The Local Linear M

This paper studies the nonparametric regressive function with missing response data. Three local linear M-estimators with the robustness of local linear regression smoothers are presented such that they have the same asymptotic normality and consistency. Then finite-sample performance is examined via simulation studies. Simulations demonstrate that the complete-case data M-estimator is not superior to the other two local linear M-estimators

Observations in the Spanish Mediterranean Waters: A Review and Update of Results of 30-Year Monitoring

The Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO, Spanish Institute of Oceanography) has maintained different monitoring programs in the Spanish Mediterranean waters (Western Mediterranean) since 1992. All these monitoring programs were unified in 2007 under the current program RADMED (series temporales de datos oceanográficos en el Mediterráneo), which is devoted to the in situ multidisciplinary sampling of the water column of coastal and open-sea waters by means of periodic oceanographic campaigns. These campaigns, together with a network of tide-gauges, are part of the IEO Observing system (IEOOS). In some cases, the temperature and salinity time series collected in the frame of these monitoring programs are now more than 30 years long, whereas sea level time series date to the beginning of the 1940s. This information has been complemented with international databases and has been analyzed in numerous works by the Grupo mediterráneo de Cambio Climático (GCC; Mediterranean Climate Change Group) for more than 20 years. These works have been devoted to the detection and quantification of the changes that climate change is producing on the physical, chemical, and biological properties of the Spanish Mediterranean waters. In this work, we review the results obtained by the GCC since 2005 in relation to the changes in the physical properties of the sea: water column temperature, salinity, and density, heat content, mixed layer depth, and sea level. Time series and results are updated from the last works, and the reliability of the existing time series for the detection of climatologies and long-term trends are analyzed. Furthermore, the different sources of uncertainty in the estimation of linear trends are considered in the present work. Besides this review and update of the results obtained from the data collected in the frame of the IEOOS, we conduct a review of the existing monitoring capabilities from other institutions in the Spanish Mediterranean waters and a review of results dealing with climate change in the Spanish Mediterranean obtained by such institutions. In particular, we include a review of the results obtained by SOCIB (Servicio de Observación y Predicción Costero de las Islas Baleares; Balearic Islands costal observing and forecasting system) in relation to the study of marine heat waves and the warming of the sea surface, and the results corresponding to the intense warming of the Catalan continental shelf at L’Estartit oceanographic station. All these results evidence that the surface Spanish Mediterranean waters are warming up at a rate higher than that affecting the global ocean (>2 °C/100 years). This warming and a salinity increase are also observed along the whole water column. Marine heat waves are increasing their intensity, frequency, and duration since 1982, and coastal sea level is increasing at a rate of 2.5 mm/yr. The salinity increase seems to have compensated for the warming, at least at surface and intermediate waters where no significant trends have been detected for the density. This could also be the reason for the lack of significant trends in the evolution of the mixed layer depth. All these results highlight the importance of monitoring the water column and the necessity of maintaining in situ sampling programs, which are essential for the study of changes that are occurring throughout the Spanish Mediterranean waters

Method for landslides detection with semi-automatic procedures: The case in the zone center-east of Cauca department, Colombia

