Forming Clusters from Census Areas with Similar Tabular Statistics

This article presents a methodology for the clustering of a large number of tables of similar form. Data of this kind is often available from National Statistical Offices as tabulations of a set of variables for each of a large number of geographic units. Model-based clustering is employed, the underlying model being a finite mixture of multinomial distributions. We discuss the choice of the number of clusters and the interpretation of the clusters found. As a case study we consider a set of age-group by sex tables for small areas obtained in the New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings for the year 2006

Sex- and season-dependent behaviour in a flightless insect, the Auckland tree weta (Hemideina thoracica)

In a polygynous mating system, males frequently compete by locating and defending sites with resources essential to female survival and reproduction. We investigated seasonal changes in site occupancy in a sexually dimorphic, harem-forming insect, the Auckland tree weta (Hemideina thoracica). First we established artificial cavities as diurnal refuge cavities and potential harem guarding sites. We then examined cavity occupancy changes, and, based on our knowledge of prior occupants, determined sex-specific patterns of arrival, departure, and aggregation at a population level throughout the year. Both season and the sex of prior occupants influenced weta occupancy patterns. Most observations were of single females. However, both males and females moved into cavities previously occupied by a weta of the opposite sex more often than expected by chance alone. Females avoided cavities where other females were present, except during summer when most harems formed. In early summer, male and female tree weta previously living apart began co-habiting. Generally there was little relationship between the number and sex of the weta inside cavities and female departure rates from cavities. Males who were sharing with other males departed cavities more frequently than single males, as might be expected in a polygynous species with male-male combat. Males were less likely to depart if they were sharing a cavity with a harem of more than two females during the summer-autumn period. Analysis of departure rates from artificial cavities indicates males are more mobile than females only in winter and spring. Based on our arrival and departure data, and high occupancy of artificial cavities, we suggest that female weta at this site are mobile and may search for mates during the summer. The data are consistent with a polygynandrous mating system as inferred for other tree weta species (Hemideina spp.)

Correlating tephras and cryptotephras using glass compositional analyses and numerical and statistical methods:Review and evaluation

We define tephras and cryptotephras and their components (mainly ash-sized particles of glass ± crystals in distal deposits) and summarize the basis of tephrochronology as a chronostratigraphic correlational and dating tool for palaeoenvironmental, geological, and archaeological research. We then document and appraise recent advances in analytical methods used to determine the major, minor, and trace elements of individual glass shards from tephra or cryptotephra deposits to aid their correlation and application. Protocols developed recently for the electron probe microanalysis of major elements in individual glass shards help to improve data quality and standardize reporting procedures. A narrow electron beam (diameter ~3-5 μm) can now be used to analyze smaller glass shards than previously attainable. Reliable analyses of ‘microshards’ (defined here as glass shards <32 µm in diameter) using narrow beams are useful for fine-grained samples from distal or ultra-distal geographic locations, and for vesicular or microlite-rich glass shards or small melt inclusions. Caveats apply, however, in the microprobe analysis of very small microshards (<=~5 µm in diameter), where particle geometry becomes important, and of microlite-rich glass shards where the potential problem of secondary fluorescence across phase boundaries needs to be recognised. Trace element analyses of individual glass shards using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), with crater diameters of 20 μm and 10 μm, are now effectively routine, giving detection limits well below 1 ppm. Smaller ablation craters (<10 μm) can be subject to significant element fractionation during analysis, but the systematic relationship of such fractionation with glass composition suggests that analyses for some elements at these resolutions may be quantifiable. In undertaking analyses, either by microprobe or LA-ICP-MS, reference material data acquired using the same procedure, and preferably from the same analytical session, should be presented alongside new analytical data. In part 2 of the review, we describe, critically assess, and recommend ways in which tephras or cryptotephras can be correlated (in conjunction with other information) using numerical or statistical analyses of compositional data. Statistical methods provide a less subjective means of dealing with analytical data pertaining to tephra components (usually glass or crystals/phenocrysts) than heuristic alternatives. They enable a better understanding of relationships among the data from multiple viewpoints to be developed and help quantify the degree of uncertainty in establishing correlations. In common with other scientific hypothesis testing, it is easier to infer using such analysis that two or more tephras are different rather than the same. Adding stratigraphic, chronological, spatial, or palaeoenvironmental data (i.e. multiple criteria) is usually necessary and allows for more robust correlations to be made. A two-stage approach is useful, the first focussed on differences in the mean composition of samples, or their range, which can be visualised graphically via scatterplot matrices or bivariate plots coupled with the use of statistical tools such as distance measures, similarity coefficients, hierarchical cluster analysis (informed by distance measures or similarity or cophenetic coefficients), and principal components analysis (PCA). Some statistical methods (cluster analysis, discriminant analysis) are referred to as ‘machine learning’ in the computing literature. The second stage examines sample variance and the degree of compositional similarity so that sample equivalence or otherwise can be established on a statistical basis. This stage may involve discriminant function analysis (DFA), support vector machines (SVMs), canonical variates analysis (CVA), and ANOVA or MANOVA (or its two-sample special case, the Hotelling two-sample T² test). Randomization tests can be used where distributional assumptions such as multivariate normality underlying parametric tests are doubtful. Compositional data may be transformed and scaled before being subjected to multivariate statistical procedures including calculation of distance matrices, hierarchical cluster analysis, and PCA. Such transformations may make the assumption of multivariate normality more appropriate. A sequential procedure using Mahalanobis distance and the Hotelling two-sample T² test is illustrated using glass major element data from trachytic to phonolitic Kenyan tephras. All these methods require a broad range of high-quality compositional data which can be used to compare ‘unknowns’ with reference (training) sets that are sufficiently complete to account for all possible correlatives, including tephras with heterogeneous glasses that contain multiple compositional groups. Currently, incomplete databases are tending to limit correlation efficacy. The development of an open, online global database to facilitate progress towards integrated, high-quality tephrostratigraphic frameworks for different regions is encouraged

