Cambridge Univ Research Articles

Combinatorial approach to the interpolation method and scaling limits in sparse random graphs

We establish the existence of free energy limits for several combinatorial models on Erd\"{o}s-R\'{e}nyi graph $\mathbb {G}(N,\lfloor cN\rfloor)$ and random $r$-regular graph $\mathbb {G}(N,r)$. For a variety of models, including independent sets, MAX-CUT, coloring and K-SAT, we prove that the free energy both at a positive and zero temperature, appropriately rescaled, converges to a limit as the size of the underlying graph diverges to infinity. In the zero temperature case, this is interpreted as the existence of the scaling limit for the corresponding combinatorial optimization problem. For example, as a special case we prove that the size of a largest independent set in these graphs, normalized by the number of nodes converges to a limit w.h.p. This resolves an open problem which was proposed by Aldous (Some open problems) as one of his six favorite open problems. It was also mentioned as an open problem in several other places: Conjecture 2.20 in Wormald [In Surveys in Combinatorics, 1999 (Canterbury) (1999) 239-298 Cambridge Univ. Press]; Bollob\'{a}s and Riordan [Random Structures Algorithms 39 (2011) 1-38]; Janson and Thomason [Combin. Probab. Comput. 17 (2008) 259-264] and Aldous and Steele [In Probability on Discrete Structures (2004) 1-72 Springer].

Numerical simulations of Jupiter’s moist convection layer: Structure and dynamics in statistically steady states

A series of long-term numerical simulations of moist convection in Jupiter’s atmosphere is performed in order to investigate the idealized characteristics of the vertical structure of multi-composition clouds and the convective motions associated with them, varying the deep abundances of condensable gases and the autoconversion time scale, the latter being one of the most questionable parameters in cloud microphysical parameterization. The simulations are conducted using a two-dimensional cloud resolving model that explicitly represents the convective motion and microphysics of the three cloud components, H2O, NH3, and NH4SH imposing a body cooling that substitutes the net radiative cooling. The results are qualitatively similar to those reported in Sugiyama et al. (Sugiyama, K. et al. [2011]. Intermittent cumulonimbus activity breaking the three-layer cloud structure of Jupiter. Geophys. Res. Lett. 38, L13201. doi:10.1029/2011GL047878): stable layers associated with condensation and chemical reaction act as effective dynamical and compositional boundaries, intense cumulonimbus clouds develop with distinct temporal intermittency, and the active transport associated with these clouds results in the establishment of mean vertical profiles of condensates and condensable gases that are distinctly different from the hitherto accepted three-layered structure (e.g., Atreya, S.K., Romani, P.N. [1985]. Photochemistry and clouds of Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus. In: Recent Advances in Planetary Meteorology. Cambridge Univ. Press, London, pp. 17–68). Our results also demonstrate that the period of intermittent cloud activity is roughly proportional to the deep abundance of H2O gas. The autoconversion time scale does not strongly affect the results, except for the vertical profiles of the condensates. Changing the autoconversion time scale by a factor of 100 changes the intermittency period by a factor of less than two, although it causes a dramatic increase in the amount of condensates in the upper troposphere.The moist convection layer becomes potentially unstable with respect to an air parcel rising from below the H2O lifting condensation level (LCL) well before the development of cumulonimbus clouds. The instability accumulates until an appropriate trigger is provided by the H2O condensate that falls down through the H2O LCL; the H2O condensate drives a downward flow below the H2O LCL as a result of the latent cooling associated with the re-evaporation of the condensate, and the returning updrafts carry moist air from below to the moist convection layer. Active cloud development is terminated when the instability is completely exhausted. The period of intermittency is roughly equal to the time obtained by dividing the mean temperature increase, which is caused by active cumulonimbus development, by the body cooling rate.

