Diffusion-based method for producing density equalizing maps

Map makers have long searched for a way to construct cartograms -- maps in which the sizes of geographic regions such as countries or provinces appear in proportion to their population or some other analogous property. Such maps are invaluable for the representation of census results, election returns, disease incidence, and many other kinds of human data. Unfortunately, in order to scale regions and still have them fit together, one is normally forced to distort the regions' shapes, potentially resulting in maps that are difficult to read. Many methods for making cartograms have been proposed, some of them extremely complex, but all suffer either from this lack of readability or from other pathologies, like overlapping regions or strong dependence on the choice of coordinate axes. Here we present a new technique based on ideas borrowed from elementary physics that suffers none of these drawbacks. Our method is conceptually simple and produces useful, elegant, and easily readable maps. We illustrate the method with applications to the results of the 2000 US presidential election, lung cancer cases in the State of New York, and the geographical distribution of stories appearing in the news.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure

Suggested hurricane operational scenario for GOES I-M

Improvements in tropical cyclone forecasts require optimum use of remote sensing capabilities, because conventional data sources cannot provide the necessary spatial and temporal data density over tropical and subtropical oceanic regions. In 1989, the first of a series of geostationary weather satellites, GOES 1-M, will be launched with the capability for simultaneous imaging and sounding. Careful scheduling of the GOES 1-M will enable measurements of both the wind and mass fields over the entire tropical cyclone activity area. The document briefly describes the GOES 1-M imager and sounder, surveys the data needs for hurricane forecasting, discusses how geostationary satellite observations help to meet them, and proposes a GOES 1-M schedule of observations and hurricane relevant derived products

Exercises for word analysis in grade II.

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University N.B.: the following pages are missing: cover page; pages 374-376 at end of text

Seasonal variation in adult hip disease secondary to osteoarthritis and developmental dysplasia of the hip

AIM: To determine if there was a seasonal variation in adults undergoing total hip arthroplasty for end stage hip disease due to osteoarthritis (OA) or sequelae of developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH). METHODS: The total hip registry from the author's institution for the years 1969 to 2013 was reviewed. The month of birth, age, gender, and ethnicity was recorded. Differences between number of births observed and expected in the winter months (October through February) and non-winter mo (March through September) were analyzed with the χ2 test. Detailed temporal variation was mathematically assessed using cosinor analysis. RESULTS: There were 7792 OA patients and 60 DDH patients who underwent total hip arthroplasty. There were more births than expected in the winter months for both the DDH (P < 0.0001) and OA (P = 0.0052) groups. Cosinor analyses demonstrated a peak date of birth on 1st October. CONCLUSION: These data demonstrate an increased prevalence of DDH and OA in those patients born in winter

Sphingolipid metabolism: roles in signal transduction and disruption by fumonisins.

Sphingolipids have important roles in membrane and lipoprotein structure and in cell regulation as second messengers for growth factors, differentiation factors, cytokines, and a growing list of agonists. Bioactive sphingolipids are formed both by the turnover of complex sphingolipids and as intermediates of sphingolipid biosynthesis. Usually, the amounts are highly regulated; however, by inhibiting ceramide synthase, fumonisins block the biosynthesis of complex sphingolipids and cause sphinganine (and sometimes sphingosine) to accumulate. Where the mechanism has been studied most thoroughly, the accumulation of sphingoid bases is a primary cause of the toxicity of fumonisin B (FB). Nonetheless, the full effects of fumonisins probably involve many biochemical events. The elevations in sphingoid bases also affect the amounts of other lipids, including the 1-phosphates and N-acetyl derivatives of sphinganine. Furthermore, the aminopentol backbone of FB1 (AP1) is both an inhibitor and a substrate for ceramide synthase, and the resultant N-palmitoyl-AP1 (PAP1) is an even more potent inhibitor of ceramide synthase (presumably as a product analog). PAP1 is 10 times more toxic than FB1 or AP1 for HT-29 cells in culture, and hence may play a role in the toxicity of nixtamalized fumonisins. All these processes--the effects of fumonisins on sphingolipid metabolism, the pathways altered by perturbation of sphingolipid metabolism, and the complex cellular behaviors regulated by sphingolipids--must be borne in mind when evaluating the pathologic effects of fumonisins

