Phase transitions and gravity

Einstein's gravitational field is non-minimally coupled to a self-interacting scalar field in the presence of radiation. Such a theory can give rise to a phase transition associated with a change of sign of the gravitational “constant”. In our approach, the criterion for stability is formulated in terms of an effective potential, the phase-transition takes place due to temperature dependence of the scalar self-interaction coupling constant.

Unsteady incompressible boundary layer flow of a micropolar fluid at a stagnation point

The flow, heat and mass transfer on the unsteady laminar incompressible boundary layer in micropolar fluid at the stagnation point of a 2-dimensional and an axisymmetric body have been studied when the free stream velocity and the wall temperature vary arbitrarily with time. The partial defferential equations governing the flow have been solved numerically using a quasilinear finite-difference scheme. The skin friction, microrotation gradient and heat transfer parameters are found to be strongly dependent on the coupling parameter, mass transfer and time, whereas the effect of the microrotation parameter on the skin friction and heat transfer is rather weak, but microrotation gradient is strongly affected by it. The Prandtl number and the variation of the wall temperature with time affect the heat-transfer very significantly but the skin friction and micrortation gradient are unaffected by them.

Governance Matters : China's Developing Western Region with a Focus on Qinghai Province

This study is about governance in contemporary China. The focus is on Qinghai Province, one of the twelve provincial-level units included in the western region development strategy launched in 2000 by the government of China. Qinghai, the subject of the case study, is not a very well-known province. Hence, this study is significant, because it provides new knowledge about the province of Qinghai, its governance and diverse challenges, and deepens one s overall knowledge regarding China. Qinghai province is one of the slowest developing regions of China. My research problem is to analyze to what extent provincial development correlates with the quality of governance. The central concept of this research is good governance. This dissertation employs a grounded theory approach while the theoretical framework of this study is built on the Three World s approach of analyzing the three main themes, namely, the environment, economic development, and cultural diversity, and to support the empirical work. Philosophical issues in the humanities and contemporary theories of governance are brought in to provide deeper understanding of governance, and to understand to what extent and how characteristics of good governance (derived from the Western canon) are combined with Chinese tradition. A qualitative research method is chosen to provide a deeper understanding of the contemporary challenges of Qinghai (and China) and to provide some insight into the role and impact of governance on provincial development. It also focuses on the Tibetan ethnic group in order to develop as full an understanding as possible about the province. The challenges faced by Qinghai concern in particular its environment, economic development, and cultural diversity, all of which are closely interrelated. The findings demonstrate that Qinghai Province is not a powerful actor, because it has weak communications with the central government and weak collaboration with its stakeholders and civil society. How Qinghai s provincial government conducts provincial development remains a key question in terms of shaping the province s future. The question is how is Qinghai s government best able to govern in a way that is beneficial for the people. This study demonstrates that this is a significant question that challenges governance everywhere, and particularly in China given the absence of democracy. This study provides the ingredients for reflection as to how provincial government can be motivated to choose to govern in a sustainable way, instead of leaning on growth factors with too little consideration about the impact on the environment and the people.

Shared common variants in prostate cancer and blood lipids

Background Epidemiological and clinical studies suggest comorbidity between prostate cancer (PCA) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. However, the relationship between these two phenotypes is still not well understood. Here we sought to identify shared genetic loci between PCA and CVD risk factors. Methods We applied a genetic epidemiology method based on conjunction false discovery rate (FDR) that combines summary statistics from different genome-wide association studies (GWAS), and allows identification of genetic overlap between two phenotypes. We evaluated summary statistics from large, multi-centre GWA studies of PCA (n = 50 000) and CVD risk factors (n = 200 000) [triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, systolic blood pressure, body mass index, waist-hip ratio and type 2 diabetes (T2D)]. Enrichment of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with PCA and CVD risk factors was assessed with conditional quantile-quantile plots and the Anderson-Darling test. Moreover, we pinpointed shared loci using conjunction FDR. Results We found the strongest enrichment of P-values in PCA was conditional on LDL and conditional on TG. In contrast, we found only weak enrichment conditional on HDL or conditional on the other traits investigated. Conjunction FDR identified altogether 17 loci; 10 loci were associated with PCA and LDL, 3 loci were associated with PCA and TG and additionally 4 loci were associated with PCA, LDL and TG jointly (conjunction FDR < 0.01). For T2D, we detected one locus adjacent to HNF1B. Conclusions We found polygenic overlap between PCA predisposition and blood lipids, in particular LDL and TG, and identified 17 pleiotropic gene loci between PCA and LDL, and PCA and TG, respectively. These findings provide novel pathobiological insights and may have implications for trials using targeting lipid-lowering agents in a prevention or cancer setting.

