bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Interaction and Pseudorandomness
Authors: Moore Cristopher , Mertens Stephan 
Published: December 2013

AbstractAlthough randomness can yield simple, efficient, and beautiful algorithms, it affects computation in many other ways. In NP problems, a ‘yes’ answer can be proven by the Prover to the Verifier. NP problems may be viewed as conversations between the Prover and the Verifier, in which the latter asks for a proof and the former responds with one. This chapter focuses on the Verifier and Prover in the form of Arthur and Merlin, whereby the former tries to convince the latter that two graphs are topologically different. It demonstrates how Arthur can keep Merlin honest by asking him random questions. It also considers the PCP Theorem, which shows that it is possible to check proofs for NP problems by looking at just a few bits. In addition, it examines whether randomised algorithms can be derandomised. It describes pseudorandomness and derandomisation before concluding by looking at the general connection between hardness and randomness.
Random Walks and Rapid Mixing
Authors: Moore Cristopher , Mertens Stephan 
Published: December 2013

AbstractRandom sampling is a technique for dealing with possible states or solutions having an exponentially large space. The best method of random sampling generally involves a random walk or a Markov chain. A Markov chain requires a number of steps to approach equilibrium, and thus provide a good random sample of the state space. This number of steps is called mixing time, which can be calculated by thinking about how quickly its choices overwhelm the system’s memory of its initial state, the extent to which one part of a system influences another, and how smoothly probability flows from one part of the state space to another. This chapter explores random walks and rapid mixing, first by considering a classic example from physics: a block of iron. It then discusses transition matrices, ergodicity, coupling, spectral gap, and expanders, as well as the role of conductance and the spectral gap in rapid mixing. It concludes by showing that temporal mixing is closely associated with spatial mixing.
Introduction to geomicrobiology
Authors: Kirchman David L. 
Published: December 2013

Abstract
Geomicrobiology, the marriage of geology and microbiology, is about the impact of microbes on subsurface environments in terrestrial systems or sediments. A distinguishing feature of geomicrobiology is the long time scale. Even the slow growth and low activity of microbes in subsurface environments have big effects when added up over millennia. After reviewing the basics of bacteria–surface interactions, this chapter discusses biomineralization, which is the microbially mediated formation of solid minerals from soluble ions. The role of microbes can vary from merely providing passive surfaces for mineral formation to active control of the entire precipitation process. The formation of carbonate-containing minerals by coccolithophorids and other marine organisms is especially important because of the role of these minerals in the carbon cycle. Iron minerals can be formed by chemolithoautotrophic bacteria, which gain a small amount of energy from Fe (II) oxidation. Similarly, manganese-rich minerals are formed during Mn(II) oxidation, although how this reaction benefits microbes is unclear. These minerals and others give geologists and geomicrobiologists clues about early life on earth. In addition to forming minerals, microbes help to dissolve them, a process called weathering. They contribute to weathering and mineral dissolution through several mechanisms: production of protons (acidity) or hydroxides that dissolve minerals; production of ligands which chelate metals in minerals and thereby break up the solid phase; and direct reduction of mineral-bound metals to more soluble forms. The chapter ends with some comments about the role of microbes in degrading oil and other fossil fuels.
Primate census and survey techniques
Authors: Plumptre Andrew J. , Sterling Eleanor J. , Buckland Stephen T. 
Published: December 2013

Abstract
This chapter provides an overview of the current methods used to survey primate populations in various habitat types and for various species. Written by two primatologists with extensive experience in using many of the methods in primate surveys and by one of the world’s experts in line transect analyses and co-developer of the free software DISTANCE, it summarizes the options available for estimating primate numbers. The chapter highlights some of the latest techniques, such as genetic capture-recapture methods, lure and cue counts, and occupancy estimation, as well as the more traditional methods of line transect sampling, distance estimation, and total count methods. A special section on nocturnal primate population estimation methods offers advice for overcoming the difficulties of assessing primate population size and density for nocturnal and other rare primate populations.
Behavior within groups
Authors: Kaplin Beth A. , William Apollinaire 
Published: December 2013

Abstract
This chapter discusses the major topics one needs to know about within-group primate behaviour research. It begins by defining the primate group and reviewing the array of social units identified. Primate groups can be described in terms of their social organization, mating system, and social structure; these attributes are discussed, along with group size, cohesion, sex ratios, and costs-benefits of group living. The habituation process, which can vary from a few months to a year or more depending on species and group history, is reviewed. This is followed by a discussion of standard sampling techniques for behavioural data. The authors explore several key within-group attributes including activity budgets, foraging behaviour, competition, aggression, and cooperation. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is an invaluable tool for with-group behaviour studies, and the authors review the various ways it has been used. Social network analysis is a relatively new approach in primate behavioural studies with great potential. The chapter concludes with the contributions that behavioural studies can make to primate conservation.
Experiments in primatology: from the lab to the field and back again
Authors: Janson Charles H. , Brosnan Sarah F. 
Published: December 2013

