Incorporating measurement error in n=1 psychological autoregressive modeling

Measurement error is omnipresent in psychological data. However, the vast majority of applications of autoregressive time series analyses in psychology do not take measurement error into account. Disregarding measurement error when it is present in the data results in a bias of the autoregressive parameters. We discuss two models that take measurement error into account: An autoregressive model with a white noise term (AR+WN), and an autoregressive moving average (ARMA) model. In a simulation study we compare the parameter recovery performance of these models, and compare this performance for both a Bayesian and frequentist approach. We find that overall, the AR+WN model performs better. Furthermore, we find that for realistic (i.e., small) sample sizes, psychological research would benefit from a Bayesian approach in fitting these models. Finally, we illustrate the effect of disregarding measurement error in an AR(1) model by means of an empirical application on mood data in women. We find that, depending on the person, approximately 30-50% of the total variance was due to measurement error, and that disregarding this measurement error results in a substantial underestimation of the autoregressive parameters.</p

Full Stokes polarimetric observations with a single-dish radio-telescope

The study of the linear and circular polarization in AGN allows one to gain detailed information about the properties of the magnetic fields in these objects. However, especially the observation of circular polarization (CP) with single-dish radio-telescopes is usually difficult because of the weak signals to be expected. Normally CP is derived as the (small) difference of two large numbers (LHC and RHC); hence an accurate calibration is absolutely necessary. Our aim is to improve the calibration accuracy to include the Stokes parameter V in the common single-dish polarimetric measurements, allowing a full Stokes study of the source under examination. A detailed study, up to the 2nd order, of the Mueller matrix elements in terms of cross-talk components allows us to reach the accuracy necessary to study circular polarization. The new calibration method has been applied to data taken at the 100-m Effelsberg radio-telescope during regular test observations of extragalactic sources at 2.8, 3.6, 6 and 11 cm. The D-terms in phase and amplitude appear very stable with time and the few known values of circular polarization have been confirmed. It is shown that, whenever a classical receiver and a multiplying polarimeter are available, the proposed calibration scheme allows one to include Stokes V in standard single-dish polarimetric observations as difference of two native circular outputs.Comment: 10 pages, to be published in A&

Capillary pressure of van der Waals liquid nanodrops

The dependence of the surface tension on a nanodrop radius is important for the new-phase formation process. It is demonstrated that the famous Tolman formula is not unique and the size-dependence of the surface tension can distinct for different systems. The analysis is based on a relationship between the surface tension and disjoining pressure in nanodrops. It is shown that the van der Waals interactions do not affect the new-phase formation thermodynamics since the effect of the disjoining pressure and size-dependent component of the surface tension cancel each other.Comment: The paper is dedicated to the 80th anniversary of A.I. Rusano

Polarization leakage in epoch of reionization windows – I. Low Frequency Array observations of the 3C196 field

Detection of the 21-cm signal coming from the epoch of reionization (EoR) is challenging especially because, even after removing the foregrounds, the residual Stokes I maps contain leakage from polarized emission that can mimic the signal. Here, we discuss the instrumental polarization of LOFAR and present realistic simulations of the leakages between Stokes parameters. From the LOFAR observations of polarized emission in the 3C196 field, we have quantified the level of polarization leakage caused by the nominal model beam of LOFAR, and compared it with the EoR signal using power spectrum analysis. We found that at 134– 166 MHz, within the central 4◦ of the field the (Q,U)→I leakage power is lower than the EoR signal at k<0.3 Mpc−¹. The leakage was found to be localized around a Faraday depth of 0, and the rms of the leakage as a fraction of the rms of the polarized emission was shown to vary between 0.2–0.3%, both of which could be utilized in the removal of leakage. Moreover, we could define an ‘EoR window’ in terms of the polarization leakage in the cylindrical power spectrum above the PSF-induced wedge and below k∥∼0.5 Mpc−¹, and the window extended up to k∥∼1 Mpc−¹ at all k⊥ when 70% of the leakage had been removed. These LOFAR results show that even a modest polarimetric calibration over a field of view of ≲4∘ in the future arrays like SKA will ensure that the polarization leakage remains well below the expected EoR signal at the scales of 0.02–1 Mpc−¹

A very brief description of LOFAR - the Low Frequency Array

LOFAR (Low Frequency Array) is an innovative radio telescope optimized for the frequency range 30-240 MHz. The telescope is realized as a phased aperture array without any moving parts. Digital beam forming allows the telescope to point to any part of the sky within a second. Transient buffering makes retrospective imaging of explosive short-term events possible. The scientific focus of LOFAR will initially be on four key science projects (KSPs): 1) detection of the formation of the very first stars and galaxies in the universe during the so-called epoch of reionization by measuring the power spectrum of the neutral hydrogen 21-cm line (Shaver et al. 1999) on the ~5' scale; 2) low-frequency surveys of the sky with of order $10^8$ expected new sources; 3) all-sky monitoring and detection of transient radio sources such as gamma-ray bursts, x-ray binaries, and exo-planets (Farrell et al. 2004); and 4) radio detection of ultra-high energy cosmic rays and neutrinos (Falcke & Gorham 2003) allowing for the first time access to particles beyond 10^21 eV (Scholten et al. 2006). Apart from the KSPs open access for smaller projects is also planned. Here we give a brief description of the telescope.Comment: 2 pages, IAU GA 2006, Highlights of Astronomy, Volume 14, K.A. van der Hucht, e

