2,238 research outputs found
Functions of several Cayley-Dickson variables and manifolds over them
Functions of several octonion variables are investigated and integral
representation theorems for them are proved. With the help of them solutions of
the -equations are studied. More generally functions of
several Cayley-Dickson variables are considered. Integral formulas of the
Martinelli-Bochner, Leray, Koppelman type used in complex analysis here are
proved in the new generalized form for functions of Cayley-Dickson variables
instead of complex. Moreover, analogs of Stein manifolds over Cayley-Dickson
graded algebras are defined and investigated
A Single Basis for Developmental Buffering of Drosophila Wing Shape
The nature of developmental buffering processes has been debated extensively, based on both theoretical reasoning and empirical studies. In particular, controversy has focused on the question of whether distinct processes are responsible for canalization, the buffering against environmental or genetic variation, and for developmental stability, the buffering against random variation intrinsic in developmental processes. Here, we address this question for the size and shape of Drosophila melanogaster wings in an experimental design with extensively replicated and fully controlled genotypes. The amounts of variation among individuals and of fluctuating asymmetry differ markedly among genotypes, demonstrating a clear genetic basis for size and shape variability. For wing shape, there is a high correlation between the amounts of variation among individuals and fluctuating asymmetry, which indicates a correspondence between the two types of buffering. Likewise, the multivariate patterns of shape variation among individuals and of fluctuating asymmetry show a close association. For wing size, however, the amounts of individual variation and fluctuating asymmetry are not correlated. There was a significant link between the amounts of variation between wing size and shape, more so for fluctuating asymmetry than for variation among individuals. Overall, these experiments indicate a considerable degree of shared control of individual variation and fluctuating asymmetry, although it appears to differ between traits
The type numbers of closed geodesics
A short survey on the type numbers of closed geodesics, on applications of
the Morse theory to proving the existence of closed geodesics and on the recent
progress in applying variational methods to the periodic problem for Finsler
and magnetic geodesicsComment: 29 pages, an appendix to the Russian translation of "The calculus of
variations in the large" by M. Mors
Convex domains of Finsler and Riemannian manifolds
A detailed study of the notions of convexity for a hypersurface in a Finsler
manifold is carried out. In particular, the infinitesimal and local notions of
convexity are shown to be equivalent. Our approach differs from Bishop's one in
his classical result (Bishop, Indiana Univ Math J 24:169-172, 1974) for the
Riemannian case. Ours not only can be extended to the Finsler setting but it
also reduces the typical requirements of differentiability for the metric and
it yields consequences on the multiplicity of connecting geodesics in the
convex domain defined by the hypersurface.Comment: 22 pages, AMSLaTex. Typos corrected, references update
Gaming with eutrophication: Contribution to integrating water quantity and quality management at catchment level
The Metropolitan Region of Sao Paulo (MRSP) hosts 18 million inhabitants. A complex system of 23 interconnected reservoirs was built to ensure its water supply. Half of the potable water produced for MRSP's population (35 m3/s) is imported from a neighbour catchment, the other half is produced within the Alto Tietê catchment, where 99% of the population lives. Perimeters of land use restriction were defined to contain uncontrolled urbanization, as domestic effluents were causing increasing eutrophication of some of these reservoirs. In the 90's catchment committees and sub committees were created to promote discussion between stakeholders and develop catchment plans. The committees are very well structured "on paper". However, they are not very well organised and face a lack of experience. The objective of this work was to design tools that would strengthen their discussion capacities. The specific objective of the AguAloca process was to integrate the quality issue and its relation to catchment management as a whole in these discussions. The work was developed in the Alto Tietê Cabeceiras sub-catchment, one of the 5 sub catchments of the Alto-Tietê. It contains 5 interconnected dams, and presents competitive uses such as water supply, industry, effluent dilution and irrigated agriculture. A RPG was designed following a companion modelling approach (Etienne et al., 2003). It contains a friendly game-board, a set of individual and collective rules and a computerized biophysical model. The biophysical model is used to simulate water allocation and quality processes at catchment level. It articulates 3 modules. A simplified nutrient discharge model permits the estimation of land use nutrient exportation. An arc-node model simulates water flows and associated nutrient charges from one point of the hydrographical network to another. The Vollenweider model is used for simulating specific reservoir dynamics. The RPG allows players to make individual and collective decisions related to water allocation and the management of its quality. Impacts of these decisions are then simulated using the biophysical model. Specific indicators of the game are then updated and may influence player's behaviour (actions) in following rounds. To introduce discussions on the management of water quality at a catchment level, an issue that is rarely explicitly dealt with, four game sessions were implemented involving representatives of basin committees and water and sanitation engineers. During the game session, the participants took advantage of the water quality output of the biophysical model to test management alternatives such as rural sewage collection or effluent dilution. The biophysical model accelerated calculations of flows and eutrophication rates that were then returned to the game board with explicit indicators of quantity and quality. Players could easily test decisions impacting on qualitative water processes and visualize the simulation results directly on the game board that was representing a friendly, virtual and simplified catchment. The Agualoca game proved its ability to turn complex water processes understandable for a non totally initiated public. This experience contributed to a better understanding of multiple-use water management and also of joint management of water quality and quantity. (Résumé d'auteur
