WorldWideScience

Sample records for non-random distribution supports

  1. Real-time definition of non-randomness in the distribution of genomic events.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ulrich Abel

    Full Text Available Features such as mutations or structural characteristics can be non-randomly or non-uniformly distributed within a genome. So far, computer simulations were required for statistical inferences on the distribution of sequence motifs. Here, we show that these analyses are possible using an analytical, mathematical approach. For the assessment of non-randomness, our calculations only require information including genome size, number of (sampled sequence motifs and distance parameters. We have developed computer programs evaluating our analytical formulas for the real-time determination of expected values and p-values. This approach permits a flexible cluster definition that can be applied to most effectively identify non-random or non-uniform sequence motif distribution. As an example, we show the effectivity and reliability of our mathematical approach in clinical retroviral vector integration site distribution.

  2. Simulating Pre-Asymptotic, Non-Fickian Transport Although Doing Simple Random Walks - Supported By Empirical Pore-Scale Velocity Distributions and Memory Effects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Most, S.; Jia, N.; Bijeljic, B.; Nowak, W.

    2016-12-01

    Pre-asymptotic characteristics are almost ubiquitous when analyzing solute transport processes in porous media. These pre-asymptotic aspects are caused by spatial coherence in the velocity field and by its heterogeneity. For the Lagrangian perspective of particle displacements, the causes of pre-asymptotic, non-Fickian transport are skewed velocity distribution, statistical dependencies between subsequent increments of particle positions (memory) and dependence between the x, y and z-components of particle increments. Valid simulation frameworks should account for these factors. We propose a particle tracking random walk (PTRW) simulation technique that can use empirical pore-space velocity distributions as input, enforces memory between subsequent random walk steps, and considers cross dependence. Thus, it is able to simulate pre-asymptotic non-Fickian transport phenomena. Our PTRW framework contains an advection/dispersion term plus a diffusion term. The advection/dispersion term produces time-series of particle increments from the velocity CDFs. These time series are equipped with memory by enforcing that the CDF values of subsequent velocities change only slightly. The latter is achieved through a random walk on the axis of CDF values between 0 and 1. The virtual diffusion coefficient for that random walk is our only fitting parameter. Cross-dependence can be enforced by constraining the random walk to certain combinations of CDF values between the three velocity components in x, y and z. We will show that this modelling framework is capable of simulating non-Fickian transport by comparison with a pore-scale transport simulation and we analyze the approach to asymptotic behavior.

  3. Non-random distribution of instability-associated chromosomal rearrangement breakpoints in human lymphoblastoid cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moore, Stephen R.; Papworth, David; Grosovsky, Andrew J.

    2006-01-01

    Genomic instability is observed in tumors and in a large fraction of the progeny surviving irradiation. One of the best-characterized phenotypic manifestations of genomic instability is delayed chromosome aberrations. Our working hypothesis for the current study was that if genomic instability is in part attributable to cis mechanisms, we should observe a non-random distribution of chromosomes or sites involved in instability-associated rearrangements, regardless of radiation quality, dose, or trans factor expression. We report here the karyotypic examination of 296 instability-associated chromosomal rearrangement breaksites (IACRB) from 118 unstable TK6 human B lymphoblast, and isogenic derivative, clones. When we tested whether IACRB were distributed across the chromosomes based on target size, a significant non-random distribution was evident (p < 0.00001), and three IACRB hotspots (chromosomes 11, 12, and 22) and one IACRB coldspot (chromosome 2) were identified. Statistical analysis at the chromosomal band-level identified four IACRB hotspots accounting for 20% of all instability-associated breaks, two of which account for over 14% of all IACRB. Further, analysis of independent clones provided evidence within 14 individual clones of IACRB clustering at the chromosomal band level, suggesting a predisposition for further breaks after an initial break at some chromosomal bands. All of these events, independently, or when taken together, were highly unlikely to have occurred by chance (p < 0.000001). These IACRB band-level cluster hotspots were observed independent of radiation quality, dose, or cellular p53 status. The non-random distribution of instability-associated chromosomal rearrangements described here significantly differs from the distribution that was observed in a first-division post-irradiation metaphase analysis (p = 0.0004). Taken together, these results suggest that genomic instability may be in part driven by chromosomal cis mechanisms

  4. Nurse-Moderated Internet-Based Support for New Mothers: Non-Inferiority, Randomized Controlled Trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sawyer, Michael G; Reece, Christy E; Bowering, Kerrie; Jeffs, Debra; Sawyer, Alyssa C P; Mittinty, Murthy; Lynch, John W

    2017-07-24

    Internet-based interventions moderated by community nurses have the potential to improve support offered to new mothers, many of whom now make extensive use of the Internet to obtain information about infant care. However, evidence from population-based randomized controlled trials is lacking. The aim of this study was to test the non-inferiority of outcomes for mothers and infants who received a clinic-based postnatal health check plus nurse-moderated, Internet-based group support when infants were aged 1-7 months as compared with outcomes for those who received standard care consisting of postnatal home-based support provided by a community nurse. The design of the study was a pragmatic, preference, non-inferiority randomized control trial. Participants were recruited from mothers contacted for their postnatal health check, which is offered to all mothers in South Australia. Mothers were assigned either (1) on the basis of their preference to clinic+Internet or home-based support groups (n=328), or (2) randomly assigned to clinic+Internet or home-based groups if they declared no strong preference (n=491). The overall response rate was 44.8% (819/1827). The primary outcome was parenting self-competence, as measured by the Parenting Stress Index (PSI) Competence subscale, and the Karitane Parenting Confidence Scale scores. Secondary outcome measures included PSI Isolation, Interpersonal Support Evaluation List-Short Form, Maternal Support Scale, Ages and Stages Questionnaire-Social-Emotional and MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory (MCDI) scores. Assessments were completed offline via self-assessment questionnaires at enrolment (mean child age=4.1 weeks, SD 1.3) and again when infants were aged 9, 15, and 21 months. Generalized estimating equations adjusting for post-randomization baseline imbalances showed that differences in outcomes between mothers in the clinic+Internet and home-based support groups did not exceed the pre-specified margin of

  5. The area distribution of two-dimensional random walks and non-Hermitian Hofstadter quantum mechanics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matveenko, Sergey; Ouvry, Stéphane

    2014-01-01

    When random walks on a square lattice are biased horizontally to move solely to the right, the probability distribution of their algebraic area can be obtained exactly (Mashkevich and Ouvry 2009 J. Stat. Phys. 137 71). We explicitly map this biased classical random system onto a non-Hermitian Hofstadter-like quantum model where a charged particle on a square lattice coupled to a perpendicular magnetic field hops only to the right. For the commensurate case, when the magnetic flux per unit cell is rational, an exact solution of the quantum model is obtained. The periodicity of the lattice allows one to relate traces of the Nth power of the Hamiltonian to probability distribution generating functions of biased walks of length N. (paper)

  6. The relationship between randomness and power-law distributed move lengths in random walk algorithms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sakiyama, Tomoko; Gunji, Yukio-Pegio

    2014-05-01

    Recently, we proposed a new random walk algorithm, termed the REV algorithm, in which the agent alters the directional rule that governs it using the most recent four random numbers. Here, we examined how a non-bounded number, i.e., "randomness" regarding move direction, was important for optimal searching and power-law distributed step lengths in rule change. We proposed two algorithms: the REV and REV-bounded algorithms. In the REV algorithm, one of the four random numbers used to change the rule is non-bounded. In contrast, all four random numbers in the REV-bounded algorithm are bounded. We showed that the REV algorithm exhibited more consistent power-law distributed step lengths and flexible searching behavior.

  7. Free energy distribution function of a random Ising ferromagnet

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dotsenko, Victor; Klumov, Boris

    2012-01-01

    We study the free energy distribution function of a weakly disordered Ising ferromagnet in terms of the D-dimensional random temperature Ginzburg–Landau Hamiltonian. It is shown that besides the usual Gaussian 'body' this distribution function exhibits non-Gaussian tails both in the paramagnetic and in the ferromagnetic phases. Explicit asymptotic expressions for these tails are derived. It is demonstrated that the tails are strongly asymmetric: the left tail (for large negative values of the free energy) is much slower than the right one (for large positive values of the free energy). It is argued that at the critical point the free energy of the random Ising ferromagnet in dimensions D < 4 is described by a non-trivial universal distribution function which is non-self-averaging

  8. Weighted Scaling in Non-growth Random Networks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen Guang; Yang Xuhua; Xu Xinli

    2012-01-01

    We propose a weighted model to explain the self-organizing formation of scale-free phenomenon in non-growth random networks. In this model, we use multiple-edges to represent the connections between vertices and define the weight of a multiple-edge as the total weights of all single-edges within it and the strength of a vertex as the sum of weights for those multiple-edges attached to it. The network evolves according to a vertex strength preferential selection mechanism. During the evolution process, the network always holds its total number of vertices and its total number of single-edges constantly. We show analytically and numerically that a network will form steady scale-free distributions with our model. The results show that a weighted non-growth random network can evolve into scale-free state. It is interesting that the network also obtains the character of an exponential edge weight distribution. Namely, coexistence of scale-free distribution and exponential distribution emerges.

  9. An Approach to Distinguish between Plasticity and Non-random Distributions of Behavioral Types Along Urban Gradients in a Wild Passerine Bird

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Philipp Sprau

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available The impact of urbanization has been widely studied in the context of species diversity and life history evolution. Behavioral adaptation, by contrast, remains poorly understood because empirical studies rarely investigate the relative importance of two key mechanisms: plastic responses vs. non-random distributions of behavioral types. We propose here an approach that enables the simultaneous estimation of the respective roles of these distinct mechanisms. We investigated why risky behaviors are often associated with urbanization, using an urban nest box population of great tits (Parus major as a study system. We simultaneously and repeatedly quantified individual behavior (aggression and flight initiation distance as well as environmental factors characterizing level of urbanization (numbers of pedestrians, cars and cyclists. This enabled us to statistically distinguish plastic responses from patterns of non-random distributions of behavioral types. Data analyses revealed that individuals did not plastically adjust their behavior to the level of urbanization. Behavioral types were instead non-randomly distributed: bold birds occurred more frequently in areas with more cars and fewer pedestrians while shy individuals were predominantly found in areas with fewer cars and more pedestrians. These novel findings imply a major role for behavioral types in the evolutionary ecology of urban environments and call for the full integration of among- and within-individual variation in urban ecological studies.

  10. E-learning in pediatric basic life support: a randomized controlled non-inferiority study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krogh, Lise Qvirin; Bjørnshave, Katrine; Vestergaard, Lone Due; Sharma, Maja Bendtsen; Rasmussen, Stinne Eika; Nielsen, Henrik Vendelbo; Thim, Troels; Løfgren, Bo

    2015-05-01

    Dissemination of pediatric basic life support (PBLS) skills is recommended. E-learning is accessible and cost-effective, but it is currently unknown whether laypersons can learn PBLS through e-learning. The hypothesis of this study was to investigate whether e-learning PBLS is non-inferior to instructor-led training. Participants were recruited among child-minders and parents of children aged 0-6 years. Participants were randomized to either 2-h instructor-led training or e-learning using an e-learning program (duration 17 min) including an inflatable manikin. After training, participants were assessed in a simulated pediatric cardiac arrest scenario. Tests were video recorded and PBLS skills were assessed independently by two assessors blinded to training method. Primary outcome was the pass rate of the PBLS test (≥8 of 15 skills adequately performed) with a pre-specified non-inferiority margin of 20%. In total 160 participants were randomized 1:1. E-learning was non-inferior to instructor-led training (difference in pass rate -4%; 95% CI -9:0.5). Pass rates were 100% among instructor-led trained (n=67) and 96% among e-learned (n=71). E-learners median time spent on the e-learning program was 30 min (range: 15-120 min) and the median number of log-ons was 2 (range: 1-5). After the study, all participants felt that their skills had improved. E-learning PBLS is non-inferior to instructor-led training among child-minders and parents with children aged 0-6 years, although the pass rate was 4% (95% CI -9:0.5) lower with e-learning. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Partial summations of stationary sequences of non-Gaussian random variables

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mohr, Gunnar; Ditlevsen, Ove Dalager

    1996-01-01

    The distribution of the sum of a finite number of identically distributed random variables is in many cases easily determined given that the variables are independent. The moments of any order of the sum can always be expressed by the moments of the single term without computational problems...... of convergence of the distribution of a sum (or an integral) of mutually dependent random variables to the Gaussian distribution. The paper is closely related to the work in Ditlevsen el al. [Ditlevsen, O., Mohr, G. & Hoffmeyer, P. Integration of non-Gaussian fields. Prob. Engng Mech 11 (1996) 15-23](2)....... lognormal variables or polynomials of standard Gaussian variables. The dependency structure is induced by specifying the autocorrelation structure of the sequence of standard Gaussian variables. Particularly useful polynomials are the Winterstein approximations that distributionally fit with non...

  12. Raney Distributions and Random Matrix Theory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Forrester, Peter J.; Liu, Dang-Zheng

    2015-03-01

    Recent works have shown that the family of probability distributions with moments given by the Fuss-Catalan numbers permit a simple parameterized form for their density. We extend this result to the Raney distribution which by definition has its moments given by a generalization of the Fuss-Catalan numbers. Such computations begin with an algebraic equation satisfied by the Stieltjes transform, which we show can be derived from the linear differential equation satisfied by the characteristic polynomial of random matrix realizations of the Raney distribution. For the Fuss-Catalan distribution, an equilibrium problem characterizing the density is identified. The Stieltjes transform for the limiting spectral density of the singular values squared of the matrix product formed from inverse standard Gaussian matrices, and standard Gaussian matrices, is shown to satisfy a variant of the algebraic equation relating to the Raney distribution. Supported on , we show that it too permits a simple functional form upon the introduction of an appropriate choice of parameterization. As an application, the leading asymptotic form of the density as the endpoints of the support are approached is computed, and is shown to have some universal features.

  13. Non-random intrachromosomal distribution of radiation-induced chromatid aberrations in Vicia faba. [Aberration clustering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schubert, I; Rieger, R [Akademie der Wissenschaften der DDR, Gatersleben. Zentralinst. fuer Genetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung

    1976-04-01

    A reconstructed karyotype of Vicia faba, with all chromosomes individually distinguishable, was treated with X-rays, fast neutrons, (/sup 3/H) uridine (/sup 3/HU). The distribution within metaphase chromosomes of induced chromatid aberrations was non-random for all agents used. Aberration clustering, in part agent specific, occurred in chromosome segments containing heterochromatin as defined by the presence of G bands. The pattern of aberration clustering found after treatment with /sup 3/HU did not allow the recognition of chromosome regions active in transcription during treatment. Furthermore, it was impossible to obtain unambiguous indications of the presence of AT- and GC-base clusters from the patterns of /sup 3/HT- and /sup 3/HC-induced chromatid aberrations, respectively. Possible reasons underlying these observations are discussed.

  14. Random distributed feedback fibre lasers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Turitsyn, Sergei K., E-mail: s.k.turitsyn@aston.ac.uk [Aston Institute of Photonic Technologies, Aston University, Birmingham B4 7ET (United Kingdom); Novosibirsk State University, 2 Pirogova str., 630090, Novosibirsk (Russian Federation); Babin, Sergey A. [Novosibirsk State University, 2 Pirogova str., 630090, Novosibirsk (Russian Federation); Institute of Automation and Electrometry SB RAS, 1 Ac. Koptug. ave., 630090, Novosibirsk (Russian Federation); Churkin, Dmitry V. [Aston Institute of Photonic Technologies, Aston University, Birmingham B4 7ET (United Kingdom); Novosibirsk State University, 2 Pirogova str., 630090, Novosibirsk (Russian Federation); Institute of Automation and Electrometry SB RAS, 1 Ac. Koptug. ave., 630090, Novosibirsk (Russian Federation); Vatnik, Ilya D.; Nikulin, Maxim [Institute of Automation and Electrometry SB RAS, 1 Ac. Koptug. ave., 630090, Novosibirsk (Russian Federation); Podivilov, Evgenii V. [Novosibirsk State University, 2 Pirogova str., 630090, Novosibirsk (Russian Federation); Institute of Automation and Electrometry SB RAS, 1 Ac. Koptug. ave., 630090, Novosibirsk (Russian Federation)

    2014-09-10

    The concept of random lasers exploiting multiple scattering of photons in an amplifying disordered medium in order to generate coherent light without a traditional laser resonator has attracted a great deal of attention in recent years. This research area lies at the interface of the fundamental theory of disordered systems and laser science. The idea was originally proposed in the context of astrophysics in the 1960s by V.S. Letokhov, who studied scattering with “negative absorption” of the interstellar molecular clouds. Research on random lasers has since developed into a mature experimental and theoretical field. A simple design of such lasers would be promising for potential applications. However, in traditional random lasers the properties of the output radiation are typically characterized by complex features in the spatial, spectral and time domains, making them less attractive than standard laser systems in terms of practical applications. Recently, an interesting and novel type of one-dimensional random laser that operates in a conventional telecommunication fibre without any pre-designed resonator mirrors–random distributed feedback fibre laser–was demonstrated. The positive feedback required for laser generation in random fibre lasers is provided by the Rayleigh scattering from the inhomogeneities of the refractive index that are naturally present in silica glass. In the proposed laser concept, the randomly backscattered light is amplified through the Raman effect, providing distributed gain over distances up to 100 km. Although an effective reflection due to the Rayleigh scattering is extremely small (∼0.1%), the lasing threshold may be exceeded when a sufficiently large distributed Raman gain is provided. Such a random distributed feedback fibre laser has a number of interesting and attractive features. The fibre waveguide geometry provides transverse confinement, and effectively one-dimensional random distributed feedback leads to the

  15. Random distributed feedback fibre lasers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Turitsyn, Sergei K.; Babin, Sergey A.; Churkin, Dmitry V.; Vatnik, Ilya D.; Nikulin, Maxim; Podivilov, Evgenii V.

    2014-01-01

    The concept of random lasers exploiting multiple scattering of photons in an amplifying disordered medium in order to generate coherent light without a traditional laser resonator has attracted a great deal of attention in recent years. This research area lies at the interface of the fundamental theory of disordered systems and laser science. The idea was originally proposed in the context of astrophysics in the 1960s by V.S. Letokhov, who studied scattering with “negative absorption” of the interstellar molecular clouds. Research on random lasers has since developed into a mature experimental and theoretical field. A simple design of such lasers would be promising for potential applications. However, in traditional random lasers the properties of the output radiation are typically characterized by complex features in the spatial, spectral and time domains, making them less attractive than standard laser systems in terms of practical applications. Recently, an interesting and novel type of one-dimensional random laser that operates in a conventional telecommunication fibre without any pre-designed resonator mirrors–random distributed feedback fibre laser–was demonstrated. The positive feedback required for laser generation in random fibre lasers is provided by the Rayleigh scattering from the inhomogeneities of the refractive index that are naturally present in silica glass. In the proposed laser concept, the randomly backscattered light is amplified through the Raman effect, providing distributed gain over distances up to 100 km. Although an effective reflection due to the Rayleigh scattering is extremely small (∼0.1%), the lasing threshold may be exceeded when a sufficiently large distributed Raman gain is provided. Such a random distributed feedback fibre laser has a number of interesting and attractive features. The fibre waveguide geometry provides transverse confinement, and effectively one-dimensional random distributed feedback leads to the

  16. Fracture analysis of randomized implant-supported fixed dental prostheses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Esquivel-Upshaw, Josephine F.; Mehler, Alex; Clark, Arthur E.; Neal, Dan; Anusavice, Kenneth J.

    2014-01-01

    Objective Fractures of posterior fixed dental all-ceramic prostheses can be caused by one or more factors including prosthesis design, flaw distribution, direction and magnitude of occlusal loading, and nature of supporting infrastructure (tooth root/implant), and presence of adjacent teeth. This clinical study of implant-supported, all-ceramic fixed dental prostheses, determined the effects of (1) presence of a tooth distal to the most distal retainer; (2) prosthesis loading either along the non-load bearing or load bearing areas; (3) presence of excursive contacts or maximum intercuspation contacts in the prosthesis; and (4) magnitude of bite force on the occurrence of veneer ceramic fracture. Methods 89 implant-supported FDPs were randomized as either a three-unit posterior metal-ceramic (Au-Pd-Ag alloy and InLine POM, Ivoclar, Vivadent) FDP or a ceramic-ceramic (ZirCAD and ZirPress, Ivoclar, Vivadent) FDP. Two implants (Osseospeed, Dentsply) and custom abutments (Atlantis, Dentsply) supported these FDPs, which were cemented with resin cement (RelyX Universal Cement). Baseline photographs were made with markings of teeth from maximum intercuspation (MI) and excursive function. Patients were recalled at 6 months and 1 to 3 years. Fractures were observed, their locations recorded, and images compared with baseline photographs of occlusal contacts. Conclusion No significant relationship exists between the occurrence of fracture and: (1) the magnitude of bite force; (2) a tooth distal to the most distal retainer; and (3) contacts in load-bearing or non-load-bearing areas. However, there was a significantly higher likelihood of fracture in areas with MI contacts only. Clinical Significance This clinical study demonstrates that there is a need to evaluate occlusion differently with implant-supported prostheses than with natural tooth supported prostheses because of the absence of a periodontal ligament. Implant supported prostheses should have minimal occlusion and

  17. The relationship between multilevel models and non-parametric multilevel mixture models: Discrete approximation of intraclass correlation, random coefficient distributions, and residual heteroscedasticity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rights, Jason D; Sterba, Sonya K

    2016-11-01

    Multilevel data structures are common in the social sciences. Often, such nested data are analysed with multilevel models (MLMs) in which heterogeneity between clusters is modelled by continuously distributed random intercepts and/or slopes. Alternatively, the non-parametric multilevel regression mixture model (NPMM) can accommodate the same nested data structures through discrete latent class variation. The purpose of this article is to delineate analytic relationships between NPMM and MLM parameters that are useful for understanding the indirect interpretation of the NPMM as a non-parametric approximation of the MLM, with relaxed distributional assumptions. We define how seven standard and non-standard MLM specifications can be indirectly approximated by particular NPMM specifications. We provide formulas showing how the NPMM can serve as an approximation of the MLM in terms of intraclass correlation, random coefficient means and (co)variances, heteroscedasticity of residuals at level 1, and heteroscedasticity of residuals at level 2. Further, we discuss how these relationships can be useful in practice. The specific relationships are illustrated with simulated graphical demonstrations, and direct and indirect interpretations of NPMM classes are contrasted. We provide an R function to aid in implementing and visualizing an indirect interpretation of NPMM classes. An empirical example is presented and future directions are discussed. © 2016 The British Psychological Society.

  18. Modelling Thomson scattering for systems with non-equilibrium electron distributions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chapman D.A.

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available We investigate the effect of non-equilibrium electron distributions in the analysis of Thomson scattering for a range of conditions of interest to inertial confinement fusion experiments. Firstly, a generalised one-component model based on quantum statistical theory is given in the random phase approximation (RPA. The Chihara expression for electron-ion plasmas is then adapted to include the new non-equilibrium electron physics. The theoretical scattering spectra for both diffuse and dense plasmas in which non-equilibrium electron distributions are expected to arise are considered. We find that such distributions strongly influence the spectra and are hence an important consideration for accurately determining the plasma conditions.

  19. Stable and efficient retrospective 4D-MRI using non-uniformly distributed quasi-random numbers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Breuer, Kathrin; Meyer, Cord B.; Breuer, Felix A.; Richter, Anne; Exner, Florian; Weng, Andreas M.; Ströhle, Serge; Polat, Bülent; Jakob, Peter M.; Sauer, Otto A.; Flentje, Michael; Weick, Stefan

    2018-04-01

    The purpose of this work is the development of a robust and reliable three-dimensional (3D) Cartesian imaging technique for fast and flexible retrospective 4D abdominal MRI during free breathing. To this end, a non-uniform quasi random (NU-QR) reordering of the phase encoding (k y –k z ) lines was incorporated into 3D Cartesian acquisition. The proposed sampling scheme allocates more phase encoding points near the k-space origin while reducing the sampling density in the outer part of the k-space. Respiratory self-gating in combination with SPIRiT-reconstruction is used for the reconstruction of abdominal data sets in different respiratory phases (4D-MRI). Six volunteers and three patients were examined at 1.5 T during free breathing. Additionally, data sets with conventional two-dimensional (2D) linear and 2D quasi random phase encoding order were acquired for the volunteers for comparison. A quantitative evaluation of image quality versus scan times (from 70 s to 626 s) for the given sampling schemes was obtained by calculating the normalized mutual information (NMI) for all volunteers. Motion estimation was accomplished by calculating the maximum derivative of a signal intensity profile of a transition (e.g. tumor or diaphragm). The 2D non-uniform quasi-random distribution of phase encoding lines in Cartesian 3D MRI yields more efficient undersampling patterns for parallel imaging compared to conventional uniform quasi-random and linear sampling. Median NMI values of NU-QR sampling are the highest for all scan times. Therefore, within the same scan time 4D imaging could be performed with improved image quality. The proposed method allows for the reconstruction of motion artifact reduced 4D data sets with isotropic spatial resolution of 2.1  ×  2.1  ×  2.1 mm3 in a short scan time, e.g. 10 respiratory phases in only 3 min. Cranio-caudal tumor displacements between 23 and 46 mm could be observed. NU-QR sampling enables for stable 4D

  20. Non-Linguistic Vocal Event Detection Using Online Random

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Abou-Zleikha, Mohamed; Tan, Zheng-Hua; Christensen, Mads Græsbøll

    2014-01-01

    areas such as object detection, face recognition, and audio event detection. This paper proposes to use online random forest technique for detecting laughter and filler and for analyzing the importance of various features for non-linguistic vocal event classification through permutation. The results...... show that according to the Area Under Curve measure the online random forest achieved 88.1% compared to 82.9% obtained by the baseline support vector machines for laughter classification and 86.8% to 83.6% for filler classification....

  1. Non-negative factor analysis supporting the interpretation of elemental distribution images acquired by XRF

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alfeld, Matthias; Falkenberg, Gerald; Wahabzada, Mirwaes; Bauckhage, Christian; Kersting, Kristian; Wellenreuther, Gerd

    2014-01-01

    Stacks of elemental distribution images acquired by XRF can be difficult to interpret, if they contain high degrees of redundancy and components differing in their quantitative but not qualitative elemental composition. Factor analysis, mainly in the form of Principal Component Analysis (PCA), has been used to reduce the level of redundancy and highlight correlations. PCA, however, does not yield physically meaningful representations as they often contain negative values. This limitation can be overcome, by employing factor analysis that is restricted to non-negativity. In this paper we present the first application of the Python Matrix Factorization Module (pymf) on XRF data. This is done in a case study on the painting Saul and David from the studio of Rembrandt van Rijn. We show how the discrimination between two different Co containing compounds with minimum user intervention and a priori knowledge is supported by Non-Negative Matrix Factorization (NMF).

