3,016 research outputs found
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Are geometric morphometric analyses replicable? Evaluating landmark measurement error and its impact on extant and fossil Microtus classification.
Geometric morphometric analyses are frequently employed to quantify biological shape and shape variation. Despite the popularity of this technique, quantification of measurement error in geometric morphometric datasets and its impact on statistical results is seldom assessed in the literature. Here, we evaluate error on 2D landmark coordinate configurations of the lower first molar of five North American Microtus (vole) species. We acquired data from the same specimens several times to quantify error from four data acquisition sources: specimen presentation, imaging devices, interobserver variation, and intraobserver variation. We then evaluated the impact of those errors on linear discriminant analysis-based classifications of the five species using recent specimens of known species affinity and fossil specimens of unknown species affinity. Results indicate that data acquisition error can be substantial, sometimes explaining >30% of the total variation among datasets. Comparisons of datasets digitized by different individuals exhibit the greatest discrepancies in landmark precision, and comparison of datasets photographed from different presentation angles yields the greatest discrepancies in species classification results. All error sources impact statistical classification to some extent. For example, no two landmark dataset replicates exhibit the same predicted group memberships of recent or fossil specimens. Our findings emphasize the need to mitigate error as much as possible during geometric morphometric data collection. Though the impact of measurement error on statistical fidelity is likely analysis-specific, we recommend that all geometric morphometric studies standardize specimen imaging equipment, specimen presentations (if analyses are 2D), and landmark digitizers to reduce error and subsequent analytical misinterpretations
Anisotropic expansion of a thermal dipolar Bose gas
We report on the anisotropic expansion of ultracold bosonic dysprosium gases
at temperatures above quantum degeneracy and develop a quantitative theory to
describe this behavior. The theory expresses the post-expansion aspect ratio in
terms of temperature and microscopic collisional properties by incorporating
Hartree-Fock mean-field interactions, hydrodynamic effects, and
Bose-enhancement factors. Our results extend the utility of expansion imaging
by providing accurate thermometry for dipolar thermal Bose gases, reducing
error in expansion thermometry from tens of percent to only a few percent.
Furthermore, we present a simple method to determine scattering lengths in
dipolar gases, including near a Feshbach resonance, through observation of
thermal gas expansion.Comment: main text and supplement, 11 pages total, 4 figure
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Climate adaptation by crop migration.
Many studies have estimated the adverse effects of climate change on crop yields, however, this literature almost universally assumes a constant geographic distribution of crops in the future. Movement of growing areas to limit exposure to adverse climate conditions has been discussed as a theoretical adaptive response but has not previously been quantified or demonstrated at a global scale. Here, we assess how changes in rainfed crop area have already mediated growing season temperature trends for rainfed maize, wheat, rice, and soybean using spatially-explicit climate and crop area data from 1973 to 2012. Our results suggest that the most damaging impacts of warming on rainfed maize, wheat, and rice have been substantially moderated by the migration of these crops over time and the expansion of irrigation. However, continued migration may incur substantial environmental costs and will depend on socio-economic and political factors in addition to land suitability and climate
A Complete Catalog of Swift GRB Spectra and Durations: Demise of a Physical Origin for Pre-Swift High-Energy Correlations
We calculate durations and spectral paramaters for 218 Swift bursts detected
by the BAT instrument between and including GRBs 041220 and 070509, including
77 events with measured redshifts. Incorporating prior knowledge into the
spectral fits, we are able to measure the characteristic spectral
peak energy and the isotropic equivalent energy
(1-- keV) for all events. This complete and rather extensive catalog,
analyzed with a unified methodology, allows us to address the persistence and
origin of high-energy correlations suggested in pre-Swift observations. We find
that the - correlation is present in the Swift
sample; however, the best-fit powerlaw relation is inconsistent with the
best-fit pre-Swift relation at >5 sigma significance. Moreover, it has a factor
>~ 2 larger intrinsic scatter, after accounting for large errors on . A large fraction of the Swift events are hard and subluminous
relative to (and inconsistent with) the pre-Swift relation, in agreement with
indications from BATSE GRBs without redshift. Moreover, we determine an
experimental threshold for the BAT detector and show how the -- correlation arises artificially due to partial
correlation with the threshold. We show that pre-Swift correlations found by
Amati et al.(2002), Yonetoku et al. (2004), Firmani et al.(2006) (and
independently by others) are likely unrelated to the physical properties of
