Search results for "Scale effects"

Gauging scale effects and biogeographical signals in similarity distance decay analyses: an Early Jurassic ammonite case study.

2016

17 pages; International audience; In biogeography, the similarity distance decay (SDD) relationship refers to the decrease in compositional similarity between communities with geographical distance. Although representing one of the most widely used relationships in biogeography, a review of the literature reveals that: (1) SDD is influenced by both spatial extent and sample size; (2) the potential effect of the phylogenetic level has yet to be tested; (3) the effect of a marked biogeographical structuring upon SDD patterns is largely unknown; and (4) the SDD relationship is usually explored with modern, mainly terrestrial organisms, whereas fossil taxa are seldom used in that perspective. U…

2017

The debate on the causes of conflict in human societies has deep roots. In particular, the extent of conflict in hunter-gatherer groups remains unclear. Some authors suggest that large-scale violen ...

On the Persistent Understatement of Shareholder's Equity Around Europe

2003

We examine the existence of balance sheet conservative practices by listed companies in seven European countries, analysing the differences among them. Our results show that in every country under study there are conservative practices that lead to a persistent understatement of operating assets with respect to market value. This understatement could be mainly attributable to the usage of historic cost accounting as well as to the non-recognition of certain intangible assets. We also find that in code-law based countries balance sheet conservative practices are much more pronounced. Additionally, we analyse whether our results are influenced by a different sample composition, and if spuriou…

Study of the reactive dynamics of nanometric metallic multilayers using Molecular Dynamics: the Al−Ni system

2012

A molecular dynamics study of a layered Ni-Al-Ni system is developed using an embedded atom method potential. The specific geometry is designed to model a Ni-Al nanometric metallic multilayer. The system is initially thermalized at the fixed temperature of 600 K. We first observe the interdiffusion of Ni and Al at the interfaces, which is followed by the spontaneous phase formation of B2-NiAl in the Al layer. The solid-state reaction is associated with a rapid system's heating which further enhances the diffusion processes. NiAl phase is organized in small regions separated by grain boundaries. This study confirms the hypothesis of a layer-by-layer development of the new phase. For longer t…

Planck-scale effects on WIMP dark matter

2014

There exists a widely known conjecture that gravitational effects violate global symmetries. We study the effect of global-symmetry violating higher-dimension operators induced by Planck-scale physics on the properties of WIMP dark matter. Using an effective description, we show that the lifetime of the WIMP dark matter candidate can satisfy cosmological bounds under reasonable assumptions regarding the strength of the dimension-five operators. On the other hand, the indirect WIMP dark matter detection signal is significantly enhanced due to new decay channels.

The impact of scale effects on the prevailing internet-based banking model in the US

2011

Internet-based banks use a technology-intensive production process that may benefit from scale effects as they grow larger. This article analyzes whether the predominant Internet-primary bank in the USA generates technology-based economies of scale in the period 2002–2010. There is evidence of both favorable and adverse technology-based scale effects. As the leading Internet-primary bank gets larger, the financial performance gap with traditional banks shrinks while some of its critical competitive advantages wear down. The results suggest that unless the prevailing Internet-primary bank preserves the distinctive advantages of the Internet-based business model as it improves financial perfo…

Scale effects on plot runoff and soil erosion in a mediterranean environment

2017

Explaining scale effects for runoff and erosion improves our understanding of hydrological and erosion processes. In this investigation, plot-scale effects on event runoff per unit area, Qe, sediment concentration, Ce, and soil loss per unit area, SLe, were checked at the Sparacia (Italy) site. Similar information on the scale effects was obtained with different dependent variables, i.e., individual values of Qe, Ce, and SLe for each plot or the mean of their replicated values, and scale indicators, i.e., plot length, l, or plot area, A. The most common result, occurring for 57 to 62% of the events depending on the considered variable, was the lack of any scale effect. When scale effects we…

The effects of post-orogenic extension on different scales: an example from the Apennine-Maghrebide fold-and-thrust belt, SW Sicily

2003

Many structures produced under one single deformation regime, namely extensional, contractional or strike-slip, exhibit remarkable geometrical analogies when analysed at different scales. By contrast, field examples that illustrate the scale effects on structures resulting from superimposed deformations, which were produced under different tectonic regimes, are rare. Yet the change from contraction to extension is known to occur often in the most thickened portions of the continental crust. The Apennine–Maghrebide fold-and-thrust belt of Sicily shows many examples of post-orogenic extensional deformations. Composite structures, resulting from late normal faults that offset folds and thrusts…

PLOT LENGTH EFFECTS ON RUNOFF AND SOIL EROSION AT THE SPARACIA EXPERIMENTAL SITE

2018

Explaining scale effects for runoff and erosion improves our understanding of erosion processes. In this investigation, plot length effects on event runoff per unit area, Qe, sediment concentration, Ce, and soil loss per unit area, SLe, were checked at the Sparacia (Italy) site. The most common result, occurring for the 57-62% of the events depending on the considered variable, was the lack of any scale effect. When scale effects were detected, they indicated that longer plots yielded smaller Qe and SLe values and higher Ce values. Rainfall characteristics did not explain the occur-rence of significant scale effects nor they were able to describe changes in the scaling exponent for Ce and S…