Collaborative Development and Evaluation of Text-processing Workflows in a UIMA-supported Web-based Workbench

Challenges in creating comprehensive text-processing worklows include a lack of the interoperability of individual components coming from different providers and/or a requirement imposed on the end users to know programming techniques to compose such workflows. In this paper we demonstrate Argo, a web-based system that addresses these issues in several ways. It supports the widely adopted Unstructured Information Management Architecture (UIMA), which handles the problem of interoperability; it provides a web browser-based interface for developing workflows by drawing diagrams composed of a selection of available processing components; and it provides novel user-interactive analytics such as the annotation editor which constitutes a bridge between automatic processing and manual correction. These features extend the target audience of Argo to users with a limited or no technical background. Here, we focus specifically on the construction of advanced workflows, involving multiple branching and merging points, to facilitate various comparative evalutions. Together with the use of user-collaboration capabilities supported in Argo, we demonstrate several use cases including visual inspections, comparisions of multiple processing segments or complete solutions against a reference standard, inter-annotator agreement, and shared task mass evaluations. Ultimetely, Argo emerges as a one-stop workbench for defining, processing, editing and evaluating text processing tasks

Probing jet properties via two particle correlation method

The formulae for calculating jet fragmentation momentum, $$, and parton transverse momentum,$$, and conditional yield are discussed in two particle correlation framework. Additional corrections are derived to account for the limited detector acceptance and inefficiency, for cases when the event mixing technique is used. The validity of our approach is confirmed with Monte-carlo simulation.Comment: Proceeding for HotQuarks2004 conference. 11 pages, 8 figures, corrected for typo

Different fractal properties of positive and negative returns

We perform an analysis of fractal properties of the positive and the negative changes of the German DAX30 index separately using Multifractal Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (MFDFA). By calculating the singularity spectra $f(\alpha)$ we show that returns of both signs reveal multiscaling. Curiously, these spectra display a significant difference in the scaling properties of returns with opposite sign. The negative price changes are ruled by stronger temporal correlations than the positive ones, what is manifested by larger values of the corresponding H\"{o}lder exponents. As regards the properties of dominant trends, a bear market is more persistent than the bull market irrespective of the sign of fluctuations.Comment: presented at FENS2007 conference, 8 pages, 4 Fig

The foreign exchange market: return distributions, multifractality, anomalous multifractality and Epps effect

We present a systematic study of various statistical characteristics of high-frequency returns from the foreign exchange market. This study is based on six exchange rates forming two triangles: EUR-GBP-USD and GBP-CHF-JPY. It is shown that the exchange rate return fluctuations for all the pairs considered are well described by the nonextensive statistics in terms of q-Gaussians. There exist some small quantitative variations in the nonextensivity q-parameter values for different exchange rates and this can be related to the importance of a given exchange rate in the world's currency trade. Temporal correlations organize the series of returns such that they develop the multifractal characteristics for all the exchange rates with a varying degree of symmetry of the singularity spectrum f(alpha) however. The most symmetric spectrum is identified for the GBP/USD. We also form time series of triangular residual returns and find that the distributions of their fluctuations develop disproportionately heavier tails as compared to small fluctuations which excludes description in terms of q-Gaussians. The multifractal characteristics for these residual returns reveal such anomalous properties like negative singularity exponents and even negative singularity spectra. Such anomalous multifractal measures have so far been considered in the literature in connection with the diffusion limited aggregation and with turbulence. We find that market inefficiency on short time scales leads to the occurrence of the Epps effect on much longer time scales. Although the currency market is much more liquid than the stock markets and it has much larger transaction frequency, the building-up of correlations takes up to several hours - time that does not differ much from what is observed in the stock markets. This may suggest that non-synchronicity of transactions is not the unique source of the observed effect

Calabi-Yau Orbifolds and Torus Coverings

The theory of coverings of the two-dimensional torus is a standard part of algebraic topology and has applications in several topics in string theory, for example, in topological strings. This paper initiates applications of this theory to the counting of orbifolds of toric Calabi-Yau singularities, with particular attention to Abelian orbifolds of C^D. By doing so, the work introduces a novel analytical method for counting Abelian orbifolds, verifying previous algorithm results. One identifies a p-fold cover of the torus T^{D-1} with an Abelian orbifold of the form C^D/Z_p, for any dimension D and a prime number p. The counting problem leads to polynomial equations modulo p for a given Abelian subgroup of S_D, the group of discrete symmetries of the toric diagram for C^D. The roots of the polynomial equations correspond to orbifolds of the form C^D/Z_p, which are invariant under the corresponding subgroup of S_Ds. In turn, invariance under this subgroup implies a discrete symmetry for the corresponding quiver gauge theory, as is clearly seen by its brane tiling formulation.Comment: 33 pages, 5 figures, 7 tables; version published on JHE