Ecosystem Services: Response

C. Obst et al. provide a welcome opportunity to clarify the difference between environmental-economic cost-benefit analyses (such as ours) and environmental accounting exercises [such as the UN-SEEA ([ 1 ][1], [ 2 ][2]) initiative]. Accounting studies attempt to assess the total value of goods related to ecosystem services in a manner comparable to that used for market-priced goods in national accounts. A decline in the ecosystem services account over time signals a potential need to invest in underlying natural capital. However, such accounts do not indicate the most cost-effective form of that investment. Environmental economic analyses such as ours typically consider changes in value from the status quo that alternative investments provide, and identify those that yield higher value for money. The two approaches are complements rather than substitutes and serve differing but highly compatible elements of the decision-making process. A. Graham et al. criticize our use of “the value of nonmarket goods such as biodiversity.” Although we valued nonmarket greenhouse gas emissions and recreation, we explicitly did not attempt to define biodiversity in terms of economic values; instead, we applied a quantitative constraint prohibiting the degradation of biodiversity within our scenario analyses and examined the costs this would entail, finding them to be minor relative to other values. Graham et al. 's critique that we should not compare nonmarket values for ecosystem services with the market price of agricultural output ignores the fact that, as stated, we are conducting an economic analysis of marginal changes from the status quo and not attempting to assess the total value of food. In such assessments of changes, the use of market prices is standard ([ 3 ][3]). Indeed, there is an argument ([ 3 ][3]) that such analyses should subtract subsidies (including income support), which would reduce agricultural values ([ 4 ][4]). Graham et al. also question the possible increase in yields attributable to climate change. We do believe that UK farming will generally benefit from warmer temperatures but caution that [as detailed in ([ 5 ][5])] within areas of lower rainfall, increased drought could potentially reduce or even reverse these gains. We agree with R. Aspinall and P. Gregory that it would be better to consider net profits rather than farm gate prices, although again this would have reduced estimates of agricultural values. The need to link land use to its ecosystem service impacts favored our use of Agricultural Census ([ 6 ][6]) data, which omits profits. We are currently addressing this through a link to the Farm Business Survey ([ 7 ][7]) database. However, we disagree with the authors' contention that we should have included the added-value of post-farm food processing. Aside from the fact that the UK food processing industry is a major importer of non-UK produce, such an approach would be analogous to valuing timber at the price of fine furniture. It is the raw material value that is relevant here. Similarly, our analysis explicitly links agricultural land use to its impacts on the ecosystem service considered. 1. [↵][8] United Nations, European Commission, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, International Monetary Fund, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, World Bank, “System of Environmental-Economic Accounting 2012: Central Framework, prepublication (white cover)” (2012); . 2. [↵][9] United Nations, European Commission, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, World Bank, “System of Environmental-Economic Accounting 2012: Experimental Ecosystem Accounting, pre-publication (white cover)” (2013); [http://unstats.un.org/unsd/envaccounting/eea\_white\_cover.pdf][10]. 3. [↵][11] 1. H. M. Treasury , The Green Book: Appraisal and Evaluation in Central Government (The Stationery Office, London, 2003). 4. [↵][12] 1. I. J. Bateman, 2. A. A. Lovett, 3. J. S. Brainard , Applied Environmental Economics: A GIS Approach to Cost-Benefit Analysis (Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 2003). 5. [↵][13] 1. C. Fezzi 2. et al ., Env. Res. Econ., 10.1007/s10640-013-9663-x (2013). doi:10.1007/s10640-013-9663-x [OpenUrl][14][CrossRef][15] 6. [↵][16] Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, June Agricultural Census (Edina, Manchester, UK, 2010). 7. [↵][17] Rural Business Research, “Farm Business Survey” (2013); [www.fbspartnership.co.uk][18]. [1]: #ref-1 [2]: #ref-2 [3]: #ref-3 [4]: #ref-4 [5]: #ref-5 [6]: #ref-6 [7]: #ref-7 [8]: #xref-ref-1-1 View reference 1 in text [9]: #xref-ref-2-1 View reference 2 in text [10]: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/envaccounting/eea_white_cover.pdf [11]: #xref-ref-3-1 View reference 3 in text [12]: #xref-ref-4-1 View reference 4 in text [13]: #xref-ref-5-1 View reference 5 in text [14]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DEnv.%2BRes.%2BEcon.%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Adoi%252F10.1007%252Fs10640-013-9663-x%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [15]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=10.1007/s10640-013-9663-x&link_type=DOI [16]: #xref-ref-6-1 View reference 6 in text [17]: #xref-ref-7-1 View reference 7 in text [18]: http://www.fbspartnership.co.uk

American Politicians Confront the Court: Opposition Politics and Changing Responses to Judicial Power. By Stephen M. Engel. New York: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2011. 408 pp. $32.99 paper.

American Politicians Confront the Court: Opposition Politics and Changing Responses to Judicial Power. By Stephen M. Engel. New York: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2011. 408 pp. $32.99 paper.In his engrossing study of the interactions of elected officials and the Supreme Court, Stephen Engel finds scholarly literature inadequate to explain a history in which hostilities recur while judicial authority appears to have become more secure over time. Scholars who simply trace anti-Court sentiment to the justices' unelected status cannot account for the leavening over time of politicians' responses. By contrast, studies that focus on the development of a norm of judicial supremacy cannot explain the continued efforts of politicians to draftbills that undercut judicial authority. Engel has a greater appreciation for scholars who maintain that judicial power serves to entrench partisan policy aims. Yet these studies fail to consider how politicians' preferences for judicial power have changed over the past 200 plus years and mistakenly treat elected branch hostility toward the judiciary as an aberration.Engel's central claim is that anti-judicial animus reflects politicians' changing ideas about the threat posed by formed, stable, and permanent (8). He grounds his perspective on the relationship between politicians and the Court in the shiftin American political culture from the idiom of civic republicanism, which emphasized a uniform notion of the common good and equated stable opposition with civic instability, to the idiom of liberal pluralism, which regards partisan competition as a sign of a healthy body politic. This developmental theory posits that political efforts to control judicial power will not so much decline as change over time.From the Founding era through the midnineteenth century, when Americans embraced the idiom of civic republicanism, politicians accepted the notion of a fixed Constitution, the meaning of which was discoverable through textual analysis. Politicians thus viewed political parties and stable opposition as threats to a regime unified around a proper understanding of that foundational document. Carrying this idea into the realm of judicial behavior, if judges offered a vision that challenged the commitments underlying the presidential administration and/or the ruling party in Congress, they would be seen to represent not simply an alternative vision of the good but a fundamental threat to civic stability (58). Under these circumstances, action took the form of blunt instruments that sought to undermine the legitimacy of the Court.The Civil War marked a turning point in constitutional development. …

The Nature of Supreme Court Power. By Matthew E. K. Hall. New York: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2011. 262 pp. $94.00 cloth. - Merely Judgment: Ignoring, Evading, and Trumping the Supreme Court. By Martin J. Sweet. Charlottesville and London: Univ. of Virginia Press, 2010. 240 pp. $35.00 cloth.

