Gibbsian theory of power law distributions

It is shown that power law phase space distributions describe marginally stable Gibbsian equilibria far from thermal equilibrium which are expected to occur in collisionless plasmas containing fully developed quasi-stationary turbulence. Gibbsian theory is extended on the fundamental level to statistically dependent subsystems introducing an `ordering parameter' $\kappa$. Particular forms for the entropy and partition functions are derived with super-additive (non-extensive) entropy, and a redefinition of temperature in such systems is given.Comment: Physical Review Letters revised second revision (and shortened because of overlength) co-author adde

Application of spatio-temporal data in site-specific maize yield prediction with machine learning methods

In order to meet the requirements of sustainability and to determine yield drivers and limiting factors, it is now more likely that traditional yield modelling will be carried out using artificial intelligence (AI). The aim of this study was to predict maize yields using AI that uses spatio-temporal training data. The paper has advanced a new method of maize yield prediction, which is based on spatio-temporal data mining. To find the best solution, various models were used: counter-propagation artificial neural networks (CP-ANNs), XY-fused Querynetworks (XY-Fs), supervised Kohonen networks (SKNs), neural networks with Rectangular Linear Activations (ReLU), extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), support-vector machine (SVM), and different subsets of the independent variables in five vegetation periods. Input variables for modelling included: soil parameters (pH, P2O5, K2O, Zn, clay content, ECa, draught force, Cone index), micro-relief averages, and meteorological parameters for the 63 treatment units in a 15.3 ha research field. The best performing method (XGBoost) reached 92.1% and 95.3% accuracy on the training and the test sets. Additionally, a novel method was introduced to treat individual units in a lattice system. The lattice-based smoothing performed an additional increase in Area under the curve (AUC) to 97.5% over the individual predictions of the XGBoost model. The models were developed using 48 different subsets of variables to determine which variables consistently contributed to prediction accuracy. By comparing the resulting models, it was shown that the best regression model was Extreme Gradient Boosting Trees, with 92.1% accuracy (on the training set). In addition, the method calculates the influence of the spatial distribution of site-specific soil fertility on maize grain yields. This paper provides a new method of spatio-temporal data analyses, taking the most important influencing factors on maize yields into account

A pilot, prospective evaluation of a novel alternative for maintenance therapy of breast cancer-associated lymphedema [ISRCTN76522412]

BACKGROUND: Prospective investigations of complete decongestive lymphatic physiotherapy (CDPT), including manual lymphatic drainage (MLD), have validated the efficacy of these interventions for the initial reduction of edema and long-term maintenance of limb volume in lymphedema. However, CDPT demands substantial time and effort from patients to maintain these benefits; the treatments are not always well-accepted, and patients may suffer from a deterioration in quality-of-life or a time-dependent loss of initial treatment benefits. A new device designed for home use by the patient, the Flexitouch™, has been developed to mechanically simulate MLD. We have undertaken a prospective, randomized, crossover study of the efficacy of the Flexitouch™, when compared to massage, in the self-administered maintenance therapy of lymphedema. METHODS: A prospective, randomized, crossover study of maintenance therapy was performed in 10 patients with unilateral breast cancer-associated lymphedema of the arm. Each observation phase included self-administered treatment with the Flexitouch™ or massage, 1 hour daily for 14 days, respectively, followed by crossover to the alternate treatment phase. Each treatment phase was preceded by a 1 week treatment washout, with use of garment only. The sequence of treatment was randomly assigned. The potential impact of treatment modality on quality of life was assessed with serial administration of the SF-36. RESULTS: Statistical analysis disclosed that the order of treatment had no outcome influence, permitting 10 comparisons within each treatment group. Post-treatment arm volume reduced significantly after the Flexitouch™, but not after self-administered massage. The patients' mean weight decreased significantly with Flexitouch™ use, but not with massage. The Flexitouch™ device was apparently well-tolerated and accepted by patients. Serial SF-36 administration showed no deterioration in physical or psychosocial scores compared to baseline measurements; there were no statistical differences in scores when the two treatment modalities were compared. CONCLUSION: This short-term prospective evaluation of the Flexitouch™ suggests that the device may provide better maintenance edema control than self-adiminstered massage in breast cancer-associated lymphedema. The apparent ease of use and reliability of response to the device suggest that further broad-scale testing is warranted

Data from an International Multi-Centre Study of Statistics and Mathematics Anxieties and Related Variables in University Students (the SMARVUS Dataset)

This large, international dataset contains survey responses from N = 12,570 students from 100 universities in 35 countries, collected in 21 languages. We measured anxieties (statistics, mathematics, test, trait, social interaction, performance, creativity, intolerance of uncertainty, and fear of negative evaluation), self-efficacy, persistence, and the cognitive reflection test, and collected demographics, previous mathematics grades, self-reported and official statistics grades, and statistics module details. Data reuse potential is broad, including testing links between anxieties and statistics/mathematics education factors, and examining instruments’ psychometric properties across different languages and contexts. Data and metadata are stored on the Open Science Framework website [https://osf.io/mhg94/]

Data from an International Multi-Centre Study of Statistics and Mathematics Anxieties and Related Variables in University Students (the SMARVUS Dataset)

This large, international dataset contains survey responses from N = 12,570 students from 100 universities in 35 countries, collected in 21 languages. We measured anxieties (statistics, mathematics, test, trait, social interaction, performance, creativity, intolerance of uncertainty, and fear of negative evaluation), self-efficacy, persistence, and the cognitive reflection test, and collected demographics, previous mathematics grades, self-reported and official statistics grades, and statistics module details. Data reuse potential is broad, including testing links between anxieties and statistics/mathematics education factors, and examining instruments’ psychometric properties across different languages and contexts. Data and metadata are stored on the Open Science Framework website (https://osf.io/mhg94/).</p&gt

Data from an International Multi-Centre Study of Statistics and Mathematics Anxieties and Related Variables in University Students (the SMARVUS Dataset)

This large, international dataset contains survey responses from N = 12,570 students from 100 universities in 35 countries, collected in 21 languages. We measured anxieties (statistics, mathematics, test, trait, social interaction, performance, creativity, intolerance of uncertainty, and fear of negative evaluation), self-efficacy, persistence, and the cognitive reflection test, and collected demographics, previous mathematics grades, self-reported and official statistics grades, and statistics module details. Data reuse potential is broad, including testing links between anxieties and statistics/mathematics education factors, and examining instruments’ psychometric properties across different languages and contexts