Tauberian Results for Densities with Gaussian Tails

We study a class of probability densities with very thin upper tails. These densities generate exponential families which are asymptotically normal. Furthermore the class is closed under convolution. In this paper we shall be concerned with Abelian and strong Tauberian theorems for moment generating functions and Laplace transforms with respect to these densities. We obtain a duality relation between this class of densities and the associated class of moment generating functions which is closely related to the duality relation for convex function

Densities with Gaussian Tails

Consider densities fi(t), for i = 1, ..., d, on the real line which have thin tails in the sense that, for each i, fi(t) ∼ γi(t)e−ψi(t), where γi behaves roughly like a constant and ψi is convex, C2, with ψ′ → ∞ and ψ″ > 0 and l/√ψ″ is self-neglecting. (The latter is an asymptotic variation condition.) Then the convolution is of the same form ft * ... *fd(t) ∼ γ(t)e − ψ(t) Formulae for γ, ψ are given in terms of the factor densities and involve the conjugate transform and infimal convolution of convexity theory. The derivations require embedding densities in exponential families and showing that the assumed form of the densities implies asymptotic normality of the exponential familie

Nieuwe eiwitgewassen voor de voeding van varkens in de biologische houderij

Voor biologische veehouders geldt vanaf 2005 de eis dat alle voeders van biologische oorsprong dienen te zijn. In deze deskstudie worden de eigenschappen en potentie van alternatieve eiwitgewassen beschreven. Zaden van in ons land passendeleguminosen (erwt ( Pisum sativum), veldboon ( Vicia faba), lupine ( Lupinus albus, Lupinus luteus, Lupinus angustifolius) ) hebben een hoog eiwitgehalte vergeleken met dat van andere zaadgewassen doch lager dan dat van soja. De aminozuursamenstelling vanleguminosen is goed, alleen de niveaus van tryptofaan en de zwavelhoudende aminozuren zijn suboptimaal. Het gehalte aan lysine en threonine in het eiwit is hoog; hierdoor is het eiwit qua samenstelling complementair aan dat van granen. Leguminosenbevatten zogenaamde antinutritionele factoren (ANF): stoffen die de verteerbaarheid verminderen. De belangrijkste ANF s zijn: alkaloiden en tanninen, fytaat, protease-remmers, lectines, saponines en oligosachariden.Het gewas quinoa is interessant vanwegehet relatief hoge vet- en eiwitgehalte en de goede kwaliteit van het eiwit ten opzichte van granen. Voederproeven met biggen en kippen laten zien dat - met name - rassen van leguminosen met lage ANF-gehaltes het soja-aandeel in mengvoeders kunnenvervangen. Voor de biologische teler is veldboon wellicht het aantrekkelijkste gewas omdat dit gewas minder problemen met ziekten dan erwt kent. Op langere termijn zal ook lupine aantrekkelijk worden als aan de Nederlandse omstandigheden aangepaste rassenbeschikbaar komen; de thans in het buitenland ontwikkelde nieuwe rassen zullen zich in Nederland moeten bewijzen! Hetzelfde geldt voor quinoa

Variability in disease phenotypes within a single PRNP genotype suggests the existence of multiple natural sheep scarpie strains within Europe

Variability of pathological phenotypes within classical sheep scrapie cases has been reported for some time, but in many instances it has been attributed to differences in the PRNP genotype of the host. To address this issue we have examined by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and Western blotting (WB) for the disease-associated form of the prion protein (PrPd), the brains of 23 sheep from five European countries, all of which were of the same ARQ/ARQ genotype. As a result of IHC examinations, sheep were distributed into five groups with different phenotypes and the groups were the same regardless of the scoring method used, ‘long’ or ‘short’ PrPd profiling. The groups made did not respond to the geographical origin of the cases and did not correlate with the vacuolar lesion profiles, which showed a high individual variability. Discriminatory IHC and WB methods coincided to detect a ‘CH1641-like’ case but otherwise correlated poorly in the classification of disease phenotypes. No other polymorphisms of the PRNP gene were found that could account for the pathological differences, except perhaps for a sheep from Spain with a mutation at codon 103 and a unique pathological phenotype. Preliminary evidence indicates that those different IHC phenotypes correlate with distinct biological properties on bioassay, suggesting that they are indicative of strain diversity. We therefore conclude that natural scrapie strains exist and that they can be revealed by detailed pathological examinations, which can be harmonized between laboratories to produce comparable results