The Nature of Supreme Court Power. By Matthew E. K. Hall. New York: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2011. 262 pp. $94.00 cloth.Merely Judgment: Ignoring, Evading, and Trumping Supreme Court. By Martin J. Sweet. Charlottesville and London: Univ. of Virginia Press, 2010. 240 pp. $35.00 clothMatthew E. K. Hall's The Nature of Supreme Court Power and Martin J. Sweet's Merely Judgment are impressive books considerably advance our knowledge about implementation and impact of Supreme Court decisions. Hall frames his study as a direct response to Gerald Rosenberg's thesis Court (and generally) 'can almost never be effective producers of significant social reform' (xiii; 160, quoting Rosenberg 2008: 422). Moreover, Hall argues, Rosenberg's view is emblematic of decided weight of scholarly authority on nature of Court's power. The Court is generally seen as a highly constrained and weak institution (13-15). By contrast, Hall finds that Court possesses remarkable power to alter behavior of [other] actors in a wide range of policy (160). Sweet wants to make a different argument. He claims political institutions enjoy considerable discretion in deciding whether and how to follow Court, because they can often defang would be plaintiffs (5). Obviously, both authors cannot be right. As is often case, as between Hall and Sweet, different theoretical approaches play a part in competing interpretations. Notwithstanding different approaches in play here, it seems to me for most part, Hall is right, and Sweet is wrong, although Sweet's study is well done and informative in many ways.Like Rosenberg, Hall is committed to social scientific positivism. Through an objective case selection method (27, and Appendix I), he pinpoints no less than 57 important cases decided between 1954 and 2006, which he then groups into 27 issue areas for purposes of impact analysis. Hall's conception of power, like Rosenberg's, is one-dimensional: 'A power relation, actual or potential, is an actual or potential relation between preferences of an actor regarding an outcome and outcome itself ' (7, quoting Nagel 1975). Hall's study, notwithstanding its incredible scope, is limited to seeking to observe whether Court changes behavior of other actors in cases in which it actually attempts to do so by striking down laws.The question is Under what conditions is Court powerful? (14). The independent variables are twofold: (1) the context of a decision, and (2) degree of popular opposition to a decision. The first of these brings us to Hall's great insight. Vast research demonstrates lower are generally faithful and reliable implementers of Court decisions (16). By institutional Hall means the distinction between Supreme Court rulings can and cannot be implemented by lower courts (5). He calls issues for which lower are primary in implementation process issues, and issues for which they are not issues. He codes every case as either vertical or lateral. For popular opinion, Hall relies exclusively on public opinion data. This elegant model thus yields a two-by-two framework for inquiry. Hall hypothesizes only very strong popular opposition in a lateral issue can defeat Court when it intends to alter behavior, and it follows Court can prevail over public opposition (even very strong opposition) in vertical cases, but not lateral ones. It then remains for Hall to specify relevant intended outcomes of Court's decisions, and to find good data can show us whether actors changed their behavior in response to them. Hall is well aware his analysis is shot through with interpretation and judgment calls. To his credit, he does not try to standardize his measures across cases, but rather clearly lays out his thinking about what research and information is available, which indicators or measures make most sense in a given context, and so on. …

Authoritarian Rule of Law: Legislation, Discourse and Legitimacy in Singapore. By Jothie Rajah. New York: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2012. 352 pp. $29.99 paper.

Authoritarian Rule of Law: Legislation, Discourse and Legitimacy in Singapore. By Jothie Rajah. New York: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2012. 352 pp. $29.99 paper.Despite its status as one of the most dynamic global economies that is buttressed by a sizeable educated middle class, Singapore has remained a one-party-dominant authoritarian state governed by the People's Action Party (PAP) since 1959. The city-state's authoritarian longevity stands in stark contrast to other comparable developmental states in East Asia, such as Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, whose democratic trajectories have conformed to the modernization theory of political development. Not surprisingly, the city-state has become a popular destination for senior state functionaries from authoritarian regimes in China, Vietnam, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe eager to emulate the institutional and ideational components of the Singaporean political and economic model.Instructively, many critical scholarly works that have interrogated the Singapore governance model have been written and published beyond its borders. In this mold, Jothie Rajah's Authoritarian Rule of Law: Legislation, Discourse and Legitimacy in Singapore adds to the growing list of penetrating works on Singapore's authoritarian governance written by Singaporean scholars based overseas. In the preface, Rajah frankly acknowledges the intellectual benefit of writing about Singapore from distant shores: I have found it invaluable to exit the ideological fortress that Singapore can sometimes be in order to peel off, layer by layer, some of the assumptions embedded in Singapore speak-assumptions that have, until recently, been invisible to me (xv).The book focuses on the way the Singaporean state has manipulated the rule of while dismantling the constitutional and civil rights of its citizens through rule by processes. Rajah asserts that the law has been pivotal in legitimizing and consolidating the authoritarian state while subverting the dispersal of power that is inherent in plural democracies. In other words, the rule of has served as a crucial prop for the authoritarian state (284). Legislative initiatives have undermined opposition parties (Chapter 3), dismantled the independent press (Chapter 4), and stunted the development of an autonomous civil society (Chapters 5, 6, and 7). These claims, in effect, challenge the veracity of ratings agencies and organizations such as the World Bank Report of Governance, IMD World Competitiveness Report, Transparency International Corruption Perception Index and the World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report and expose their uncritical endorsement of the PAP government's rule of claims. These rule of claims are largely restricted to matters pertaining to foreign investment, trade, and the economy, supporting Singapore's reputation as a regional economic hub and commercial center. …

Children and the Politics of Cultural Belonging. By Alice Hearst. New York: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2012. 211 pp. $90.00 cloth.

