4,710 research outputs found
Blockwise SVD with error in the operator and application to blind deconvolution
We consider linear inverse problems in a nonparametric statistical framework.
Both the signal and the operator are unknown and subject to error measurements.
We establish minimax rates of convergence under squared error loss when the
operator admits a blockwise singular value decomposition (blockwise SVD) and
the smoothness of the signal is measured in a Sobolev sense. We construct a
nonlinear procedure adapting simultaneously to the unknown smoothness of both
the signal and the operator and achieving the optimal rate of convergence to
within logarithmic terms. When the noise level in the operator is dominant, by
taking full advantage of the blockwise SVD property, we demonstrate that the
block SVD procedure overperforms classical methods based on Galerkin projection
or nonlinear wavelet thresholding. We subsequently apply our abstract framework
to the specific case of blind deconvolution on the torus and on the sphere
Gender homophily from spatial behavior in a primary school: a sociometric study
We investigate gender homophily in the spatial proximity of children (6 to 12
years old) in a French primary school, using time-resolved data on face-to-face
proximity recorded by means of wearable sensors. For strong ties, i.e., for
pairs of children who interact more than a defined threshold, we find
statistical evidence of gender preference that increases with grade. For weak
ties, conversely, gender homophily is negatively correlated with grade for
girls, and positively correlated with grade for boys. This different evolution
with grade of weak and strong ties exposes a contrasted picture of gender
homophily
Regimes of waste (im)perceptibility in the life cycle of metal
The transnational legal landscape governing waste management, recycling, and disposal remains narrowly focused on the economic possibilities of ‘end-of-life products', while paying little to no consideration to the much greater quantities of waste generated at the beginning of the product's lifecycle. We explore the existing regulatory framework through the duality of (in)visibility: whereas the circular economy of recycling increasingly integrates synthetic waste into the visible, the extractive industry buries biophysical waste into a ‘cradle-to-grave' economy. We argue that waste becomes a perceptible matter of concern when commodified into a new cycle of wealth accumulation. By contrast, when waste is abandoned on mining sites, it becomes an imperceptible matter of fact. Mining risks, although perceptible to the industry and affected communities, are rendered less visible to the administrative bodies in charge of regulating them. Therefore, waste (im)perceptibility is industrially manufactured according to the commercial aspects of a product, rather than its toxicity
Utilisation and evaluation of cooperative case-based teaching for integration of microbiology and pharmacology in veterinary education
Purpose:
Integrating basic sciences with clinical disciplines while fostering clinical reasoning capabilities is difficult. We investigated the utilisation of diagnostic specimens and, a cooperative, case-based learning and teaching model to integrate principles of antimicrobial drug pharmacology and microbiology in the fifth year of a veterinary course.
Methods:
In small groups, students were assigned diagnostic specimens from which they isolated and identified clinically relevant microorganisms and then performed antimicrobial susceptibility tests based on a review of pharmacology, microbiology and pathophysiology. Results were recorded and analysed followed by a student-led integrative tutorial. Learning outcomes were assessed via individually written reports discussing the disease process, interpretation of diagnostic results and, recommendations and rationales for therapeutic interventions.
Results:
This approach yielded high quality student reports that conformed to antimicrobial prescription guidelines with consistently high summative assessment scores. Mean scores for the final report in this learning activity were: 82 ± 12%, 80 ± 12% and 80 ± 11% for 2015, 2016 and 2017 cohorts respectively; over the same time period, 98 ± 1% of students indicated that these learning activities facilitated the development of confidence, professional knowledge and skills.
Discussion:
This was a consistent approach for integrating principles of veterinary pharmacology and microbiology in clinical disciplines. These data illustrate the benefit of a systematic application of a cooperative, case-based learning and teaching model in integrating pre-clinical and clinical disciplines in a bachelor of veterinary science course
Inverse condensation of adsorbed molecules with two conformations
Conventional gas-liquid phase transitions feature a coexistence line that has
a monotonic and positive slope in line with our intuition that cooling always
leads to condensation. Here we study the inverse phenomenon, condensation of
adsorbed organic molecules into dense domains upon heating. Our considerations
are motivated by recent experiments [Aeschlimann et al., Angew. Chem. (2021)],
which demonstrate the partial dissolution of an ordered molecular monolayer and
the mobilization of molecules upon cooling. We introduce a simple lattice model
in which each site can have three states corresponding to unoccupied and two
discernible molecular conformations. We investigate this model through Monte
Carlo simulations, mean-field theory, and exact results based on the analytical
solution of the Ising model in two dimensions. Our results should be broadly
applicable to molecules with distinct conformations that have sufficiently
different entropies or heat capacities
An elasto-visco-plastic model for immortal foams or emulsions
A variety of complex fluids consist in soft, round objects (foams, emulsions,
assemblies of copolymer micelles or of multilamellar vesicles -- also known as
onions). Their dense packing induces a slight deviation from their prefered
circular or spherical shape. As a frustrated assembly of interacting bodies,
such a material evolves from one conformation to another through a succession
of discrete, topological events driven by finite external forces. As a result,
the material exhibits a finite yield threshold. The individual objects usually
evolve spontaneously (colloidal diffusion, object coalescence, molecular
diffusion), and the material properties under low or vanishing stress may alter
with time, a phenomenon known as aging. We neglect such effects to address the
simpler behaviour of (uncommon) immortal fluids: we construct a minimal, fully
tensorial, rheological model, equivalent to the (scalar) Bingham model.
Importantly, the model consistently describes the ability of such soft
materials to deform substantially in the elastic regime (be it compressible or
not) before they undergo (incompressible) plastic creep -- or viscous flow
under even higher stresses.Comment: 69 pages, 29 figure
The Bismut-Elworthy-Li type formulae for stochastic differential equations with jumps
Consider jump-type stochastic differential equations with the drift,
diffusion and jump terms. Logarithmic derivatives of densities for the solution
process are studied, and the Bismut-Elworthy-Li type formulae can be obtained
under the uniformly elliptic condition on the coefficients of the diffusion and
jump terms. Our approach is based upon the Kolmogorov backward equation by
making full use of the Markovian property of the process.Comment: 29 pages, to appear in Journal of Theoretical Probabilit
- …