863 research outputs found
Untangle the structural and random zeros in statistical modelings
Count data with structural zeros are common in public health applications. There are considerable researches focusing on zero-inflated models such as zero-inflated Poisson (ZIP) and zero-inflated Negative Binomial (ZINB) models for such zero-inflated count data when used as response variable. However, when such variables are used as predictors, the difference between structural and random zeros is often ignored and may result in biased estimates. One remedy is to include an indicator of the structural zero in the model as a predictor if observed. However, structural zeros are often not observed in practice, in which case no statistical method is available to address the bias issue. This paper is aimed to fill this methodological gap by developing parametric methods to model zero-inflated count data when used as predictors based on the maximum likelihood approach. The response variable can be any type of data including continuous, binary, count or even zero-inflated count responses. Simulation studies are performed to assess the numerical performance of this new approach when sample size is small to moderate. A real data example is also used to demonstrate the application of this method
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Revealing orbital and magnetic phase transitions in Pr0.5Ca0.5MnO3 epitaxial thin films by resonant soft x-ray scattering
Coherent epitaxial growth allows us to produce strained crystalline films with structures that are
unstable in the bulk. Thereby, the overlayer lattice parameters in the interface plane, (a, b), determine
theminimum-energy out-of-plane lattice parameter, cmin (a, b).We showbymeans of density-functional
total energy calculations that this dependence can be discontinuous and predict related firstorder
phase transitions in strained tetragonal films of the elements V, Nb, Ru, La, Os, and Ir. The
abrupt change of cmin can be exploited to switch properties specific to the overlayer material. This is
demonstrated for the example of the superconducting critical temperature of a vanadium film which
we predict to jump by 20% at a discontinuity of cmin
Neutrino Clustering in the Galaxy with a Global Monopole
In spherically symmetric, static spacetime, we show that only j=1/2 fermions
can satisfy both Einstein's field equation and Dirac's equation. It is also
shown that neutrinos are able to have effective masses and cluster in the
galactic halo when they are coupled to a global monopole situated at the
galactic core. Astronomical implications of the results are discussed.Comment: 8 pages, Revtex
Extrinsic inhomogeneity effects in magnetic, transport and magnetoresistive properties of La_{1-x}Ca_{x}MnO_{3} (x\approx 0.33) crystal prepared by the floating zone method
The paper describes a study of the magnetic, transport and magnetoresistive
properties of La_{1-x}Ca_{x}MnO_{3} (x\approx 0.33) crystals prepared by the
floating-zone method. We found that these properties testify to rather good
crystal perfection of the sample studied. In particular, a huge
magnetoresistance ([R(0)-R(H)]/R(H) in the field H = 5 T is about 2680 %) is
found near the Curie temperature (216 K). At the same time, some distinct
features of measured properties indicate the influence of extrinsic
inhomogeneities arising due to technological factors in the sample preparation.
Analysis of the data obtained shows that these are rare grain boundaries and
twins. Specific influence of the grain-boundary-like inhomogeneities on the
transport and magnetoresistive properties are considered.Comment: Submitted to Physica
A_4 Symmetry and Lepton Masses and Mixing
Stimulated by Ma's idea which explains the tribimaximal neutrino mixing by
assuming an A_4 flavor symmetry, a lepton mass matrix model is investigated. A
Frogatt-Nielsen type model is assumed, and the flavor structures of the masses
and mixing are caused by the VEVs of SU(2)_L-singlet scalars \phi_i^u and
\phi_i^d (i=1,2,3), which are assigned to {\bf 3} and ({\bf 1}, {\bf 1}',{\bf
1}'') of A_4, respectively.Comment: 13 pages including 1 table, errors in Sec.7 correcte
The 3-3-1 model with S_4 flavor symmetry
We construct a 3-3-1 model based on family symmetry S_4 responsible for the
neutrino and quark masses. The tribimaximal neutrino mixing and the diagonal
quark mixing have been obtained. The new lepton charge \mathcal{L} related to
the ordinary lepton charge L and a SU(3) charge by L=2/\sqrt{3} T_8+\mathcal{L}
and the lepton parity P_l=(-)^L known as a residual symmetry of L have been
introduced which provide insights in this kind of model. The expected vacuum
alignments resulting in potential minimization can origin from appropriate
violation terms of S_4 and \mathcal{L}. The smallness of seesaw contributions
can be explained from the existence of such terms too. If P_l is not broken by
the vacuum values of the scalar fields, there is no mixing between the exotic
and the ordinary quarks at the tree level.Comment: 20 pages, revised versio
Asian emissions in 2006 for the NASA INTEX-B mission
A new inventory of air pollutant emissions in Asia in the year 2006 is developed to support the Intercontinental Chemical Transport Experiment-Phase B (INTEX-B) funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Emissions are estimated for all major anthropogenic sources, excluding biomass burning. We estimate total Asian anthropogenic emissions in the year 2006 as follows: 47.1 Tg SO2, 36.7 Tg NOx, 298.2 Tg CO, 54.6 Tg NMVOC, 29.2 Tg PM10, 22.2 Tg PM2.5, 2.97 Tg BC, and 6.57 Tg OC. We emphasize emissions from China because they dominate the Asia pollutant outflow to the Pacific and the increase of emissions from China since 2000 is of great concern. We have implemented a series of improved methodologies to gain a better understanding of emissions from China, including a detailed technology-based approach, a dynamic methodology representing rapid technology renewal, critical examination of energy statistics, and a new scheme of NMVOC speciation for model-ready emissions. We estimate China's anthropogenic emissions in the year 2006 to be as follows: 31.0 Tg SO2, 20.8 Tg NOx, 166.9 Tg CO, 23.2 Tg NMVOC, 18.2 Tg PM10, 13.3 Tg PM2.5, 1.8 Tg BC, and 3.2 Tg OC. We have also estimated 2001 emissions for China using the same methodology and found that all species show an increasing trend during 2001-2006: 36% increase for SO2, 55% for NOx, 18% for CO, 29% for VOC, 13% for PM10, and 14% for PM2.5, BC, and OC. Emissions are gridded at a resolution of 30 minW30 min and can be accessed at our web site (mic.greenresource.cn/intex-b2006)
