Varying Coefficient Tensor Models for Brain Imaging

We revisit a multidimensional varying-coefficient model (VCM), by allowing regressor coefficients to vary smoothly in more than one dimension, thereby extending the VCM of Hastie and Tibshirani. The motivating example is 3-dimensional, involving a special type of nuclear magnetic resonance measurement technique that is being used to estimate the diffusion tensor at each point in the human brain. We aim to improve the current state of the art, which is to apply a multiple regression model for each voxel separately using information from six or more volume images. We present a model, based on P-spline tensor products, to introduce spatial smoothness of the estimated diffusion tensor. Since the regression design matrix is space-invariant, a 4-dimensional tensor product model results, allowing more efficient computation with penalized array regression

Hydroacoustic Survey and Point Sampling of Macrophytes In Diamond Lake 2009

MaxDepth Aquatics, Inc. was contracted to conduct a hydroacoustic survey of macrophyte distribution in Diamond Lake in 2009. The survey essentially repeated surveys conducted in 2002 and 2007, allowing for a detailed assessment of conditions in 2009 and comparisons among previous years. In addition, Portland State University was contracted to conduct a depth stratified random point sample survey of macrophyte species presence and absence. The point sample survey was similar to surveys conducted in 2005 and 2007. The results of the 2009 hydroacoustic survey showed that macrophytes were widely distributed throughout the lake at depths less than 8 meters, although some shorter aggregations of macrophytes were found at depths down to 14 meters. Average canopy height corresponded closely to macrophyte density in 2009. The recent survey showed that macrophytes had extended deeper throughout the lake compared to 2002 and 2007 and that canopy height had increased substantially in some locations. The 2009 distribution showed that recolonization of the near shore areas was proceeding, albeit at a relatively slow pace since the lake drawdown completed in 2006. The maximum density of macrophytes in 2009 was found between 4 to 6 meters. Five macrophyte species, one macroalgal species, and filamentous algae were present in the 2009 random point survey. The occurrence rates of the macrophytes Elodea canadensis, Ceratophyllum demersum, and Potamogeton praelongus in 2009 were similar to 2005 and 2007 while Potamogeton pusillus occurrence increased and Myriophyllum verticillatum decreased. Macrophytes were present in a few samples greater than 9 meters; however, biomass, as measured by the fullness of a sampling rake, was highest between 2 and 6 meters. The comparison of the grab sampling conducted in August with the hydroacoustic survey in early September showed poor correspondence in macrophyte density obtained by the two methods. This is likely due to differences in spatial scales of collected samples (10 m2 grid for hydroacoustics compared to \u3c 1 m2 grab samples), comparison of a continuous analytic tool (hydroacoustic) versus an ordinal ranking of density (rake), and possibly some changes in the macrophytes community between the two sampling dates

Space-Varying Coefficient Models for Brain Imaging

The methodological development and the application in this paper originate from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), a powerful nuclear magnetic resonance technique enabling diagnosis and monitoring of several diseases as well as reconstruction of neural pathways. We reformulate the current analysis framework of separate voxelwise regressions as a 3d space-varying coefficient model (VCM) for the entire set of DTI images recorded on a 3d grid of voxels. Hence by allowing to borrow strength from spatially adjacent voxels, to smooth noisy observations, and to estimate diffusion tensors at any location within the brain, the three-step cascade of standard data processing is overcome simultaneously. We conceptualize two VCM variants based on B-spline basis functions: a full tensor product approach and a sequential approximation, rendering the VCM numerically and computationally feasible even for the huge dimension of the joint model in a realistic setup. A simulation study shows that both approaches outperform the standard method of voxelwise regressions with subsequent regularization. Due to major efficacy, we apply the sequential method to a clinical DTI data set and demonstrate the inherent ability of increasing the rigid grid resolution by evaluating the incorporated basis functions at intermediate points. In conclusion, the suggested fitting methods clearly improve the current state-of-the-art, but ameloriation of local adaptivity remains desirable

