Technical Note: Review of methods for linear least-squares fitting of data and application to atmospheric chemistry problems

International audienceThe representation of data, whether geophysical observations, numerical model output or laboratory results, by a best fit straight line is a routine practice in the geosciences and other fields. While the literature is full of detailed analyses of procedures for fitting straight lines to values with uncertainties, a surprising number of scientists blindly use the standard least squares method, such as found on calculators and in spreadsheet programs, that assumes no uncertainties in the x values. Here, the available procedures for estimating the best fit straight line to data, including those applicable to situations for uncertainties present in both the x and y variables, are reviewed. Representative methods that are presented in the literature for bivariate weighted fits are compared using several sample data sets, and guidance is presented as to when the somewhat more involved iterative methods are required, or when the standard least-squares procedure would be expected to be satisfactory. A spreadsheet-based template is made available that employs one method for bivariate fitting

Separation of the n-Sphere by an (n - 1)-Sphere

In this thesis we consider certain (n-1)-spheres embedded in S^n (we will frequently use the fact that S^n is topologically equivalent to the one point compactification of E^n). The problem is then to establish the existence or non-existence of certain topological properties of the two domains into which S^n is separated by the given (n-1)-spheres

Born Every Minute : Reworking the Mythology of the American Medicine Show

This thesis investigates the historical American medicine show of 1880-1900 through the lens of contemporaneous social and cultural debates, primarily regarding class and race relations. The medicine show pitchmen, the central figure of the medicine show, is the progeny of the confidence man of the mid to late-nineteenth century, best personified through the autobiographies of Benjamin Franklin and P.T. Barnum and novels of Herman Melville and Mark Twain. The confidence man utilized a performative identity directed towards the assumed needs and desires of his audience, which gave him a purely pragmatic orientation. As the confidence man filtered through emerging forms of popular entertainment, he found his place in the traveling medicine show in the figure of the medicine man. In many ways, the medicine show functioned as a cultural arena in which the concerns of rural audiences about the ongoing professionalization of the classes, specifically within the medical profession, were investigated and manipulated

An Analysis of Mature Consumers\u27 Reactions to Unsatisfactory Complaint Handling by Service Provider

In this nationwide survey, consumers over the age of 65 reported their reactions to a recalled unsatisfactory complaint experience that involved a service rendered. The study focused on the possible link between attributions of complainants for failure to obtain desired outcomes and subsequent behaviors. Inferences about causes and some demographic characteristics were found useful for explaining variation in anger reactions, negative word-of-mouth communications, repurchase behaviors, and estimations of the likelihood of future complaint actions among sampled seniors. Implications of results in terms of effective complaint handling by service organizations are discussed

Irrigation and drainage in the new millennium

Presented at the 2000 USCID international conference, Challenges facing irrigation and drainage in the new millennium on June 20-24 in Fort Collins, Colorado.Includes bibliographical references.The loss of land for the production of agricultural crops due to salinity is a major problem worldwide. The means to deal with saline soils by the development of salt-tolerant crops, by leaching, or by using desalinized water are not feasible for many developing areas of the world. VA mycorrhizae (VAM) are known to alleviate salt stress on plants, but a practical method to establish them has not been developed. Preinoculation of lettuce or onion plants with mixtures of VAM fungi cultured from saline or nonsaline soils before transplant into sodic soils was shown to be an effective means of increasing plant tolerance to salt toxicity. This method could be practical for farmers needing to grow crops on saline soils

Evidence for a black-hole in the X-ray transient XTE J1859+226

We present the results of time-resolved optical photometry and spectroscopy of the X-ray transient XTE J1859+226 (V406 Vul). Photometric observations taken during 2000 and 2008 reveals the presence of the secondary star's ellipsoidal modulation. Further photometry obtained in 2010 shows the system ~1 mag brighter than its quiescence level and the ellipsoidal modulation diluted by strong flaring activity. Spectroscopic data obtained with the 10.4-m GTC in 2010 reveals radial velocity variations of ~500 km/s over 3 h. A simultaneous fit to the photometry and spectroscopy using sinusoids to represent the secondary star's ellipsoidal and radial velocity variations, yields an orbital period of 6.58+-0.05 h and a secondary star's radial velocity semi-amplitude of K_2= 541+-70 km/s. The implied mass function is f(M)=4.5+-0.6 Msun, significantly lower than previously reported but consistent with the presence of a black hole in XTE J1859+226. The lack of eclipses sets an upper limit to the inclination of 70 degrees which yields a lower limit to the black hole mass of 5.42 Msun.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. Contains 5 pages and 4 figure

