Reality Versus Grant Application Research “Plans”

This article describes the implementation of the American Indian mHealth Smoking Dependence Study focusing on the differences between what was written in the grant application compared to what happened in reality. The study was designed to evaluate a multicomponent intervention involving 256 participants randomly assigned to one of 15 groups. Participants received either a minimal or an intense level of four intervention components: (1) nicotine replacement therapy, (2) precessation counseling, (3) cessation counseling, and (4) mHealth text messaging. The project team met via biweekly webinars as well as one to two in-person meetings per year throughout the study. The project team openly shared progress and challenges and collaborated to find proactive solutions to address challenges as compared to what was planned in the original grant application. The project team used multiple strategies to overcome unanticipated intervention issues: (1) cell phone challenges, (2) making difficult staffing decisions, (3) survey lessons, (4) nicotine replacement therapy, (5) mHealth text messages, (6) motivational interviewing counseling sessions, and (7) use of e-cigarettes. Smoking cessation studies should be designed based on the grant plans. However, on the ground reality issues needed to be addressed to assure the scientific rigor and innovativeness of this study

Thin-shell wormholes in Einstein-Maxwell theory with a Gauss-Bonnet term

We study five dimensional thin-shell wormholes in Einstein-Maxwell theory with a Gauss-Bonnet term. The linearized stability under radial perturbations and the amount of exotic matter are analyzed as a function of the parameters of the model. We find that the inclusion of the quadratic correction substantially widens the range of possible stable configurations, and besides it allows for a reduction of the exotic matter required to construct the wormholes.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures; v2: minor changes and new references added. Accepted for publication in General Relativity and Gravitatio

Relativistic theories of interacting fields and fluids

We investigate divergence-type theories (DTT) describing the dissipative interaction between a field and a fluid. We look for theories which, under equilibrium conditions, reduce to the theory of a Klein-Gordon scalar field and a perfect fluid. We show that the requirements of causality and positivity of entropy production put non-trivial constarints to the structure of the interaction terms. These theories provide a basis for the phenomonological study of the reheating period.Comment: 17 pages, no figures, minor corrections mad

The geometry of the higher dimensional black hole thermodynamics in Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet theory

This paper deals with five-dimensional black hole solutions in (a) Einstein-Yang-Mills-Gauss-Bonnet theory and (b)Einstein-Maxwell-Gauss-Bonnet theory with a cosmological constant for spherically symmetric space time. The geometry of the black hole thermodynamics has been studied for both the black holes.Comment: 8 page

Asymptotically Lifshitz wormholes and black holes for Lovelock gravity in vacuum

Static asymptotically Lifshitz wormholes and black holes in vacuum are shown to exist for a class of Lovelock theories in d=2n+1>7 dimensions, selected by requiring that all but one of their n maximally symmetric vacua are AdS of radius l and degenerate. The wormhole geometry is regular everywhere and connects two Lifshitz spacetimes with a nontrivial geometry at the boundary. The dynamical exponent z is determined by the quotient of the curvature radii of the maximally symmetric vacua according to n(z^2-1)+1=(l/L)^2, where L corresponds to the curvature radius of the nondegenerate vacuum. Light signals are able to connect both asymptotic regions in finite time, and the gravitational field pulls towards a fixed surface located at some arbitrary proper distance to the neck. The asymptotically Lifshitz black hole possesses the same dynamical exponent and a fixed Hawking temperature given by T=z/(2^z pi l). Further analytic solutions, including pure Lifshitz spacetimes with a nontrivial geometry at the spacelike boundary, and wormholes that interpolate between asymptotically Lifshitz spacetimes with different dynamical exponents are also found.Comment: 19 pages, 1 figur

Media as an invitation to rethink music education

This paper was given as a talk at the 2012 National Association for Music Education conference in St. Louis, as part of the Philosophy Special Research Interest Group session organized by Cathy Benedict, “Music Education in the Age of YouTube: Media Immediacy and Philosophical Thinking.” Co-presenters were John Kratus, Carlos Rodriguez, and Janice Waldron. Channing A. Paluck and Joe Wachtel provided helpful comments on the first half of this paper. This paper represents two five-minute presentations, the first of which was given as a movie, which can be viewed on my website: www.matthewthibeault.comunpublishednot peer reviewe

