Spatiotemporal correlations of handset-based service usages

We study spatiotemporal correlations and temporal diversities of handset-based service usages by analyzing a dataset that includes detailed information about locations and service usages of 124 users over 16 months. By constructing the spatiotemporal trajectories of the users we detect several meaningful places or contexts for each one of them and show how the context affects the service usage patterns. We find that temporal patterns of service usages are bound to the typical weekly cycles of humans, yet they show maximal activities at different times. We first discuss their temporal correlations and then investigate the time-ordering behavior of communication services like calls being followed by the non-communication services like applications. We also find that the behavioral overlap network based on the clustering of temporal patterns is comparable to the communication network of users. Our approach provides a useful framework for handset-based data analysis and helps us to understand the complexities of information and communications technology enabled human behavior.Comment: 11 pages, 15 figure

Asian “Guan” Parenting and Life Satisfaction Among Adolescents in Malaysia: The Mediating Role of Filial Piety

Literature on adolescent development has shown that parenting practices have positive relationships with adolescents’ life satisfaction. Adolescents’ life satisfaction improves when they have parents low in psychological control who uphold reciprocal self-disclosure in their communication. Guan parenting was found to correlate positively with adolescents’ development. Therefore, it is methodologically important to replicate the investigation on the relationship between adolescents’ life satisfaction and Guan parenting. Literature suggests that filial piety is shaped by parenting practices and adolescents who perceived intense parental concern, care, and involvement tend to uphold filial piety and express gratitude toward parents which may promote the adolescents’ life satisfaction. In this study, mediation analysis was done to elucidate the relationship among parents’ guan parenting style, filial piety, and life satisfaction on 606 adolescents (Mage=15.07; SDage=1.03; 52.1% females) in Malaysia. The adolescents were sampled through cluster sampling, and data were collected using self-administered questionnaires. The results showed positive relationship between paternal and maternal guan parenting with filial piety and adolescents’ life satisfaction. Greater parents’ filial piety was linked to higher life satisfaction among adolescents. Findings from the mediation models indicated the association among guan parenting with filial piety, gratitude toward parents, and higher life satisfaction. The findings also offered empirical evidence to the underlying mechanism of how guan parenting could affect adolescent life satisfaction via the mediating role of filial piety. The findings also supported the importance of culture-infused parenting in inculcating adolescents’ filial piety besides establishing its link to life satisfaction in Asian families

3-D Ultrastructure of O. tauri: Electron Cryotomography of an Entire Eukaryotic Cell

The hallmark of eukaryotic cells is their segregation of key biological functions into discrete, membrane-bound organelles. Creating accurate models of their ultrastructural complexity has been difficult in part because of the limited resolution of light microscopy and the artifact-prone nature of conventional electron microscopy. Here we explored the potential of the emerging technology electron cryotomography to produce three-dimensional images of an entire eukaryotic cell in a near-native state. Ostreococcus tauri was chosen as the specimen because as a unicellular picoplankton with just one copy of each organelle, it is the smallest known eukaryote and was therefore likely to yield the highest resolution images. Whole cells were imaged at various stages of the cell cycle, yielding 3-D reconstructions of complete chloroplasts, mitochondria, endoplasmic reticula, Golgi bodies, peroxisomes, microtubules, and putative ribosome distributions in-situ. Surprisingly, the nucleus was seen to open long before mitosis, and while one microtubule (or two in some predivisional cells) was consistently present, no mitotic spindle was ever observed, prompting speculation that a single microtubule might be sufficient to segregate multiple chromosomes

Algorithms for Hierarchical Clustering: An Overview, II

We survey agglomerative hierarchical clustering algorithms and discuss efficient implementations that are available in R and other software environments. We look at hierarchical self-organizing maps, and mixture models. We review grid-based clustering, focusing on hierarchical density-based approaches. Finally we describe a recently developed very efficient (linear time) hierarchical clustering algorithm, which can also be viewed as a hierarchical grid-based algorithm. This review adds to the earlier version, Murtagh and Contreras (2012)

Geometry and kinematics for a spherical-base integrated parallel mechanism

Parallel mechanisms, in general, have a rigid base and a moving platform connected by several limbs. For achieving higher mobility and dexterity, more degrees of freedom are introduced to the limbs. However, very few researchers focus on changing the design of the rigid base and making it foldable and reconfigurable to improve the performance of the mechanism. Inspired by manipulating an object with a metamorphic robotic hand, this paper presents for the first time a parallel mechanism with a reconfigurable base. This novel spherical-base integrated parallel mechanism has an enlarged workspace compared with traditional parallel manipulators. Evolution and structure of the proposed parallel mechanism is introduced and the geometric constraint of the mechanism is investigated based on mechanism decomposition. Further, kinematics of the proposed mechanism is reduced to the solution of a univariate polynomial of degree 8. Moreover, screw theory based Jacobian is presented followed by the velocity analysis of the mechanism