Working Together: Rural Nebraskans’ Views of Regional Collaboration

Some people support regional collaboration because they believe it better enables communities to increase the region’s economic vitality and quality of life. However, others worry that such collaboration threatens individual communities’ identities and limits citizens’ access to services. How do rural Nebraskans view regional collaboration? Do they support combining certain services with neighboring communities or counties more than others? Are they already purchasing their goods and services outside their local community? This report details 3,087 responses to the 2003 Nebraska Rural Poll, the eighth annual effort to understand rural Nebraskans’ perceptions. Respondents were asked a series of questions about regional collaboration. Comparisons were made among different respondent subgroups, i.e., comparisons by age, occupation, region, etc. Based on these analyses, some key findings emerged: • Most rural Nebraskans have a positive view of regional collaboration. At least three-quarters either strongly agreed or agreed that “communities in a region working together to generate new businesses are better able to create quality jobs for their residents” (82%) and “retail businesses in a region can provide a better variety of goods and services by working together collaboratively” (75%). Sixty percent agreed that combining community or county services will improve access to services. Fifty-nine percent disagreed that combining services would lead to lower quality services and 47 percent disagreed that combining services would lead to increased prices for the consumer. • Persons with higher education levels, younger respondents, persons with higher incomes and females are the groups most likely to have a positive view of regional collaboration. • At least one-half of rural Nebraskans are willing to raise revenue to keep fire protection and emergency medical services at their current level. When asked how they would cover the costs of various services if faced with a shortage of money, 53 percent were willing to raise revenue to support fire protection services and 50 percent would raise revenue to maintain emergency medical services. Forty-eight percent were willing to raise revenue for their schools (K - 12). • Over one-half of rural Nebraskans would combine or share the following services with other nearby communities or counties if faced with a shortage of money: county road maintenance, veterans services, health clinic, telecommunications services, economic development activities, licenses and permits, street maintenance, property assessment and county weed control. • Younger persons are more likely than older persons to support raising revenue to keep their school services at their current level. Seventy-six percent of the persons age 19 to 29 supported raising revenue to keep their school services at their current level. Only 35 percent of the persons age 65 and older supported raising revenue. The older respondents were more likely than the younger respondents to support combining the school with other nearby communities or reducing its level of service. Forty-five percent of the persons age 65 and older supported combining their school with others and 14 percent said they would reduce its level of service. In comparison, only 21 percent of the persons age 19 to 29 supported combining their school with other communities and only two percent supported reducing its level of service. • Persons living in or near the largest communities are more likely than the persons living in or near the smallest communities to support raising revenue to keep their school services the same. Fifty-two percent of the persons living in or near the communities with populations of 10,000 or more supported raising revenue to keep their school’s services at their current level. Only 39 percent of the persons living in or near communities with less than 500 people supported this option. The persons living in or near the smallest communities were slightly more likely to support combining their school with other communities and were also more likely to not currently have a school in their community. • Differences in the level of support for various alternatives to cover the costs of law enforcement are detected by community size. Persons living in or near the smallest communities were more likely than the persons living in or near the larger communities to say they don’t have law enforcement. Persons living in or near communities with populations ranging from 500 to 999 were the group most likely to support combining law enforcement services with another community or county. Persons living in or near the largest communities were more likely than the persons living in or near the smaller communities to advocate raising revenue to keep their law enforcement services at their current level. • Farmers and ranchers are more likely than persons with different occupations to say they would raise revenue to maintain their county roads. Thirty-two percent of the farmers and ranchers would raise revenue to keep their county road maintenance services at their current level. Only 15 percent of the persons with sales and administrative support occupations agreed. • On average, at least one-half of the following items are purchased by rural Nebraskans in their local community: banking/financial services (75.7%), groceries (73%), automobile/machinery repairs (72%), insurance (67%), farm and ranch inputs (66.9%), doctor/clinic services (63.6%) and hospital services (57.3%). • For each item, rural Nebraskans living in or near the larger communities purchased more locally than did those living in or near the smaller communities. As an example, persons living in or near the communities with populations of 10,000 or more purchased an average of 96.1% of their groceries in their local community. Persons living in or near communities with less than 500 people purchased an average of 38.2% of their groceries in their local community. For most items, respondents living in the smallest communities purchased at least one-half in another community within 50 miles. • For most items, Panhandle residents purchased more in their local community than did residents living in other parts of the state. As an example, Panhandle residents purchased an average of 53.5% of their recreation/entertainment in their local community, compared to an average of 38.7% for Southeast residents. But, South Central residents were more likely than other regional groups to have purchased hospital services, banking/financial services and insurance locally

Motivations for specific feature use on Twitch.tv

Twitch.tv is one the most popular live streaming platforms in the world. This study investigates why people use Twitch.tv by focusing on people’s use of ten specific features: chat, cheer, emote, whisper, follow, subscribe, donate, clip, browse and search. This study employs the uses and gratifications approach in combination with the MAIN model and uses and gratifications 2.0 to measure specific feature use on Twitch.tv, contrast motivation types for using a given medium and reveal gratifications otherwise hidden by only measuring general use or time spent on a platform. In an online questionnaire (N = 181) survey data showed that Twitch.tv amounts to more than just content, gratifications are available in the technological structure of the medium. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed

Who gave you the right?: Exploring power and politics in journalism and academic work chronicling Hurricane Maria

Hurricane Maria impacted Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017 and caused severe damage to the island. During the year after Hurricane Maria, government agencies and news organizations struggled to arrive at a consensus regarding the hurricane's death toll. The early death estimates that were severe- ly underreported affected the amount of relief that Puerto Rico received from government institutions, as well as from private groups. As a result, it is im- perative to understand how these consequential numbers were constructed following Hurricane Maria. We interviewed journalists and academic researchers who produced and disseminated information following Hurricane Maria and considered the role that these individuals played in communicating the number of deaths caused by the hurricane, how their methods differed, and how these factors contribute to the production of death toll numbers and narratives. We discuss our results in the context of validation and the consequences of colonization on information production and dissemination