  2. Additive non-uniform random sampling in superimposed fiber Bragg grating strain gauge

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Y. C.; Liu, H. Y.; Yan, S. B.; Yang, Y. H.; Yang, M. W.; Li, J. M.; Tang, J.

    2013-05-01

    This paper demonstrates an additive non-uniform random sampling and interrogation method for dynamic and/or static strain gauge using a reflection spectrum from two superimposed fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs). The superimposed FBGs are designed to generate non-equidistant space of a sensing pulse train in the time domain during dynamic strain gauge. By combining centroid finding with smooth filtering methods, both the interrogation speed and accuracy are improved. A 1.9 kHz dynamic strain is measured by generating an additive non-uniform randomly distributed 2 kHz optical sensing pulse train from a mean 500 Hz triangular periodically changing scanning frequency.

  3. Growth-induced strong pinning sites in laser ablated YBa2Cu3O7-δ films with a non-random distribution

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huijbregtse, J.M.; Klaassen, F.C.; Geest, R.C.F. van der; Dam, B.; Griessen, R.

    1999-01-01

    Recently, the authors showed that natural linear defects are the origin of the high critical currents in laser ablated YGBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-δ films. Combining wet-chemical etching and Atomic Force Microscopy, they find that these dislocations are created by island coalescence during growth. Consequently, the defect density can be reproducibly varied by manipulating the density of growth islands, which in turn depends on the substrate temperature. Interestingly, the radial defect distribution function approaches zero at small distances, indicating short range order. Therefore, they are now able to study vortex matter in films with a tailored non-random distribution of natural strong pinning sites

  4. On the Distribution of Random Geometric Graphs

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Badiu, Mihai Alin; Coon, Justin P.

    2018-01-01

    as a measure of the graph’s topological uncertainty (or information content). Moreover, the distribution is also relevant for determining average network performance or designing protocols. However, a major impediment in deducing the graph distribution is that it requires the joint probability distribution......Random geometric graphs (RGGs) are commonly used to model networked systems that depend on the underlying spatial embedding. We concern ourselves with the probability distribution of an RGG, which is crucial for studying its random topology, properties (e.g., connectedness), or Shannon entropy...... of the n(n − 1)/2 distances between n nodes randomly distributed in a bounded domain. As no such result exists in the literature, we make progress by obtaining the joint distribution of the distances between three nodes confined in a disk in R 2. This enables the calculation of the probability distribution...

  5. Random generation of RNA secondary structures according to native distributions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nebel Markus E

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Random biological sequences are a topic of great interest in genome analysis since, according to a powerful paradigm, they represent the background noise from which the actual biological information must differentiate. Accordingly, the generation of random sequences has been investigated for a long time. Similarly, random object of a more complicated structure like RNA molecules or proteins are of interest. Results In this article, we present a new general framework for deriving algorithms for the non-uniform random generation of combinatorial objects according to the encoding and probability distribution implied by a stochastic context-free grammar. Briefly, the framework extends on the well-known recursive method for (uniform random generation and uses the popular framework of admissible specifications of combinatorial classes, introducing weighted combinatorial classes to allow for the non-uniform generation by means of unranking. This framework is used to derive an algorithm for the generation of RNA secondary structures of a given fixed size. We address the random generation of these structures according to a realistic distribution obtained from real-life data by using a very detailed context-free grammar (that models the class of RNA secondary structures by distinguishing between all known motifs in RNA structure. Compared to well-known sampling approaches used in several structure prediction tools (such as SFold ours has two major advantages: Firstly, after a preprocessing step in time O(n2 for the computation of all weighted class sizes needed, with our approach a set of m random secondary structures of a given structure size n can be computed in worst-case time complexity Om⋅n⋅ log(n while other algorithms typically have a runtime in O(m⋅n2. Secondly, our approach works with integer arithmetic only which is faster and saves us from all the discomforting details of using floating point arithmetic with

  6. Additive non-uniform random sampling in superimposed fiber Bragg grating strain gauge

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ma, Y C; Liu, H Y; Yan, S B; Li, J M; Tang, J; Yang, Y H; Yang, M W

    2013-01-01

    This paper demonstrates an additive non-uniform random sampling and interrogation method for dynamic and/or static strain gauge using a reflection spectrum from two superimposed fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs). The superimposed FBGs are designed to generate non-equidistant space of a sensing pulse train in the time domain during dynamic strain gauge. By combining centroid finding with smooth filtering methods, both the interrogation speed and accuracy are improved. A 1.9 kHz dynamic strain is measured by generating an additive non-uniform randomly distributed 2 kHz optical sensing pulse train from a mean 500 Hz triangular periodically changing scanning frequency. (paper)

  7. Parameter estimation of multivariate multiple regression model using bayesian with non-informative Jeffreys’ prior distribution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saputro, D. R. S.; Amalia, F.; Widyaningsih, P.; Affan, R. C.

    2018-05-01

    Bayesian method is a method that can be used to estimate the parameters of multivariate multiple regression model. Bayesian method has two distributions, there are prior and posterior distributions. Posterior distribution is influenced by the selection of prior distribution. Jeffreys’ prior distribution is a kind of Non-informative prior distribution. This prior is used when the information about parameter not available. Non-informative Jeffreys’ prior distribution is combined with the sample information resulting the posterior distribution. Posterior distribution is used to estimate the parameter. The purposes of this research is to estimate the parameters of multivariate regression model using Bayesian method with Non-informative Jeffreys’ prior distribution. Based on the results and discussion, parameter estimation of β and Σ which were obtained from expected value of random variable of marginal posterior distribution function. The marginal posterior distributions for β and Σ are multivariate normal and inverse Wishart. However, in calculation of the expected value involving integral of a function which difficult to determine the value. Therefore, approach is needed by generating of random samples according to the posterior distribution characteristics of each parameter using Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) Gibbs sampling algorithm.

  8. Modeling Linguistic Variables With Regression Models: Addressing Non-Gaussian Distributions, Non-independent Observations, and Non-linear Predictors With Random Effects and Generalized Additive Models for Location, Scale, and Shape

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christophe Coupé

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available As statistical approaches are getting increasingly used in linguistics, attention must be paid to the choice of methods and algorithms used. This is especially true since they require assumptions to be satisfied to provide valid results, and because scientific articles still often fall short of reporting whether such assumptions are met. Progress is being, however, made in various directions, one of them being the introduction of techniques able to model data that cannot be properly analyzed with simpler linear regression models. We report recent advances in statistical modeling in linguistics. We first describe linear mixed-effects regression models (LMM, which address grouping of observations, and generalized linear mixed-effects models (GLMM, which offer a family of distributions for the dependent variable. Generalized additive models (GAM are then introduced, which allow modeling non-linear parametric or non-parametric relationships between the dependent variable and the predictors. We then highlight the possibilities offered by generalized additive models for location, scale, and shape (GAMLSS. We explain how they make it possible to go beyond common distributions, such as Gaussian or Poisson, and offer the appropriate inferential framework to account for ‘difficult’ variables such as count data with strong overdispersion. We also demonstrate how they offer interesting perspectives on data when not only the mean of the dependent variable is modeled, but also its variance, skewness, and kurtosis. As an illustration, the case of phonemic inventory size is analyzed throughout the article. For over 1,500 languages, we consider as predictors the number of speakers, the distance from Africa, an estimation of the intensity of language contact, and linguistic relationships. We discuss the use of random effects to account for genealogical relationships, the choice of appropriate distributions to model count data, and non-linear relationships

  9. Modeling Linguistic Variables With Regression Models: Addressing Non-Gaussian Distributions, Non-independent Observations, and Non-linear Predictors With Random Effects and Generalized Additive Models for Location, Scale, and Shape.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coupé, Christophe

    2018-01-01

    As statistical approaches are getting increasingly used in linguistics, attention must be paid to the choice of methods and algorithms used. This is especially true since they require assumptions to be satisfied to provide valid results, and because scientific articles still often fall short of reporting whether such assumptions are met. Progress is being, however, made in various directions, one of them being the introduction of techniques able to model data that cannot be properly analyzed with simpler linear regression models. We report recent advances in statistical modeling in linguistics. We first describe linear mixed-effects regression models (LMM), which address grouping of observations, and generalized linear mixed-effects models (GLMM), which offer a family of distributions for the dependent variable. Generalized additive models (GAM) are then introduced, which allow modeling non-linear parametric or non-parametric relationships between the dependent variable and the predictors. We then highlight the possibilities offered by generalized additive models for location, scale, and shape (GAMLSS). We explain how they make it possible to go beyond common distributions, such as Gaussian or Poisson, and offer the appropriate inferential framework to account for 'difficult' variables such as count data with strong overdispersion. We also demonstrate how they offer interesting perspectives on data when not only the mean of the dependent variable is modeled, but also its variance, skewness, and kurtosis. As an illustration, the case of phonemic inventory size is analyzed throughout the article. For over 1,500 languages, we consider as predictors the number of speakers, the distance from Africa, an estimation of the intensity of language contact, and linguistic relationships. We discuss the use of random effects to account for genealogical relationships, the choice of appropriate distributions to model count data, and non-linear relationships. Relying on GAMLSS, we

  10. Lower limits for distribution tails of randomly stopped sums

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Denisov, D.E.; Korshunov, D.A.; Foss, S.G.

    2008-01-01

    We study lower limits for the ratio $\\overline{F^{*\\tau}}(x)/\\,\\overline F(x)$ of tail distributions, where $F^{*\\tau}$ is a distribution of a sum of a random size $\\tau$ of independent identically distributed random variables having a common distribution $F$, and a random variable $\\tau$ does not

  11. Laser absorption of carbon fiber reinforced polymer with randomly distributed carbon fibers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Jun; Xu, Hebing; Li, Chao

    2018-03-01

    Laser processing of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) is a non-traditional machining method which has many prospective applications. The laser absorption characteristics of CFRP are analyzed in this paper. A ray tracing model describing the interaction of the laser spot with CFRP is established. The material model contains randomly distributed carbon fibers which are generated using an improved carbon fiber placement method. It was found that CFRP has good laser absorption due to multiple reflections of the light rays in the material’s microstructure. The randomly distributed carbon fibers make the absorptivity of the light rays change randomly in the laser spot. Meanwhile, the average absorptivity fluctuation is obvious during movement of the laser. The experimental measurements agree well with the values predicted by the ray tracing model.

  12. Non-compact random generalized games and random quasi-variational inequalities

    OpenAIRE

    Yuan, Xian-Zhi

    1994-01-01

    In this paper, existence theorems of random maximal elements, random equilibria for the random one-person game and random generalized game with a countable number of players are given as applications of random fixed point theorems. By employing existence theorems of random generalized games, we deduce the existence of solutions for non-compact random quasi-variational inequalities. These in turn are used to establish several existence theorems of noncompact generalized random ...

  13. Distribution of Schmidt-like eigenvalues for Gaussian ensembles of the random matrix theory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pato, Mauricio P.; Oshanin, Gleb

    2013-03-01

    We study the probability distribution function P(β)n(w) of the Schmidt-like random variable w = x21/(∑j = 1nx2j/n), where xj, (j = 1, 2, …, n), are unordered eigenvalues of a given n × n β-Gaussian random matrix, β being the Dyson symmetry index. This variable, by definition, can be considered as a measure of how any individual (randomly chosen) eigenvalue deviates from the arithmetic mean value of all eigenvalues of a given random matrix, and its distribution is calculated with respect to the ensemble of such β-Gaussian random matrices. We show that in the asymptotic limit n → ∞ and for arbitrary β the distribution P(β)n(w) converges to the Marčenko-Pastur form, i.e. is defined as P_{n}^{( \\beta )}(w) \\sim \\sqrt{(4 - w)/w} for w ∈ [0, 4] and equals zero outside of the support, despite the fact that formally w is defined on the interval [0, n]. Furthermore, for Gaussian unitary ensembles (β = 2) we present exact explicit expressions for P(β = 2)n(w) which are valid for arbitrary n and analyse their behaviour.

  14. Distribution of Schmidt-like eigenvalues for Gaussian ensembles of the random matrix theory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pato, Mauricio P; Oshanin, Gleb

    2013-01-01

    We study the probability distribution function P (β) n (w) of the Schmidt-like random variable w = x 2 1 /(∑ j=1 n x 2 j /n), where x j , (j = 1, 2, …, n), are unordered eigenvalues of a given n × n β-Gaussian random matrix, β being the Dyson symmetry index. This variable, by definition, can be considered as a measure of how any individual (randomly chosen) eigenvalue deviates from the arithmetic mean value of all eigenvalues of a given random matrix, and its distribution is calculated with respect to the ensemble of such β-Gaussian random matrices. We show that in the asymptotic limit n → ∞ and for arbitrary β the distribution P (β) n (w) converges to the Marčenko–Pastur form, i.e. is defined as P n (β) (w)∼√((4 - w)/w) for w ∈ [0, 4] and equals zero outside of the support, despite the fact that formally w is defined on the interval [0, n]. Furthermore, for Gaussian unitary ensembles (β = 2) we present exact explicit expressions for P (β=2) n (w) which are valid for arbitrary n and analyse their behaviour. (paper)

  15. Potential use of the non-random distribution of N2 and N2O mole masses in the atmosphere as a tool for tracing atmospheric mixing and isotope fractionation processes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Well, R.; Langel, R.; Reineking, A.

    2002-01-01

    The variation in the natural abundance of 15 N in atmospheric gas species is often used to determine the mixing of trace gases from different sources. With conventional budget calculations one unknown quantity can be determined if the remaining quantities are known. From 15 N tracer studies in soils with highly enriched 15 N-nitrate a procedure is known to calculate the mixing of atmospheric and soil derived N 2 based on the measurement of the 30/28 and 29/28 ratios in gas samples collected from soil covers. Because of the non-random distribution of the mole masses 30 N 2 , 29 N 2 and 28 N 2 in the mixing gas it is possible to calculate two quantities simultaneously, i.e. the mixing ratio of atmospheric and soil derived N 2 , and the isotopic signature of the soil derived N 2 . Routine standard measurements of laboratory air had suggested a non-random distribution of N 2 -mole masses. The objective of this study was to investigate and explain the existence of non-random distributions of 15 N 15 N, 14 N 15 N and 14 N 14 N in N 2 and N 2 O in environmental samples. The calculation of theoretical isotope data resulting from hypothetical mixing of two sources differing in 15 N natural abundance demonstrated, that the deviation from an ideal random distribution of mole masses is not detectable with the current precision of mass spectrometry. 15 N-analysis of N 2 or N 2 O was conducted with randomised and non-randomised replicate samples of different origin. 15 N abundance as calculated from 29/28 ratios were generally higher in randomised samples. The differences between the treatments ranged between 0.05 and 0.17 δper mille 15 N. It was concluded that the observed randomisation effect is probably caused by 15 N 15 N fractionation during environmental processes. (author)

  16. Addition of non-invasive ventilatory support to combined aerobic and resistance training improves dyspnea and quality of life in heart failure patients: a randomized controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bittencourt, Hugo Souza; Cruz, Cristiano Gonçalves; David, Bruno Costa; Rodrigues, Erenaldo; Abade, Camille Magalhães; Junior, Roque Aras; Carvalho, Vitor Oliveira; Dos Reis, Francisco Borges Faria; Gomes Neto, Mansueto

    2017-11-01

    To test the hypothesis that combined aerobic and resistance training and non-invasive ventilatory support result in additional benefits compared with combined aerobic and resistance training alone in heart failure patients. A randomized, single-blind, controlled study. Cardiac rehabilitation center. A total of 46 patients with New York Heart Association class II/III heart failure were randomly assigned to a 10-week program of combined aerobic and resistance training, plus non-invasive ventilatory support ( n = 23) or combined aerobic and resistance training alone ( n = 23). Before and after intervention, results for the following were obtained: 6-minute walk test, forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume at one second, maximal inspiratory muscle pressure, and maximal expiratory muscle pressure, with evaluation of dyspnea by the London Chest Activity of Daily Living scale, and quality of life with the Minnesota Living With Heart Failure questionnaire. Of the 46 included patients, 40 completed the protocol. The combined aerobic and resistance training plus non-invasive ventilatory support, as compared with combined aerobic and resistance training alone, resulted in significantly greater benefit for dyspnea (mean change: 4.8 vs. 1.3, p = 0.004), and quality of life (mean change: 19.3 vs. 6.8, p = 0.017 ). In both groups, the 6-minute walk test improved significantly (mean change: 45.7 vs. 44.1, p = 0.924), but without a statistically significant difference. Non-invasive ventilatory support combined with combined aerobic and resistance training provides additional benefits for dyspnea and quality of life in moderate heart failure patients. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02384798. Registered 03 April 2015.

  17. Non-uniform approximations for sums of discrete m-dependent random variables

    OpenAIRE

    Vellaisamy, P.; Cekanavicius, V.

    2013-01-01

    Non-uniform estimates are obtained for Poisson, compound Poisson, translated Poisson, negative binomial and binomial approximations to sums of of m-dependent integer-valued random variables. Estimates for Wasserstein metric also follow easily from our results. The results are then exemplified by the approximation of Poisson binomial distribution, 2-runs and $m$-dependent $(k_1,k_2)$-events.

  18. Distribution of blood types in a sample of 245 New Zealand non-purebred cats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cattin, R P

    2016-05-01

    To determine the distribution of feline blood types in a sample of non-pedigree, domestic cats in New Zealand, whether a difference exists in this distribution between domestic short haired and domestic long haired cats, and between the North and South Islands of New Zealand; and to calculate the risk of a random blood transfusion causing a severe transfusion reaction, and the risk of a random mating producing kittens susceptible to neonatal isoerythrolysis. The results of 245 blood typing tests in non-pedigree cats performed at the New Zealand Veterinary Pathology (NZVP) and Gribbles Veterinary Pathology laboratories between the beginning of 2009 and the end of 2014 were retrospectively collated and analysed. Cats that were identified as domestic short or long haired were included. For the cats tested at Gribbles Veterinary Pathology 62 were from the North Island, and 27 from the South Island. The blood type distribution differed between samples from the two laboratories (p=0.029), but not between domestic short and long haired cats (p=0.50), or between the North and South Islands (p=0.76). Of the 89 cats tested at Gribbles Veterinary Pathology, 70 (79%) were type A, 18 (20%) type B, and 1 (1%) type AB; for NZVP 139/156 (89.1%) cats were type A, 16 (10.3%) type B, and 1 (0.6%) type AB. It was estimated that 18.3-31.9% of random blood transfusions would be at risk of a transfusion reaction, and neonatal isoerythrolysis would be a risk in 9.2-16.1% of random matings between non-pedigree cats. The results from this study suggest that there is a high risk of complications for a random blood transfusion between non-purebred cats in New Zealand. Neonatal isoerythrolysis should be considered an important differential diagnosis in illness or mortality in kittens during the first days of life.

  19. Digital simulation of two-dimensional random fields with arbitrary power spectra and non-Gaussian probability distribution functions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yura, Harold T; Hanson, Steen G

    2012-04-01

    Methods for simulation of two-dimensional signals with arbitrary power spectral densities and signal amplitude probability density functions are disclosed. The method relies on initially transforming a white noise sample set of random Gaussian distributed numbers into a corresponding set with the desired spectral distribution, after which this colored Gaussian probability distribution is transformed via an inverse transform into the desired probability distribution. In most cases the method provides satisfactory results and can thus be considered an engineering approach. Several illustrative examples with relevance for optics are given.

  20. The randomly renewed general item and the randomly inspected item with exponential life distribution

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schneeweiss, W.G.

    1979-01-01

    For a randomly renewed item the probability distributions of the time to failure and of the duration of down time and the expectations of these random variables are determined. Moreover, it is shown that the same theory applies to randomly checked items with exponential probability distribution of life such as electronic items. The case of periodic renewals is treated as an example. (orig.) [de

  1. High Dimensional Spectral Graph Theory and Non-backtracking Random Walks on Graphs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kempton, Mark

    This thesis has two primary areas of focus. First we study connection graphs, which are weighted graphs in which each edge is associated with a d-dimensional rotation matrix for some fixed dimension d, in addition to a scalar weight. Second, we study non-backtracking random walks on graphs, which are random walks with the additional constraint that they cannot return to the immediately previous state at any given step. Our work in connection graphs is centered on the notion of consistency, that is, the product of rotations moving from one vertex to another is independent of the path taken, and a generalization called epsilon-consistency. We present higher dimensional versions of the combinatorial Laplacian matrix and normalized Laplacian matrix from spectral graph theory, and give results characterizing the consistency of a connection graph in terms of the spectra of these matrices. We generalize several tools from classical spectral graph theory, such as PageRank and effective resistance, to apply to connection graphs. We use these tools to give algorithms for sparsification, clustering, and noise reduction on connection graphs. In non-backtracking random walks, we address the question raised by Alon et. al. concerning how the mixing rate of a non-backtracking random walk to its stationary distribution compares to the mixing rate for an ordinary random walk. Alon et. al. address this question for regular graphs. We take a different approach, and use a generalization of Ihara's Theorem to give a new proof of Alon's result for regular graphs, and to extend the result to biregular graphs. Finally, we give a non-backtracking version of Polya's Random Walk Theorem for 2-dimensional grids.

  2. Probability distribution for the Gaussian curvature of the zero level surface of a random function

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hannay, J. H.

    2018-04-01

    A rather natural construction for a smooth random surface in space is the level surface of value zero, or ‘nodal’ surface f(x,y,z)  =  0, of a (real) random function f; the interface between positive and negative regions of the function. A physically significant local attribute at a point of a curved surface is its Gaussian curvature (the product of its principal curvatures) because, when integrated over the surface it gives the Euler characteristic. Here the probability distribution for the Gaussian curvature at a random point on the nodal surface f  =  0 is calculated for a statistically homogeneous (‘stationary’) and isotropic zero mean Gaussian random function f. Capitalizing on the isotropy, a ‘fixer’ device for axes supplies the probability distribution directly as a multiple integral. Its evaluation yields an explicit algebraic function with a simple average. Indeed, this average Gaussian curvature has long been known. For a non-zero level surface instead of the nodal one, the probability distribution is not fully tractable, but is supplied as an integral expression.

  3. On the Distribution of Indefinite Quadratic Forms in Gaussian Random Variables

    KAUST Repository

    Al-Naffouri, Tareq Y.

    2015-10-30

    © 2015 IEEE. In this work, we propose a unified approach to evaluating the CDF and PDF of indefinite quadratic forms in Gaussian random variables. Such a quantity appears in many applications in communications, signal processing, information theory, and adaptive filtering. For example, this quantity appears in the mean-square-error (MSE) analysis of the normalized least-meansquare (NLMS) adaptive algorithm, and SINR associated with each beam in beam forming applications. The trick of the proposed approach is to replace inequalities that appear in the CDF calculation with unit step functions and to use complex integral representation of the the unit step function. Complex integration allows us then to evaluate the CDF in closed form for the zero mean case and as a single dimensional integral for the non-zero mean case. Utilizing the saddle point technique allows us to closely approximate such integrals in non zero mean case. We demonstrate how our approach can be extended to other scenarios such as the joint distribution of quadratic forms and ratios of such forms, and to characterize quadratic forms in isotropic distributed random variables.We also evaluate the outage probability in multiuser beamforming using our approach to provide an application of indefinite forms in communications.

  4. DISTRIBUTED LEADERSHIP COLLABORATION FACTORS TO SUPPORT IDEA GENERATION IN COMPUTER-SUPPORTED COLLABORATIVE e-LEARNING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Niki Lambropoulos

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper aims to identify, discuss and analyze students’ collaboration factors related to distributed leadership (DL, which correlates with interaction quality evident in idea generation. Scripting computer-supported collaborative e-learning (CSCeL activities based on DL can scaffold students’ interactions that support collaboration and promote idea generation. Furthermore, the associated tools can facilitate collaboration via scripting and shed light on students’ interactions and dialogical sequences. Such detailed planning can result in effective short e-courses. In this case study, 21 MSc students’ teams worked on a DL project within a 2-day e-course at the IT Institute (ITIN, France. The research methods involved a self-reported questionnaire; the Non-Negative Matrix Factorization (NNMF algorithm with qualitative analysis; and outcomes from the Social Network Analysis (SNA tools implemented within the forums. The results indicated that scripting DL based on the identified distributed leadership attributes can support values such as collaboration and can be useful in supporting idea generation in short e-courses.

  5. Non-random alkylation of DNA sequences induced in vivo by chemical mutagens

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Durante, M.; Geri, C.; Bonatti, S.; Parenti, R. (Universita di Pisa (Italy))

    1989-08-01

    Previous studies of the interaction of alkylating agents on the eukaryotic genome support the idea that induction of DNA adducts is at specific genomic sites. Here we show molecular and cytological evidence that alkylation is rather specific. Mammalian cell cultures were exposed to different doses of mutagens and the DNA was analyzed by density gradient ultracentrifugation, hydroxylapatite fractionation, and by restriction enzyme analysis. Studies with the labelled mutagens N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea and N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine show that there is a non-random distribution of the adducts. The adducts are found more frequently in A-T, G-C rich satellite DNA and highly repetitive sequences. Analysis with restriction enzymes shows that both methyl and ethyl groups influence the restriction patterns of the enzymes HpaII and MspI that recognize specific endogenous DNA methylation. These data suggest, as a subsequent mechanism, a modification in the pattern of the normal endogenous methylation of 5-methylcytosine.

  6. Random graph states, maximal flow and Fuss-Catalan distributions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Collins, BenoIt; Nechita, Ion; Zyczkowski, Karol

    2010-01-01

    For any graph consisting of k vertices and m edges we construct an ensemble of random pure quantum states which describe a system composed of 2m subsystems. Each edge of the graph represents a bipartite, maximally entangled state. Each vertex represents a random unitary matrix generated according to the Haar measure, which describes the coupling between subsystems. Dividing all subsystems into two parts, one may study entanglement with respect to this partition. A general technique to derive an expression for the average entanglement entropy of random pure states associated with a given graph is presented. Our technique relies on Weingarten calculus and flow problems. We analyze the statistical properties of spectra of such random density matrices and show for which cases they are described by the free Poissonian (Marchenko-Pastur) distribution. We derive a discrete family of generalized, Fuss-Catalan distributions and explicitly construct graphs which lead to ensembles of random states characterized by these novel distributions of eigenvalues.

