A new geometric approach to problems in birational geometry

A classical set of birational invariants of a variety are its spaces of pluricanonical forms and some of their canonically defined subspaces. Each of these vector spaces admits a typical metric structure which is also birationally invariant. These vector spaces so metrized will be referred to as the pseudonormed spaces of the original varieties. A fundamental question is the following: given two mildly singular projective varieties with some of the first variety's pseudonormed spaces being isometric to the corresponding ones of the second variety's, can one construct a birational map between them which induces these isometries? In this work a positive answer to this question is given for varieties of general type. This can be thought of as a theorem of Torelli type for birational equivalence.Comment: 13 pages, to appear in PNA

QoS constrained cellular ad hoc augmented networks

In this dissertation, based on different design criteria, three novel quality of service (QoS) constrained cellular ad hoc augmented network (CAHAN) architectures are proposed for next generation wireless networks. The CAHAN architectures have a hybrid architecture, in which each MT of CDMA cellular networks has ad hoc communication capability. The CAHAN architectures are an evolutionary approach to conventional cellular networks. The proposed architectures have good system scalability and high system reliability. The first proposed architecture is the QoS constrained minimum-power cellular ad hoc augmented network architecture (QCMP CAHAN). The QCMP CAHAN can find the optimal minimum-power routes under the QoS constraints (bandwidth, packet-delay, or packet-error-rate constraint). The total energy consumed by the MTs is lower in the case of QCMP CAHAN than in the case of pure cellular networks. As the ad hoc communication range of each MT increases, the total transmitted power in QCMP CAHAN decreases. However, due to the increased number of hops involved in information delivery between the source and the destination, the end-to-end delay increases. The maximum end-to-end delay will be limited to a specified tolerable value for different services. An MT in QCMP CAHAN will not relay any messages when its ad hoc communication range is zero, and if this is the case for all MTs, then QCMP CAHAN reduces to the traditional cellular network. A QoS constrained network lifetime extension cellular ad hoc augmented network architecture (QCLE CAHAN) is proposed to achieve the maximum network lifetime under the QoS constraints. The network lifetime is higher in the case of QCLE CAHAN than in the case of pure cellular networks or QCMP CAHAN. In QCLE CAHAN, a novel QoS-constrained network lifetime extension routing algorithm will dynamically select suitable ad-hoc-switch-to-cellular points (ASCPs) according to the MT remaining battery energy such that the selection will balance all the MT battery energy and maximizes the network lifetime. As the number of ASCPs in an ad hoc subnet decreases, the network lifetime will be extended. Maximum network lifetime can be increased until the end-to-end QoS in QCLE CAHAN reaches its maximum tolerable value. Geocasting is the mechanism to multicast messages to the MTs whose locations lie within a given geographic area (target area). Geolocation-aware CAHAN (GA CAHAN) architecture is proposed to improve total transmitted power expended for geocast services in cellular networks. By using GA CAHAN for geocasting, saving in total transmitted energy can be achieved as compared to the case of pure cellular networks. When the size of geocast target area is large, GA CAHAN can save larger transmitted energy

Economic Growth and Government Size in OECD Countries: New Evidence from the Quantile Regression Approach

The purpose of this paper is to employ the quantile regression methodology to investigate the relationship between government size and economic growth using a panel data set for 24 OECD countries. We find that the magnitude of the effect of government size on economic growth varies through the quantiles. When the economic growth is low, increasing the size of the government may have a positive effect and stimulate economic growth. However, as the economic growth rate increases, such an effect declines and has a negative effect on economic growth.Economic growth; Government size; Quantile regression

Mycobacterium tuberculosis and M. bovis infection in Feedlot Deer (Cervus unicolor swinhoei and C. nippon taiouanus) in Taiwan