Children and Politics of Cultural Belonging. By Alice Hearst. New York: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2012. 211 pp. $90.00 cloth.In arena of adoption, consideration of the best interest of has arguably become central when facilitating placement of children. One key consideration of the best interest of is cultural environment in which they will grow up. Alice Hearst challenges us to rethink perceptions of the best interest of and how they have been incorporated into adoption prac- tices. Although much of analyses in book focus upon laws and legal cases, book should draw a wider audience of scholars who study range of actors involved in adoption, such as adop- tion professionals, biological and adoptive parents, and adult adoptees.Hearst initially identifies some problem areas in current think- ing on cultural belonging of children with a discussion of theories of multiculturalism, politics of community and communal politics in particular. Subsequently, study explores these problem areas by examining laws and legal cases in three types of adoption: domestic transracial adoption of non-American Indian children (Chapter 3), domestic adoption of American Indian children (Chapter 4), and transnational adoption (Chapter 5). The book's strength lies in how Hearst draws out multiple dimensions of cultural belonging. The author interrogates meanings of cul- tural belonging as it is debated and contested in legal arena. A significant focus of study is on influence of adoption place- ment on communities, particularly marginalized ones.To offer a theoretical contribution, Hearst draws from what Stephen Cornell and Douglas Hartmann (1998: 89) call con- structed primordiality to frame effects of displacement on adopted and foster care children from a community. Thus, adop- tive families endeavor to construct a firm identity for adopted children through blood ties or other types of commonalities in their claim[ing] of [the] child as one of their own, regardless of whether child has spent significant amount of time with group (49). From child's perspective, author argues that going through a process of searching for identity by seeking biological and ethnic origins cannot be dismissed. Moreover, author critiques theo- ries of multiculturalism, which argue that disenfranchised groups should be given autonomy to choose their own identity. Hearst responds that these theories lack applicability to adoptees' experi- ences and argues that most children typically do not have power to make choices as to which community or family they can belong.By placing children's cultural belongingness as a contested issue in context of three adoption types that are governed by different laws, Hearst shows how they all produce uneven responses from communities whose culturally and racially margin- alized identities are at stake. The study traces disputes around several adoption laws. For example, Hearst discusses how racial- matching versus transracial adoption practices occurred after enactment of Multiethnic Placement Act of 1994 and Inter- ethnic Placement Provisions of 1996 (MEPA-IEP). …

Wedge Diffracted Waves Excited by a Line Source: Exact and Asymptotic Forms of Fringe Waves

Today's understanding and modeling of diffraction at antennas and scattering objects necessitates further analysis of diffracted fields in the vicinity of scattering edges/tips. This paper derives exact and asymptotic forms of fringe waves excited by a line source around a perfectly reflecting wedge. According to the physical theory of diffraction (PTD), these waves are found as the difference between the exact and physical optics (PO) solutions of the wedge diffraction problem. The exact solution has been well-known for a long time, e.g., H. M. Macdonald, Electric Waves, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1902, pp. 186-198; Electromagnetic and Acoustic Scattering by Simple Shapes, J. J. Bowman, T. B. A. Senior, and P. L. E. Uslenghi, Eds., Hemisphere, 1987. In this paper, we focus on the PO solution. Its new exact and asymptotic forms are derived and the fringe waves are analyzed. Numeric results illustrate the theory.

Direct numerical simulation of 2D transonic flows around airfoils

High-accuracy, time-accurate compressible Navier–Stokes solvers have been developed for transonic flows. These solvers use optimized upwind compact schemes (OUCS) and four-stage, fourth order explicit Runge–Kutta (RK4) time integration scheme, details of which can be obtained in Sengupta [Sengupta TK. High Accuracy Computing Methods, fluid flows and wave phenomena. UK: Cambridge Univ. Press; 2013]. Although these compact schemes have been developed originally for direct simulation of incompressible flows, it is shown here that the same can be used for compressible flows, with shock-boundary layer interactions clearly captured for flow past NACA 0012 and NLF airfoils. Numerical higher order diffusion terms which are used for incompressible flows, have been replaced here by the pressure-based artificial diffusions proposed by Jameson et al. [Jameson A, Schmidt W, Turkel E. Numerical solution of the Euler equations by finite volume methods using Ruge–Kutta time stepping schemes. AIAA Paper 1981-1259. AIAA 14th fluid and plasma dynamics conference. Palo Alto, CA; 1981]. Such second and fourth order diffusion terms are used adaptively at selective points, located by the pressure switch. Developed computational methods used here are validated for cases with and without shocks, for which experimental results are available. Apart from surface pressure coefficient, contours of physical quantities are presented to explain the time-accurate results. Presented methods are robust and the results can be gainfully used to study shock formation, drag divergence and buffet onset of flow over airfoils.