  7. Influence of random setup error on dose distribution

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhai Zhenyu

    2008-01-01

    Objective: To investigate the influence of random setup error on dose distribution in radiotherapy and determine the margin from ITV to PTV. Methods: A random sample approach was used to simulate the fields position in target coordinate system. Cumulative effect of random setup error was the sum of dose distributions of all individual treatment fractions. Study of 100 cumulative effects might get shift sizes of 90% dose point position. Margins from ITV to PTV caused by random setup error were chosen by 95% probability. Spearman's correlation was used to analyze the influence of each factor. Results: The average shift sizes of 90% dose point position was 0.62, 1.84, 3.13, 4.78, 6.34 and 8.03 mm if random setup error was 1,2,3,4,5 and 6 mm,respectively. Univariate analysis showed the size of margin was associated only by the size of random setup error. Conclusions: Margin of ITV to PTV is 1.2 times random setup error for head-and-neck cancer and 1.5 times for thoracic and abdominal cancer. Field size, energy and target depth, unlike random setup error, have no relation with the size of the margin. (authors)

  8. BWIP-RANDOM-SAMPLING, Random Sample Generation for Nuclear Waste Disposal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sagar, B.

    1989-01-01

    1 - Description of program or function: Random samples for different distribution types are generated. Distribution types as required for performance assessment modeling of geologic nuclear waste disposal are provided. These are: - Uniform, - Log-uniform (base 10 or natural), - Normal, - Lognormal (base 10 or natural), - Exponential, - Bernoulli, - User defined continuous distribution. 2 - Method of solution: A linear congruential generator is used for uniform random numbers. A set of functions is used to transform the uniform distribution to the other distributions. Stratified, rather than random, sampling can be chosen. Truncated limits can be specified on many distributions, whose usual definition has an infinite support. 3 - Restrictions on the complexity of the problem: Generation of correlated random variables is not included

  9. High-power random distributed feedback fiber laser: From science to application

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Du, Xueyuan [College of Optoelectronic Science and Engineering, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073 (China); Naval Academy of Armament, Beijing 100161 (China); Zhang, Hanwei; Xiao, Hu; Ma, Pengfei; Wang, Xiaolin; Zhou, Pu; Liu, Zejin [College of Optoelectronic Science and Engineering, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073 (China)

    2016-10-15

    A fiber laser based on random distributed feedback has attracted increasing attention in recent years, as it has become an important photonic device and has found wide applications in fiber communications or sensing. In this article, recent advances in high-power random distributed feedback fiber laser are reviewed, including the theoretical analyses, experimental approaches, discussion on the practical applications and outlook. It is found that a random distributed feedback fiber laser can not only act as an information photonics device, but also has the feasibility for high-efficiency/high-power generation, which makes it competitive with conventional high-power laser sources. In addition, high-power random distributed feedback fiber laser has been successfully applied for midinfrared lasing, frequency doubling to the visible and high-quality imaging. It is believed that the high-power random distributed feedback fiber laser could become a promising light source with simple and economic configurations. (copyright 2016 by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

  10. Nonlinear free vibration analysis of elastically supported carbon nanotube-reinforced composite beam with the thermal environment in non-deterministic framework

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chaudhari Virendra Kumar

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper deals with the investigation of nonlinear free vibration behavior of elastically supported carbon nanotube reinforced composite (CNTRC beam subjected to thermal loading with random system properties. Material properties of each constituent’s material, volume fraction exponent and foundation parameters are considered as uncorrelated Gaussian random input variables. The beam is supported by a Pasternak foundation with Winkler cubic nonlinearity. The higher order shear deformation theory (HSDT with von-Karman non-linearity is used to formulate the governing equation using Hamilton principle. Convergence and validation study is carried out through the comparison with the available results in the literature for authenticity and accuracy of the present approach used in the analysis. First order perturbation technique (FOPT,Second order perturbation technique (SOPT and Monte Carlo simulation (MCS methods are employed to investigate the effect of geometric configuration, volume fraction exponent, foundation parameters, distribution of reinforcement and thermal loading on nonlinear vibration characteristics CNTRC beam.The present work signifies the accurate analysis of vibrational behaviour influences by different random variables. Results are presented in terms of mean, variance (COV and probability density function (PDF for various aforementioned parameters.

  11. Random number generators in support of Monte Carlo problems in physics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dyadkin, I.G.

    1993-01-01

    The ability to support a modern users' expectations of random number generators to solve problems in physics is analyzed. The capabilities of the newest concepts and the old pseudo-random algorithms are compared. The author is in favor of multiplicative generators. Due to the 64-bit arithmetic of a modern PC, multiplicative generators have a sufficient number of periods (up to 2 62 ) and are quicker to generate and to govern independent sequences for parallel processing. In addition they are able to replicate sub-sequences (without storing their seeds) for each standard trial in any code and to simulate spatial and planar directions and EXP(-x) distributions often needed as ''bricks'' for simulating events in physics. Hundreds of multipliers for multiplicative generators have been tabulated and tested, and the required speeds have been obtained. (author)

  12. Quantitative non-monotonic modeling of economic uncertainty by probability and possibility distributions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schjær-Jacobsen, Hans

    2012-01-01

    uncertainty can be calculated. The possibility approach is particular well suited for representation of uncertainty of a non-statistical nature due to lack of knowledge and requires less information than the probability approach. Based on the kind of uncertainty and knowledge present, these aspects...... to the understanding of similarities and differences of the two approaches as well as practical applications. The probability approach offers a good framework for representation of randomness and variability. Once the probability distributions of uncertain parameters and their correlations are known the resulting...... are thoroughly discussed in the case of rectangular representation of uncertainty by the uniform probability distribution and the interval, respectively. Also triangular representations are dealt with and compared. Calculation of monotonic as well as non-monotonic functions of variables represented...

  13. Equivalent non-Gaussian excitation method for response moment calculation of systems under non-Gaussian random excitation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tsuchida, Takahiro; Kimura, Koji

    2015-01-01

    Equivalent non-Gaussian excitation method is proposed to obtain the moments up to the fourth order of the response of systems under non-Gaussian random excitation. The excitation is prescribed by the probability density and power spectrum. Moment equations for the response can be derived from the stochastic differential equations for the excitation and the system. However, the moment equations are not closed due to the nonlinearity of the diffusion coefficient in the equation for the excitation. In the proposed method, the diffusion coefficient is replaced with the equivalent diffusion coefficient approximately to obtain a closed set of the moment equations. The square of the equivalent diffusion coefficient is expressed by the second-order polynomial. In order to demonstrate the validity of the method, a linear system to non-Gaussian excitation with generalized Gaussian distribution is analyzed. The results show the method is applicable to non-Gaussian excitation with the widely different kurtosis and bandwidth. (author)

  14. Nonparametric Estimation of Distributions in Random Effects Models

    KAUST Repository

    Hart, Jeffrey D.

    2011-01-01

    We propose using minimum distance to obtain nonparametric estimates of the distributions of components in random effects models. A main setting considered is equivalent to having a large number of small datasets whose locations, and perhaps scales, vary randomly, but which otherwise have a common distribution. Interest focuses on estimating the distribution that is common to all datasets, knowledge of which is crucial in multiple testing problems where a location/scale invariant test is applied to every small dataset. A detailed algorithm for computing minimum distance estimates is proposed, and the usefulness of our methodology is illustrated by a simulation study and an analysis of microarray data. Supplemental materials for the article, including R-code and a dataset, are available online. © 2011 American Statistical Association.

  15. On bounds in Poisson approximation for distributions of independent negative-binomial distributed random variables.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hung, Tran Loc; Giang, Le Truong

    2016-01-01

    Using the Stein-Chen method some upper bounds in Poisson approximation for distributions of row-wise triangular arrays of independent negative-binomial distributed random variables are established in this note.

  16. Effects of the randomly distributed magnetic field on the phase diagrams of the Ising Nanowire II: Continuous distributions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Akıncı, Ümit

    2012-01-01

    The effect of the random magnetic field distribution on the phase diagrams and ground state magnetizations of the Ising nanowire has been investigated with effective field theory with correlations. Gaussian distribution has been chosen as a random magnetic field distribution. The variation of the phase diagrams with that distribution parameters has been obtained and some interesting results have been found such as disappearance of the reentrant behavior and first order transitions which appear in the case of discrete distributions. Also for single and double Gaussian distributions, ground state magnetizations for different distribution parameters have been determined which can be regarded as separate partially ordered phases of the system. - Highlights: ► We give the phase diagrams of the Ising nanowire under the continuous randomly distributed magnetic field. ► Ground state magnetization values obtained. ► Different partially ordered phases observed.

  17. A polymer, random walk model for the size-distribution of large DNA fragments after high linear energy transfer radiation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ponomarev, A. L.; Brenner, D.; Hlatky, L. R.; Sachs, R. K.

    2000-01-01

    DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) produced by densely ionizing radiation are not located randomly in the genome: recent data indicate DSB clustering along chromosomes. Stochastic DSB clustering at large scales, from > 100 Mbp down to simulations and analytic equations. A random-walk, coarse-grained polymer model for chromatin is combined with a simple track structure model in Monte Carlo software called DNAbreak and is applied to data on alpha-particle irradiation of V-79 cells. The chromatin model neglects molecular details but systematically incorporates an increase in average spatial separation between two DNA loci as the number of base-pairs between the loci increases. Fragment-size distributions obtained using DNAbreak match data on large fragments about as well as distributions previously obtained with a less mechanistic approach. Dose-response relations, linear at small doses of high linear energy transfer (LET) radiation, are obtained. They are found to be non-linear when the dose becomes so large that there is a significant probability of overlapping or close juxtaposition, along one chromosome, for different DSB clusters from different tracks. The non-linearity is more evident for large fragments than for small. The DNAbreak results furnish an example of the RLC (randomly located clusters) analytic formalism, which generalizes the broken-stick fragment-size distribution of the random-breakage model that is often applied to low-LET data.

  18. Super Generalized Central Limit Theorem —Limit Distributions for Sums of Non-identical Random Variables with Power Laws—

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shintani, Masaru; Umeno, Ken

    2018-04-01

    The power law is present ubiquitously in nature and in our societies. Therefore, it is important to investigate the characteristics of power laws in the current era of big data. In this paper we prove that the superposition of non-identical stochastic processes with power laws converges in density to a unique stable distribution. This property can be used to explain the universality of stable laws that the sums of the logarithmic returns of non-identical stock price fluctuations follow stable distributions.

  19. The limit distribution of the maximum increment of a random walk with regularly varying jump size distribution

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mikosch, Thomas Valentin; Rackauskas, Alfredas

    2010-01-01

    In this paper, we deal with the asymptotic distribution of the maximum increment of a random walk with a regularly varying jump size distribution. This problem is motivated by a long-standing problem on change point detection for epidemic alternatives. It turns out that the limit distribution...... of the maximum increment of the random walk is one of the classical extreme value distributions, the Fréchet distribution. We prove the results in the general framework of point processes and for jump sizes taking values in a separable Banach space...

  20. Magnetic field line random walk in non-axisymmetric turbulence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tautz, R.C.; Lerche, I.

    2011-01-01

    Including a random component of a magnetic field parallel to an ambient field introduces a mean perpendicular motion to the average field line. This effect is normally not discussed because one customarily chooses at the outset to ignore such a field component in discussing random walk and diffusion of field lines. A discussion of the basic effect is given, indicating that any random magnetic field with a non-zero helicity will lead to such a non-zero perpendicular mean motion. Several exact analytic illustrations are given of the effect as well as a simple numerical illustration. -- Highlights: → For magnetic field line random walk all magnetic field components are important. → Non-vanishing magnetic helicity leads to mean perpendicular motion. → Analytically exact stream functions illustrate that the novel transverse effect exists.

  1. On the generation of log-Levy distributions and extreme randomness

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eliazar, Iddo; Klafter, Joseph

    2011-01-01

    The log-normal distribution is prevalent across the sciences, as it emerges from the combination of multiplicative processes and the central limit theorem (CLT). The CLT, beyond yielding the normal distribution, also yields the class of Levy distributions. The log-Levy distributions are the Levy counterparts of the log-normal distribution, they appear in the context of ultraslow diffusion processes, and they are categorized by Mandelbrot as belonging to the class of extreme randomness. In this paper, we present a natural stochastic growth model from which both the log-normal distribution and the log-Levy distributions emerge universally-the former in the case of deterministic underlying setting, and the latter in the case of stochastic underlying setting. In particular, we establish a stochastic growth model which universally generates Mandelbrot's extreme randomness. (paper)

  2. Standard versus prosocial online support groups for distressed breast cancer survivors: a randomized controlled trial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Golant Mitch

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The Internet can increase access to psychosocial care for breast cancer survivors through online support groups. This study will test a novel prosocial online group that emphasizes both opportunities for getting and giving help. Based on the helper therapy principle, it is hypothesized that the addition of structured helping opportunities and coaching on how to help others online will increase the psychological benefits of a standard online group. Methods/Design A two-armed randomized controlled trial with pretest and posttest. Non-metastatic breast cancer survivors with elevated psychological distress will be randomized to either a standard facilitated online group or to a prosocial facilitated online group, which combines online exchanges of support with structured helping opportunities (blogging, breast cancer outreach and coaching on how best to give support to others. Validated and reliable measures will be administered to women approximately one month before and after the interventions. Self-esteem, positive affect, and sense of belonging will be tested as potential mediators of the primary outcomes of depressive/anxious symptoms and sense of purpose in life. Discussion This study will test an innovative approach to maximizing the psychological benefits of cancer online support groups. The theory-based prosocial online support group intervention model is sustainable, because it can be implemented by private non-profit or other organizations, such as cancer centers, which mostly offer face-to-face support groups with limited patient reach. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01396174

  3. Standard versus prosocial online support groups for distressed breast cancer survivors: a randomized controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lepore, Stephen J; Buzaglo, Joanne S; Lieberman, Morton A; Golant, Mitch; Davey, Adam

    2011-08-25

    The Internet can increase access to psychosocial care for breast cancer survivors through online support groups. This study will test a novel prosocial online group that emphasizes both opportunities for getting and giving help. Based on the helper therapy principle, it is hypothesized that the addition of structured helping opportunities and coaching on how to help others online will increase the psychological benefits of a standard online group. A two-armed randomized controlled trial with pretest and posttest. Non-metastatic breast cancer survivors with elevated psychological distress will be randomized to either a standard facilitated online group or to a prosocial facilitated online group, which combines online exchanges of support with structured helping opportunities (blogging, breast cancer outreach) and coaching on how best to give support to others. Validated and reliable measures will be administered to women approximately one month before and after the interventions. Self-esteem, positive affect, and sense of belonging will be tested as potential mediators of the primary outcomes of depressive/anxious symptoms and sense of purpose in life. This study will test an innovative approach to maximizing the psychological benefits of cancer online support groups. The theory-based prosocial online support group intervention model is sustainable, because it can be implemented by private non-profit or other organizations, such as cancer centers, which mostly offer face-to-face support groups with limited patient reach. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01396174.

  4. Randomness determines practical security of BB84 quantum key distribution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Hong-Wei; Yin, Zhen-Qiang; Wang, Shuang; Qian, Yong-Jun; Chen, Wei; Guo, Guang-Can; Han, Zheng-Fu

    2015-11-01

    Unconditional security of the BB84 quantum key distribution protocol has been proved by exploiting the fundamental laws of quantum mechanics, but the practical quantum key distribution system maybe hacked by considering the imperfect state preparation and measurement respectively. Until now, different attacking schemes have been proposed by utilizing imperfect devices, but the general security analysis model against all of the practical attacking schemes has not been proposed. Here, we demonstrate that the general practical attacking schemes can be divided into the Trojan horse attack, strong randomness attack and weak randomness attack respectively. We prove security of BB84 protocol under randomness attacking models, and these results can be applied to guarantee the security of the practical quantum key distribution system.

  5. Support system for ATLAS distributed computing operations

    CERN Document Server

    Kishimoto, Tomoe; The ATLAS collaboration

    2018-01-01

    The ATLAS distributed computing system has allowed the experiment to successfully meet the challenges of LHC Run 2. In order for distributed computing to operate smoothly and efficiently, several support teams are organized in the ATLAS experiment. The ADCoS (ATLAS Distributed Computing Operation Shifts) is a dedicated group of shifters who follow and report failing jobs, failing data transfers between sites, degradation of ATLAS central computing services, and more. The DAST (Distributed Analysis Support Team) provides user support to resolve issues related to running distributed analysis on the grid. The CRC (Computing Run Coordinator) maintains a global view of the day-to-day operations. In this presentation, the status and operational experience of the support system for ATLAS distributed computing in LHC Run 2 will be reported. This report also includes operations experience from the grid site point of view, and an analysis of the errors that create the biggest waste of wallclock time. The report of oper...

  6. A development framework for artificial intelligence based distributed operations support systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adler, Richard M.; Cottman, Bruce H.

    1990-01-01

    Advanced automation is required to reduce costly human operations support requirements for complex space-based and ground control systems. Existing knowledge based technologies have been used successfully to automate individual operations tasks. Considerably less progress has been made in integrating and coordinating multiple operations applications for unified intelligent support systems. To fill this gap, SOCIAL, a tool set for developing Distributed Artificial Intelligence (DAI) systems is being constructed. SOCIAL consists of three primary language based components defining: models of interprocess communication across heterogeneous platforms; models for interprocess coordination, concurrency control, and fault management; and for accessing heterogeneous information resources. DAI applications subsystems, either new or existing, will access these distributed services non-intrusively, via high-level message-based protocols. SOCIAL will reduce the complexity of distributed communications, control, and integration, enabling developers to concentrate on the design and functionality of the target DAI system itself.

  7. Fully-distributed randomized cooperation in wireless sensor networks

    KAUST Repository

    Bader, Ahmed

    2015-01-07

    When marrying randomized distributed space-time coding (RDSTC) to geographical routing, new performance horizons can be created. In order to reach those horizons however, routing protocols must evolve to operate in a fully distributed fashion. In this letter, we expose a technique to construct a fully distributed geographical routing scheme in conjunction with RDSTC. We then demonstrate the performance gains of this novel scheme by comparing it to one of the prominent classical schemes.

  8. Fully-distributed randomized cooperation in wireless sensor networks

    KAUST Repository

    Bader, Ahmed; Abed-Meraim, Karim; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

    2015-01-01

    When marrying randomized distributed space-time coding (RDSTC) to geographical routing, new performance horizons can be created. In order to reach those horizons however, routing protocols must evolve to operate in a fully distributed fashion. In this letter, we expose a technique to construct a fully distributed geographical routing scheme in conjunction with RDSTC. We then demonstrate the performance gains of this novel scheme by comparing it to one of the prominent classical schemes.

  9. Interpolation between Airy and Poisson statistics for unitary chiral non-Hermitian random matrix ensembles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Akemann, G.; Bender, M.

    2010-01-01

    We consider a family of chiral non-Hermitian Gaussian random matrices in the unitarily invariant symmetry class. The eigenvalue distribution in this model is expressed in terms of Laguerre polynomials in the complex plane. These are orthogonal with respect to a non-Gaussian weight including a modified Bessel function of the second kind, and we give an elementary proof for this. In the large n limit, the eigenvalue statistics at the spectral edge close to the real axis are described by the same family of kernels interpolating between Airy and Poisson that was recently found by one of the authors for the elliptic Ginibre ensemble. We conclude that this scaling limit is universal, appearing for two different non-Hermitian random matrix ensembles with unitary symmetry. As a second result we give an equivalent form for the interpolating Airy kernel in terms of a single real integral, similar to representations for the asymptotic kernel in the bulk and at the hard edge of the spectrum. This makes its structure as a one-parameter deformation of the Airy kernel more transparent.

  10. Comparative study of random and uniform models for the distribution of TRISO particles in HTR-10 fuel elements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rosales, J.; Perez, J.; Garcia, C.; Munnoz, A.; Lira, C. A. B. O.

    2015-01-01

    TRISO particles are the specific features of HTR-10 and generally HTGR reactors. Their heterogeneity and random arrangement in graphite matrix of these reactors create a significant modeling challenge. In the simulation of spherical fuel elements using MCNPX are usually created repetitive structures using uniform distribution models. The use of these repetitive structures introduces two major approaches: the non-randomness of the TRISO particles inside the pebbles and the intersection of the pebble surface with the TRISO particles. These approaches could affect significantly the multiplicative properties of the core. In order to study the influence of these approaches in the multiplicative properties was estimated the K inf value in one pebble with white boundary conditions using 4 different configurations regarding the distribution of the TRISO particles inside the pebble: uniform hexagonal model, cubic uniform model, cubic uniform without the effect of cutting and a random distribution model. It was studied the impact these models on core scale solving the problem B1, from the Benchmark Problems presented in a Coordinated Research Program of the IAEA. (Author)

  11. On the remarkable spectrum of a non-Hermitian random matrix model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Holz, D E; Orland, H; Zee, A

    2003-01-01

    A non-Hermitian random matrix model proposed a few years ago has a remarkably intricate spectrum. Various attempts have been made to understand the spectrum, but even its dimension is not known. Using the Dyson-Schmidt equation, we show that the spectrum consists of a non-denumerable set of lines in the complex plane. Each line is the support of the spectrum of a periodic Hamiltonian, obtained by the infinite repetition of any finite sequence of the disorder variables. Our approach is based on the 'theory of words'. We make a complete study of all four-letter words. The spectrum is complicated because our matrix contains everything that will ever be written in the history of the universe, including this particular paper

  12. A biorthogonal decomposition for the identification and simulation of non-stationary and non-Gaussian random fields

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zentner, I. [IMSIA, UMR EDF-ENSTA-CNRS-CEA 9219, Université Paris-Saclay, 828 Boulevard des Maréchaux, 91762 Palaiseau Cedex (France); Ferré, G., E-mail: gregoire.ferre@ponts.org [CERMICS – Ecole des Ponts ParisTech, 6 et 8 avenue Blaise Pascal, Cité Descartes, Champs sur Marne, 77455 Marne la Vallée Cedex 2 (France); Poirion, F. [Department of Structural Dynamics and Aeroelasticity, ONERA, BP 72, 29 avenue de la Division Leclerc, 92322 Chatillon Cedex (France); Benoit, M. [Institut de Recherche sur les Phénomènes Hors Equilibre (IRPHE), UMR 7342 (CNRS, Aix-Marseille Université, Ecole Centrale Marseille), 49 rue Frédéric Joliot-Curie, BP 146, 13384 Marseille Cedex 13 (France)

    2016-06-01

    In this paper, a new method for the identification and simulation of non-Gaussian and non-stationary stochastic fields given a database is proposed. It is based on two successive biorthogonal decompositions aiming at representing spatio–temporal stochastic fields. The proposed double expansion allows to build the model even in the case of large-size problems by separating the time, space and random parts of the field. A Gaussian kernel estimator is used to simulate the high dimensional set of random variables appearing in the decomposition. The capability of the method to reproduce the non-stationary and non-Gaussian features of random phenomena is illustrated by applications to earthquakes (seismic ground motion) and sea states (wave heights).

  13. On lower limits and equivalences for distribution tails of randomly stopped sums

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Denisov, D.E.; Foss, S.G.; Korshunov, D.A.

    2008-01-01

    For a distribution F*t of a random sum St=¿1+¿+¿t of i.i.d. random variables with a common distribution F on the half-line [0, 8), we study the limits of the ratios of tails as x¿8 (here, t is a counting random variable which does not depend on {¿n}n=1). We also consider applications of the results

  14. Response moments of dynamic systems under non-Gaussian random excitation by the equivalent non-Gaussian excitation method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tsuchida, Takahiro; Kimura, Koji

    2016-01-01

    Equivalent non-Gaussian excitation method is proposed to obtain the response moments up to the 4th order of dynamic systems under non-Gaussian random excitation. The non-Gaussian excitation is prescribed by the probability density and the power spectrum, and is described by an Ito stochastic differential equation. Generally, moment equations for the response, which are derived from the governing equations for the excitation and the system, are not closed due to the nonlinearity of the diffusion coefficient in the equation for the excitation even though the system is linear. In the equivalent non-Gaussian excitation method, the diffusion coefficient is replaced with the equivalent diffusion coefficient approximately to obtain a closed set of the moment equations. The square of the equivalent diffusion coefficient is expressed by a quadratic polynomial. In numerical examples, a linear system subjected to nonGaussian excitations with bimodal and Rayleigh distributions is analyzed by using the present method. The results show that the method yields the variance, skewness and kurtosis of the response with high accuracy for non-Gaussian excitation with the widely different probability densities and bandwidth. The statistical moments of the equivalent non-Gaussian excitation are also investigated to describe the feature of the method. (paper)

  15. Distributed Detection with Collisions in a Random, Single-Hop Wireless Sensor Network

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-05-26

    public release; distribution is unlimited. Distributed detection with collisions in a random, single-hop wireless sensor network The views, opinions...1274 2 ABSTRACT Distributed detection with collisions in a random, single-hop wireless sensor network Report Title We consider the problem of... WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORK Gene T. Whipps?† Emre Ertin† Randolph L. Moses† ?U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi, MD 20783 †The Ohio State University

  16. On the Shaker Simulation of Wind-Induced Non-Gaussian Random Vibration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fei Xu

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Gaussian signal is produced by ordinary random vibration controllers to test the products in the laboratory, while the field data is usually non-Gaussian. Two methodologies are presented in this paper for shaker simulation of wind-induced non-Gaussian vibration. The first methodology synthesizes the non-Gaussian signal offline and replicates it on the shaker in the Time Waveform Replication (TWR mode. A new synthesis method is used to model the non-Gaussian signal as a Gaussian signal multiplied by an amplitude modulation function (AMF. A case study is presented to show that the synthesized non-Gaussian signal has the same power spectral density (PSD, probability density function (PDF, and loading cycle distribution (LCD as the field data. The second methodology derives a damage equivalent Gaussian signal from the non-Gaussian signal based on the fatigue damage spectrum (FDS and the extreme response spectrum (ERS and reproduces it on the shaker in the closed-loop frequency domain control mode. The PSD level and the duration time of the derived Gaussian signal can be manipulated for accelerated testing purpose. A case study is presented to show that the derived PSD matches the damage potential of the non-Gaussian environment for both fatigue and peak response.

  17. Limit distributions of random walks on stochastic matrices

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    condition that μm(P) > 0 for some positive integer m (as opposed to just 1, instead of m, considered in [1]), where μm is the ...... Limit distributions of random walks. 611. PROPOSITION 3.2. Let f be as introduced before Proposition 3.1. The probability distribution λ is the image of π by the map b ↦→ f (b). In other words, λ = ∑.

  18. Zero Distribution of System with Unknown Random Variables Case Study: Avoiding Collision Path

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Parman Setyamartana

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the stochastic analysis of finding the feasible trajectories of robotics arm motion at obstacle surrounding. Unknown variables are coefficients of polynomials joint angle so that the collision-free motion is achieved. ãk is matrix consisting of these unknown feasible polynomial coefficients. The pattern of feasible polynomial in the obstacle environment shows as random. This paper proposes to model the pattern of this randomness values using random polynomial with unknown variables as coefficients. The behavior of the system will be obtained from zero distribution as the characteristic of such random polynomial. Results show that the pattern of random polynomial of avoiding collision can be constructed from zero distribution. Zero distribution is like building block of the system with obstacles as uncertainty factor. By scale factor k, which has range, the random coefficient pattern can be predicted.

