3,818 research outputs found
A Bayesian spatio-temporal model of panel design data: airborne particle number concentration in Brisbane, Australia
This paper outlines a methodology for semi-parametric spatio-temporal
modelling of data which is dense in time but sparse in space, obtained from a
split panel design, the most feasible approach to covering space and time with
limited equipment. The data are hourly averaged particle number concentration
(PNC) and were collected, as part of the Ultrafine Particles from Transport
Emissions and Child Health (UPTECH) project. Two weeks of continuous
measurements were taken at each of a number of government primary schools in
the Brisbane Metropolitan Area. The monitoring equipment was taken to each
school sequentially. The school data are augmented by data from long term
monitoring stations at three locations in Brisbane, Australia.
Fitting the model helps describe the spatial and temporal variability at a
subset of the UPTECH schools and the long-term monitoring sites. The temporal
variation is modelled hierarchically with penalised random walk terms, one
common to all sites and a term accounting for the remaining temporal trend at
each site. Parameter estimates and their uncertainty are computed in a
computationally efficient approximate Bayesian inference environment, R-INLA.
The temporal part of the model explains daily and weekly cycles in PNC at the
schools, which can be used to estimate the exposure of school children to
ultrafine particles (UFPs) emitted by vehicles. At each school and long-term
monitoring site, peaks in PNC can be attributed to the morning and afternoon
rush hour traffic and new particle formation events. The spatial component of
the model describes the school to school variation in mean PNC at each school
and within each school ground. It is shown how the spatial model can be
expanded to identify spatial patterns at the city scale with the inclusion of
more spatial locations.Comment: Draft of this paper presented at ISBA 2012 as poster, part of UPTECH
projec
Heterogeneity in the growth hormone pituitary gland system of rats and humans: Implications to microgravity based research
The cell separation techniques of velocity sedimentation, flow cytometry and continuous flow electrophoresis were used to obtain enriched populations of growth hormone (GH) cells. The goal was to isolate a GH cell subpopulation which releases GH molecules which are very high in biological activity, it was important to use a method which was effective in processing large numbers of cells over a short time span. The techniques based on sedimentation are limited by cell density overlaps and streaming. While flow cytometry is useful in the analytical mode for objectively establishing cell purity, the numbers of cells which can be processed in the sort mode are so small as to make this approach ineffective in terms of the long term goals. It was shown that continuous flow electrophoresis systems (CFES) can separate GH cells from other cell types on the basis of differences in surface charge. The bioreactive producers appear to be more electrophoretically mobile than the low producers. Current ground based CFES efforts are hampered by cell clumping in low ionic strength buffers and poor cell recoveries from the CFES device
CENP-A Is Dispensable for Mitotic Centromere Function after Initial Centromere/Kinetochore Assembly
Human centromeres are defined by chromatin containing the histone H3 variant CENP-A assembled onto repetitive alphoid DNA sequences. By inducing rapid, complete degradation of endogenous CENP-A, we now demonstrate that once the first steps of centromere assembly have been completed in G1/S, continued CENP-A binding is not required for maintaining kinetochore attachment to centromeres or for centromere function in the next mitosis. Degradation of CENP-A prior to kinetochore assembly is found to block deposition of CENP-C and CENP-N, but not CENP-T, thereby producing defective kinetochores and failure of chromosome segregation. Without the continuing presence of CENP-A, CENP-B binding to alphoid DNA sequences becomes essential to preserve anchoring of CENP-C and the kinetochore to each centromere. Thus, there is a reciprocal interdependency of CENP-A chromatin and the underlying repetitive centromere DNA sequences bound by CENP-B in the maintenance of human chromosome segregation
Entropic effects on the Size Evolution of Cluster Structure
We show that the vibrational entropy can play a crucial role in determining
the equilibrium structure of clusters by constructing structural phase diagrams
showing how the structure depends upon both size and temperature. These phase
diagrams are obtained for example rare gas and metal clusters.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Measurement of the Solar Neutrino Capture Rate by the Russian-American Gallium Solar Neutrino Experiment During One Half of the 22-Year Cycle of Solar Activity
We present the results of measurements of the solar neutrino capture rate in
gallium metal by the Russian-American Gallium Experiment SAGE during slightly
more than half of a 22-year cycle of solar activity. Combined analysis of the
data of 92 runs during the 12-year period January 1990 through December 2001
gives a capture rate of solar neutrinos with energy more than 233 keV of 70.8
+5.3/-5.2 (stat.) +3.7/-3.2 (syst.) SNU. This represents only slightly more
than half of the predicted standard solar model rate of 128 SNU. We give the
results of new runs beginning in April 1998 and the results of combined
analysis of all runs since 1990 during yearly, monthly, and bimonthly periods.