An impact assessment methodology for small scale renewable energy projects in developing countries funded under Dutch policies defined to contribute to the millennium development goals

Vulnerable groups, such as poor people in developing countries, are often hit hard by the effects of climate change since they lack the resources needed to cope or adapt to the changing environment. To conduct poverty reduction without compromising on the environment, the Dutch government defined a variety of policy measures. One is the so‐called Daey Ouwens Fund, established to implement small scale renewable energy projects in the poorest countries of the world. This Fund aims to contribute to Millennium Developing Goal 1, eradication of extreme poverty, and MDG 7, ensuring environmental sustainability. This paper describes the methodology developed to get a better understanding of the socioeconomic and environmental impact of projects to be implemented under the Daey Ouwens Fund. This methodology uses the multi level “Strategic Niche Management (SNM)” framework to systematically assess drivers and barriers crucial in process of innovation. For three selected projects, indicators are defined within this SNM framework, based on the MGD 1 and MGD 7 and the local socio‐economic situation as well as the existing energy system and the innovative renewable energy technology of the project. These indicators are translated into sets of questions to be quantified through a limited number of semi‐structured interviews with key persons and questionnaire inquiries of a large number of potential end‐users. The data of the conducted baseline study will be presented in this paper to provide an overall picture of the current socio‐economic situation and the energy consumption in the areas were the three selected project are going to be implemented. Based on these data and the SNM framework, an overview will be provided of drivers and barriers for the projects and the expected contribution to MDG 1 and 7. The methodology will be assessed and adapted for the impact monitoring assessment that will be held in 2013

Yet another breakdown point notion: EFSBP - illustrated at scale-shape models

The breakdown point in its different variants is one of the central notions to quantify the global robustness of a procedure. We propose a simple supplementary variant which is useful in situations where we have no obvious or only partial equivariance: Extending the Donoho and Huber(1983) Finite Sample Breakdown Point, we propose the Expected Finite Sample Breakdown Point to produce less configuration-dependent values while still preserving the finite sample aspect of the former definition. We apply this notion for joint estimation of scale and shape (with only scale-equivariance available), exemplified for generalized Pareto, generalized extreme value, Weibull, and Gamma distributions. In these settings, we are interested in highly-robust, easy-to-compute initial estimators; to this end we study Pickands-type and Location-Dispersion-type estimators and compute their respective breakdown points.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figure

Compellingly high SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility of Golden Syrian hamsters suggests multiple zoonotic infections of pet hamsters during the COVID-19 pandemic

Golden Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) are used as a research model for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Millions of Golden Syrian hamsters are also kept as pets in close contact to humans. To determine the minimum infective dose (MID) for assessing the zoonotic transmission risk, and to define the optimal infection dose for experimental studies, we orotracheally inoculated hamsters with SARS-CoV-2 doses from 1 * 105 to 1 * 10-4 tissue culture infectious dose 50 (TCID50). Body weight and virus shedding were monitored daily. 1 * 10-3 TCID50 was defined as the MID, and this was still sufficient to induce virus shedding at levels up to 102.75 TCID50/ml, equaling the estimated MID for humans. Virological and histological data revealed 1 * 102 TCID50 as the optimal dose for experimental infections. This compelling high susceptibility leading to productive infections in Golden Syrian hamsters must be considered as a potential source of SARS-CoV-2 infection for humans that come into close contact with pet hamsters

Estimation of conditional laws given an extreme component

Let $(X,Y)$ be a bivariate random vector. The estimation of a probability of the form $P(Y\leq y \mid X >t)$ is challenging when $t$ is large, and a fruitful approach consists in studying, if it exists, the limiting conditional distribution of the random vector $(X,Y)$, suitably normalized, given that $X$ is large. There already exists a wide literature on bivariate models for which this limiting distribution exists. In this paper, a statistical analysis of this problem is done. Estimators of the limiting distribution (which is assumed to exist) and the normalizing functions are provided, as well as an estimator of the conditional quantile function when the conditioning event is extreme. Consistency of the estimators is proved and a functional central limit theorem for the estimator of the limiting distribution is obtained. The small sample behavior of the estimator of the conditional quantile function is illustrated through simulations.Comment: 32 pages, 5 figur