Nonparametric Pooling And Testing Of Preference Ratings For Full-Profile Conjoint Analysis Experiments

The problem of pooling customer preference ratings within a conjoint analysis experiment has been addressed. A method based on the nonparametric combination of rankings has been proposed to compete with the usual method based on the arithmetic mean. This method is nonparametric with respect to the underlying dependence structure and so no dependence model must be assumed. The two methods have been compared using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient and related test. Moreover, a further nonparametric testing method has been considered and proposed; this method takes both correlation and distance between ranks into account. By means of a simulation study it has been shown that the NPC Ranking method performs better than the arithmetic mean

Concepts in Animal Parasitology, Chapter 07: Biostatistics for Parasitologists: A Painless Introduction

Chapter 7 in Concepts in Animal Parasitology on biostatistics for parasitologists by Jenő Reiczigel, Marco Marozzi, Fábián Ibolya, and Lajos Rózsa. 2024. S. L. Gardner and S. A. Gardner, editors. Zea Books, Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. doi: 10.32873/unl.dc.ciap00

Polymorphism in biomineral nanoparticles

Biomineralisation is the process by which living things produce hard mineral tissues with unique physical properties. The study of this process can help us produce biomimetic materials, reproducing such properties, with the study of nucleation and crystallisation of the materials being particularly important. I have used molecular simulation techniques to help gain a greater understanding of these processes, focussing particularly on identifying the conformations and solid phases available to nanoparticles of two biomineral compounds. The bones and teeth of mammals are made largely of calcium phosphates. I have used metadynamics to study nanoparticles of tricalcium phosphate (TCP) and have identified high and lower order configurations. To facilitate this work I reviewed the extant empirical potentials for calcium phosphate systems, selecting the most appropriate for TCP. Calcium carbonate, found in examples throughout the animal kingdom, has three crystalline polymorphs relevant to biomineralisation: calcite, aragonite and vaterite. While nanoparticles of calcite have been extensively studied the other polymorphs have been neglected to date. In this work I present a technique for predicting crystalline morphologies for all three polymorphs across a range of sizes, and compare the energetic ordering. In water the energetic ordering of the nanoparticles is heavily dependent on nanoparticle size. Furthermore, I present work calculating the surface enthalpies of a variety of calcium carbonate surfaces, many of which are negative. It appears that entropic penalty of ordered water is key to understanding the stability of nanocrystals. Also presented is an application of the nudged elastic band method to study transitions between nanoparticle crystal conformations. Between all three crystal polymorphs the nanoparticles passed through an amorphous region of phase space. These results have also been used to evaluate order parameters for use in metadynamics simulations.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Inter-industry financial ratio comparison of Japanese and Chinese firms using a permutation based nonparametric method

Inter-industry comparison of financial ratios of publicly traded Japanese and Chinese firms is assessed. This issue is very important because Japan and China have respectively the world's second and third largest economy, the trade volume between them is very large and many investors are searching for Japanese and Chinese investment opportunities. The most familiar methods for comparing financial ratios are multivariate analysis of variance and multiple discriminant analysis. However, these methods have many shortcomings. We use a permutation based nonparametric method that does not require any stringent assumptions and that is particularly suitable for financial data because it is very robust against skewness and heavy tailness, takes into account the possible difference in variability as well as the dependence among the financial ratios. Data about the most familiar valuation ratios have been analyzed. It is found that industry sectors of Japanese firms are generally more different than those of Chinese firms. In general, with few exceptions, the difference between industry sectors is large. The most different financial ratio is the price to sale ratio and the least different one is the price to earnings ratio for both Chinese and Japanese firms

Enigmatic Ladies of the Rings: How Cohesin Dysfunction Affects Myeloid Neoplasms Insurgence

