1,443 research outputs found
Robotic excision of a difficult retrorectal cyst â a video vignette
Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/153653/1/codi14862_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/153653/2/codi14862.pd
Good covers are algorithmically unrecognizable
A good cover in R^d is a collection of open contractible sets in R^d such
that the intersection of any subcollection is either contractible or empty.
Motivated by an analogy with convex sets, intersection patterns of good covers
were studied intensively. Our main result is that intersection patterns of good
covers are algorithmically unrecognizable.
More precisely, the intersection pattern of a good cover can be stored in a
simplicial complex called nerve which records which subfamilies of the good
cover intersect. A simplicial complex is topologically d-representable if it is
isomorphic to the nerve of a good cover in R^d. We prove that it is
algorithmically undecidable whether a given simplicial complex is topologically
d-representable for any fixed d \geq 5. The result remains also valid if we
replace good covers with acyclic covers or with covers by open d-balls.
As an auxiliary result we prove that if a simplicial complex is PL embeddable
into R^d, then it is topologically d-representable. We also supply this result
with showing that if a "sufficiently fine" subdivision of a k-dimensional
complex is d-representable and k \leq (2d-3)/3, then the complex is PL
embeddable into R^d.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figures; result extended also to acyclic covers in
version
Cutting the same fraction of several measures
We study some measure partition problems: Cut the same positive fraction of
measures in with a hyperplane or find a convex subset of
on which given measures have the same prescribed value. For
both problems positive answers are given under some additional assumptions.Comment: 7 pages 2 figure
The EL2 trap in highly doped GaAs:Te
We have investigated highly doped GaAs:Te at different doping concentrations (>10(17) cm(-3)) to assess the presence of the EL2 trap. We have utilized both capacitance and current transient spectroscopy techniques. The crucial parameter for the detection of EL2 is the relative position of the electron quasi-Fermi level in the depletion region. The observed shift of the EL2 apparent activation energy with increasing doping concentration is also discussed
A coupled terrestrial and aquatic biogeophysical model of the Upper Merrimack River watershed, New Hampshire, to inform ecosystem services evaluation and management under climate and land-cover change
Accurate quantification of ecosystem services (ES) at regional scales is increasingly important for making informed decisions in the face of environmental change. We linked terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem process models to simulate the spatial and temporal distribution of hydrological and water quality characteristics related to ecosystem services. The linked model integrates two existing models (a forest ecosystem model and a river network model) to establish consistent responses to changing drivers across climate, terrestrial, and aquatic domains. The linked model is spatially distributed, accounts for terrestrial–aquatic and upstream–downstream linkages, and operates on a daily time-step, all characteristics needed to understand regional responses. The model was applied to the diverse landscapes of the Upper Merrimack River watershed, New Hampshire, USA. Potential changes in future environmental functions were evaluated using statistically downscaled global climate model simulations (both a high and low emission scenario) coupled with scenarios of changing land cover (centralized vs. dispersed land development) for the time period of 1980–2099. Projections of climate, land cover, and water quality were translated into a suite of environmental indicators that represent conditions relevant to important ecosystem services and were designed to be readily understood by the public. Model projections show that climate will have a greater influence on future aquatic ecosystem services (flooding, drinking water, fish habitat, and nitrogen export) than plausible changes in land cover. Minimal changes in aquatic environmental indicators are predicted through 2050, after which the high emissions scenarios show intensifying impacts. The spatially distributed modeling approach indicates that heavily populated portions of the watershed will show the strongest responses. Management of land cover could attenuate some of the changes associated with climate change and should be considered in future planning for the region
How large are the level sets of the Takagi function?
