SAS/IML Macros for a Multivariate Analysis of Variance Based on Spatial Signs

Recently, new nonparametric multivariate extensions of the univariate sign methods have been proposed. Randles (2000) introduced an affine invariant multivariate sign test for the multivariate location problem. Later on, Hettmansperger and Randles (2002) considered an affine equivariant multivariate median corresponding to this test. The new methods have promising efficiency and robustness properties. In this paper, we review these developments and compare them with the classical multivariate analysis of variance model. A new SAS/IML tool for performing a spatial sign based multivariate analysis of variance is introduced.

Cross-calibration of Suzaku XIS and XMM-Newton EPIC using clusters of galaxies

We extend a previous cross-calibration study by the International Astronomical Consortium for High Energy Calibration (IACHEC) on XMM-Newton/EPIC, Chandra/ACIS and BeppoSAX/MECS X-ray instruments with clusters of galaxies to Suzaku/XIS instruments. Our aim is to study the accuracy of the energy-dependent effective area calibration of the XIS instruments by comparison of spectroscopic temperatures, fluxes and fit residuals obtained with Suzaku/XIS and XMM-Newton/EPIC-pn for the same cluster. The temperatures measured in the hard 2.0-7.0 keV energy band with all instruments are consistent within 5 %. However, temperatures obtained with the XIS instruments in the soft 0.5-2.0 keV band disagree by 9-29 %. We investigated residuals in the XIS soft band, which showed that if XIS0 effective area shape is accurately calibrated, the effective areas of XIS1 and XIS3 are overestimated below 1.0 keV (or vice versa). Adjustments to the modelling of the column density of the XIS contaminant in the 3-6 arcmin extraction region while forcing consistent emission models in each instrument for a given cluster significantly improved the fits. The oxygen column density in XIS1 and XIS3 contaminant must be increased by 1-2E17 cm^-2 in comparison to the values implemented in the current calibration, while the column density of the XIS0 contaminant given by the analysis is consistent with the public calibration. XIS soft band temperatures obtained with the modification to the column density of the contaminant agree better with temperatures obtained with the EPIC-pn instrument of XMM-Newton, than with those derived using the Chandra-ACIS instrument. However, comparison of hard band fluxes obtained using Suzaku-XIS to fluxes obtained using the Chandra-ACIS and EPIC-pn instruments proved inconclusive.Comment: 24 pages, 27 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

Negative inversion, negative concord and sentential negation in the history of English

It is claimed in van Kemenade (2000: 62) that clauses with initial negative constituents are a context in which subject–verb inversion occurs throughout the history of English. However, different patterns of negative inversion are seen at different periods of English. I argue that changes in the availability of negative inversion reflect changes in the way sentential scope for negation is marked in negative concord constructions. Thus, negative concord involving Middle and Early Modern English not does not co-occur with negative inversion, but negative concord involving Middle English ne does. Changes to negative inversion can be seen to parallel changes in the way sentential scope negation is expressed at successive stages of the Middle English Jespersen Cycle. I propose that the changes to negative inversion and Jespersen's Cycle should both be analysed as changes in the ability of negative items to mark sentential scope for negation. This observation can be formalised within a Minimalist framework as variation in the LF-interpretability of negative features, following the account of Jespersen's Cycle proposed by Wallage (2008)

Comparison of damage risks in even- and uneven-aged forestry in Finland

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The biological functions of mouse twinfilin isoforms