Abstract
This chapter discusses how studies of field and captive (both laboratory and free-ranging captive) populations can provide complementary insights into the function and mechanisms of primate behaviours. In both arenas, experiments and observations play a role, although the ease of adopting each approach differs depending on the context, and they each have distinct kinds of strengths and constraints. Studies in captivity generally emphasize experiments on psychological mechanisms or development of behaviour, whereas field studies are best used to document the natural contexts in which functions are evident. Studies in captivity often reveal cognitive capacities that are only documented much later in the wild (e.g., tool use in capuchin monkeys) or that challenge us to discover the adaptive context in which they make sense (e.g., ability to count by chimpanzees). Studies in the wild may reveal behaviours that may not develop easily in confined lab environments (e.g., large-space navigational ability) or suggest explanations for species differences in cognitive abilities found in captivity (e.g., spatial vs. temporal discounting among tamarin species).
Demography, life histories, and population dynamics
Authors: Montenegro Olga L. 
Published: December 2013

Abstract
This chapter reviews the main field and analytical techniques used for demography, life history, and population dynamics research in primates. These methods are mainly used in free-ranging primates, although reference to captive animals is also provided. Topics discussed include the determination of demographic parameters, such as sex and age, population sex ratio, operational sex ratio, and estimation of population vital rates; methods for examining life history characteristics; population dynamics dealing with life tables and matrix population models, including sensitivity and elasticity analysis; and risk assessment methods used for primate conservation.
Captive breeding and ex situ conservation
Authors: Gibson Dean , McCann Colleen 
Published: December 2013

Abstract
Primates began the arduous journey out of their native countries and into captive collections in the late nineteenth century. However, their survival was severely limited by a lack of natural history knowledge and husbandry requirements. In the decades to follow, primate survivorship and propagation in zoos greatly increased. By the 1980s, captive breeding for most primates was routinely successful, but maintaining genetic diversity became the new impediment to population sustainability in zoos. This can be remedied in part by the inception of regional cooperative breeding programs focused on maintaining genetically and demographically robust populations. Many of today’s zoos have emerged as conservation organizations and have the potential to play an important role in species’ recovery and conservation.
Primates in trade
Authors: Linder Joshua M. , Sawyer Sarah , Brashares Justin S. 
Published: December 2013

Abstract
The wildlife trade is a multi-billion dollar business that satisfies demand for a wide range of products including live animals, trophies, ornaments, ingredients for traditional medicines and ceremonies, and meat. The wildlife trade represents one of the greatest threats to animal species across taxonomic groups, especially the primates. It is critical that studies are conducted to understand the biological and socioeconomic dimensions of the wildlife trade to help effectively track, regulate, and mitigate its impacts. The most commonly used methods for studying the wildlife trade include hunter, household, and market surveys, and analyses of official trade data collected by national governments and international organizations. This chapter describes the techniques used within each of these methods and refers to a growing body of research that has employed these techniques to examine the wildlife trade.
Introduction
Authors: Richmond Peter , Mimkes Jürgen , Hutzler Stefan 
Published: December 2013

AbstractThis chapter defines physics as the only science that takes it upon itself to explore those areas of the universe where the fundamental laws are unknown. It is often a surprise to many that physicists are applying their subject to finance and economics. Many colleagues of physicists who are currently looking at problems in economics, finance, and sociology still sometimes comment that these subjects do not fall within the domain of physics. However, history shows otherwise. While Aristotle, Copernicus, Newton, Huygens, Pascal, and Halley are all well known for their studies of natural phenomena, they are also remembered for important contributions that led to greater understanding and advances in economics and finance. The Renaissance brought with it independent thinking and a break from the passive belief that the future was a whim of the Gods. Risk was something that had to be understood, and the physicists described here made seminal contributions to the topic at a time when it was emerging as a serious subject.
Reading financial data
Authors: Richmond Peter , Mimkes Jürgen , Hutzler Stefan 
Published: December 2013

