The local power of the gradient test

The asymptotic expansion of the distribution of the gradient test statistic is derived for a composite hypothesis under a sequence of Pitman alternative hypotheses converging to the null hypothesis at rate $n^{-1/2}$, $n$ being the sample size. Comparisons of the local powers of the gradient, likelihood ratio, Wald and score tests reveal no uniform superiority property. The power performance of all four criteria in one-parameter exponential family is examined.Comment: To appear in the Annals of the Institute of Statistical Mathematics, this http://www.ism.ac.jp/editsec/aism-e.htm

Microbial processing and production of aquatic fluorescent organic matter in a model freshwater system

© 2018 by the authors. Organic matter (OM) has an essential biogeochemical influence along the hydrological continuum and within aquatic ecosystems. Organic matter derived via microbial processes was investigated within a range of model freshwater samples over a 10-day period. For this, excitation-emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy in combination with parallel factor (PARAFAC) analysis was employed. This research shows the origin and processing of both protein-like and humic-like fluorescence within environmental and synthetic samples over the sampling period. The microbial origin of Peak T fluorescence is demonstrated within both synthetic samples and in environmental samples. Using a range of incubation temperatures provides evidence for the microbial metabolic origin of Peak T fluorescence. From temporally resolved experiments, evidence is provided that Peak T fluorescence is an indication of metabolic activity at the microbial community level and not a proxy for bacterial enumeration. This data also reveals that humic-like fluorescence can be microbially derived in situ and is not solely of terrestrial origin, likely to result from the upregulation of cellular processes prior to cell multiplication. This work provides evidence that freshwater microbes can engineer fluorescent OM, demonstrating that microbial communities not only process, but also transform, fluorescent organic matter

Picturing classical and quantum Bayesian inference

We introduce a graphical framework for Bayesian inference that is sufficiently general to accommodate not just the standard case but also recent proposals for a theory of quantum Bayesian inference wherein one considers density operators rather than probability distributions as representative of degrees of belief. The diagrammatic framework is stated in the graphical language of symmetric monoidal categories and of compact structures and Frobenius structures therein, in which Bayesian inversion boils down to transposition with respect to an appropriate compact structure. We characterize classical Bayesian inference in terms of a graphical property and demonstrate that our approach eliminates some purely conventional elements that appear in common representations thereof, such as whether degrees of belief are represented by probabilities or entropic quantities. We also introduce a quantum-like calculus wherein the Frobenius structure is noncommutative and show that it can accommodate Leifer's calculus of `conditional density operators'. The notion of conditional independence is also generalized to our graphical setting and we make some preliminary connections to the theory of Bayesian networks. Finally, we demonstrate how to construct a graphical Bayesian calculus within any dagger compact category.Comment: 38 pages, lots of picture

An exploration of concepts of community through a case study of UK university web production

The paper explores the inter-relation and differences between the concepts of occupational community, community of practice, online community and social network. It uses as a case study illustration the domain of UK university web site production and specifically a listserv for those involved in it. Different latent occupational communities are explored, and the potential for the listserv to help realize these as an active sense of community is considered. The listserv is not (for most participants) a tight knit community of practice, indeed it fails many criteria for an online community. It is perhaps best conceived as a loose knit network of practice, valued for information, implicit support and for the maintenance of weak ties. Through the analysis the case for using strict definitions of the theoretical concepts is made

Anomalous heavy-fermion and ordered states in the filled skutterudite PrFe4P12

Specific heat and magnetization measurements have been performed on high-quality single crystals of filled-skutterudite PrFe_4P_{12} in order to study the high-field heavy-fermion state (HFS) and low-field ordered state (ODS). From a broad hump observed in C/T vs T in HFS for magnetic fields applied along the direction, the Kondo temperature of ~ 9 K and the existence of ferromagnetic Pr-Pr interactions are deduced. The {141}-Pr nuclear Schottky contribution, which works as a highly-sensitive on-site probe for the Pr magnetic moment, sets an upper bound for the ordered moment as ~ 0.03 \mu_B/Pr-ion. This fact strongly indicates that the primary order parameter in the ODS is nonmagnetic and most probably of quadrupolar origin, combined with other experimental facts. Significantly suppressed heavy-fermion behavior in the ODS suggests a possibility that the quadrupolar degrees of freedom is essential for the heavy quasiparticle band formation in the HFS. Possible crystalline-electric-field level schemes estimated from the anisotropy in the magnetization are consistent with this conjecture.Comment: 7 pages and 7 figures. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

New interpretation of arterial stiffening due to cigarette smoking using a structurally motivated constitutive model

Cigarette smoking is the leading self-inflicted risk factor for cardiovascular diseases; it causes arterial stiffening with serious sequelea including atherosclerosis and abdominal aortic aneurysms. This work presents a new interpretation of arterial stiffening caused by smoking based on data published for rat pulmonary arteries. A structurally motivated “four fiber family” constitutive relation was used to fit the available biaxial data and associated best-fit values of material parameters were estimated using multivariate nonlinear regression. Results suggested that arterial stiffening caused by smoking was reflected by consistent increase in an elastin-associated parameter and moreover by marked increase in the collagen-associated parameters. That is, we suggest that arterial stiffening due to cigarette smoking appears to be isotropic, which may allow simpler phenomenological models to capture these effects using a single stiffening parameter similar to the approach in isotropic continuum damage mechanics. There is a pressing need, however, for more detailed histological information coupled with more complete biaxial mechanical data for a broader range of systemic arteries