Mitochondria function associated genes contribute to Parkinson’s Disease risk and later age at onset

Mitochondrial dysfunction has been implicated in the etiology of monogenic Parkinson’s disease (PD). Yet the role that mitochondrial processes play in the most common form of the disease; sporadic PD, is yet to be fully established. Here, we comprehensively assessed the role of mitochondrial function-associated genes in sporadic PD by leveraging improvements in the scale and analysis of PD GWAS data with recent advances in our understanding of the genetics of mitochondrial disease. We calculated a mitochondrial-specific polygenic risk score (PRS) and showed that cumulative small effect variants within both our primary and secondary gene lists are significantly associated with increased PD risk. We further reported that the PRS of the secondary mitochondrial gene list was significantly associated with later age at onset. Finally, to identify possible functional genomic associations we implemented Mendelian randomization, which showed that 14 of these mitochondrial function-associated genes showed functional consequence associated with PD risk. Further analysis suggested that the 14 identified genes are not only involved in mitophagy, but implicate new mitochondrial processes. Our data suggests that therapeutics targeting mitochondrial bioenergetics and proteostasis pathways distinct from mitophagy could be beneficial to treating the early stage of P

Use of the SAW sensor electronic nose for detecting the adulteration of virgin coconut oil with RBD palm kernel olein.

An electronic nose (zNose™) was applied to the detection of adulteration of virgin coconut oil. The system, which is based on a surface acoustic wave sensor was used to generate a pattern of volatile compounds present in the samples. Virgin coconut oil was mixed with refined, bleached and deodorized palm kernel olein at a level of adulteration from 1 to 20% (wt/wt). Adulterant peaks were identified from the chromatogram profile and fitted to a curve using linear regression. The best relationship (R 2 = 0.91) was obtained between the peak tentatively identified as methyl dodecanoate and the percentage of palm kernel olein added. Pearson’s correlation coefficients (r) of 0.92 and 0.89 were obtained between adulterant peak methyl dodecanoate and of the iodine and peroxide values, respectively. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to differentiate between pure and adulterated samples. The PCA provided good differentiation of samples with 74% of the variation accounted for by PC 1 and 17% accounted for by PC 2. Pure samples formed a separate cluster from all of the adulterated samples

Measurement of Exclusive B Decays to Final States Containing a Charmed Baryon

Using data collected by the CLEO detector in the Upsilon(4S) region, we report new measurements of the exclusive decays of B mesons into final states of the type Lambda_c^+ p-bar n(pi), where n=0,1,2,3. We find signals in modes with one, two and three pions and an upper limit for the two body decay Lambda_c^+ pbar. We also make the first measurements of exclusive decays of B mesons to Sigma_c p-bar n(pi), where n=0,1,2. We find signals in modes with one and two pions and an upper limit for the two body decay Sigma_c p-bar. Measurements of these modes shed light on the mechanisms involved in B decays to baryons.Comment: 11 pages postscript, also available through http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLNS, submitted to PR

Search for the Θ+\Theta^+ pentaquark in the reaction γd→pK−K+n\gamma d \to p K^- K^+ n

A search for the \thp in the reaction $\gamma d \to pK^-K^+n$ was completed using the CLAS detector at Jefferson Lab. A study of the same reaction, published earlier, reported the observation of a narrow \thp resonance. The present experiment, with more than 30 times the integrated luminosity of our earlier measurement, does not show any evidence for a narrow pentaquark resonance. The angle-integrated upper limit on \thp production in the mass range of 1.52 to 1.56 GeV/c$^2$ for the $\gamma d \to pK^-\Theta^+$ reaction is 0.3 nb (95% CL). This upper limit depends on assumptions made for the mass and angular distribution of \thp production. Using \lamstar production as an empirical measure of rescattering in the deuteron, the cross section upper limit for the elementary $\gamma n \to K^-\Theta^+$ reaction is estimated to be a factor of 10 higher, {\it i.e.}, $\sim 3$ nb (95% CL).Comment: 5 figures, submitted to PRL, revised for referee comment

Measurement of the Masses and Widths of the Sigma_c^++ and Sigma_c^0 Charmed Baryons

Using data recorded by the CLEO II and CLEO II.V detector configurations at CESR, we report new measurements of the masses of the Sigma_c^{++} and Sigma_c^0 charmed baryons, and the first measurements of their intrinsic widths. We find M(Sigma_c^{++}) - M(Lambda_c^+) = 167.4 +- 0.1 +- 0.2 MeV, Gamma(Sigma_c^{++}) = 2.3 +- 0.2 +- 0.3 MeV, and M(Sigma_c^0) - M(Lambda_c^+) = 167.2 +- 0.1 +- 0.2 MeV, Gamma(Sigma_c^0) = 2.5 +- 0.2 +- 0.3 MeV, where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively.Comment: 9 pages postscript, also available through http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLNS, submitted to PRD, Rapid Communications. Reference [13] correcte