A nonparametric method to assess significance of events in search for gravitational waves with false discovery rate

In this paper, we present a consistent procedure to assess the significance of gravitational wave events observed by laser interferometric gravitational wave detectors based on the background distribution of detection statistic. We propose a non-parametric method to estimate $p$-value. Based on the estimated $p$-values, we propose a new procedure to assess the significance of a particular event with $q$-value which is the minimum false discovery rate that can be attained when calling the event significant. The $q$-value gives us a criterion on the significance of events which is different from $P_{\rm astro}$ which is used in the LIGO-Virgo analysis and in other analysis. The proposed procedure is applied to the 1-OGC and 2-OGC catalogs [2][3]. For most of the events which were claimed significant in [2] and [3], we also obtain the same results. However, there are differences in the significance for several marginal events. Since the proposed procedure does not require any assumptions on signal and noise, it is very simple and straightforward. The procedure is also applicable to other searches for gravitational waves whose background distribution of detection statistic is difficult to know.Comment: Accepted by PTEP, 18 pages, 8 figur

The cultural policies of the European Union: Problems and prospects for cultural integration.

The central theme of this study is the relationship between culture and polity in a transnational setting. The conceptualisation of culture-polity relationship has been largely dominated by the classical model of the nation-state in which officially sanctioned, territorially bounded culture is thought to generate among the population a sense of belongingness to a shared community, thereby strengthening legitimacy of the polity. The question, then, is whether such a strong, reciprocal link between political and cultural integration is being replicated at the level of the European Union. This study analyses the EU's cultural schemes encompassing education, audiovisual media as well as traditional arts, focusing on different and often conflicting views on culture advocated by various policy actors in which different visions of European society and governance are implicated. Through the systematic examination of specific EU cultural policy measures, the thesis puts forward two main arguments. Firstly, in the course of the development of EU cultural policy, the notion of culture modelled on state-sanctioned, unified national culture has given way to a focus on more market-oriented, pragmatic aspects of culture. Secondly, this change in the conceptualisation of culture is related to a new way of organising cultural spaces in which the networking and exchanges of cultural professionals and organisations play a central role. The thesis concludes that so far the EU has not had much success in articulating a viable model of culture which could reconcile the twin ideal of unity and diversity in the context of contemporary Europe

Keishibukuryogan, a Traditional Japanese Medicine, Inhibits Platelet Aggregation in Guinea Pig Whole Blood

Effects of keishibukuryogan (KBG) on platelet aggregation were investigated. To ensure the specificity of KBG, tokishakuyakusan (TSS) and kamisyoyosan (KSS), which are known to have platelet aggregation-inhibiting effects, and rikkunshito (RKT) and shakuyakukanzoto (SKT), which are considered to be devoid of such effects, were used for comparison. The platelet aggregation of each test drug was measured by the screen filtration pressure method using whole blood of guinea pigs and expressed as a collagen-induced pressure rate (%) or a collagen concentration required for 50% increase in the pressure rate (PATI value). KBG suppressed the collagen-induced whole blood pressure rate increase and increased the PATI value, like TSS and KSS. Neither RKT nor SKT showed these effects. The Moutan cortex and Cinnamomi cortex, the constituent crude drugs of KBG, showed KBG-like pressure rate suppression and PATI-increasing effects. Furthermore, paeonol, a representative component of Moutan cortex, and aspirin which is known to have platelet aggregation-inhibiting activity (COX-1 inhibitor) also showed similar effects. These results suggest that the platelet aggregation-inhibiting activity of the constituent crude drugs Moutan cortex and Cinnamomi cortex is involved in the improving effects of KBG on impaired microcirculation and that paeonol plays a role in these effects