Landslides are a common natural hazard that causes human casualties, but also infrastructure damage and land-use degradation. Therefore, a quantitative assessment of their presence is required by means of detecting and recognizing the potentially unstable areas. This research aims to develop a method supported on semiautomatic methods to detect potential mass movements at a regional scale. Five techniques were studied: Morphometry, SAR interferometry (InSAR), Persistent Scatterer InSAR (PS-InSAR), SAR polarimetry (PolSAR) and NDVI composites of Landsat 5, Landsat 7, and Landsat 8. The case study was chosen within the mid-eastern area of the Cauca state, which is characterised by its mountainous terrain and the presence of slope instabilities, officially registered in the CGS-SIMMA landslide inventory. This inventory revealed that the type `slide' occurred with 77.4% from the entire registries, `fall' with 16.5%, followed by `creeps' with 3%, flows with 2.6%, and `lateral spread' with 0.43%. As a result, we obtained the morphometric variables: slope, CONVI, TWI, landform, which were highly associated with landslides. The effect of a DEM in the processing flow of the InSAR method was similar for the InSAR coherence variable using the DEMs ASTER, PALSAR RTC, Topo-map, and SRTM. Then, a multiInSAR analysis gave displacement velocities in the LOS direction between -10 and 10 mm/year. With the dual-PolSAR analysis (Sentinel-1), VH and VV C-band polarised radar energy emitted median values of backscatters, for landslides, about of -14.5 dB for VH polarisation and -8.5 dB for VV polarisation. Also, L-band fully polarimetric NASA-UAVSAR data allowed to nd the mechanism of dispersion of CGS landslide inventory: 39% for surface scattering, 46.4% for volume dispersion, and 14.6% for double-bounce scattering. The optical remote sensing provided NDVI composites derived from Landsat series between 2012 and 2016, showing that NDVI values between 0.40 and 0.70 had a high correlation to landslides. In summary, we found the highest categories related to landslides by Weight of Evidence method (WofE) for each spaceborne technique applied. Finally, these results were merged to generate the landslide detection model by using the supervised machine learning method of Random Forest. By taking training and test samples, the precision of the detection model was of about 70% for the rotational and translational types.Los deslizamientos son una amenaza natural que causa pérdidas humanas, daños a la infraestructura y degradación del suelo. Una evaluación cuantitativa de su presencia se requiere mediante la detección y el reconocimiento de potenciales áreas inestables. Esta investigación tuvo como alcance desarrollar un método soportado en métodos semi-automáticos para detectar potenciales movimientos en masa a escala regional. Cinco técnicas fueron estudiadas: Morfometría, Interferometría radar, Interferometría con Persistent Scatterers, Polarimetría radar y composiciones del NDVI con los satélites Landsat 5, Landsat 7 y Landsat 8. El caso de estudio se seleccionó dentro de la región intermedia al este del departamento del Cauca, la cual se caracteriza por terreno montañoso y la presencia de inestabilidades de la pendiente oficialmente registrados en el servicio SIMMA del Servicio Geológico Colombiano. Este inventario reveló que el tipo de movimiento deslizamiento ocurrió con una frecuencia relativa de 77.4%, caidos con el 16.5% de los casos y reptaciones con 3%, flujos con 2.6% y propagación lateral con 0.43%. Como resultado, se obtuvo las variables morfométricas: pendiente, convergencia, índice topográfico de humedad y forma del terreno altamente asociados con los deslizamientos. El efecto de un DEM en el procesamiento del método InSAR fue similar para la variable coherencia usando los DEMs: ASTER, PAlSAR RTC, Topo-map y SRTM. Un análisis Multi-InSAR estimó velocidades de desplazamiento en dirección de vista del radar entre -10 y 10 mm/año. El análisis de polarimetría dual del Sentinel-1 arrojó valores de retrodispersión promedio de -14.5 dB en la banda VH y -8.5dB en la banda VV. Las cuatro polarimetrías del sensor aéreo UAVSAR permitió caracterizar el mecanismo de dispersión del Inventario de Deslizamiento así: 39% en el mecanismo de superficie, 46.4% en el mecanismo de volumen y 14.6% en el mecanismo de doble rebote. La información generada en el rango óptico permitió obtener composiciones de NDVI derivados de la plataforma Landsat entre los años 2012 y 2016, mostrando que el rango entre 0.4 y 0.7 tuvieron una alta asociación con los deslizamientos. En esta investigación se determinaron las categorías de las variables de Teledetección más altamente relacionadas con los movimientos en masa mediante el método de Pesos de Evidencias (WofE). Finalmente, estos resultados se fusionaron para generar el modelo de detección de deslizamientos usando el método supervisado de aprendizaje de máquina Random Forest. Tomando muestras aleatorias para entrenar y validar el modelo en una proporción 70:30, el modelo de detección, especialmente los movimientos de tipo rotacional y traslacional fueron clasificados con una tasa general de éxito del 70%.Ministerio de CienciasConvocatoria 647 de 2014Research line: Geotechnics and Geoenvironmental HazardDoctorad