Let T be Takagi's continuous but nowhere-differentiable function. This paper
considers the size of the level sets of T both from a probabilistic point of
view and from the perspective of Baire category. We first give more elementary
proofs of three recently published results. The first, due to Z. Buczolich,
states that almost all level sets (with respect to Lebesgue measure on the
range of T) are finite. The second, due to J. Lagarias and Z. Maddock, states
that the average number of points in a level set is infinite. The third result,
also due to Lagarias and Maddock, states that the average number of local level
sets contained in a level set is 3/2. In the second part of the paper it is
shown that, in contrast to the above results, the set of ordinates y with
uncountably infinite level sets is residual, and a fairly explicit description
of this set is given. The paper also gives a negative answer to a question of
Lagarias and Maddock by showing that most level sets (in the sense of Baire
category) contain infinitely many local level sets, and that a continuum of
level sets even contain uncountably many local level sets. Finally, several of
the main results are extended to a version of T with arbitrary signs in the
summands.Comment: Added a new Section 5 with generalization of the main results; some
new and corrected proofs of the old material; 29 pages, 3 figure
Transparent and feasible uncertainty assessment adds value to applied ecosystem services modeling
We introduce a special issue that aims to simultaneously motivate interest in uncertainty assessment (UA) and reduce the barriers practitioners face in conducting it. The issue, “Demonstrating transparent, feasible, and useful uncertainty assessment in ecosystem services modeling,” responds to findings from a 2016 workshop of academics and practitioners that identified challenges and potential solutions to enhance the practice of uncertainty assessment in the ES community. Participants identified that one important gap was the lack of a compelling set of cases showing that UA can be feasibly conducted at varying levels of sophistication, and that such assessment can usefully inform decision-relevant modeling conclusions. This article orients the reader to the 11 other articles that comprise the special issue, and which span multiple methods and application domains, all with an explicit consideration of uncertainty. We highlight the value of UA demonstrated in the articles, including changing decisions, facilitating transparency, and clarifying the nature of evidence. We conclude by suggesting ways to promote further adoption of uncertainty analysis in ecosystem service assessments. These include: Easing the analytic workflows involved in UA while guarding against rote analyses, applying multiple models to the same problem, and learning about the conduct and value of UA from other disciplines
Bounding Helly numbers via Betti numbers
We show that very weak topological assumptions are enough to ensure the
existence of a Helly-type theorem. More precisely, we show that for any
non-negative integers and there exists an integer such that
the following holds. If is a finite family of subsets of such that for any
and every
then has Helly number at most . Here
denotes the reduced -Betti numbers (with singular homology). These
topological conditions are sharp: not controlling any of these first Betti numbers allow for families with unbounded Helly number.
Our proofs combine homological non-embeddability results with a Ramsey-based
approach to build, given an arbitrary simplicial complex , some well-behaved
chain map .Comment: 29 pages, 8 figure
Recommended from our members
Violations of locality and free choice are equivalent resources in Bell experiments
Bell inequalities rest on three fundamental assumptions: realism, locality, and free choice, which lead to nontrivial constraints on correlations in very simple experiments. If we retain realism, then violation of the inequalities implies that at least one of the remaining two assumptions must fail, which can have profound consequences for the causal explanation of the experiment. We investigate the extent to which a given assumption needs to be relaxed for the other to hold at all costs, based on the observation that a violation need not occur on every experimental trial, even when describing correlations violating Bell inequalities. How often this needs to be the case determines the degree of, respectively, locality or free choice in the observed experimental behavior. Despite their disparate character, we show that both assumptions are equally costly. Namely, the resources required to explain the experimental statistics (measured by the frequency of causal interventions of either sort) are exactly the same. Furthermore, we compute such defined measures of locality and free choice for any nonsignaling statistics in a Bell experiment with binary settings, showing that it is directly related to the amount of violation of the so-called Clauser–Horne–Shimony–Holt inequalities. This result is theory independent as it refers directly to the experimental statistics. Additionally, we show how the local fraction results for quantum-mechanical frameworks with infinite number of settings translate into analogous statements for the measure of free choice we introduce. Thus, concerning statistics, causal explanations resorting to either locality or free choice violations are fully interchangeable
Laser Microdissection of Narrow Sheath Mutant Maize Uncovers Novel Gene Expression in the Shoot Apical Meristem
Microarrays enable comparative analyses of gene expression on a genomic scale, however these experiments frequently identify an abundance of differentially expressed genes such that it may be difficult to identify discrete functional networks that are hidden within large microarray datasets. Microarray analyses in which mutant organisms are compared to nonmutant siblings can be especially problematic when the gene of interest is expressed in relatively few cells. Here, we describe the use of laser microdissection microarray to perform transcriptional profiling of the maize shoot apical meristem (SAM), a ~100-μm pillar of organogenic cells that is required for leaf initiation. Microarray analyses compared differential gene expression within the SAM and incipient leaf primordium of nonmutant and narrow sheath mutant plants, which harbored mutations in the duplicate genes narrow sheath1 (ns1) and narrow sheath2 (ns2). Expressed in eight to ten cells within the SAM, ns1 and ns2 encode paralogous WUSCHEL1-like homeobox (WOX) transcription factors required for recruitment of leaf initials that give rise to a large lateral domain within maize leaves. The data illustrate the utility of laser microdissection-microarray analyses to identify a relatively small number of genes that are differentially expressed within the SAM. Moreover, these analyses reveal potentially conserved WOX gene functions and implicate specific hormonal and signaling pathways during early events in maize leaf development
- …