2,377 research outputs found
Developments in perfect simulation of Gibbs measures through a new result for the extinction of Galton-Watson-like processes
This paper deals with the problem of perfect sampling from a Gibbs measure
with infinite range interactions. We present some sufficient conditions for the
extinction of processes which are like supermartingales when large values are
taken. This result has deep consequences on perfect simulation, showing that
local modifications on the interactions of a model do not affect simulability.
We also pose the question to optimize over a class of sequences of sets that
influence the sufficient condition for the perfect simulation of the Gibbs
measure. We completely solve this question both for the long range Ising models
and for the spin models with finite range interactions.Comment: 28 page
Splitting neutrino masses and showering into Sky
Neutrino masses might be as light as a few time the atmospheric neutrino mass
splitting. High Energy ZeV cosmic neutrinos (in Z-Showering model) might hit
relic ones at each mass in different resonance energies in our nearby Universe.
This non-degenerated density and energy must split UHE Z-boson secondaries (in
Z-Burst model) leading to multi injection of UHECR nucleons within future
extreme AUGER energy. Secondaries of Z-Burst as neutral gamma, below a few tens
EeV are better surviving local GZK cut-off and they might explain recent Hires
BL-Lac UHECR correlations at small angles. A different high energy resonance
must lead to Glashow's anti-neutrino showers while hitting electrons in matter.
In air, Glashow's anti-neutrino showers lead to collimated and directional
air-showers offering a new Neutrino Astronomy. At greater energy around PeV,
Tau escaping mountains and Earth and decaying in flight are effectively
showering in air sky. These Horizontal showering is splitting by geomagnetic
field in forked shapes. Such air-showers secondaries release amplified and
beamed gamma bursts (like observed TGF), made also by muon and electron pair
bundles, with their accompanying rich Cherenkov flashes. Also planet' s largest
(Saturn, Jupiter) atmosphere limbs offer an ideal screen for UHE GZK and
Z-burst tau neutrino, because their largest sizes. Titan thick atmosphere and
small radius are optimal for discovering up-going resonant Glashow resonant
showers. Earth detection of Neutrino showering by twin Magic Telescopes on top
mountains, or by balloons and satellites arrays facing the limbs are the
simplest and cheapest way toward UHE Neutrino Astronomy .Comment: 4 pages, 7 figures; an author's name correction and Journal Referenc
Comparison of the dietary fibre composition of old and modern durum wheat (Triticum turgidum spp. durum) genotypes
It has been suggested that intensive breeding has led to decreased contents of health-promoting components in modern wheats. We therefore compared the contents and compositions of the major dietary fibre components, arabinoxylan and β-glucan, in semolina and wholemeal flour of old and modern Italian durum wheats. No differences in total arabinoxylan content were observed but the modern varieties had higher proportions of soluble arabinoxylan in wholemeals and of β-glucan in semolina. The study therefore provides no evidence that intensive breeding has had negative effects on the contents of dietary fibre components in durum wheat. However, comparison of material grown over two years indicated that the content and composition of arabinoxylan and β-glucan were more stable in the older than in the modern genotypes. The identification of modern cultivars with high viscosity associated with a high content of β-glucan suggests that they are good sources of fibre for human health
On the impossibility of entropy reversal, and its application to zero-knowledge proofs
Zero knowledge proof systems have been widely studied in cryptography. In the statistical setting, two classes of proof systems studied are Statistical Zero Knowledge (SZK) and Non-Interactive Statistical Zero Knowledge (NISZK), where the difference is that in NISZK only very limited communication is allowed between the verifier and the prover. It is an open problem whether these two classes are in fact equal. In this paper, we rule out efficient black box reductions between SZK and NISZK.
We achieve this by studying algorithms which can reverse the entropy of a function. The problem of estimating the entropy of a circuit is complete for NISZK. Hence, reversing the entropy of a function is equivalent to a black box reduction of NISZK to its complement, which is known to be equivalent to a black box reduction of SZK to NISZK [Goldreich et al, CRYPTO 1999]. We show that any such black box algorithm incurs an exponential loss of parameters, and hence cannot be implemented efficiently
Predictive value of clinical and laboratory features for the main febrile diseases in children living in Tanzania: A prospective observational study.
To construct evidence-based guidelines for management of febrile illness, it is essential to identify clinical predictors for the main causes of fever, either to diagnose the disease when no laboratory test is available or to better target testing when a test is available. The objective was to investigate clinical predictors of several diseases in a cohort of febrile children attending outpatient clinics in Tanzania, whose diagnoses have been established after extensive clinical and laboratory workup.
From April to December 2008, 1005 consecutive children aged 2 months to 10 years with temperature ≥38°C attending two outpatient clinics in Dar es Salaam were included. Demographic characteristics, symptoms and signs, comorbidities, full blood count and liver enzyme level were investigated by bi- and multi-variate analyses (Chan, et al., 2008). To evaluate accuracy of combined predictors to construct algorithms, classification and regression tree (CART) analyses were also performed.
62 variables were studied. Between 4 and 15 significant predictors to rule in (aLR+>1) or rule out (aLR+<1) the disease were found in the multivariate analysis for the 7 more frequent outcomes. For malaria, the strongest predictor was temperature ≥40°C (aLR+8.4, 95%CI 4.7-15), for typhoid abdominal tenderness (5.9,2.5-11), for urinary tract infection (UTI) age ≥3 years (0.20,0-0.50), for radiological pneumonia abnormal chest auscultation (4.3,2.8-6.1), for acute HHV6 infection dehydration (0.18,0-0.75), for bacterial disease (any type) chest indrawing (19,8.2-60) and for viral disease (any type) jaundice (0.28,0.16-0.41). Other clinically relevant and easy to assess predictors were also found: malaria could be ruled in by recent travel, typhoid by jaundice, radiological pneumonia by very fast breathing and UTI by fever duration of ≥4 days. The CART model for malaria included temperature, travel, jaundice and hepatomegaly (sensitivity 80%, specificity 64%); typhoid: age ≥2 years, jaundice, abdominal tenderness and adenopathy (46%,93%); UTI: age <2 years, temperature ≥40°C, low weight and pale nails (20%,96%); radiological pneumonia: very fast breathing, chest indrawing and leukocytosis (38%,97%); acute HHV6 infection: less than 2 years old, (no) dehydration, (no) jaundice and (no) rash (86%,51%); bacterial disease: chest indrawing, chronic condition, temperature ≥39.7°c and fever duration >3 days (45%,83%); viral disease: runny nose, cough and age <2 years (68%,76%).
A better understanding of the relative performance of these predictors might be of great help for clinicians to be able to better decide when to test, treat, refer or simply observe a sick child, in order to decrease morbidity and mortality, but also to avoid unnecessary antimicrobial prescription. These predictors have been used to construct a new algorithm for the management of childhood illnesses called ALMANACH
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