Spatial filtering with rough metal-dielectric layered metamaterials

Imaging through layered metal-dielectric optical metamaterials may be modeled as linear spatial filtering. We characterize the filtering properties of a thin metal-dielectric-metal multilayer structure evaporated by physical vapor deposition. We present the measurements of transmission spectra, and of surface roughness, as well as the simulation results showing the sensitivity of the structure properties to surface roughness. Surface roughness is found to be the major factor that limits the theoretical filtering properties of the structure. Full Text: PDF References N. Fang, H. Lee, C. Sun, X. Zhang, "Sub–Diffraction-Limited Optical Imaging with a Silver Superlens", Science 308, 534 (2005). CrossRef X. Li, S. He, Y. Jin, "Subwavelength focusing with a multilayered Fabry-Perot structure at optical frequencies", Phys. Rev. B 75, 045103 (2007). CrossRef Z. Jacob, L.V. Alekseyev, E. Narimanov, "Optical Hyperlens: Far-field imaging beyond the diffraction limit", Opt. Expr. 14, 8247 (2006). CrossRef O. Paul, Y. Urzhumov, C. Elsen, D. Smith, M. Rahm, "Construction of invisibility cloaks of arbitrary shape and size using planar layers of metamaterials ", J. Appl. Phys. 111, 123106 (2012). CrossRef C. Guclu, S. Campione, and F. Capolino, "Hyperbolic metamaterial as super absorber for scattered fields generated at its surface", Phys. Rev. B 86, 205130, (2012). CrossRef A. Wood, J. B. Pendry, and D. P. Tsai, "Directed subwavelength imaging using a layered metal-dielectric system", Phys. Rev. B 74, 115116 (2006). CrossRef G. Castaldi, S. Savoia, V. Galdi, A. Alu, N, Engheta, "Analytical study of subwavelength imaging by uniaxial epsilon-near-zero metamaterial slabs", Phys. Rev. B 86, 115123 (2012). CrossRef X. Ni, S. Ishii, M.D. Thoreson, V. M. Shalaev, S. Han, S. Lee, A.V. Kildishev, "Loss-compensated and active hyperbolic metamaterials", Opt. Expr. 19, 25242 (2011). CrossRef M. Scalora, G. D'Aguanno, N. Mattiucci, M.J. Bloemer, D. Ceglia, M. Centini, A. Mandatori, C. Sibilia, N. Akozbek, M.G. Cappeddu, M. Fowler, J. Haus, "Negative refraction and sub-wavelength focusing in the visible range using transparent metallo-dielectric stacks", Opt. Expr. 15, 508 (2007). CrossRef D. de Ceglia, M. Vincenti, M. Cappeddu, M. Centini, N. Akozbek, A. D'Orazio, J. Haus, M.J. Bloemer, M. Scalora, "Tailoring metallodielectric structures for superresolution and superguiding applications in the visible and near-ir ranges", Phys. Rev. A, 77, 033848 (2008). CrossRef C.-H. Liu and N. Behdad, "Tunneling and filtering characteristics of cascaded ?-negative metamaterial layers sandwiched by double-positive layers", J. Appl. Phys. 111, 014906 (2012). CrossRef Yeh, Optical waves in layered media (Wiley 2005). DirectLink N. Mattiucci, D. Aguanno, M. Scalora, M.J. Bloemer, C. Sibilia, "Transmission function properties for multi-layered structures: Application to super-resolution", Opt. Expr. 17, 17517 (2009). CrossRef R. Kotyński, T. Antosiewicz, K. Król, K. Panajotov, "Two-dimensional point spread matrix of layered metal–dielectric imaging elements", J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 28, 111 (2011). CrossRef J. Goodman, Introduction to Fourier Optics (Roberts & Co, 3rd Ed., 2005). L. Novotny, B. Hecht, "Principles of Nano-Optics" (2nd ed. Cambridge Univ. Press 2012). CrossRef A. Caze, R. Pierrat, R. Carminati, "Spatial Coherence in Complex Photonic and Plasmonic Systems", Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 063903 (2013). CrossRef A.F. Oskooi, D. Roundy, M. Ibanescu, P. Bermel, J. Joannopoulos, S.G. Johnson, "Meep: A flexible free-software package for electromagnetic simulations by the FDTD method", Comput. Phys. Comm. 181, 687 (2010). CrossRef

Earthquake triggering and large-scale geologic storage of carbon dioxide

Despite its enormous cost, large-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) is considered a viable strategy for significantly reducing CO(2) emissions associated with coal-based electrical power generation and other industrial sources of CO(2) [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2005) IPCC Special Report on Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage. Prepared by Working Group III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, eds Metz B, et al. (Cambridge Univ Press, Cambridge, UK); Szulczewski ML, et al. (2012) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 109:5185-5189]. We argue here that there is a high probability that earthquakes will be triggered by injection of large volumes of CO(2) into the brittle rocks commonly found in continental interiors. Because even small- to moderate-sized earthquakes threaten the seal integrity of CO(2) repositories, in this context, large-scale CCS is a risky, and likely unsuccessful, strategy for significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Conservation biogeography forum: Neil D. Burgess