Construction of Parseval wavelets from redundant filter systems

We consider wavelets in L^2(R^d) which have generalized multiresolutions. This means that the initial resolution subspace V_0 in L^2(R^d) is not singly generated. As a result, the representation of the integer lattice Z^d restricted to V_0 has a nontrivial multiplicity function. We show how the corresponding analysis and synthesis for these wavelets can be understood in terms of unitary-matrix-valued functions on a torus acting on a certain vector bundle. Specifically, we show how the wavelet functions on R^d can be constructed directly from the generalized wavelet filters.Comment: 34 pages, AMS-LaTeX ("amsproc" document class) v2 changes minor typos in Sections 1 and 4, v3 adds a number of references on GMRA theory and wavelet multiplicity analysis; v4 adds material on pages 2, 3, 5 and 10, and two more reference

IgG Autoantibodies against β2-Glycoprotein I Complexed with a Lipid Ligand Derived from Oxidized Low-Density Lipoprotein are Associated with Arterial Thrombosis in Antiphospholipid Syndrome

We recently reported [J. Lipid Res. 42 (2001), 697; 43 (2002), 1486; 44 (2003), 716] that β2-glycoprotein I (β2GPI) forms complexes with oxidized LDL (oxLDL) and autoantibodies against these complexes are present in patients with SLE and antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). The relationship of β2GPI/oxLDL complexes and IgG autoantibodies against β2GPI complexed with oxLig-1 (an oxLDL-derived ligand) with clinical manifestations of APS was studied in 150 APS and SLE patients. The β2GPI/oxLDL levels of APS patients were similar to those of SLE patients without APS, but they were significantly higher than healthy individuals. There was no difference in the complex levels among the patients with arterial, venous thrombosis, or pregnancy morbidity. IgG anti-β2GPI/oxLig-1 levels of APS were significantly higher than those of SLE without APS and healthy individuals. Further, antibody levels of APS patients with arterial thrombosis were significantly higher than those patients with venous thrombosis and pregnancy morbidity. Thus, oxidation of LDL leads the complex formation with β2GPI in SLE and APS patients. In contrast, anti-β2GPI/oxLig-1 autoantibodies were generated only in APS and were strongly associated with arterial thrombosis. These results suggest that autoantibodies against β2GPI/oxLDL complexes are etiologically important in the development of atherosclerosis in APS

The chromosphere: gateway to the corona, or the purgatory of solar physics?

I argue that one should attempt to understand the solar chromosphere not only for its own sake, but also if one is interested in the physics of: the corona; astrophysical dynamos; space weather; partially ionized plasmas; heliospheric UV radiation; the transition region. I outline curious observations which I personally find puzzling and deserving of attention.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of the 25th NSO Workshop "Chromospheric Structure and Dynamics. From Old Wisdom to New Insights", Memorie della Societa' Astronomica Italiana, Eds. Tritschler et a

A Vicious Cycle of Fear of Falling Avoidance Behavior in Parkinson’s Disease: A Path Analysis

Background: Postural instability (PI) in Parkinson\u27s disease (PD) is associated with several negative downstream consequences. Objective: The purpose was to explore the validity of a theoretical model of these downstream consequences arranged in a vicious cycle wherein PI leads to decreased balance confidence, which in turn leads to increased fear of falling (FOF) avoidance behavior, which in turn leads to decreased physical conditioning, which then feeds back and negatively affects PI. Methods: A path analysis of cross-sectional data from 55 participants with PD was conducted. The four constructs in the model connected in succession were: 1. PI (principal components analysis (PCA) composite of the Unified Parkinson\u27s Disease Rating Scale PI and Gait Difficulty score, Timed Up and Go test, and Berg Balance Scale); 2. balance confidence (Activities-Specific Balance Confidence Scale); 3. FOF avoidance behavior (PCA composite of the FOF Avoidance Behavior Questionnaire and average number of steps per day); and, 4. physical conditioning (2-Minute Step Test). Results: The path model was an excellent fit to the data, χ2 (7) = 7.910, p =.341, CFI = 0.985, TLI = 0.968, RMSEA = 0.049 (90% CI: 0.000 to 0.179). The moderate to strong and uniformly significant parameter estimates were −0.519, −0.651, −0.653, and −0.570, respectively (ps \u3c 0.01). Conclusions: PI directly and inversely predicted balance confidence, which in turn directly and inversely predicted FOF avoidance behavior. Furthermore, FOF avoidance behavior directly and inversely predicted physical conditioning, which directly and inversely predicted PI, thereby closing the cycle. These findings highlight the downstream consequences of PI in PD and support the notion of a vicious cycle of FOF avoidance behavior