Machine Learning for Beamforming in Audio, Ultrasound, and Radar

Multi-sensor signal processing plays a crucial role in the working of several everyday technologies, from correctly understanding speech on smart home devices to ensuring aircraft fly safely. A specific type of multi-sensor signal processing called beamforming forms a central part of this thesis. Beamforming works by combining the information from several spatially distributed sensors to directionally filter information, boosting the signal from a certain direction but suppressing others. The idea of beamforming is key to the domains of audio, ultrasound, and radar. Machine learning is the other central part of this thesis. Machine learning, and especially its sub-field of deep learning, has enabled breakneck progress in tackling several problems that were previously thought intractable. Today, machine learning powers many of the cutting edge systems we see on the internet for image classification, speech recognition, language translation, and more. In this dissertation, we look at beamforming pipelines in audio, ultrasound, and radar from a machine learning lens and endeavor to improve different parts of the pipelines using ideas from machine learning. We start off in the audio domain and derive a machine learning inspired beamformer to tackle the problem of ensuring the audio captured by a camera matches its visual content, a problem we term audiovisual zooming. Staying in the audio domain, we then demonstrate how deep learning can be used to improve the perceptual qualities of speech by denoising speech clipping, codec distortions, and gaps in speech. Transitioning to the ultrasound domain, we improve the performance of short-lag spatial coherence ultrasound imaging by exploiting the differences in tissue texture at each short lag value by applying robust principal component analysis. Next, we use deep learning as an alternative to beamforming in ultrasound and improve the information extraction pipeline by simultaneously generating both a segmentation map and B-mode image of high quality directly from raw received ultrasound data. Finally, we move to the radar domain and study how deep learning can be used to improve signal quality in ultra-wideband synthetic aperture radar by suppressing radio frequency interference, random spectral gaps, and contiguous block spectral gaps. By training and applying the networks on raw single-aperture data prior to beamforming, it can work with myriad sensor geometries and different beamforming equations, a crucial requirement in synthetic aperture radar

Impact of bias and redshift-space modelling for the halo power spectrum: testing the effective field theory of large-scale structure

We study the impact of different bias and redshift-space models on the halo power spectrum, quantifying their effect by comparing the fit to a subset of realizations taken from the WizCOLA suite. These provide simulated power spectrum measurements between kmin = 0.03 h/Mpc and kmax = 0.29 h/Mpc, constructed using the comoving Lagrangian acceleration method. For the bias prescription we include (i) simple linear bias; (ii) the McDonald & Roy model and (iii) its coevolution variant introduced by Saito et al.; and (iv) a very general model including all terms up to one-loop and corrections from advection. For the redshift-space modelling we include the Kaiser formula with exponential damping and the power spectrum provided by (i) tree-level perturbation theory and (ii) the Halofit prescription; (iii) one-loop perturbation theory, also with exponential damping; and (iv) an effective field theory description, also at one-loop, with damping represented by the EFT subtractions. We quantify the improvement from each layer of modelling by measuring the typical improvement in χ2 when fitting to a member of the simulation suite. We attempt to detect overfitting by testing for compatibility between the best-fit power spectrum per realization and the best-fit over the entire WizCOLA suite. For both bias and the redshift-space map we find that increasingly permissive models yield improvements in χ2 but with diminishing returns. The most permissive models show modest evidence for overfitting. Accounting for model complexity using the Bayesian Information Criterion, we argue that standard perturbation theory up to one-loop, or a related model such as that of Taruya, Nishimichi & Saito, coupled to the Saito et al. coevolution bias model, is likely to provide a good compromise for near-future galaxy surveys operating with comparable kmax

Biodegradable amphiphilic PEG-PCL-PEI triblock copolymers designed for the self-assembly of multifunctional gene carriers