profiles ISSN 1948-6596 conservation biogeography forum Neil D. Burgess Senior Conservation Scientist (Africa), WWF US Conservation Science Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cam- bridge http://www.zoo.cam.ac.uk/zoostaff/csg/nburgess.html Interviewed by Antje Ahrends Neil Burgess obtained a PhD in the evolution of plants in 1987. Since then he worked for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, WWF (USA)‚ The Natural History Museum of the University of Copenhagen‚ The Danish Ornithological Society‚ the Danish Development Assistance Agency (DANIDA)‚ the United Na- tions Development Programme (UNDP)‚ the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund and Cambridge Univer- sity. Neil Burgess worked as a conservation scientist and conservation manager specialising in projects in the developing countries‚ especially in East Africa. These have included forest and marine conservation‚ conservation planning‚ capacity building‚ biodiversity inventory‚ costing conservation‚ improving pro- tected area databases and measuring the management effectiveness and the costs and benefits of pro- tected areas. Relevance of biogeography to your work Antje Ahrends: Is biogeography – “the study of the geography of life” – a relevant discipline to your work? Neil Burgess: Yes, biogeography is relevant to my work. It is particularly important to my work for WWF. We devised a system of Ecoregions that are used to prioritise where WWF should focus con- servation efforts at a global and at continental scales - Africa being the area where I work. This prioritisation scheme (called “Global 200”) identi- fies the most important areas for endemic species within major taxonomic groups - mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and other taxa. However, Global200 is not only driven by endemics but also considers ecological processes. African savannahs are a good example for that – they are not high in endemism but have the largest concentration of large mammals on earth, and some of the last re- maining large mammal migrations. A conservation prioritisation scheme that does not include such ecological process values would leave out impor- tant areas. So yes, from a practical point of view biogeography is very relevant to my work as it de- fines the areas where WWF works on the ground. AA: Do you think biogeography is relevant to prac- tical conservation planning in general? NB: Yes, biogeography, or rather conservation biogeography, is important to all conservation organisations, whether they are Conservation In- ternational, WWF or BirdLife International. All of these organisations developed their own conser- vation prioritisation scheme underpinned by bio- geographic information, and in many regions these systems agree. These schemes have been developed at a global scale, but also at finer scales – for example the Congo Basin – people use bio- geographic information in order to define where to work on the ground, which landscapes, ecologi- cal processes and species to conserve and how to design the protected area network. I think that the application of biogeographical data and some of the fundamental principals of that discipline becomes more tangible and relevant to practical conservation as you go down in scale. AA: Do you read biogeographic journals, or other- wise receive information on new findings in the field of biogeography? What are your main sources for this? NB: I do not read academic literature on a regular basis. However, working at a university I have ac- cess to biogeographic journals, and I read articles relevant to my work when I find out about them. I also published in and review for biogeographic journals, for example Diversity and Distributions. However, I don’t read these journals systemati- © 2009 the authors; journal compilation © 2009 The International Biogeography Society — frontiers of biogeography 1.1, 2009

A zero-knowledge based framework for RFID privacy

Formal RFID security and privacy frameworks are fundamental to the design and analysis of robust RFID systems. In this paper, we develop a new definitional framework for RFID privacy in a rigorous and precise manner. Our framework is based on a zero-knowledge ZK formulation [The Foundations of Cryptography, Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 2001; ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing, 1985, pp. 291--304] and incorporates the notions of adaptive completeness and mutual authentication. We provide meticulous justification of the new framework and contrast it with existing ones in the literature. In particular, we prove that our framework is strictly stronger than the ind-privacy model in International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communications, 2007, which answers an open question posed in International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communications, 2007, for developing stronger RFID privacy models. We also clarify certain confusions and rectify several defects in the existing frameworks. Finally, based on the protocol in Conference on Computer and Communications Security, 2009, we propose an efficient RFID mutual authentication protocol and analyze its security and privacy. The methodology used in our analysis can also be applied to analyze other RFID protocols within the new framework.

LOTTE HELLINGA. William Caxton and Early Printing in England.

Former Deputy Keeper at the British Library, Lotte Hellinga is one of the world's foremost authorities on fifteenth-century books. Over the last dozen years she has produced The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain, Volume III: 1400-1557 (with J. B. Trapp; Cambridge Univ. Press, 1999), the Catalogue of Books Printed in the XVth Century Now in the British Library (Hes & De Graaf, 2007), and the revised version of E. Gordon Duff's Printing in England in the Fifteenth Century (The British Library, 2009). Each of these books is definitive; each, too, is essentially collaborative. In William Caxton and Early Printing in England, Dr. Hellinga writes what she calls ‘a story of printers’ for the general reader (pp. ix–x). She comes away with a coherent, readable, and beautifully illustrated account of printing up to the year 1535 that consolidates an amazing amount of bibliographical scholarship with the current trends in Medieval and Early Modern studies to recognize Caxton as a significant thinker in the development English literature. There are a number of scholarly books and essays on Caxton of late, and of them all, William Caxton and Early English Printing is unique in that it is both an accessible summary and a provocative reassessment of early print. The result is that Dr. Hellinga's story of early printing is as confident and subtle as it is learned and alive to the recent developments in the scholarly field.