An Algorithm for Tracking a Maneuvering Target in Clutter

We consider the problem of tracking a maneuvering target in clutter. In such an environment, missed detections and false alarms make it impossible to decide, with certainty, the origin of received echoes. Processing radar returns in cluttered environments consists of three functions: 1) target detection and plot formation, 2) plot-to-track association, and 3) track updating. Two inadequacies of the present approaches are 1) Optimization of detection characteristics have not been considered and 2) features that can be used in the plot-to-track correlation process are restricted to a specific class. This paper presents a new approach to overcome these limitations. This approach facilitates tracking of a maneuvering target in clutter and improves tracking performance for weak targets.

Ryssän koulussa : Suomalaiset Venäjän stipendiaatit autonomian aikana 1812-1917

Finnish scholarship students in Russia during the autonomy (1812-1917) During the autonomy in Finland (1809-1917), an attempt to improve the knowledge of the Russian language was made through special language university scholarships. With these scholarships the students could go and study the Russian language and acquire cultural knowledge in Russia. Other member countries on the edges of the Russian Empire, like Poland and the Baltic provinces, did not have similar programs. The first two scholars started their journey in 1812. A system of travel allowances was introduced in 1841. Between the years 1812- 1917 a total of almost 400 students studied in Russia. The studies mainly took place in Moscow. These scholarship students were called the Master s of Moscow ". In this paper, Finnish-Russian relations are studied based on the attitude towards the Russian language and the people who studied it in Finland. Although the attitude towards them was neutral in the beginning, in 1844 there was a strong change. Students of Russian, and especially the scholars, received the stigma of being unreliable and unpatriotic, a stigma they were never able to get rid of. The study of the Russian language was voluntary in Finnish schools between 1863 and 1872. Starting from 1890, however, the study of the Russian language was enforced. In doing so, the Russians attempted to unify the Empire, while the Finns had the illusion that they had their own state. Thus, Russia saw the language as a way to unify the Empire and Finns as an attempt to make them Russians. The purpose of studying in Russia was to improve the student s practical language skills and overall knowledge of the customs and culture of the country. Besides knowing the language, knowledge of Russian culture and customs is essential in understanding Russia and Russians; therefore, the studies of literature, geography and history have been noted in this research. Without knowledge it is difficult to develop understanding. After their studies, almost all of the scholars returned to Finland and did not continue their careers in Russia. They worked mainly as teachers and civil servants, and managed to improve the Finnish people s weak knowledge of Russian and Russia through teaching, translations of literature and newspaper articles. Through these scholars, it is possible to see how the attitudes towards the language have been closely related to the political history between Finland and Russia. The language became the subject of resistance and these attitudes were transferred to its students. In 1917, the study of Russia and the Russian language ended and it was no longer possible to use the acquired knowledge of language and country in independent Finland.

Speech Rhythm in an Interlanguage Perspective : Finnish Adolescents Speaking English

Speech rhythm is an essential part of speech processing. It is the outcome of the workings of a combination of linguistic and non-linguistic parameters, many of which also have other functions in speech. This study focusses on the acoustic and auditive realization of two linguistic parameters of rhythm: (1) sentence stress, and (2) speech rate and pausing. The aim was to find out how well Finnish comprehensive school pupils realize these two parameters in English and how native speakers of English react to Finnish pupils English rhythm. The material was elicited by means of a story-telling task and questionnaires. Three female and three male pupils representing different levels of oral skills in English were selected as the experimental group. The control group consisted of two female and two male native speakers of English. The stories were analysed acoustically and auditorily with respect to interstress intervals, weak forms, fundamental frequency, pausing, and speech as well as articulation rate. In addition, 52 native speakers of English were asked to rate the intelligibility of the Finnish pupils English with respect to speech rhythm and give their attitudes on what the pupils sounded like. Results showed that Finnish pupils can produce isochronous interstress intervals in English, but that too large a proportion of these intervals contain pauses. A closer analysis of the pauses revealed that Finnish pupils pause too frequently and in inappropriate places when they speak English. Frequent pausing was also found to cause slow speech rates. The findings of the fundamental frequency (F0) measurements indicate that Finnish pupils tend to make a slightly narrower F0 difference between stressed and unstressed syllables than the native speakers of English. Furthermore, Finnish pupils appear to know how to reduce the duration and quality of unstressed sounds, but they fail to do it frequently enough. Native listeners gave lower intelligibility and attitude scores to pupils with more anomalous speech rhythm. Finnish pupils rhythm anomalies seemed to derive from various learning- or learner-related factors rather than from the differences between English and Finnish. This study demonstrates that pausing may be a more important component of English speech rhythm than sentence stress as far as Finnish adolescents are concerned and that interlanguage development is affected by various factors and characterised by jumps or periods of stasis. Other theoretical, methodological and pedagogical implications of the results are also discussed.

Asymptotic behavior of a hierarchical system of learning automata

Learning automata arranged in a two-level hierarchy are considered. The automata operate in a stationary random environment and update their action probabilities according to the linear-reward- -penalty algorithm at each level. Unlike some hierarchical systems previously proposed, no information transfer exists from one level to another, and yet the hierarchy possesses good convergence properties. Using weak-convergence concepts it is shown that for large time and small values of parameters in the algorithm, the evolution of the optimal path probability can be represented by a diffusion whose parameters can be computed explicitly.

On the Origin of Ideas : An Abductivist Approach to Discovery

The purpose of this study is to analyze and develop various forms of abduction as a means of conceptualizing processes of discovery. Abduction was originally presented by Charles S. Peirce (1839-1914) as a "weak", third main mode of inference -- besides deduction and induction -- one which, he proposed, is closely related to many kinds of cognitive processes, such as instincts, perception, practices and mediated activity in general. Both abduction and discovery are controversial issues in philosophy of science. It is often claimed that discovery cannot be a proper subject area for conceptual analysis and, accordingly, abduction cannot serve as a "logic of discovery". I argue, however, that abduction gives essential means for understanding processes of discovery although it cannot give rise to a manual or algorithm for making discoveries. In the first part of the study, I briefly present how the main trend in philosophy of science has, for a long time, been critical towards a systematic account of discovery. Various models have, however, been suggested. I outline a short history of abduction; first Peirce's evolving forms of his theory, and then later developments. Although abduction has not been a major area of research until quite recently, I review some critiques of it and look at the ways it has been analyzed, developed and used in various fields of research. Peirce's own writings and later developments, I argue, leave room for various subsequent interpretations of abduction. The second part of the study consists of six research articles. First I treat "classical" arguments against abduction as a logic of discovery. I show that by developing strategic aspects of abductive inference these arguments can be countered. Nowadays the term 'abduction' is often used as a synonym for the Inference to the Best Explanation (IBE) model. I argue, however, that it is useful to distinguish between IBE ("Harmanian abduction") and "Hansonian abduction"; the latter concentrating on analyzing processes of discovery. The distinctions between loveliness and likeliness, and between potential and actual explanations are more fruitful within Hansonian abduction. I clarify the nature of abduction by using Peirce's distinction between three areas of "semeiotic": grammar, critic, and methodeutic. Grammar (emphasizing "Firstnesses" and iconicity) and methodeutic (i.e., a processual approach) especially, give new means for understanding abduction. Peirce himself held a controversial view that new abductive ideas are products of an instinct and an inference at the same time. I maintain that it is beneficial to make a clear distinction between abductive inference and abductive instinct, on the basis of which both can be developed further. Besides these, I analyze abduction as a part of distributed cognition which emphasizes a long-term interaction with the material, social and cultural environment as a source for abductive ideas. This approach suggests a "trialogical" model in which inquirers are fundamentally connected both to other inquirers and to the objects of inquiry. As for the classical Meno paradox about discovery, I show that abduction provides more than one answer. As my main example of abductive methodology, I analyze the process of Ignaz Semmelweis' research on childbed fever. A central basis for abduction is the claim that discovery is not a sequence of events governed only by processes of chance. Abduction treats those processes which both constrain and instigate the search for new ideas; starting from the use of clues as a starting point for discovery, but continuing in considerations like elegance and 'loveliness'. The study then continues a Peircean-Hansonian research programme by developing abduction as a way of analyzing processes of discovery.

New species of Ptychozoon (Sauria: Gekkonidae) from the Nicobar Archipelago, Indian Ocean

A new species of Ptychozoon is described from the central portion of the Nicobar Archipelago, Bay of Bengal, India. It has been formerly referred to P. kuhli, a species widely distributed in Sundaland. Ptychozoon nicobarensis sp. nov. reaches an SVL of 100.3 mm, and is diagnosable from congeneric species in showing the following combination of characters: dorsum with a tan vertebral stripe, lacking dark transverse bars; supranasals in contact; cutaneous expansions on sides of head; absence of predigital notch in preantebrachial cutaneous expansion; imbricate parachute support scales; four irregular rows of low, rounded enlarged scales on dorsum; 20-29 scales across widest portion of tail terminus; three indistinct chevrons on dorsum; 7-11 pairs of preanal pores; femoral pores absent; tail with an expanded terminal flap and weak lobe fusion at proximal border of tail terminus. The curious distribution of the new species, centred around the central Nicobars is speculated to be the result of competition with and/or predation by large gekkonid species, to the north (Gekko verreauxi) and south (G. smithii) of the group of islands occupied by the new Ptychozoon from the central Nicobars.

Long-term ambient air pollution exposure and self-reported morbidity in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health: A cross-sectional study

- Objective We sought to assess the effect of long-term exposure to ambient air pollution on the prevalence of self-reported health outcomes in Australian women. - Design Cross-sectional study - Setting and participants The geocoded residential addresses of 26 991 women across 3 age cohorts in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health between 2006 and 2011 were linked to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) exposure estimates from a land-use regression model. Annual average NO2 concentrations and residential proximity to roads were used as proxies of exposure to ambient air pollution. - Outcome measures Self-reported disease presence for diabetes mellitus, heart disease, hypertension, stroke, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and self-reported symptoms of allergies, breathing difficulties, chest pain and palpitations. - Methods Disease prevalence was modelled by population-averaged Poisson regression models estimated by generalised estimating equations. Associations between symptoms and ambient air pollution were modelled by multilevel mixed logistic regression. Spatial clustering was accounted for at the postcode level. - Results No associations were observed between any of the outcome and exposure variables considered at the 1% significance level after adjusting for known risk factors and confounders. - Conclusions Long-term exposure to ambient air pollution was not associated with self-reported disease prevalence in Australian women. The observed results may have been due to exposure and outcome misclassification, lack of power to detect weak associations or an actual absence of associations with self-reported outcomes at the relatively low annual average air pollution exposure levels across Australia.

Hydrodynamics from the D1-brane

We study the hydrodynamic properties of strongly coupled SU(N) Yang-Mills theory of the D1-brane at finite temperature in the framework of gauge/gravity duality. The only non-trivial viscous transport coefficient in 1+1 dimensions is the bulk viscosity. We evaluate the bulk viscosity by isolating the quasi-normal mode corresponding to the sound channel for the gravitational background of the D1-brane. We find that the ratio of the bulk viscosity to the entropy density to be 1/4 pi. This ratio continues to be 1/4 pi also in the regime when the D1-brane Yang-Mills theory is dual to the gravitational background of the fundamental string. Our analysis shows that this ratio is equal to 1/4 pi for a class of gravitational backgrounds dual to field theories in 1+1 dimensions obtained by considering D1-branes at cones over Sasaki-Einstein 7-manifolds.

Technicolor

The need for reexamination of the standard model of strong, weak, and electromagnetic interactions is discussed, especially with regard to 't Hooft's criterion of naturalness. It has been argued that theories with fundamental scalar fields tend to be unnatural at relatively low energies. There are two solutions to this problem: (i) a global supersymmetry, which ensures the absence of all the naturalness-violating effects associated with scalar fields, and (ii) composite structure of the scalar fields, which starts showing up at energy scales where unnatural effects would otherwise have appeared. With reference to the second solution, this article reviews the case for dynamical breaking of the gauge symmetry and the technicolor scheme for the composite Higgs boson. This new interaction, of the scaled-up quantum chromodynamic type, keeps the new set of fermions, the technifermions, together in the Higgs particles. It also provides masses for the electroweak gauge bosons W± and Z0 through technifermion condensate formation. In order to give masses to the ordinary fermions, a new interaction, the extended technicolor interaction, which would connect the ordinary fermions to the technifermions, is required. The extended technicolor group breaks down spontaneously to the technicolor group, possibly as a result of the "tumbling" mechanism, which is discussed here. In addition, the author presents schemes for the isospin breaking of mass matrices of ordinary quarks in the technicolor models. In generalized technicolor models with more than one doublet of technifermions or with more than one technicolor sector, we have additional low-lying degrees of freedom, the pseudo-Goldstone bosons. The pseudo-Goldstone bosons in the technicolor model of Dimopoulos are reviewed and their masses computed. In this context the vacuum alignment problem is also discussed. An effective Lagrangian is derived describing colorless low-lying degrees of freedom for models with two technicolor sectors in the combined limits of chiral symmetry and large number of colors and technicolors. Finally, the author discusses suppression of flavor-changing neutral currents in the extended technicolor models.

Bysanttilaisten ja Akhaian ruhtinaskunnan väliset sotatoimet vuosina 1259-83 : Tapaustutkimus myöhäis-bysanttilaisesta sodankäynnistä

In my master thesis I analyse Byzantine warfare in the late period of the empire. I use military operations between Byzantines and crusader Principality of Achaia (1259–83) as a case study. Byzantine strategy was based (in “oriental manner”) on using ambushes, diplomacy, surprise attacks, deception etc. Open field battles that were risky in comparison with their benefits were usually avoided, but the Byzantines were sometimes forced to seek open encounter because their limited ability to keep strong armies in field for long periods of time. Foreign mercenaries had important place in Byzantine armies and they could simply change sides if their paymasters ran out of resources. The use of mercenaries with short contracts made it possible that the composition of an army was flexible but on the other hand heterogeneous – in result Byzantine armies were sometimes ineffective and prone to confusion. In open field battles Byzantines used formation that was made out from several lines placed one after another. This formation was especially suitable for cavalry battles. Byzantines might have also used other kinds of formations. The Byzantines were not considered equal to Latins in close combat. West-Europeans saw mainly horse archers and Latin mercenaries on Byzantine service as threats to themselves in battle. The legitimacy of rulers surrounding the Aegean sea was weak and in many cases political intrigues and personal relationships can have resolved the battles. Especially in sieges the loyalty of population was decisive. In sieges the Byzantines used plenty of siege machines and archers. This made fast conquests possible, but it was expensive. The Byzantines protected their frontiers by building castles. Military operations against the Principality of Achaia were mostly small scale raids following an intensive beginning. Byzantine raids were mostly made by privateers and mountaineers. This does not fit to the traditional picture that warfare belonged to the imperial professional army. It’s unlikely that military operations in war against the Principality of Achaia caused great demographic or economic catastrophe and some regions in the warzone might even have flourished. On the other hand people started to concentrate into villages which (with growing risks for trade) probably caused disturbance in economic development and in result birth rates might have decreased. Both sides of war sought to exchange their prisoners of war. These were treated according to conventional manners that were accepted by both sides. It was possible to sell prisoners, especially women and children, to slavery, but the scale of this trade does not seem to be great in military operations treated in this theses.

Non-target impacts of poison baiting for predator control in Australia

1. Mammalian predators are controlled by poison baiting in many parts of the world, often to alleviate their impacts on agriculture or the environment. Although predator control can have substantial benefits, the poisons used may also be potentially harmful to other wildlife. 2. Impacts on non-target species must be minimized, but can be difficult to predict or quantify. Species and individuals vary in their sensitivity to toxins and their propensity to consume poison baits, while populations vary in their resilience. Wildlife populations can accrue benefits from predator control, which outweigh the occasional deaths of non-target animals. We review recent advances in Australia, providing a framework for assessing non-target effects of poisoning operations and for developing techniques to minimize such effects. We also emphasize that weak or circumstantial evidence of non-target effects can be misleading. 3. Weak evidence that poison baiting presents a potential risk to non-target species comes from measuring the sensitivity of species to the toxin in the laboratory. More convincing evidence may be obtained by quantifying susceptibility in the field. This requires detailed information on the propensity of animals to locate and consume poison baits, as well as the likelihood of mortality if baits are consumed. Still stronger evidence may be obtained if predator baiting causes non-target mortality in the field (with toxin detected by post-mortem examination). Conclusive proof of a negative impact on populations of non-target species can be obtained only if any observed non-target mortality is followed by sustained reductions in population density. 4. Such proof is difficult to obtain and the possibility of a population-level impact cannot be reliably confirmed or dismissed without rigorous trials. In the absence of conclusive evidence, wildlife managers should adopt a precautionary approach which seeks to minimize potential risk to non-target individuals, while clarifying population-level effects through continued research.