928 research outputs found
“That’s Like an Act of Suicide” Patients’ Attitudes Toward Deactivation of Implantable Defibrillators
Characterization of the near-Earth Asteroid 2002NY40
In August 2002, the near-Earth asteroid 2002 NY40, made its closest approach
to the Earth. This provided an opportunity to study a near-Earth asteroid with
a variety of instruments. Several of the telescopes at the Maui Space
Surveillance System were trained at the asteroid and collected adaptive optics
images, photometry and spectroscopy. Analysis of the imagery reveals the
asteroid is triangular shaped with significant self-shadowing. The photometry
reveals a 20-hour period and the spectroscopy shows that the asteroid is a
Q-type
Fast, Linear Time Hierarchical Clustering using the Baire Metric
The Baire metric induces an ultrametric on a dataset and is of linear
computational complexity, contrasted with the standard quadratic time
agglomerative hierarchical clustering algorithm. In this work we evaluate
empirically this new approach to hierarchical clustering. We compare
hierarchical clustering based on the Baire metric with (i) agglomerative
hierarchical clustering, in terms of algorithm properties; (ii) generalized
ultrametrics, in terms of definition; and (iii) fast clustering through k-means
partititioning, in terms of quality of results. For the latter, we carry out an
in depth astronomical study. We apply the Baire distance to spectrometric and
photometric redshifts from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey using, in this work,
about half a million astronomical objects. We want to know how well the (more
costly to determine) spectrometric redshifts can predict the (more easily
obtained) photometric redshifts, i.e. we seek to regress the spectrometric on
the photometric redshifts, and we use clusterwise regression for this.Comment: 27 pages, 6 tables, 10 figure
The Influence of Physiological Status on age Prediction of Anopheles Arabiensis Using Near Infra-red spectroscopy
Determining the age of malaria vectors is essential for evaluating the impact of interventions that reduce the survival of wild mosquito populations and for estimating changes in vectorial capacity. Near infra-red spectroscopy (NIRS) is a simple and non-destructive method that has been used to determine the age and species of Anopheles gambiae s.l. by analyzing differences in absorption spectra. The spectra are affected by biochemical changes that occur during the life of a mosquito and could be influenced by senescence and also the life history of the mosquito, i.e., mating, blood feeding and egg-laying events. To better understand these changes, we evaluated the influence of mosquito physiological status on NIR energy absorption spectra. Mosquitoes were kept in individual cups to permit record keeping of each individual insect’s life history. Mosquitoes of the same chronological age, but at different physiological stages, were scanned and compared using cross-validations. We observed a slight trend within some physiological stages that suggest older insects tend to be predicted as being physiologically more mature. It was advantageous to include mosquitoes of different chronological ages and physiological stages in calibrations, as it increases the robustness of the model resulting in better age predictions. Progression through different physiological statuses of An. arabiensis influences the chronological age prediction by the NIRS. Entomologists that wish to use NIR technology to predict the age of field-caught An. gambiae s.l from their study area should use a calibration developed from their field strain using mosquitoes of diverse chronological ages and physiological stages to increase the robustness and accuracy of the predictions.\u
Global Guidance for Local Generalization in Model Checking
SMT-based model checkers, especially IC3-style ones, are currently the most
effective techniques for verification of infinite state systems. They infer
global inductive invariants via local reasoning about a single step of the
transition relation of a system, while employing SMT-based procedures, such as
interpolation, to mitigate the limitations of local reasoning and allow for
better generalization. Unfortunately, these mitigations intertwine model
checking with heuristics of the underlying SMT-solver, negatively affecting
stability of model checking. In this paper, we propose to tackle the
limitations of locality in a systematic manner. We introduce explicit global
guidance into the local reasoning performed by IC3-style algorithms. To this
end, we extend the SMT-IC3 paradigm with three novel rules, designed to
mitigate fundamental sources of failure that stem from locality. We instantiate
these rules for the theory of Linear Integer Arithmetic and implement them on
top of SPACER solver in Z3. Our empirical results show that GSPACER, SPACER
extended with global guidance, is significantly more effective than both SPACER
and sole global reasoning, and, furthermore, is insensitive to interpolation.Comment: Published in CAV 202
Global Guidance for Local Generalization in Model Checking
SMT-based model checkers, especially IC3-style ones, are currently the most effective techniques for verification of infinite state systems. They infer global inductive invariants via local reasoning about a single step of the transition relation of a system, while employing SMT-based procedures, such as interpolation, to mitigate the limitations of local reasoning and allow for better generalization. Unfortunately, these mitigations intertwine model checking with heuristics of the underlying SMT-solver, negatively affecting stability of model checking. In this paper, we propose to tackle the limitations of locality in a systematic manner. We introduce explicit global guidance into the local reasoning performed by IC3-style algorithms. To this end, we extend the SMT-IC3 paradigm with three novel rules, designed to mitigate fundamental sources of failure that stem from locality. We instantiate these rules for the theory of Linear Integer Arithmetic and implement them on top of Spacer solver in Z3. Our empirical results show that GSpacer, Spacer extended with global guidance, is significantly more effective than both Spacer and sole global reasoning, and, furthermore, is insensitive to interpolation
Determinants of the range of drugs prescribed in general practice: a cross-sectional analysis
Background: Current health policies assume that prescribing is more efficient and rational when
general practitioners (GPs) work with a formulary or restricted drugs lists and thus with a limited
range of drugs. Therefore we studied determinants of the range of drugs prescribed by general
practitioners, distinguishing general GP-characteristics, characteristics of the practice setting,
characteristics of the patient population and information sources used by GPs.
Methods: Secondary analysis was carried out on data from the Second Dutch Survey in General
Practice. Data were available for 138 GPs working in 93 practices.
ATC-coded prescription data from electronic medical records, census data and data from GP/
practice questionnaires were analyzed with multilevel techniques.
Results: The average GP writes prescriptions for 233 different drugs, i.e. 30% of the available drugs
on the market within one year. There is considerable variation between ATC main groups and
subgroups and between GPs. GPs with larger patient lists, GPs with higher prescribing volumes and
GPs who frequently receive representatives from the pharmaceutical industry have a broader range
when controlled for other variables.
Conclusion: The range of drugs prescribed is a useful instrument for analysing GPs' prescribing
behaviour. It shows both variation between GPs and between therapeutic groups. Statistically
significant relationships found were in line with the hypotheses formulated, like the one concerning
the influence of the industry. Further research should be done into the relationship between the
range and quality of prescribing and the reasons why some GPs prescribe a greater number of
different drugs than others.
Strong Ultraviolet Pulse From a Newborn Type Ia Supernova
Type Ia supernovae are destructive explosions of carbon oxygen white dwarfs.
Although they are used empirically to measure cosmological distances, the
nature of their progenitors remains mysterious, One of the leading progenitor
models, called the single degenerate channel, hypothesizes that a white dwarf
accretes matter from a companion star and the resulting increase in its central
pressure and temperature ignites thermonuclear explosion. Here we report
observations of strong but declining ultraviolet emission from a Type Ia
supernova within four days of its explosion. This emission is consistent with
theoretical expectations of collision between material ejected by the supernova
and a companion star, and therefore provides evidence that some Type Ia
supernovae arise from the single degenerate channel.Comment: Accepted for publication on the 21 May 2015 issue of Natur
Working with gardeners to identify potential invasive ornamental garden plants – testing a citizen science approach
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