7,874 research outputs found
Uniform Bahadur Representation for Nonparametric Censored Quantile Regression: A Redistribution-of-Mass Approach
Censored quantile regressions have received a great deal of attention in the literature. In a linear setup, recent research has found that an estimator based on the idea of “redistribution-of-mass” in Efron (1967, Proceedings of the Fifth Berkeley Symposium on Mathematical Statistics and Probability, vol. 4, pp. 831–853, University of California Press) has better numerical performance than other available methods. In this paper, this idea is combined with the local polynomial kernel smoothing for nonparametric quantile regression of censored data. We derive the uniform Bahadur representation for the estimator and, more importantly, give theoretical justification for its improved efficiency over existing estimation methods. We include an example to illustrate the usefulness of such a uniform representation in the context of sufficient dimension reduction in regression analysis. Finally, simulations are used to investigate the finite sample performance of the new estimator
Design and analytically full-wave validation of the invisibility cloaks, concentrators, and field rotators created with a general class of transformations
We investigate a general class of electromagnetic devices created with any
continuous transformation functions by rigorously calculating the analytical
expressions of the electromagnetic field in the whole space. Some interesting
phenomena associated with these transformation devices, including the
invisibility cloaks, concentrators, and field rotators, are discussed. By
carefully choosing the transformation function, we can realize cloaks which are
insensitive to perturbations at both the inner and outer boundaries.
Furthermore, we find that when the coating layer of the concentrator is
realized with left-handed materials, energy will circulate between the coating
and the core, and the energy transmits through the core of the concentrator can
be much bigger than that transmits through the concentrator. Therefore, such
concentrator is also a power flux amplifier. Finally, we propose a spherical
field rotator, which functions as not only a wave vector rotator, but also a
polarization rotator, depending on the orientations of the spherical rotator
with respect to the incident wave direction. The functionality of these novel
transformation devices are all successfully confirmed by our analytical full
wave method, which also provides an alternate computational efficient
validation method in contrast to numerical validation methods.Comment: 22 pages, 3 figure
Distribution patterns of small-molecule ligands in the protein universe and implications for origin of life and drug discovery
Ligand-protein mapping was found to follow a power law and the preferential attachment principle, leading to the identification of the molecules, mostly nucleotide-containing compounds, that are likely to have evolved earliest
Early Rebrightenings of X-ray Afterglows from Ring-Shaped GRB Jets
Early rebrightenings at a post-burst time of 10^2 - 10^4 s have been observed
in the afterglows of some gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Unlike X-ray flares, these
rebrightenings usually last for a relatively long period. The continuous energy
injection mechanism usually can only produce a plateau in the afterglow light
curve, but not a rebrightening. Also, a sudden energy injection can give birth
to a rebrightening, but the rebrightening is a bit too rapid. Here we argued
that the early rebrightenings can be produced by the ring-shaped jet model. In
this scenario, the GRB outflow is not a full cone, but a centrally hollowed
ring. Assuming that the line of sight is on the central symmetry axis of the
hollow cone, we calculate the overall dynamical evolution of the outflows and
educe the multiband afterglow light curves. It is found that the early
rebrightenings observed in the afterglows of a few GRBs, such as GRBs 051016B,
060109, 070103 and 070208 etc, can be well explained in this framework. It is
suggested that these long-lasted early rebrightenings in GRB afterglows should
be resulted from ring-shaped jets.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, Accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysic
Upper critical field in dirty two-band superconductors: breakdown of the anisotropic Ginzburg-Landau theory
We investigate the upper critical field in a dirty two-band superconductor
within quasiclassical Usadel equations. The regime of very high anisotropy in
the quasi-2D band, relevant for MgB, is considered. We show that strong
disparities in pairing interactions and diffusion constant anisotropies for two
bands influence the in-plane in a different way at high and low
temperatures. This causes temperature-dependent anisotropy, in
accordance with recent experimental data in MgB. The three-dimensional
band most strongly influences the in-plane near , in the
Ginzburg-Landau (GL) region. However, due to a very large difference between
the c-axis coherence lengths in the two bands, the GL theory is applicable only
in an extremely narrow temperature range near . The angular dependence of
deviates from a simple effective-mass law even near .Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys.Rev.
A new way of valorizing biomaterials: the use of sunflower protein for 1 a-tocopherol microencapsulation
Biopolymer based microparticles were efficiently prepared from sunflower protein (SP) wall material and a-tocopherol (T) active core using a spray-drying technique. Protein enzymatic hydrolysis and/or N-acylation were carried out to make some structural modifications to the vegetable protein. Native and hydrolyzed SP were characterized by Asymmetrical Flow Field-Flow Fractionation (AsFlFFF). Results of AsFlFFF confirmed that size of proteinic macromolecules was influenced by degree of hydrolysis. The effect of protein modifications and the influence of wall/core ratio on both emulsions and microparticle properties were evaluated. Concerning emulsion properties, enzymatic hydrolysis involved a decrease in viscosity, whereas acylation did not significantly affect emulsion droplet size and viscosity. Microparticles obtained with hydrolyzed SP wall material showed lower retention efficiency (RE) than native SP microparticles (62-80% and 93% respectively). Conversely, acylation of both hydrolyzed SP and native SP allowed a higher RE to be reached (up to 100%). Increasing T concentration increased emulsion viscosity, emulsion droplet size, microparticle size, and enhanced RE. These results demonstrated the feasibility of high loaded (up to 79.2% T) microparticles
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