Feynman integrals are replaced with the approximate form all integrals over internal momenta and vertices are converted into Gaussians, which can be evaluated analytically. Performing the Gaussians yields a multi-dimensional infinite sum which approximates the corresponding Feynman integral. The difference between the exact result and this approximation is set by an adjustable parameter, and can be made arbitrarily small. We discuss the extraction of regularization independent quantities and demonstrate, both in theory and practice, that these sums can be evaluated quickly, even for third or fourth order diagrams. Lastly, we survey strategies for numerically evaluating the multi-dimensional sums. We illustrate the method with specific examples, including the the second order sunset diagram from quartic scalar field theory, and several higher-order diagrams. In this initial paper we focus upon scalar field theories in Euclidean spacetime, but expect that this approach can be generalized to fields with spin.Comment: uses feynmp macros; v2 contains improved description of renormalization, plus other minor change