  19. Randomly displaced phase distribution design and its advantage in page-data recording of Fourier transform holograms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Emoto, Akira; Fukuda, Takashi

    2013-02-20

    For Fourier transform holography, an effective random phase distribution with randomly displaced phase segments is proposed for obtaining a smooth finite optical intensity distribution in the Fourier transform plane. Since unitary phase segments are randomly distributed in-plane, the blanks give various spatial frequency components to an image, and thus smooth the spectrum. Moreover, by randomly changing the phase segment size, spike generation from the unitary phase segment size in the spectrum can be reduced significantly. As a result, a smooth spectrum including sidebands can be formed at a relatively narrow extent. The proposed phase distribution sustains the primary functions of a random phase mask for holographic-data recording and reconstruction. Therefore, this distribution is expected to find applications in high-density holographic memory systems, replacing conventional random phase mask patterns.

  20. A Comparison of Distribution Free and Non-Distribution Free Factor Analysis Methods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ritter, Nicola L.

    2012-01-01

    Many researchers recognize that factor analysis can be conducted on both correlation matrices and variance-covariance matrices. Although most researchers extract factors from non-distribution free or parametric methods, researchers can also extract factors from distribution free or non-parametric methods. The nature of the data dictates the method…

  1. The compaction of a random distribution of metal cylinders by the discrete element method

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Redanz, Pia; Fleck, N. A.

    2001-01-01

    -linear springs. The initial packing of the particles is generated by the ballistic deposition method. Salient micromechanical features of closed die and isostatic powder compaction are elucidated for both frictionless and sticking contacts. It is found that substantial rearrangement of frictionless particles......The cold compaction of a 2D random distribution of metal circular cylinders has been investigated numerically by the discrete element method. Each cylindrical particle is located by a node at its centre and the plastic indentation of the contacts between neighbouring particles is represented by non...

  2. Representing Degree Distributions, Clustering, and Homophily in Social Networks With Latent Cluster Random Effects Models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krivitsky, Pavel N; Handcock, Mark S; Raftery, Adrian E; Hoff, Peter D

    2009-07-01

    Social network data often involve transitivity, homophily on observed attributes, clustering, and heterogeneity of actor degrees. We propose a latent cluster random effects model to represent all of these features, and we describe a Bayesian estimation method for it. The model is applicable to both binary and non-binary network data. We illustrate the model using two real datasets. We also apply it to two simulated network datasets with the same, highly skewed, degree distribution, but very different network behavior: one unstructured and the other with transitivity and clustering. Models based on degree distributions, such as scale-free, preferential attachment and power-law models, cannot distinguish between these very different situations, but our model does.

  3. Statistical distributions of optimal global alignment scores of random protein sequences

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tang Jiaowei

    2005-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The inference of homology from statistically significant sequence similarity is a central issue in sequence alignments. So far the statistical distribution function underlying the optimal global alignments has not been completely determined. Results In this study, random and real but unrelated sequences prepared in six different ways were selected as reference datasets to obtain their respective statistical distributions of global alignment scores. All alignments were carried out with the Needleman-Wunsch algorithm and optimal scores were fitted to the Gumbel, normal and gamma distributions respectively. The three-parameter gamma distribution performs the best as the theoretical distribution function of global alignment scores, as it agrees perfectly well with the distribution of alignment scores. The normal distribution also agrees well with the score distribution frequencies when the shape parameter of the gamma distribution is sufficiently large, for this is the scenario when the normal distribution can be viewed as an approximation of the gamma distribution. Conclusion We have shown that the optimal global alignment scores of random protein sequences fit the three-parameter gamma distribution function. This would be useful for the inference of homology between sequences whose relationship is unknown, through the evaluation of gamma distribution significance between sequences.

  4. Compensatory and non-compensatory multidimensional randomized item response models

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Fox, J.P.; Entink, R.K.; Avetisyan, M.

    2014-01-01

    Randomized response (RR) models are often used for analysing univariate randomized response data and measuring population prevalence of sensitive behaviours. There is much empirical support for the belief that RR methods improve the cooperation of the respondents. Recently, RR models have been

  5. Disparities in the Population Distribution of African American and Non-Hispanic White Smokers along the Quitting Continuum

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trinidad, Dennis R.; Xie, Bin; Fagan, Pebbles; Pulvers, Kim; Romero, Devan R.; Blanco, Lyzette; Sakuma, Kari-Lyn K.

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: To examine disparities and changes over time in the population-level distribution of smokers along a cigarette quitting continuum among African American smokers compared with non-Hispanic Whites. Methods: Secondary data analyses of the 1999, 2002, 2005, and 2008 California Tobacco Surveys (CTS). The CTS are large, random-digit-dialed,…

  6. Decompounding random sums: A nonparametric approach

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Martin Bøgsted; Pitts, Susan M.

    Observations from sums of random variables with a random number of summands, known as random, compound or stopped sums arise within many areas of engineering and science. Quite often it is desirable to infer properties of the distribution of the terms in the random sum. In the present paper we...... review a number of applications and consider the nonlinear inverse problem of inferring the cumulative distribution function of the components in the random sum. We review the existing literature on non-parametric approaches to the problem. The models amenable to the analysis are generalized considerably...

  7. Distributed Global Transaction Support for Workflow Management Applications

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vonk, J.; Grefen, P.W.P.J.; Boertjes, E.M.; Apers, Peter M.G.

    Workflow management systems require advanced transaction support to cope with their inherently long-running processes. The recent trend to distribute workflow executions requires an even more advanced transaction support system that is able to handle distribution. This paper presents a model as well

  8. Fermi-dirac and random carrier distributions in quantum dot lasers

    OpenAIRE

    Hutchings, M.; O'Driscoll, Ian; Smowton, P. M.; Blood, P.

    2014-01-01

    Using experimental gain and emission measurements as functions of temperature, a method is described to characterise the carrier distribution of radiative states in a quantum dot (QD) laser structure in terms of a temperature. This method is independent of the form of the inhomogeneous dot distribution. A thermal distribution at the lattice temperature is found between 200 and 300K. Below 200K the characteristic temperature exceeds the lattice temperature and the distribution becomes random b...

  9. A randomized controlled study of socioeconomic support to enhance tuberculosis prevention and treatment, Peru

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tovar, Marco A; Huff, Doug; Boccia, Delia; Montoya, Rosario; Ramos, Eric; Datta, Sumona; Saunders, Matthew J; Lewis, James J; Gilman, Robert H; Evans, Carlton A

    2017-01-01

    Abstract Objective To evaluate the impact of socioeconomic support on tuberculosis preventive therapy initiation in household contacts of tuberculosis patients and on treatment success in patients. Methods A non-blinded, household-randomized, controlled study was performed between February 2014 and June 2015 in 32 shanty towns in Peru. It included patients being treated for tuberculosis and their household contacts. Households were randomly assigned to either the standard of care provided by Peru’s national tuberculosis programme (control arm) or the same standard of care plus socioeconomic support (intervention arm). Socioeconomic support comprised conditional cash transfers up to 230 United States dollars per household, community meetings and household visits. Rates of tuberculosis preventive therapy initiation and treatment success (i.e. cure or treatment completion) were compared in intervention and control arms. Findings Overall, 282 of 312 (90%) households agreed to participate: 135 in the intervention arm and 147 in the control arm. There were 410 contacts younger than 20 years: 43% in the intervention arm initiated tuberculosis preventive therapy versus 25% in the control arm (adjusted odds ratio, aOR: 2.2; 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.1–4.1). An intention-to-treat analysis showed that treatment was successful in 64% (87/135) of patients in the intervention arm versus 53% (78/147) in the control arm (unadjusted OR: 1.6; 95% CI: 1.0–2.6). These improvements were equitable, being independent of household poverty. Conclusion A tuberculosis-specific, socioeconomic support intervention increased uptake of tuberculosis preventive therapy and tuberculosis treatment success and is being evaluated in the Community Randomized Evaluation of a Socioeconomic Intervention to Prevent TB (CRESIPT) project. PMID:28479622

  10. Random walk generated by random permutations of {1, 2, 3, ..., n + 1}

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oshanin, G; Voituriez, R

    2004-01-01

    We study properties of a non-Markovian random walk X (n) l , l = 0, 1, 2, ..., n, evolving in discrete time l on a one-dimensional lattice of integers, whose moves to the right or to the left are prescribed by the rise-and-descent sequences characterizing random permutations π of [n + 1] = {1, 2, 3, ..., n + 1}. We determine exactly the probability of finding the end-point X n = X (n) n of the trajectory of such a permutation-generated random walk (PGRW) at site X, and show that in the limit n → ∞ it converges to a normal distribution with a smaller, compared to the conventional Polya random walk, diffusion coefficient. We formulate, as well, an auxiliary stochastic process whose distribution is identical to the distribution of the intermediate points X (n) l , l < n, which enables us to obtain the probability measure of different excursions and to define the asymptotic distribution of the number of 'turns' of the PGRW trajectories

  11. A random sampling procedure for anisotropic distributions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nagrajan, P.S.; Sethulakshmi, P.; Raghavendran, C.P.; Bhatia, D.P.

    1975-01-01

    A procedure is described for sampling the scattering angle of neutrons as per specified angular distribution data. The cosine of the scattering angle is written as a double Legendre expansion in the incident neutron energy and a random number. The coefficients of the expansion are given for C, N, O, Si, Ca, Fe and Pb and these elements are of interest in dosimetry and shielding. (author)

  12. Non-classical radiation transport in random media with fluctuating densities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dyuldya, S.V.; Bratchenko, M.I.

    2012-01-01

    The ensemble averaged propagation kernels of the non-classical radiation transport are studied by means of the proposed application of the stochastic differential equation random medium generators. It is shown that the non-classical transport is favored in long-correlated weakly fluctuating media. The developed kernel models have been implemented in GEANT4 and validated against the d ouble Monte Carlo m odeling of absorptions curves of disperse neutron absorbers and γ-albedos from a scatterer/absorber random mix

  13. Discovering non-random segregation of sister chromatids: The naïve treatment of a premature discovery

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karl G. Lark

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available The discovery of non-random chromosome segregation is discussed from the perspective of what was known in1965 and1966. The distinction between daughter, parent or grandparent strands of DNA was developed in a bacterial system and led to the discovery that multiple copies of DNA elements of bacteria are not distributed randomly with respect to the age of the template strand. Experiments with higher eukaryotic cells demonstrated that during mitosis Mendel’s laws were violated; and the initial serendipitous choice of eukaryotic cell system led to the striking example of non-random segregation of parent and grand-parent DNA template strands in primary cultures of cells derived from mouse embryos. Attempts to extrapolate these findings to established TC lines demonstrated that the property could be lost. Experiments using plant root tips demonstrated that the phenomenon exists in plants and that it was, at some level, under genetic control. Despite publication in major journals and symposia (Lark et al. (1966a; Lark (1967a; 1967b; 1969, 1969a; 1969b the potential implications of these findings were ignored for several decades. Here we explore possible reasons for the pre-maturity (Stent, 1972 of this discovery.

  14. Correlated random sampling for multivariate normal and log-normal distributions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Žerovnik, Gašper; Trkov, Andrej; Kodeli, Ivan A.

    2012-01-01

    A method for correlated random sampling is presented. Representative samples for multivariate normal or log-normal distribution can be produced. Furthermore, any combination of normally and log-normally distributed correlated variables may be sampled to any requested accuracy. Possible applications of the method include sampling of resonance parameters which are used for reactor calculations.

  15. Regularized κ-distributions with non-diverging moments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scherer, K.; Fichtner, H.; Lazar, M.

    2017-12-01

    For various plasma applications the so-called (non-relativistic) κ-distribution is widely used to reproduce and interpret the suprathermal particle populations exhibiting a power-law distribution in velocity or energy. Despite its reputation the standard κ-distribution as a concept is still disputable, mainly due to the velocity moments M l which make a macroscopic characterization possible, but whose existence is restricted only to low orders l definition of the κ-distribution itself is conditioned by the existence of the moment of order l = 2 (i.e., kinetic temperature) satisfied only for κ > 3/2 . In order to resolve these critical limitations we introduce the regularized κ-distribution with non-diverging moments. For the evaluation of all velocity moments a general analytical expression is provided enabling a significant step towards a macroscopic (fluid-like) description of space plasmas, and, in general, any system of κ-distributed particles.

  16. Distributed Generation to Support Development-Focused Climate Action

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cox, Sadie; Gagnon, Pieter; Stout, Sherry; Zinaman, Owen; Watson, Andrea; Hotchkiss, Eliza

    2016-09-01

    This paper explores the role of distributed generation, with a high renewable energy contribution, in supporting low emission climate-resilient development. The paper presents potential impacts on development (via energy access), greenhouse gas emission mitigation, and climate resilience directly associated with distributed generation, as well as specific actions that may enhance or increase the likelihood of climate and development benefits. This paper also seeks to provide practical and timely insights to support distributed generation policymaking and planning within the context of common climate and development goals as the distributed generation landscape rapidly evolves globally. Country-specific distributed generation policy and program examples, as well as analytical tools that can inform efforts internationally, are also highlighted throughout the paper.

  17. Experimental comparison of support vector machines with random ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    dient method, support vector machines, and random forests to improve producer accuracy and overall classification accuracy. The performance comparison of these classifiers is valuable for a decision maker ... ping, surveillance system, resource management, tracking ... rocks, water bodies, and anthropogenic elements,.

  18. Pure random search for ambient sensor distribution optimisation in a smart home environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poland, Michael P; Nugent, Chris D; Wang, Hui; Chen, Liming

    2011-01-01

    Smart homes are living spaces facilitated with technology to allow individuals to remain in their own homes for longer, rather than be institutionalised. Sensors are the fundamental physical layer with any smart home, as the data they generate is used to inform decision support systems, facilitating appropriate actuator actions. Positioning of sensors is therefore a fundamental characteristic of a smart home. Contemporary smart home sensor distribution is aligned to either a) a total coverage approach; b) a human assessment approach. These methods for sensor arrangement are not data driven strategies, are unempirical and frequently irrational. This Study hypothesised that sensor deployment directed by an optimisation method that utilises inhabitants' spatial frequency data as the search space, would produce more optimal sensor distributions vs. the current method of sensor deployment by engineers. Seven human engineers were tasked to create sensor distributions based on perceived utility for 9 deployment scenarios. A Pure Random Search (PRS) algorithm was then tasked to create matched sensor distributions. The PRS method produced superior distributions in 98.4% of test cases (n=64) against human engineer instructed deployments when the engineers had no access to the spatial frequency data, and in 92.0% of test cases (n=64) when engineers had full access to these data. These results thus confirmed the hypothesis.

  19. Distributed Synchronization in Networks of Agent Systems With Nonlinearities and Random Switchings.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tang, Yang; Gao, Huijun; Zou, Wei; Kurths, Jürgen

    2013-02-01

    In this paper, the distributed synchronization problem of networks of agent systems with controllers and nonlinearities subject to Bernoulli switchings is investigated. Controllers and adaptive updating laws injected in each vertex of networks depend on the state information of its neighborhood. Three sets of Bernoulli stochastic variables are introduced to describe the occurrence probabilities of distributed adaptive controllers, updating laws and nonlinearities, respectively. By the Lyapunov functions method, we show that the distributed synchronization of networks composed of agent systems with multiple randomly occurring nonlinearities, multiple randomly occurring controllers, and multiple randomly occurring updating laws can be achieved in mean square under certain criteria. The conditions derived in this paper can be solved by semi-definite programming. Moreover, by mathematical analysis, we find that the coupling strength, the probabilities of the Bernoulli stochastic variables, and the form of nonlinearities have great impacts on the convergence speed and the terminal control strength. The synchronization criteria and the observed phenomena are demonstrated by several numerical simulation examples. In addition, the advantage of distributed adaptive controllers over conventional adaptive controllers is illustrated.

  20. A non-negative Wigner-type distribution

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cartwright, N.D.

    1976-01-01

    The Wigner function, which is commonly used as a joint distribution for non-commuting observables, is shown to be non-negative in all quantum states when smoothed with a gaussian whose variances are greater than or equal to those of the minimum uncertainty wave packet. (Auth.)

  1. Targeting health subsidies through a non-price mechanism: A randomized controlled trial in Kenya

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dupas, Pascaline; Hoffmann, Vivian; Kremer, Michael; Zwane, Alix Peterson

    2016-01-01

    Free provision of preventive health products can dramatically increase access in low income countries. A cost concern about free provision is that some recipients may not use the product, wasting resources (over-inclusion). Yet charging a price to screen out non-users may screen out poor people who need and would use the product (over-exclusion). We report on a randomized controlled trial of a screening mechanism that combines the free provision of chlorine solution for water treatment with a small non-monetary cost (household vouchers that need to be redeemed monthly in order). Relative to a non-voucher free distribution program, this mechanism reduces the quantity of chlorine procured by 60 percentage points, but reduces the share of households whose stored water tests positive for chlorine residual by only one percentage point, dramatically improving the tradeoff between over-inclusion and over-exclusion. PMID:27563091

  2. On the Wigner law in dilute random matrices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khorunzhy, A.; Rodgers, G. J.

    1998-12-01

    We consider ensembles of N × N symmetric matrices whose entries are weakly dependent random variables. We show that random dilution can change the limiting eigenvalue distribution of such matrices. We prove that under general and natural conditions the normalised eigenvalue counting function coincides with the semicircle (Wigner) distribution in the limit N → ∞. This can be explained by the observation that dilution (or more generally, random modulation) eliminates the weak dependence (or correlations) between random matrix entries. It also supports our earlier conjecture that the Wigner distribution is stable to random dilution and modulation.

  3. Statistics for Ratios of Rayleigh, Rician, Nakagami-m, and Weibull Distributed Random Variables

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dragana Č. Pavlović

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The distributions of ratios of random variables are of interest in many areas of the sciences. In this brief paper, we present the joint probability density function (PDF and PDF of maximum of ratios μ1=R1/r1 and μ2=R2/r2 for the cases where R1, R2, r1, and r2 are Rayleigh, Rician, Nakagami-m, and Weibull distributed random variables. Random variables R1 and R2, as well as random variables r1 and r2, are correlated. Ascertaining on the suitability of the Weibull distribution to describe fading in both indoor and outdoor environments, special attention is dedicated to the case of Weibull random variables. For this case, analytical expressions for the joint PDF, PDF of maximum, PDF of minimum, and product moments of arbitrary number of ratios μi=Ri/ri, i=1,…,L are obtained. Random variables in numerator, Ri, as well as random variables in denominator, ri, are exponentially correlated. To the best of the authors' knowledge, analytical expressions for the PDF of minimum and product moments of {μi}i=1L are novel in the open technical literature. The proposed mathematical analysis is complemented by various numerical results. An application of presented theoretical results is illustrated with respect to performance assessment of wireless systems.

  4. Chaotic spin exchange: is the spin non-flip rate observable?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Senba, Masayoshi

    1994-01-01

    If spin exchange is of the Poisson nature, that is, if the time distribution of collisions obeys an exponential distribution function and the collision process is random, the muon spin depolarization is determined only by the spin flip rate regardless of the spin non-flip rate. In this work, spin exchange is discussed in the case of chaotic spin exchange, where the distribution of collision time sequences, generated by a deterministic equation, is exponential but not random (deterministic chaos). Even though this process has the same time distribution as a Poisson process, the muon polarization is affected by the spin non-flip rate. Having an exponential time distribution function is not a sufficient condition for the non-observation of the spin non-flip rate and it is essential that the process is also random. (orig.)

  5. Generating log-normally distributed random numbers by using the Ziggurat algorithm

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Choi, Jong Soo

    2016-01-01

    Uncertainty analyses are usually based on the Monte Carlo method. Using an efficient random number generator(RNG) is a key element in success of Monte Carlo simulations. Log-normal distributed variates are very typical in NPP PSAs. This paper proposes an approach to generate log normally distributed variates based on the Ziggurat algorithm and evaluates the efficiency of the proposed Ziggurat RNG. The proposed RNG can be helpful to improve the uncertainty analysis of NPP PSAs. This paper focuses on evaluating the efficiency of the Ziggurat algorithm from a NPP PSA point of view. From this study, we can draw the following conclusions. - The Ziggurat algorithm is one of perfect random number generators to product normal distributed variates. - The Ziggurat algorithm is computationally much faster than the most commonly used method, Marsaglia polar method

  6. CONVERGENCE OF THE FRACTIONAL PARTS OF THE RANDOM VARIABLES TO THE TRUNCATED EXPONENTIAL DISTRIBUTION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bogdan Gheorghe Munteanu

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Using the stochastic approximations, in this paper it was studiedthe convergence in distribution of the fractional parts of the sum of random variables to the truncated exponential distribution with parameter lambda. This fact is feasible by means of the Fourier-Stieltjes sequence (FSS of the random variable.

  7. Angular Distribution of GRBs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. G. Balázs

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available We studied the complete randomness of the angular distribution of BATSE gamma-ray bursts (GRBs. Based on their durations and peak fluxes, we divided the BATSE sample into 5 subsamples (short1, short2, intermediate, long1, long2 and studied the angular distributions separately. We used three methods to search for non-randomness in the subsamples: Voronoi tesselation, minimal spanning tree, and multifractal spectra. To study any non-randomness in the subsamples we defined 13 test-variables (9 from Voronoi tesselation, 3 from the minimal spanning tree and one from the multifractal spectrum. We made Monte Carlo simulations taking into account the BATSE’s sky-exposure function. We tested therandomness by introducing squared Euclidean distances in the parameter space of the test-variables. We recognized that the short1, short2 groups deviate significantly (99.90%, 99.98% from the fully random case in the distribution of the squared Euclidean distances but this is not true for the long samples. In the intermediate group, the squared Euclidean distances also give significant deviation (98.51%.

  8. Fermi-dirac and random carrier distributions in quantum dot lasers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hutchings, M.; Smowton, P. M.; Blood, P.; O'Driscoll, I.

    2014-01-01

    Using experimental gain and emission measurements as functions of temperature, a method is described to characterise the carrier distribution of radiative states in a quantum dot (QD) laser structure in terms of a temperature. This method is independent of the form of the inhomogeneous dot distribution. A thermal distribution at the lattice temperature is found between 200 and 300 K. Below 200 K the characteristic temperature exceeds the lattice temperature and the distribution becomes random below about 60 K. This enables the temperature range for which Fermi-Dirac statistics are applicable in QD laser threshold calculations to be identified

  9. The limit distribution of the maximum increment of a random walk with dependent regularly varying jump sizes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mikosch, Thomas Valentin; Moser, Martin

    2013-01-01

    We investigate the maximum increment of a random walk with heavy-tailed jump size distribution. Here heavy-tailedness is understood as regular variation of the finite-dimensional distributions. The jump sizes constitute a strictly stationary sequence. Using a continuous mapping argument acting...... on the point processes of the normalized jump sizes, we prove that the maximum increment of the random walk converges in distribution to a Fréchet distributed random variable....

  10. Randomly and Non-Randomly Missing Renal Function Data in the Strong Heart Study: A Comparison of Imputation Methods.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nawar Shara

    Full Text Available Kidney and cardiovascular disease are widespread among populations with high prevalence of diabetes, such as American Indians participating in the Strong Heart Study (SHS. Studying these conditions simultaneously in longitudinal studies is challenging, because the morbidity and mortality associated with these diseases result in missing data, and these data are likely not missing at random. When such data are merely excluded, study findings may be compromised. In this article, a subset of 2264 participants with complete renal function data from Strong Heart Exams 1 (1989-1991, 2 (1993-1995, and 3 (1998-1999 was used to examine the performance of five methods used to impute missing data: listwise deletion, mean of serial measures, adjacent value, multiple imputation, and pattern-mixture. Three missing at random models and one non-missing at random model were used to compare the performance of the imputation techniques on randomly and non-randomly missing data. The pattern-mixture method was found to perform best for imputing renal function data that were not missing at random. Determining whether data are missing at random or not can help in choosing the imputation method that will provide the most accurate results.

  11. Football fever: goal distributions and non-Gaussian statistics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bittner, E.; Nußbaumer, A.; Janke, W.; Weigel, M.

    2009-02-01

    Analyzing football score data with statistical techniques, we investigate how the not purely random, but highly co-operative nature of the game is reflected in averaged properties such as the probability distributions of scored goals for the home and away teams. As it turns out, especially the tails of the distributions are not well described by the Poissonian or binomial model resulting from the assumption of uncorrelated random events. Instead, a good effective description of the data is provided by less basic distributions such as the negative binomial one or the probability densities of extreme value statistics. To understand this behavior from a microscopical point of view, however, no waiting time problem or extremal process need be invoked. Instead, modifying the Bernoulli random process underlying the Poissonian model to include a simple component of self-affirmation seems to describe the data surprisingly well and allows to understand the observed deviation from Gaussian statistics. The phenomenological distributions used before can be understood as special cases within this framework. We analyzed historical football score data from many leagues in Europe as well as from international tournaments, including data from all past tournaments of the “FIFA World Cup” series, and found the proposed models to be applicable rather universally. In particular, here we analyze the results of the German women’s premier football league and consider the two separate German men’s premier leagues in the East and West during the cold war times as well as the unified league after 1990 to see how scoring in football and the component of self-affirmation depend on cultural and political circumstances.

  12. Evaluating the Use of Random Distribution Theory to Introduce Statistical Inference Concepts to Business Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larwin, Karen H.; Larwin, David A.

    2011-01-01

    Bootstrapping methods and random distribution methods are increasingly recommended as better approaches for teaching students about statistical inference in introductory-level statistics courses. The authors examined the effect of teaching undergraduate business statistics students using random distribution and bootstrapping simulations. It is the…

  13. Microstructural descriptors and cellular automata simulation of the effects of non-random nuclei location on recrystallization in two dimensions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paulo Rangel Rios

    2006-06-01

    Full Text Available The effect of non-random nuclei location and the efficiency of microstructural descriptors in assessing such a situation are studied. Cellular automata simulation of recrystallization in two dimensions is carried out to simulate microstrutural evolution for nuclei distribution ranging from a periodic arrangement to clusters of nuclei. The simulation results are compared in detail with microstrutural descriptors normally used to follow transformation evolution. It is shown that the contiguity is particularly relevant to detect microstructural deviations from randomness. This work focuses on recrystallization but its results are applicable to any nucleation and growth transformation.

