8,053 research outputs found
Neural networks in geophysical applications
Neural networks are increasingly popular in geophysics.
Because they are universal approximators, these
tools can approximate any continuous function with an
arbitrary precision. Hence, they may yield important
contributions to finding solutions to a variety of geophysical applications.
However, knowledge of many methods and techniques
recently developed to increase the performance
and to facilitate the use of neural networks does not seem
to be widespread in the geophysical community. Therefore,
the power of these tools has not yet been explored to
their full extent. In this paper, techniques are described
for faster training, better overall performance, i.e., generalization,and the automatic estimation of network size
and architecture
Evolutionary Approaches to Optimization Problems in Chimera Topologies
Chimera graphs define the topology of one of the first commercially available
quantum computers. A variety of optimization problems have been mapped to this
topology to evaluate the behavior of quantum enhanced optimization heuristics
in relation to other optimizers, being able to efficiently solve problems
classically to use them as benchmarks for quantum machines. In this paper we
investigate for the first time the use of Evolutionary Algorithms (EAs) on
Ising spin glass instances defined on the Chimera topology. Three genetic
algorithms (GAs) and three estimation of distribution algorithms (EDAs) are
evaluated over hard instances of the Ising spin glass constructed from
Sidon sets. We focus on determining whether the information about the topology
of the graph can be used to improve the results of EAs and on identifying the
characteristics of the Ising instances that influence the success rate of GAs
and EDAs.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, 3 table
USDA Farm Programs: North Dakota Farmer Participation and Opinions
Agricultural and Food Policy,
The complete and fully assembled genome sequence of Aeromonas salmonicida subsp. pectinolytica and its comparative analysis with other Aeromonas species: investigation of the mobilome in environmental and pathogenic strains.
Due to the predominant usage of short-read sequencing to date, most bacterial genome sequences reported in the last years remain at the draft level. This precludes certain types of analyses, such as the in-depth analysis of genome plasticity.
Here we report the finalized genome sequence of the environmental strain Aeromonas salmonicida subsp. pectinolytica 34mel, for which only a draft genome with 253 contigs is currently available. Successful completion of the transposon-rich genome critically depended on the PacBio long read sequencing technology. Using finalized genome sequences of A. salmonicida subsp. pectinolytica and other Aeromonads, we report the detailed analysis of the transposon composition of these bacterial species. Mobilome evolution is exemplified by a complex transposon, which has shifted from pathogenicity-related to environmental-related gene content in A. salmonicida subsp. pectinolytica 34mel.
Obtaining the complete, circular genome of A. salmonicida subsp. pectinolytica allowed us to perform an in-depth analysis of its mobilome. We demonstrate the mobilome-dependent evolution of this strain's genetic profile from pathogenic to environmental
Prevalence of Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection and effect on lamb growth
Background: A major challenge in sheep farming during the grazing season along the coast of south-western
Norway is tick-borne fever (TBF) caused by the bacteria Anaplasma phagocytophilum that is transmitted by the tick
Ixodes ricinus.
Methods: A study was carried out in 2007 and 2008 to examine the prevalence of A. phagocytophilum infection
and effect on weaning weight in lambs. The study included 1208 lambs from farms in Sunndal Ram Circle in Møre
and Romsdal County in Mid-Norway, where ticks are frequently observed. All lambs were blood sampled and
serum was analyzed by an indirect fluorescent antibody assay (IFA) to determine an antibody status (positive or
negative) to A. phagocytophilum infection. Weight and weight gain and possible effect of infection were analyzed
using ANOVA and the MIXED procedure in SAS.
Results: The overall prevalence of infection with A. phagocytophilum was 55%. A lower weaning weight of 3%
(1.34 kg, p < 0.01) was estimated in lambs seropositive to an A. phagocytophilum infection compared to
seronegative lambs at an average age of 137 days.
Conclusions: The results show that A. phagocytophilum infection has an effect on lamb weight gain. The study
also support previous findings that A. phagocytophilum infection is widespread in areas where ticks are prevalent,
even in flocks treated prophylactic with acaricides
HITRAP: A facility at GSI for highly charged ions
An overview and status report of the new trapping facility for highly charged
ions at the Gesellschaft fuer Schwerionenforschung is presented. The
construction of this facility started in 2005 and is expected to be completed
in 2008. Once operational, highly charged ions will be loaded from the
experimental storage ring ESR into the HITRAP facility, where they are
decelerated and cooled. The kinetic energy of the initially fast ions is
reduced by more than fourteen orders of magnitude and their thermal energy is
cooled to cryogenic temperatures. The cold ions are then delivered to a broad
range of atomic physics experiments.Comment: 8 pages, 11 figure
- …