Studying the first galaxies with ALMA

We discuss observations of the first galaxies, within cosmic reionization, at centimeter and millimeter wavelengths. We present a summary of current observations of the host galaxies of the most distant QSOs ($z \sim 6$). These observations reveal the gas, dust, and star formation in the host galaxies on kpc-scales. These data imply an enriched ISM in the QSO host galaxies within 1 Gyr of the big bang, and are consistent with models of coeval supermassive black hole and spheroidal galaxy formation in major mergers at high redshift. Current instruments are limited to studying truly pathologic objects at these redshifts, meaning hyper-luminous infrared galaxies ($L_{FIR} \sim 10^{13}$ L$_\odot$). ALMA will provide the one to two orders of magnitude improvement in millimeter astronomy required to study normal star forming galaxies (ie. Ly-$\alpha$ emitters) at $z \sim 6$. ALMA will reveal, at sub-kpc spatial resolution, the thermal gas and dust -- the fundamental fuel for star formation -- in galaxies into cosmic reionization.Comment: to appear in Science with ALMA: a new era for Astrophysics}, ed. R. Bachiller (Springer: Berlin); 5 pages, 7 figure

Exotic Heavy Fermion State in the Filled Skutterudite PrFe4_4P12_{12} Uncovered by the de Haas-van Alphen Effect

We report the de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) experiment on the filled skutterudite PrFe$_4$P$_{12}$ exhibiting apparent Kondo-like behaviors in the transport and thermal properties. We have found enormously enhanced cyclotron effective mass $m^{\rm \ast}_{\rm c}=81 m_{\rm 0}$ in the high field phase (HFP), which indicates that PrFe$_4$P$_{12}$ is the first Pr-compound in which really heavy mass has been unambiguously confirmed. Also in the low field non-magnetic ordered phase (LOP), we observed the dHvA branch with $m^{\rm \ast}_{\rm c}=10 m_{0}$ that is quite heavy taking into account its small Fermi surface volume (0.15% of the Brillouin zone size). The insensitivity of mass in LOP against the magnetic field suggests that the quadrupolar interaction plays a main role both in the mass renormalization and the LOP formation.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, Phys. Rev. B (01 October 2002) in pres

Optical Imaging and Spectroscopic Observation of the Galactic Supernova Remnant G85.9-0.6

Optical CCD imaging with H$\alpha$ and [SII] filters and spectroscopic observations of the galactic supernova remnant G85.9-0.6 have been performed for the first time. The CCD image data are taken with the 1.5m Russian-Turkish Telescope (RTT150) at TUBITAK National Observatory (TUG) and spectral data are taken with the Bok 2.3 m telescope on Kitt Peak, AZ. The images are taken with narrow-band interference filters H$\alpha$, [SII] and their continuum. [SII]/H$\alpha$ ratio image is performed. The ratio obtained from [SII]/H$\alpha$ is found to be $\sim$0.42, indicating that the remnant interacts with HII regions. G85.9-0.6 shows diffuse-shell morphology. [SII]$\lambda\lambda 6716/6731$ average flux ratio is calculated from the spectra, and the electron density $N_{e}$ is obtained to be 395 $cm^{-3}$. From [OIII]/H$\beta$ ratio, shock velocity has been estimated, pre-shock density of $n_{c}=14$ $cm^{-3}$, explosion energy of $E=9.2\times10^{50}$ ergs, interstellar extinction of $E(B-V)=0.28$, and neutral hydrogen column density of $N(HI)=1.53\times10^{21}$ $cm^{-2}$ are reported.Comment: 20 pages, 4 tables, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space Scienc

Sedimentation record in the Konkan-Kerala Basin: implications for the evolution of the Western Ghats and the Western Indian passive margin

The Konkan and Kerala Basins constitute a major depocentre for sediment from the onshore hinterland of Western India and as such provide a valuable record of the timing and magnitude of Cenozoic denudation along the continental margin. This paper presents an analysis of sedimentation in the Konkan-Kerala Basin, coupledwith a mass balance study, and numerical modelling of flexural responses to onshore denudational unloading and o¡shore sediment loading in order to test competing conceptual models for the development of high-elevation passive margins. The Konkan-Kerala Basin contains an estimated 109,000 km<sup>3</sup>; of Cenozoic clastic sediment, a volume difficult to reconcile with the denudation of a downwarped rift flank onshore, and more consistent with denudation of an elevated rift flank. We infer from modelling of the isostatic response of the lithosphere to sediment loading offshore and denudation onshore that flexure is an important component in the development of the Western Indian Margin.There is evidence for two major pulses in sedimentation: an early phase in the Palaeocene, and a second beginning in the Pliocene. The Palaeocene increase in sedimentation can be interpreted in terms of a denudational response to the rifting between India and the Seychelles, whereas the mechanism responsible for the Pliocene pulse is more enigmatic