Probabilistic methods in the analysis of protein interaction networks

Imperial Users onl

A Variable-Flavour Number Scheme for NNLO

At NNLO it is particularly important to have a Variable-Flavour Number Scheme (VFNS) to deal with heavy quarks because there are major problems with both the zero mass variable-flavour number scheme and the fixed-flavour number scheme. I illustrate these problems and present a general formulation of a Variable-Flavour Number Scheme (VFNS)for heavy quarks that is explicitly implemented up to NNLO in the strong coupling constant alpha_S, and may be used in NNLO global fits for parton distributions. The procedure combines elements of the ACOT(chi) scheme and the Thorne-Roberts scheme. Despite the fact that at NNLO the parton distributions are discontinuous as one changes the number of active quark flavours, all physical quantities are continuous at flavour transitions and the comparison with data is successful.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures included as .ps files, uses axodraw. One additional explanatory sentence after eq. (25). Correction of typos and updated references. To be published in Phys. Rev.

On the automorphy of ll-adic Galois representations with small residual image

We prove new automorphy lifting theorems for essentially conjugate self-dual Galois representations into $GL_n$. Existing theorems require that the residual representation have 'big' image, in a certain technical sense. Our theorems are based on a strengthening of the Taylor-Wiles method which allows one to weaken this hypothesis.Comment: 59 pages. To appear in the Journal of the Institute of Mathematics of Jussie

Examining the Relative Competitiveness of Irish Agriculture (1996 – 2003/4)

End of Project ReportThis paper examines the competitiveness of Irish agriculture compared to that of other EU and non-EU countries. The analysis was based on two main data sources – the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) for years 1996-2003 and the International Farm Comparisons Network (IFCN) for 2003 for beef production and for 2004 for milk production. Results showed that the Irish competitive position compared to other EU and non-EU countries was positive when total cash costs were considered indicating a positive outlook for Irish milk production in the short to medium term. However, as the opportunity costs of owned resources are not included in ‘cash cost’ calculations, total economic costs which include imputed charges for owned resources were considered to examine the longer term outlook for the competitiveness of the sector. Using this measure, the competitive ranking for Irish agriculture slipped relative to the other countries. It was found that the main reason for the relatively high economic costs on Irish farms was due to the high imputed land and labour costs. These findings could be considered as a warning signal for the future competitive performance for the average sized Irish farm. However, based on FADN data the competitive position of ‘larger’ Irish dairy farms (in the 50-99 dairy cow size category) did manage to maintain their competitive position within Europe even when total economic costs were considered. Hence, it could be concluded that part of the explanation of the deterioration of competitive ranking for the average Irish dairy farm when total economic costs are considered relates to the relatively low scale of primary agricultural activity in Ireland during this period

Awake remembrance of these valiant dead : Henry V and the politics of the English history play

'A PROPAGANDA-PLAY on National Unity: heavily orchestrated for the brass' was how A. P. Rossiter summed up Henry V in 1954. (1) The assumption that this play is complicit with the promonarchical, nationalist rhetoric of the Chorus, and with the particular myth of Englishness it propounds, has persisted. In recent years the most cogent articulation of this view has come from Richard Helgerson, who sees the play as the culmination of Shakespeare's gradual tightening of his "obsessive and compelling focus on the ruler" during the writing of his English history cycle, at the cost of occluding the interests of the ruled

Supporting informal communication and closeness through video snapshots

As organisations grow and the physical distance between individuals increases, the simple informal communication that is essential for creativity declines. This paper presents a prototype system that was designed to increase informal communication by restoring awareness between physically distant employees. The key representation of individuals within this prototype was through frequently updated video snapshots. Users of the system reported feeling 'closer' to each other. We also suggest further experiments to assess the effects of video snapshots on trust

"O lawful let it be / That I have room ... to curse a while" : voicing the nation's conscience in female complaint in Richard III, King John and Henry VIII

To understand what drives this female‐led quest for justice we must situate this as a response to the traumas of the recent past which still convulse the respective play‐worlds, whether the legacy of internecine strife from the War of the Roses that imprints itself upon the fractured court of Richard III, the unresolved struggle over the succession in King John, or the upheavals of the English Reformation in Henry VIII. Each of these plays evokes a profoundly dysfunctional society where the normal patrilineal structures of authority and legitimate succession have broken down, where oaths are routinely violated, theology is manipulated for political gain, and the law perverted to serve the will of individuals, instead of the bono publico. What is undeniably catastrophic for the body politic, though, proves oddly enabling for the plays' female protagonists