A System of Subroutines For Iteratively Reweighted Least Squares Computations

A description of a system of subroutines to compute solutions to the iteratively reweighted least squares problem is presented. The weights are determined from the data and linear fit and are computed as functions of the scaled residuals. Iteratively reweighted least squares is a part of robust statistics where "robustness" means relative insensitivity to moderate departures from assumptions. The software for iteratively reweighted least squares is cast as semi-portable Fortran code whose performance is unaffected (in the sense that performance will not be degraded) by the computer or operating-system environment in which it is used. An [ell sub1] start and an [ell sub2] start are provided. Eight weight functions, a numerical rank determination, convergence criterion, and a stem-and-leaf display are included.

Jigging

Our thesis work is jigging in general, that is, the construction of a miniature jig in the laboratory, operation of the same, discussion of jigging principles, and a description with drawings of the jig constructed. Most of our time was spent on the mechanical construction of the jig which we leave to the Mining Department

Open Inflation, the Four Form and the Cosmological Constant

Fundamental theories of quantum gravity such as supergravity include a four form field strength which contributes to the cosmological constant. The inclusion of such a field into our theory of open inflation (hep-th/9802030) allows an anthropic solution to the cosmological constant problem in which the cosmological constant gives a small but non-negligible contribution to the density of today's universe. We include a discussion of the role of the singularity in our solution and a reply to Vilenkin's recent criticism (hep-th/9803084).Comment: 11 pages, RevTex file. Replaced version contains major corrections, including a crucial new surface term, and important additions. A connection to eleven dimensional supergravity is made. The anthropic solution of the cosmological constant problem now holds with a real four form in the Lorentzian region. The previously claimed solution to the empty universe problem is shown to be incorrect, but a new solution is suggeste

Sweet Charity

Sweet Charity, the Little Theatre Workshop\u27s production of Fall, 1980, is about a dancer, Charity, who wants so much to be loved that she has lost sight of who she is. Notice of the play appears on page 1 of The Carroll News of November 14th, 1980.https://collected.jcu.edu/plays/1091/thumbnail.jp

Dam-Breach hydrology of the Johnstown flood of 1889–challenging the findings of the 1891 investigation report

AbstractIn 1891 a report was published by an ASCE committee to investigate the cause of the Johnstown flood of 1889. They concluded that changes made to the dam by the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club did not cause the disaster because the embankment would have been overflowed and breached if the changes were not made. We dispute that conclusion based on hydraulic analyses of the dam as originally built, estimates of the time of concentration and time to peak for the South Fork drainage basin, and reported conditions at the dam and in the watershed.We present a LiDAR-based volume of Lake Conemaugh at the time of dam failure (1.455 × 107 m3) and hydrographs of flood discharge and lake stage decline. Our analytical approach incorporates the complex shape of this dam breach. More than 65 min would have been needed to drain most of the lake, not the 45 min cited by most sources. Peak flood discharges were likely in the range 7200 to 8970 m3 s−1. The original dam design, with a crest ∼0.9 m higher and the added capacity of an auxiliary spillway and five discharge pipes, had a discharge capacity at overtopping more than twice that of the reconstructed dam. A properly rebuilt dam would not have overtopped and would likely have survived the runoff event, thereby saving thousands of lives.We believe the ASCE report represented state-of-the-art for 1891. However, the report contains discrepancies and lapses in key observations, and relied on excessive reservoir inflow estimates. The confidence they expressed that dam failure was inevitable was inconsistent with information available to the committee. Hydrodynamic erosion was a likely culprit in the 1862 dam failure that seriously damaged the embankment. The Club’s substandard repair of this earlier breach sowed the seeds of its eventual destruction

PHOENIX: Public Health and Obesity in England – the New Infrastructure eXamined First interim report: the scoping review

The PHOENIX project aims to examine the impact of structural changes to the health and care system in England on the functioning of the public health system, and on the approaches taken to improving the public’s health. The scoping review has now been completed. During this phase we analysed: Department of Health policy documents (2010-2013), as well as responses to those documents from a range of stakeholders; data from 22 semi-structured interviews with key informants; and the oral and written evidence presented at the House of Commons Communities and Local Government Committee on the role of local authorities in health issues. We also gathered data from local authority (LA) and Health and Wellbeing Board (HWB) websites and other sources to start to develop a picture of how the new structures are developing, and to collate demographic and other data on local authorities. A number of important themes were identified and explored during this phase. In summary, some key points related to three themes - governance, relationships and new ways of working - were: The reforms have had a profound effect on leadership within the public health system. Whilst LAs are now the local leaders for public health, in a more fragmented system, leadership for public health appears to be more dispersed amongst a range of organisations and a range of people within the LA. At national level, the leadership role is complex and not yet developed (from a local perspective). Accountability mechanisms have changed dramatically within public health, and many people still seem to be unclear about them. Some performance management mechanisms have disappeared, and much accountability now appears to rely on transparency and the democratic accountability that this would (theoretically) enable. The extent to which ‘system leaders’ within PHE are able to influence local decisions and performance will depend on the strength of relationships principally between the LA and the local Public Health England centre. These relationships will take time to develop. Many people have faced new ways of working, in new settings, and with new relationships to build. Public health teams in LAs have faced the most profound of these changes, having gone from a position of ‘expert voice’ to a position where they must defend their opinions and activities in the context of competing demands and severely restricted resources. Public health staff may require new skills, and may need to seek new ‘allies’ to thrive in the new environment. HWBs could be crucial in bringing together a fragmented system and dispersed leadership. The next phase of data collection will begin in March with the initiation of case study work. National surveys will be conducted in June/July this year (2014), and at the same time the following year. In this work, we will further explore the following themes: relationships, governance, decision making, new ways of working, and opportunities and difficulties

Homogeneous Modes of Cosmological Instantons

We discuss the O(4) invariant perturbation modes of cosmological instantons. These modes are spatially homogeneous in Lorentzian spacetime and thus not relevant to density perturbations. But their properties are important in establishing the meaning of the Euclidean path integral. If negative modes are present, the Euclidean path integral is not well defined, but may nevertheless be useful in an approximate description of the decay of an unstable state. When gravitational dynamics is included, counting negative modes requires a careful treatment of the conformal factor problem. We demonstrate that for an appropriate choice of coordinate on phase space, the second order Euclidean action is bounded below for normalized perturbations and has a finite number of negative modes. We prove that there is a negative mode for many gravitational instantons of the Hawking-Moss or Coleman-De Luccia type, and discuss the associated spectral flow. We also investigate Hawking-Turok constrained instantons, which occur in a generic inflationary model. Implementing the regularization and constraint proposed by Kirklin, Turok and Wiseman, we find that those instantons leading to substantial inflation do not possess negative modes. Using an alternate regularization and constraint motivated by reduction from five dimensions, we find a negative mode is present. These investigations shed new light on the suitability of Euclidean quantum gravity as a potential description of our universe.Comment: 16 pages, compressed and RevTex file, including one postscript figure fil

Was He Guilty as Charged? An Alternative Narrative Based on the Circumstantial Evidence from \u3cem\u3e12 Angry Men\u3c/em\u3e

This essay argues that while 12 Angry Men is typically viewed as a vindication of innocence, careful consideration of the evidence suggests that the jury probably reached the wrong verdict: the circumstantial evidence pointed to guilt! The authors use this insight to discuss the potential impact of circumstantial versus direct evidence on real juries and perhaps the ways that cases are litigated. The essay suggests a number of questions requiring empirical research