329 research outputs found
Estimating abundance of African great apes
All species and subspecies of African great apes are listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as endangered or critically endangered, and populations continue to decline. As human populations and industry expand into great ape habitat, efficient, reliable estimators of great ape abundance are needed to inform conservation status and land-use planning, to assess adverse and beneficial effects of human activities, and to help funding agencies and donors make informed and efficient contributions. Fortunately, technological advances have improved our ability to sample great apes remotely, and new statistical methods for estimating abundance are constantly in development. Following a brief general introduction, this thesis reviews established and emerging approaches to estimating great ape abundance, then describes new methods for estimating animal density from photographic data by distance sampling with camera traps, and for selecting among models of the distance sampling detection function when distance data are overdispersed. Subsequent chapters quantify the effect of violating the assumption of demographic closure when estimating abundance using spatially explicit captureârecapture models for closed populations, and describe the design and implementation of a camera trapping survey of chimpanzees at the landscape scale in Kibale National Park, Uganda. The new methods developed have generated considerable interest, and allow abundances of multiple species, including great apes, to be estimated from data collected during a single photographic survey. Spatially explicit captureârecapture analyses of photographic data from small study areas yielded accurate and precise estimates of chimpanzee abundance, and this combination of methods could be used to enumerate great apes over large areas and in dense forests more reliably and efficiently than previously possible."This work was supported by a St Leonardâs College Scholarship from the University of
St Andrews, and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology." -- Fundin
Supersymmetric Pair Correlation Function of Wilson Loops
We give a path integral derivation of the annulus diagram in a supersymmetric
theory of open and closed strings with Dbranes. We compute the pair correlation
function of Wilson loops in the generic weakly coupled supersymmetric flat
spacetime background with Dbranes. We obtain a -u^4/r^9 potential between heavy
nonrelativistic sources in a supersymmetric gauge theory at short distances.Comment: 18 pages, Revte
On Maximal Massive 3D Supergravity
We construct, at the linearized level, the three-dimensional (3D) N = 4
supersymmetric "general massive supergravity" and the maximally supersymmetric
N = 8 "new massive supergravity". We also construct the maximally
supersymmetric linearized N = 7 topologically massive supergravity, although we
expect N = 6 to be maximal at the non-linear level.Comment: 33 page
Model selection with overdispersed distance sampling data
We thank the Robert Bosch Foundation, the Max Planck Society and the University of St Andrews for funding.1. Distance sampling (DS) is a widely used framework for estimating animal abundance. DS models assume that observations of distances to animals are independent. Nonâindependent observations introduce overdispersion, causing model selection criteria such as AIC or AICc to favour overly complex models, with adverse effects on accuracy and precision. 2. We describe, and evaluate via simulation and with real data, estimators of an overdispersion factor (Ä), and associated adjusted model selection criteria (QAIC) for use with overdispersed DS data. In other contexts, a single value of Ä is calculated from the âglobalâ model, that is the most highly parameterised model in the candidate set, and used to calculate QAIC for all models in the set; the resulting QAIC values, and associated ÎQAIC values and QAIC weights, are comparable across the entire set. Candidate models of the DS detection function include models with different general forms (e.g. halfânormal, hazard rate, uniform), so it may not be possible to identify a single global model. We therefore propose a twoâstep model selection procedure by which QAIC is used to select among models with the same general form, and then a goodnessâofâfit statistic is used to select among models with different forms. A drawback of thi approach is that QAIC values are not comparable across all models in the candidate set. 3. Relative to AIC, QAIC and the twoâstep model selection procedure avoided overfitting and improved the accuracy and precision of densities estimated from simulated data. When applied to six real datasets, adjusted criteria and procedures selected either the same model as AIC or a model that yielded a more accurate density estimate in five cases, and a model that yielded a less accurate estimate in one case. 4. Many DS surveys yield overdispersed data, including cue counting surveys of songbirds and cetaceans, surveys of social species including primates, and cameraâtrapping surveys. Methods that adjust for overdispersion during the model selection stage of DS analyses therefore address a conspicuous gap in the DS analytical framework as applied to species of conservation concern.PostprintPeer reviewe
An index for the Dirac operator on D3 branes with background fluxes
We study the problem of instanton generated superpotentials in Calabi-Yau
orientifold compactifications directly in type IIB string theory. To this end,
we derive the Dirac equation on a Euclidean D3 brane in the presence of
background fluxes. We propose an index which governs whether the generation of
a superpotential in the effective 4d theory by D3 brane instantons is possible.
Applying the formalism to various classes of examples, including the K3 x
T^2/Z_2 orientifold, in the absence and presence of fluxes, we show that our
results are consistent with conclusions attainable via duality from an M-theory
analysis.Comment: Fermion coupling to five-form restored, conclusions of the paper
unchange
Rigidity of SU(2,2|2)-symmetric solutions in Type IIB
We investigate the existence of half-BPS solutions in Type IIB supergravity
which are invariant under the superalgebra SU(2,2|2) realized on either AdS_5 x
S^2 x S^1 or AdS_5 x S^3 warped over a Riemann surface \Sigma with boundary. We
prove that, in both cases, the only solution is AdS_5 x S^5 itself. We argue
that this result provides evidence for the non-existence of fully back-reacted
intersecting D3/D7 branes with either AdS_5 x S^2 x S^1 x \Sigma or AdS_5 x S^3
x \Sigma near-horizon limits.Comment: 55 page
Single-Neuron Level One-Photon Voltage Imaging With Sparsely Targeted Genetically Encoded Voltage Indicators
Voltage imaging of many neurons simultaneously at single-cell resolution is hampered by the difficulty of detecting small voltage signals from overlapping neuronal processes in neural tissue. Recent advances in genetically encoded voltage indicator (GEVI) imaging have shown single-cell resolution optical voltage recordings in intact tissue through imaging naturally sparse cell classes, sparse viral expression, soma restricted expression, advanced optical systems, or a combination of these. Widespread sparse and strong transgenic GEVI expression would enable straightforward optical access to a densely occurring cell type, such as cortical pyramidal cells. Here we demonstrate that a recently described sparse transgenic expression strategy can enable single-cell resolution voltage imaging of cortical pyramidal cells in intact brain tissue without restricting expression to the soma. We also quantify the functional crosstalk in brain tissue and discuss optimal imaging rates to inform future GEVI experimental design
Corrigendum: Single-Neuron Level One-Photon Voltage Imaging With Sparsely Targeted Genetically Encoded Voltage Indicators
Understanding human-machine networks: A cross-disciplinary survey
© 2017 ACM. In the current hyperconnected era, modern Information and Communication Technology (ICT) systems form sophisticated networks where not only do people interact with other people, but also machines take an increasingly visible and participatory role. Such Human-Machine Networks (HMNs) are embedded in the daily lives of people, both for personal and professional use. They can have a significant impact by producing synergy and innovations. The challenge in designing successful HMNs is that they cannot be developed and implemented in the same manner as networks of machines nodes alone, or following a wholly human-centric view of the network. The problem requires an interdisciplinary approach. Here, we review current research of relevance to HMNs across many disciplines. Extending the previous theoretical concepts of sociotechnical systems, actor-network theory, cyber-physical-social systems, and social machines, we concentrate on the interactions among humans and between humans and machines. We identify eight types of HMNs: public-resource computing, crowdsourcing, web search engines, crowdsensing, online markets, social media, multiplayer online games and virtual worlds, and mass collaboration. We systematically select literature on each of these types and review it with a focus on implications for designing HMNs. Moreover, we discuss risks associated with HMNs and identify emerging design and development trends
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