1,689 research outputs found
Optimal Estimation of Several Linear Parameters in the Presence of Lorentzian Thermal Noise
In a previous article we developed an approach to the optimal (minimum
variance, unbiased) statistical estimation technique for the equilibrium
displacement of a damped, harmonic oscillator in the presence of thermal noise.
Here, we expand that work to include the optimal estimation of several linear
parameters from a continuous time series. We show that working in the basis of
the thermal driving force both simplifies the calculations and provides
additional insight to why various approximate (not optimal) estimation
techniques perform as they do. To illustrate this point, we compare the
variance in the optimal estimator that we derive for thermal noise with those
of two approximate methods which, like the optimal estimator, suppress the
contribution to the variance that would come from the irrelevant, resonant
motion of the oscillator. We discuss how these methods fare when the dominant
noise process is either white displacement noise or noise with power spectral
density that is inversely proportional to the frequency ( noise). We also
construct, in the basis of the driving force, an estimator that performs well
for a mixture of white noise and thermal noise. To find the optimal
multi-parameter estimators for thermal noise, we derive and illustrate a
generalization of traditional matrix methods for parameter estimation that can
accommodate continuous data. We discuss how this approach may help refine the
design of experiments as they allow an exact, quantitative comparison of the
precision of estimated parameters under various data acquisition and data
analysis strategies.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in Classical and
Quantum Gravit
A Lunar Penetrator to Determine Solar-wind-implanted Resources at Depth in the Lunar Regolith
Several volatiles implanted into the lunar regolith by the solar wind are potentially important lunar resources. He-3 might be mined as a fuel for lunar nuclear fusion reactors. Even if the mining of He-3 turns out not to be feasible, several other elements commonly implanted by the solar wind (H,C, and N) could be important for life support and for propellant or fuel production for lunar bases. A simple penetrator-borne instrument package to measure the abundance of H at depth is proposed. Since solar-wind-implanted volatiles tend to correlate with one another, this can be used to estimate global inventories and to design extraction strategies for all of these species
U.S. Honey Supply Chain: Structural Change, Promotions and the China Connection
Honey is a by‐product of the pollination of plants and essential to almost all agricultural plant product. Demand for honey provides a partial compensation for the pollination services. Hence, programs to support honey demand such as promotions are potentially very important to the agricultural sector as well as the honey industry. Honey is utilized for table consumption and for manufacturing and both U.S. domestic and foreign honey imports both contribute to the U.S. honey availability. Econometric models are estimated showing the domestic table‐use and manufacturing demand with the models explicitly incorporating the effects of generic promotion of honey. Rates-of‐ return to the U.S. honey promotion programs are estimated with rates assigned to domestic production and importshoney, demand, imports, generic promotions, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,
Impact wave deposits provide new constraints on the location of the K/T boundary impact
All available evidence is consistent with an impact into oceanic crust terminating the Cretaceous Period. Although much of this evidence is incompatible with an endogenic origin, some investigators still feel that a volcanic origin is possible for the Cretaceous/Tertiary (K/T) boundary clay layers. The commonly cited evidence for a large impact stems from delicate clay layers and their components and the impact site has not yet been found. Impact sites have been suggested all over the globe. The impact is felt to have occurred near North America by: the occurrence of a 2 cm thick ejecta layer only at North American locales, the global variation of shocked quartz grain sizes peaking in North America, the global variation of spinel compositions with most refractory compositions occurring in samples from the Pacific region and possibly uniquely severe plant extinctions in the North American region. The K/T boundary interval was investigated as preserved on the banks of the Brazos River, Texas. The K/T fireball and ejecta layers with associated geochemical anomalies were found interbedded with this sequence which apparently allows a temporal resolution 4 orders of magnitude greater than typical K/T boundary sections. A literature search reveals that such coarse deposits are widely preserved at the K/T boundary. Impact wave deposits have not been found elsewhere on the globe, suggesting the impact occurred between North and South America. The coarse deposits preserved in Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) holes 151-3 suggest the impact occurred nearby. Subsequent tectonism has complicated the picture
Provenance of the K/T boundary layers
An array of chemical, physical and isotopic evidence indicates that an impact into oceanic crust terminated the Cretaceous Period. Approximately 1500 cu km of debris, dispersed by the impact fireball, fell out globally in marine and nonmarine environments producing a 2 to 4 mm thick layer (fireball layer). In North American locales, the fireball layer overlies a 15 to 25 mm thick layer of similar but distinct composition. This 15 to 25 mm layer (ejecta layer) may represent approximately 1000 cu km of lower energy ejecta from a nearby impact site. Isotopic and chemical evidence supports a mantle provenance for the bulk of the layers. The extraordinary REE pattern of the boundary clays was modelled as a mixture of oceanic crust, mantle, and approximately 10 percent continental material. The results are presented. If the siderophiles of the ejecta layer were derived solely from the mantle, a test may be available to see if the siderophile element anomaly of the fireball layer had an extraterrestrial origin. Radiogenic Os-187 is depleted in the mantle relative to an undifferentiated chondritic source. Os-187/Os-186 ratios of 1.049 and 1.108 were calculated for the ejecta and fireball layers, respectively
Nuclear mutations affecting mitochondrial structure and function in Chlamydomonas
Wild type cells of the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii can grow in the in the dark by taking up and respiring exogenously supplied acetate. Obligate photoautotrophic (dark dier, dk) mutants of this alga have been selected which grow at near wild type rates in the light, but rapidly die when transferred to darkness because of defects in mitochondrial structure and function. In crosses of the dk mutants to wild type, the majority of the mutants are inherited in a mendelian fashion, although two have been isolated which are inherited in a clearly nonmendelian fashion. Nine mendelian dk mutants have been analyzed in detail, and belong to eight different complementation groups representing eight gene loci. These mutants have been tentatively grouped into three classes on the basis of the pleiotropic nature of their phenotypic defects. Mutants in Class I have gross alterations in the ultrastructure of their mitochondrial inner membranes together with deficiencies in cytochrome oxidase and antimycin/rotenone-sensitive NADH-cytochrome c reductase activities. Mutants in Class II have a variety of less severe alterations in mitochondrial ultrastructure and deficiencies in cytochrome oxidase activity. Mutants in Class III have normal or near normal mitochondrial ultrastructure and reduced cytochrome oxidase activity. Eight of the nine mutants show corresponding reductions in cyanide-sensitive respiration
Map of the Maine
Map of Maine, 1838.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mainebicentennial/1112/thumbnail.jp
U.S. Honey Supply Chain: Structural Change, Promotions and the China Connection
Honey is a by-product of the pollination of plants and essential to almost all agricultural plant product. Demand for honey provides a partial compensation for the pollination services. Hence, programs to support honey demand such as promotions are potentially very important to the agricultural sector as well as the honey industry. Honey is utilized for table consumption and for manufacturing and both U.S. domestic and foreign honey imports both contribute to the U.S. honey availability. Econometric models are estimated showing the domestic table-use and manufacturing demand with the models explicitly incorporating the effects of generic promotion of honey. Rates-of-return to the U.S. honey promotion programs are estimated with rates assigned to domestic production and imports
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