Landmark detection in 2D bioimages for geometric morphometrics: a multi-resolution tree-based approach
The detection of anatomical landmarks in bioimages is a necessary but tedious step for geometric morphometrics studies in many research domains. We propose variants of a multi-resolution tree-based approach to speed-up the detection of landmarks in bioimages. We extensively evaluate our method variants on three different datasets (cephalometric, zebrafish, and drosophila images). We identify the key method parameters (notably the multi-resolution) and report results with respect to human ground truths and existing methods. Our method achieves recognition performances competitive with current existing approaches while being generic and fast. The algorithms are integrated in the open-source Cytomine software and we provide parameter configuration guidelines so that they can be easily exploited by end-users. Finally, datasets are readily available through a Cytomine server to foster future research
Insecurity for compact surfaces of positive genus
A pair of points in a riemannian manifold is secure if the geodesics
between the points can be blocked by a finite number of point obstacles;
otherwise the pair of points is insecure. A manifold is secure if all pairs of
points in are secure. A manifold is insecure if there exists an insecure
point pair, and totally insecure if all point pairs are insecure.
Compact, flat manifolds are secure. A standing conjecture says that these are
the only secure, compact riemannian manifolds. We prove this for surfaces of
genus greater than zero. We also prove that a closed surface of genus greater
than one with any riemannian metric and a closed surface of genus one with
generic metric are totally insecure.Comment: 37 pages, 11 figure
Normal families of functions and groups of pseudoconformal diffeomorphisms of quaternion and octonion variables
This paper is devoted to the specific class of pseudoconformal mappings of
quaternion and octonion variables. Normal families of functions are defined and
investigated. Four criteria of a family being normal are proven. Then groups of
pseudoconformal diffeomorphisms of quaternion and octonion manifolds are
investigated. It is proven, that they are finite dimensional Lie groups for
compact manifolds. Their examples are given. Many charactersitic features are
found in comparison with commutative geometry over or .Comment: 55 pages, 53 reference
Modified Semi-Classical Methods for Nonlinear Quantum Oscillations Problems
We develop a modified semi-classical approach to the approximate solution of
Schrodinger's equation for certain nonlinear quantum oscillations problems. At
lowest order, the Hamilton-Jacobi equation of the conventional semi-classical
formalism is replaced by an inverted-potential-vanishing-energy variant
thereof. Under smoothness, convexity and coercivity hypotheses on its potential
energy function, we prove, using the calculus of variations together with the
Banach space implicit function theorem, the existence of a global, smooth
`fundamental solution'. Higher order quantum corrections, for ground and
excited states, are computed through the integration of associated systems of
linear transport equations, and formal expansions for the corresponding energy
eigenvalues obtained by imposing smoothness on the quantum corrections to the
eigenfunctions. For linear oscillators our expansions naturally truncate,
reproducing the well-known solutions for the energy eigenfunctions and
eigenvalues. As an application, we calculate a number of terms in the
corresponding expansions for the one-dimensional anharmonic oscillators of
quartic, sectic, octic, and dectic types and find that our eigenvalue
expansions agree with those of Rayleigh/Schrodinger theory, whereas our wave
functions more accurately capture the more-rapid-than-gaussian decay. For the
quartic oscillator our results strongly suggest that the ground state energy
eigenvalue expansion and its associated wave function expansion are Borel
summable to yield natural candidates for the actual exact ground state solution
and its energy. Our techniques for proving the existence of the crucial
`fundamental solution' to the relevant Hamilton Jacobi equation admit infinite
dimensional generalizations. In a parallel project we shall show how this
construction can be carried out for the Yang-Mills equations in Minkowski
spacetime
Enhanced flight performance by genetic manipulation of wing shape in Drosophila
Insect wing shapes are remarkably diverse and the combination of shape and kinematics determines both aerial capabilities and power requirements. However, the contribution of any specific morphological feature to performance is not known. Using targeted RNA interference to modify wing shape far beyond the natural variation found within the population of a single species, we show a direct effect on flight performance that can be explained by physical modelling of the novel wing geometry. Our data show that altering the expression of a single gene can significantly enhance aerial agility and that the Drosophila wing shape is not, therefore, optimized for certain flight performance characteristics that are known to be important. Our technique points in a new direction for experiments on the evolution of performance specialities in animals
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