Putative ammonia-oxidizing Crenarchaeota in suboxic waters of the Black Sea : a basin-wide ecological study using 16S ribosomal and functional genes and membrane lipids

Author Posting. © Blackwell, 2007. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Blackwell for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Environmental Microbiology 9 (2007): 1001-1016, doi:10.1111/j.1462-2920.2006.01227.x.Within the upper 400 m at western, central, and eastern stations in the world’s largest stratified basin, the Black Sea, we studied the qualitative and quantitative distribution of putative nitrifying Archaea based on their genetic markers (16S rDNA, amoA encoding for the alfa-subunit of archaeal ammonia monooxygenase), and crenarchaeol, the specific glycerol diphytanyl glycerol tetraether (GDGT) of pelagic Crenarchaeota within the Group I.1a. Marine Crenarchaeota were the most abundant Archaea (up to 98% of the total archaeal 16S rDNA copies) in the suboxic layers with oxygen levels as low as 1 μM including layers where previously anammox bacteria were described (Kuypers et al., 2003). Different marine crenarchaeotal phylotypes (both 16S rDNA and amoA) were found at the upper part of the suboxic zone as compared to the base of the suboxic zone and the upper 15-30 m of the anoxic waters with prevailing sulfide concentrations of up to 30 μM. Crenarchaeol concentrations were higher in the sulfidic chemocline as compared to the suboxic zone. These results indicate an abundance of putative nitrifying Archaea at very low oxygen levels within the Black Sea and might form an important source of nitrite for the anammox reaction.This work was supported by a grant from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (VENI Innovational Research Grant nr. 813.13.001 to MJLC), an U. S. National Science Foundation grant OCE0117824 to SGW and the Spinoza award to JSSD, which we greatly acknowledge

A pilot study of atomoxetine in young children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness and tolerability of atomoxetine during acute treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in 5 and 6 year olds. METHOD: Twenty two children (male n = 19, 86%) with ADHD were treated with atomoxetine for 8 weeks in a three-site, open-label pilot study. Dosing was flexible, with titration to a maximum of 1.8 mg/kg per day. Parent education on behavior management was provided as part of each pharmacotherapy visit. RESULTS: Subjects demonstrated a mean decrease of 20.68 points (SD = 12.80, p \u3c 0.001)) on the ADHD Rating Scale-IV (ADHD-IV-RS) total score, 10.18 (SD = 7.48, p \u3c 0.001) on the inattentive subscale and 10.50 (SD = 7.04, p \u3c 0.001) on the hyperactive/impulsive subscale. Clinical Global Impression-Severity (CGI-S) was improved in 82% of the children (95% CI, 66-98%) and Children\u27s Global Assessment (CGAS) scores improved 18.91 points on average (SD = 12.20, p \u3c 0.001). The mean final dose of atomoxetine was 1.25 mg/kg per day (SD = 0.35 mg/kg per day). Mood lability was the most commonly reported adverse event (n = 12, 54.5%). Eleven subjects (50%) reported decreased appetite and a mean weight loss of 1.04 kg (SD = 0.80 kg) (p \u3c 0.001) was observed for the group. Vital sign changes were mild and not clinically significant. There were no discontinuations due to adverse events or lack of efficacy. CONCLUSION: Atomoxetine was generally effective for reducing core ADHD symptoms in the 5 and 6 year olds in this open-label study

