Discrete Scale Relativity

The possibility that global discrete dilation invariance is a fundamental symmetry principle of nature is explored. If the discrete self-similarity observed in nature is exact, then the Principle of General Covariance needs to be broadened in order to accommodate this form of discrete conformal invariance, and a further generalization of relativity theory is required.Comment: 9 pages, minor revisions, accepted at Astrophys. Space Sci., comments welcom

Modelling the Impact of Transport Planning Policy Upon Land Use

In this paper the results from the validation of an integrated land use and transport model are described. The goodness-of-fit for the forecasts are considered not only for the time horizon, but also in terms of the change over time, which is a much more sensitive test. The sensitivity of the land use and transport forecasts to changes in the monetary cost of travel are examined to see to what extent the location of housing, population, employment and jobs, and the journey to work respond to such changes. The spatial effects of these changes are demonstrated by finding the land use distribution for three concentric rings. The influence of land use changes upon time and money expenditure are examined by using the relevant elements of the generalised cost functions with the trip matrices computed under three different assumptions when the monetary cost of travel is varied: keeping modal split and land use constant, keeping only land use constant, and allowing both to respond. The paper is concluded with discussion of further model improvements and applications of the model

The Influence of Surface Detail on Object Identification in Alzheimer's Patients and Healthy Participants

Image format (Laws, Adlington, Gale, Moreno-Martínez, & Sartori, 2007), ceiling effects in controls (Fung et al., 2001; Laws et al., 2005; Moreno-Martínez, & Laws, 2007; 2008), and nuisance variables (Funnell & De Mornay Davis, 1996; Funnell & Sheridan, 1992; Stewart, Parkin & Hunkin, 1992) all influence the emergence of category specific deficits in Alzheimer‟s dementia (AD). Thus, the predominant use of line drawings of familiar, everyday items in category specific research is problematic. Moreover, this does not allow researchers to explore the extent to which format may influence object recognition. As such, the initial concern of this thesis was the development of a new corpus of 147 colour images of graded naming difficulty, the Hatfield Image Test (HIT; Adlington, Laws, & Gale, 2009), and the collection of relevant normative data including ratings of: age of acquisition, colour diagnosticity, familiarity, name agreement, visual complexity, and word frequency. Furthermore, greyscale and line-drawn versions of the HIT corpus were developed (and again, the associated normative data obtained), to permit research into the influence of image format on the emergence of category specific effects in patients with AD, and in healthy controls. Using the HIT, several studies were conducted including: (i) a normative investigation of the effects of category and image format on naming accuracy and latencies in healthy controls; (ii) an exploration of the effects of image format (using the HIT images presented in colour, greyscale, and line-drawn formats) and category on the naming performance of AD patients, and age-matched controls performing below ceiling; (iii) a longitudinal investigation comparing AD patient performance to that of age-matched controls, on a range of semantic tasks (naming, sorting, word-picture matching), using colour, greyscale, and line-drawn versions of the HIT; (iv) a comparison of naming in AD patients and age-matched controls on the HIT and the (colour, greyscale and line-drawn) images from the Snodgrass and Vanderwart (1980) corpus; and (v) a meta-analysis to explore category specific naming in AD using the Snodgrass and Vanderwart (1980) versus other corpora. Taken together, the results of these investigations showed first, that image format interacts with category. For both AD patients and controls, colour is more important for the recognition of living things, with a significant nonliving advantage emerging for the line-drawn images, but not the colour images. Controls benefitted more from additional surface information than AD patients, which chapter 6 shows results from low-level visual cortical impairment in AD. For controls, format was also more important for the recognition of low familiarity, low frequency items. In addition, the findings show that adequate control data affects the emergence of category specific deficits in AD. Specifically, based on within-group comparison chapters 6, 7, and 8 revealed a significant living deficit in AD patients. However, when compared to controls performing below ceiling, as demonstrated in chapters 7 and 8, this deficit was only significant for the line drawings, showing that the performance observed in AD patients is simply an exaggeration of the norm

The biographical construction of Robert Fergusson, 1774-1900

This article traces the biographical construction of Robert Fergusson from his death to the nineteenth-century biography by A.B. Grosart. It explores the influence of Romanticism, the Burns cult and the literature of sensibility on the construction of Fergusson's life, and explores some fictional representations of the poet

Some Issues in Modelling the Impact of Changes in Transport Costs on Residential and Employment Locations.

