Investigation of the rupture of a synthetic tape within the framework of the percolation theory

Within the framework of the percolation theory (bond problem), a new model of breaking a complex synthetic tape is proposed as a continuous-type phase transition when the state jump is zero. The percolation threshold and accompanying characteristics are calculated for the model of rupture of a synthetic reinforced tape when flowing along the first and second neighbours. The knots of the tape form a strip of a square lattice, the width of which is fixed. All nodes are intact and cannot be damaged, links (tape threads) can be intact and broken (blocked). The dependences of the percolation threshold in the bond problem and the relative deviation of the threshold from the ribbon length are calculated. It is proved that for the simplest model of one-dimensional percolation with percolation along the nearest neighbours (the problem of nodes), the percolation threshold in the thermodynamic limit is equal to unity. It is shown that, with an accuracy of 10%, the percolation threshold for a sufficiently long ribbon is equal to unity. This indicates that the system is quasi-one-dimensional. Thus, using the method of computer simulation, the percolation threshold, root-mean-square and relative threshold deviations were calculated. The critical susceptibility index was also calculated. In contrast to the usual percolation problem, in the proposed model it makes sense to consider only the region above the percolation threshold. The proposed model can be generalized to the case when nodes are also damaged (blocked), then we come to a mixed percolation model, which is supposed to be considered in the future.

Behavioral interference or facilitation does not distinguish between competitive and noncompetitive accounts of lexical selection in word production.

One of the major debates in the field of word production is whether lexical selection is competitive or not. For nearly half a century, semantic interference effects in picture naming latencies have been claimed as evidence for competitive (relative threshold) models of lexical selection, while semantic facilitation effects have been claimed as evidence for non-competitive (simple threshold) models instead. In this paper, we use a computational modeling approach to compare the consequences of competitive and noncompetitive selection algorithms for blocked cyclic picture naming latencies, combined with two approaches to representing taxonomic and thematic semantic features. We show that although our simple model can capture both semantic interference and facilitation, the presence or absence of competition in the selection mechanism is unrelated to the polarity of these semantic effects. These results question the validity of prior assumptions and offer new perspectives on the origins of interference and facilitation in language production.

A New Argument Against Critical-Level Utilitarianism

One prominent welfarist axiology, critical-level utilitarianism, says that individual lives must surpass a specified ‘critical level’ in order to make a positive contribution to the comparative status of a given population. In this article I develop a new dilemma for critical-level utilitarians. When comparatively evaluating populations composed of different species, critical-level utilitarians must decide whether the critical level is a universal threshold or whether the critical level is a species-relative threshold. I argue that both thresholds lead to a range of axiological puzzles and objections as yet undiscussed within the literature, and therefore conclude that critical-level utilitarianism should not be taken as a morally plausible welfarist axiology. I show that certain competitive formulations of critical range utilitarianism are subject to the argument too, and that further attempts to relativise critical levels to a particular group or category of welfare bearer (in particular, individual-relative critical levels) are unsustainable.

Flash Drought and Heat Waves: An Overview of Cascading and Compound Events

<p>Flash droughts and heat waves have substantial impacts on agriculture, socioeconomics, and human health. The combined influence of these two events exacerbate the damage to several sectors. The positive feedback between drought and heat waves has been previously studied, but the connection between flash drought and heat waves (or record temperatures) has only been investigated to occur roughly at the same temporal period. Further understanding the compound and cascading impacts of flash droughts and heat waves could potentially enhance monitoring and/or predictability of flash drought events benefiting subseasonal-to-seasonal forecasts, minimize human mortality, and prevent agricultural yield loss. We present a novel approach to analyzing compound and cascading impacts from the flash drought-heat wave relationship by investigating multiple case studies (e.g., 1950s drought event, 2011-2012 U.S. flash drought, and 2019 U.S. flash drought). Several reanalysis datasets were utilized to examine the intensity, temporal duration, and spatial extent relationships between flash drought and heat wave conditions during the case study events. We define heat waves using the following framework which incorporates classifications employed in previous studies; one classification is dependent on a relative threshold (i.e., 95<sup>th</sup> percentile) applied to daily maximum and minimum temperatures, whereas the second part of the definition utilizes heat index under the same relative threshold. In order for a heat wave event to begin, this definition must hold true for three or more consecutive days for a specified spatial method. Our flash drought analysis incorporated a percentile methodology based on standardized evapotranspiration stress ratio (SESR). Comparison between intensity, spatial extent, and temporal duration relationships for compound and cascading events were of particular focus for this study. A mixture of compound and cascading events were found within one flash drought study (i.e., 2011-2012 flash drought). As such, we further hypothesize that the intensity and temporal duration will differ between compound and cascading events. Yet, we expect the spatial extent to remain positively correlated as shown from previous studies.</p>

Event-triggered boundary quantization control for flexible manipulator based on partial differential equations dynamic model

In this paper, we consider boundary control for a single-link flexible manipulator system described by partial differential equations (PDEs). Existing researches on controller design rarely consider the problem of communication capacity constrains during signal transmission. To deal with this problem, an adaptive control is designed to achieve the input quantization by using the random quantizer. Besides, a triggering event is addressed on the basis of relative threshold strategy for relieving communication load between controller and actuator. The proposed scheme is able to ensure that all closed-loop signals are globally uniformly bounded, and the angular tracking error and vibration converge to a residual set. Simulation results are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.

