A model-based multithreshold method for subgroup identification

Thresholding variable plays a crucial role in subgroup identification for personalizedmedicine. Most existing partitioning methods split the sample basedon one predictor variable. In this paper, we consider setting the splitting rulefrom a combination of multivariate predictors, such as the latent factors, principlecomponents, and weighted sum of predictors. Such a subgrouping methodmay lead to more meaningful partitioning of the population than using a singlevariable. In addition, our method is based on a change point regression modeland thus yields straight forward model-based prediction results. After choosinga particular thresholding variable form, we apply a two-stage multiple changepoint detection method to determine the subgroups and estimate the regressionparameters. We show that our approach can produce two or more subgroupsfrom the multiple change points and identify the true grouping with high probability.In addition, our estimation results enjoy oracle properties. We design asimulation study to compare performances of our proposed and existing methodsand apply them to analyze data sets from a Scleroderma trial and a breastcancer study

Thermodynamics of an ideal generalized gas:II Means of order α\alpha

The property that power means are monotonically increasing functions of their order is shown to be the basis of the second laws not only for processes involving heat conduction but also for processes involving deformations. In an $L$-potentail equilibration the final state will be one of maximum entropy, while in an entropy equilibrium the final state will be one of minimum $L$. A metric space is connected with the power means, and the distance between means of different order is related to the Carnot efficiency. In the ideal classical gas limit, the average change in the entropy is shown to be proportional to the difference between the Shannon and R\'enyi entropies for nonextensive systems that are multifractal in nature. The $L$-potential, like the internal energy, is a Schur convex function of the empirical temperature, which satisfies Jensen's inequality, and serves as a measure of the tendency to uniformity in processes involving pure thermal conduction.Comment: 8 page

Immediate Memory and Electrophysiologic Effects of Prefrontal Cortex Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Neurotypical Individuals and Individuals with Chronic Traumatic Brain Injury: A Pilot Study.

PURPOSE/AIM: Memory impairment post-TBI is common, frequently persistent, and functionally debilitating. The purposes of this pilot study were to assess and to compare immediate behavioral auditory working memory and electrophysiologic effects of three different, randomized, conditions of left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (LDLPFC) transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) applied to four neurotypical adults and four adults with chronic traumatic brain injury (TBI). MATERIALS/METHODS: Pre- and post- anodal, cathodal, and sham tDCS auditory memory performance, auditory event-related potentials (P300 amplitude and latency) and power of alpha and theta EEG bands were measured across individuals in each group. RESULTS: Post-anodal tDCS only, the neurotypical and TBI groups both demonstrated significantly improved immediate auditory memory function. Also post-anodal tDCS, the TBI group demonstrated significantly increased P300 amplitude versus post-sham tDCS. The neurotypical group demonstrated no pre- post tDCS electrophysiologic changes across conditions. CONCLUSIONS: These findings are consistent with findings of other studies of immediate tDCS effects on other types of memory in neurotypical individuals and in individuals with Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and stroke and suggest that individuals with memory impairments second to chronic TBI may benefit from LDLPFC anodal tDCS. Pairing tDCS with traditional behavioral memory interventions may facilitate TBI rehabilitation outcomes and warrants continued investigation

Generalised analysis of compensating balancing sleeves with experimental results from a scaled industrial turbine coupling shaft

The paper furthers the analysis of a recently proposed balancing methodology for high-speed, flexible shafts. This mechanism imparts corrective balancing moments, having the effect of\ud simulating the fixing moments of equivalent double or single encastre mounted shafts. This is shown to theoretically eliminate/nullify the 1st lateral critical speed (LCS), and thereby facilitate safe operation with reduced LCS margins. The paper extends previously reported research to encompass a more generalised case of multiple, concentrated, residual imbalances, thereby facilitating analysis of any imbalance distribution along the shaft. Solutions provide greater insight of the behaviour of the balancing sleeve concept, and the beneficial implications for engineering design. Specifically: 1) a series of concentrated imbalances can be regarded as an equivalent level of uniform eccentricity, and balance sleeve compensation is equally applicable to a generalised unbalanced distribution, 2) compensation depends on the sum of the applied balancing sleeve moments and can therefore be achieved using a single balancing sleeve (thereby simulating a single encastre shaft), 3) compensation of the 2nd critical speed, and to a lesser extent higher orders, is possible by use of two balancing sleeves, positioned at shaft ends, 4) the concept facilitates on-site commissioning of trim balance which requires a means of adjustment at only one end of the shaft, 5) the Reaction Ratio, RR, (simply supported/ encastre), is independent of residual eccentricity, so that the implied benefits resulting from the ratio (possible reductions in the equivalent level of eccentricity) are additional to any balancing procedures undertaken prior to encastre simulation. Analysis shows that equivalent reductions in the order of 1/25th, are possible. Experimental measurements from a scaled model of a typical drive coupling employed on an industrial gas turbine package, loaded asymmetrically with a concentrated point of imbalance, are used to support the analysis and conclusions