Polarized point sources in the LOFAR Two-meter Sky Survey: A preliminary catalog

The polarization properties of radio sources at very low frequencies (h45m–15h30m right ascension, 45°–57° declination, 570 square degrees). We have produced a catalog of 92 polarized radio sources at 150 MHz at 4.′3 resolution and 1 mJy rms sensitivity, which is the largest catalog of polarized sources at such low frequencies. We estimate a lower limit to the polarized source surface density at 150 MHz, with our resolution and sensitivity, of 1 source per 6.2 square degrees. We find that our Faraday depth measurements are in agreement with previous measurements and have significantly smaller errors. Most of our sources show significant depolarization compared to 1.4 GHz, but there is a small population of sources with low depolarization indicating that their polarized emission is highly localized in Faraday depth. We predict that an extension of this work to the full LOTSS data would detect at least 3400 polarized sources using the same methods, and probably considerably more with improved data processing

First LOFAR observations at very low frequencies of cluster-scale non-thermal emission: the case of Abell 2256

Abell 2256 is one of the best known examples of a galaxy cluster hosting large-scale diffuse radio emission that is unrelated to individual galaxies. It contains both a giant radio halo and a relic, as well as a number of head-tail sources and smaller diffuse steep-spectrum radio sources. The origin of radio halos and relics is still being debated, but over the last years it has become clear that the presence of these radio sources is closely related to galaxy cluster merger events. Here we present the results from the first LOFAR Low band antenna (LBA) observations of Abell 2256 between 18 and 67 MHz. To our knowledge, the image presented in this paper at 63 MHz is the deepest ever obtained at frequencies below 100 MHz in general. Both the radio halo and the giant relic are detected in the image at 63 MHz, and the diffuse radio emission remains visible at frequencies as low as 20 MHz. The observations confirm the presence of a previously claimed ultra-steep spectrum source to the west of the cluster center with a spectral index of -2.3 \pm 0.4 between 63 and 153 MHz. The steep spectrum suggests that this source is an old part of a head-tail radio source in the cluster. For the radio relic we find an integrated spectral index of -0.81 \pm 0.03, after removing the flux contribution from the other sources. This is relatively flat which could indicate that the efficiency of particle acceleration at the shock substantially changed in the last \sim 0.1 Gyr due to an increase of the shock Mach number. In an alternative scenario, particles are re-accelerated by some mechanism in the downstream region of the shock, resulting in the relatively flat integrated radio spectrum. In the radio halo region we find indications of low-frequency spectral steepening which may suggest that relativistic particles are accelerated in a rather inhomogeneous turbulent region.Comment: 13 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in A\&A on April 12, 201

The Gaussian graphical model in cross-sectional and time-series data

We discuss the Gaussian graphical model (GGM; an undirected network of partial correlation coefficients) and detail its utility as an exploratory data analysis tool. The GGM shows which variables predict one-another, allows for sparse modeling of covariance structures, and may highlight potential causal relationships between observed variables. We describe the utility in 3 kinds of psychological datasets: datasets in which consecutive cases are assumed independent (e.g., cross-sectional data), temporally ordered datasets (e.g., n = 1 time series), and a mixture of the 2 (e.g., n > 1 time series). In time-series analysis, the GGM can be used to model the residual structure of a vector-autoregression analysis (VAR), also termed graphical VAR. Two network models can then be obtained: a temporal network and a contemporaneous network. When analyzing data from multiple subjects, a GGM can also be formed on the covariance structure of stationary means---the between-subjects network. We discuss the interpretation of these models and propose estimation methods to obtain these networks, which we implement in the R packages graphicalVAR and mlVAR. The methods are showcased in two empirical examples, and simulation studies on these methods are included in the supplementary materials.Comment: Accepted pending revision in Multivariate Behavioral Researc

The Intrinsic Resolution Limit in the Atomic Force Microscope: Implications for Heights of Nano-Scale Features

Background; Accurate mechanical characterization by the atomic force microscope at the highest spatial resolution requires that topography is deconvoluted from indentation. The measured height of nanoscale features in the atomic force microscope (AFM) is almost always smaller than the true value, which is often explained away as sample deformation, the formation of salt deposits and/or dehydration. We show that the real height of nano-objects cannot be obtained directly: a result arising as a consequence of the local probe-sample geometry. Methods and Findings; We have modeled the tip-surface-sample interaction as the sum of the interaction between the tip and the surface and the tip and the sample. We find that the dynamics of the AFM cannot differentiate between differences in force resulting from 1) the chemical and/or mechanical characteristics of the surface or 2) a step in topography due to the size of the sample; once the size of a feature becomes smaller than the effective area of interaction between the AFM tip and sample, the measured height is compromised. This general result is a major contributor to loss of height and can amount to up to ∼90% for nanoscale features. In particular, these very large values in height loss may occur even when there is no sample deformation, and, more generally, height loss does not correlate with sample deformation. DNA and IgG antibodies have been used as model samples where experimental height measurements are shown to closely match the predicted phenomena. Conclusions; Being able to measure the true height of single nanoscale features is paramount in many nanotechnology applications since phenomena and properties in the nanoscale critically depend on dimensions. Our approach allows accurate predictions for the true height of nanoscale objects and will lead to reliable mechanical characterization at the highest spatial resolution