AbstractThis chapter describes the characteristics of financial data, and the general way in which it may be analysed. It then briefly describes the two different styles or approaches to investing. Financial transactions have been recorded on a daily basis since the nineteenth century, and since 1984, the sampling rate of transaction values has been made on a minute-by-minute basis. Companies now publish financial information in the form of accounts, with reporting periods varying from country to country. The data within company reports is concerned with the fundamental health of a company and spans income from sales, expenditure on salaries, capital investment, overall profit or earning, dividend payouts to shareholders, and transfers to the company reserves. These reports, together with periodic meetings with company directors, are the greatest concern of fundamental investors, as opposed to technical traders, who rely more on the asset price movements over time than on fundamental data.
7 Generalized diffusion processes and the Fokker‐Planck equation
Authors: Richmond Peter , Mimkes Jürgen , Hutzler Stefan 
Published: December 2013

AbstractThis chapter discusses the Chapman-Kolmogorov equation, but limits the scope to Markov processes. It is shown here how it can be reduced to the Fokker-Planck partial differential equation, using the concept of n-th order diffusion constants. These diffusion constants find applications, for example, when computing the evolution of the average of a random variable, and it is illustrated to obtain the average price of a Brownian asset as a function of time. Finally, the chapter introduces a more general Langevin equation than the one previously discussed, in order to study functions of random variables. It should be noted that the chapter forms the basis of the discussion on options and more realistic models of asset fluctuations, with an approach which essentially follows that by Lax et al. (2006).
Asset fluctuations and scaling
Authors: Richmond Peter , Mimkes Jürgen , Hutzler Stefan 
Published: December 2013

AbstractThis chapter first discusses the notion of stable distributions and shows that the consequence of this assumption is that the characteristic function of the corresponding distribution function has a particular form. In a special limit, this yields a Gaussian distribution. More generally, the probability distribution conforms to the Levy stable function, which has particular scaling properties. It has been noticed some years previously that asset prices did not follow Gaussian statistics. Bachelier himself questioned whether real assets actually followed the Gaussian law. The dilemma he faced was a lack of data that would have allowed him to properly assess the matter. Benoit Mandelbrot in 1963 also found that the Gaussian distribution did not fit empirical data. His study of asset prices, which suggested that asset price fluctuations conform to stable Levy distributions with fat tails, rather than Gaussian distributions, had profound implications for financial mathematics.
18 Production and economic growth
Authors: Richmond Peter , Mimkes Jürgen , Hutzler Stefan 
Published: December 2013

AbstractThis chapter adapts and exploits the concept of the Carnot cycle within our physical economics methodology to understand the mechanisms of economic production and finance. Proposed by the French engineer Nicolas Carnot in 1824 and developed by Benoit Clapeyron, another French engineer, during the period 1830–50, the Carnot cycle is a theoretical concept that forms the basis for understanding the operation of engines and heat pumps or refrigerators. It can be shown to be the most efficient route for the conversion of thermal energy into work or creating and maintaining a temperature difference. In order to move forward, an ‘economic’ Carnot cycle should be considered. If by some means the system is moved through a series of different states and finally returns to its initial state, it can be said that an economic cycle has occurred.
19 Economics and entropy
Authors: Richmond Peter , Mimkes Jürgen , Hutzler Stefan 
Published: December 2013

AbstractThis chapter considers details of the microstructure of an economic system, formulating what is known as physical macroeconomics. At the macroeconomic level, this can seem a somewhat mysterious quantity. This approach, however, has introduced a new state function, the economic entropy. A proper understanding of entropy is only possible by considering the system microstructure. It can be said that entropy measures the total number of microstates a system may adopt that are consistent with the macrostate. As a result of evolution of the dynamical variables, the system will, over a sufficient time, visit all possible points in the system phase space. Following the definition of Boltzmann entropy, it can be said that in economics, the entropy is similarly a measure of the total number of available ‘economic’ states, whereas the energy measures the probability that any particular state in this ‘economic’ phase space will be realised.
Platform-based product design and environmental turbulence
Authors: F. Thomas Ellen 
Published: December 2013

Purpose
– When competing in a turbulent environment, strategic flexibility can be a competitive advantage. One source of flexibility is the new product development (NPD) process, or more specifically product design. The purpose of this paper is to investigate platform-based product design and its relationship to environmental turbulence, strategic flexibility, and market performance.

Design/methodology/approach
– A theoretical model is developed and relationships are empirically tested using structural equation modeling. Data were collected from engineering design managers in the US manufacturing industry.

Findings
– The paper found that the higher the level of environmental turbulence the more firms turned to platform product design. Also, the higher the level of platform design the higher the level of market performance, both in the short term and the long term. Finally, the paper showed that strategic flexibility positively and partially mediates the positive relationship between platform design and performance.

