978 research outputs found
Estimating the number of change-points in a two-dimensional segmentation model without penalization
In computational biology, numerous recent studies have been dedicated to the
analysis of the chromatin structure within the cell by two-dimensional
segmentation methods. Motivated by this application, we consider the problem of
retrieving the diagonal blocks in a matrix of observations. The theoretical
properties of the least-squares estimators of both the boundaries and the
number of blocks proposed by L\'evy-Leduc et al. [2014] are investigated. More
precisely, the contribution of the paper is to establish the consistency of
these estimators. A surprising consequence of our results is that, contrary to
the onedimensional case, a penalty is not needed for retrieving the true number
of diagonal blocks. Finally, the results are illustrated on synthetic data.Comment: 30 pages, 8 figure
Articulatory Tradeoffs Reduce Acoustic Variability During American English /r/ Production
Acoustic and articulatory recordings reveal that speakers utilize systematic articulatory tradeoffs to maintain acoustic stability when producing the phoneme /r/. Distinct articulator configurations used to produce /r/ in various phonetic contexts show systematic tradeoffs between the cross-sectional areas of different vocal tract sections. Analysis of acoustic and articulatory variabilities reveals that these tradeoffs act to reduce acoustic variability, thus allowing large contextual variations in vocal tract shape; these contextual variations in turn apparently reduce the amount of articulatory movement required. These findings contrast with the widely held view that speaking involves a canonical vocal tract shape target for each phoneme.National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (1R29-DC02852-02, 5R01-DC01925-04, 1R03-C2576-0l); National Science Foundation (IRI-9310518
The Iliad’s big swoon: a case of innovation within the epic tradition
In book 5 of the Iliad Sarpedon suffers so greatly from a wound that his ‘‘ψυχή leaves him’. Rather than dying, however, Sarpedon lives to fight another day. This paper investigates the phrase τὸν δὲ λίπε ψυχή in extant archaic Greek poetry to gain a sense of its traditional referentiality and better assess the meaning of Sarpedon’s swoon. Finding that all other instances of the ψυχή leaving the body signify death, it suggests that the Iliad exploits a traditional unit of utterance to flag up the importance of Sarpedon to this version of the Troy story
Physical activity as a tool for preventing and treating depression: Lessons learned from the COVID‐19 pandemic
Physical activity (PA) is understood to be important for the prevention and treatment of depression, however, less is known about the effects of withdrawal from PA on mood. Here we consider evidence published since the outbreak of the SARS‐CoV‐2 virus to assess the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on PA patterns and to evaluate whether engagement in PA in the context of the pandemic had an impact on depression vulnerability. During the initial stages of the pandemic and consequent lockdowns, there were global decreases in PA, with women, ethnic minorities, lower‐education, lower‐income, younger, and elderly people displaying more marked reductions in PA. Less PA was associated with a higher risk of experiencing moderate‐to‐severe depression symptoms, particularly for those who decreased their PA levels compared to pre‐pandemic. Both PA and sedentary behavior were independently associated with depression, such that low activity and high amounts of sitting both increased the likelihood of clinically significant symptoms. We also consider the role social connection during movement; while both in‐person and online PA can foster a sense of belonging, there is some evidence that socially distant, pandemic‐safe movement might disincentivise certain groups such as older adults and experienced exercisers from participating in PA. We conclude with several implications for prospective public health communications regarding PA, especially in the event of another global pandemic
Age structure, dispersion and diet of a population of stoats (Mustela erminea) in southern Fiordland during the decline phase of the beechmast cycle
The dispersion, age structure and diet of stoats (Mustela erminea) in beech forest in the Borland and Grebe Valleys, Fiordland National Park, were examined during December and January 2000/01, 20 months after a heavy seed-fall in 1999. Thirty trap stations were set along a 38-km transect through almost continuous beech forest, at least 1 km apart. Mice were very scarce (nights, C/100TN) along two standard index lines placed at either end of the transect, compared with November 1999 (>60/100TN), but mice were detected (from footprints in stoat tunnels) along an 8 km central section of the transect (stations 14-22). Live trapping with one trap per station (total 317.5 trap nights) in December 2000 caught 2 female and 23 male stoats, of which 10 (including both females) were radio collared. The minimum range lengths of the two females along the transect represented by the trap line were 2.2 and 6.0 km; those of eight radio-tracked males averaged 2.9 ± 1.7 km. Stations 14-22 tended to be visited more often, by more marked individual stoats, than the other 21 stations.