High Pt Hadron Spectra at High Rapidity

We report the measurement of charged hadron production at different pseudo-rapidity values in deuteron+gold as well as proton+proton collisions at $sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200GeV at RHIC. The nuclear modification factors $R_{dAu}$ and $R_{cp}$ are used to investigate new behaviors in the deuteron+gold system as function of rapidity and the centrality of the collisions respectively.Comment: Nine pages 4 figures to be published in the QM2004 Proceedings, typos corrected and one reference adde

Scanning the phases of QCD with BRAHMS

BRAHMS has the ability to study relativistic heavy ion collisions from the final freeze-out of hadrons all the way back to the initial wave-function of the gold nuclei. This is accomplished by studying hadrons with a very wide range of momenta and angles. In doing so we can scan various phases of QCD, from a hadron gas, to a quark gluon plasma and perhaps to a color glass condensate.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, proceedings of plenary talk at Quark Matter 2004 conferenc

Tolerability and safety of novel half milliliter formulation of glatiramer acetate for subcutaneous injection: an open-label, multicenter, randomized comparative study

Daily glatiramer acetate (GA) 20 mg/1.0 mL is a first-line treatment for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). To reduce the occurrence of injection pain and local injection site reactions (LISRs), a reduced volume formulation of GA was developed. This study compared pain and LISRs after injecting the marketed and the novel formulations. RRMS patients currently injecting GA participated in this multicenter, randomized, crossover comparative study. All patients administered once-daily subcutaneous injections of GA 20 mg/1.0 mL (marketed formulation) or GA 20 mg/0.5 mL (reduced volume formulation) for 14 days. Patients were crossed-over to the alternate treatment for an additional 14 days. Using a Visual Analog Scale (VAS), patients recorded in daily diaries the severity of injection pain immediately and 5 min post-injection, and the presence and severity of LISRs (swelling, redness, itching, lump) within 5 min and 24 h post-injection. VAS pain scores were ranked significantly lower immediately and 5 min after GA 20 mg/0.5 mL injections (p < 0.0001). Although LISRs were rare for both preparations, the severity of reactions ranked significantly lower and fewer symptoms occurred within 5 min and 24 h of using the reduced volume formulation (p < 0.0001). GA injected subcutaneously in a reduced volume formulation is a more tolerable option

On equal temperament

In this article, I use Stengers’ (2010) concepts of ‘factish’, ‘requirements’ and ‘obligations’, as well as Latour’s (1993) critique of modernity, to interrogate the rise of Equal Temperament as the dominant system of tuning for western music. I argue that Equal Temperament is founded on an unacknowledged compromise which undermines its claims to rationality and universality. This compromise rests on the standardization which is the hallmark of the tuning system of Equal Temperament, and, in this way, it is emblematic of Latour’s definition of modernity. I further argue that the problem of the tuning of musical instruments is one which epitomizes the modern distinction between the natural and the social. In turn, this bears witness to what Whitehead calls the ‘bifurcation of nature’. Throughout this article, using the work of Stengers and Latour, I seek to use tuning as a case study which allows social research to talk both of the natural and of the social aspects of music and tuning, without recourse to essentialism or simple social construction. In this way, my argument seeks to avoid bifurcating nature

Supermassive Black Holes in Galactic Nuclei: Past, Present and Future Research

This review discusses the current status of supermassive black hole research, as seen from a purely observational standpoint. Since the early '90s, rapid technological advances, most notably the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the commissioning of the VLBA and improvements in near-infrared speckle imaging techniques, have not only given us incontrovertible proof of the existence of supermassive black holes, but have unveiled fundamental connections between the mass of the central singularity and the global properties of the host galaxy. It is thanks to these observations that we are now, for the first time, in a position to understand the origin, evolution and cosmic relevance of these fascinating objects.Comment: Invited Review, 114 pages. Because of space requirements, this version contains low resolution figures. The full resolution version can be downloaded from http://www.physics.rutgers.edu/~lff/publications.htm