Homogeneity analysis with k sets of variables: An alternating least squares method with optimal scaling features

Homogeneity analysis, or multiple correspondence analysis, is usually applied to k separate variables. In this paper, it is applied to sets of variables by using sums within sets. The resulting technique is referred to as OVERALS. It uses the notion of optimal scaling, with transformations that can be multiple or single. The single transformations consist of three types: (1) nominal; (2) ordinal; and (3) numerical. The corresponding OVERALS computer program minimizes a least squares loss function by using an alternating least squares algorithm. Many existing linear and non-linear multivariate analysis techniques are shown to be special cases of OVERALS. Disadvantages of the OVERALS method include the possibility of local minima in some complicated special cases, a lack of information on the stability of results, and its inability to handle incomplete data matrices. Means of dealing with some of these problems are suggested (i.e., an alternating least squares algorithm to solve the minimization problem). An application of the method to data from an epidemiological survey is provided

Phase diffusion in a Bose-Einstein condensate of light

We study phase diffusion in a Bose-Einstein condensate of light in a dye-filled optical microcavity, i.e., the spreading of the probability distribution for the condensate phase. To observe this phenomenon, we propose an interference experiment between the condensed photons and an external laser. We determine the average interference patterns, considering quantum and thermal fluctuations as well as dissipative effects due to the dye. Moreover, we show that a representative outcome of individual measurements can be obtained from a stochastic equation for the global phase of the condensate

Modeling match performance in elite volleyball players: importance of jump load and strength training characteristics

In this study, we investigated the relationships between training load, perceived wellness and match performance in professional volleyball by applying the machine learning techniques XGBoost, random forest regression and subgroup discovery. Physical load data were obtained by manually logging all physical activities and using wearable sensors. Daily wellness of players was monitored using questionnaires. Match performance was derived from annotated actions by a video scout during matches. We identified conditions of predictor variables that related to attack and pass performance (p < 0.05). Better attack performance is related to heavy weights of lower-body strength training exercises in the preceding four weeks. However, worse attack performance is linked to large variations in weights of full-body strength training exercises, excessively heavy upper-body strength training, low jump heights and small variations in the number of high jumps in the four weeks prior to competition. Lower passing performance was associated with small variations in the number of high jumps in the preceding week and an excessive amount of high jumps performed, on average, in the two weeks prior to competition. Differences in findings with respect to passing and attack performance suggest that elite volleyball players can improve their performance if training schedules are adapted to the position of a player.Algorithms and the Foundations of Software technolog

Oxidatively drying coating composition

coating composition comprising an oxidatively drying coating binder and a chelate comprising at least one group according to the following formula (I): forming a complex with a metal ion, A1 and A2 both being an aromatic residue, R1 and R3 being covalently bonded groups, and R2 being a divalent organic radical, wherein at least one solubilizing group is coivalently bonded to the chelating compound. The solubilizing group is a non-polar group, preferable an aliphatic group having at least four carbon atoms, covalently bonded to A1 and/or A2. The metal ion is a divalent ion of a metal selected from the group of manganese, cobalt, copper, lead, zirconium, iron, lanthanium, cerium, vanadium, and clacium or a trivalent ion of a metal selected from the group of manganese, cobalt, lead, zirconium, iron, lanthanium, cerium, and vanadium, combined with a monovalent counterion

The Long-Term Evolution of Social Organization

This chapter outlines how the ‘innovation innovation’ transformed the world of our distant ancestors into that in which we live today. It focuses on the relationship between people and the material world, as it is the material world that has been most drastically, and measurably, transformed over the last several tens of thousands of years. In view of what we know about such distant periods, and in view of the space allot-ted to us here, it will not surprise the reader that we do so in the form of a narrative that is only partly underpinned by substantive data. We emphasize this because we do not want to hide from the reader the speculative nature of the story that follows. Yet we firmly believe that, in very general terms, this scenario is correct, and that further research will vindicate us.We first give examples of the kinds of abstractions, and the hierarchy of conceptual dimensions necessary for prehistoric human beings and their ancestors, to conquer matter, i.e. to conceptually understand, transmit and apply the operations needed to master the making of a range of objects made out of stone, bone, wood, clay and other materials. Some of the abstractions that had to be conceived in this domain re-semble those that Read et al. (http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/2798j162) refer to, while others apply to this domain alone, and had to be truly ‘invented’. It is then argued that such ‘identification of conceptual dimensions’ is a process that underlies all human activity, and we look a little closer at how that process relates to invention and innovation.Lastly, we shift our attention to the role of innovation, information processing and communication in the emergence of social institutions, and in the structural transformation of human societies as they grow in size and complexity. In particular, we look at the role that problem solving and invention play in creating more and more complex societies, encompassing increasing numbers of people, more and more diverse institutions, and an – ultimately seemingly all-encompassing – appropriation of the natural environment. To illustrate this development we will focus on the origins and growth of urban systems

HIFI spectroscopy of low-level water transitions in M82

We present observations of the rotational ortho-water ground transition, the two lowest para-water transitions, and the ground transition of ionised ortho-water in the archetypal starburst galaxy M82, performed with the HIFI instrument on the Herschel Space Observatory. These observations are the first detections of the para-H2O(111-000) (1113\,GHz) and ortho-H2O+(111-000) (1115\,GHz) lines in an extragalactic source. All three water lines show different spectral line profiles, underlining the need for high spectral resolution in interpreting line formation processes. Using the line shape of the para-H2O(111-000) and ortho-H2O+(111-000) absorption profile in conjunction with high spatial resolution CO observations, we show that the (ionised) water absorption arises from a ~2000 pc^2 region within the HIFI beam located about ~50 pc east of the dynamical centre of the galaxy. This region does not coincide with any of the known line emission peaks that have been identified in other molecular tracers, with the exception of HCO. Our data suggest that water and ionised water within this region have high (up to 75%) area-covering factors of the underlying continuum. This indicates that water is not associated with small, dense cores within the ISM of M82 but arises from a more widespread diffuse gas component.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in A&