The genes of the cohesin complex exert different functions, ranging from the adhesion of sister chromatids during the cell cycle, DNA repair, gene expression and chromatin architecture remodeling. In recent years, the improvement of DNA sequencing technologies allows the identification of cohesin mutations in different tumors such as acute myeloid leukemia (AML), acute megakaryoblastic leukemia (AMKL), and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). However, the role of cohesin dysfunction in cancer insurgence remains elusive. In this regard, cells harboring cohesin mutations do not show any increase in aneuploidy that might explain their oncogenic activity, nor cohesin mutations are sufficient to induce myeloid neoplasms as they have to co-occur with other causative mutations such as NPM1, FLT3-ITD, and DNMT3A. Several works, also using animal models for cohesin haploinsufficiency, correlate cohesin activity with dysregulated expression of genes involved in myeloid development and differentiation. These evidences support the involvement of cohesin mutations in myeloid neoplasms

Concepts in Animal Parasitology, Part 1: Introductory Concepts

Part I: Introductory Concepts, chapters 1-8, pages 1-104, in Concepts in Animal Parasitology. 2024. Scott L. Gardner and Sue Ann Gardner, editors. Zea Books, Lincoln, Nebraska, United States; part I doi: 10.32873/unl.dc.ciap071 Introductory Concepts Chapter 1: Introduction to Animal Parasitology by Scott L. Gardner, Daniel R. Brooks, and Klaus Rohde, pages 1-15 Chapter 2: Phylogenetic Systematics in Parasitology by Anindo Choudhury, pages 16-32 Chapter 3: Helminth Identification and Diagnostics: Basic Molecular Techniques by Anindo Choudhury and Scott L. Gardner, pages 33-38 Parasites in Relation to Other Organisms Chapter 4: Hosts, Reservoirs, and Vectors by Matthew G. Bolek, Kyle D. Gustafson, and Gabriel J. Langford, pages 39-46 Chapter 5:Life Cycles by Matthew G. Bolek, Kyle D. Gustafson, and Gabriel J. Langford, pages 47-61 Chapter 6: Behavioral Parasitology by Megan R. Wise de Valdez, pages 62-82 Parascript Approaches Chapter 7: Biostatistics for Parasitologists: A Painless Introductionby Jenő Reiczigel, Marco Marozzi, Fábián Ibolya, and Lajos Rózsa, pages 83-91 Chapter 8: Distributional Ecology of Parasites A. Townsend Peterson, pages 92-10

Draft Genome Sequence of the Ectomycorrhizal Ascomycete Sphaerosporella brunnea

Sphaerosporella brunnea is a pioneer ectomycorrhizal fungus with facultative saprophytic capacities. Here, we sequenced the genome of S. brunnea strain Sb_GMNB300, which is estimated at 51.6 Mb in size with 872 assembled contigs accounting for 12, 597 predicted coding genes. This genome will be useful for comparative studies of Pezizales ectomycorrhizal symbioses

Draft Genome Sequence of the Ectomycorrhizal Ascomycete Sphaerosporella brunnea

Sphaerosporella brunnea is a pioneer ectomycorrhizal fungus with facultative saprophytic capacities. Here, we sequenced the genome of S. brunnea strain Sb_GMNB300, which is estimated at 51.6 Mb in size with 872 assembled contigs accounting for 12, 597 predicted coding genes. This genome will be useful for comparative studies of Pezizales ectomycorrhizal symbioses

A Multi-Lab Test of the Facial Feedback Hypothesis by the Many Smiles Collaboration

Following theories of emotional embodiment, the facial feedback hypothesis suggests that individuals’ subjective experiences of emotion are influenced by their facial expressions. However, evidence for this hypothesis has been mixed. We thus formed a global adversarial collaboration and carried out a preregistered, multicentre study designed to specify and test the conditions that should most reliably produce facial feedback effects. Data from n = 3,878 participants spanning 19 countries indicated that a facial mimicry and voluntary facial action task could both amplify and initiate feelings of happiness. However, evidence of facial feedback effects was less conclusive when facial feedback was manipulated unobtrusively via a pen-in-mouth task