The actin cytoskeleton is essential for many cellular processes, including motility, morphogenesis, endocytosis and signal transduction. Actin can exist in monomeric (G-actin) or filamentous (F-actin) form. Actin filaments are considered to be the functional form of actin, generating the protrusive forces characteristic for the actin cytoskeleton. The structure and dynamics of the actin filament and monomer pools are regulated by a large number of actin-binding proteins in eukaryotic cells. Twinfilin is an evolutionarily conserved small actin monomer binding protein. Twinfilin is composed of two ADF/cofilin-like domains, separated by a short linker and followed by a C-terminal tail. Twinfilin forms a stable, high affinity complex with ADP-G-actin, inhibits the nucleotide exchange on actin monomers, and prevents their assembly into filament ends. Twinfilin was originally identified from yeast and has since then been found from all organisms studied except plants. Not much was known about the role of twinfilin in the actin dynamics in mammalian cells before this study. We set out to unravel the mysteries still covering twinfilins functions using biochemistry, cell biology, and genetics. We identified and characterized two mouse isoforms for the previously identified mouse twinfilin-1. The new isoforms, twinfilin-2a and -2b, are generated from the same gene through alternative promoter usage. The three isoforms have distinctive expression patterns, but are similar biochemically. Twinfilin-1 is the major isoform during development and is expressed in high levels in almost all tissues examined. Twinfilin-2a is also expressed almost ubiquitously, but at lower levels. Twinfilin-2b turned out to be a muscle-specific isoform, with very high expression in heart and skeletal muscle. It seems all mouse tissues express at least two twinfilin isoforms, indicating that twinfilins are important regulators of actin dynamics in all cell and tissue types. A knockout mouse line was generated for twinfilin-2a. The mice homozygous for this knockout were viable and developed normally, indicating that twinfilin-2a is dispensable for mouse development. However, it is important to note that twinfilin-2a shows similar expression pattern to twinfilin-1, suggesting that these proteins play redundant roles in mice. All mouse isoforms were shown to be able to sequester actin filaments and have higher affinity for ADP-G-actin than ATP-G-actin. They are also able to directly interact with heterodimeric capping protein and PI(4,5)P2 similar to yeast twinfilin. In this study we also uncovered a novel function for mouse twinfilins; capping actin filament barbed ends. All mouse twinfilin isoforms were shown to possess this function, while yeast and Drosophila twinfilin were not able to cap filament barbed ends. Twinfilins localize to the cytoplasm but also to actin-rich regions in mammalian cells. The subcellular localizations of the isoforms are regulated differently, indicating that even though twinfilins biochemical functions in vitro are very similar, in vivo they can play different roles through different regulatory pathways. Together, this study show that twinfilins regulate actin filament assembly both by sequestering actin monomers and by capping filament barbed ends, and that mammals have three biochemically similar twinfilin isoforms with partially overlapping expression patterns.Aktiinitukiranka on oleellisen tärkeä useissa solun toiminnoissa, kuten liikkuminen, signaalien välittäminen, endosytoosi ja jakautuminen. Aktiini esiintyy soluissa monomeeri- tai säiemuodossa. Aktiinin toiminnallinen muoto soluissa on säiemäinen. Aktiinisäikeiden rakentumista ja purkamista säätelee suuri joukko solunsisäisiä proteiineja. Twinfiliini on keskeinen proteiini tässä säätelyssä. Twinfiliini paina noin 40 kDa ja koostuu kahdesta ADF-H (homologinen actin depolymerizing factor:lle) domeenista. Twinfiliini muodostaa kompleksin aktiini-monomeerin kanssa, estää nukleotidin vaihtumisen aktiini-monomeerissa ja estää aktiinisäikeiden muodostumisen. Twinfiliini tunnistettiin ensin hiivassa ja on sen jälkeen löydetty kaikista tutkituista eliölajeista, paitsi kasveista. Nisäkkään twinfiliinistä ei tiedetty juuri mitään ennen tämän tutkimuksen aloittamista. Käyttäen solubiologisia, biokemiallisia ja perinnöllisyystieteellisiä menetelmiä olemme pyrkineet selvittämään hiiren twinfiliinin roolia aktiinitukirangan säätelyssä. Tunnistimme ja karakterisoimme kaksi uutta muotoa aiemmin tunnistetulle hiiren twinfiliinille, twinfiliini-1:lle. Uudet muodot, twinfiliini-2a ja -2b, jakavat twinfiliini-1:n biokemialliset ominaisuudet, mutta ilmentyvät eri kudoksissa. Kaikki twinfiliini-muodot sitoutuvat ADP-aktiini-monomeereihin ja aktiinifilamenttien päihin sekä capping proteiiniin. Soluissa twinfiliinit paikallistuvat solulimaan ja aktiini-rikkaisiin alueisiin. Twinfiliinien solunsisäistä sijaintia säädellään eri tavoin, mikä mahdollistaa eri muotojen erilaisen roolin solun toiminnoissa. Twinfiliini-1 on keskeinen muoto yksilönkehityksen aikana ja twinfiliini-2b esiintyy vain lihaskudoksissa. Kaikissa hiiren kudoksissa ilmentyy ainakin kaksi twinfiliinin muotoa, osoittaen, että twinfiliinin täytyy olla tärkeä osatekijä aktiinin säätelyssä. Tutkimuksen aikana loimme poistogeenisen hiirilinjan twinfiliini-2a:n suhteen. Poistogeeniset hiiret olivat elinkelpoisia ja kehittyivät normaalisti. Voi olla, että muut twinfiliini-muodot pystyvät korvaamaan twinfiliini-2a:n toiminnan soluissa

