Automatic lineament analysis techniques for remotely sensed imagery

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Modelling stochastic bivariate mortality

Stochastic mortality, i.e. modelling death arrival via a jump process with stochastic intensity, is gaining increasing reputation as a way to represent mortality risk. This paper represents a first attempt to model the mortality risk of couples of individuals, according to the stochastic intensity approach. On the theoretical side, we extend to couples the Cox processes set up, i.e. the idea that mortality is driven by a jump process whose intensity is itself a stochastic process, proper of a particular generation within each gender. Dependence between the survival times of the members of a couple is captured by an Archimedean copula. On the calibration side, we fit the joint survival function by calibrating separately the (analytical) copula and the (analytical) margins. First, we select the best fit copula according to the methodology of Wang and Wells (2000) for censored data. Then, we provide a sample-based calibration for the intensity, using a time-homogeneous, non mean-reverting, affine process: this gives the analytical marginal survival functions. Coupling the best fit copula with the calibrated margins we obtain, on a sample generation, a joint survival function which incorporates the stochastic nature of mortality improvements and is far from representing independency.On the contrary, since the best fit copula turns out to be a Nelsen one, dependency is increasing with age and long-term dependence exists

Secondary school pupils' preferences for different types of structured grouping practices

The aim of this paper is to explore pupils’ preferences for particular types of grouping practices an area neglected in earlier research focusing on the personal and social outcomes of ability grouping. The sample comprised over 5,000 year 9 pupils (aged 13-14 years) in 45 mixed secondary comprehensive schools in England. The schools represented three levels of ability grouping in the lower school (years 7 to 9). Pupils responded to a questionnaire which explored the types of grouping that they preferred and the reasons for their choices. The majority of pupils preferred setting, although this was mediated by their set placement, type of school, socio-economic status and gender. The key reason given for this preference was that it enabled work to be matched to learning needs. The paper considers whether there are other ways of achieving this avoiding the negative social and personal outcomes of setting for some pupils

Polarized Single Top Production at Leptonic Colliders from Broken R Parity Interactions Incorporating CP Violation

The contribution from the R parity violating interactions in the associated production of a top quark with a charm antiquark is examined for high energy leptonic colliders. We concentrate on the reactions associated with the semileptonic top decay. A set of characteristic dynamical distributions for the signal events is evaluated and the results contrasted against those from the standard model W-boson pair production background. Next, we turn to a study of a CP-odd observable, associated with the top spin, which leads to an asymmetry in the energy distribution of the emitted charged leptons for the pair of CP-conjugate final states, $b \bar l \nu \bar c$ and $\bar b l \bar \nu c$. A non vanishing asymmetry arises from a CP-odd phase, embedded in the R parity violating coupling constants, through interference terms between the R parity violating amplitudes at both the tree and loop levels.Comment: revtex file. 17 pages. 7 postscript figures. 1 table. The revised version includes an estimate of experimental uncertainties. Submitted to Phys. Rev.

Hierarchy plus anarchy in quark masses and mixings

We introduce a new parameterisation of the effect of unknown corrections from new physics on quark and lepton mass matrices. This parameterisation is used in order to study how the hierarchies of quark masses and mixing angles are modified by random perturbations of the Yukawa matrices. We discuss several examples of flavour relations predicted by different textures, analysing how these relations are influenced by the random perturbations. We also comment on the unlikely possibility that unknown corrections contribute significantly to the hierarchy of masses and mixings.Comment: LaTeX, 18 pages, 16 PS figure

Microporous scaffolds loaded with immunomodulatory lentivirus to study the contribution of immune cell populations to tumor cell recruitment in vivo

Metastases are preceded by stochastic formation of a hospitable microenvironment known as the premetastatic niche, which has been difficult to study. Herein, we employ implantable polycaprolactone scaffolds as an engineered premetastatic niche to independently investigate the role of interleukin‐10 (IL10), CXCL12, and CCL2 in recruiting immune and tumor cells and impacting breast cancer cell phenotype via lentiviral overexpression. Lentivirus delivered from scaffolds in vivo achieved sustained transgene expression for 56 days. IL10 lentiviral expression, but not CXCL12 or CCL2, significantly decreased tumor cell recruitment to scaffolds in vivo. Delivery of CXCL12 enhanced CD45+ immune cell recruitment to scaffolds while delivery of IL10 reduced immune cell recruitment. CCL2 did not alter immune cell recruitment. Tumor cell phenotype was investigated using conditioned media from immunomodulated scaffolds, with CXCL12 microenvironments reducing proliferation, and IL10 microenvironments enhancing proliferation. Migration was enhanced with CCL2 and reduced with IL10‐driven microenvironments. Multiple linear regression identified populations of immune cells associated with tumor cell abundance. CD45+ immune and CD8+ T cells were associated with reduced tumor cell abundance, while CD11b+Gr1+ neutrophils and CD4+ T cells were associated with enhanced tumor cell abundance. Collectively, biomaterial scaffolds provide a tool to probe the formation and function of the premetastatic niche.Metastases are preceded by stochastic formation of a hospitable microenvironment known as the premetastatic niche, which has been difficult to study. Herein, we employ implantable polycaprolactone scaffolds as an engineered premetastatic niche to independently investigate the role of interleukin‐10 (IL10), CXCL12, and CCL2 in recruiting immune and tumor cells and impacting breast cancer cell phenotype via lentiviral overexpression.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/153114/1/bit27179.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/153114/2/bit27179_am.pd

Supersymmetric Electroweak Corrections to Single Top Quark Production at the Fermilab Tevatron

We have calculated the $O(\alpha_{ew} M_t^2/M_W^2)$ supersymmetric electroweak corrections to single top quark production via $q\bar q' \to t\bar b$ at the Fermilab Tevatron in the minimal supersymmetric model. The supersymmetric electroweak corrections to the cross section are a few percent for $tan \beta> 1$, and can exceed 10% for $tan\beta<1$. The combined effects of SUSY electroweak corrections and the Yukawa corrections can exceed 10% for favorable parameter values, which might be observable at a high-luminosity Tevatron.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures available at reques

R-parity violation and top quark polarization at the Fermilab Tevatron collider

The lepton or baryon number violating top quark interactions in the supersymmetric standard model with R parity violation contribute to the process d dbar to t tbar at the tree level via the t- or u-channel sfermion exchange. Since these interactions are chiral, they induce polarization to the top quark in the t tbar events at hadron colliders. We show in this article that the polarization can be a useful observable for probing these interactions at the upgraded Fermilab Tevatron collider, because the polarization is expected to be very small in the standard model.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure