1,721,101 research outputs found

    Ellipsoidal expansion of the Universe, cosmic shear, acceleration and jerk parameter

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    In order to study whether the anisotropy of the spacetime may induce differences in the cosmic shear or in the deceleration parameter, we investigate in the Bianchi I Universe the most general expression for the cosmic shear and we study the connections between deceleration parameter and cosmic shear. We also consider a shear parametric approach to measure the transition from a decelerating to an accelerating Universe. We also study the connection between jerk parameter and ellipsoidal Universe

    Anisotropic Expansion of the Universe and Generation of Quantum Interference in Light Propagation

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    We investigate the electrodynamic in a Bianchi type I cosmological model. This scenario reveals the possibility that photons, during their traveling, can make quantum interference. This effect is only due to the presence of two different axes of expansion in the cosmic evolution. In other word, it is possible to conclude that a purely metrical - or, equivalently, gravitational - phenomenon gives rise up to a quantum effect that manifests itself in the light propagation

    Viscosity in isotropic cosmological backgrounds in general relativity and Starobinsky gravity

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    We present a general analysis of the role of shear viscosity in cosmological backgrounds, focusing on isotropic space-time in both Einstein and f(R) gravity. By computing the divergence of the stress-energy tensor in a general class of isotropic (but not necessarily homogeneous) geometries, we show that shear viscosity does not contribute to the background dynamics when the fluid is comoving. This result holds in both the Jordan and Einstein frames, and implies that shear viscosity cannot affect the electromagnetic luminosity distance which is determined by the background light-like geodesics.As an application of our results, we critically examine recent claims that shear viscosity can alter the Hubble evolution and the electromagnetic luminosity distance in Starobinsky gravity. We demonstrate that the continuity equation used in that work is at odds both with the covariant conservation of the stress-energy tensor and the local second law of thermodynamics. We further show that even in models where such modifications could mimic bulk viscosity, the resulting entropy evolution is inconsistent with standard thermodynamic expectations

    Cosmic Acceleration and f (R) Theory: Perturbed Solution in a Matter FLRW Model

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    In the present paper we consider f (R) gravity theories in the metric approach and we derive the equations of motion, focusing also on the boundary conditions. In such a way we apply the general equations to a first order perturbation expansion of the Lagrangian. We present a model able to fit supernovae data without introducing dark energy

    Cross-lattice Behavior of General ACO Folding for Proteins in the HP Model

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    The computational investigation of protein folding is one of the most relevant challenges in bioinformatics. In this field, simplified lattice models for proteins like the classical HP model have been proposed, and different lattice types can be employed. A promising approach to find ground state conformations relies on Ant Colony Optimization (ACO), a popular biology-inspired heuristics: several variants have been implemented so far, on square lattices in 2D and 3D. In this paper we propose a general scheme of ACO for HP on both square and triangular lattices in 2D and 3D, including also a novel initialization procedure for the pheromone matrix according to some pre-computed suboptimal conformations. The algorithm behavior, considering the influence of the optional parts and the required parameter tuning, is investigated for the first time with experiments that systematically span different lattice types. The test outcomes are useful in understanding how to operate on the algorithm parameters. The presented results are used to sketch out general guidelines for the practical employment of ACO in conformational studies, depending on the chosen sequences and lattice types

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed

    Variations on the Author

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    “Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship

    Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis

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    We provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis

    Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts

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    We conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more sophisticated methods
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