Aceleraciones de alta intensidad en el fútbol. ¿Por qué es importante el método de evaluación? (High-intensity acceleration in soccer. Why is the evaluation method important?)

El objetivo del presente estudio fue analizar las posibles diferencias entre el uso de diferentes tipos de umbrales para evaluar los esfuerzos de alta intensidad, tanto en número como en distancia recorrida en jóvenes futbolistas de élite. Un total de 26 jóvenes jugadores fueron analizados durante 18 partidos oficiales (n = 108). Los esfuerzos de alta intensidad se evaluaron utilizando un umbral relativo individualizado basado en la capacidad de acelerar a diferentes velocidades iniciales, considerando la aceleración de alta intensidad cuando fue >75% de la capacidad máxima de acelerar (>75% amax). Se utilizó también un umbral >21 km·h-1 cuando la intensidad de la aceleración fue >75% amax, y umbrales absolutos >3 m·s-2 y >4 m·s-2, contabilizando tanto el número como la distancia (metros). El análisis post hoc mostró diferencias significativas por pares entre el uso de umbrales a alta intensidad (p < .05), en número y distancia. Los resultados mostraron que el uso de umbrales absolutos podría sobreestimar (>3 m·s-2) y subestimar (>4 m·s-2 y >21 km·h-1) esfuerzos de aceleración a alta intensidad (tanto en número como en distancia) en comparación con el uso de un umbral relativo individualizado (p < .05). Por lo tanto, concluimos que el uso de umbrales de aceleración absolutos (>3 m·s-2 y >4 m·s-2) puede no ser apropiado para analizar estos esfuerzos de alta intensidad en jóvenes futbolistas. Además, los umbrales de velocidad de carrera podrían subestimar las acciones de alta intensidad desarrolladas en una distancia corta, siendo más apropiados combinarlos con un umbral relativo individual para evaluar las acciones de alta intensidad en partidos de fútbol. Abstract. The aim of the current study was to analyze the possible differences between the use of different kinds of thresholds to assess high-intensity acceleration efforts, both in number and distance covered in young elite soccer players. A total of 26 young soccer players were analyzed during 18 competitive matches (n=108). High-intensity acceleration efforts were assessed using an individual relative threshold based on the capacity of acceleration from different initial speeds, considering high-intensity acceleration when it was >75% of the maximal acceleration (>75% amax). It was also used a threshold >21 km·h-1 when the acceleration intensity was >75% amax, and absolute thresholds of >3 m·s-2 and >4 m·s-2, both in number and distance (meters). Post hoc analysis showed pairwise significant differences between the use of high-intensity thresholds (p < .05), in number and distance. The results showed that the use of absolute thresholds could overestimate (>3 m·s-2) and underestimate (>4 m·s-2 and >21 km·h-1) high-intensity acceleration efforts (both in number and distance) in comparison with the use of an individual relative threshold (p < .05), whereas a threshold based on high-speed running could underestimate high-intensity acceleration efforts (p < .05). Therefore we conclude that the use of absolute acceleration thresholds (>3 m·s-2 and >4 m·s-2) may not be appropriate to analyze these efforts in young soccer players. In addition, speed running thresholds could underestimate high-intensity actions developed in short distance, being more appropriate to combine with an individual relative threshold to assess high-intensity action in soccer matches.

An Extensive Collection of Evaluation Indicators to Assess Occupants’ Health and Comfort in Indoor Environment

Today, the effects of the indoor environment on occupants’ health and comfort represent a very important topic and requires a holistic approach in which the four main environmental factors (thermal comfort, air quality, acoustics, and lighting) should be simultaneously assessed. The present paper shows the results of a literature survey that aimed to collect the indicators for the evaluation of occupants’ health and comfort in indoor environmental quality evaluations. A broad number of papers that propose the indicators of a specific environmental factor is available in the scientific literature, but a review that collects the indicators of all four factors is lacking. In this review paper, the difference between indicators for the evaluation of risk for human health and for comfort evaluation is clarified. For each environmental factor, the risk for human health indicators are proposed with the relative threshold values, and the human comfort indicators are grouped into categories according to the number of parameters included, or the specific field of application for which they are proposed. Furthermore, the differences between human health and comfort indicators are highlighted.

A Global Extraction Method of High Repeatability on Discretized Scale-Space Representations

This paper presents a novel method to extract local features, which instead of calculating local extrema computes global maxima in a discretized scale-space representation. To avoid interpolating scales on few data points and to achieve perfect rotation invariance, two essential techniques, increasing the width of kernels in pixel and utilizing disk-shaped convolution templates, are adopted in this method. Since the size of a convolution template is finite and finite templates can introduce computational error into convolution, we sufficiently discuss this problem and work out an upper bound of the computational error. The upper bound is utilized in the method to ensure that all features obtained are computed under a given tolerance. Besides, the technique of relative threshold to determine features is adopted to reinforce the robustness for the scene of changing illumination. Simulations show that this new method attains high performance of repeatability in various situations including scale change, rotation, blur, JPEG compression, illumination change, and even viewpoint change.