11,541 research outputs found
Choreographies in Practice
Choreographic Programming is a development methodology for concurrent
software that guarantees correctness by construction. The key to this paradigm
is to disallow mismatched I/O operations in programs, called choreographies,
and then mechanically synthesise distributed implementations in terms of
standard process models via a mechanism known as EndPoint Projection (EPP).
Despite the promise of choreographic programming, there is still a lack of
practical evaluations that illustrate the applicability of choreographies to
concrete computational problems with standard concurrent solutions. In this
work, we explore the potential of choreographies by using Procedural
Choreographies (PC), a model that we recently proposed, to write distributed
algorithms for sorting (Quicksort), solving linear equations (Gaussian
elimination), and computing Fast Fourier Transform. We discuss the lessons
learned from this experiment, giving possible directions for the usage and
future improvements of choreography languages
Model-Independent Sum Rule Analysis Based on Limited-Range Spectral Data
Partial sum rules are widely used in physics to separate low- and high-energy
degrees of freedom of complex dynamical systems. Their application, though, is
challenged in practice by the always finite spectrometer bandwidth and is often
performed using risky model-dependent extrapolations. We show that, given
spectra of the real and imaginary parts of any causal frequency-dependent
response function (for example, optical conductivity, magnetic susceptibility,
acoustical impedance etc.) in a limited range, the sum-rule integral from zero
to a certain cutoff frequency inside this range can be safely derived using
only the Kramers-Kronig dispersion relations without any extra model
assumptions. This implies that experimental techniques providing both active
and reactive response components independently, such as spectroscopic
ellipsometry in optics, allow an extrapolation-independent determination of
spectral weight 'hidden' below the lowest accessible frequency.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
The Case for International Emission Trade in the Absence of Cooperative Climate Policy
We evaluate the efficacy of international trade in carbon emission permits when countries are guided strictly by their national self-interest. To do so, we construct a calibrated general equilibrium model that jointly describes the world economy and the strategic incentives that guide the design of national abatement policies. Countries' decisions about their participation in a trading system and about their initial permit endowment are made noncooperatively; so a priori it is not clear that permit trade will induce participation in international abatement agreements or that participation will result in significant environmental gains. Despite this, we find that emission trade agreements can be effective; that smaller groupings pairing developing and developed-world partners often perform better than agreements with larger rosters; and that general equilibrium responses play an important role in shaping these outcomes.Global warming, coalitions, general equilibrium, tradable permits
Intraband Optical Spectral Weight in the presence of a van Hove singularity: application to BiSrCaCuO
The Kubo single band sum rule is used to determine the optical spectral
weight of a tight binding band with further than nearest neighbour hopping. We
find for a wide range of parameters and doping concentrations that the change
due to superconductivity at low temperature can be either negative or positive.
In contrast, the kinetic energy change is always negative. We use an ARPES
determined tight binding parametrization of BiSrCaCuO
to investigate whether this can account for recent observations of a positive
change in the spectral weight due to the onset of superconductivity. With this
band structure we find that in the relevant doping regime a straightforward BCS
calculation of the optical spectral weight cannot account for the experimental
observations.Comment: 10 page 9 figure
Power grids vulnerability: a complex network approach
Power grids exhibit patterns of reaction to outages similar to complex
networks. Blackout sequences follow power laws, as complex systems operating
near a critical point. Here, the tolerance of electric power grids to both
accidental and malicious outages is analyzed in the framework of complex
network theory. In particular, the quantity known as efficiency is modified by
introducing a new concept of distance between nodes. As a result, a new
parameter called net-ability is proposed to evaluate the performance of power
grids. A comparison between efficiency and net-ability is provided by
estimating the vulnerability of sample networks, in terms of both the metrics.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures. Figure 2 and table II modified. Typos corrected.
Version accepted for publication in Chao
Neutrophil-Related Oxidants Drive Heart and Brain Remodeling After Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury
The inflammatory response associated with myocardial and brain ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI) is a critical determinant of tissue necrosis, functional organ recovery, and long-term clinical outcomes. In the post-ischemic period, reactive oxygen species (ROS) are involved in tissue repair through the clearance of dead cells and cellular debris. Neutrophils play a critical role in redox signaling due to their early recruitment and the large variety of released ROS. Noteworthy, ROS generated during IRI have a relevant role in both myocardial healing and activation of neuroprotective pathways. Anatomical and functional differences contribute to the responses in the myocardial and brain tissue despite a significant gene overlap. The exaggerated activation of this signaling system can result in adverse consequences, such as cell apoptosis and extracellular matrix degradation. In light of that, blocking the ROS cascade might have a therapeutic implication for cardiomyocyte and neuronal loss after acute ischemic events. The translation of these findings from preclinical models to clinical trials has so far failed because of differences between humans and animals, difficulty of agents to penetrate into specific cellular organs, and specifically unravel oxidant and antioxidant pathways. Here, we update knowledge on ROS cascade in IRI, focusing on the role of neutrophils. We discuss evidence of ROS blockade as a therapeutic approach for myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke
Orchestrating Forest Policy in Italy: Mission Impossible?
In the Italian political and economic agenda the forest sector occupies a marginal role. The forest sector in Italy is characterized by a high institutional fragmentation and centralized decision-making processes dominated by Public Forest Administrations. Public participation in forest policy processes has been implemented since the 1990s at national, regional and local levels in several cases. However, today no significant changes have been observed in the overall governance of the forest sector and stakeholders' involvement in Italian forest policy decision-making is still rather limited. The aims of this paper are to describe the state of forest-related participatory processes in Italy at various levels (national, regional and local) and identify which factors and actors hinder or support the establishment and implementation of participatory forest-related processes in the country. The forest-related participatory processes are analyzed adopting a qualitative-based approach and interpreting interactive, complex and non-linear participatory processes through the lens of panarchy theory
Hungarian International Development Cooperation: Context, Stakeholders and Performance
This paper explores the domestic and international context of Hungary's emerging international development policy. Specifically, it looks at three factors that may influence how this policy operates: membership in the European Union (EU) and potential ‘Europeanization’, Hungary's wider foreign policy strategy, and the influence of domestic stakeholders. In order to uncover how these factors affect the country's international development policy, semi-structured interviews were carried out with the main stakeholders. The main conclusions are: (1) While accession to the EU did play a crucial role in restarting Hungary's international development policy, the integration has had little effect since then; (2) international development policy seems to serve mainly Hungary's regional strategic foreign policy and economic interests, and not its global development goals; and (3) although all the domestic development stakeholders are rather weak, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) still seems to play a dominating role. Convergence with European requirements and best practices is, therefore, clearly hindered by foreign policy interests and also by the weakness of non- governmental stakeholders
Position and velocity space diffusion of test particles in stochastic electromagnetic fields
The two--dimensional diffusive dynamics of test particles in a random
electromagnetic field is studied. The synthetic electromagnetic fluctuations
are generated through randomly placed magnetised ``clouds'' oscillating with a
frequency . We investigate the mean square displacements of particles
in both position and velocity spaces. As increases the particles
undergo standard (Brownian--like) motion, anomalous diffusion and ballistic
motion in position space. Although in general the diffusion properties in
velocity space are not trivially related to those in position space, we find
that energization is present only when particles display anomalous diffusion in
position space. The anomalous character of the diffusion is only in the
non--standard values of the scaling exponents while the process is Gaussian.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure
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