Spherical Functions Associated With the Three Dimensional Sphere

In this paper, we determine all irreducible spherical functions \Phi of any K -type associated to the pair (G,K)=(\SO(4),\SO(3)). This is accomplished by associating to \Phi a vector valued function H=H(u) of a real variable u, which is analytic at u=0 and whose components are solutions of two coupled systems of ordinary differential equations. By an appropriate conjugation involving Hahn polynomials we uncouple one of the systems. Then this is taken to an uncoupled system of hypergeometric equations, leading to a vector valued solution P=P(u) whose entries are Gegenbauer's polynomials. Afterward, we identify those simultaneous solutions and use the representation theory of \SO(4) to characterize all irreducible spherical functions. The functions P=P(u) corresponding to the irreducible spherical functions of a fixed K-type \pi_\ell are appropriately packaged into a sequence of matrix valued polynomials (P_w)_{w\ge0} of size (\ell+1)\times(\ell+1). Finally we proved that \widetilde P_w={P_0}^{-1}P_w is a sequence of matrix orthogonal polynomials with respect to a weight matrix W. Moreover we showed that W admits a second order symmetric hypergeometric operator \widetilde D and a first order symmetric differential operator \widetilde E.Comment: 49 pages, 2 figure

Caza comercial en los bosques de Monte Mitra, Guinea Ecuatorial: alcance e impacto

Understanding the exploitation of bushmeat by commercial hunters is fundamental to resolving hunting sustainability issues in African rainforests. The objective of this study was to examine the impact of hunters operating from the village of Sendje in the Monte Mitra region, Republic of Equatorial Guinea. Offtake patterns of 42 hunters were studied over a period of 16 months. A total of 3,053 animals of 58 species were hunted during 1,914 hunting days. This represented around 11,376 kg of bushmeat or 2,219 animals extracted per annum. Most captures were mammals (43 species, 79%), constituting 90% of the biomass hunted, of these 30% were ungulates and 27% were rodents. Hunters used 17 hunt camps within the 1,010 km2 total study area. Hunting activity fell from the start to the end of the study, with fewer hunting days, biomass and captures being recorded per month. Captures fell from 700 animals in the first month to less than 100 during the last month. Per hunter, returns diminished from 21 in the first month to around 13 animals from the third month. Average body mass of prey also declined throughout the study period. The principal hunting method was cable snaring —over 100 million snare nights were estimated. An average hunter extracted around 50 animals or 271 kg of bushmeat per annum. Hunter and camp differences were significant. Most carcasses were sold for the city market or to villagers, and the proportion of carcasses sold to market was positively correlated with the species body mass. Capture rates and vulnerability were dependent on prey size since medium–sized animals were more vulnerable to be caught than small or large–bodied animals. Harvest sustainability was calculated for 14 mammals and it was seen that the situation was unsustainably for 5 species due to the extent and impact of hunting. The bay duiker (Cephalophus dorsalis) was by far the most heavily exploited species. Conservation of the Monte Mitra region is impossible unless the hunting for profit issue is resolved in Sendje and adjoining villages.Entender la explotación de la carne de selva por parte de cazadores comerciales es fundamental para resolver las cuestiones de sostenibilidad referentes a la caza en los bosques húmedos de África. El objetivo de este estudio fue examinar el impacto de la actividad de los cazadores de la aldea de Sendje, en la región del Monte Mitra, República de Guinea Ecuatorial. Se estudiaron los patrones de caza de 42 cazadores durante un periodo de 16 meses. Se cazaron un total de 3.053 animales de 58 especies en 1.914 jornadas de caza, lo que representa aproximadamente 11.376 kg de carne de selva o 2.219 animales extraídos por año. La mayoría de capturas fueron mamíferos (43 especies, 79%), que constituyeron el 90% de la biomasa cazada, y entre ellos un 30% de ungulados y un 27% de roedores. Los cazadores utilizaron 17 campos de caza dentro de un área de estudio con una extensión total de 1.010 m2. La actividad de caza fue disminuyendo desde el inicio del estudio hasta al final del mismo, con menos días de caza, biomasa y capturas registradas por mes. Las capturas disminuyeron desde 700 animales durante el primer mes a menos de 100 en el último. Por cazador, el rendimiento diminuyó de 21 animales en el primer mes a 13 en el tercero. La media de masa corporal de las presas también disminuyó a lo largo del periodo de estudio. El método de caza más utilizado fue el cepo (se estimó la existencia de alrededor de 100 millones de cepos noche). En promedio, cada cazador extrajo alrededor de 50 animales o 271 kg de carne de selva por año. Las diferencias entre campos de caza y cazadores fueron significativas. La mayoría de piezas fueron vendidas al mercado de la ciudad o a los aldeanos, y la proporción de piezas vendidas al mercado estuvo correlacionada positivamente con la masa corporal de las mismas. Los índices de captura y vulnerabilidad dependieron del tamaño de las presas ya que los animales de tamaño medio resultaron más vulnerables que los pequeños o grandes. Se calculó la sostenibilidad de la caza para 14 mamíferos en los bosques de Monte Mitra, Guinea Ecuatorial, resultando insostenible para cinco especies por su extensión e impacto. Cephalophus dorsalis fue la especie explotada con mayor intensidad. La conservación de la región del monte Mitra es imposible a no ser que el problema de la caza de carne de selva para su comercialización se resuelva en Sendje y pueblos vecinos

Patient reactions to a web-based cardiovascular risk calculator in type 2 diabetes: a qualitative study in primary care.