  14. Thermodynamic method for generating random stress distributions on an earthquake fault

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barall, Michael; Harris, Ruth A.

    2012-01-01

    This report presents a new method for generating random stress distributions on an earthquake fault, suitable for use as initial conditions in a dynamic rupture simulation. The method employs concepts from thermodynamics and statistical mechanics. A pattern of fault slip is considered to be analogous to a micro-state of a thermodynamic system. The energy of the micro-state is taken to be the elastic energy stored in the surrounding medium. Then, the Boltzmann distribution gives the probability of a given pattern of fault slip and stress. We show how to decompose the system into independent degrees of freedom, which makes it computationally feasible to select a random state. However, due to the equipartition theorem, straightforward application of the Boltzmann distribution leads to a divergence which predicts infinite stress. To avoid equipartition, we show that the finite strength of the fault acts to restrict the possible states of the system. By analyzing a set of earthquake scaling relations, we derive a new formula for the expected power spectral density of the stress distribution, which allows us to construct a computer algorithm free of infinities. We then present a new technique for controlling the extent of the rupture by generating a random stress distribution thousands of times larger than the fault surface, and selecting a portion which, by chance, has a positive stress perturbation of the desired size. Finally, we present a new two-stage nucleation method that combines a small zone of forced rupture with a larger zone of reduced fracture energy.

  15. Control method for multi-input multi-output non-Gaussian random vibration test with cross spectra consideration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ronghui ZHENG

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available A control method for Multi-Input Multi-Output (MIMO non-Gaussian random vibration test with cross spectra consideration is proposed in the paper. The aim of the proposed control method is to replicate the specified references composed of auto spectral densities, cross spectral densities and kurtoses on the test article in the laboratory. It is found that the cross spectral densities will bring intractable coupling problems and induce difficulty for the control of the multi-output kurtoses. Hence, a sequential phase modification method is put forward to solve the coupling problems in multi-input multi-output non-Gaussian random vibration test. To achieve the specified responses, an improved zero memory nonlinear transformation is utilized first to modify the Fourier phases of the signals with sequential phase modification method to obtain one frame reference response signals which satisfy the reference spectra and reference kurtoses. Then, an inverse system method is used in frequency domain to obtain the continuous stationary drive signals. At the same time, the matrix power control algorithm is utilized to control the spectra and kurtoses of the response signals further. At the end of the paper, a simulation example with a cantilever beam and a vibration shaker test are implemented and the results support the proposed method very well. Keywords: Cross spectra, Kurtosis control, Multi-input multi-output, Non-Gaussian, Random vibration test

  16. Random surfaces: A non-perturbative regularization of strings?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ambjoern, J.

    1989-12-01

    I review the basic properties of the theory of randum surfaces. While it is by now well known that the theory of (discretized) random surfaces correctly describes the (perturbative) aspects of non-critical strings in d 1. In these lectures I intend to show that the theory of dynamical triangulated random surfaces provides us with a lot of information about the dynamics of both the bosonic string and the superstring even for d>1. I also briefly review recent attempts to define a string field theory (sum over all genus) in this approach. (orig.)

  17. Maximum Likelihood and Bayes Estimation in Randomly Censored Geometric Distribution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hare Krishna

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available In this article, we study the geometric distribution under randomly censored data. Maximum likelihood estimators and confidence intervals based on Fisher information matrix are derived for the unknown parameters with randomly censored data. Bayes estimators are also developed using beta priors under generalized entropy and LINEX loss functions. Also, Bayesian credible and highest posterior density (HPD credible intervals are obtained for the parameters. Expected time on test and reliability characteristics are also analyzed in this article. To compare various estimates developed in the article, a Monte Carlo simulation study is carried out. Finally, for illustration purpose, a randomly censored real data set is discussed.

  18. A distribution-free newsvendor model with balking penalty and random yield

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chongfeng Lan

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to extend the analysis of the distribution-free newsvendor problem in an environment of customer balking, which occurs when customers are reluctant to buy a product if its available inventory falls below a threshold level. Design/methodology/approach: We provide a new tradeoff tool as a replacement of the traditional one to weigh the holding cost and the goodwill costs segment: in addition to the shortage penalty, we also introduce the balking penalty. Furthermore, we extend our model to the case of random yield. Findings: A model is presented for determining both an optimal order quantity and a lower bound on the profit under the worst possible distribution of the demand. We also study the effects of shortage penalty and the balking penalty on the optimal order quantity, which have been largely bypassed in the existing distribution free single period models with balking. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the result. Originality/value: The incorporation of balking penalty and random yield represents an important improvement in inventory policy performance for distribution-free newsvendor problem when customer balking occurs and the distributional form of demand is unknown.

  19. Online distribution channel increases article usage on Mendeley: a randomized controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kudlow, Paul; Cockerill, Matthew; Toccalino, Danielle; Dziadyk, Devin Bissky; Rutledge, Alan; Shachak, Aviv; McIntyre, Roger S; Ravindran, Arun; Eysenbach, Gunther

    2017-01-01

    Prior research shows that article reader counts (i.e. saves) on the online reference manager, Mendeley, correlate to future citations. There are currently no evidenced-based distribution strategies that have been shown to increase article saves on Mendeley. We conducted a 4-week randomized controlled trial to examine how promotion of article links in a novel online cross-publisher distribution channel (TrendMD) affect article saves on Mendeley. Four hundred articles published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research were randomized to either the TrendMD arm ( n  = 200) or the control arm ( n  = 200) of the study. Our primary outcome compares the 4-week mean Mendeley saves of articles randomized to TrendMD versus control. Articles randomized to TrendMD showed a 77% increase in article saves on Mendeley relative to control. The difference in mean Mendeley saves for TrendMD articles versus control was 2.7, 95% CI (2.63, 2.77), and statistically significant ( p  < 0.01). There was a positive correlation between pageviews driven by TrendMD and article saves on Mendeley (Spearman's rho r  = 0.60). This is the first randomized controlled trial to show how an online cross-publisher distribution channel (TrendMD) enhances article saves on Mendeley. While replication and further study are needed, these data suggest that cross-publisher article recommendations via TrendMD may enhance citations of scholarly articles.

  20. Fast Grid Frequency Support from Distributed Inverter-Based Resources

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hoke, Anderson F [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2018-05-04

    This presentation summarizes power hardware-in-the-loop testing performed to evaluate the ability of distributed inverter-coupled generation to support grid frequency on the fastest time scales. The research found that distributed PV inverters and other DERs can effectively support the grid on sub-second time scales.

  1. Sharp lower bounds on the extractable randomness from non-uniform sources

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Skoric, B.; Obi, C.; Verbitskiy, E.A.; Schoenmakers, B.

    2011-01-01

    Extraction of uniform randomness from (noisy) non-uniform sources is an important primitive in many security applications, e.g. (pseudo-)random number generators, privacy-preserving biometrics, and key storage based on Physical Unclonable Functions. Generic extraction methods exist, using universal

  2. A method for generating skewed random numbers using two overlapping uniform distributions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ermak, D.L.; Nasstrom, J.S.

    1995-02-01

    The objective of this work was to implement and evaluate a method for generating skewed random numbers using a combination of uniform random numbers. The method provides a simple and accurate way of generating skewed random numbers from the specified first three moments without an a priori specification of the probability density function. We describe the procedure for generating skewed random numbers from unifon-n random numbers, and show that it accurately produces random numbers with the desired first three moments over a range of skewness values. We also show that in the limit of zero skewness, the distribution of random numbers is an accurate approximation to the Gaussian probability density function. Future work win use this method to provide skewed random numbers for a Langevin equation model for diffusion in skewed turbulence

  3. A lattice Boltzmann simulation of coalescence-induced droplet jumping on superhydrophobic surfaces with randomly distributed structures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Li-Zhi; Yuan, Wu-Zhi

    2018-04-01

    The motion of coalescence-induced condensate droplets on superhydrophobic surface (SHS) has attracted increasing attention in energy-related applications. Previous researches were focused on regularly rough surfaces. Here a new approach, a mesoscale lattice Boltzmann method (LBM), is proposed and used to model the dynamic behavior of coalescence-induced droplet jumping on SHS with randomly distributed rough structures. A Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT) method is used to generate non-Gaussian randomly distributed rough surfaces with the skewness (Sk), kurtosis (K) and root mean square (Rq) obtained from real surfaces. Three typical spreading states of coalesced droplets are observed through LBM modeling on various rough surfaces, which are found to significantly influence the jumping ability of coalesced droplet. The coalesced droplets spreading in Cassie state or in composite state will jump off the rough surfaces, while the ones spreading in Wenzel state would eventually remain on the rough surfaces. It is demonstrated that the rough surfaces with smaller Sks, larger Rqs and a K at 3.0 are beneficial to coalescence-induced droplet jumping. The new approach gives more detailed insights into the design of SHS.

  4. Micromechanical Modeling of Fiber-Reinforced Composites with Statistically Equivalent Random Fiber Distribution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wenzhi Wang

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Modeling the random fiber distribution of a fiber-reinforced composite is of great importance for studying the progressive failure behavior of the material on the micro scale. In this paper, we develop a new algorithm for generating random representative volume elements (RVEs with statistical equivalent fiber distribution against the actual material microstructure. The realistic statistical data is utilized as inputs of the new method, which is archived through implementation of the probability equations. Extensive statistical analysis is conducted to examine the capability of the proposed method and to compare it with existing methods. It is found that the proposed method presents a good match with experimental results in all aspects including the nearest neighbor distance, nearest neighbor orientation, Ripley’s K function, and the radial distribution function. Finite element analysis is presented to predict the effective elastic properties of a carbon/epoxy composite, to validate the generated random representative volume elements, and to provide insights of the effect of fiber distribution on the elastic properties. The present algorithm is shown to be highly accurate and can be used to generate statistically equivalent RVEs for not only fiber-reinforced composites but also other materials such as foam materials and particle-reinforced composites.

  5. Softening in Random Networks of Non-Identical Beams.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ban, Ehsan; Barocas, Victor H; Shephard, Mark S; Picu, Catalin R

    2016-02-01

    Random fiber networks are assemblies of elastic elements connected in random configurations. They are used as models for a broad range of fibrous materials including biopolymer gels and synthetic nonwovens. Although the mechanics of networks made from the same type of fibers has been studied extensively, the behavior of composite systems of fibers with different properties has received less attention. In this work we numerically and theoretically study random networks of beams and springs of different mechanical properties. We observe that the overall network stiffness decreases on average as the variability of fiber stiffness increases, at constant mean fiber stiffness. Numerical results and analytical arguments show that for small variabilities in fiber stiffness the amount of network softening scales linearly with the variance of the fiber stiffness distribution. This result holds for any beam structure and is expected to apply to a broad range of materials including cellular solids.

  6. Functional redundancy patterns reveal non-random assembly rules in a species-rich marine assemblage.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nicolas Guillemot

    Full Text Available The relationship between species and the functional diversity of assemblages is fundamental in ecology because it contains key information on functional redundancy, and functionally redundant ecosystems are thought to be more resilient, resistant and stable. However, this relationship is poorly understood and undocumented for species-rich coastal marine ecosystems. Here, we used underwater visual censuses to examine the patterns of functional redundancy for one of the most diverse vertebrate assemblages, the coral reef fishes of New Caledonia, South Pacific. First, we found that the relationship between functional and species diversity displayed a non-asymptotic power-shaped curve, implying that rare functions and species mainly occur in highly diverse assemblages. Second, we showed that the distribution of species amongst possible functions was significantly different from a random distribution up to a threshold of ∼90 species/transect. Redundancy patterns for each function further revealed that some functions displayed fast rates of increase in redundancy at low species diversity, whereas others were only becoming redundant past a certain threshold. This suggested non-random assembly rules and the existence of some primordial functions that would need to be fulfilled in priority so that coral reef fish assemblages can gain a basic ecological structure. Last, we found little effect of habitat on the shape of the functional-species diversity relationship and on the redundancy of functions, although habitat is known to largely determine assemblage characteristics such as species composition, biomass, and abundance. Our study shows that low functional redundancy is characteristic of this highly diverse fish assemblage, and, therefore, that even species-rich ecosystems such as coral reefs may be vulnerable to the removal of a few keystone species.

  7. Superdiffusion in a non-Markovian random walk model with a Gaussian memory profile

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borges, G. M.; Ferreira, A. S.; da Silva, M. A. A.; Cressoni, J. C.; Viswanathan, G. M.; Mariz, A. M.

    2012-09-01

    Most superdiffusive Non-Markovian random walk models assume that correlations are maintained at all time scales, e.g., fractional Brownian motion, Lévy walks, the Elephant walk and Alzheimer walk models. In the latter two models the random walker can always "remember" the initial times near t = 0. Assuming jump size distributions with finite variance, the question naturally arises: is superdiffusion possible if the walker is unable to recall the initial times? We give a conclusive answer to this general question, by studying a non-Markovian model in which the walker's memory of the past is weighted by a Gaussian centered at time t/2, at which time the walker had one half the present age, and with a standard deviation σt which grows linearly as the walker ages. For large widths we find that the model behaves similarly to the Elephant model, but for small widths this Gaussian memory profile model behaves like the Alzheimer walk model. We also report that the phenomenon of amnestically induced persistence, known to occur in the Alzheimer walk model, arises in the Gaussian memory profile model. We conclude that memory of the initial times is not a necessary condition for generating (log-periodic) superdiffusion. We show that the phenomenon of amnestically induced persistence extends to the case of a Gaussian memory profile.

  8. Correction of confounding bias in non-randomized studies by appropriate weighting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schmoor, Claudia; Gall, Christine; Stampf, Susanne; Graf, Erika

    2011-03-01

    In non-randomized studies, the assessment of a causal effect of treatment or exposure on outcome is hampered by possible confounding. Applying multiple regression models including the effects of treatment and covariates on outcome is the well-known classical approach to adjust for confounding. In recent years other approaches have been promoted. One of them is based on the propensity score and considers the effect of possible confounders on treatment as a relevant criterion for adjustment. Another proposal is based on using an instrumental variable. Here inference relies on a factor, the instrument, which affects treatment but is thought to be otherwise unrelated to outcome, so that it mimics randomization. Each of these approaches can basically be interpreted as a simple reweighting scheme, designed to address confounding. The procedures will be compared with respect to their fundamental properties, namely, which bias they aim to eliminate, which effect they aim to estimate, and which parameter is modelled. We will expand our overview of methods for analysis of non-randomized studies to methods for analysis of randomized controlled trials and show that analyses of both study types may target different effects and different parameters. The considerations will be illustrated using a breast cancer study with a so-called Comprehensive Cohort Study design, including a randomized controlled trial and a non-randomized study in the same patient population as sub-cohorts. This design offers ideal opportunities to discuss and illustrate the properties of the different approaches. Copyright © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  9. The distribution of the number of node neighbors in random hypergraphs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    López, Eduardo

    2013-01-01

    Hypergraphs, the generalization of graphs in which edges become conglomerates of r nodes called hyperedges of rank r ⩾ 2, are excellent models to study systems with interactions that are beyond the pairwise level. For hypergraphs, the node degree ℓ (number of hyperedges connected to a node) and the number of neighbors k of a node differ from each other in contrast to the case of graphs, where counting the number of edges is equivalent to counting the number of neighbors. In this paper, I calculate the distribution of the number of node neighbors in random hypergraphs in which hyperedges of uniform rank r have a homogeneous (equal for all hyperedges) probability p to appear. This distribution is equivalent to the degree distribution of ensembles of graphs created as projections of hypergraph or bipartite network ensembles, where the projection connects any two nodes in the projected graph when they are also connected in the hypergraph or bipartite network. The calculation is non-trivial due to the possibility that neighbor nodes belong simultaneously to multiple hyperedges (node overlaps). From the exact results, the traditional asymptotic approximation to the distribution in the sparse regime (small p) where overlaps are ignored is rederived and improved; the approximation exhibits Poisson-like behavior accompanied by strong fluctuations modulated by power-law decays in the system size N with decay exponents equal to the minimum number of overlapping nodes possible for a given number of neighbors. It is shown that the dense limit cannot be explained if overlaps are ignored, and the correct asymptotic distribution is provided. The neighbor distribution requires the calculation of a new combinatorial coefficient Q r−1 (k, ℓ), which counts the number of distinct labeled hypergraphs of k nodes, ℓ hyperedges of rank r − 1, and where every node is connected to at least one hyperedge. Some identities of Q r−1 (k, ℓ) are derived and applied to the

  10. Measurement of fuel importance distribution in non-uniformly distributed fuel systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamane, Yoshihiro; Hirano, Yasushi; Yasui, Hazime; Izima, Kazunori; Shiroya, Seiji; Kobayashi, Keiji.

    1995-01-01

    A reactivity effect due to a spatial variation of nuclear fuel concentration is an important problem for nuclear criticality safety in a reprocessing plant. As a theory estimating this reactivity effect, the Goertzel and fuel importance theories are well known. It has been shown that the Goertzel's theory is valid in the range of our experiments based on measurements of reactivity effect and thermal neutron flux in non-uniformly distributed fuel systems. On the other hand, there have been no reports concerning systematic experimental studies on the flatness of fuel importance which is a more general index than the Goertzel's theory. It is derived from the perturbation theory that the fuel importance is proportional to the reactivity change resulting from a change of small amount of fuel mass. Using a uniform and three kinds of nonuniform fuel systems consisting of 93.2% enriched uranium plates and polyethylene plates, the fuel importance distributions were measured. As a result, it was found experimentally that the fuel importance distribution became flat, as its reactivity effect became large. Therefore it was concluded that the flatness of fuel importance distribution is the useful index for estimating reactivity effect of non-uniformly distributed fuel system. (author)

  11. Hessian eigenvalue distribution in a random Gaussian landscape

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamada, Masaki; Vilenkin, Alexander

    2018-03-01

    The energy landscape of multiverse cosmology is often modeled by a multi-dimensional random Gaussian potential. The physical predictions of such models crucially depend on the eigenvalue distribution of the Hessian matrix at potential minima. In particular, the stability of vacua and the dynamics of slow-roll inflation are sensitive to the magnitude of the smallest eigenvalues. The Hessian eigenvalue distribution has been studied earlier, using the saddle point approximation, in the leading order of 1/ N expansion, where N is the dimensionality of the landscape. This approximation, however, is insufficient for the small eigenvalue end of the spectrum, where sub-leading terms play a significant role. We extend the saddle point method to account for the sub-leading contributions. We also develop a new approach, where the eigenvalue distribution is found as an equilibrium distribution at the endpoint of a stochastic process (Dyson Brownian motion). The results of the two approaches are consistent in cases where both methods are applicable. We discuss the implications of our results for vacuum stability and slow-roll inflation in the landscape.

  12. An efficient method of randomly sampling the coherent angular scatter distribution

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Williamson, J.F.; Morin, R.L.

    1983-01-01

    Monte Carlo simulations of photon transport phenomena require random selection of an interaction process at each collision site along the photon track. Possible choices are usually limited to photoelectric absorption and incoherent scatter as approximated by the Klein-Nishina distribution. A technique is described for sampling the coherent angular scatter distribution, for the benefit of workers in medical physics. (U.K.)

  13. EMR-based medical knowledge representation and inference via Markov random fields and distributed representation learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Chao; Jiang, Jingchi; Guan, Yi; Guo, Xitong; He, Bin

    2018-05-01

    Electronic medical records (EMRs) contain medical knowledge that can be used for clinical decision support (CDS). Our objective is to develop a general system that can extract and represent knowledge contained in EMRs to support three CDS tasks-test recommendation, initial diagnosis, and treatment plan recommendation-given the condition of a patient. We extracted four kinds of medical entities from records and constructed an EMR-based medical knowledge network (EMKN), in which nodes are entities and edges reflect their co-occurrence in a record. Three bipartite subgraphs (bigraphs) were extracted from the EMKN, one to support each task. One part of the bigraph was the given condition (e.g., symptoms), and the other was the condition to be inferred (e.g., diseases). Each bigraph was regarded as a Markov random field (MRF) to support the inference. We proposed three graph-based energy functions and three likelihood-based energy functions. Two of these functions are based on knowledge representation learning and can provide distributed representations of medical entities. Two EMR datasets and three metrics were utilized to evaluate the performance. As a whole, the evaluation results indicate that the proposed system outperformed the baseline methods. The distributed representation of medical entities does reflect similarity relationships with respect to knowledge level. Combining EMKN and MRF is an effective approach for general medical knowledge representation and inference. Different tasks, however, require individually designed energy functions. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. A method for the generation of random multiple Coulomb scattering angles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Campbell, J.R.

    1995-06-01

    A method for the random generation of spatial angles drawn from non-Gaussian multiple Coulomb scattering distributions is presented. The method employs direct numerical inversion of cumulative probability distributions computed from the universal non-Gaussian angular distributions of Marion and Zimmerman. (author). 12 refs., 3 figs

  15. Coordinating complex decision support activities across distributed applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adler, Richard M.

    1994-01-01

    Knowledge-based technologies have been applied successfully to automate planning and scheduling in many problem domains. Automation of decision support can be increased further by integrating task-specific applications with supporting database systems, and by coordinating interactions between such tools to facilitate collaborative activities. Unfortunately, the technical obstacles that must be overcome to achieve this vision of transparent, cooperative problem-solving are daunting. Intelligent decision support tools are typically developed for standalone use, rely on incompatible, task-specific representational models and application programming interfaces (API's), and run on heterogeneous computing platforms. Getting such applications to interact freely calls for platform independent capabilities for distributed communication, as well as tools for mapping information across disparate representations. Symbiotics is developing a layered set of software tools (called NetWorks! for integrating and coordinating heterogeneous distributed applications. he top layer of tools consists of an extensible set of generic, programmable coordination services. Developers access these services via high-level API's to implement the desired interactions between distributed applications.

  16. Support for User Interfaces for Distributed Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eychaner, Glenn; Niessner, Albert

    2005-01-01

    An extensible Java(TradeMark) software framework supports the construction and operation of graphical user interfaces (GUIs) for distributed computing systems typified by ground control systems that send commands to, and receive telemetric data from, spacecraft. Heretofore, such GUIs have been custom built for each new system at considerable expense. In contrast, the present framework affords generic capabilities that can be shared by different distributed systems. Dynamic class loading, reflection, and other run-time capabilities of the Java language and JavaBeans component architecture enable the creation of a GUI for each new distributed computing system with a minimum of custom effort. By use of this framework, GUI components in control panels and menus can send commands to a particular distributed system with a minimum of system-specific code. The framework receives, decodes, processes, and displays telemetry data; custom telemetry data handling can be added for a particular system. The framework supports saving and later restoration of users configurations of control panels and telemetry displays with a minimum of effort in writing system-specific code. GUIs constructed within this framework can be deployed in any operating system with a Java run-time environment, without recompilation or code changes.

  17. A Random Forest approach to predict the spatial distribution of sediment pollution in an estuarine system.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eric S Walsh

    Full Text Available Modeling the magnitude and distribution of sediment-bound pollutants in estuaries is often limited by incomplete knowledge of the site and inadequate sample density. To address these modeling limitations, a decision-support tool framework was conceived that predicts sediment contamination from the sub-estuary to broader estuary extent. For this study, a Random Forest (RF model was implemented to predict the distribution of a model contaminant, triclosan (5-chloro-2-(2,4-dichlorophenoxyphenol (TCS, in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, USA. TCS is an unregulated contaminant used in many personal care products. The RF explanatory variables were associated with TCS transport and fate (proxies and direct and indirect environmental entry. The continuous RF TCS concentration predictions were discretized into three levels of contamination (low, medium, and high for three different quantile thresholds. The RF model explained 63% of the variance with a minimum number of variables. Total organic carbon (TOC (transport and fate proxy was a strong predictor of TCS contamination causing a mean squared error increase of 59% when compared to permutations of randomized values of TOC. Additionally, combined sewer overflow discharge (environmental entry and sand (transport and fate proxy were strong predictors. The discretization models identified a TCS area of greatest concern in the northern reach of Narragansett Bay (Providence River sub-estuary, which was validated with independent test samples. This decision-support tool performed well at the sub-estuary extent and provided the means to identify areas of concern and prioritize bay-wide sampling.

  18. Software/hardware distributed processing network supporting the Ada environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wood, Richard J.; Pryk, Zen

    1993-09-01

    A high-performance, fault-tolerant, distributed network has been developed, tested, and demonstrated. The network is based on the MIPS Computer Systems, Inc. R3000 Risc for processing, VHSIC ASICs for high speed, reliable, inter-node communications and compatible commercial memory and I/O boards. The network is an evolution of the Advanced Onboard Signal Processor (AOSP) architecture. It supports Ada application software with an Ada- implemented operating system. A six-node implementation (capable of expansion up to 256 nodes) of the RISC multiprocessor architecture provides 120 MIPS of scalar throughput, 96 Mbytes of RAM and 24 Mbytes of non-volatile memory. The network provides for all ground processing applications, has merit for space-qualified RISC-based network, and interfaces to advanced Computer Aided Software Engineering (CASE) tools for application software development.

  19. Random phenotypic variation of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) single-gene knockouts fits a double pareto-lognormal distribution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Graham, John H; Robb, Daniel T; Poe, Amy R

    2012-01-01

    Distributed robustness is thought to influence the buffering of random phenotypic variation through the scale-free topology of gene regulatory, metabolic, and protein-protein interaction networks. If this hypothesis is true, then the phenotypic response to the perturbation of particular nodes in such a network should be proportional to the number of links those nodes make with neighboring nodes. This suggests a probability distribution approximating an inverse power-law of random phenotypic variation. Zero phenotypic variation, however, is impossible, because random molecular and cellular processes are essential to normal development. Consequently, a more realistic distribution should have a y-intercept close to zero in the lower tail, a mode greater than zero, and a long (fat) upper tail. The double Pareto-lognormal (DPLN) distribution is an ideal candidate distribution. It consists of a mixture of a lognormal body and upper and lower power-law tails. If our assumptions are true, the DPLN distribution should provide a better fit to random phenotypic variation in a large series of single-gene knockout lines than other skewed or symmetrical distributions. We fit a large published data set of single-gene knockout lines in Saccharomyces cerevisiae to seven different probability distributions: DPLN, right Pareto-lognormal (RPLN), left Pareto-lognormal (LPLN), normal, lognormal, exponential, and Pareto. The best model was judged by the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC). Phenotypic variation among gene knockouts in S. cerevisiae fits a double Pareto-lognormal (DPLN) distribution better than any of the alternative distributions, including the right Pareto-lognormal and lognormal distributions. A DPLN distribution is consistent with the hypothesis that developmental stability is mediated, in part, by distributed robustness, the resilience of gene regulatory, metabolic, and protein-protein interaction networks. Alternatively, multiplicative cell growth, and the mixing of

  20. Averaging in SU(2) open quantum random walk

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ampadu Clement

    2014-01-01

    We study the average position and the symmetry of the distribution in the SU(2) open quantum random walk (OQRW). We show that the average position in the central limit theorem (CLT) is non-uniform compared with the average position in the non-CLT. The symmetry of distribution is shown to be even in the CLT

  1. Averaging in SU(2) open quantum random walk

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clement, Ampadu

    2014-03-01

    We study the average position and the symmetry of the distribution in the SU(2) open quantum random walk (OQRW). We show that the average position in the central limit theorem (CLT) is non-uniform compared with the average position in the non-CLT. The symmetry of distribution is shown to be even in the CLT.