Trophic consequences of non-native pumpkinseed Lepomis gibbosus for native pond fishes

Introduced non-native fishes can cause considerable adverse impacts on freshwater ecosystems. The pumpkinseed Lepomis gibbosus, a North American centrarchid, is one of the most widely distributed non-native fishes in Europe, having established self-sustaining populations in at least 28 countries, including the U.K. where it is predicted to become invasive under warmer climate conditions. To predict the consequences of increased invasiveness, a field experiment was completed over a summer period using a Control comprising of an assemblage of native fishes of known starting abundance and a Treatment using the same assemblage but with elevated L. gibbosus densities. The trophic consequences of L. gibbosus invasion were assessed with stable isotope analysis and associated metrics including the isotopic niche, measured as standard ellipse area. The isotopic niches of native gudgeon Gobio gobio and roach Rutilus rutilus overlapped substantially with that of non-native L. gibbosus, and were also substantially reduced in size compared to ponds where L. gibbosus were absent. This suggests these native fishes shifted to a more specialized diet in L. gibbosus presence. Both of these native fishes also demonstrated a concomitant and significant reduction in their trophic position in L. gibbosus presence, with a significant decrease also evident in the somatic growth rate and body condition of G. gobio. Thus, there were marked changes detected in the isotopic ecology and growth rates of the native fish in the presence of non-native L. gibbosus. The implications of these results for present and future invaded pond communities are discussed

Monitoring Flower Visitation Networks and Interactions between Pairs of Bumble Bees in a Large Outdoor Flight Cage

This research was supported by a combined grant from the Wellcome Trust, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (BB/F52765X/1). While writing, ML was supported by the IDEX of the Federal University of Toulouse (Starting and Emergence grants), the Fyssen foundation and the CNRS. NER was supported as the Rebanks Family Chair in Pollinator Conservation by The W. Garfield Weston Foundation. LC was supported by ERC Advanced Grant SpaceRadarPollinator and by a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award

Search for direct pair production of the top squark in all-hadronic final states in proton-proton collisions at s√=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The results of a search for direct pair production of the scalar partner to the top quark using an integrated luminosity of 20.1fb−1 of proton–proton collision data at √s = 8 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC are reported. The top squark is assumed to decay via t˜→tχ˜01 or t˜→ bχ˜±1 →bW(∗)χ˜01 , where χ˜01 (χ˜±1 ) denotes the lightest neutralino (chargino) in supersymmetric models. The search targets a fully-hadronic final state in events with four or more jets and large missing transverse momentum. No significant excess over the Standard Model background prediction is observed, and exclusion limits are reported in terms of the top squark and neutralino masses and as a function of the branching fraction of t˜ → tχ˜01 . For a branching fraction of 100%, top squark masses in the range 270–645 GeV are excluded for χ˜01 masses below 30 GeV. For a branching fraction of 50% to either t˜ → tχ˜01 or t˜ → bχ˜±1 , and assuming the χ˜±1 mass to be twice the χ˜01 mass, top squark masses in the range 250–550 GeV are excluded for χ˜01 masses below 60 GeV

Observation of associated near-side and away-side long-range correlations in √sNN=5.02 TeV proton-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector

Two-particle correlations in relative azimuthal angle (Δϕ) and pseudorapidity (Δη) are measured in √sNN=5.02  TeV p+Pb collisions using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed using approximately 1  μb-1 of data as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the transverse energy (ΣETPb) summed over 3.1<η<4.9 in the direction of the Pb beam. The correlation function, constructed from charged particles, exhibits a long-range (2<|Δη|<5) “near-side” (Δϕ∼0) correlation that grows rapidly with increasing ΣETPb. A long-range “away-side” (Δϕ∼π) correlation, obtained by subtracting the expected contributions from recoiling dijets and other sources estimated using events with small ΣETPb, is found to match the near-side correlation in magnitude, shape (in Δη and Δϕ) and ΣETPb dependence. The resultant Δϕ correlation is approximately symmetric about π/2, and is consistent with a dominant cos⁡2Δϕ modulation for all ΣETPb ranges and particle pT