The architecture and the Jones polynomial of polyhedral links

In this paper, we first recall some known architectures of polyhedral links (Qiu and Zhai in J Mol Struct (THEOCHEM) 756:163–166, 2005; Yang and Qiu in MATCH Commun Math Comput Chem 58:635–646, 2007; Qiu et al. in Sci China Ser B Chem 51:13–18, 2008; Hu et al. in J Math Chem 46:592–603, 2009; Cheng et al. in MATCH Commun Math Comput Chem 62:115–130, 2009; Cheng et al. in MATCH Commun Math Comput Chem 63:115–130, 2010; Liu et al. in J Math Chem 48:439–456 2010). Motivated by these architectures we introduce the notions of polyhedral links based on edge covering, vertex covering, and mixed edge and vertex covering, which include all polyhedral links in Qiu and Zhai (J Mol Struct (THEOCHEM) 756:163–166, 2005), Yang and Qiu (MATCH Commun Math Comput Chem 58:635–646, 2007), Qiu et al. (Sci China Ser B Chem 51:13–18, 2008), Hu et al. (J Math Chem 46:592–603, 2009), Cheng et al. (MATCH Commun Math Comput Chem 62:115–130, 2009), Cheng et al. (MATCH Commun Math Comput Chem 63:115–130, 2010), Liu et al. (J Math Chem 48:439–456, 2010) as special cases. The analysis of chirality of polyhedral links is very important in stereochemistry and the Jones polynomial is powerful in differentiating the chirality (Flapan in When topology meets chemistry. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 2000). Then we give a detailed account of a result on the computation of the Jones polynomial of polyhedral links based on edge covering developed by Jin, Zhang, Dong and Tay (Electron. J. Comb. 17(1): R94, 2010) and, at the same time, by using this method we obtain some new computational results on polyhedral links of rational type and uniform polyhedral links with small edge covering units. These new computational results are helpful to judge the chirality of polyhedral links based on edge covering. Finally, we give some remarks and pose some problems for further study.

From Gutenberg to Google: Electronic Representations of Literary Texts; Digitize This Book! The Politics of New Media, or Why We Need Open Access Now; Poetic Acts and New Media

Book Review| June 01 2011 From Gutenberg to Google: Electronic Representations of Literary Texts; Digitize This Book! The Politics of New Media, or Why We Need Open Access Now; Poetic Acts and New Media From Gutenberg to Google: Electronic Representations of Literary Texts. By Peter L. Shillingsburg. Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge Univ. Press. 2006. v, 216 pp. Cloth, $75.00; paper, $29.95.Digitize This Book! The Politics of New Media, or Why We Need Open Access Now. By Gary Hall. Minneapolis: Minnesota Univ. Press. 2008. vii, 301 pp. Cloth, $60.00; paper, $19.99.Poetic Acts and New Media. By Tom O'Connor. Lanham, Md.: Univ. Press of America. 2006. xxxvi, 174 pp. Paper, $28.95. Lisa Swanstrom Lisa Swanstrom Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google American Literature (2011) 83 (2): 466–468. https://doi.org/10.1215/00029831-1266198 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Twitter Permissions Search Site Citation Lisa Swanstrom; From Gutenberg to Google: Electronic Representations of Literary Texts; Digitize This Book! The Politics of New Media, or Why We Need Open Access Now; Poetic Acts and New Media. American Literature 1 June 2011; 83 (2): 466–468. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/00029831-1266198 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu nav search search input Search input auto suggest search filter Books & JournalsAll JournalsAmerican Literature Search Advanced Search The text of this article is only available as a PDF. © 2011 by Duke University Press2011 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal Issue Section: Book Reviews You do not currently have access to this content.

Report on Stakeholders' activities in the area of emerging risks

Report on Stakeholders' activities in the area of emerging risks

Practical Implications of Test Anxiety Tools

In their Report “Writing about testing worries boosts exam performance in the classroom” (Reports, 14 January, p. [211][1]), G. Ramirez and S. L. Beilock showed that letting students write about their worries for 10 minutes before an exam substantially diminishes the link between test anxiety and test performance. Their second study replicates and extends our previous work, in which we showed that letting students write down attributes of successful problem-solvers for 10 minutes diminishes the relationship between cognitive test anxiety and test performance ([ 1 ][2]). We differ regarding the theoretical interpretation of the relationship and the resulting practical implications. Although Ramirez and Beilock's intervention is not identical to ours, the fundamental mechanisms are similar. Ramirez and Beilock argue that the effect is mediated by a state of worry during the test situation, but they did not test this proposition. In one of our investigations, we tested this idea and found no support. Instead, we found cognitive test anxiety to affect situational task engagement: Students who have high cognitive test anxiety do not engage in the task because they underestimate their probability for success and consequently do not fully engage in solving the problems at hand. This idea is in line with engagement-disengagement theories ([ 2 ][3]). An implication of applying engagement-disengagement theories is that the performance of students with low cognitive test anxiety should suffer from priming/writing interventions. We found empirical support for this idea ([ 1 ][2]). Our studies were larger and consequently had more statistical power for detecting an effect than the study by Ramirez and Beilock. In addition, Ramirez and Beilock's Fig. 3 provides some descriptive indication that the interaction effect in the study partly resulted from students with low test anxiety performing worse in the expressive writing group. We therefore recommend that priming/writing interventions should only be used after screening recipients for cognitive test anxiety. Students with low test anxiety should not be the recipients of interventions of this type because there is theoretical and empirical evidence that their performance will suffer. 1. [↵][4] 1. J. W. B. Lang, 2. J. Lang , Psychol. Sci. 21, 811 (2010). [OpenUrl][5][Abstract/FREE Full Text][6] 2. [↵][7] 1. C. S. Carver, 2. M. F. Scheier , On the Self-Regulation of Behavior (Cambridge Univ. Press, New York, 1998). [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1199427 [2]: #ref-1 [3]: #ref-2 [4]: #xref-ref-1-1 View reference 1 in text [5]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DPsychol.%2BSci.%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Adoi%252F10.1177%252F0956797610369492%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Apmid%252F20435953%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [6]: /lookup/ijlink/YTozOntzOjQ6InBhdGgiO3M6MTQ6Ii9sb29rdXAvaWpsaW5rIjtzOjU6InF1ZXJ5IjthOjQ6e3M6ODoibGlua1R5cGUiO3M6NDoiQUJTVCI7czoxMToiam91cm5hbENvZGUiO3M6NToic3Bwc3MiO3M6NToicmVzaWQiO3M6ODoiMjEvNi84MTEiO3M6NDoiYXRvbSI7czoyNDoiL3NjaS8zMzIvNjAzMS83OTEuMi5hdG9tIjt9czo4OiJmcmFnbWVudCI7czowOiIiO30= [7]: #xref-ref-2-1 View reference 2 in text