Background/purposeMycobacterium bovis frequently infects wild and farm deer species with tuberculosis. This study investigated mycobacterial infection in two native deer species Cervus unicolor swinhoei (Formosan Sambar, Sambar) and C. nippon taiouanus (Formasan Sika, Sika).MethodsBased on different sampling sources of 19 intradermal tuberculin test (ITT) Sambar, mycobacterial infection and/or species were detected by acid-fast stain, duplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and multiplex nested PCR (mnPCR) methods, traditional mycobacterial culture and gross lesion. Blood samples of 167 Sambar deer and 147 Sika deer were then tested by duplex PCR and mnPCR methods to investigate the prevalence of mycobacterial infection. Sequence variations of these mycobacterial species were analyzed as well.ResultsDuplex PCR and mnPCR assays could differentiate between MTBC (M. bovis and M. tuberculosis) and M. avium, as well as between M. bovis and M. tuberculosis, respectively. These PCR methods showed a higher detection rate than traditional culture and matched the gross lesions examined in 19 ITT-examined Sambar. Therefore, the mycobacterial infection in blood samples of 314 deer samples was detected using these PCR methods. Duplex PCR and mnPCR showed an identical prevalence of 16.1% in Sambar and 8.2% in Sika and a significant difference in prevalence between these two deer species. M. bovis and M. tuberculosis were the species detected in feedlot Sambar and Sika. M. tuberculosis was found only and first in Sambar fed in central Taiwan. Sequence analysis revealed diverse genetic variations in M. bovis and M. tuberculosis associated with deer subspecies.ConclusionMultiplex PCR methods were established, and M. bovis and M. tuberculosis were identified in feedlot deer in Taiwan. Sequence variations indicated diverse sources of both mycobacterial species

Discontinuity of Maximum Entropy Inference and Quantum Phase Transitions

In this paper, we discuss the connection between two genuinely quantum phenomena --- the discontinuity of quantum maximum entropy inference and quantum phase transitions at zero temperature. It is shown that the discontinuity of the maximum entropy inference of local observable measurements signals the non-local type of transitions, where local density matrices of the ground state change smoothly at the transition point. We then propose to use the quantum conditional mutual information of the ground state as an indicator to detect the discontinuity and the non-local type of quantum phase transitions in the thermodynamic limit.Comment: Major revision. 26 pages, 12 figure

A note on the realignment criterion

For a quantum state in a bipartite system represented as a density matrix, researchers used the realignment matrix and functions on its singular values to study the separability of the quantum state. We obtain bounds for elementary symmetric functions of singular values of realignment matrices. This answers some open problems proposed by Lupo, Aniello, and Scardicchio. As a consequence, we show that the proposed scheme by these authors for testing separability would not work if the two subsystems of the bipartite system have the same dimension.Comment: 11 pages, to appear in Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretica

THE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG LMX, PSYCHOLOGICAL EMPOWERMENT, MOTIVATIONAL ORIENTATIONS AND INNOVATIVE BEHAVIOR

ABSTRACT In the past study, many researchers believed that leader-member exchange (LMX) had a significant influence on employee innovative behavior. This study extends previous research by examining the mediating role played by employee perceived psychological empowerment. This study also explores whether employees" motivational orientations have significant moderating effects on the relationship between employees" psychological empowerment and their innovative behaviors. Finally, this study examines whether the mediating effect of employees" psychological empowerment on the relation between LMX and innovative behaviors is, in turn, moderated by motivational orientations. Data were collected from 359 employees and their immediate supervisors in 46 companies in Taiwan. We tested the proposed relationships with robust data analytic techniques. Results were consistent with the hypothesized conceptual scheme, in that psychological empowerment mediated the relationship between LMX and innovative behavior when intrinsic or extrinsic motivation was high, but not when intrinsic or extrinsic motivation was low. On the basis of these findings, we conclude that the connection between LMX and innovative behavior in situations is more complex than was previously believed -there-by yielding a pattern of moderated mediation. JEL Classifications: M12, C12, L2