A Symmetry-induced Model of Elliptical Galaxy Patterns
S\'ersic (1968) generalized the de Vaucouleurs law which follows the
projected (observed) one dimensional radial profile of elliptical galaxies
closely and Dehnen (1993) proposed an analytical formula of the 3-dimensional
light distributions whose projected line profile resembles the de Vaucouleurs
law. This paper is involved to recover the Dehnen model and generalize the
model to account for galaxy elliptical shapes by means of curvilinear
coordinate systems and employing a symmetry principle. The symmetry principle
maps an orthogonal coordinate system to a light distribution pattern. The
coordinate system for elliptical galaxy patterns turns out to be the one which
is formed by the complex-plane reciprocal transformation . The resulting
spatial (3-dimensional) light distribution is spherically symmetric and has
infinite gradient at its centre, which is called spherical-nucleus solution and
is used to model galaxy central area. We can make changes of the coordinate
system by cutting out some column areas of its definition domain, the areas
containing the galaxy centre. The resulting spatial (3-dimensional) light
distributions are axisymmetric or triaxial and have zero gradient at the
centre, which are called elliptical-shape solutions and are used to model
global elliptical patterns. The two types of logarithmic light distributions
are added together to model full elliptical galaxy patterns. The model is a
generalization of the Dehnen model. One of the elliptical-shape solutions
permits realistic numerical calculation and is fitted to all R-band elliptical
images from the Frei {\it et al.}(1996)'s galaxy sample. The fitting is
satisfactory. This suggests that elliptical galaxy patterns can be represented
in terms of a few basic parameters.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figure
Nonlinear interactions in the thalamocortical loop in essential tremor: A model-based frequency domain analysis.
There is increasing evidence to suggest that essential tremor has a central origin. Different structures appear to be part of the central tremorogenic network, including the motor cortex, the thalamus and the cerebellum. Some studies using electroencephalogram (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) show linear association in the tremor frequency between the motor cortex and the contralateral tremor electromyography (EMG). Additionally, high thalamomuscular coherence is found with the use of thalamic local field potential (LFP) recordings and tremulous EMG in patients undergoing surgery for deep brain stimulation (DBS). Despite a well-established reciprocal anatomical connection between the thalamus and cortex, the functional association between the two structures during "tremor-on" periods remains elusive. Thalamic (Vim) LFPs, ipsilateral scalp EEG from the sensorimotor cortex and contralateral tremor arm EMG recordings were obtained from two patients with essential tremor who had undergone successful surgery for DBS. Coherence analysis shows a strong linear association between thalamic LFPs and contralateral tremor EMG, but the relationship between the EEG and the thalamus is much less clear. These measurements were then analyzed by constructing a novel parametric nonlinear autoregressive with exogenous input (NARX) model. This new approach uncovered two distinct and not overlapping frequency "channels" of communication between Vim thalamus and the ipsilateral motor cortex, defining robustly "tremor-on" versus "tremor-off" states. The associated estimated nonlinear time lags also showed non-overlapping values between the two states, with longer corticothalamic lags (exceeding 50ms) in the tremor active state, suggesting involvement of an indirect multisynaptic loop. The results reveal the importance of the nonlinear interactions between cortical and subcortical areas in the central motor network of essential tremor. This work is important because it demonstrates for the first time that in essential tremor the functional interrelationships between the cortex and thalamus should not be sought exclusively within individual frequencies but more importantly between cross-frequency nonlinear interactions. Should our results be successfully reproduced on a bigger cohort of patients with essential tremor, our approach could be used to create an on-demand closed-loop DBS device, able to automatically activate when the tremor is on
S_3 Symmetry and Neutrino Masses and Mixings
Based on a universal seesaw mass matrix model with three scalars \phi_i, and
by assuming an S_3 flavor symmetry for the Yukawa interactions, the lepton
masses and mixings are investigated systematically. In order to understand the
observed neutrino mixing, the charged leptons (e, \mu, \tau) are regarded as
the 3 elements (e_1, e_2, e_3) of S_3, while the neutrino mass-eigenstates are
regarded as the irreducible representation (\nu_\eta, \nu_\sigma, \nu_\pi) of
S_3, where (\nu_\pi, \nu_\eta) and \nu_\sigma are a doublet and a singlet,
respectively, which are composed of the 3 elements (\nu_1, \nu_2, \nu_3) of
S_3.Comment: 16 pages, no figure, version to appear in EPJ-
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