  2. The StratusLab cloud distribution: Use-cases and support for scientific applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Floros, E.

    2012-04-01

    The StratusLab project is integrating an open cloud software distribution that enables organizations to setup and provide their own private or public IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) computing clouds. StratusLab distribution capitalizes on popular infrastructure virtualization solutions like KVM, the OpenNebula virtual machine manager, Claudia service manager and SlipStream deployment platform, which are further enhanced and expanded with additional components developed within the project. The StratusLab distribution covers the core aspects of a cloud IaaS architecture, namely Computing (life-cycle management of virtual machines), Storage, Appliance management and Networking. The resulting software stack provides a packaged turn-key solution for deploying cloud computing services. The cloud computing infrastructures deployed using StratusLab can support a wide range of scientific and business use cases. Grid computing has been the primary use case pursued by the project and for this reason the initial priority has been the support for the deployment and operation of fully virtualized production-level grid sites; a goal that has already been achieved by operating such a site as part of EGI's (European Grid Initiative) pan-european grid infrastructure. In this area the project is currently working to provide non-trivial capabilities like elastic and autonomic management of grid site resources. Although grid computing has been the motivating paradigm, StratusLab's cloud distribution can support a wider range of use cases. Towards this direction, we have developed and currently provide support for setting up general purpose computing solutions like Hadoop, MPI and Torque clusters. For what concerns scientific applications the project is collaborating closely with the Bioinformatics community in order to prepare VM appliances and deploy optimized services for bioinformatics applications. In a similar manner additional scientific disciplines like Earth Science can take

  3. Distributed computing feasibility in a non-dedicated homogeneous distributed system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leutenegger, Scott T.; Sun, Xian-He

    1993-01-01

    The low cost and availability of clusters of workstations have lead researchers to re-explore distributed computing using independent workstations. This approach may provide better cost/performance than tightly coupled multiprocessors. In practice, this approach often utilizes wasted cycles to run parallel jobs. The feasibility of such a non-dedicated parallel processing environment assuming workstation processes have preemptive priority over parallel tasks is addressed. An analytical model is developed to predict parallel job response times. Our model provides insight into how significantly workstation owner interference degrades parallel program performance. A new term task ratio, which relates the parallel task demand to the mean service demand of nonparallel workstation processes, is introduced. It was proposed that task ratio is a useful metric for determining how large the demand of a parallel applications must be in order to make efficient use of a non-dedicated distributed system.

  4. A Randomized Central Limit Theorem

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eliazar, Iddo; Klafter, Joseph

    2010-01-01

    The Central Limit Theorem (CLT), one of the most elemental pillars of Probability Theory and Statistical Physics, asserts that: the universal probability law of large aggregates of independent and identically distributed random summands with zero mean and finite variance, scaled by the square root of the aggregate-size (√(n)), is Gaussian. The scaling scheme of the CLT is deterministic and uniform - scaling all aggregate-summands by the common and deterministic factor √(n). This Letter considers scaling schemes which are stochastic and non-uniform, and presents a 'Randomized Central Limit Theorem' (RCLT): we establish a class of random scaling schemes which yields universal probability laws of large aggregates of independent and identically distributed random summands. The RCLT universal probability laws, in turn, are the one-sided and the symmetric Levy laws.

  5. Why choose Random Forest to predict rare species distribution with few samples in large undersampled areas? Three Asian crane species models provide supporting evidence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chunrong Mi

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Species distribution models (SDMs have become an essential tool in ecology, biogeography, evolution and, more recently, in conservation biology. How to generalize species distributions in large undersampled areas, especially with few samples, is a fundamental issue of SDMs. In order to explore this issue, we used the best available presence records for the Hooded Crane (Grus monacha, n = 33, White-naped Crane (Grus vipio, n = 40, and Black-necked Crane (Grus nigricollis, n = 75 in China as three case studies, employing four powerful and commonly used machine learning algorithms to map the breeding distributions of the three species: TreeNet (Stochastic Gradient Boosting, Boosted Regression Tree Model, Random Forest, CART (Classification and Regression Tree and Maxent (Maximum Entropy Models. In addition, we developed an ensemble forecast by averaging predicted probability of the above four models results. Commonly used model performance metrics (Area under ROC (AUC and true skill statistic (TSS were employed to evaluate model accuracy. The latest satellite tracking data and compiled literature data were used as two independent testing datasets to confront model predictions. We found Random Forest demonstrated the best performance for the most assessment method, provided a better model fit to the testing data, and achieved better species range maps for each crane species in undersampled areas. Random Forest has been generally available for more than 20 years and has been known to perform extremely well in ecological predictions. However, while increasingly on the rise, its potential is still widely underused in conservation, (spatial ecological applications and for inference. Our results show that it informs ecological and biogeographical theories as well as being suitable for conservation applications, specifically when the study area is undersampled. This method helps to save model-selection time and effort, and allows robust and rapid

  6. Why choose Random Forest to predict rare species distribution with few samples in large undersampled areas? Three Asian crane species models provide supporting evidence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mi, Chunrong; Huettmann, Falk; Guo, Yumin; Han, Xuesong; Wen, Lijia

    2017-01-01

    Species distribution models (SDMs) have become an essential tool in ecology, biogeography, evolution and, more recently, in conservation biology. How to generalize species distributions in large undersampled areas, especially with few samples, is a fundamental issue of SDMs. In order to explore this issue, we used the best available presence records for the Hooded Crane ( Grus monacha , n  = 33), White-naped Crane ( Grus vipio , n  = 40), and Black-necked Crane ( Grus nigricollis , n  = 75) in China as three case studies, employing four powerful and commonly used machine learning algorithms to map the breeding distributions of the three species: TreeNet (Stochastic Gradient Boosting, Boosted Regression Tree Model), Random Forest, CART (Classification and Regression Tree) and Maxent (Maximum Entropy Models). In addition, we developed an ensemble forecast by averaging predicted probability of the above four models results. Commonly used model performance metrics (Area under ROC (AUC) and true skill statistic (TSS)) were employed to evaluate model accuracy. The latest satellite tracking data and compiled literature data were used as two independent testing datasets to confront model predictions. We found Random Forest demonstrated the best performance for the most assessment method, provided a better model fit to the testing data, and achieved better species range maps for each crane species in undersampled areas. Random Forest has been generally available for more than 20 years and has been known to perform extremely well in ecological predictions. However, while increasingly on the rise, its potential is still widely underused in conservation, (spatial) ecological applications and for inference. Our results show that it informs ecological and biogeographical theories as well as being suitable for conservation applications, specifically when the study area is undersampled. This method helps to save model-selection time and effort, and allows robust and rapid

  7. MicROS-drt: supporting real-time and scalable data distribution in distributed robotic systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ding, Bo; Wang, Huaimin; Fan, Zedong; Zhang, Pengfei; Liu, Hui

    A primary requirement in distributed robotic software systems is the dissemination of data to all interested collaborative entities in a timely and scalable manner. However, providing such a service in a highly dynamic and resource-limited robotic environment is a challenging task, and existing robot software infrastructure has limitations in this aspect. This paper presents a novel robot software infrastructure, micROS-drt, which supports real-time and scalable data distribution. The solution is based on a loosely coupled data publish-subscribe model with the ability to support various time-related constraints. And to realize this model, a mature data distribution standard, the data distribution service for real-time systems (DDS), is adopted as the foundation of the transport layer of this software infrastructure. By elaborately adapting and encapsulating the capability of the underlying DDS middleware, micROS-drt can meet the requirement of real-time and scalable data distribution in distributed robotic systems. Evaluation results in terms of scalability, latency jitter and transport priority as well as the experiment on real robots validate the effectiveness of this work.

  8. Extended q -Gaussian and q -exponential distributions from gamma random variables

    Science.gov (United States)

    Budini, Adrián A.

    2015-05-01

    The family of q -Gaussian and q -exponential probability densities fit the statistical behavior of diverse complex self-similar nonequilibrium systems. These distributions, independently of the underlying dynamics, can rigorously be obtained by maximizing Tsallis "nonextensive" entropy under appropriate constraints, as well as from superstatistical models. In this paper we provide an alternative and complementary scheme for deriving these objects. We show that q -Gaussian and q -exponential random variables can always be expressed as a function of two statistically independent gamma random variables with the same scale parameter. Their shape index determines the complexity q parameter. This result also allows us to define an extended family of asymmetric q -Gaussian and modified q -exponential densities, which reduce to the standard ones when the shape parameters are the same. Furthermore, we demonstrate that a simple change of variables always allows relating any of these distributions with a beta stochastic variable. The extended distributions are applied in the statistical description of different complex dynamics such as log-return signals in financial markets and motion of point defects in a fluid flow.

  9. Saddlepoint approximation to the distribution of the total distance of the continuous time random walk

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gatto, Riccardo

    2017-12-01

    This article considers the random walk over Rp, with p ≥ 2, where a given particle starts at the origin and moves stepwise with uniformly distributed step directions and step lengths following a common distribution. Step directions and step lengths are independent. The case where the number of steps of the particle is fixed and the more general case where it follows an independent continuous time inhomogeneous counting process are considered. Saddlepoint approximations to the distribution of the distance from the position of the particle to the origin are provided. Despite the p-dimensional nature of the random walk, the computations of the saddlepoint approximations are one-dimensional and thus simple. Explicit formulae are derived with dimension p = 3: for uniformly and exponentially distributed step lengths, for fixed and for Poisson distributed number of steps. In these situations, the high accuracy of the saddlepoint approximations is illustrated by numerical comparisons with Monte Carlo simulation. Contribution to the "Topical Issue: Continuous Time Random Walk Still Trendy: Fifty-year History, Current State and Outlook", edited by Ryszard Kutner and Jaume Masoliver.

  10. Patterns of particle distribution in multiparticle systems by random walks with memory enhancement and decay

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tan, Zhi-Jie; Zou, Xian-Wu; Huang, Sheng-You; Zhang, Wei; Jin, Zhun-Zhi

    2002-07-01

    We investigate the pattern of particle distribution and its evolution with time in multiparticle systems using the model of random walks with memory enhancement and decay. This model describes some biological intelligent walks. With decrease in the memory decay exponent α, the distribution of particles changes from a random dispersive pattern to a locally dense one, and then returns to the random one. Correspondingly, the fractal dimension Df,p characterizing the distribution of particle positions increases from a low value to a maximum and then decreases to the low one again. This is determined by the degree of overlap of regions consisting of sites with remanent information. The second moment of the density ρ(2) was introduced to investigate the inhomogeneity of the particle distribution. The dependence of ρ(2) on α is similar to that of Df,p on α. ρ(2) increases with time as a power law in the process of adjusting the particle distribution, and then ρ(2) tends to a stable equilibrium value.

  11. ESEARCH OF THE LAW OF DISTRIBUTION OF THE RANDOM VARIABLE OF THE COMPRESSION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I. Sarayeva

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available At research of diagnosing the process of modern automobile engines by means of methods of mathematical statistics the experimental data of the random variable of compression are analysed and it is proved that the random variable of compression has the form of the normal law of distribution.

  12. Determinants of translation speed are randomly distributed across transcripts resulting in a universal scaling of protein synthesis times

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharma, Ajeet K.; Ahmed, Nabeel; O'Brien, Edward P.

    2018-02-01

    Ribosome profiling experiments have found greater than 100-fold variation in ribosome density along mRNA transcripts, indicating that individual codon elongation rates can vary to a similar degree. This wide range of elongation times, coupled with differences in codon usage between transcripts, suggests that the average codon translation-rate per gene can vary widely. Yet, ribosome run-off experiments have found that the average codon translation rate for different groups of transcripts in mouse stem cells is constant at 5.6 AA/s. How these seemingly contradictory results can be reconciled is the focus of this study. Here, we combine knowledge of the molecular factors shown to influence translation speed with genomic information from Escherichia coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Homo sapiens to simulate the synthesis of cytosolic proteins in these organisms. The model recapitulates a near constant average translation rate, which we demonstrate arises because the molecular determinants of translation speed are distributed nearly randomly amongst most of the transcripts. Consequently, codon translation rates are also randomly distributed and fast-translating segments of a transcript are likely to be offset by equally probable slow-translating segments, resulting in similar average elongation rates for most transcripts. We also show that the codon usage bias does not significantly affect the near random distribution of codon translation rates because only about 10 % of the total transcripts in an organism have high codon usage bias while the rest have little to no bias. Analysis of Ribo-Seq data and an in vivo fluorescent assay supports these conclusions.

  13. Electrospun dye-doped fiber networks: lasing emission from randomly distributed cavities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Krammer, Sarah; Vannahme, Christoph; Smith, Cameron

    2015-01-01

    Dye-doped polymer fiber networks fabricated with electrospinning exhibit comb-like laser emission. We identify randomly distributed ring resonators being responsible for lasing emission by making use of spatially resolved spectroscopy. Numerical simulations confirm this result quantitatively....

  14. A Note on the Tail Behavior of Randomly Weighted Sums with Convolution-Equivalently Distributed Random Variables

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yang Yang

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available We investigate the tailed asymptotic behavior of the randomly weighted sums with increments with convolution-equivalent distributions. Our obtained result can be directly applied to a discrete-time insurance risk model with insurance and financial risks and derive the asymptotics for the finite-time probability of the above risk model.

  15. Prediction future asset price which is non-concordant with the historical distribution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seong, Ng Yew; Hin, Pooi Ah

    2015-12-01

    This paper attempts to predict the major characteristics of the future asset price which is non-concordant with the distribution estimated from the price today and the prices on a large number of previous days. The three major characteristics of the i-th non-concordant asset price are the length of the interval between the occurrence time of the previous non-concordant asset price and that of the present non-concordant asset price, the indicator which denotes that the non-concordant price is extremely small or large by its values -1 and 1 respectively, and the degree of non-concordance given by the negative logarithm of the probability of the left tail or right tail of which one of the end points is given by the observed future price. The vector of three major characteristics of the next non-concordant price is modelled to be dependent on the vectors corresponding to the present and l - 1 previous non-concordant prices via a 3-dimensional conditional distribution which is derived from a 3(l + 1)-dimensional power-normal mixture distribution. The marginal distribution for each of the three major characteristics can then be derived from the conditional distribution. The mean of the j-th marginal distribution is an estimate of the value of the j-th characteristics of the next non-concordant price. Meanwhile, the 100(α/2) % and 100(1 - α/2) % points of the j-th marginal distribution can be used to form a prediction interval for the j-th characteristic of the next non-concordant price. The performance measures of the above estimates and prediction intervals indicate that the fitted conditional distribution is satisfactory. Thus the incorporation of the distribution of the characteristics of the next non-concordant price in the model for asset price has a good potential of yielding a more realistic model.

  16. Voltage Support from Electric Vehicles in Distribution Grid

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Huang, Shaojun; Pillai, Jayakrishnan Radhakrishna; Bak-Jensen, Birgitte

    2013-01-01

    The paper evaluates the voltage support functions from electric vehicles (EVs) on a typical Danish distribution grid with high EV penetration. In addition to the popular voltage control modes, such as voltage droop charging (low voltage level leads to low charging power) and reactive power support...

  17. Gravitational lensing by eigenvalue distributions of random matrix models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martínez Alonso, Luis; Medina, Elena

    2018-05-01

    We propose to use eigenvalue densities of unitary random matrix ensembles as mass distributions in gravitational lensing. The corresponding lens equations reduce to algebraic equations in the complex plane which can be treated analytically. We prove that these models can be applied to describe lensing by systems of edge-on galaxies. We illustrate our analysis with the Gaussian and the quartic unitary matrix ensembles.

  18. Graphene materials having randomly distributed two-dimensional structural defects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kung, Harold H; Zhao, Xin; Hayner, Cary M; Kung, Mayfair C

    2013-10-08

    Graphene-based storage materials for high-power battery applications are provided. The storage materials are composed of vertical stacks of graphene sheets and have reduced resistance for Li ion transport. This reduced resistance is achieved by incorporating a random distribution of structural defects into the stacked graphene sheets, whereby the structural defects facilitate the diffusion of Li ions into the interior of the storage materials.

  19. Pediatric Basic Life Support Self-training is Comparable to Instructor-led Training: A randomized manikin study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vestergaard, L. D.; Løfgren, Bo; Jessen, C.

    2011-01-01

    Pediatric Basic Life Support Self-training is comparable to Instructor-led Training: A randomized manikin study.......Pediatric Basic Life Support Self-training is comparable to Instructor-led Training: A randomized manikin study....

  20. Distributed Random Process for a Large-Scale Peer-to-Peer Lottery

    OpenAIRE

    Grumbach, Stéphane; Riemann, Robert

    2017-01-01

    International audience; Most online lotteries today fail to ensure the verifiability of the random process and rely on a trusted third party. This issue has received little attention since the emergence of distributed protocols like Bitcoin that demonstrated the potential of protocols with no trusted third party. We argue that the security requirements of online lotteries are similar to those of online voting, and propose a novel distributed online lottery protocol that applies techniques dev...

  1. Weight Distribution for Non-binary Cluster LDPC Code Ensemble

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nozaki, Takayuki; Maehara, Masaki; Kasai, Kenta; Sakaniwa, Kohichi

    In this paper, we derive the average weight distributions for the irregular non-binary cluster low-density parity-check (LDPC) code ensembles. Moreover, we give the exponential growth rate of the average weight distribution in the limit of large code length. We show that there exist $(2,d_c)$-regular non-binary cluster LDPC code ensembles whose normalized typical minimum distances are strictly positive.

  2. The effectiveness of peer support groups in psychosis : a randomized controlled trial

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Castelein, S.; Bruggeman, R.; van Busschbach, J. T.; van der Gaag, M.; Stant, A. D.; Knegtering, H.; Wiersma, D.

    Objective: To investigate the effect of a (minimally) guided peer support group (GPSG) for people with psychosis on social network, social support, self-efficacy, self-esteem, and quality of life, and to evaluate the intervention and its economic consequences. Method: In a multi-center randomized

  3. A random phased-array for MR-guided transcranial ultrasound neuromodulation in non-human primates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chaplin, Vandiver; Phipps, Marshal A.; Caskey, Charles F.

    2018-05-01

    Transcranial focused ultrasound (FUS) is a non-invasive technique for therapy and study of brain neural activation. Here we report on the design and characterization of a new MR-guided FUS transducer for neuromodulation in non-human primates at 650 kHz. The array is randomized with 128 elements 6.6 mm in diameter, radius of curvature 7.2 cm, opening diameter 10.3 cm (focal ratio 0.7), and 46% coverage. Simulations were used to optimize transducer geometry with respect to focus size, grating lobes, and directivity. Focus size and grating lobes during electronic steering were quantified using hydrophone measurements in water and a three-axis stage. A novel combination of optical tracking and acoustic mapping enabled measurement of the 3D pressure distribution in the cortical region of an ex vivo skull to within ~3.5 mm of the surface, and allowed accurate modelling of the experiment via non-homogeneous 3D acoustic simulations. The data demonstrates acoustic focusing beyond the skull bone, with the focus slightly broadened and shifted proximal to the skull. The fabricated design is capable of targeting regions within the S1 sensorimotor cortex of macaques.

  4. Effects of vortex-like and non-thermal ion distributions on non-linear dust-acoustic waves

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mamun, A.A.; Cairns, R.A.; Shukla, P.K.

    1996-01-01

    The effects of vortex-like and non-thermal ion distributions are incorporated in the study of nonlinear dust-acoustic waves in an unmagnetized dusty plasma. It is found that owing to the departure from the Boltzmann ion distribution to a vortex-like phase space distribution, the dynamics of small but finite amplitude dust-acoustic waves is governed by a modified Kortweg endash de Vries equation. The latter admits a stationary dust-acoustic solitary wave solution, which has larger amplitude, smaller width, and higher propagation velocity than that involving adiabatic ions. On the other hand, consideration of a non-thermal ion distribution provides the possibility of coexistence of large amplitude rarefactive as well as compressive dust-acoustic solitary waves, whereas these structures appear independently when the wave amplitudes become infinitely small. The present investigation should help us to understand the salient features of the non-linear dust-acoustic waves that have been observed in a recent numerical simulation study. copyright 1996 American Institute of Physics

  5. Chord length distributions between hard disks and spheres in regular, semi-regular, and quasi-random structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Olson, Gordon L.

    2008-01-01

    In binary stochastic media in two- and three-dimensions consisting of randomly placed impenetrable disks or spheres, the chord lengths in the background material between disks and spheres closely follow exponential distributions if the disks and spheres occupy less than 10% of the medium. This work demonstrates that for regular spatial structures of disks and spheres, the tails of the chord length distributions (CLDs) follow power laws rather than exponentials. In dilute media, when the disks and spheres are widely spaced, the slope of the power law seems to be independent of the details of the structure. When approaching a close-packed arrangement, the exact placement of the spheres can make a significant difference. When regular structures are perturbed by small random displacements, the CLDs become power laws with steeper slopes. An example CLD from a quasi-random distribution of spheres in clusters shows a modified exponential distribution

  6. Chord length distributions between hard disks and spheres in regular, semi-regular, and quasi-random structures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Olson, Gordon L. [Computer and Computational Sciences Division (CCS-2), Los Alamos National Laboratory, 5 Foxglove Circle, Madison, WI 53717 (United States)], E-mail: olson99@tds.net

    2008-11-15

    In binary stochastic media in two- and three-dimensions consisting of randomly placed impenetrable disks or spheres, the chord lengths in the background material between disks and spheres closely follow exponential distributions if the disks and spheres occupy less than 10% of the medium. This work demonstrates that for regular spatial structures of disks and spheres, the tails of the chord length distributions (CLDs) follow power laws rather than exponentials. In dilute media, when the disks and spheres are widely spaced, the slope of the power law seems to be independent of the details of the structure. When approaching a close-packed arrangement, the exact placement of the spheres can make a significant difference. When regular structures are perturbed by small random displacements, the CLDs become power laws with steeper slopes. An example CLD from a quasi-random distribution of spheres in clusters shows a modified exponential distribution.

  7. DISTRIBUTED COMPUTING SUPPORT CONTRACT USER SURVEY

    CERN Multimedia

    2001-01-01

    IT Division operates a Distributed Computing Support Service, which offers support to owners and users of all variety of desktops throughout CERN as well as more dedicated services for certain groups, divisions and experiments. It also provides the staff who operate the central and satellite Computing Helpdesks, it supports printers throughout the site and it provides the installation activities of the IT Division PC Service. We have published a questionnaire which seeks to gather your feedback on how the services are seen, how they are progressing and how they can be improved. Please take a few minutes to fill in this questionnaire. Replies will be treated in confidence if desired although you may also request an opportunity to be contacted by CERN's service management directly. Please tell us if you met problems but also if you had a successful conclusion to your request for assistance. You will find the questionnaire at the web site http://wwwinfo/support/survey/desktop-contract There will also be a link ...

  8. DISTRIBUTED COMPUTING SUPPORT SERVICE USER SURVEY

    CERN Multimedia

    2001-01-01

    IT Division operates a Distributed Computing Support Service, which offers support to owners and users of all variety of desktops throughout CERN as well as more dedicated services for certain groups, divisions and experiments. It also provides the staff who operate the central and satellite Computing Helpdesks, it supports printers throughout the site and it provides the installation activities of the IT Division PC Service. We have published a questionnaire, which seeks to gather your feedback on how the services are seen, how they are progressing and how they can be improved. Please take a few minutes to fill in this questionnaire. Replies will be treated in confidence if desired although you may also request an opportunity to be contacted by CERN's service management directly. Please tell us if you met problems but also if you had a successful conclusion to your request for assistance. You will find the questionnaire at the web site http://wwwinfo/support/survey/desktop-contract There will also be a link...

  9. Distribution of sizes of erased loops for loop-erased random walks

    OpenAIRE

    Dhar, Deepak; Dhar, Abhishek

    1997-01-01

    We study the distribution of sizes of erased loops for loop-erased random walks on regular and fractal lattices. We show that for arbitrary graphs the probability $P(l)$ of generating a loop of perimeter $l$ is expressible in terms of the probability $P_{st}(l)$ of forming a loop of perimeter $l$ when a bond is added to a random spanning tree on the same graph by the simple relation $P(l)=P_{st}(l)/l$. On $d$-dimensional hypercubical lattices, $P(l)$ varies as $l^{-\\sigma}$ for large $l$, whe...

  10. A distributed clinical decision support system architecture

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shaker H. El-Sappagh

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper proposes an open and distributed clinical decision support system architecture. This technical architecture takes advantage of Electronic Health Record (EHR, data mining techniques, clinical databases, domain expert knowledge bases, available technologies and standards to provide decision-making support for healthcare professionals. The architecture will work extremely well in distributed EHR environments in which each hospital has its own local EHR, and it satisfies the compatibility, interoperability and scalability objectives of an EHR. The system will also have a set of distributed knowledge bases. Each knowledge base will be specialized in a specific domain (i.e., heart disease, and the model achieves cooperation, integration and interoperability between these knowledge bases. Moreover, the model ensures that all knowledge bases are up-to-date by connecting data mining engines to each local knowledge base. These data mining engines continuously mine EHR databases to extract the most recent knowledge, to standardize it and to add it to the knowledge bases. This framework is expected to improve the quality of healthcare, reducing medical errors and guaranteeing the safety of patients by helping clinicians to make correct, accurate, knowledgeable and timely decisions.

  11. Linear velocity fields in non-Gaussian models for large-scale structure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scherrer, Robert J.

    1992-01-01

    Linear velocity fields in two types of physically motivated non-Gaussian models are examined for large-scale structure: seed models, in which the density field is a convolution of a density profile with a distribution of points, and local non-Gaussian fields, derived from a local nonlinear transformation on a Gaussian field. The distribution of a single component of the velocity is derived for seed models with randomly distributed seeds, and these results are applied to the seeded hot dark matter model and the global texture model with cold dark matter. An expression for the distribution of a single component of the velocity in arbitrary local non-Gaussian models is given, and these results are applied to such fields with chi-squared and lognormal distributions. It is shown that all seed models with randomly distributed seeds and all local non-Guassian models have single-component velocity distributions with positive kurtosis.

