825 research outputs found
Preceding rule induction with instance reduction methods
A new prepruning technique for rule induction is presented which applies instance reduction before rule induction. An empirical evaluation records the predictive accuracy and size of rule-sets generated from 24 datasets from the UCI Machine Learning Repository. Three instance reduction algorithms (Edited Nearest Neighbour, AllKnn and DROP5) are compared. Each one is used to reduce the size of the training set, prior to inducing a set of rules using Clark and Boswell's modification of CN2. A hybrid instance reduction algorithm (comprised of AllKnn and DROP5) is also tested. For most of the datasets, pruning the training set using ENN, AllKnn or the hybrid significantly reduces the number of rules generated by CN2, without adversely affecting the predictive performance. The hybrid achieves the highest average predictive accuracy
Nucleotide Frequencies in Human Genome and Fibonacci Numbers
This work presents a mathematical model that establishes an interesting
connection between nucleotide frequencies in human single-stranded DNA and the
famous Fibonacci's numbers. The model relies on two assumptions. First,
Chargaff's second parity rule should be valid, and, second, the nucleotide
frequencies should approach limit values when the number of bases is
sufficiently large. Under these two hypotheses, it is possible to predict the
human nucleotide frequencies with accuracy. It is noteworthy, that the
predicted values are solutions of an optimization problem, which is commonplace
in many nature's phenomena.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figure
Crystallization of a classical two-dimensional electron system: Positional and orientational orders
Crystallization of a classical two-dimensional one-component plasma
(electrons interacting with the Coulomb repulsion in a uniform neutralizing
positive background) is investigated with a molecular dynamics simulation. The
positional and the orientational correlation functions are calculated for the
first time. We have found an indication that the solid phase has a
quasi-long-range (power-law) positional order along with a long-range
orientational order. This indicates that, although the long-range Coulomb
interaction is outside the scope of Mermin's theorem, the absence of ordinary
crystalline order at finite temperatures applies to the electron system as
well. The `hexatic' phase, which is predicted between the liquid and the solid
phases by the Kosterlitz-Thouless-Halperin-Nelson-Young theory, is also
discussed.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figures; Corrected typos; Double columne
Scaling algebras and pointlike fields: A nonperturbative approach to renormalization
We present a method of short-distance analysis in quantum field theory that
does not require choosing a renormalization prescription a priori. We set out
from a local net of algebras with associated pointlike quantum fields. The net
has a naturally defined scaling limit in the sense of Buchholz and Verch; we
investigate the effect of this limit on the pointlike fields. Both for the
fields and their operator product expansions, a well-defined limit procedure
can be established. This can always be interpreted in the usual sense of
multiplicative renormalization, where the renormalization factors are
determined by our analysis. We also consider the limits of symmetry actions. In
particular, for suitable limit states, the group of scaling transformations
induces a dilation symmetry in the limit theory.Comment: minor changes and clarifications; as to appear in Commun. Math.