CleGo: A package for automated computation of Clebsch–Gordan coefficients in tensor product representations for Lie algebras [formula omitted

We present a program that allows for the computation of tensor products of irreducible representations of Lie algebras A–G based on the explicit construction of weight states. This straightforward approach (which is slower and more memory-consumptive than the standard methods to just calculate dimensions of the tensor product decomposition) produces Clebsch–Gordan coefficients that are of interest for instance in discussing symmetry breaking in model building for grand unified theories. For that purpose, multiple tensor products have been implemented as well as means for analyzing the resulting effective operators in particle physics. Program summaryProgram title: CleGoCatalogue identifier: AEIQ_v1_0Program summary URL:http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/AEIQ_v1_0.htmlProgram obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queenʼs University, Belfast, N. IrelandLicensing provisions: Standard CPC licence, http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/licence/licence.htmlNo. of lines in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 3641No. of bytes in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 34 536Distribution format: tar.gzProgramming language: OʼCamlComputer: i386–i686, x86_64Operating system: Cross-platform, for definiteness though we assume some UNIX system.RAM: ⩾4 GB commendable, though in general memory requirements depend on the size of the Lie algebras and the representations involved.Classification: 4.2, 11.1Nature of problem: Clebsch–Gordan coefficients are widely used in physics. This program has been written as a means to analyze symmetry breaking in the context of grand unified theories in particle physics. As an example, we computed the singlets appearing in higher-dimensional operators 27⊗27⊗27⊗78 and 27⊗27⊗27⊗650 in an E6-symmetric GUT.Solution method: In contrast to very efficient algorithms that also produce tensor product decompositions (as far as outer multiplicities/Littlewood–Richardson coefficients are concerned) we proceed straightforwardly by constructing all the weight states, i.e. the Clebsch–Gordan coefficients. This obviously comes at the expense of high memory and CPU-time demands. Applying Dynkin arithmetic in weight space, the algorithm is an extension of the one for the addition of angular momenta in su(2)≈A1, for reference see [1]. Note that, in general, Clebsch–Gordan coefficients are basis-dependent and therefore need to be understood with respect to the chosen basis. However, singlets appearing in (multiple) tensor products are less basis-dependent.Restrictions: Generically, only tensor products of non-degenerate or adjoint representations can be computed. However, the irreps appearing therein can subsequently be used as new input irreps for further tensor product decomposition so in principle there is no restriction on the irreps the tensor product is taken of. In practice, though, it is by the very nature of the explicit algorithm that input is restricted by memory and CPU runtime requirements.Unusual features: Analytic computation instead of float numerics.Additional comments: The program can be used in “notebook style” using a suitable OʼCaml toplevel. Alternatively, an OʼCaml input file can be compiled which results in processing that is approximately a factor of five faster. The latter mode is commendable when large irreps need to be constructed.Running time: Varies depending on the input from parts of seconds to weeks for very large representations (because of memory exhaustion).Reference:[1]J. Fuchs, C. Schweigert, Symmetries, Lie Algebras and Representations, Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, UK, 1997, 438 p.

INCORPORATION OF WEIBULL DISTRIBUTION IN L-MOMENTS METHOD FOR

The L-moments of the Weibull distribution are derived and incorporated in the regional frequency analysis of peaksover-threshold significant wave heights at eleven stations along the eastern coast of Japan Sea. The effective duration of wave measurements varies from 18.0 to 37.2 years with the mean rate of 10.4 to 15.1 events per year. The eleven stations are divided into three regions to assure homogeneity of the data. Both the Weibull and Generalized Pareto (GPA) distributions fit well to the observed data. The 100-year wave height varied from 8.2 to 11.2 m by the Weibull and 7.6 to 10.3 m by the GPA. The GPA distribution is not recommended for determination of design waves for these stations because it has an inherent upper limit and a tendency of under-prediction.
 
 
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 Goda, Y., Konagaya, O., Takeshita, N., Hitomi, H., and T. Nagai. 2000. Population distribution of extreme wave heights estimated through regional analysis, Coastal Engineering 2000 (Proc. 26th ICCE, Sydney), ASCE, Sydney, 1078-1091.
 
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