  12. Dose distribution of non-coplanar irradiation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fukui, Toshiharu; Wada, Yoichi; Takenaka, Eiichi

    1987-02-01

    Non-coplanar irradiations were applied to the treatment of brain tumor. The dose distribution around the target area due to non-coplanar irradiation was half less than the dose when coplanar irradiation used. Integral volume dose due to this irradiation was not always less than that due to conventional opposing or rotational irradiation. This irradiation has the better application to the following;as a boost therapy, glioblastoma multiforme;as a radical therapy, recurrent brain tumor, well differentiated brain tumor such as craniopharyngioma, hypophyseal tumor etc and AV-malformation.

  13. Three dimensional multi perspective imaging with randomly distributed sensors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    DaneshPanah, Mehdi; Javidi, Bahrain

    2008-01-01

    In this paper, we review a three dimensional (3D) passive imaging system that exploits the visual information captured from the scene from multiple perspectives to reconstruct the scene voxel by voxel in 3D space. The primary contribution of this work is to provide a computational reconstruction scheme based on randomly distributed sensor locations in space. In virtually all of multi perspective techniques (e.g. integral imaging, synthetic aperture integral imaging, etc), there is an implicit assumption that the sensors lie on a simple, regular pickup grid. Here, we relax this assumption and suggest a computational reconstruction framework that unifies the available methods as its special cases. The importance of this work is that it enables three dimensional imaging technology to be implemented in a multitude of novel application domains such as 3D aerial imaging, collaborative imaging, long range 3D imaging and etc, where sustaining a regular pickup grid is not possible and/or the parallax requirements call for a irregular or sparse synthetic aperture mode. Although the sensors can be distributed in any random arrangement, we assume that the pickup position is measured at the time of capture of each elemental image. We demonstrate the feasibility of the methods proposed here by experimental results.

  14. Distributed interoperable workflow support for electronic commerce

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Papazoglou, M.; Jeusfeld, M.A.; Weigand, H.; Jarke, M.

    1998-01-01

    Abstract. This paper describes a flexible distributed transactional workflow environment based on an extensible object-oriented framework built around class libraries, application programming interfaces, and shared services. The purpose of this environment is to support a range of EC-like business

  15. Employing online quantum random number generators for generating truly random quantum states in Mathematica

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miszczak, Jarosław Adam

    2013-01-01

    The presented package for the Mathematica computing system allows the harnessing of quantum random number generators (QRNG) for investigating the statistical properties of quantum states. The described package implements a number of functions for generating random states. The new version of the package adds the ability to use the on-line quantum random number generator service and implements new functions for retrieving lists of random numbers. Thanks to the introduced improvements, the new version provides faster access to high-quality sources of random numbers and can be used in simulations requiring large amount of random data. New version program summaryProgram title: TRQS Catalogue identifier: AEKA_v2_0 Program summary URL:http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/AEKA_v2_0.html Program obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen's University, Belfast, N. Ireland Licensing provisions: Standard CPC licence, http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/licence/licence.html No. of lines in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 18 134 No. of bytes in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 2 520 49 Distribution format: tar.gz Programming language: Mathematica, C. Computer: Any supporting Mathematica in version 7 or higher. Operating system: Any platform supporting Mathematica; tested with GNU/Linux (32 and 64 bit). RAM: Case-dependent Supplementary material: Fig. 1 mentioned below can be downloaded. Classification: 4.15. External routines: Quantis software library (http://www.idquantique.com/support/quantis-trng.html) Catalogue identifier of previous version: AEKA_v1_0 Journal reference of previous version: Comput. Phys. Comm. 183(2012)118 Does the new version supersede the previous version?: Yes Nature of problem: Generation of random density matrices and utilization of high-quality random numbers for the purpose of computer simulation. Solution method: Use of a physical quantum random number generator and an on-line service providing access to the source of true random

  16. An Ad Hoc Adaptive Hashing Technique forNon-Uniformly Distributed IP Address Lookup in Computer Networks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christopher Martinez

    2007-02-01

    Full Text Available Hashing algorithms long have been widely adopted to design a fast address look-up process which involves a search through a large database to find a record associated with a given key. Hashing algorithms involve transforming a key inside each target data to a hash value hoping that the hashing would render the database a uniform distribution with respect to this new hash value. The close the final distribution is to uniform, the less search time would be required when a query is made. When the database is already key-wise uniformly distributed, any regular hashing algorithm, such as bit-extraction, bit-group XOR, etc., would easily lead to a statistically perfect uniform distribution after the hashing. On the other hand, if records in the database are instead not uniformly distributed as in almost all known practical applications, then even different regular hash functions would lead to very different performance. When the target database has a key with a highly skewed distributed value, performance delivered by regular hashing algorithms usually becomes far from desirable. This paper aims at designing a hashing algorithm to achieve the highest probability in leading to a uniformly distributed hash result from a non-uniformly distributed database. An analytical pre-process on the original database is first performed to extract critical information that would significantly benefit the design of a better hashing algorithm. This process includes sorting on the bits of the key to prioritize the use of them in the XOR hashing sequence, or in simple bit extraction, or even a combination of both. Such an ad hoc hash design is critical to adapting to all real-time situations when there exists a changing (and/or expanding database with an irregular non-uniform distribution. Significant improvement from simulation results is obtained in randomly generated data as well as real data.

  17. Questioning in Distributed Product Development Teams: Supporting Shared Understanding

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cash, Philip; Ahmed-Kristensen, Saeema

    2015-01-01

    globally distributed NPD activities. Poor shared understanding can ultimately result in delays and rework. One major antecedent of shared understanding development is question asking. This work uses a quasiexperimental study to test the impact of questioning support on different types of distributed teams...

  18. Self-adaptive change detection in streaming data with non-stationary distribution

    KAUST Repository

    Zhang, Xiangliang; Wang, Wei

    2010-01-01

    Non-stationary distribution, in which the data distribution evolves over time, is a common issue in many application fields, e.g., intrusion detection and grid computing. Detecting the changes in massive streaming data with a non

  19. A Campbell random process

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reuss, J.D.; Misguich, J.H.

    1993-02-01

    The Campbell process is a stationary random process which can have various correlation functions, according to the choice of an elementary response function. The statistical properties of this process are presented. A numerical algorithm and a subroutine for generating such a process is built up and tested, for the physically interesting case of a Campbell process with Gaussian correlations. The (non-Gaussian) probability distribution appears to be similar to the Gamma distribution

  20. Anomalous transport in fluid field with random waiting time depending on the preceding jump length

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Hong; Li, Guo-Hua

    2016-11-01

    Anomalous (or non-Fickian) transport behaviors of particles have been widely observed in complex porous media. To capture the energy-dependent characteristics of non-Fickian transport of a particle in flow fields, in the present paper a generalized continuous time random walk model whose waiting time probability distribution depends on the preceding jump length is introduced, and the corresponding master equation in Fourier-Laplace space for the distribution of particles is derived. As examples, two generalized advection-dispersion equations for Gaussian distribution and lévy flight with the probability density function of waiting time being quadratic dependent on the preceding jump length are obtained by applying the derived master equation. Project supported by the Foundation for Young Key Teachers of Chengdu University of Technology, China (Grant No. KYGG201414) and the Opening Foundation of Geomathematics Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, China (Grant No. scsxdz2013009).

  1. Factors influencing non-native tree species distribution in urban landscapes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wayne C. Zipperer

    2010-01-01

    Non-native species are presumed to be pervasive across the urban landscape. Yet, we actually know very little about their actual distribution. For this study, vegetation plot data from Syracuse, NY and Baltimore, MD were used to examine non-native tree species distribution in urban landscapes. Data were collected from remnant and emergent forest patches on upland sites...

  2. Large deviations of heavy-tailed random sums with applications in insurance and finance

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kluppelberg, C; Mikosch, T

    We prove large deviation results for the random sum S(t)=Sigma(i=1)(N(t)) X-i, t greater than or equal to 0, where (N(t))(t greater than or equal to 0) are non-negative integer-valued random variables and (X-n)(n is an element of N) are i.i.d. non-negative random Variables with common distribution

  3. A data based random number generator for a multivariate distribution (using stochastic interpolation)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thompson, J. R.; Taylor, M. S.

    1982-01-01

    Let X be a K-dimensional random variable serving as input for a system with output Y (not necessarily of dimension k). given X, an outcome Y or a distribution of outcomes G(Y/X) may be obtained either explicitly or implicity. The situation is considered in which there is a real world data set X sub j sub = 1 (n) and a means of simulating an outcome Y. A method for empirical random number generation based on the sample of observations of the random variable X without estimating the underlying density is discussed.

  4. New large-deviation local theorems for sums of independent and identically distributed random vectors when the limit distribution is α-stable

    OpenAIRE

    Nagaev, Alexander; Zaigraev, Alexander

    2005-01-01

    A class of absolutely continuous distributions in Rd is considered. Each distribution belongs to the domain of normal attraction of an α-stable law. The limit law is characterized by a spectral measure which is absolutely continuous with respect to the spherical Lebesgue measure. The large-deviation problem for sums of independent and identically distributed random vectors when the underlying distribution belongs to that class is studied. At the focus of attention are the deviations in the di...

  5. Does mass azithromycin distribution impact child growth and nutrition in Niger? A cluster-randomized trial.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abdou Amza

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Antibiotic use on animals demonstrates improved growth regardless of whether or not there is clinical evidence of infectious disease. Antibiotics used for trachoma control may play an unintended benefit of improving child growth.In this sub-study of a larger randomized controlled trial, we assess anthropometry of pre-school children in a community-randomized trial of mass oral azithromycin distributions for trachoma in Niger. We measured height, weight, and mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC in 12 communities randomized to receive annual mass azithromycin treatment of everyone versus 12 communities randomized to receive biannual mass azithromycin treatments for children, 3 years after the initial mass treatment. We collected measurements in 1,034 children aged 6-60 months of age.We found no difference in the prevalence of wasting among children in the 12 annually treated communities that received three mass azithromycin distributions compared to the 12 biannually treated communities that received six mass azithromycin distributions (odds ratio = 0.88, 95% confidence interval = 0.53 to 1.49.We were unable to demonstrate a statistically significant difference in stunting, underweight, and low MUAC of pre-school children in communities randomized to annual mass azithromycin treatment or biannual mass azithromycin treatment. The role of antibiotics on child growth and nutrition remains unclear, but larger studies and longitudinal trials may help determine any association.

  6. Multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled study of the nitric oxide scavenger pyridoxalated hemoglobin polyoxyethylene in distributive shock.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kinasewitz, Gary T; Privalle, Christopher T; Imm, Amy; Steingrub, Jay S; Malcynski, John T; Balk, Robert A; DeAngelo, Joseph

    2008-07-01

    To assess the safety and efficacy of the hemoglobin-based nitric oxide scavenger, pyridoxalated hemoglobin polyoxyethylene (PHP), in patients with distributive shock. Phase II multicenter, randomized (1:1), placebo-controlled study. Fifteen intensive care units in North America. Sixty-two patients with distributive shock, > or = 2 systemic inflammatory response syndrome criteria, and persistent catecholamine dependence despite adequate fluid resuscitation (pulmonary capillary wedge pressure > or = 12). Patients were randomized to PHP at 0.25 mL/kg/hr (20 mg/kg/hr), or an equal volume of placebo, infused for up to 100 hrs, in addition to conventional vasopressor therapy. Because treatment could not be blinded, vasopressors and ventilatory support were weaned by protocol. Sixty-two patients were randomized to PHP (n = 33) or placebo (n = 29). Age, sex, etiology of shock (sepsis in 94%), and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II scores (33.1 +/- 8.3 vs. 30 +/- 7) were similar in PHP and placebo patients, respectively. Baseline plasma nitrite and nitrate levels were markedly elevated in both groups. PHP infusion increased systemic blood pressure within minutes. Overall 28-day mortality was similar (58% PHP vs. 59% placebo), but PHP survivors were weaned off vasopressors faster (13.7 +/- 8.2 vs. 26.3 +/- 21.4 hrs; p = .07) and spent less time on mechanical ventilation (10.4 +/- 10.2 vs. 17.4 +/- 9.9 days; p = .21). The risk ratio (PHP/placebo) for mortality was .79 (95% confidence interval, .39-1.59) when adjusted for age, sex, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score, and etiology of sepsis. No excess medical interventions were noted with PHP use. PHP survivors left the intensive care unit earlier (13.6 +/- 8.6 vs. 17.9 +/- 8.2 days; p = .21) and more were discharged by day 28 (57.1 vs. 41.7%). PHP is a hemodynamically active nitric oxide scavenger. The role of PHP in distributive shock remains to be determined.

  7. Generating and using truly random quantum states in Mathematica

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miszczak, Jarosław Adam

    2012-01-01

    The problem of generating random quantum states is of a great interest from the quantum information theory point of view. In this paper we present a package for Mathematica computing system harnessing a specific piece of hardware, namely Quantis quantum random number generator (QRNG), for investigating statistical properties of quantum states. The described package implements a number of functions for generating random states, which use Quantis QRNG as a source of randomness. It also provides procedures which can be used in simulations not related directly to quantum information processing. Program summaryProgram title: TRQS Catalogue identifier: AEKA_v1_0 Program summary URL:http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/AEKA_v1_0.html Program obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen's University, Belfast, N. Ireland Licensing provisions: Standard CPC licence, http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/licence/licence.html No. of lines in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 7924 No. of bytes in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 88 651 Distribution format: tar.gz Programming language: Mathematica, C Computer: Requires a Quantis quantum random number generator (QRNG, http://www.idquantique.com/true-random-number-generator/products-overview.html) and supporting a recent version of Mathematica Operating system: Any platform supporting Mathematica; tested with GNU/Linux (32 and 64 bit) RAM: Case dependent Classification: 4.15 Nature of problem: Generation of random density matrices. Solution method: Use of a physical quantum random number generator. Running time: Generating 100 random numbers takes about 1 second, generating 1000 random density matrices takes more than a minute.

  8. Network meta-analysis incorporating randomized controlled trials and non-randomized comparative cohort studies for assessing the safety and effectiveness of medical treatments: challenges and opportunities

    OpenAIRE

    Cameron, Chris; Fireman, Bruce; Hutton, Brian; Clifford, Tammy; Coyle, Doug; Wells, George; Dormuth, Colin R.; Platt, Robert; Toh, Sengwee

    2015-01-01

    Network meta-analysis is increasingly used to allow comparison of multiple treatment alternatives simultaneously, some of which may not have been compared directly in primary research studies. The majority of network meta-analyses published to date have incorporated data from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) only; however, inclusion of non-randomized studies may sometimes be considered. Non-randomized studies can complement RCTs or address some of their limitations, such as short follow-up...

  9. Non-Hermitian Extensions of Wishart Random Matrix Ensembles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Akemann, G.

    2011-01-01

    We briefly review the solution of three ensembles of non-Hermitian random matrices generalizing the Wishart-Laguerre (also called chiral) ensembles. These generalizations are realized as Gaussian two-matrix models, where the complex eigenvalues of the product of the two independent rectangular matrices are sought, with the matrix elements of both matrices being either real, complex or quaternion real. We also present the more general case depending on a non-Hermiticity parameter, that allows us to interpolate between the corresponding three Hermitian Wishart ensembles with real eigenvalues and the maximally non-Hermitian case. All three symmetry classes are explicitly solved for finite matrix size N x M for all complex eigenvalue correlations functions (and real or mixed correlations for real matrix elements). These are given in terms of the corresponding kernels built from orthogonal or skew-orthogonal Laguerre polynomials in the complex plane. We then present the corresponding three Bessel kernels in the complex plane in the microscopic large-N scaling limit at the origin, both at weak and strong non-Hermiticity with M - N ≥ 0 fixed. (author)

  10. Enhancing Security of Double Random Phase Encoding Based on Random S-Box

    Science.gov (United States)

    Girija, R.; Singh, Hukum

    2018-06-01

    In this paper, we propose a novel asymmetric cryptosystem for double random phase encoding (DRPE) using random S-Box. While utilising S-Box separately is not reliable and DRPE does not support non-linearity, so, our system unites the effectiveness of S-Box with an asymmetric system of DRPE (through Fourier transform). The uniqueness of proposed cryptosystem lies on employing high sensitivity dynamic S-Box for our DRPE system. The randomness and scalability achieved due to applied technique is an additional feature of the proposed solution. The firmness of random S-Box is investigated in terms of performance parameters such as non-linearity, strict avalanche criterion, bit independence criterion, linear and differential approximation probabilities etc. S-Boxes convey nonlinearity to cryptosystems which is a significant parameter and very essential for DRPE. The strength of proposed cryptosystem has been analysed using various parameters such as MSE, PSNR, correlation coefficient analysis, noise analysis, SVD analysis, etc. Experimental results are conferred in detail to exhibit proposed cryptosystem is highly secure.

  11. Fault Diagnosis for Distribution Networks Using Enhanced Support Vector Machine Classifier with Classical Multidimensional Scaling

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ming-Yuan Cho

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, a new fault diagnosis techniques based on time domain reflectometry (TDR method with pseudo-random binary sequence (PRBS stimulus and support vector machine (SVM classifier has been investigated to recognize the different types of fault in the radial distribution feeders. This novel technique has considered the amplitude of reflected signals and the peaks of cross-correlation (CCR between the reflected and incident wave for generating fault current dataset for SVM. Furthermore, this multi-layer enhanced SVM classifier is combined with classical multidimensional scaling (CMDS feature extraction algorithm and kernel parameter optimization to increase training speed and improve overall classification accuracy. The proposed technique has been tested on a radial distribution feeder to identify ten different types of fault considering 12 input features generated by using Simulink software and MATLAB Toolbox. The success rate of SVM classifier is over 95% which demonstrates the effectiveness and the high accuracy of proposed method.

  12. Approach of the value of an annuity when non-central moments of the capitalization factor are known: an R application with interest rates following normal and beta distributions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Salvador Cruz Rambaud

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper proposes an expression of the value of an annuity with payments of 1 unit each when the interest rate is random. In order to attain this objective, we proceed on the assumption that the non-central moments of the capitalization factor are known. Specifically, to calculate the value of these annuities, we propose two different expressions. First, we suppose that the random interest rate is normally distributed; then, we assume that it follows the beta distribution. A practical application of these two methodologies is also implemented using the R statistical software.

  13. Universality of non-leading logarithmic contributions in transverse-momentum distributions

    CERN Document Server

    Catani, S; Grazzini, Massimiliano

    2001-01-01

    We consider the resummation of the logarithmic contributions to the region of small transverse momenta in the distributions of high-mass systems (lepton pairs, vector bosons, Higgs particles, ....) produced in hadron collisions. We point out that the resummation formulae that are usually used to compute the distributions in perturbative QCD involve process-dependent form factors and coefficient functions. We present a new universal form of the resummed distribution, in which the dependence on the process is embodied in a single perturbative factor. The new form simplifies the calculation of non-leading logarithms at higher perturbative orders. It can also be useful to systematically implement process-independent non-perturbative effects in transverse-momentum distributions. We also comment on the dependence of these distributions on the factorization and renormalization scales.

  14. A non-Gaussian multivariate distribution with all lower-dimensional Gaussians and related families

    KAUST Repository

    Dutta, Subhajit

    2014-07-28

    Several fascinating examples of non-Gaussian bivariate distributions which have marginal distribution functions to be Gaussian have been proposed in the literature. These examples often clarify several properties associated with the normal distribution. In this paper, we generalize this result in the sense that we construct a pp-dimensional distribution for which any proper subset of its components has the Gaussian distribution. However, the jointpp-dimensional distribution is inconsistent with the distribution of these subsets because it is not Gaussian. We study the probabilistic properties of this non-Gaussian multivariate distribution in detail. Interestingly, several popular tests of multivariate normality fail to identify this pp-dimensional distribution as non-Gaussian. We further extend our construction to a class of elliptically contoured distributions as well as skewed distributions arising from selections, for instance the multivariate skew-normal distribution.

  15. A non-Gaussian multivariate distribution with all lower-dimensional Gaussians and related families

    KAUST Repository

    Dutta, Subhajit; Genton, Marc G.

    2014-01-01

    Several fascinating examples of non-Gaussian bivariate distributions which have marginal distribution functions to be Gaussian have been proposed in the literature. These examples often clarify several properties associated with the normal distribution. In this paper, we generalize this result in the sense that we construct a pp-dimensional distribution for which any proper subset of its components has the Gaussian distribution. However, the jointpp-dimensional distribution is inconsistent with the distribution of these subsets because it is not Gaussian. We study the probabilistic properties of this non-Gaussian multivariate distribution in detail. Interestingly, several popular tests of multivariate normality fail to identify this pp-dimensional distribution as non-Gaussian. We further extend our construction to a class of elliptically contoured distributions as well as skewed distributions arising from selections, for instance the multivariate skew-normal distribution.

  16. Modeling of parallel-plate regenerators with non-uniform plate distributions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Jesper Buch; Engelbrecht, Kurt; Bahl, Christian Robert Haffenden

    2010-01-01

    plate spacing distributions are presented in order to understand the impact of spacing non-uniformity. Simulations of more realistic distributions where the plate spacings follow normal distributions are then discussed in order to describe the deviation of the performance of a regenerator relative...

  17. Quantum tunneling recombination in a system of randomly distributed trapped electrons and positive ions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pagonis, Vasilis; Kulp, Christopher; Chaney, Charity-Grace; Tachiya, M

    2017-09-13

    During the past 10 years, quantum tunneling has been established as one of the dominant mechanisms for recombination in random distributions of electrons and positive ions, and in many dosimetric materials. Specifically quantum tunneling has been shown to be closely associated with two important effects in luminescence materials, namely long term afterglow luminescence and anomalous fading. Two of the common assumptions of quantum tunneling models based on random distributions of electrons and positive ions are: (a) An electron tunnels from a donor to the nearest acceptor, and (b) the concentration of electrons is much lower than that of positive ions at all times during the tunneling process. This paper presents theoretical studies for arbitrary relative concentrations of electrons and positive ions in the solid. Two new differential equations are derived which describe the loss of charge in the solid by tunneling, and they are solved analytically. The analytical solution compares well with the results of Monte Carlo simulations carried out in a random distribution of electrons and positive ions. Possible experimental implications of the model are discussed for tunneling phenomena in long term afterglow signals, and also for anomalous fading studies in feldspars and apatite samples.

  18. Reinforcing Sampling Distributions through a Randomization-Based Activity for Introducing ANOVA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taylor, Laura; Doehler, Kirsten

    2015-01-01

    This paper examines the use of a randomization-based activity to introduce the ANOVA F-test to students. The two main goals of this activity are to successfully teach students to comprehend ANOVA F-tests and to increase student comprehension of sampling distributions. Four sections of students in an advanced introductory statistics course…

  19. ERROR DISTRIBUTION EVALUATION OF THE THIRD VANISHING POINT BASED ON RANDOM STATISTICAL SIMULATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. Li

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available POS, integrated by GPS / INS (Inertial Navigation Systems, has allowed rapid and accurate determination of position and attitude of remote sensing equipment for MMS (Mobile Mapping Systems. However, not only does INS have system error, but also it is very expensive. Therefore, in this paper error distributions of vanishing points are studied and tested in order to substitute INS for MMS in some special land-based scene, such as ground façade where usually only two vanishing points can be detected. Thus, the traditional calibration approach based on three orthogonal vanishing points is being challenged. In this article, firstly, the line clusters, which parallel to each others in object space and correspond to the vanishing points, are detected based on RANSAC (Random Sample Consensus and parallelism geometric constraint. Secondly, condition adjustment with parameters is utilized to estimate nonlinear error equations of two vanishing points (VX, VY. How to set initial weights for the adjustment solution of single image vanishing points is presented. Solving vanishing points and estimating their error distributions base on iteration method with variable weights, co-factor matrix and error ellipse theory. Thirdly, under the condition of known error ellipses of two vanishing points (VX, VY and on the basis of the triangle geometric relationship of three vanishing points, the error distribution of the third vanishing point (VZ is calculated and evaluated by random statistical simulation with ignoring camera distortion. Moreover, Monte Carlo methods utilized for random statistical estimation are presented. Finally, experimental results of vanishing points coordinate and their error distributions are shown and analyzed.

  20. Error Distribution Evaluation of the Third Vanishing Point Based on Random Statistical Simulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, C.

    2012-07-01

    POS, integrated by GPS / INS (Inertial Navigation Systems), has allowed rapid and accurate determination of position and attitude of remote sensing equipment for MMS (Mobile Mapping Systems). However, not only does INS have system error, but also it is very expensive. Therefore, in this paper error distributions of vanishing points are studied and tested in order to substitute INS for MMS in some special land-based scene, such as ground façade where usually only two vanishing points can be detected. Thus, the traditional calibration approach based on three orthogonal vanishing points is being challenged. In this article, firstly, the line clusters, which parallel to each others in object space and correspond to the vanishing points, are detected based on RANSAC (Random Sample Consensus) and parallelism geometric constraint. Secondly, condition adjustment with parameters is utilized to estimate nonlinear error equations of two vanishing points (VX, VY). How to set initial weights for the adjustment solution of single image vanishing points is presented. Solving vanishing points and estimating their error distributions base on iteration method with variable weights, co-factor matrix and error ellipse theory. Thirdly, under the condition of known error ellipses of two vanishing points (VX, VY) and on the basis of the triangle geometric relationship of three vanishing points, the error distribution of the third vanishing point (VZ) is calculated and evaluated by random statistical simulation with ignoring camera distortion. Moreover, Monte Carlo methods utilized for random statistical estimation are presented. Finally, experimental results of vanishing points coordinate and their error distributions are shown and analyzed.

  1. An efficient algorithm for generating random number pairs drawn from a bivariate normal distribution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campbell, C. W.

    1983-01-01

    An efficient algorithm for generating random number pairs from a bivariate normal distribution was developed. Any desired value of the two means, two standard deviations, and correlation coefficient can be selected. Theoretically the technique is exact and in practice its accuracy is limited only by the quality of the uniform distribution random number generator, inaccuracies in computer function evaluation, and arithmetic. A FORTRAN routine was written to check the algorithm and good accuracy was obtained. Some small errors in the correlation coefficient were observed to vary in a surprisingly regular manner. A simple model was developed which explained the qualities aspects of the errors.