Fenn trapping at the same 30 sites, but with multiple traps per station (1333.5 trap nights), in late January 2001 collected carcasses of 35 males and 28 females (including 12 of the marked live-trapped ones). Another two marked males were recovered dead. The stoat population showed no sign of chronic nutritional stress (average fat reserve index = 2.8 on a scale of 1-4 where 4 = highest fat content); and only one of 63 guts analysed was empty. Nevertheless, all 76 stoats handled were adults with 1-3 cementum annuli in their teeth, showing that reproduction had failed that season. Prey categories recorded in descending frequency of occurrence were birds, carabid beetle (ground beetle), weta, possum, rat, and mouse. The frequencies of occurrence of mice and birds in the diet of these stoats (10% and 48%, respectively) were quite different from those in stoats collected in Pig Creek, a tributary of the Borland River (87%, 5%), 12 months previously when mice were still abundant. Five of the six stoat guts containing mice were collected within 1 km of stations 14-22
Strong quantum memory at resonant Fermi edges revealed by shot noise
Studies of non-equilibrium current fluctuations enable assessing correlations
involved in quantum transport through nanoscale conductors. They provide
additional information to the mean current on charge statistics and the
presence of coherence, dissipation, disorder, or entanglement. Shot noise,
being a temporal integral of the current autocorrelation function, reveals
dynamical information. In particular, it detects presence of non-Markovian
dynamics, i.e., memory, within open systems, which has been subject of many
current theoretical studies. We report on low-temperature shot noise
measurements of electronic transport through InAs quantum dots in the
Fermi-edge singularity regime and show that it exhibits strong memory effects
caused by quantum correlations between the dot and fermionic reservoirs. Our
work, apart from addressing noise in archetypical strongly correlated system of
prime interest, discloses generic quantum dynamical mechanism occurring at
interacting resonant Fermi edges.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure
The CAST Time Projection Chamber
One of the three X-ray detectors of the CAST experiment searching for solar
axions is a Time Projection Chamber (TPC) with a multi-wire proportional
counter (MWPC) as a readout structure. Its design has been optimized to provide
high sensitivity to the detection of the low intensity X-ray signal expected in
the CAST experiment. A low hardware threshold of 0.8 keV is safely set during
normal data taking periods, and the overall efficiency for the detection of
photons coming from conversion of solar axions is 62 %. Shielding has been
installed around the detector, lowering the background level to 4.10 x 10^-5
counts/cm^2/s/keV between 1 and 10 keV. During phase I of the CAST experiment
the TPC has provided robust and stable operation, thus contributing with a
competitive result to the overall CAST limit on axion-photon coupling and mass.Comment: 19 pages, 11 figures and images, submitted to New Journal of Physic
Functional significance may underlie the taxonomic utility of single amino acid substitutions in conserved proteins
We hypothesized that some amino acid substitutions in conserved proteins that are strongly fixed by critical functional roles would show lineage-specific distributions. As an example of an archetypal conserved eukaryotic protein we considered the active site of ß-tubulin. Our analysis identified one amino acid substitution—ß-tubulin F224—which was highly lineage specific. Investigation of ß-tubulin for other phylogenetically restricted amino acids identified several with apparent specificity for well-defined phylogenetic groups. Intriguingly, none showed specificity for “supergroups” other than the unikonts. To understand why, we analysed the ß-tubulin Neighbor-Net and demonstrated a fundamental division between core ß-tubulins (plant-like) and divergent ß-tubulins (animal and fungal). F224 was almost completely restricted to the core ß-tubulins, while divergent ß-tubulins possessed Y224. Thus, our specific example offers insight into the restrictions associated with the co-evolution of ß-tubulin during the radiation of eukaryotes, underlining a fundamental dichotomy between F-type, core ß-tubulins and Y-type, divergent ß-tubulins. More broadly our study provides proof of principle for the taxonomic utility of critical amino acids in the active sites of conserved proteins
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