6,966 research outputs found
Bayesian phylogenetic estimation of fossil ages
Recent advances have allowed for both morphological fossil evidence and
molecular sequences to be integrated into a single combined inference of
divergence dates under the rule of Bayesian probability. In particular the
fossilized birth-death tree prior and the Lewis-Mk model of discrete
morphological evolution allow for the estimation of both divergence times and
phylogenetic relationships between fossil and extant taxa. We exploit this
statistical framework to investigate the internal consistency of these models
by producing phylogenetic estimates of the age of each fossil in turn, within
two rich and well-characterized data sets of fossil and extant species
(penguins and canids). We find that the estimation accuracy of fossil ages is
generally high with credible intervals seldom excluding the true age and median
relative error in the two data sets of 5.7% and 13.2% respectively. The median
relative standard error (RSD) was 9.2% and 7.2% respectively, suggesting good
precision, although with some outliers. In fact in the two data sets we analyze
the phylogenetic estimates of fossil age is on average < 2 My from the midpoint
age of the geological strata from which it was excavated. The high level of
internal consistency found in our analyses suggests that the Bayesian
statistical model employed is an adequate fit for both the geological and
morphological data, and provides evidence from real data that the framework
used can accurately model the evolution of discrete morphological traits coded
from fossil and extant taxa. We anticipate that this approach will have diverse
applications beyond divergence time dating, including dating fossils that are
temporally unconstrained, testing of the "morphological clock", and for
uncovering potential model misspecification and/or data errors when
controversial phylogenetic hypotheses are obtained based on combined divergence
dating analyses.Comment: 28 pages, 8 figure
Screening effects in a density functional theory based description of molecular junctions in the Coulomb blockade regime
We recently introduced a method based on density functional theory (DFT) and
non-equilibrium Green's function techniques (NEGF) for calculating the addition
energies of single molecule nano-junctions in the Coulomb blockade (CB) regime.
Here we apply this approach to benzene molecules lying parallel and at various
distances from two aluminum fcc (111) surfaces, and discuss the distance
dependence in our calculations in terms of electrostatic screening effects. The
addition energies near the surface are reduced by about a factor of two, which
is comparable to previously reported calculations employing a computationally
far more demanding quasi-particle description
Dynamical diversity and metastability in a hindered granular column near jamming
Granular media jam into a panoply of metastable states. The way in which
these states are achieved depends on the nature of local and global constraints
on grains; here we investigate this issue by means of a non-equilibrium
stochastic model of a hindered granular column near its jamming limit. Grains
feel the constraints of grains above and below them differently, depending on
their position. A rich phase diagram with four dynamical phases (ballistic,
activated, logarithmic and glassy) is revealed. The statistics of the jamming
time and of the metastable states reached as attractors of the zero-temperature
dynamics is investigated in each of these phases. Of particular interest is the
glassy phase, where intermittency and a strong deviation from Edwards' flatness
are manifest.Comment: 23 pages, 12 figure
Metastable States in High Order Short-Range Spin Glasses
The mean number of metastable states in higher order short-range spin
glasses is estimated analytically using a variational method introduced by
Tanaka and Edwards for very large coordination numbers. For lattices with small
connectivities, numerical simulations do not show any significant dependence on
the relative positions of the interacting spins on the lattice, indicating thus
that these systems can be described by a few macroscopic parameters. As an
extremely anisotropic model we consider the low autocorrelated binary spin
model and we show through numerical simulations that its landscape has an
exceptionally large number of local optima
Glassy states in a shaken sandbox
Our model of shaken sand, presented in earlier work, has been extended to
include a more realistic `glassy' state, i.e., when the sandbox is shaken at
very low intensities of vibration. We revisit some of our earlier results, and
compare them with our new results on the revised model. Our analysis of the
glassy dynamics in our model shows that a variety of ground states is obtained;
these fall in two categories, which we argue are representative of regular and
irregular packings.Comment: 10 pages. 3 figures. To appear in Proceedings of Research Workshop on
"Challenges in Granular Physics" (ICTP, Trieste, August 7-11, 2001). Special
issue of Advances in Complex System
Dynamic Response of a Cylindrical Shell Segment Subjected to an Arbitrary Loading
Dynamic response analysis for underground cylindrical shell segments subjected to blast loadin
Calibrated Tree Priors for Relaxed Phylogenetics and Divergence Time Estimation
The use of fossil evidence to calibrate divergence time estimation has a long
history. More recently Bayesian MCMC has become the dominant method of
divergence time estimation and fossil evidence has been re-interpreted as the
specification of prior distributions on the divergence times of calibration
nodes. These so-called "soft calibrations" have become widely used but the
statistical properties of calibrated tree priors in a Bayesian setting has not
been carefully investigated. Here we clarify that calibration densities, such
as those defined in BEAST 1.5, do not represent the marginal prior distribution
of the calibration node. We illustrate this with a number of analytical results
on small trees. We also describe an alternative construction for a calibrated
Yule prior on trees that allows direct specification of the marginal prior
distribution of the calibrated divergence time, with or without the restriction
of monophyly. This method requires the computation of the Yule prior
conditional on the height of the divergence being calibrated. Unfortunately, a
practical solution for multiple calibrations remains elusive. Our results
suggest that direct estimation of the prior induced by specifying multiple
calibration densities should be a prerequisite of any divergence time dating
analysis
Qualification model spacecraft tests for DEMP, SGEMP, and ESD effects
The development of a satellite design demonstration test program is described. The test approach is comprehensive in that it includes the effects from electrostatic discharge (ESD), system generated electromagnetic pulse (SGEMP), as well as dispersed electromagnetic pulses (DEMP). The comprehensive test concept is based on the similarity of the satellite's response to several environments
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