Use of risk calculators for specific diseases is increasing, with an underlying assumption that they promote risk reduction as users become better informed and motivated to take preventive action. Empirical data to support this are, however, sparse and contradictory

Comparison of System Call Representations for Intrusion Detection

Over the years, artificial neural networks have been applied successfully in many areas including IT security. Yet, neural networks can only process continuous input data. This is particularly challenging for security-related non-continuous data like system calls. This work focuses on four different options to preprocess sequences of system calls so that they can be processed by neural networks. These input options are based on one-hot encoding and learning word2vec or GloVe representations of system calls. As an additional option, we analyze if the mapping of system calls to their respective kernel modules is an adequate generalization step for (a) replacing system calls or (b) enhancing system call data with additional information regarding their context. However, when performing such preprocessing steps it is important to ensure that no relevant information is lost during the process. The overall objective of system call based intrusion detection is to categorize sequences of system calls as benign or malicious behavior. Therefore, this scenario is used to evaluate the different input options as a classification task. The results show, that each of the four different methods is a valid option when preprocessing input data, but the use of kernel modules only is not recommended because too much information is being lost during the mapping process.Comment: 12 pages, 1 figure, submitted to CISIS 201

A microbial carbonate response in synchrony with the end-Triassic mass extinction across the SW UK

The eruption of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP)—the largest igneous province known—has been linked to the end-Triassic mass extinction event, however reconciling the response of the biosphere (at local and nonlocal scales) to potential CAMP-induced geochemical excursions has remained challenging. Here we present a combined sedimentary and biological response to an ecosystem collapse in Triassic-Jurassic strata of the southwest United Kingdom (SW UK) expressed as widely distributed carbonate microbialites and associated biogeochemical facies. The microbialites (1) occur at the same stratigraphic level as the mass extinction extinction, (2) host a negative isotope excursion in δ(13)C(org) found in other successions around the world, and (3) co-occur with an acme of prasinophyte algae ‘disaster taxa’ also dominant in Triassic-Jurassic boundary strata of other European sections. Although the duration of microbialite deposition is uncertain, it is likely that they formed rapidly (perhaps fewer than ten thousand years), thus providing a high-resolution glimpse into the initial carbon isotopic perturbation coincident with the end-Triassic mass extinction. These findings indicate microbialites from the SW UK capture a nonlocal biosedimentary response to the cascading effects of massive volcanism and add to the current understanding of paleoecology in the aftermath of the end-Triassic extinction

Effects of the polyunsaturated fatty acids, EPA and DHA, on hematological malignancies: a systematic review

Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have well established anti-cancer properties. Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are among this biologically active family of macromolecules for which various anti-cancer effects have been explained. These PUFAs have a high safety profile and can induce apoptosis and inhibit growth of cancer cells bothin vitroandin vivo, following a partially selective manner. They also increase the efficacy of chemotherapeutic agents by increasing the sensitivity of different cell lines to specific anti-neoplastic drugs. Various mechanisms have been proposed for the anti-cancer effects of these omega-3 PUFAs; however, the exact mechanisms still remain unknown. While numerous studies have investigated the effects of DHA and EPA on solid tumors and the responsible mechanisms, there is no consensus regarding the effects and mechanisms of action of these two FAs in hematological malignancies. Here, we performed a systematic review of the beneficial effects of EPA and DHA on hematological cell lines as well as the findings of relatedin vivostudies and clinical trials. We summarize the key underlying mechanisms and the therapeutic potential of these PUFAs in the treatment of hematological cancers. Differential expression of apoptosis-regulating genes and Glutathione peroxidase 4 (Gp-x4), varying abilities of different cancerous and healthy cells to metabolize EPA into its more active metabolites and to uptake PUFAS are among the major factors that determine the sensitivity of cells to DHA and EPA. Considering the abundance of data on the safety of these FAs and their proven anti-cancer effects in hematological cell lines and the lack of related human studies, further research is warranted to find ways of exploiting the anticancer effects of DHA and EPA in clinical settings both in isolation and in combination with other therapeutic regimens

Garside and quadratic normalisation: a survey

Starting from the seminal example of the greedy normal norm in braid monoids, we analyse the mechanism of the normal form in a Garside monoid and explain how it extends to the more general framework of Garside families. Extending the viewpoint even more, we then consider general quadratic normalisation procedures and characterise Garside normalisation among them.Comment: 30 page

EIT and diffusion of atomic coherence

We study experimentally the effect of diffusion of Rb atoms on Electromagnetically Induced Transparency (EIT) in a buffer gas vapor cell. In particular, we find that diffusion of atomic coherence in-and-out of the laser beam plays a crucial role in determining the EIT resonance lineshape and the stored light lifetime.Comment: 5 pages, 8 figure

Reduction of the size of datasets by using evolutionary feature selection: the case of noise in a modern city

Smart city initiatives have emerged to mitigate the negative effects of a very fast growth of urban areas. Most of the population in our cities are exposed to high levels of noise that generate discomfort and different health problems. These issues may be mitigated by applying different smart cities solutions, some of them require high accurate noise information to provide the best quality of serve possible. In this study, we have designed a machine learning approach based on genetic algorithms to analyze noise data captured in the university campus. This method reduces the amount of data required to classify the noise by addressing a feature selection optimization problem. The experimental results have shown that our approach improved the accuracy in 20% (achieving an accuracy of 87% with a reduction of up to 85% on the original dataset).Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. This research has been partially funded by the Spanish MINECO and FEDER projects TIN2016-81766-REDT (http://cirti.es), and TIN2017-88213-R (http://6city.lcc.uma.es)