488 research outputs found
TESTS OF A POTENTIAL METHOD FOR DECOYING STARLINGS TO BAIT STATIONS
The costs of existing Starling control programs prompted the design and test of an alternative method for removing significant numbers of Starlings from heavily damaged areas. The procedure involved the placement of taxidermically prepared adult Starling skins on and near bait stations, accompanied in some cases by broadcasts of recorded Starling vocalizations. Previous studies had indicated that bait stations unaccompanied by live Starling decoys were not acceptable to the birds. Although non-toxic baits were used during these tests to determine the attractability of the stations, ultimate substitution of chemically treated toxic baits was envisioned
Learning Spaces: Youth, Literacy and New Media in Remote Indigenous Australia
“This work offers us the rare opportunity to step inside innovative uses of technologies, mergers of global technologies into local knowledge, and community advocacy of local history and ideology…The young people who move through these pages are motivated and proud of having had the opportunities that make possible their linking together of historical knowledge and contemporary means of communication and performance. The means illustrated here have enabled them to develop skills that will help them move into the future as adults engaged with the health and life of their own communities, connected to their language and culture as their way of being in the world of the local so as to know the world of the global.” Professor Shirley Brice Heath
Stanford University, US
Megafirms
This paper documents and explains the amazing growth of the largest firms in law, accounting, and investment banking. Scholars to date have used various supply-side theories to explain the growth, and have generally examined only one industry at a time. We give the first demand-side explanation of firm growth, and show how the explanation is similar for firms in all project industries. We show that law plays an important role in determining industry structure. Among the areas we cover are the growth of Multi-Disciplinary Practice firms. We argue that the issues surrounding MDPs can best be understood by looking more broadly at the forces driving project industries. We also explain the driving forces behind the breakup of the Big Five accounting firms, the consolidation of the investment banking industry and the heretofore unexamined divergent growth patterns of the law firms in the plaintiffs\u27 securities litigation field
Optimizing astrophotonic spatial reformatters using simulated on-sky performance
One of the most useful techniques in astronomical instrumentation is image
slicing. It enables a spectrograph to have a more compact angular slit, whilst
retaining throughput and increasing resolving power. Astrophotonic components
like the photonic lanterns and photonic reformatters can be used to replace
bulk optics used so far. This study investigates the performance of such
devices using end-to-end simulations to approximate realistic on-sky
conditions. It investigates existing components, tries to optimize their
performance and aims to understand better how best to design instruments to
maximize their performance. This work complements the recent work in the field
and provides an estimation for the performance of the new components.Comment: Conference proceedings in SPIE 2018 Austin Texa
Sparse Deterministic Approximation of Bayesian Inverse Problems
We present a parametric deterministic formulation of Bayesian inverse
problems with input parameter from infinite dimensional, separable Banach
spaces. In this formulation, the forward problems are parametric, deterministic
elliptic partial differential equations, and the inverse problem is to
determine the unknown, parametric deterministic coefficients from noisy
observations comprising linear functionals of the solution.
