805 research outputs found

    Toolbox for analyzing finite two-state trajectories

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    In many experiments, the aim is to deduce an underlying multi-substate on-off kinetic scheme (KS) from the statistical properties of a two-state trajectory. However, the mapping of a KS into a two-state trajectory leads to the loss of information about the KS, and so, in many cases, more than one KS can be associated with the data. We recently showed that the optimal way to solve this problem is to use canonical forms of reduced dimensions (RD). RD forms are on-off networks with connections only between substates of different states, where the connections can have non-exponential waiting time probability density functions (WT-PDFs). In theory, only a single RD form can be associated with the data. To utilize RD forms in the analysis of the data, a RD form should be associated with the data. Here, we give a toolbox for building a RD form from a finite two-state trajectory. The methods in the toolbox are based on known statistical methods in data analysis, combined with statistical methods and numerical algorithms designed specifically for the current problem. Our toolbox is self-contained - it builds a mechanism based only on the information it extracts from the data, and its implementation on the data is fast (analyzing a 10^6 cycle trajectory from a thirty-parameter mechanism takes a couple of hours on a PC with a 2.66 GHz processor). The toolbox is automated and is freely available for academic research upon electronic request

    The prevalence and incidence of mental ill-health in adults with autism and intellectual disabilities

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    The prevalence, and incidence, of mental ill-health in adults with intellectual disabilities and autism were compared with the whole population with intellectual disabilities, and with controls, matched individually for age, gender, ability-level, and Down syndrome. Although the adults with autism had a higher point prevalence of problem behaviours compared with the whole adult population with intellectual disabilities, compared with individually matched controls there was no difference in prevalence, or incidence of either problem behaviours or other mental ill-health. Adults with autism who had problem behaviours were less likely to recover over a two-year period than were their matched controls. Apparent differences in rates of mental ill-health are accounted for by factors other than autism, including Down syndrome and ability level

    Aristotle’s assertoric syllogistic and modern relevance logic

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    This paper sets out to evaluate the claim that Aristotle’s Assertoric Syllogistic is a relevance logic or shows significant similarities with it. I prepare the grounds for a meaningful comparison by extracting the notion of relevance employed in the most influential work on modern relevance logic, Anderson and Belnap’s Entailment. This notion is characterized by two conditions imposed on the concept of validity: first, that some meaning content is shared between the premises and the conclusion, and second, that the premises of a proof are actually used to derive the conclusion. Turning to Aristotle’s Prior Analytics, I argue that there is evidence that Aristotle’s Assertoric Syllogistic satisfies both conditions. Moreover, Aristotle at one point explicitly addresses the potential harmfulness of syllogisms with unused premises. Here, I argue that Aristotle’s analysis allows for a rejection of such syllogisms on formal grounds established in the foregoing parts of the Prior Analytics. In a final section I consider the view that Aristotle distinguished between validity on the one hand and syllogistic validity on the other. Following this line of reasoning, Aristotle’s logic might not be a relevance logic, since relevance is part of syllogistic validity and not, as modern relevance logic demands, of general validity. I argue that the reasons to reject this view are more compelling than the reasons to accept it and that we can, cautiously, uphold the result that Aristotle’s logic is a relevance logic

    Fuel Cycle Costs for a Plutonium Recycle System

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    The costs of the chemical and metallurgical steps in the fuel cycle for large desalination reactors are estimated. Both capital and operating costs are presented at varying plant capacities for a Zircaloy-clad fuel element containing depleted uranium and recycled plutonium as the oxides. UO/sup 2/-0.5% PuO/sub 2/. The chemical steps are reported at throughputs of 1, 10, and 30 short tons of uranium per day; and the metallurgical or fabrication step at throughputs of 1, 3, 5, and 10 tons per day, as specified by the Office of Science and Technology. The total estimated cost of all the chemical and metallurgical steps drops from .17 to .68 per kilogram of uranium as the cycle throughput is increased from 1 to 10 tons of uranium per day. All steps decrease in cost as plant capacity is increased, with the most impressive decrease in the irradiated assembly processing step, which decreases from .19 to 10 to 07 per kilogram of uranium as throughput is changed from 1 to 10 to 30 tons of uranium per day. The contained data in conjunction with previous studies of a natural uranium fuel cycle and results of a current reactor optimization study will yield complete fuel cycle costs and plutonium value in recycle. (auth

    Instances and connectors : issues for a second generation process language

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    This work is supported by UK EPSRC grants GR/L34433 and GR/L32699Over the past decade a variety of process languages have been defined, used and evaluated. It is now possible to consider second generation languages based on this experience. Rather than develop a second generation wish list this position paper explores two issues: instances and connectors. Instances relate to the relationship between a process model as a description and the, possibly multiple, enacting instances which are created from it. Connectors refers to the issue of concurrency control and achieving a higher level of abstraction in how parts of a model interact. We believe that these issues are key to developing systems which can effectively support business processes, and that they have not received sufficient attention within the process modelling community. Through exploring these issues we also illustrate our approach to designing a second generation process language.Postprin

    Multi‐dimensional biodiversity hotspots and the future of taxonomic, ecological and phylogenetic diversity: A case study of North American rodents

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    AimWe investigate geographic patterns across taxonomic, ecological and phylogenetic diversity to test for spatial (in)congruency and identify aggregate diversity hotspots in relationship to present land use and future climate. Simulating extinctions of imperilled species, we demonstrate where losses across diversity dimensions and geography are predicted.LocationNorth America.Time periodPresent day, future.Major taxa studiedRodentia.MethodsUsing geographic range maps for rodent species, we quantified spatial patterns for 11 dimensions of diversity: taxonomic (species, range weighted), ecological (body size, diet and habitat), phylogenetic (mean, variance, and nearest‐neighbour patristic distances, phylogenetic distance and genus‐to‐species ratio) and phyloendemism. We tested for correlations across dimensions and used spatial residual analyses to illustrate regions of pronounced diversity. We aggregated diversity hotspots in relationship to predictions of land‐use and climate change and recalculated metrics following extinctions of IUCN‐listed imperilled species.ResultsTopographically complex western North America hosts high diversity across multiple dimensions: phyloendemism and ecological diversity exceed predictions based on taxonomic richness, and phylogenetic variance patterns indicate steep gradients in phylogenetic turnover. An aggregate diversity hotspot emerges in the west, whereas spatial incongruence exists across diversity dimensions at the continental scale. Notably, phylogenetic metrics are uncorrelated with ecological diversity. Diversity hotspots overlap with land‐use and climate change, and extinctions predicted by IUCN status are unevenly distributed across space, phylogeny or ecological groups.Main conclusionsComparison of taxonomic, ecological and phylogenetic diversity patterns for North American rodents clearly shows the multifaceted nature of biodiversity. Testing for geographic patterns and (in)congruency across dimensions of diversity facilitates investigation into underlying ecological and evolutionary processes. The geographic scope of this analysis suggests that several explicit regional challenges face North American rodent fauna in the future. Simultaneous consideration of multi‐dimensional biodiversity allows us to assess what critical functions or evolutionary history we might lose with future extinctions and maximize the potential of our conservation efforts.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154236/1/geb13050.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154236/2/geb13050_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154236/3/geb13050-sup-0001-Supinfo1.pd
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