Phys.; 37 page
Herd-level risk factors of bovine tuberculosis in England and Wales after the 2001 foot-and-mouth disease epidemic
We present the results of a 2005 case–control study of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) breakdowns in English and Welsh herds. The herd management, farming practices, and environmental factors of 401matched pairs of case and control herds were investigated to provide a picture of herd-level risk factors in areas of varying bTB incidence. A global conditional logistic regression model, with region-specific variants, was used to compare case herds that had experienced a confirmed bTB breakdown to contemporaneous control herds matched on region, herd type, herd size, and parish testing interval. Contacts with cattle from contiguous herds and sourcing cattle from herds with a recent history of bTB were associated with an increased risk in both the global and regional analyses. Operating a farm over several premises, providing cattle feed inside the housing, and the presence of badgers were also identified as significantly associated with an increased bTB risk. Steps taken to minimize cattle contacts with neighboring herds and altering trading practices could have the potential to reduce the size of the bTB epidemic. In principle, limiting the interactions between cattle and wildlife may also be useful; however this study did not highlight any specific measures to implement
Symmetries and Elasticity of Nematic Gels
A nematic liquid-crystal gel is a macroscopically homogeneous elastic medium
with the rotational symmetry of a nematic liquid crystal. In this paper, we
develop a general approach to the study of these gels that incorporates all
underlying symmetries. After reviewing traditional elasticity and clarifying
the role of broken rotational symmetries in both the reference space of points
in the undistorted medium and the target space into which these points are
mapped, we explore the unusual properties of nematic gels from a number of
perspectives. We show how symmetries of nematic gels formed via spontaneous
symmetry breaking from an isotropic gel enforce soft elastic response
characterized by the vanishing of a shear modulus and the vanishing of stress
up to a critical value of strain along certain directions. We also study the
phase transition from isotropic to nematic gels. In addition to being fully
consistent with approaches to nematic gels based on rubber elasticity, our
description has the important advantages of being independent of a microscopic
model, of emphasizing and clarifying the role of broken symmetries in
determining elastic response, and of permitting easy incorporation of spatial
variations, thermal fluctuations, and gel heterogeneity, thereby allowing a
full statistical-mechanical treatment of these novel materials.Comment: 21 pages, 4 eps figure
Enhanced stability of the square lattice of a classical bilayer Wigner crystal
The stability and melting transition of a single layer and a bilayer crystal
consisting of charged particles interacting through a Coulomb or a screened
Coulomb potential is studied using the Monte-Carlo technique. A new melting
criterion is formulated which we show to be universal for bilayer as well as
for single layer crystals in the case of (screened) Coulomb, Lennard--Jones and
1/r^{12} repulsive inter-particle interactions. The melting temperature for the
five different lattice structures of the bilayer Wigner crystal is obtained,
and a phase diagram is constructed as a function of the interlayer distance. We
found the surprising result that the square lattice has a substantial larger
melting temperature as compared to the other lattice structures. This is a
consequence of the specific topology of the defects which are created with
increasing temperature and which have a larger energy as compared to the
defects in e.g. a hexagonal lattice.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physical Review
Spillback Effects of Expansion When Product-Types and Firm-Types Differ
Contrary to perspectives that credit firms with only limited abilities to undertake significant change successfully, recent research has demonstrated that firms often improve their performance after undertaking major expansion to their operations. In this paper, we build on a study by Mitchell and Singh (1993) to test for differences in expansion effects, depending on whether the new goods substitute for old products and whether the firm is a generalist or specialist participant in the industry. The analysis helps us understand when a business can undertake major change successfully. The results have implications for ecological and other definitions of the core of a business and highlight the necessity for firms to undertake changes even at considerable risk to their existing operations.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68398/2/10.1177_014920639502100105.pd
Quantitative importance of staminodes for female reproductive success in Parnassia palustris under contrasting environmental conditions.
The five sterile stamens, or staminodes, in Parnassia palustris act both as false and as true nectaries. They attract pollinators with their conspicuous, but non-rewarding tips, and also produce nectar at the base. We removed staminodes experimentally and compared pollinator visitation rate and duration and seed set in flowers with and without staminodes in two different populations. We also examined the relative importance of the staminode size to other plant traits. Finally, we bagged, emasculated, and supplementary cross-pollinated flowers to determine the pollination strategy and whether reproduction was limited by pollen availability. Flowers in both populations were highly dependent on pollinator visitation for maximum seed set. In one population pollinators primarily cross-pollinated flowers, whereas in the other the pollinators facilitated self-pollination. The staminodes caused increased pollinator visitation rate and duration to flowers in both populations. The staminodes increased female reproductive success, but only when pollen availability constrained female reproduction. Simple linear regression indicated a strong selection on staminode size, multiple regression suggested that selection on staminode size was mainly caused by correlation with other traits that affected female fitness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR
The Refederalization of American Health Care
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/69090/2/10.1177_107755878704400103.pd
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