Effect of nonlinear filters on detrended fluctuation analysis

We investigate how various linear and nonlinear transformations affect the scaling properties of a signal, using the detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA). Specifically, we study the effect of three types of transforms: linear, nonlinear polynomial and logarithmic filters. We compare the scaling properties of signals before and after the transform. We find that linear filters do not change the correlation properties, while the effect of nonlinear polynomial and logarithmic filters strongly depends on (a) the strength of correlations in the original signal, (b) the power of the polynomial filter and (c) the offset in the logarithmic filter. We further investigate the correlation properties of three analytic functions: exponential, logarithmic, and power-law. While these three functions have in general different correlation properties, we find that there is a broad range of variable values, common for all three functions, where they exhibit identical scaling behavior. We further note that the scaling behavior of a class of other functions can be reduced to these three typical cases. We systematically test the performance of the DFA method in accurately estimating long-range power-law correlations in the output signals for different parameter values in the three types of filters, and the three analytic functions we consider.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure

Molecular diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in onion roots from organic and conventional farming systems in the Netherlands

Diversity and colonization levels of naturally occurring arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in onion roots were studied to compare organic and conventional farming systems in the Netherlands. In 2004, 20 onion fields were sampled in a balanced survey between farming systems and between two regions, namely, Zeeland and Flevoland. In 2005, nine conventional and ten organic fields were additionally surveyed in Flevoland. AMF phylotypes were identified by rDNA sequencing. All plants were colonized, with 60% for arbuscular colonization and 84% for hyphal colonization as grand means. In Zeeland, onion roots from organic fields had higher fractional colonization levels than those from conventional fields. Onion yields in conventional farming were positively correlated with colonization level. Overall, 14 AMF phylotypes were identified. The number of phylotypes per field ranged from one to six. Two phylotypes associated with the Glomus mosseae-coronatum and the G. caledonium-geosporum species complexes were the most abundant, whereas other phylotypes were infrequently found. Organic and conventional farming systems had similar number of phylotypes per field and Shannon diversity indices. A few organic and conventional fields had larger number of phylotypes, including phylotypes associated with the genera Glomus-B, Archaeospora, and Paraglomus. This suggests that farming systems as such did not influence AMF diversity, but rather specific environmental conditions or agricultural practice

Testing the diffusion hypothesis as a mechanism of self-healing in Disperse orange 11 doped in PMMA

In this work, we show that reversible photodegradation of Disperse Orange 11 doped in PMMA is not due to dye diffusion - a common phenomenon observed in many dye-doped polymers. The change in linear absorbance due to photodegradation of the material shows an isobestic point, which is consistent with the formation of a quasi-stable damaged species. Spatially-resolved amplified spontaneous emission and fluorescence, both related to the population density, are measured by scanning the pump beam over a burn mark. A numerical model of the time evolution of the population density due to diffusion is inconsistent with the experimental data suggesting that diffusion is not responsible.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figure

Optical response of supported gold nanodisks

It is shown that the ellipsometric spectra of short range ordered planar arrays of gold nanodisks supported on glass substrates can be described by modeling the nanostructured arrays as uniaxial homogeneous layers with dielectric functions of the Lorentz type. However, appreciable deviations from experimental data are observed in calculated spectra of irradiance measurements. A qualitative and quantitative description of all measured spectra is obtained with a uniaxial effective medium dielectric function in which the nanodisks are modeled as oblate spheroids. Dynamic depolarization factors in the long-wavelength approximation and interaction with the substrate are considered. Similar results are obtained calculating the optical spectra using the island-film theory. Nevertheless, a small in-plane anisotropy and quadrupolar coupling effects reveal a very complex optical response of the nanostructured arrays

Tn5AraOut mutagenesis for the identification of Yersinia pestis genes involved in resistance towards cationic antimicrobial peptides