Fermi Surface of KFe2_2As2_2 from Quantum Oscillations in Magnetostriction

We present a study of the Fermi surface of KFe$_2$As$_2$ single crystals. Quantum oscillations were observed in magnetostriction measured down to 50 mK and in magnetic fields $H$ up to 14 T. For $H \parallel c$, the calculated effective masses are in agreement with recent de Haas-van Alphen and ARPES experiments, showing enhanced values with respect to the ones obtained from previous band calculations. For $H \parallel a$, we observed a small orbit at a cyclotron frequency of 64 T, characterized by an effective mass of $\sim 0.8 m_e$, supporting the presence of a three-dimensional pocket at the Z-point.Comment: SCES Conference, Tokyo 201

On a counterexample to a conjecture by Blackadar

Blackadar conjectured that if we have a split short-exact sequence 0 -> I -> A -> A/I -> 0 where I is semiprojective and A/I is isomorphic to the complex numbers, then A must be semiprojective. Eilers and Katsura have found a counterexample to this conjecture. Presumably Blackadar asked that the extension be split to make it more likely that semiprojectivity of I would imply semiprojectivity of A. But oddly enough, in all the counterexamples of Eilers and Katsura the quotient map from A to A/I is split. We will show how to modify their examples to find a non-semiprojective C*-algebra B with a semiprojective ideal J such that B/J is the complex numbers and the quotient map does not split.Comment: 6 page

Zukunftsfähige Stallkonzepte für die ökologische Milcherzeugung

Ensuring high animal welfare standards is one of the objectives of organic farming. The combination of modern housing concepts, proper herd management and good human-animal relationship could be an effective strategy. In this study 14 viable dairy barn concepts were described and evaluated. In nine of these dairy farms the management and animal welfare situation was examined. The outcome was a documentation of 14 different dairy farming concepts (housing, management) that are suitable to develop individual solutions with regard to animal welfare and the special requirements of organic dairy farms

Design of a Small Scale Aerospike Nozzle and Associated Testing Infrastructure for Experimental Evaluation of Aerodynamic Thrust Vectoring

A system for cold flow testing of an aerospike nozzle has been developed in an effort to examine the effectiveness of aerodynamic thrust vectoring and truncated nozzle base bleed. These tests are designed to produce result that will support the design of a system for hot flow testing of the same technologies. Design of a nozzle suitable for testing with reasonable cold-gas mass flow rates and measureable forces and moments involved an extensive parametric study. Conceptual-level computational fluid dynamics results for aerodynamic thrust vectoring and base bleed are also described

Penalized composite link models for aggregated spatial count data: a mixed model approach

Mortality data provide valuable information for the study of the spatial distri- bution of mortality risk, in disciplines such as spatial epidemiology and public health. However, they are frequently available in an aggregated form over irreg- ular geographical units, hindering the visualization of the underlying mortality risk. Also, it can be of interest to obtain mortality risk estimates on a finer spatial resolution, such that they can be linked to potential risk factors that are usually measured in a different spatial resolution. In this paper, we propose the use of the penalized composite link model and its mixed model representation. This model considers the nature of mortality rates by incorporating the population size at the finest resolution, and allows the creation of mortality maps at a finer scale, thus reducing the visual bias resulting from the spatial aggrega- tion within original units. We also extend the model by considering individual random effects at the aggregated scale, in order to take into account the overdis- persion. We illustrate our novel proposal using two datasets: female deaths by lung cancer in Indiana, USA, and male lip cancer incidence in Scotland counties. We also compare the performance of our proposal with the area-to-point Poisson kriging approach

Penalized composite link mixed models for two-dimensional count data

Mortality data provide valuable information for the study of the spatial distribution of mortality risk, in disciplines such as spatial epidemiology, medical demography, and public health. However, they are often available in an aggregated form over irregular geographical units, hindering the visualization of the underlying mortality risk and the detection of meaningful patterns. Also, it could be of interest to obtain mortality risk estimates on a finer spatial resolution, such that they can be linked with potential risk factors — in a posterior correlation analysis — that are usually measured in a different spatial resolution than mortality data. In this paper, we propose the use of the penalized composite link model and its representation as a mixed model to deal with these issues. This model takes into account the nature of mortality rates by incorporating the population size at the finest resolution, and allows the creation of mortality maps at a desirable scale, reducing the visual bias resulting from the spatial aggregation within original units. We illustrate our proposal with the analysis of several datasets related with deaths by respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and lung cancer.MTM2011-28285-C02-02 MTM2014-52184-