The great promise that gene therapy holds is the opportunity of directly introducing genetic material into cells for a causal therapy of yet incurable diseases. One promising way to achieve that goal is the usage of non-viral delivery vehicles, constructed from amphiphilic block copolymers. This thesis presents the establishment of a multifunctional PEG-PCL-PEI block copolymer platform, designed for multifunctional gene delivery. Across the scientific disciplines of chemistry, chemical physics, pharmacy and biomedicine the underlying work covers all aspects of non-viral gene delivery: In a first step, block copolymers were synthesised and characterised. In a systematic approach a library of compounds with varying hydrophilic/hydrophobic ratio was established. Subsequently, polymers were assembled into gene carriers followed by a non-invasive structural characterisation. Most importantly it was noticed, that polymers hydrophilic in nature formed smaller micelle-like carriers, whereas hydrophobic polymers aggregated to larger particle-like assemblies. In that vein, carrier features such as colloidal stability and toxicity were found to depend on chemical composition. Second, the nucleic acid loading process was optimised. Herein it was the overall goal to manufacture compactly condensed carrier complexes by understanding the basic principles of the electrostatic loading procedure. It was hypothesised that a more homogeneous fusion of charges is supposed to lead to superior carrier complexes. In that line, a microfluidic mixing technique, bringing cationic polymer and nucleic acid together at a constant ratio during the entire mixing process, was found to be the most promising technique. Ultimately, gene delivery carriers with superior colloidal stability, RNA protection and transfection efficiency were manufactured and process parameters were optimised with the help of a central composite design. Third, as a prerequisite for effective in vivo usage, carriers were transferred into stable ready-to-use formulations by lyophilisation with the help of glucose as a lyoprotectant. Unloaded nano-suspensions could be restored after rehydration by addition of small amounts of glucose. Upon loading of those rehydrated carriers, no significant difference in complex size or transfection efficiency was observed as compared to freshly-prepared ones. Moreover, the stabilisation of pre-formed carrier/siRNA complexes is feasible at elevated N/P and higher glucose concentrations. Fourth, most promising carriers where tested for their in vitro and in vivo transfection efficiency. Vectors constructed from rather hydrophobic block copolymers showed superior transfection efficiency, whereas poor performance was found in case of predominantly hydrophilic ones in a good correlation in vitro and in vivo. FACS studies revealed that this might possibly be due to reduced cell uptake of carriers with thicker PEG shell preventing cell interaction. In that way a yet active vector with diminished toxicity as compared to PEI homopolymers was evaluated. Fluorescent microscopy images of murine lung tissue revealed emission predominantly in the alveolar region, rendering this carrier system as promising for local treatment of airway diseases. Finally, the feasibility of multifunctional carrier co-loading and FRET-monitored nucleic acid unpacking was approved. Double-labelled nano-carriers emitted light at the acceptor’s emission wavelength upon donor excitation, proving successful FRET-effect and hence, complex integrity. The ability of dual loading is especially useful for “theranostic” purposes or co-delivery of nucleic acids and drugs. FRET-switching functionality may be advantageous for monitoring complex stability and nucleic acid unpacking. In view of prospective experiments, to circumvent the observed charge-toxicity-relationship, carriers are supposed to be taken up by the target tissue in a selective way. This can be achieved, up to a certain degree, via targeting ligands. Rather hydrophilic carriers with thicker PEG shells, increased colloidal stability and reduced toxicity represent the ideal candidates for this modification. In the long term, required work is evident: the development of more effective non-viral vectors and conquering the yet severe toxicity effects of current delivery systems. By a deeper understanding in the mechanistic aspects of the gene delivery process plus a rational vector design we are on the right track to achieve that goal

ベイズ法によるマイクロフォンアレイ処理

京都大学0048新制・課程博士博士(情報学)甲第18412号情博第527号新制||情||93(附属図書館)31270京都大学大学院情報学研究科知能情報学専攻(主査)教授 奥乃 博, 教授 河原 達也, 准教授 CUTURI CAMETO Marco, 講師 吉井 和佳学位規則第4条第1項該当Doctor of InformaticsKyoto UniversityDFA

Specialization patterns in trade and technology.

