Strong invariance principle for dependent random fields

A strong invariance principle is established for random fields which satisfy dependence conditions more general than positive or negative association. We use the approach of Cs\"{o}rg\H{o} and R\'{e}v\'{e}sz applied recently by Balan to associated random fields. The key step in our proof combines new moment and maximal inequalities, established by the authors for partial sums of multiindexed random variables, with the estimate of the convergence rate in the CLT for random fields under consideration.Comment: Published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/074921706000000167 in the IMS Lecture Notes--Monograph Series (http://www.imstat.org/publications/lecnotes.htm) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Statistical methods of SNP data analysis with applications

Various statistical methods important for genetic analysis are considered and developed. Namely, we concentrate on the multifactor dimensionality reduction, logic regression, random forests and stochastic gradient boosting. These methods and their new modifications, e.g., the MDR method with "independent rule", are used to study the risk of complex diseases such as cardiovascular ones. The roles of certain combinations of single nucleotide polymorphisms and external risk factors are examined. To perform the data analysis concerning the ischemic heart disease and myocardial infarction the supercomputer SKIF "Chebyshev" of the Lomonosov Moscow State University was employed

Sometimes, when we talk about Damaged Buildings-it can be controversial

The entire civilized world follows the state of unique monuments of the east, including Syria, where military operations are not yet over. Separate monuments of antiquity have been destroyed, which require immediate examination and, at a minimum, preventing structural elements from collapse. Naturally, publications of the time of the Second World War (Russia, Japan, Poland…) most fully represented the world restoration practice of destruction from mass bombardments and shelling. For these works, it is possible to systematize the degree of danger of the state of the objects at the time of their possible restoration and to estimate the damage caused by the enlarged parameters. Unfortunately, today, the revision of this practice, taking into account modern technologies of engineering restoration of damaged and reconstructing lost monuments, becomes urgent. Without this, it is impossible to defeat the vandals of the 21st century

Global transpiration data from sap flow measurements : the SAPFLUXNET database

Plant transpiration links physiological responses of vegetation to water supply and demand with hydrological, energy, and carbon budgets at the land-atmosphere interface. However, despite being the main land evaporative flux at the global scale, transpiration and its response to environmental drivers are currently not well constrained by observations. Here we introduce the first global compilation of whole-plant transpiration data from sap flow measurements (SAPFLUXNET, https://sapfluxnet.creaf.cat/, last access: 8 June 2021). We harmonized and quality-controlled individual datasets supplied by contributors worldwide in a semi-automatic data workflow implemented in the R programming language. Datasets include sub-daily time series of sap flow and hydrometeorological drivers for one or more growing seasons, as well as metadata on the stand characteristics, plant attributes, and technical details of the measurements. SAPFLUXNET contains 202 globally distributed datasets with sap flow time series for 2714 plants, mostly trees, of 174 species. SAPFLUXNET has a broad bioclimatic coverage, with woodland/shrubland and temperate forest biomes especially well represented (80 % of the datasets). The measurements cover a wide variety of stand structural characteristics and plant sizes. The datasets encompass the period between 1995 and 2018, with 50 % of the datasets being at least 3 years long. Accompanying radiation and vapour pressure deficit data are available for most of the datasets, while on-site soil water content is available for 56 % of the datasets. Many datasets contain data for species that make up 90 % or more of the total stand basal area, allowing the estimation of stand transpiration in diverse ecological settings. SAPFLUXNET adds to existing plant trait datasets, ecosystem flux networks, and remote sensing products to help increase our understanding of plant water use, plant responses to drought, and ecohydrological processes. SAPFLUXNET version 0.1.5 is freely available from the Zenodo repository (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3971689; Poyatos et al., 2020a). The "sapfluxnetr" R package - designed to access, visualize, and process SAPFLUXNET data - is available from CRAN.Peer reviewe

A strong invariance principle for positively or negatively associated random fields

We prove a new coupling theorem stating the proximity of positively or negatively associated random vectors to vectors with independent increments. It is applied to the proof of strong invariance principle under weakest known conditions.

One Hand Washes Another : Informal Ties Between Organized Criminal Groups and Law-Enforcement Agencies in Russia

This article discusses the forms, contents and peculiarities of the existing informal ties between members of organized criminal groups and representatives of law-enforcement agencies in the Tatarstan Republic of Russia. Particular attention is paid to the origins of informal ties; ways how these relations are established, maintained, and utilized by both parts; causes of corruption in the law-enforcement agencies and the possibilities to understand it. The main conclusions are based on the results of ninety-six in-depth interviews with the law-enforcement officers, businessmen, members of organized criminal groups, and journalists conducted in main cities and towns of the Tatarstan Republic under support of the Transnational Crime and Corruption Centre at American University

One Hand Washes Another : Informal Ties Between Organized Criminal Groups and Law-Enforcement Agencies in Russia

This article discusses the forms, contents and peculiarities of the existing informal ties between members of organized criminal groups and representatives of law-enforcement agencies in the Tatarstan Republic of Russia. Particular attention is paid to the origins of informal ties; ways how these relations are established, maintained, and utilized by both parts; causes of corruption in the law-enforcement agencies and the possibilities to understand it. The main conclusions are based on the results of ninety-six in-depth interviews with the law-enforcement officers, businessmen, members of organized criminal groups, and journalists conducted in main cities and towns of the Tatarstan Republic under support of the Transnational Crime and Corruption Centre at American University

Effect of Source Mispositioning on the Repeatability of 4D Vertical Seismic Profiling Acquired with Distributed Acoustic Sensors

Vertical seismic profiling (VSP) with distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) is an increasingly popular evolving technique for reservoir monitoring. DAS technology enables permanent fibre installations in wells and simultaneous seismic data recording along an entire borehole. Deploying the receivers closer to the reservoir allows for better detectability of smaller signals. A high level of repeatability is essential for the robust time-lapse monitoring of geological reservoirs. One of the prominent factors of repeatability degradation is a shift between source/receiver locations (mispositioning) during baseline and monitor surveys. While the mispositioning effect has been extensively studied for surface 4D seismic, the number of such studies for VSP is quite limited. To study the effects of source mispositioning on time-lapse data repeatability, we performed two VSP experiments at two on-shore sites with vibroseis. The first study was carried out at the Otway International Test Centre during Stage 3 of the Otway project and showed that the effect of source mispositioning on repeatability is negligible in comparison with the effect of temporal variations of the near-surface conditions. To avoid these limitations, we conducted a same-day controlled experiment at the Curtin University site. This second experiment showed that the effect of source mispositioning on repeatability is controlled by the degree of lateral variations of the near-surface conditions. Unlike in marine seismic measurements, lateral variations of near-surface properties can be strong and rapid and can degrade the repeatability for shifts of the source of a few meters. The greater the mispositioning, the higher the chance of such significant variations. When the near-surface conditions are laterally homogeneous, the effect of typical source mispositioning is small, and in all practical monitoring applications its contribution to non-repeatability is negligible