4,406 research outputs found
The Snow Border
Context. The study of the snow line is an important topic in several domains
of astrophysics, and particularly for the evolution of proto-stellar
environments and the formation of planets. Aims. The formation of the first
layer of ice on carbon grains requires low temperatures compared to the
temperature of evaporation (T > 100 K). This asymmetry generates a zone in
which bare and icy dust grains coexist. Methods. We use Monte-Carlo simulations
to describe the formation time scales of ice mantles on bare grains in
protostellar disks and massive protostars environments. Then we analytically
describe these two systems in terms of grain populations subject to infall and
turbulence, and assume steady-state. Results. Our results show that there is an
extended region beyond the snow line where icy and bare grains can coexist, in
both proto-planetary disks and massive protostars. This zone is not negligible
compared to the total size of the objects: on the order of 0.4 AU for
proto-planetary disks and 5400 AU for high-mass protostars. Times to reach the
steady-state are respectively es- timated from 10^2 to 10^5 yr. Conclusions.
The presence of a zone, a so-called snow border, in which bare and icy grains
co- exist can have a major impact on our knowledge of protostellar
environments. From a theoretical point of view, the progression of icy grains
to bare grains as the temperature increases, could be a realistic way to model
hot cores and hot corinos. Also, in this zone, the formation of planetesimals
will require the coagulation of bare and icy grains. Observationally, this zone
allows high abundances of gas phase species at large scales, for massive
protostars particularly, even at low temperatures (down to 50 K).Comment: accepted in A&
Memoization for Unary Logic Programming: Characterizing PTIME
We give a characterization of deterministic polynomial time computation based
on an algebraic structure called the resolution semiring, whose elements can be
understood as logic programs or sets of rewriting rules over first-order terms.
More precisely, we study the restriction of this framework to terms (and logic
programs, rewriting rules) using only unary symbols. We prove it is complete
for polynomial time computation, using an encoding of pushdown automata. We
then introduce an algebraic counterpart of the memoization technique in order
to show its PTIME soundness. We finally relate our approach and complexity
results to complexity of logic programming. As an application of our
techniques, we show a PTIME-completeness result for a class of logic
programming queries which use only unary function symbols.Comment: Soumis {\`a} LICS 201
Comparisons of Heterogeneous Distributions and Dominance Criteria
We are interested in the comparisons of standard-of-living across societies when observations of both income and household structure are available. We generalise the approach of Atkinson and Bourguignon (1987) to the case where the marginal distributions of needs can vary across the household populations under comparison. We assume that a sympathetic observer uses a utilitarian social welfare function in order to rank heterogeneous income distributions. Insofar as any individual can play the role of the observer, we take the unanimity point of view according to which the plannerâs judgements have to comply with a certain number of basic normative principles. We impose increasingly restrictive conditions on the householdâs utility function and we investigate their effects on the resulting rankings of the distributions. This leads us to propose four dominance criteria that can be used for providing an unambiguous ranking of income distributions for heterogeneous populations.Normative Analysis, Utilitarianism, Welfarism, Multidimensional Inequality and Welfare, Bidimensional Stochastic Dominance, Inequality Reducing Transformations.
Smarter Programming of the Female Condom: Increasing Its Impact on HIV Prevention in the Developing World
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relative value of the female condom for HIV prevention within heterosexual relationships in the developing world. In the last ten years, the world has witnessed both historic financial commitments to HIV/AIDS and new prevention options, including biomedical prevention research, male circumcision, and a dramatic scale-up of voluntary counseling and testing. At the same time, where HIV remains at epidemic levels in many countries, there has been a growing commitment to treatment access alongside prevention programs. However, portions of populations, particularly youth and women, remain highly vulnerable to HIV infection. Accordingly, the global health community can benefit from a better understanding of how existing prevention options should be effectively and efficiently delivered to reduce HIV in the developing world. This report provides guidance for the global health community for considering how the female condom fits within the set of prevention interventions currently available
What determines HIV prevention costs at scale?:Evidence from the Avahan Programme in India
Expanding essential health services through nonâgovernment organisations (NGOs) is a central strategy for achieving universal health coverage in many lowâincome and middleâincome countries. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention services for key populations are commonly delivered through NGOs and have been demonstrated to be costâeffective and of substantial global public health importance. However, funding for HIV prevention remains scarce, and there are growing calls internationally to improve the efficiency of HIV prevention programmes as a key strategy to reach global HIV targets. To date, there is limited evidence on the determinants of costs of HIV prevention delivered through NGOs; and thus, policymakers have little guidance in how best to design programmes that are both effective and efficient. We collected economic costs from the Indian Avahan initiative, the largest HIV prevention project conducted globally, during the first 4 years of its implementation. We use a fixedâeffect panel estimator and a randomâintercept model to investigate the determinants of average cost. We find that programme design choices such as NGO scale, the extent of community involvement, the way in which support is offered to NGOs and how clinical services are organised substantially impact average cost in a grantâbased payment setting. © 2016 The Authors. Health Economics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd
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