Spatially resolved observations of warm ionized gas and feedback in local ULIRGs

We present VLT/VIMOS-IFU emission-line spectroscopy of a volume limited sample of 18 southern ULIRGs selected with z<0.09 and dec<10. By covering a wide range of ULIRG types, this dataset provides an important set of templates for comparison with high-redshift galaxies. We employed an automated Gaussian line fitting program to decompose the emission line profiles of Halpha, [NII], [SII], and [OI] into individual components, and chart the Halpha kinematics, and the ionized gas excitations and densities. 11/18 of our galaxies show evidence for outflowing warm ionized gas with speeds between 500 and a few 1000 km/s, with the fastest outflows associated with systems that contain an AGN. Our spatially resolved spectroscopy has allowed us to map the outflows, and in some cases determine for the first time to which nucleus the wind is associated. In three of our targets we find line components with widths >2000 km/s over spatially extended regions in both the recombination and forbidden lines; in two of these three, they are associated with a known Sy2 nucleus. Eight galaxies have clear rotating gaseous disks, and for these we measure rotation velocities, virial masses, and calculate Toomre Q parameters. We find radial gradients in the emission line ratios in a significant number of systems in our study. We attribute these gradients to changes in ionizing radiation field strength, most likely due to an increasing contribution of shocks with radius. We conclude with a detailed discussion of the results for each individual system, with reference to the existing literature. Our observations demonstrate that the complexity of the kinematics and gas properties in ULIRGs can only be disentangled with high sensitivity, spatially resolved IFU observations. Many of our targets are ideal candidates for future high spatial resolution follow-up observations.Comment: 44 pages, 8 figures, 3 tables, accepted to MNRA

Adaptive forecasting in the presence of recent and ongoing structural change

We consider time series forecasting in the presence of ongoing structural change where both the time series dependence and the nature of the structural change are unknown. Methods that downweight older data, such as rolling regressions, forecast averaging over different windows and exponentially weighted moving averages, known to be robust to historical structural change, are found to be also useful in the presence of ongoing structural change in the forecast period. A crucial issue is how to select the degree of downweighting, usually defined by an arbitrary tuning parameter. We make this choice data dependent by minimizing forecast mean square error, and provide a detailed theoretical analysis of our proposal. Monte Carlo results illustrate the methods. We examine their performance on 191 UK and US macro series. Forecasts using data-based tuning of the data discount rate are shown to perform well

Igniting Passion for Science Across a Vast Ocean: Nurturing a New Generation of Pacific Island Scientists

This article introduces the work that was done through the Coordinating Center at the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii

Hierarchical shrinkage in time-varying parameter models

In this paper, we forecast EU-area inflation with many predictors using time-varying parameter models. The facts that time-varying parameter models are parameter-rich and the time span of our data is relatively short motivate a desire for shrinkage. In constant coefficient regression models, the Bayesian Lasso is gaining increasing popularity as an effective tool for achieving such shrinkage. In this paper, we develop econometric methods for using the Bayesian Lasso with time-varying parameter models. Our approach allows for the coefficient on each predictor to be: i) time varying, ii) constant over time or iii) shrunk to zero. The econometric methodology decides automatically which category each coefficient belongs in. Our empirical results indicate the benefits of such an approach

Unraveling the “paradox of the active user”: Determinants of individuals’ innovation with it-based work routines

As individuals become more experienced with information technologies (ITs), they become limited by well-learnedbehavioral routines for using an IT, which act to inhibit innovation. This “paradox of the active user” can prove problematicfor organizations, which derive benefits when organizational ITs are used to their fullest potential. Thus, to advance researchon individual differences and post-adoption use behaviors, this research-in-progress develops a research model examining therelationships among habit, IT mindfulness, and embeddedness of an IT-based routine on individuals’ innovation with IT.Identifying factors that foster or inhibit individuals’ attempts to innovate with ITs can provide actionable guidelines fordesigning managerial interventions to manage and maintain desired levels of user-initiated innovation in the post-adoptivecontext

The verbal syntax of Ewe.

The subject of this study is the syntax of the verb in the Anle dialect of Ewe. The categories of tense, aspect, meed and negation as well as the phenolegically clitic pronouns are investigated, and it is claimed that these forms are described with maximal generality in terms of relatively simple base representations and a small number of grammatical transformations. The peculiar syntactic properties of verb phrases marked for aspect are viewed as a consequence of a more general rule applying to a class of syntactically complex nouns. Verbs are then broadly subcategorized in terms of the (base) syntactic environments they accept: these environments, stated as subcategorization features, are shown to play a pivotal role in the differentiation of the many semantic functions which may be associated with single verb stems. It is finally suggested that an adequate independent definition of the notion 'morphological rule' may permit certain more general statements about the form of Ewe grammar and the functioning of its rules. This study is based primarily upon data collected by the writer during the course of field research in Legon and Anyake, Ghana

A preliminary study on post-occupancy evaluation of four office buildings in the UK based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process

There is a lack of a systematic decision-making criterion to select appropriate indicators for Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) analysis due to the fact that significant levels of various POE determinants are indeterminate. The present work aims to identify the degree of importance of a set of POE determinants based on Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). A case study of POE for four office buildings in the UK has been conducted using the AHP to ascertain the significance levels of three main factors identified, namely, Indoor Environment Quality (IEQ), Occupants’ Performance (OP) and Workplace Quality (WQ) as well as three groups of sub-factors affiliated to the main factors based on questionnaire surveys of the building occupants. The results show that the priority factors of the three main evaluation metrics, IEQ, OP, WQ are 0.595, 0.183 and 0.222, respectively, indicating that of these three factors the IEQ is the paramount factor in relation to the POE level of the office buildings. Moreover, the global priorities of all sub-factors linked to the main factors are obtained, providing a strategy reference of choosing indicators as per the priorities for a continuing POE in the further survey and measurement