Originality/value
– Platform-based product design is a research area noticeably devoid of empirical work. Furthermore, research has called for a better understanding of the different contexts in which platforms are applied stating that platform planning is too often decoupled from NDP strategy resulting in unsatisfactory results.
Detection and prevention of financial abuse against elders
Authors: A. Harries Priscilla , L. Davies Miranda , J. Gilhooly Kenneth , L.M. Gilhooly Mary , Cairns Deborah 
Published: December 2013

Purpose– This paper reports on banking and finance professionals' decision making in the context of elder financial abuse. The aim was to identify the case features that influence when abuse is identified and when action is taken.Design/methodology/approach– Banking and finance professionals (n=70) were shown 35 financial abuse case scenarios and were asked to judge how certain they were that the older person was being abused and the likelihood of taking action.Findings– Three case features significantly influenced certainty of financial abuse: the nature of the financial problem presented, the older person's level of mental capacity and who was in charge of the client's money. In cases where the older person was more confused and forgetful, there was increased suspicion that financial abuse was taking place. Finance professionals were less certain that financial abuse was occurring if the older person was in charge of his or her own finances.Originality/value– The research findings have been used to develop freely available online training resources to promote professionals' decision making capacity (www.elderfinancialabuse.co.uk). The resources have been advocated for use by Building Societies Association as well as CIFAS, the UK's Fraud Prevention Service.
What's normal? Influencing women's perceptions of normal genitalia: an experiment involving exposure to modified and nonmodified images
Authors: Moran C , Lee C 
Published: December 2013

ObjectiveExamine women's perceptions of what is ‘normal’ and ‘desirable’ in female genital appearance.DesignExperiment with random allocation across three conditions.SettingCommunity.SampleA total of 97 women aged 18–30 years.MethodsWomen were randomly assigned to view a series of images of (1) surgically modified vulvas or (2) nonmodified vulvas, or (3) no images. They then viewed and rated ten target images of surgically modified vulvas and ten of unmodified vulvas.Main outcome measuresWomen used a four‐point Likert scale (‘strongly agree’ to ‘strongly disagree’), to rate each target image for ‘looks normal’ and ‘represents society's ideal’. For each woman, we created two summary scores that represented the extent to which she rated the unmodified vulvas as more ‘normal’ and more ‘society's ideal’ than the modified vulvas.ResultsFor ratings of ‘normality,’ there was a significant effect for condition (F2,94 = 2.75 P = 0.007, = 0.082): women who had first viewed the modified images rated the modified target vulvas as more normal than the nonmodified vulvas, significantly different from the control group, who rated them as less normal. For ratings of ‘society's ideal’, there was again a significant effect for condition (F2,92 = 7.72, P < 0.001, = 0.125); all three groups rated modified target vulvas as more like society's ideal than the nonmodified target vulvas, with the effect significantly strongest for the women who had viewed the modified images.ConclusionsExposure to images of modified vulvas may change women's perceptions of what is normal and desirable. This may explain why some healthy women seek labiaplasty.
Myanmar under reform: Emerging pressures on water, energy and food security
Authors: Kattelus Mirja , Rahaman Muhammad Mizanur , Varis Olli 
Published: December 2013

AbstractMyanmar's water‐related sectors are subject to intensive changes, as the country's abundant land and water resources provide substantial scope for development. Recent steps towards economic reform in Myanmar have led to a surge of foreign investment directed towards intensified natural resource extraction. Both the agricultural and the energy sector are increasingly affected by foreign investments that will impact the status of water, energy and food security in the country. With these on‐going developments, Myanmar's future is largely dependent on how its natural resources are managed and how the benefits from the resource extraction are shared. With various institutional changes and new actors welcomed to the sectors, existing livelihoods and ecosystems dependent on the land and water resources are to face increasing competition for the shared resources, while lacking secured access to them. There are increasing concerns that this sectoral development is occurring at the expense of environmental and social sustainability. As one way to tackle these challenges, the water‐energy‐food nexus approach could help in finding synergies and co‐benefits across sectors by addressing the imbalances along the nexus and externalities derived from the on‐going intensification.
Bayesian model selection in complex linear systems, as illustrated in genetic association studies
Authors: Wen Xiaoquan 
Published: December 2013

SummaryMotivated by examples from genetic association studies, this article considers the model selection problem in a general complex linear model system and in a Bayesian framework. We discuss formulating model selection problems and incorporating context‐dependenta prioriinformation through different levels of prior specifications. We also derive analytic Bayes factors and their approximations to facilitate model selection and discuss their theoretical and computational properties. We demonstrate our Bayesian approach based on an implemented Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm in simulations and a real data application of mapping tissue‐specific eQTLs. Our novel results on Bayes factors provide a general framework to perform efficient model comparisons in complex linear model systems.