Multi-dimensional parameter estimation of heavy-tailed moving averages

In this paper we present a parametric estimation method for certain multi-parameter heavy-tailed L\'evy-driven moving averages. The theory relies on recent multivariate central limit theorems obtained in [3] via Malliavin calculus on Poisson spaces. Our minimal contrast approach is related to the papers [14, 15], which propose to use the marginal empirical characteristic function to estimate the one-dimensional parameter of the kernel function and the stability index of the driving L\'evy motion. We extend their work to allow for a multi-parametric framework that in particular includes the important examples of the linear fractional stable motion, the stable Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process, certain CARMA(2, 1) models and Ornstein-Uhlenbeck processes with a periodic component among other models. We present both the consistency and the associated central limit theorem of the minimal contrast estimator. Furthermore, we demonstrate numerical analysis to uncover the finite sample performance of our method

Cultural Resources Report For The Mission Road Archaeological Scraping Project, Bexar County, Texas

The City of San Antonio (COSA) Public Works Department retained Pape-Dawson Engineers, Inc. to conduct cultural resource investigations for proposed road improvements along Mission Road and Acequia Road (i.e., the Project) within San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas. The Project consists of the installation of brick pavers and continuous illumination assemblies, electrical service, and underground infrastructure along both sides of Mission Road from SE Military Drive to the San Antonio River and along Acequia Road from Mission Road to Ashley Road. The added alternate to the Project includes the construction of a shared-use path along the east side of Mission Road from SE Military Drive through Stinson Airport, sidewalk along both sides of Mission Road from Cadmus Street (99th Street) to Acequia Road, sidewalk along the east side of Mission Road from Acequia Road to the San Antonio River, and sidewalk along the west side of Acequia Road from Mission Road to Ashley Road. A culvert system located mid-block along Mission Road will be removed, widened and extended, and replaced within the existing right-ofway (ROW). Existing underground utilities (water and sewer) will require surface adjustments to meter boxes, valve boxes, and manholes. One sewer cleanout may require both horizontal and vertical adjustments due to movement over time. As a result of the proposed improvements described above, modifications to surface drainage ditches and driveways will be required to maintain proper movement of surface runoff. As the Project is located within the COSA city limits and River Improvement Overlay District 6, the Project requires compliance with local regulations. At the municipal level, the Project must comply with Article 6, Historic Preservation and Urban Design, of the Unified Development Code (§ 35-630 to 35-634) as implemented by the COSA Office of Historic Preservation (COSA OHP). In addition, the proposed Project is within ROW owned by the City, a political subdivision of the state of Texas, which requires compliance with the Antiquities Code of Texas as implemented by the Texas Historical Commission (THC). No federal permitting or funding is anticipated for the Project; therefore, compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act is not necessary. Should any human remains and/or an abandoned or unknown cemetery be encountered during the Project, the Project will also comply with Chapters 711 and 715 of the Texas Health and Safety Code. All proposed improvements will be located within existing Mission Road and Acequia Road ROWs measuring 18 acres (7.3 hectares [ha]) (Project Area). The Project Area includes a total of 2.1 miles (3.4 kilometers) of existing Mission Road and Acequia Road ROWs. Depths of impact are anticipated to vary across the Project Area, ranging from approximately 1 to 3 feet (0.3 to 0.9 meter [m]) apart from the extension of the culvert mid-block along Mission Road, where the depth of impact is not anticipated to exceed 6 feet (1.8 m). In consultation with the COSA OHP and THC, a portion of the Project Area located between two historic-age cemeteries was targeted for the field investigation (Field Investigation Area). The total Field Investigation Area measures 2.4 ac (1 ha) along 1,777 feet (541.6 linear meters) of the Mission Road corridor, specifically between San Jose Burial Park and Mission Burial Park. Cultural resources investigations consisted of a program of archaeological trenching along the eastern and western sides of the ROW within an area proposed for decorative pavers and sidewalk/shared-used pathways. No archaeological investigations were conducted for proposed driveway improvements, utility surface adjustments, or the culvert box location within the Field Investigation Area, as this construction will be located within areas extensively disturbed by past improvements below the level of anticipated discovery. Additionally, the proposed improvements will have limited vertical impacts at this location. Archaeological trenching of the Project Area occurred between March 18 and 19, 2019, (east side of Mission Road), and again between May 4 and 6, 2020, (west side of Mission Road). Nesta Anderson and Zachary Overfield served as the Principal Investigators for the respective fieldwork dates and were assisted by archaeologists Jacob Sullivan, James Moore, Melanie Nichols, and Lily Camara. A total of 16 trenches were excavated during fieldwork in accordance with a research design initially approved by the COSA OHP on January 28, 2019 and by the THC on January 29, 2019, under Texas Antiquities Permit 8748. Amendments to the permit were approved by the COSA OHP April 28, 2020 and by the THC on May 4, 2020. The trenching investigations did not result in the documentation of any archaeological sites, nor evidence of human remains or graves within the Field Investigation Area. Based on the results of these investigations, no historic properties will be affected by the Project and no further work is recommended. All records associated with the Project will be curated at the University of Texas at San Antonio Center for Archaeological Research (UTSA-CAR)