This paper is written as part of a project on the effects of increases in rail fares on location and commuting decisions in London and South East England. The main theme of the paper is the relationship between accessibility and locational choice. The various factors determining the choice of residence, and to a lesser extent, job, are discussed, in particular, the importance of accessibility in the process. A wide variety of urban locational models are then discussed, in particular frm the point of view of how accessibility is taken into account. The models described are urban economic, spatial. interaction, regression, disaggregate and demographic. A model of the relationships between land use and transport that has already been applied elsewhere is then examined in terms of its suitability for analysis of the processes being studied in this project. A variety of possible extensions to the model are then put forward including the treatment of interaction with the rest of the country, the relationship between transport costs and the overall level of activity in the study area, the use of the different transport costs for different purposes, and an accounting framework including population, households and employment. The implication of these ideas for the survey are then discussed. The conclusion of this work is that the problem should be divided into a set of topics, with a variety of different analytical techniques being used, rather than a single comprehensive model of all the relevant decision processes involved in the impact of rail fares on location and commuting in London and South East England

Loschmidt echo for a chaotic oscillator

Chaotic dynamics of a nonlinear oscillator is considered in the semiclassical approximation. The Loschmidt echo is calculated for a time scale which is of the power law in semiclassical parameter. It is shown that an exponential decay of the Loschmidt echo is due to a Lyapunov exponent and it has a pure classical nature.Comment: Submit to PR

CAUSALITY, MEMORY ERASING AND DELAYED CHOICE EXPERIMENTS

Comment on [R.L. Ingraham, Phys. Rev. A 50, 4502 (1994)]. Ingraham suggested ``a delayed-choice experiment with partial, controllable memory erasing''. It is shown that he cannot be right since his predictions contradict relativistic causality. A subtle quantum effect which was overlooked by Ingraham is explained.Comment: 4 pages, LaTe

A displacement-based design method for medium rise reinforced concrete walls [Un método de diseño basado en desplazamientos para muros de hormigon reforzado de mediana altura]

In displacementbased design methods some demand considerations, starting from the first mode of vibration, are usually made. However, some authors have called the attention on the importance of taking the higher modes into account, due to their influence in the distribution and demand of both, moments and shears along the vertical elements, with significant effects. In this work, the method presented allows to consider, in a practical way, the effect of the higher modes on the seismic response of a structure. The proposal to achieve it, is a simplified model of Three Degree of Fredom developed from a mass concentration of four points equally distant along the building height. This method corresponds to an iterative process, in which the analysis and design procedures are carried out simultaneously, thus, avoiding considerations or suppositions on resistance and ductility values. This method has been applied to the structural walls of a 15storey building. The results obtained show the efficiency of the method in terms of the proposed objectives achievement and the fast converging of the iterative process involved. The effect of the higher modes is extremely noticeable in the distribution of shear stresses and the use of an initial pre-dimensioning involving the reinforcement, allows consistency between the analysis and the structural design

Studies on Hong Kong hepatics : 2., notes on some newly recorded liverworts from Hong Kong

Based on field work and herbarium studies, 44 species belonging to 21 genera and 11 families of hepatics are newly reported for Hong Kong. A first checklist of liverworts and hornworts in Hong Kong is also included

Studies on Hong Kong Cheilolejeunea with two species new to China

Five species of the genus Cheilolejeunea are reported from Hong Kong. Among them, Cheilolejeunea osumiensis (Hatt.) Mizut. and Cheilolejeunea ryukyuensis Mizut. are new to China. Cheilolejeunea intertexta (Lindenb.) Steph. is newly reported for China except Taiwan, and Cheilolejeunea trifaria (Reinw. et al.) Mizut. is documented for the first time for mainland China except Hainan and Taiwan. The detailed description and illustration of Cheilolejeunea osumiensis as well as the key to the five Cheilolejeunea species of Hong Kong are also presented