Sixth Form Girls and Bisexual Burden

Much of the literature concerning sexual minorities describes various forms of social mistreatment, alongside the psychological ill effects of minority stress. However, bisexual individuals are often described as having additional burdens compared with other sexual minorities. We conceptualise the collective of these social problems as ‘bisexual burden’, and examine for it through the lived experiences of 15 openly bisexual girls (aged 16–17) from sixth form colleges throughout the UK. We show that, among this cohort, decreasing cultural stigma attached to sexual minorities results in participants being more accepted by their heterosexual and gay peers, compared to previous literature, mostly without the negative components of bisexual burden. We find that when mistreatment does occur, it does so immediately after she comes out; however, this diminishes quickly due to the cultural unacceptability of homo/biphobia in these settings

Creation and characterization of vortex clusters in atomic Bose-Einstein condensates

We show that a moving obstacle, in the form of an elongated paddle, can create vortices that are dispersed, or induce clusters of like-signed vortices in 2D Bose-Einstein condensates. We propose new statistical measures of clustering based on Ripley's K-function which are suitable to the small size and small number of vortices in atomic condensates, which lack the huge number of length scales excited in larger classical and quantum turbulent fluid systems. The evolution and decay of clustering is analyzed using these measures. Experimentally it should prove possible to create such an obstacle by a laser beam and a moving optical mask. The theoretical techniques we present are accessible to experimentalists and extend the current methods available to induce 2D quantum turbulence in Bose-Einstein condensates.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure

Spatially embedded random networks

Many real-world networks analyzed in modern network theory have a natural spatial element; e.g., the Internet, social networks, neural networks, etc. Yet, aside from a comparatively small number of somewhat specialized and domain-specific studies, the spatial element is mostly ignored and, in particular, its relation to network structure disregarded. In this paper we introduce a model framework to analyze the mediation of network structure by spatial embedding; specifically, we model connectivity as dependent on the distance between network nodes. Our spatially embedded random networks construction is not primarily intended as an accurate model of any specific class of real-world networks, but rather to gain intuition for the effects of spatial embedding on network structure; nevertheless we are able to demonstrate, in a quite general setting, some constraints of spatial embedding on connectivity such as the effects of spatial symmetry, conditions for scale free degree distributions and the existence of small-world spatial networks. We also derive some standard structural statistics for spatially embedded networks and illustrate the application of our model framework with concrete examples

Simulation of truncated normal variables

We provide in this paper simulation algorithms for one-sided and two-sided truncated normal distributions. These algorithms are then used to simulate multivariate normal variables with restricted parameter space for any covariance structure.Comment: This 1992 paper appeared in 1995 in Statistics and Computing and the gist of it is contained in Monte Carlo Statistical Methods (2004), but I receive weekly requests for reprints so here it is

Non-equilibrium dynamics of stochastic point processes with refractoriness

Stochastic point processes with refractoriness appear frequently in the quantitative analysis of physical and biological systems, such as the generation of action potentials by nerve cells, the release and reuptake of vesicles at a synapse, and the counting of particles by detector devices. Here we present an extension of renewal theory to describe ensembles of point processes with time varying input. This is made possible by a representation in terms of occupation numbers of two states: Active and refractory. The dynamics of these occupation numbers follows a distributed delay differential equation. In particular, our theory enables us to uncover the effect of refractoriness on the time-dependent rate of an ensemble of encoding point processes in response to modulation of the input. We present exact solutions that demonstrate generic features, such as stochastic transients and oscillations in the step response as well as resonances, phase jumps and frequency doubling in the transfer of periodic signals. We show that a large class of renewal processes can indeed be regarded as special cases of the model we analyze. Hence our approach represents a widely applicable framework to define and analyze non-stationary renewal processes.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure

Markov basis and Groebner basis of Segre-Veronese configuration for testing independence in group-wise selections

We consider testing independence in group-wise selections with some restrictions on combinations of choices. We present models for frequency data of selections for which it is easy to perform conditional tests by Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods. When the restrictions on the combinations can be described in terms of a Segre-Veronese configuration, an explicit form of a Gr\"obner basis consisting of moves of degree two is readily available for performing a Markov chain. We illustrate our setting with the National Center Test for university entrance examinations in Japan. We also apply our method to testing independence hypotheses involving genotypes at more than one locus or haplotypes of alleles on the same chromosome.Comment: 25 pages, 5 figure

Anaerobic digestion of whole-crop winter wheat silage for renewable energy production

With biogas production expanding across Europe in response to renewable energy incentives, a wider variety of crops need to be considered as feedstock. Maize, the most commonly used crop at present, is not ideal in cooler, wetter regions, where higher energy yields per hectare might be achieved with other cereals. Winter wheat is a possible candidate because, under these conditions, it has a good biomass yield, can be ensiled, and can be used as a whole crop material. The results showed that, when harvested at the medium milk stage, the specific methane yield was 0.32 m3 CH4 kg–1 volatile solids added, equal to 73% of the measured calorific value. Using crop yield values for the north of England, a net energy yield of 146–155 GJ ha–1 year–1 could be achieved after taking into account both direct and indirect energy consumption in cultivation, processing through anaerobic digestion, and spreading digestate back to the land. The process showed some limitations, however: the relatively low density of the substrate made it difficult to mix the digester, and there was a buildup of soluble chemical oxygen demand, which represented a loss in methane potential and may also have led to biofoaming. The high nitrogen content of the wheat initially caused problems, but these could be overcome by acclimatization. A combination of these factors is likely to limit the loading that can be applied to the digester when using winter wheat as a substrat

Tobacco Use Treatment at the U.S. National Cancer Institute's Designated Cancer Centers

Tobacco use is a leading cause of cancer, and continued use after cancer diagnosis puts patients at greater risk for adverse health outcomes, including increased risk for cancer recurrence. This study surveyed National Cancer Institute (NCI)–designated Cancer Centers to assess the availability of tobacco use treatment (TUT) services

Museum epigenomics: Characterizing cytosine methylation in historic museum specimens

Museum genomics has transformed the field of collections‐based research, opening up a range of new research directions for paleontological specimens as well as natural history specimens collected over the past few centuries. Recent work demonstrates that it is possible to characterize epigenetic markers such as DNA methylation in well preserved ancient tissues. This approach has not yet been tested in traditionally prepared natural history specimens such as dried bones and skins, the most common specimen types in vertebrate collections. In this study, we developed and tested methods to characterize cytosine methylation in dried skulls up to 76 years old. Using a combination of ddRAD and bisulphite treatment, we characterized patterns of cytosine methylation in two species of deer mouse (Peromyscus spp.) collected in the same region in Michigan in 1940, 2003, and 2013–2016. We successfully estimated methylation in specimens of all age groups, although older specimens yielded less data and showed greater interindividual variation in data yield than newer specimens. Global methylation estimates were reduced in the oldest specimens (76 years old) relative to the newest specimens (1–3 years old), which may reflect post‐mortem hydrolytic deamination. Methylation was reduced in promoter regions relative to gene bodies and showed greater bimodality in autosomes relative to female X chromosomes, consistent with expectations for methylation in mammalian somatic cells. Our work demonstrates the utility of historic specimens for methylation analyses, as with genomic analyses; however, studies will need to accommodate the large variance in the quantity of data produced by older specimens.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162784/5/men13115.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162784/4/men13115-sup-0003-AppendixS1.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162784/3/men13115-sup-0001-FigS1-S2.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162784/2/men13115_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162784/1/men13115-sup-0002-TableS1-S2.pd