Pako Lautiosaaresta : Kokeellisen photofilm-elokuvan kuvaus ja jälkituotanto

Toiminnallisessa opinnäytetyössäni raportoin kokeellisen, photofilm-tekniikalla kuvatun Pako Lautiosaaresta -elokuvan kuvaamisesta ja kuvankäsittelystä kuvaajan ja kuvanmuokkaajan näkökulmasta. Elokuva toteutettiin photofilm-tekniikalla, jossa koko elokuva on toteutettu valokuvin liikkuvan kuvan sijaan. Tämä ei tarkoita, että kyseessä on valokuvin toteutettu animaatio, koska kuvasta kuvaan siirtymä on niin hidas, ettei illuusiota liikkeestä synny. Kun olin aloittanut opintoni Lapin AMK:ssa syksyllä 2012, minua pyydettiin mukaan kuvaajaksi ja kuvanmuokkaajaksi harrastevoimin toteutettavaan Pako Lautiosaaresta -elokuvaan. Elokuva olisi parodia John Carpenterin vuonna 1981 ohjaamasta Pako New Yorkista -elokuvasta. Olin tuotannon ainoa kuvaaja ja kuvanmuokkaaja, joten olin tärkeässä osassa tuotannossa. Opin tässä tuotannossa, millaista on työskennellä osana isompaa tuotantoa ja millaista on kuvata tiukalla aikataululla hankalissa kuvaustilanteissa kuten pimeällä ilman tarpeeksi hyvää valaisua. Kuvausten aikana minulle tuli tutuksi oman kuvauskalustoni vahvuudet ja rajoitukset, kuten missä tilanteissa tarvitsin lisäsalamaa tai muita valonlähteitä. Elokuva kuvattiin Kemissä ja Keminmaassa. Kuvausten jälkeen palasimme jälkituotannon pariin huhtikuussa 2013, jolloin valitsimme ohjaajan kanssa valokuviin sopivan sarjakuvamaisen visuaalisen ilmeen ja lisäsin muutamaan kohtaukseen taustalle kuvia, tekstiä ja muita tehosteita. Tuotanto loppui minun osaltani elokuussa 2013. Elokuvaa varten valittiin ja muokattiin 759 valokuvaa ja elokuvan pituudeksi tuli 40:50 minuuttia. Vaikka olimme työryhmän kanssa ylpeitä siitä, mitä olimme saaneet aikaiseksi, on elokuva nyt vuosia myöhemmin, varttuneemman kuvataitelijan silmin katsottuna viihdyttävä, mutta amatöörimäinen teos, joka kaipaisi nopeampaa tempoa. Tuotannossa mukana oleminen oli kaiken kaikkiaan hieno kokemus minulle ja sain siitä tärkeitä oppimiskokemuksia kuten kuvakäsikirjoituksen merkitys ja toimiminen työryhmän osana.This practice-based study is a report of an experimental movie titled Pako Lautiosaaresta, (hereinafter Escape from Lautiosaari), which was filmed using a photofilm technique. My role in the making of this movie was photo-graphing/filming and photo retouching. The movie was produced by a technique called photofilm, in which the movie is made by taking individual photographs instead of moving pictures filmed with a video camera. Using this technique does not mean that the movie is an animation made from photographs, since the transition from picture to picture is too slow for creating the illusion of movement that is essential to animation. When I started my studies at Lapland UAS in the fall of 2012, I was asked to be a photographer and photo retoucher in my free time to produce a film called Escape from Lautiosaari. The movie was to be a parody of John Carpenter’s movie, Escape from New York, which he directed in 1981. I was the production’s only photographer and photo retoucher and, therefore, I had a notable role in the production. During my time in this production, I learned what it takes to work in a big production and to shoot to a tight schedule in challenging shooting situations. While working in the production, I became familiar with the ups and downs of my own photography equipment, among them were situations in which I needed to use the extra flash, or other types of light sources. The movie was filmed in Kemi and Keminmaa. After the shooting, the after production stage started in April 2013. I chose with the director the visual outlook of the movie and added the text, pictures and other effects needed for some of the scenes. The production ended for my part in August 2013. In the end, there were 759 photographs chosen for the movie, and the movie’s length ended up being 40:50 minutes. I and the crew were proud of our accomplishment, but now looking back with the eyes of a more experienced artist, the movie is an entertaining piece, even though it is an amateur’s work in need of a faster tempo. Being involved in this production was all in all a great experience for me and I learned important lessons, such as how important it is to have a storyboard and how to work as a member of a team