This thesis focuses on the hypothesis of increasing returns and path-dependence in technological development, which originates in the supposedly localised nature of external economies from knowledge creation, and looks at its implications in the innovation literature and in recent models of endogenous technological change, specialization and growth. Chapter 1 provides an empirical assessment of the hypothesis of increasing returns and path-dependence. A recontracting process formalises the idea that in the presence of strong national externaIities a country's pattern of technological specialization tends to polarise towards extreme values thus leading to the emergence of a bimodal distribution. This prediction is found to be at variance with the data. However, reinforcing effects appear to be at work in situations of strong disadvantage. This might be the effect of scarce past research experience limiting countries' ability to absorb external knowledge. The analysis of Chapter 1 is further developed in Chapter 2, where differences across technological fields are accounted for, to allow for the possibility that only some of them may be subject to increasing returns. Chapter 3 compares technology and trade specialization patterns for a group of advanced countries. The analysis shows that their relationship is weak: this weakens the case for self-reinforcing mechanisms in technological change leading to persistence in trade patterns. Chapter 4 finds that the elasticity of innovation to international spillovers is positive and significant, thus suggesting they may be an important force leading to mobility in technology and trade specialization patterns. Absorptive capacity positively affects the elasticity to spillovers, but its effect depends on the position of the country with respect to the world technological frontier: the larger the gap of a country with the technological leaders, the lower is its ability to absorb and exploit external knowledge, but the larger is its potential to increase this ability

Developmental instability in lateral roots of maize: a multi-scale analysis

In the perspective of a second Green Revolution, aiming, unlike the first one, to enhance yields of crops in a low fertility context, the strategies used by plants for an optimal uptake of soil nutrients are at the core of the problem. To solve it and identify ideal breeds among the genetic diversity of crops, plant root systems, their development and their architecture, are called upon to play the leading role. The variability among secondary roots appears as a crucial feature for the optimality of soil exploration and acquisition of mobile and immobile resources, but this phenomenon remains poorly understood. The work presented in this thesis focuses on the lateral roots of maize (Zea mays L.) and attempts to unravel the processes at the origin of intrinsic variations in lateral root development. It relies notably on the phenotyping of individual lateral roots at an unprecedented scale, tracking the daily growth of thousands of them at a high spatial resolution, in order to characterize precisely the spatio-temporal variations existing both between and within root individuals. Individual growth rate profiles were analyzed with a statistical model that identified three main temporal trends in growth rates leading to the definition of three lateral root classes with contrasted growth rates and growth duration. Differences in lateral root diameter at root emergence (originating at the primordium stage) were likely to condition the followed growth trend but did not seem enough to entirely determine lateral root fate. Lastly, these lateral root classes were randomly distributed along the primary root, suggesting that there is no local inhibition or stimulation between neighbouring lateral roots. In order to explain the origin of the observed differences in growth behaviour, we complemented our study with a multi-scale characterization of groups of lateral roots with contrasted growth at a cellular, anatomical and molecular level. A particular focus is set on the analysis of cell length profiles in lateral root apices for which we introduced a segmentation model to identify developmental zones. Using this method, we evidenced strong modulations in the length of the division and elongation zones that could be closely related to variations in lateral root growth. The regulatory role of auxin on the balance between cellular proliferation and elongation processes is demonstrated through the analysis of mutant lines. Ultimately, variations in lateral root growth are traced back to the allocation of carbon assimilates and the transport capacity of the root, suggesting that a feedback control loop mechanism could play a determinant role in the setting out of contrasted lateral root growth trends. (Résumé d'auteur

Oyster Reef Habitat Restoration : a synopsis and synthesis of approaches; proceedings from the symposium, Williamsburg, Virginia, April 1995