Linearized stability analysis of gravastars in noncommutative geometry

In this work, we find exact gravastar solutions in the context of noncommutative geometry, and explore their physical properties and characteristics. The energy density of these geometries is a smeared and particle-like gravitational source, where the mass is diffused throughout a region of linear dimension $\sqrt{(\alpha)}$ due to the intrinsic uncertainty encoded in the coordinate commutator. These solutions are then matched to an exterior Schwarzschild spacetime. We further explore the dynamical stability of the transition layer of these gravastars, for the specific case of $\beta=M^2/\alpha<1.9$, where M is the black hole mass, to linearized spherically symmetric radial perturbations about static equilibrium solutions. It is found that large stability regions exist and, in particular, located sufficiently close to where the event horizon is expected to form.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

GCOM-W AMSR2 Soil Moisture Product Validation Using Core Validation Sites

The Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) is part of the Global Change Observation Mission-Water (GCOM-W). AMSR2 has filled the gap in passive microwave observations left by the loss of the Advanced Microwave Scanning RadiometerEarth Observing System (AMSR-E) after almost 10 years of observations. Both missions provide brightness temperature observations that are used to retrieve soil moisture estimates at the near surface. A merged AMSR-E and AMSR2 data product will help build a consistent long-term dataset; however, before this can be done, it is necessary to conduct a thorough validation and assessment of the AMSR2 soil moisture products. This study focuses on the validation of the AMSR2 soil moisture products by comparison with in situ reference data from a set of core validation sites around the world. A total of three soil moisture products that rely on different algorithms were evaluated; the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) soil moisture algorithm, the Land Parameter Retrieval Model (LPRM), and the Single Channel Algorithm (SCA). JAXA, SCA and LPRM soil moisture estimates capture the overall climatological features. The spatial features of the three products have similar overall spatial structure. The JAXA soil moisture product shows a lower dynamic range in the retrieved soil moisture with a satisfactory performance matrix when compared to in situ observations (ubRMSE0.059 m3m3, Bias-0.083 m3m3, R0.465). The SCA performs well over low and moderately vegetated areas (ubRMSE0.053 m3m3, Bias-0.039 m3m3, R0.549). The LPRM product has a large dynamic range compared to in situ observations with a wet bias (ubRMSE0.094 m3m3, Bias0.091 m3m3, R0.577). Some of the error is due to the difference in observation depth between the in situ sensors (5 cm) and satellite estimates (1 cm). Results indicate that overall the JAXA and SCA have the best performance based upon the metrics considered

AMSR2 Soil Moisture Product Validation

The Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) is part of the Global Change Observation Mission-Water (GCOM-W) mission. AMSR2 fills the void left by the loss of the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) after almost 10 years. Both missions provide brightness temperature observations that are used to retrieve soil moisture. Merging AMSR-E and AMSR2 will help build a consistent long-term dataset. Before tackling the integration of AMSR-E and AMSR2 it is necessary to conduct a thorough validation and assessment of the AMSR2 soil moisture products. This study focuses on validation of the AMSR2 soil moisture products by comparison with in situ reference data from a set of core validation sites. Three products that rely on different algorithms were evaluated; the JAXA Soil Moisture Algorithm (JAXA), the Land Parameter Retrieval Model (LPRM), and the Single Channel Algorithm (SCA). Results indicate that overall the SCA has the best performance based upon the metrics considered

Geometrothermodynamics of five dimensional black holes in Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet-theory

We investigate the thermodynamic properties of 5D static and spherically symmetric black holes in (i) Einstein-Maxwell-Gauss-Bonnet theory, (ii) Einstein-Maxwell-Gauss-Bonnet theory with negative cosmological constant, and in (iii) Einstein-Yang-Mills-Gauss-Bonnet theory. To formulate the thermodynamics of these black holes we use the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy relation and, alternatively, a modified entropy formula which follows from the first law of thermodynamics of black holes. The results of both approaches are not equivalent. Using the formalism of geometrothermodynamics, we introduce in the manifold of equilibrium states a Legendre invariant metric for each black hole and for each thermodynamic approach, and show that the thermodynamic curvature diverges at those points where the temperature vanishes and the heat capacity diverges.Comment: New sections added, references adde