Bacterial pathogens display a variety of protection mechanisms against the inhibitory and lethal effects of host cationic antimicrobial peptides (CAMPs). To identify Yersinia pestis genes involved in CAMP resistance, libraries of DSY101 (KIM6 caf1 pla psa) minitransposon Tn5AraOut mutants were selected at 37°C for resistance to the model CAMPs polymyxin B or protamine. This approach targeted genes that needed to be repressed (null mutations) or induced (upstream P(BAD) insertions) for the detection of CAMP resistance, and predictably for improved pathogen fitness in mammalian hosts. Ten mutants demonstrated increased resistance to polymyxin B or protamine, with the mapped mutations pointing towards genes suspected to participate in modifying membrane components, genes encoding transport proteins or enzymes, or the regulator of a ferrous iron uptake system (feoC). Not all the mutants were resistant to both CAMPs used for selection. None of the polymyxin B- and only some protamine-resistant mutants, including the feoC mutant, showed increased resistance to rat bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (rBALF) known to contain cathelicidin and β-defensin 1. Thus, findings on bacterial resistance to polymyxin B or protamine don't always apply to CAMPs of the mammalian innate immune system, such as the ones in rBALF.Fil: Guo, Jitao. Peking University Health Science Center. Department of Microbiology; ChinaFil: Nair, Manoj K. M.. University of Pennsylvania. School of Veterinary Medicine; Estados UnidosFil: Galvan, Estela Maria. Fundación Instituto Leloir; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquimicas de Buenos Aires; Argentina. University of Pennsylvania; Estados UnidosFil: Liu, Shu Lin. Peking University Health Science Center. Department of Microbiology; ChinaFil: Schifferli, Dieter M.. University of Pennsylvania. School of Veterinary Medicine; Estados Unido

Evaluating patient engagement with a digital intervention for adolescent and young adult (AYA) stem cell transplant survivors

https://openworks.mdanderson.org/sumexp22/1109/thumbnail.jp

Beta-delayed-neutron studies of 135,136^{135,136}Sb and 140^{140}I performed with trapped ions

Beta-delayed-neutron ($\beta$n) spectroscopy was performed using the Beta-decay Paul Trap and an array of radiation detectors. The $\beta$n branching ratios and energy spectra for $^{135,136}$Sb and $^{140}$I were obtained by measuring the time of flight of recoil ions emerging from the trapped ion cloud. These nuclei are located at the edge of an isotopic region identified as having $\beta$n branching ratios that impact the r-process abundance pattern around the A~130 peak. For $^{135,136}$Sb and $^{140}$I, $\beta$n branching ratios of 14.6(11)%, 17.6(28)%, and 7.6(28)% were determined, respectively. The $\beta$n energy spectra obtained for $^{135}$Sb and $^{140}$I are compared with results from direct neutron measurements, and the $\beta$n energy spectrum for $^{136}$Sb has been measured for the first time

Bayesian Blocks, A New Method to Analyze Structure in Photon Counting Data

I describe a new time-domain algorithm for detecting localized structures (bursts), revealing pulse shapes, and generally characterizing intensity variations. The input is raw counting data, in any of three forms: time-tagged photon events (TTE), binned counts, or time-to-spill (TTS) data. The output is the most likely segmentation of the observation into time intervals during which the photon arrival rate is perceptibly constant -- i.e. has a fixed intensity without statistically significant variations. Since the analysis is based on Bayesian statistics, I call the resulting structures Bayesian Blocks. Unlike most, this method does not stipulate time bins -- instead the data themselves determine a piecewise constant representation. Therefore the analysis procedure itself does not impose a lower limit to the time scale on which variability can be detected. Locations, amplitudes, and rise and decay times of pulses within a time series can be estimated, independent of any pulse-shape model -- but only if they do not overlap too much, as deconvolution is not incorporated. The Bayesian Blocks method is demonstrated by analyzing pulse structure in BATSE $\gamma$-ray data. The MatLab scripts and sample data can be found on the WWW at: http://george.arc.nasa.gov/~scargle/papers.htmlComment: 42 pages, 2 figures; revision correcting mathematical errors; clarifications; removed Cyg X-1 sectio

The Effect of Noisy Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation on Learning of Functional Mobility and Manual Control Nulling Sensorimotor Tasks

Galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) is a non-invasive method of electrically stimulating the vestibular system. We investigated whether the application of GVS can alter the learning of new functional mobility and manual control tasks and whether learning can be retained following GVS application. In a between-subjects experiment design, 36 healthy subjects performed repeated trials, capturing the learning of either (a) a functional mobility task, navigating an obstacle course on a compliant surface with degraded visual cues or (b) a manual control task, using a joystick to null self-roll tilt against a pseudo-random disturbance while seated in the dark. In the &ldquo;learning&rdquo; phase of trials, bilateral, bipolar GVS was applied continuously. The GVS waveform also differed between subjects in each task group: (1) white noisy galvanic vestibular stimulation (nGVS) at 0.3 mA (2) high-level random GVS at 0.7 mA (selected from pilot testing as destabilizing, but not painful), or (3) with the absence of stimulation (i.e., sham). Following the &ldquo;learning&rdquo; trials, all subjects were blindly transitioned to sham GVS, upon which they immediately completed another series of trials to assess any aftereffects. In the functional mobility task, we found nGVS significantly improved task learning (p = 0.03, mean learning metric 171% more than the sham group). Further, improvements in learning the functional mobility task with nGVS were retained, even once the GVS application was stopped. The benefits in learning with nGVS were not observed in the manual control task. High level GVS tended to inhibit learning in both tasks, but not significantly so. Even once the high-level stimulation was stopped, the impaired performance remained. Improvements in learning with nGVS may be due to increased information throughput resulting from stochastic resonance. The benefit of nGVS for functional mobility, but not manual control nulling, may be due to the multisensory (e.g., visual and proprioceptive), strategic, motor coordination, or spatial awareness aspects of the former task. Learning improvements with nGVS have the potential to benefit individuals who perform functional mobility tasks, such as astronauts, firefighters, high performance athletes, and soldiers. &nbsp;</p

Improving Sensorimotor Function and Adaptation using Stochastic Vestibular Stimulation

Astronauts experience sensorimotor changes during adaption to G-transitions that occur when entering and exiting microgravity. Post space flight, these sensorimotor disturbances can include postural and gait instability, visual performance changes, manual control disruptions, spatial disorientation, and motion sickness, all of which can hinder the operational capabilities of the astronauts. Crewmember safety would be significantly increased if sensorimotor changes brought on by gravitational changes could be mitigated and adaptation could be facilitated. The goal of this research is to investigate and develop the use of electrical stochastic vestibular stimulation (SVS) as a countermeasure to augment sensorimotor function and facilitate adaptation. For this project, SVS will be applied via electrodes on the mastoid processes at imperceptible amplitude levels. We hypothesize that SVS will improve sensorimotor performance through the phenomena of stochastic resonance, which occurs when the response of a nonlinear system to a weak input signal is optimized by the application of a particular nonzero level of noise. In line with the theory of stochastic resonance, a specific optimal level of SVS will be found and tested for each subject [1]. Three experiments are planned to investigate the use of SVS in sensory-dependent tasks and performance. The first experiment will aim to demonstrate stochastic resonance in the vestibular system through perception based motion recognition thresholds obtained using a 6-degree of freedom Stewart platform in the Jenks Vestibular Laboratory at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. A range of SVS amplitudes will be applied to each subject and the subjectspecific optimal SVS level will be identified as that which results in the lowest motion recognition threshold, through previously established, well developed methods [2,3,4]. The second experiment will investigate the use of optimal SVS in facilitating sensorimotor adaptation to system disturbances. Subjects will adapt to wearing minifying glasses, resulting in decreased vestibular ocular reflex (VOR) gain. The VOR gain will then be intermittently measured while the subject readapts to normal vision, with and without optimal SVS. We expect that optimal SVS will cause a steepening of the adaptation curve. The third experiment will test the use of optimal SVS in an operationally relevant aerospace task, using the tilt translation sled at NASA Johnson Space Center, a test platform capable of recreating the tilt-gain and tilt-translation illusions associated with landing of a spacecraft post-space flight. In this experiment, a perception based manual control measure will be used to compare performance with and without optimal SVS. We expect performance to improve in this task when optimal SVS is applied. The ultimate goal of this work is to systematically investigate and further understand the potential benefits of stochastic vestibular stimulation in the context of human space flight so that it may be used in the future as a component of a comprehensive countermeasure plan for adaptation to G-transitions