1,217 research outputs found
Regional Price Convergence in Australia and New Zealand, 1984-1996
This paper uses disaggregated price data to analyse the extent and the speed of retail price convergence between New Zealand and Australia since 1984. The paper addresses several issues concerning the integration of markets in the two countries. It compares the behaviour of the prices of a set of goods in different cities in Australia with the behaviour of the prices of the same goods in New Zealand. The data is used to answer two sets of questions: first, whether there are systematic differences in the extent to which the retail goods markets between New Zealand and Australia are integrated when compared to the integration of markets between different cities within Australia; and second, whether the theory of purchasing power parity can usefully describe the effect of changes in the bilateral exchange rate on New Zealand prices.
Bounds on the local energy density of holographic CFTs from bulk geometry
The stress tensor is a basic local operator in any field theory; in the
context of AdS/CFT, it is the operator which is dual to the bulk geometry
itself. Here we exploit this feature by using the bulk geometry to place
constraints on the local energy density in static states of holographic
-dimensional CFTs living on a closed (but otherwise generally curved)
spatial geometry. We allow for the presence of a marginal scalar deformation,
dual to a massless scalar field in the bulk. For certain vacuum states in which
the bulk geometry is well-behaved at zero temperature, we find that the bulk
equations of motion imply that the local energy density integrated over
specific boundary domains is negative. In the absence of scalar deformations,
we use the inverse mean curvature flow to show that if the CFT spatial geometry
has spherical topology but non-constant curvature, the local energy density
must be positive somewhere. This result extends to other topologies, but only
for certain types of vacuum; in particular, for a generic toroidal boundary,
the vacuum's bulk dual must be the zero-temperature limit of a toroidal black
hole.Comment: 14+2 pages, 2 figures. v2: fixed equations (51) and (52
A pilot test of the effect of mild-hypoxia on unrealistically optimistic risk judgements
Although hypoxia is believed to occur above altitudes of 10,000 ft, some have
suggested that effects may occur at lower altitudes. This pilot study explored risk
judgments under conditions of mild hypoxia (simulated altitude of 8,000 ft). Some
evidence of an increased optimism was found at this level, suggesting the need for a
larger scale study with more experimental power
Cybernetic configurations: characteristics of interactivity in the digital arts.
Cybernetic theory and interactive media art share much in common, including an interest in human relationships with technology, and in what their interactions reveal about both human and technological agency. In this paper we identify four characteristics of cybernetic systems and discuss their relevance to interactive sound art. We hope to contribute to a critical lexicon around the cybernetic nature of interactive artworks more broadly, and to promote further engagement with the principles of cybernetics amongst electronic and digital arts practitioners and scholars
Cybernetic configurations: characteristics of interactivity in the digital arts.
Cybernetic theory and interactive media art share much in common, including an interest in human relationships with technology, and in what their interactions reveal about both human and technological agency. In this paper we identify four characteristics of cybernetic systems and discuss their relevance to interactive sound art. We hope to contribute to a critical lexicon around the cybernetic nature of interactive artworks more broadly, and to promote further engagement with the principles of cybernetics amongst electronic and digital arts practitioners and scholars
Association between osteoarthritis and cardiovascular disease: systematic review and meta-analysis
Background: To examine for a possible relationship between osteoarthritis and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Design: A systematic review and meta-analysis Methods: Published and unpublished literature from: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, the Cochrane Library, OpenGrey and clinical trial registers. Search to 22nd November 2014. Cohort, case-control, randomised and non-randomised controlled trial papers reporting the prevalence of CVD in osteoarthritis were included. Results: Fifteen studies with 32,278,744 individuals were eligible. Pooled prevalence for overall CVD pathology in people with osteoarthritis was 38.4% (95% Confidence interval (CI): 37.2% to 39.6%). Individuals with osteoarthritis were almost three times as likely to have heart failure (Relative Risk (RR): 2.80; 95% CI: 2.25 to 3.49) or ischaemic heart disease (RR: 1.78; 95% CI: 1.18 to 2.69) compared to matched non-osteoarthritis cohorts. No significant difference was detected between the two groups for the risk of experiencing myocardial infarction or stroke. There was a three-fold decrease in the risk of experiencing a transient ischaemic attack in the osteoarthritis cohort compared to the non-osteoarthritis group. Conclusions: Prevalence of CVD in patients with OA is significant. There was an observed increased risk of incident heart failure and ischaemic heart disease in people with OA compared to matched controls. However the relationship between OA and CVD is not straight-forward and there is a need to better understand the potential common pathways linking pathophysiological mechanisms
Techniques for generative melodies inspired by music cognition
This article presents a series of algorithmic techniques for melody generation, inspired by models of music cognition. The techniques are designed for interactive composition, and so privilege brevity, simplicity, and flexibility over fidelity to the underlying models. The cognitive models canvassed span gestalt, preference rule, and statistical learning perspectives; this is a diverse collection with a common threadâthe centrality of âexpectationsâ to music cognition. We operationalize some recurrent themes across this collection as probabilistic descriptions of melodic tendency, codifying them as stochastic melody-generation techniques. The techniques are combined into a concise melody generator, with salient parameters exposed for ready manipulation in real time. These techniques may be especially relevant to algorithmic composers, the live-coding community, and to music psychologists and theorists interested in how computational interpretations of cognitive models âsoundâ in practice
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