Rejoinder

Rejoinder of "Estimating Random Effects via Adjustment for Density Maximization" by C. Morris and R. Tang [arXiv:1108.3234]Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/11-STS349REJ the Statistical Science (http://www.imstat.org/sts/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Shrinkage Estimation in Multilevel Normal Models

This review traces the evolution of theory that started when Charles Stein in 1955 [In Proc. 3rd Berkeley Sympos. Math. Statist. Probab. I (1956) 197--206, Univ. California Press] showed that using each separate sample mean from $k\ge3$ Normal populations to estimate its own population mean $\mu_i$ can be improved upon uniformly for every possible $\mu=(\mu_1,...,\mu_k)'$. The dominating estimators, referred to here as being "Model-I minimax," can be found by shrinking the sample means toward any constant vector. Admissible minimax shrinkage estimators were derived by Stein and others as posterior means based on a random effects model, "Model-II" here, wherein the $\mu_i$ values have their own distributions. Section 2 centers on Figure 2, which organizes a wide class of priors on the unknown Level-II hyperparameters that have been proved to yield admissible Model-I minimax shrinkage estimators in the "equal variance case." Putting a flat prior on the Level-II variance is unique in this class for its scale-invariance and for its conjugacy, and it induces Stein's harmonic prior (SHP) on $\mu_i$.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/11-STS363 the Statistical Science (http://www.imstat.org/sts/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Re-Placing the Term British Muslim: Discourse Difference and the Frontiers of Muslim Agency in Britain

The term “British Muslim” has over the last three decades become a familiar part of public discourse, to the extent that it is becoming naturalised as a neutral social descriptor rather than as an active or contested concept. This article examines the genealogy of the term in relation to three overlapping discourses: (i) state-led discourses of racialised citizenship (ii) tacit academic support for forms of civic nationalism and (iii) emergent Muslim agencies and mobilisations through the concept of “British Muslim”. Drawing on the work of Michel Foucault and Jacques Derrida, the article interrogates the tension between determinism and agency contained within conceptions of British Muslimness. It is claimed that while the term “British Muslim” is implicated by public debates concerning racialised citizenship—and a corresponding academic response viz civic nationalism—there is a flourishing of Muslim imaginaries through the re-appropriation of British Muslimness. The article therefore offers new theoretical insights into the language concerning Muslim minorities and makes a series of methodological observations that are relevant for writing and research conducted in this field

Growth and Characterization of Molybdenum Disulfide Thin Films

Two-dimensional materials, or materials that are only one atomic layer thick, have seen much research in recent years because of their interesting electrical properties. The first of these materials, graphene, was found to have incredible electrical properties but lacked a bandgap in intrinsic films. Without a bandgap, graphene cannot create transistors that can be shut off. Molybdenum disulfide, however, is a two-dimensional semiconductor with a large bandgap. The main issue of molybdenum disulfide is that synthesized films are a much lower quality than their exfoliated counterparts. For molybdenum disulfide to be able to be used practically, a method of synthesis must be found that can reliably create quality large area monolayer films. In this thesis, three methods of molybdenum disulfide film synthesis are presented. Methods implemented used a tube furnace as a chemical vapor deposition system to evaporate source materials to synthesize thin films of molybdenum disulfide. An exploration into the different synthesis parameters shows optimal conditions for these specific methods. Then a discussion of these different methods is presented by judging films grown by using these methods on relevant criteria. This work shows methods to synthesize large area, polycrystalline, small grain, multilayer films, both intrinsic and doped, and to synthesize small area, single crystal and polycrystalline, monolayer films of molybdenum disulfide

The action of cyanamid and its relation to creatin and creatinin

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University

Is sputum evaluation useful for patients with community-acquired pneumonia?

No high-quality studies specifically address the utility of sputum Gram stain or culture in the assessment or treatment of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) or nursing home- acquired pneumonia (NHAP). The available evidence suggests that analysis of the sputum adds little to the care or outcomes of patients with CAP (strength of recommendation [SOR]: B, inconsistent results from non-randomized case control, case series, and a systematic review of disease-oriented evidence)

Low-Cost QCM Sensor System for Screening Semen Samples

Artificial insemination is a well-established part of modern agricultural practice. A viable semen sample is judged by the total number of spermatozoa (sperm) in the sample and the motility of the sperm. In this paper, we report the development of a reusable measurement cell and electronics for screening semen samples based on the Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM) and Universal Frequency to Digital Converter (UFDC-1) to produce a low-cost sensor system. After introducing the semen sample at one end of the measurement cell, sperm swim down a channel before causing a frequency change on the QCM. Data is presented that shows the different frequency changes using a commercial frequency counter caused by porcine semen samples, one two days old and one twenty one days old. Similar data is presented for a motile semen sample measurement using the low-cost UFDC-1