This volume has its origin in a symposium held in Williamsburg, VA in April 1995, though most of the chapters have been significantly revised in the interim. The primary purpose of the symposium was to bring together state fisheries managers involved in fisheries-directed oyster enhancement and research scientists to refine approaches for enhancing oyster populations and to better develop the rationale for restoring reef habitats. We could hardly have anticipated the degree to which this been successful. In the interim between the symposium and the publication of this volume the notion that oyster reefs are valuable habitats, both for oysters and for the other ecosystem services they provide, has been gaining wider acceptance. . . . Table of Contents Introduction and Overview by Mark W. Luckenbach, Roger Mann and James A. Wesson Part I. Historical Perspectives Chapter 1 - The Evolution of the Chesapeake Oyster Reef System During the Holocene Epoch by William J. Hargis, Jr. Chapter 2 - The Morphology and Physical Oceanography of Unexploited Oyster Reefs in North America by Victor S. Kennedy and Lawrence P. Sanford Chapter 3 - Oyster Bottom: Surface Geomorphology and Twentieth Century Changes in the Maryland Chesapeake Bay by Gary F. Smith, Kelly N. Geenhawk and Dorothy L. Jensen Part II. Synopsis of Ongoing Efforts Chapter 4 - Resource Management Programs for the Eastern Oyster, Crassostrea virginica,in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico ...Past, Present and Future by Richard L. Leard, Ronald Dugas and Mark Benigan Chapter 5 - Oyster Habitat Restoration: A Response to Hurricane Andrew by William S. Perret, Ronald Dugas, John Roussel, Charles A. Wilson, and John Supan Chapter 6 - Oyster Restoration in Alabama by Richard K. Wallace, Kenneth Heck and Mark Van Hoose Chapter 7 - A History of Oyster Reef Restoration in North Carolina by Michael D. Marshall, Jeffrey E. French and Stephen W. Shelton Chapter 8 - Oyster Restoration Efforts in Virginia by James Wesson, Roger Mann and Mark Luckenbach Part Ill. Reef Morphology and Function - Questions of Scale Chapter 9 - South Carolina Intertidal Oyster Reef Studies: Design, Sampling and Focus for Evaluating Habitat Value and Function by Loren D. Coen, David M. Knott, Elizabeth L. Wenner, Nancy H. Hadley, Amy H. Ringwood and M. Yvonne Bobo Chapter 10 - Small-scale Patterns of Recruitment on a Constructed Intertidal Reef: The Role of Spatial Refugia by Ian K. Bartol and Roger Mann Chapter 11 - Perspectives on Induced Settlement and Metamorphosis as a Tool for Oyster Reef Enhancement by Stephen Coon and William K. Fitt Chapter 12 - Processes Controlling Local and Regional Patterns of Invertebrate Colonization: Applications to the Design of Artificial Oyster Habitat by Richard W. Osman and Robert B. Whitlatch Chapter 13 - Reefs as Metapopulatons: Approaches for Restoring and Managing Spatially Fragmented Habitats by Robert B. Whitlatch and Richard W. Osman Chapter 14 - Application of Landscape Ecological Principles to Oyster Reef Habitat Restoration by David B. Eggleston Chapter 15 - Use of Oyster Reefs as a Habitat for Epibenthic Fish and Decapods by Martin H. Posey, Troy D. Alphin, Christopher M. Powell and Edward Townsend Chapter 16 - Are Three Dimensional Structure and Healthy Oyster Populations the Keys to an Ecologically Interesting and Important Fish Community? by Denise L. Breitburg Chapter 17 - Materials Processing by Oysters in Patches: Interactive Roles of Current Speed and Seston Composition by Deborah Harsh and Mark W. Luckenbach Chapter 18 - Oyster Reefs as Components in Estuarine Nutrient Cycling: fucidental or Controlling? by Richard F. Dame Part IV. Alternative Substrates Chapter 19 - Use of Dredged Material for Oyster Habitat Creation in Coastal Virginia by Walter I. Priest, III, Janet Nestlerode and Christopher W. Frye Chapter 20 - Alternatives to Clam and Oyster Shell as Cultch for Eastern Oysters by Haywood, E. L., III, T. M. Soniat and R. C. Broadhurst, III Chapter 21 - Dredged Material as a Substrate for Fisheries Habitat Establishment in Coastal Waters by Douglas Clarke, David Meyer, Allison Veishlow and Michael LaCroix Part V. Management Options and Economic Considerations Chapter 22 - Managing Around Oyster Diseases in Maryland and Maryland Oyster Roundtable Strategies by Kennedy T. Paynter Chapter 23 - Chesapeake Bay Oyster Reefs, Their Importance, Destruction and Guidelines for Restoring Them by William J. Hargis, Jr. and Dexter S. Haven Chapter 24 - Economics of Augmentation of Natural Production Using Remote Setting Techniques by John E. Supan, Charles A. Wilson and Kenneth J. Robert