Шляхи посилення захисних властивостей і стійкості лісів Скибових Горган

In the complex of polyfunctional role of the Carpathian mountain forests the prominent place belongs to their stability and protective properties. In particular, this applies to the Gorgany landscape with fairly complex forest-related and geomorphological natural conditions that contribute to the most serious development of the Carpathian region for harmful natural phenomena. Distribution of forests and natural phenomena in the Gorgany region is characterized by high-altitude changes. The share of spruce stands is quite rapidly increasing from 600 m above the sea level, becoming continuously spreading with a height of 1150 m. At the same time, in this direction, the proportion of fir and beech plantings decreases, which respectively disappear at gipsometric levels of 1000 and 1200 m. The greatest number of harmful processes is inherent in anthropogenically altered landscapes of low mountains with beech and fir forests, somewhat smaller – for the buckwheat, fir-spruce and spruce forests. Distribution of forests and natural phenomena in Gorgany region is characterized by high-altitude changes. The forest cover of the catchments here grows from 45–50 % at the foot of the mountains to 90–95 % in the upper spruce belt. The share of spruce stands is quite rapidly increasing from 600 m above the sea level, becoming continuously spreading with a height of 1150 m. At the same time, in this direction, the proportion of fir and beech plantings decreases, which respectively disappear at gipsometric levels of 1000 and 1200 m. The greatest number of harmful processes is inherent in anthropogenically altered landscapes of low mountains with beech and fir forests, somewhat smaller – for the buckwheat, fir-spruce and spruce forests. The main ways of preventing harmful events are the optimization of forests and the creation of protective stands in the lowlands, the restoration of indigenous forest plantations in all zones, the ecologization of the main felling sites and their technologies. The auxiliary measures include the treatment of watercourses from deforestation, recultivation of drafts and water retention of surface drainage on logs, raising the upper boundary of the forest and preventing snow avalanches, as well as afforestation of rocky debris and sedentary areas. For all six basins of the main Gorgany rivers, the planning and implementation of inter-sectoral environmental measures is very topical.Охарактеризовано природні умови, лісистість водозборів і породний склад лісів гірського ландшафту Скибових Горган в Українських Карпатах. Наведено емпіричні залежності лісових площ, відсотка лісистості та часток ялинових, ялицевих і букових насаджень від гіпсометричних рівнів гірських водозборів. Висвітлено динаміку лісового покриву за останні 40 років. Проаналізовано поширення шкідливих стихійних явищ – снігових лавин, паводкового стоку, ерозійно-селевих, осипних і зсувних процесів, а також вітровалів і сніголомів лісу та всихання ялинників для різних висотних поясів і смуг рослинності –ялинових, буково-ялицево-ялинових і буково-ялицевих лісів. Рекомендовано систему лісівничо-технічних, лісівничо-фітомеліоративних, лісогосподарських і комплексних природоохоронних заходів щодо запобігання шкідливим процесам для різних висотних рівнів гірських схилів. Запропоновано шляхи застосування основних і допоміжних заходів протидії стихії. Відзначено актуальність оптимізації лісистості водозборів, відтворення корінних лісостанів, природоощадного вдосконалення рубок головного користування і ведення лісового господарства на водозбірному принципі. Наведено сучасні й оптимальні для водоохоронно-захисної ролі та стійкості лісів показники лісистості водозборів і частки ялинових насаджень у межах висотних смуг і поясів рослинності. Висвітлено основні напрями міжгалузевої природоохоронної діяльності на головних річкових басейнах Горган

Measurement of the dynamic charge response of materials using low-energy, momentum-resolved electron energy-loss spectroscopy (M-EELS)

One of the most fundamental properties of an interacting electron system is its frequency- and wave-vector-dependent density response function, $\chi({\bf q},\omega)$. The imaginary part, $\chi''({\bf q},\omega)$, defines the fundamental bosonic charge excitations of the system, exhibiting peaks wherever collective modes are present. $\chi$ quantifies the electronic compressibility of a material, its response to external fields, its ability to screen charge, and its tendency to form charge density waves. Unfortunately, there has never been a fully momentum-resolved means to measure $\chi({\bf q},\omega)$ at the meV energy scale relevant to modern elecronic materials. Here, we demonstrate a way to measure $\chi$ with quantitative momentum resolution by applying alignment techniques from x-ray and neutron scattering to surface high-resolution electron energy-loss spectroscopy (HR-EELS). This approach, which we refer to here as "M-EELS," allows direct measurement of $\chi''({\bf q},\omega)$ with meV resolution while controlling the momentum with an accuracy better than a percent of a typical Brillouin zone. We apply this technique to finite-q excitations in the optimally-doped high temperature superconductor, Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+x}$ (Bi2212), which exhibits several phonons potentially relevant to dispersion anomalies observed in ARPES and STM experiments. Our study defines a path to studying the long-sought collective charge modes in quantum materials at the meV scale and with full momentum control.Comment: 26 pages, 10 sections, 7 figures, and an appendi

Quantitative features of multifractal subtleties in time series

Based on the Multifractal Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (MFDFA) and on the Wavelet Transform Modulus Maxima (WTMM) methods we investigate the origin of multifractality in the time series. Series fluctuating according to a qGaussian distribution, both uncorrelated and correlated in time, are used. For the uncorrelated series at the border (q=5/3) between the Gaussian and the Levy basins of attraction asymptotically we find a phase-like transition between monofractal and bifractal characteristics. This indicates that these may solely be the specific nonlinear temporal correlations that organize the series into a genuine multifractal hierarchy. For analyzing various features of multifractality due to such correlations, we use the model series generated from the binomial cascade as well as empirical series. Then, within the temporal ranges of well developed power-law correlations we find a fast convergence in all multifractal measures. Besides of its practical significance this fact may reflect another manifestation of a conjectured q-generalized Central Limit Theorem