We prove a generalized polynomial chaos representation of the posterior
density with respect to the prior measure, given noisy observational data. We
analyze the sparsity of the posterior density in terms of the summability of
the input data's coefficient sequence. To this end, we estimate the
fluctuations in the prior. We exhibit sufficient conditions on the prior model
in order for approximations of the posterior density to converge at a given
algebraic rate, in terms of the number of unknowns appearing in the
parameteric representation of the prior measure. Similar sparsity and
approximation results are also exhibited for the solution and covariance of the
elliptic partial differential equation under the posterior. These results then
form the basis for efficient uncertainty quantification, in the presence of
data with noise
Neural activity during a simple reaching task in macaques is counter to gating and rebound in basal ganglia–thalamic communication
Task-related activity in the ventral thalamus, a major target of basal ganglia output, is often assumed to be permitted or triggered by changes in basal ganglia activity through gating- or rebound-like mechanisms. To test those hypotheses, we sampled single-unit activity from connected basal ganglia output and thalamic nuclei (globus pallidus-internus [GPi] and ventrolateral anterior nucleus [VLa]) in monkeys performing a reaching task. Rate increases were the most common peri-movement change in both nuclei. Moreover, peri-movement changes generally began earlier in VLa than in GPi. Simultaneously recorded GPi-VLa pairs rarely showed short-time-scale spike-to-spike correlations or slow across-trials covariations, and both were equally positive and negative. Finally, spontaneous GPi bursts and pauses were both followed by small, slow reductions in VLa rate. These results appear incompatible with standard gating and rebound models. Still, gating or rebound may be possible in other physiological situations: simulations show how GPi-VLa communication can scale with GPi synchrony and GPi-to-VLa convergence, illuminating how synchrony of basal ganglia output during motor learning or in pathological conditions may render this pathway effective. Thus, in the healthy state, basal ganglia-thalamic communication during learned movement is more subtle than expected, with changes in firing rates possibly being dominated by a common external source
Megafirms
This Article documents and explains the amazing growth of the largest firms in law, accounting, and investment banking. Scholars to date have used various supply-side theories to explain this growth, and have generally examined only one industry at a time. This Article emphasizes a demand-side explanation of firm growth and shows how the explanation is similar for firms in all project industries. Legal regulation also plays an important role in determining industry structure. Among the areas covered in this Article are the growth of Multidisciplinary Practice firms (MDPs). MDP growth can best be understood by looking more broadly at the demand forces driving project industries. This Article also applies its framework to the breakup of the Big Five accounting firms, to the consolidation trend in the investment banking industry, and to the divergent growth patterns of the law firms in the plaintiffs\u27 securities litigation field
Megafirms
This Article documents and explains the amazing growth of the largest firms in law, accounting, and investment banking. Scholars to date have used various supply-side theories to explain this growth, and have generally examined only one industry at a time. This Article emphasizes a demand-side explanation of firm growth and shows how the explanation is similar for firms in all project industries. Legal regulation also plays an important role in determining industry structure. Among the areas covered in this Article are the growth of Multidisciplinary Practice firms (MDPs). MDP growth can best be understood by looking more broadly at the demand forces driving project industries. This Article also applies its framework to the breakup of the Big Five accounting firms, to the consolidation trend in the investment banking industry, and to the divergent growth patterns of the law firms in the plaintiffs\u27 securities litigation field
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Clinically Significant Thromboembolic Disease in Adult Spinal Deformity Surgery: Incidence and Risk Factors in 737 Patients.
Study Design:Retrospective cohort study. Objectives:Describe the rate and risk factors for venous thromboembolic events (VTEs; defined as deep venous thrombosis [DVT] and/or pulmonary embolism [PE]) in adult spinal deformity (ASD) surgery. Methods:ASD patients with VTE were identified in a prospective, multicenter database. Complications, revision, and mortality rate were examined. Patient demographics, operative details, and radiographic and clinical outcomes were compared with a non-VTE group. Multivariate binary regression model was used to identify predictors of VTE. Results:A total of 737 patients were identified, 32 (4.3%) had VTE (DVT = 14; PE = 18). At baseline, VTE patients were less likely to be employed in jobs requiring physical labor (59.4% vs 79.7%, P < .01) and more likely to have osteoporosis (29% vs 15.1%, P = .037) and liver disease (6.5% vs 1.4%, P = .027). Patients with VTE had a larger preoperative sagittal vertical axis (SVA; 93 mm vs 55 mm, P < .01) and underwent larger SVA corrections. VTE was associated with a combined anterior/posterior approach (45% vs 25%, P = .028). VTE patients had a longer hospital stay (10 vs 7 days, P < .05) and higher mortality rate (6.3% vs 0.7%, P < .01). Multivariate analysis demonstrated osteoporosis, lack of physical labor, and increased SVA correction were independent predictors of VTE (r2 = .11, area under the curve = 0.74, P < .05). Conclusions:The incidence of VTE in ASD is 4.3% with a DVT rate of 1.9% and PE rate of 2.4%. Osteoporosis, lack of physical labor, and increased SVA correction were independent predictors of VTE. Patients with VTE had a higher mortality rate compared with non-VTE patients
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