Archeological and Bioarcheological Investigations at Campbell’s Bayou Cemetery Galveston County, Texas

This report documents the removal of individuals buried within Campbell’s Bayou Cemetery (41GV171) to avoid potential impact to the remains during implementation of remediation activities at the Malone Service Company Superfund Site (Site) in Texas City, TX. An oil recovery and waste processing facility had operated at the Site for more than 30 years, ending in the mid1990s. The facility had stored, processed, and disposed of industrial solid wastes and hazardous wastes. In July 2012, a group of companies known as the Malone Cooperating Parties (MCP) entered into a Consent Decree with the U.S. Government, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the State of Texas to implement a remedial design and remedial action at the Site. It was determined that if the remains in the cemetery were not relocated, there was the potential that remediation activities could impact the cemetery. Archival research, review of historic maps and aerial photographs, and reconnaissance survey revealed the extent of potential remains at the cemetery, and, given the location of the cemetery and the scope of the planned remediation activities, it was deemed impractical for the environmental remediation contractors to work around the cemetery. (41GV171). The MCP consulted with EPA, Campbell family descendants, the Galveston County Historical Commission, and the Texas Historical Commission and developed a plan to relocate the remains to a perpetual care cemetery in accordance with Texas state law and associated rules and procedures. In accordance with Texas Health and Safety Code §711.004, the landowner Land Navigator, Ltd., on behalf of the MCP, petitioned the Galveston County Judicial District Court for removal of the dedication of the cemetery and the transfer of the human remains to the perpetual care cemetery operated by Forest Park East Funeral Home and Cemetery (FPE), 21620 Gulf Freeway, Webster, TX 77598. On February 11, 2014, Land Navigator was granted a Summary Judgment allowing Land Navigator to disinter and relocate the remains to FPE. Versar, Inc. (formerly Geo-Marine, Inc.), on behalf of the MCP, provided all archeological and human osteological expertise for the disinterment and analysis of the human remains. Disinterment permits from the State Registrar of the Vital Statistics Unit of the Department of State Health Services, as required by Texas Administrative Code, Title 13, Chapter 22 (Texas Historical Commission, Cemeteries), were obtained for each burial. The disinterment excavations at Campbell’s Bayou Cemetery revealed 34 burials from which 35 individuals were excavated. No graves were marked by headstones. It is the professional judgment of Versar that, of the 35 individual sets of remains identified, 11 were determined to be adults (5 male and 3 female; 3 of indeterminate sex), and 24 were determined to be children. The majority of children at Campbell’s Bayou Cemetery (n=18) are under 5 years of age and six are premature infants aged 30–40 weeks. Burials could not be associated conclusively with any individuals identified by the descendants; however, the combination of bioarcheological analysis, coffin hardware analysis, census data, and descendant identifications resulted in a list of individuals that may have been interred in certain graves. Some of the interments include James and Mary Campbell, Charlie Meyers, Benjamin Ninnie Dick, Phoebe Rutlage, and Shelby McNeil, Jr. Children were difficult to identify; however, there is good potential the graves of Frank Campbell, Mary Jane Campbell, Charles Munson, and Grace Dick were identified. Data are conclusive that the children Levi and Joseph (Joe) Parr were both interred together in Burial 6, the concrete crypt with brick covering. Grace Dick was the last individual interred at the cemetery in 1904

Spherical collapse of dark energy with an arbitrary sound speed

We consider a generic type of dark energy fluid, characterised by a constant equation of state parameter w and sound speed c_s, and investigate the impact of dark energy clustering on cosmic structure formation using the spherical collapse model. Along the way, we also discuss in detail the evolution of dark energy perturbations in the linear regime. We find that the introduction of a finite sound speed into the picture necessarily induces a scale-dependence in the dark energy clustering, which in turn affects the dynamics of the spherical collapse in a scale-dependent way. As with other, more conventional fluids, we can define a Jeans scale for the dark energy clustering, and hence a Jeans mass M_J for the dark matter which feels the effect of dark energy clustering via gravitational interactions. For bound objects (halos) with masses M >> M_J, the effect of dark energy clustering is maximal. For those with M << M_J, the dark energy component is effectively homogeneous, and its role in the formation of these structures is reduced to its effects on the Hubble expansion rate. To compute quantitatively the virial density and the linearly extrapolated threshold density, we use a quasi-linear approach which is expected to be valid up to around the Jeans mass. We find an interesting dependence of these quantities on the halo mass M, given some w and c_s. The dependence is the strongest for masses lying in the vicinity of M ~ M_J. Observing this M-dependence will be a tell-tale sign that dark energy is dynamic, and a great leap towards pinning down its clustering properties.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figures, matches version published in JCA