Using a simple analysis of the SAGE results combined with those from all other
solar neutrino experiments, we estimate the electron neutrino pp flux that
reaches the Earth to be (4.6 +/- 1.1) E10/(cm^2-s). Assuming that neutrinos
oscillate to active flavors the pp neutrino flux emitted in the solar fusion
reaction is approximately (7.7 +/- 1.8) E10/(cm^2-s), in agreement with the
standard solar model calculation of (5.95 +/- 0.06) E10/(cm^2-s).Comment: English translation of article submitted to Russian journal Zh. Eksp.
Teor. Fiz. (JETP); 12 pages, 5 figures. V2: Added winter-summer difference
and 2 reference
Analysis and packaging of radiochemical solar neutrino data. 1. Bayesian approach
According to current practice, the results of each run of a radiochemical
solar neutrino experiment comprise an estimate of the flux and upper and lower
error estimates. These estimates are derived by a maximum-likelihood procedure
from the times of decay events in the analysis chamber. This procedure has the
following shortcomings: (a) Published results sometimes include negative flux
estimates. (b) Even if the flux estimate is non-negative, the probability
distribution function implied by the flux and error estimates will extend into
negative territory; and (c) The overall flux estimate derived from the results
of a sequence of runs may differ substantially from an estimate made by a
global analysis of all of the timing data taken together. These defects
indicate that the usual packaging of data in radiochemical solar neutrino
experiments provides an inadequate summary of the data, which implies a loss of
information. This article reviews this problem from a Bayesian perspective, and
suggests an alternative scheme for the packaging of radiochemical solar
neutrino data, which is we believe free from the above objections.Comment: 8 page
Support for graphicacy: a review of textbooks available to accounting students
This Teaching Note reports on the support available in textbooks for graphicacy that will help students understand the complexities of graphical displays. Graphical displays play a significant role in financial reporting, and studies have found evidence of measurement distortion and selection bias. To understand the complexities of graphical displays, students need a sound understanding of graphicacy and support from the textbooks available to them to develop that understanding. The Teaching Note reports on a survey that examined the textbooks available to students attending two Scottish universities. The support of critical graphicacy skills was examined in conjunction with textbook characteristics. The survey, which was not restricted to textbooks designated as required reading, examined the textbooks for content on data measurement and graphical displays. The findings highlight a lack of support for graphicacy in the textbooks selected. The study concludes that accounting educators need to scrutinize more closely the selection of textbooks and calls for more extensive research into textbooks as a pedagogic tool
Sparsity driven ultrasound imaging
An image formation framework for ultrasound imaging from synthetic transducer arrays based on sparsity-driven regularization functionals using single-frequency Fourier domain data is proposed. The framework involves the use of a physics-based forward model of the ultrasound observation process, the formulation of image formation as the solution of an associated optimization problem, and the solution of that problem through efficient numerical algorithms. The sparsity-driven, model-based approach estimates a complex-valued reflectivity field and preserves physical features in the scene while suppressing spurious artifacts. It also provides robust reconstructions in the case of sparse and reduced observation apertures. The effectiveness of the proposed imaging strategy is demonstrated using experimental data
Neutrino flavour relaxation or neutrino oscillations?
We propose the new mechanism of neutrino flavour relaxation to explain the
experimentally observed changes of initial neutrino flavour fluxes. The test of
neutrino relaxation hypothesis is presented, using the data of modern reactor,
solar and accelerator experiments. The final choice between the standard
neutrino oscillations and the proposed neutrino flavour relaxation model can be
done in future experiments
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