GRBs and are likely useless for tests of cosmology. Also, an explanation of
these correlations in terms of a detector threshold provides a natural and
quantitative explanation for why short-duration GRBs and events at low redshift
tend to be outliers to the correlations.Comment: 25 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables, Accepted to Ap
Heart rate variability in insomnia patients: A critical review of the literature
Heart rate variability (HRV) is an objective marker that provides insight into autonomic nervous system dynamics. There is conflicting evidence regarding the presence of HRV impairment in insomnia patients. Web-based databases were used to systematically search the literature for all studies that compared the HRV of insomnia patients to controls or reported the HRV of insomnia patients before and after an intervention. 22 relevant papers were identified. Study characteristics were summarised, HRV measures were extracted and a risk of bias assessment for each study was performed. We were limited in our ability to synthesise outcome measures and perform meta-analyses due to considerable differences in patient (and control) selection, study protocols, measurement and processing techniques and outcome reporting. Risk of bias was deemed to be high in the majority of studies. As such, we cannot confirm that HRV is reliably impaired in insomnia patients nor determine the HRV response to interventions. Whilst HRV impairment in insomnia is a widely accepted concept, it is not supported by empirical evidence. Large longitudinal studies incorporating 24-hour recordings are required to elucidate the precise nature of HRV dynamics in insomnia patients
Chandra Discovery of 10 New X-Ray Jets Associated With FR II Radio Core-Selected AGNs in the MOJAVE Sample
The Chandra X-ray observatory has proven to be a vital tool for studying
high-energy emission processes in jets associated with Active Galactic Nuclei
(AGN).We have compiled a sample of 27 AGN selected from the radio flux-limited
MOJAVE (Monitoring of Jets in AGN with VLBA Experiments) sample of highly
relativistically beamed jets to look for correlations between X-ray and radio
emission on kiloparsec scales. The sample consists of all MOJAVE quasars which
have over 100 mJy of extended radio emission at 1.4 GHz and a radio structure
of at least 3" in size. Previous Chandra observations have revealed X-ray jets
in 11 of 14 members of the sample, and we have carried out new observations of
the remaining 13 sources. Of the latter, 10 have Xray jets, bringing the
overall detection rate to ~ 78%. Our selection criteria, which is based on
highly compact, relativistically beamed jet emission and large extended radio
flux, thus provides an effective method of discovering new X-ray jets
associated with AGN. The detected X-ray jet morphologies are generally well
correlated with the radio emission, except for those displaying sharp bends in
the radio band. The X-ray emission mechanism for these powerful FR II
(Fanaroff-Riley type II) jets can be interpreted as inverse Compton scattering
off of cosmic microwave background (IC/CMB) photons by the electrons in the
relativistic jets. We derive viewing angles for the jets, assuming a
non-bending, non-decelerating model, by using superluminal parsec scale speeds
along with parameters derived from the inverse Compton X-ray model. We use
these angles to calculate best fit Doppler and bulk Lorentz factors for the
jets, as well as their possible ranges, which leads to extreme values for the
bulk Lorentz factor in some cases. When both the non-bending and
non-decelerating assumptions are relaxed [abridged]Comment: 38 Pages, 4 Figures, 5 Tables, accepted for publication in Ap
Parental Attitudes toward Genetic Testing for Pediatric Deafness
Recent molecular genetic advances have resulted in genetic testing becoming an option for deaf individuals and their families. However, there is little information about the interest in such testing. To investigate this issue, parents with normal hearing who have one or more deaf children were surveyed about their attitudes toward diagnostic, carrier, and prenatal genetic testing for deafness. This population was chosen because it represents the majority of individuals who are encountered in clinical practice, given that 90%–95% of deaf individuals are born to persons with normal hearing. Of 328 surveys distributed, 96 were completed and returned. Of the respondents, 96% recorded a positive attitude toward genetic testing for deafness, including prenatal testing, although none would use this information to terminate an affected pregnancy. All respondents had a poor understanding of genetics, with 98% both incorrectly estimating the recurrence risk of deafness and misunderstanding the concept of inheritance. Notably, these findings were similar in the group who had had genetic testing for their children and in the group who had not, suggesting either that the parents who received genetic testing did not receive genetic counseling or that the counseling was not effective. On the basis of these results, it was concluded that this population is interested in the use of genetic testing and that testing should not be done without first providing formal genetic counseling. Appropriate counseling can help parents to understand the risks, benefits, and limitations of genetic testing
Book Reviews
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66290/1/j.1752-7325.1985.tb01140.x.pd
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