  2. A random phased-array for MR-guided transcranial ultrasound neuromodulation in non-human primates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chaplin, Vandiver; Phipps, Marshal A; Caskey, Charles F

    2018-04-18

    Transcranial focused ultrasound (FUS) is a non-invasive technique for therapy and study of brain neural activation. Here we report on the design and characterization of a new MR-guided FUS transducer for neuromodulation in non-human primates at 650 kHz. The array is randomized with 128 elements 6.6 mm in diameter, radius of curvature 7.2 cm, opening diameter 10.3 cm (focal ratio 0.7), and 46% coverage. Simulations were used to optimize transducer geometry with respect to focus size, grating lobes, and directivity. Focus size and grating lobes during electronic steering were quantified using hydrophone measurements in water and a three-axis stage. A novel combination of optical tracking and acoustic mapping enabled measurement of the 3D pressure distribution in the cortical region of an ex vivo skull to within ~3.5 mm of the surface, and allowed accurate modelling of the experiment via non-homogeneous 3D acoustic simulations. The data demonstrates acoustic focusing beyond the skull bone, with the focus slightly broadened and shifted proximal to the skull. The fabricated design is capable of targeting regions within the S1 sensorimotor cortex of macaques. © 2018 Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine.

  3. Piecewise linearisation of the first order loss function for families of arbitrarily distributed random variables

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rossi, R.; Hendrix, E.M.T.

    2014-01-01

    We discuss the problem of computing optimal linearisation parameters for the first order loss function of a family of arbitrarily distributed random variable. We demonstrate that, in contrast to the problem in which parameters must be determined for the loss function of a single random variable,

  4. A comprehensive comparison of random forests and support vector machines for microarray-based cancer classification

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wang Lily

    2008-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Cancer diagnosis and clinical outcome prediction are among the most important emerging applications of gene expression microarray technology with several molecular signatures on their way toward clinical deployment. Use of the most accurate classification algorithms available for microarray gene expression data is a critical ingredient in order to develop the best possible molecular signatures for patient care. As suggested by a large body of literature to date, support vector machines can be considered "best of class" algorithms for classification of such data. Recent work, however, suggests that random forest classifiers may outperform support vector machines in this domain. Results In the present paper we identify methodological biases of prior work comparing random forests and support vector machines and conduct a new rigorous evaluation of the two algorithms that corrects these limitations. Our experiments use 22 diagnostic and prognostic datasets and show that support vector machines outperform random forests, often by a large margin. Our data also underlines the importance of sound research design in benchmarking and comparison of bioinformatics algorithms. Conclusion We found that both on average and in the majority of microarray datasets, random forests are outperformed by support vector machines both in the settings when no gene selection is performed and when several popular gene selection methods are used.

  5. Postpartum depression peer support: maternal perceptions from a randomized controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dennis, Cindy-Lee

    2010-05-01

    Peer support in the early postpartum period is effective in the prevention of postpartum depression among women identified as high-risk. To describe maternal perceptions of peer support received while participating in a trial. Cross-sectional survey of women participating in a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effect of peer support in the prevention of postpartum depression. Seven health regions across Ontario Canada. 701 women were recruited between November 2004 and September 2006. Women eligible for the study were all mothers with an Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale score >9 who were within 2 weeks postpartum, at least 18 years of age, able to speak English, had a live birth, and had been discharged home from the hospital. Exclusion criteria included an infant not discharged home with the mother and current use of antidepressant or antipsychotic medication. Two hundred and twenty-one mothers completed the mailed questionnaire. Women were randomly allocated to receive usual postpartum care (control group) or usual postpartum care plus telephone-based peer support (intervention group). Maternal perceptions of peer support were evaluated at 12 weeks postpartum using the validated Peer Support Evaluation Inventory. Interactions provided by the peer volunteer included the provision of emotional (92.7%), informational (72.4%), and appraisal (72.0%) support. Mothers reported high levels of positive relationship qualities such as trust (83.6%) and perceived acceptance (79.1%). Most (80.5%) mothers indicated they were very satisfied with their peer support experience. Maternal satisfaction was associated with the number and duration of peer volunteer contacts. The majority of mothers perceived their peer volunteer experience positively lending further support to telephone-based peer support as a preventative strategy for postpartum depression. The following program modifications were suggested: (a) adapt training to enhance the provision of appraisal

  6. On Origin of Power-Law Distributions in Self-Organized Criticality from Random Walk Treatment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cao Xiaofeng; Deng Zongwei; Yang Chunbin

    2008-01-01

    The origin of power-law distributions in self-organized criticality is investigated by treating the variation of the number of active sites in the system as a stochastic process. An avalanche is then regarded as a first-return random walk process in a one-dimensional lattice. We assume that the variation of the number of active sites has three possibilities in each update: to increase by 1 with probability f 1 , to decrease by 1 with probability f 2 , or remain unchanged with probability 1-f 1 -f 2 . This mimics the dynamics in the system. Power-law distributions of the lifetime are found when the random walk is unbiased with equal probability to move in opposite directions. This shows that power-law distributions in self-organized criticality may be caused by the balance of competitive interactions.

  7. Supportive supervision for volunteers to deliver reproductive health education: a cluster randomized trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Debra; Negin, Joel; Orach, Christopher Garimoi; Cumming, Robert

    2016-10-03

    Community Health Volunteers (CHVs) can be effective in improving pregnancy and newborn outcomes through community education. Inadequate supervision of CHVs, whether due to poor planning, irregular visits, or ineffective supervisory methods, is, however, recognized as a weakness in many programs. There has been little research on best practice supervisory or accompaniment models. From March 2014 to February 2015 a proof of concept study was conducted to compare training alone versus training and supportive supervision by paid CHWs (n = 4) on the effectiveness of CHVs (n = 82) to deliver education about pregnancy, newborn care, family planning and hygiene. The pair-matched cluster randomized trial was conducted in eight villages (four intervention and four control) in Budondo sub-county in Jinja, Uganda. Increases in desired behaviors were seen in both the intervention and control arms over the study period. Both arms showed high retention rates of CHVs (95 %). At 1 year follow-up there was a significantly higher prevalence of installed and functioning tippy taps for hand washing (p services. Supportive supervision involves creating a non-threatening, empowering environment in which both the CHV and the supervising CHW learn together and overcome obstacles that might otherwise demotivate the CHV. While the results seem promising for added value with supportive supervision for CHVs undertaking reproductive health activities, further research on a larger scale will be needed to substantiate the effect.

  8. Analysis of axial compressive loaded beam under random support excitations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiao, Wensheng; Wang, Fengde; Liu, Jian

    2017-12-01

    An analytical procedure to investigate the response spectrum of a uniform Bernoulli-Euler beam with axial compressive load subjected to random support excitations is implemented based on the Mindlin-Goodman method and the mode superposition method in the frequency domain. The random response spectrum of the simply supported beam subjected to white noise excitation and to Pierson-Moskowitz spectrum excitation is investigated, and the characteristics of the response spectrum are further explored. Moreover, the effect of axial compressive load is studied and a method to determine the axial load is proposed. The research results show that the response spectrum mainly consists of the beam's additional displacement response spectrum when the excitation is white noise; however, the quasi-static displacement response spectrum is the main component when the excitation is the Pierson-Moskowitz spectrum. Under white noise excitation, the amplitude of the power spectral density function decreased as the axial compressive load increased, while the frequency band of the vibration response spectrum increased with the increase of axial compressive load.

  9. Distributed Computing with Centralized Support Works at Brigham Young.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McDonald, Kelly; Stone, Brad

    1992-01-01

    Brigham Young University (Utah) has addressed the need for maintenance and support of distributed computing systems on campus by implementing a program patterned after a national business franchise, providing the support and training of a centralized administration but allowing each unit to operate much as an independent small business.…

  10. GRD: An SPSS extension command for generating random data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bradley Harding

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available To master statistics and data analysis tools, it is necessary to understand a number of concepts, manyof which are quite abstract. For example, sampling from a theoretical distribution can help individuals explore andunderstand randomness. Sampling can also be used to build exercises aimed to help students master statistics. Here, we present GRD (Generator of Random Data, an extension command for SPSS (version 17 and above. With GRD, it is possible to get random data from a given distribution. In its simplest use, GRD will return a set of simulated data from a normal distribution.With subcommands to GRD, it is possible to get data from multiple groups, over multiple repeated measures, and with desired effectsizes. Group sizes can be equal or unequal. With further subcommands, it is possible to sample from any theoretical population, (not simply the normal distribution, introduce non-homogeneous variances,fix or randomize subject effects, etc. Finally, GRD’s generated data are in a format ready to be analyzed.

  11. The random walk model of intrafraction movement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ballhausen, H; Reiner, M; Kantz, S; Belka, C; Söhn, M

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to understand intrafraction movement as a stochastic process driven by random external forces. The hypothetically proposed three-dimensional random walk model has significant impact on optimal PTV margins and offers a quantitatively correct explanation of experimental findings. Properties of the random walk are calculated from first principles, in particular fraction-average population density distributions for displacements along the principal axes. When substituted into the established optimal margin recipes these fraction-average distributions yield safety margins about 30% smaller as compared to the suggested values from end-of-fraction Gaussian fits. Stylized facts of a random walk are identified in clinical data, such as the increase of the standard deviation of displacements with the square root of time. Least squares errors in the comparison to experimental results are reduced by about 50% when accounting for non-Gaussian corrections from the random walk model. (paper)

  12. The random walk model of intrafraction movement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ballhausen, H; Reiner, M; Kantz, S; Belka, C; Söhn, M

    2013-04-07

    The purpose of this paper is to understand intrafraction movement as a stochastic process driven by random external forces. The hypothetically proposed three-dimensional random walk model has significant impact on optimal PTV margins and offers a quantitatively correct explanation of experimental findings. Properties of the random walk are calculated from first principles, in particular fraction-average population density distributions for displacements along the principal axes. When substituted into the established optimal margin recipes these fraction-average distributions yield safety margins about 30% smaller as compared to the suggested values from end-of-fraction gaussian fits. Stylized facts of a random walk are identified in clinical data, such as the increase of the standard deviation of displacements with the square root of time. Least squares errors in the comparison to experimental results are reduced by about 50% when accounting for non-gaussian corrections from the random walk model.

  13. Preprocessing of 18F-DMFP-PET Data Based on Hidden Markov Random Fields and the Gaussian Distribution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fermín Segovia

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available 18F-DMFP-PET is an emerging neuroimaging modality used to diagnose Parkinson's disease (PD that allows us to examine postsynaptic dopamine D2/3 receptors. Like other neuroimaging modalities used for PD diagnosis, most of the total intensity of 18F-DMFP-PET images is concentrated in the striatum. However, other regions can also be useful for diagnostic purposes. An appropriate delimitation of the regions of interest contained in 18F-DMFP-PET data is crucial to improve the automatic diagnosis of PD. In this manuscript we propose a novel methodology to preprocess 18F-DMFP-PET data that improves the accuracy of computer aided diagnosis systems for PD. First, the data were segmented using an algorithm based on Hidden Markov Random Field. As a result, each neuroimage was divided into 4 maps according to the intensity and the neighborhood of the voxels. The maps were then individually normalized so that the shape of their histograms could be modeled by a Gaussian distribution with equal parameters for all the neuroimages. This approach was evaluated using a dataset with neuroimaging data from 87 parkinsonian patients. After these preprocessing steps, a Support Vector Machine classifier was used to separate idiopathic and non-idiopathic PD. Data preprocessed by the proposed method provided higher accuracy results than the ones preprocessed with previous approaches.

  14. Critical current of the nonuniform Josephson transition at intergranular boundary with random dislocation distribution

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mejlikhov, E.Z.; Farzetdinova, R.M.

    1997-01-01

    Critical current of inhomogeneous intergranular Josephson transition is calculated in the assumption concerning superconductivity suppression by local strains of boundary dislocations with random distribution

  15. Topology determines force distributions in one-dimensional random spring networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heidemann, Knut M.; Sageman-Furnas, Andrew O.; Sharma, Abhinav; Rehfeldt, Florian; Schmidt, Christoph F.; Wardetzky, Max

    2018-02-01

    Networks of elastic fibers are ubiquitous in biological systems and often provide mechanical stability to cells and tissues. Fiber-reinforced materials are also common in technology. An important characteristic of such materials is their resistance to failure under load. Rupture occurs when fibers break under excessive force and when that failure propagates. Therefore, it is crucial to understand force distributions. Force distributions within such networks are typically highly inhomogeneous and are not well understood. Here we construct a simple one-dimensional model system with periodic boundary conditions by randomly placing linear springs on a circle. We consider ensembles of such networks that consist of N nodes and have an average degree of connectivity z but vary in topology. Using a graph-theoretical approach that accounts for the full topology of each network in the ensemble, we show that, surprisingly, the force distributions can be fully characterized in terms of the parameters (N ,z ) . Despite the universal properties of such (N ,z ) ensembles, our analysis further reveals that a classical mean-field approach fails to capture force distributions correctly. We demonstrate that network topology is a crucial determinant of force distributions in elastic spring networks.

  16. Scaling characteristics of one-dimensional fractional diffusion processes in the presence of power-law distributed random noise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nezhadhaghighi, Mohsen Ghasemi

    2017-08-01

    Here, we present results of numerical simulations and the scaling characteristics of one-dimensional random fluctuations with heavy-tailed probability distribution functions. Assuming that the distribution function of the random fluctuations obeys Lévy statistics with a power-law scaling exponent, we investigate the fractional diffusion equation in the presence of μ-stable Lévy noise. We study the scaling properties of the global width and two-point correlation functions and then compare the analytical and numerical results for the growth exponent β and the roughness exponent α. We also investigate the fractional Fokker-Planck equation for heavy-tailed random fluctuations. We show that the fractional diffusion processes in the presence of μ-stable Lévy noise display special scaling properties in the probability distribution function (PDF). Finally, we numerically study the scaling properties of the heavy-tailed random fluctuations by using the diffusion entropy analysis. This method is based on the evaluation of the Shannon entropy of the PDF generated by the random fluctuations, rather than on the measurement of the global width of the process. We apply the diffusion entropy analysis to extract the growth exponent β and to confirm the validity of our numerical analysis.

  17. Scaling characteristics of one-dimensional fractional diffusion processes in the presence of power-law distributed random noise

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nezhadhaghighi, Mohsen Ghasemi

    2017-08-01

    Here, we present results of numerical simulations and the scaling characteristics of one-dimensional random fluctuations with heavy-tailed probability distribution functions. Assuming that the distribution function of the random fluctuations obeys Lévy statistics with a power-law scaling exponent, we investigate the fractional diffusion equation in the presence of μ -stable Lévy noise. We study the scaling properties of the global width and two-point correlation functions and then compare the analytical and numerical results for the growth exponent β and the roughness exponent α . We also investigate the fractional Fokker-Planck equation for heavy-tailed random fluctuations. We show that the fractional diffusion processes in the presence of μ -stable Lévy noise display special scaling properties in the probability distribution function (PDF). Finally, we numerically study the scaling properties of the heavy-tailed random fluctuations by using the diffusion entropy analysis. This method is based on the evaluation of the Shannon entropy of the PDF generated by the random fluctuations, rather than on the measurement of the global width of the process. We apply the diffusion entropy analysis to extract the growth exponent β and to confirm the validity of our numerical analysis.

  18. (Non-) Gibbsianness and Phase Transitions in Random Lattice Spin Models

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Külske, C.

    1999-01-01

    We consider disordered lattice spin models with finite-volume Gibbs measures µΛ[η](dσ). Here σ denotes a lattice spin variable and η a lattice random variable with product distribution P describing the quenched disorder of the model. We ask: when will the joint measures limΛ↑Zd P(dη)µΛ[η](dσ) be

  19. Wishart and anti-Wishart random matrices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Janik, Romuald A; Nowak, Maciej A

    2003-01-01

    We provide a compact exact representation for the distribution of the matrix elements of the Wishart-type random matrices A † A, for any finite number of rows and columns of A, without any large N approximations. In particular, we treat the case when the Wishart-type random matrix contains redundant, non-random information, which is a new result. This representation is of interest for a procedure for reconstructing the redundant information hidden in Wishart matrices, with potential applications to numerous models based on biological, social and artificial intelligence networks

  20. Periodontal ligament influence on the stress distribution in a removable partial denture supported by implant: a finite element analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carlos Marcelo Archangelo

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available OBJECTIVES: The non-homogenous aspect of periodontal ligament (PDL has been examined using finite element analysis (FEA to better simulate PDL behavior. The aim of this study was to assess, by 2-D FEA, the influence of non-homogenous PDL on the stress distribution when the free-end saddle removable partial denture (RPD is partially supported by an osseointegrated implant. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Six finite element (FE models of a partially edentulous mandible were created to represent two types of PDL (non-homogenous and homogenous and two types of RPD (conventional RPD, supported by tooth and fibromucosa; and modified RPD, supported by tooth and implant [10.00x3.75 mm]. Two additional Fe models without RPD were used as control models. The non-homogenous PDL was modeled using beam elements to simulate the crest, horizontal, oblique and apical fibers. The load (50 N was applied in each cusp simultaneously. Regarding boundary conditions the border of alveolar ridge was fixed along the x axis. The FE software (Ansys 10.0 was used to compute the stress fields, and the von Mises stress criterion (svM was applied to analyze the results. RESULTS: The peak of svM in non-homogenous PDL was higher than that for the homogenous condition. The benefits of implants were enhanced for the non-homogenous PDL condition, with drastic svM reduction on the posterior half of the alveolar ridge. The implant did not reduce the stress on the support tooth for both PDL conditions. Conclusion: The PDL modeled in the non-homogeneous form increased the benefits of the osseointegrated implant in comparison with the homogeneous condition. Using the non-homogenous PDL, the presence of osseointegrated implant did not reduce the stress on the supporting tooth.

  1. Random skew plane partitions with a piecewise periodic back wall

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Boutillier, Cedric; Mkrtchyan, Sevak; Reshetikhin, Nicolai

    Random skew plane partitions of large size distributed according to an appropriately scaled Schur process develop limit shapes. In the present work we consider the limit of large random skew plane partitions where the inner boundary approaches a piecewise linear curve with non-lattice slopes. Muc...

  2. Method of treating non-supporting underground formations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anderson, B.W.; Trotty, K.D.

    1977-01-01

    Method of treating non-supporting underground formations, through which passes a borehole, aimed at preventing the transport of sand particles from the formation into the borehole during conveyance of liquids. (orig./RW) [de

  3. Probability calculus of fractional order and fractional Taylor's series application to Fokker-Planck equation and information of non-random functions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jumarie, Guy

    2009-01-01

    A probability distribution of fractional (or fractal) order is defined by the measure μ{dx} = p(x)(dx) α , 0 α (D x α h α )f(x) provided by the modified Riemann Liouville definition, one can expand a probability calculus parallel to the standard one. A Fourier's transform of fractional order using the Mittag-Leffler function is introduced, together with its inversion formula; and it provides a suitable generalization of the characteristic function of fractal random variables. It appears that the state moments of fractional order are more especially relevant. The main properties of this fractional probability calculus are outlined, it is shown that it provides a sound approach to Fokker-Planck equation which are fractional in both space and time, and it provides new results in the information theory of non-random functions.

  4. ON THE ESTIMATION OF DISTANCE DISTRIBUTION FUNCTIONS FOR POINT PROCESSES AND RANDOM SETS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dietrich Stoyan

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper discusses various estimators for the nearest neighbour distance distribution function D of a stationary point process and for the quadratic contact distribution function Hq of a stationary random closed set. It recommends the use of Hanisch's estimator of D, which is of Horvitz-Thompson type, and the minussampling estimator of Hq. This recommendation is based on simulations for Poisson processes and Boolean models.

  5. Field signatures of non-Fickian transport processes: transit time distributions, spatial correlations, reversibility and hydrogeophysical imaging

    Science.gov (United States)

    Le Borgne, T.; Kang, P. K.; Guihéneuf, N.; Shakas, A.; Bour, O.; Linde, N.; Dentz, M.

    2015-12-01

    Non-Fickian transport phenomena are observed in a wide range of scales across hydrological systems. They are generally manifested by a broad range of transit time distributions, as measured for instance in tracer breakthrough curves. However, similar transit time distributions may be caused by different origins, including broad velocity distributions, flow channeling or diffusive mass transfer [1,2]. The identification of these processes is critical for defining relevant transport models. How can we distinguish the different origins of non-Fickian transport in the field? In this presentation, we will review recent experimental developments to decipher the different causes of anomalous transport, based on tracer tests performed at different scales in cross borehole and push pull conditions, and time lapse hydrogeophysical imaging of tracer motion [3,4]. References:[1] de Anna-, P., T. Le Borgne, M. Dentz, A. M. Tartakovsky, D. Bolster, P. Davy (2013) Flow Intermittency, Dispersion and Correlated Continuous Time Random Walks in Porous Media, Phys. Rev. Lett., 110, 184502 [2] Le Borgne T., Dentz M., and Carrera J. (2008) Lagrangian Statistical Model for Transport in Highly Heterogeneous Velocity Fields. Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 090601 [3] Kang, P. K., T. Le Borgne, M. Dentz, O. Bour, and R. Juanes (2015), Impact of velocity correlation and distribution on transport in fractured media : Field evidence and theoretical model, Water Resour. Res., 51, 940-959 [4] Dorn C., Linde N., Le Borgne T., O. Bour and L. Baron (2011) Single-hole GPR reflection imaging of solute transport in a granitic aquifer Geophys. Res. Lett. Vol.38, L08401

  6. Developments in Characterizing Capture Zone Distributions in Island Growth

    Science.gov (United States)

    Einstein, T. L.; Pimpinelli, Alberto; GonzáLez, Diego Luis; Sathiyanarayanan, Rajesh

    2013-03-01

    The utility of using the distribution of capture zones (CZD) to characterize epitaxial growth continues to mount. For non-Poisson deposition (i.e. when island nucleation is not fully random) the areas of these Voronoi cells (proximity polygons) can be well described by the generalized Wigner distribution (GWD), particularly in the central region around the mean area. We discuss several recent applications to experimental systems, showing how this perspective leads to insights about the critical nucleus size. In contrast, several studies have shown that the GWD may not describe the numerical data from painstaking simulations in both tails. We discuss some refinements that have been proposed. Finally, we comment on applications to social phenomena such as area distributions of secondary administrative units (like counties) and of Voronoi cells around Metro stops. Work at UMD supported by NSF-MRSEC Grant DMR 05-20471 and NSF CHE 07-49949

  7. A Fast Reactive Power Optimization in Distribution Network Based on Large Random Matrix Theory and Data Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wanxing Sheng

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, a reactive power optimization method based on historical data is investigated to solve the dynamic reactive power optimization problem in distribution network. In order to reflect the variation of loads, network loads are represented in a form of random matrix. Load similarity (LS is defined to measure the degree of similarity between the loads in different days and the calculation method of the load similarity of load random matrix (LRM is presented. By calculating the load similarity between the forecasting random matrix and the random matrix of historical load, the historical reactive power optimization dispatching scheme that most matches the forecasting load can be found for reactive power control usage. The differences of daily load curves between working days and weekends in different seasons are considered in the proposed method. The proposed method is tested on a standard 14 nodes distribution network with three different types of load. The computational result demonstrates that the proposed method for reactive power optimization is fast, feasible and effective in distribution network.

  8. Non-homogeneous Behaviour of the Spatial Distribution of Macrospicules

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gyenge, N.; Bennett, S.; Erdélyi, R.

    2015-03-01

    In this paper the longitudinal and latitudinal spatial distribution of macrospicules is examined. We found a statistical relationship between the active longitude (determined by sunspot groups) and the longitudinal distribution of macrospicules. This distribution of macrospicules shows an inhomogeneity and non-axisymmetrical behaviour in the time interval between June 2010 and December 2012, covered by observations of the Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO) satellite. The enhanced positions of the activity and its time variation have been calculated. The migration of the longitudinal distribution of macrospicules shows a similar behaviour to that of the sunspot groups.

  9. A New Distribution-Random Limit Normal Distribution

    OpenAIRE

    Gong, Xiaolin; Yang, Shuzhen

    2013-01-01

    This paper introduces a new distribution to improve tail risk modeling. Based on the classical normal distribution, we define a new distribution by a series of heat equations. Then, we use market data to verify our model.

  10. Interfacial charge distributions in carbon-supported palladium catalysts

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rao, Radhika G.; Blume, Raoul; Hansen, Thomas Willum

    2017-01-01

    Controlling the charge transfer between a semiconducting catalyst carrier and the supported transition metal active phase represents an elite strategy for fine turning the electronic structure of the catalytic centers, hence their activity and selectivity. These phenomena have been theoretically...... and experimentally elucidated for oxide supports but remain poorly understood for carbons due to their complex nanoscale structure. Here, we combine advanced spectroscopy and microscopy on model Pd/C samples to decouple the electronic and surface chemistry effects on catalytic performance. Our investigations reveal...... treatments can be used to tune the interfacial charge distribution, hereby providing a strategy to rationally design carbon-supported catalysts.Control over charge transfer in carbon-supported metal nanoparticles is essential for designing new catalysts. Here, the authors show that thermal treatments...

  11. Randomized Evaluation of Peer Support Arrangements to Support the Inclusion of High School Students with Severe Disabilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carter, Erik W.; Asmus, Jennifer; Moss, Colleen K.; Biggs, Elizabeth E.; Bolt, Dan M.; Born, Tiffany L.; Brock, Matthew E.; Cattey, Gillian N.; Chen, Rui; Cooney, Molly; Fesperman, Ethan; Hochman, Julia M.; Huber, Heartley B.; Lequia, Jenna L.; Lyons, Gregory; Moyseenko, Kerrie A.; Riesch, Lindsay M.; Shalev, Rebecca A.; Vincent, Lori B.; Weir, Katie

    2016-01-01

    Enhancing the social and learning experiences of students with severe disabilities in inclusive classrooms has been a long-standing focus of research, legislative, and advocacy efforts. The authors used a randomized controlled experimental design to examine the efficacy of peer support arrangements to improve academic and social outcomes for 51…

  12. FLIP: An Internetwork Protocol for Supporting Distributed Systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kaashoek, M.F.; van Renesse, R.; van Staveren, H.; Tanenbaum, A.S.

    1993-01-01

    Most modern network protocols give adequate support for traditional applications such as file transfer and remote login. Distributed applications, however, have different requirements 1993. Instead of using ad hoc protocols to meet each of the new requirements, we have designed a new protocol,

  13. Non-periodic pseudo-random numbers used in Monte Carlo calculations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barberis, Gaston E.

    2007-09-01

    The generation of pseudo-random numbers is one of the interesting problems in Monte Carlo simulations, mostly because the common computer generators produce periodic numbers. We used simple pseudo-random numbers generated with the simplest chaotic system, the logistic map, with excellent results. The numbers generated in this way are non-periodic, which we demonstrated for 1013 numbers, and they are obtained in a deterministic way, which allows to repeat systematically any calculation. The Monte Carlo calculations are the ideal field to apply these numbers, and we did it for simple and more elaborated cases. Chemistry and Information Technology use this kind of simulations, and the application of this numbers to quantum Monte Carlo and cryptography is immediate. I present here the techniques to calculate, analyze and use these pseudo-random numbers, show that they lack periodicity up to 1013 numbers and that they are not correlated.

  14. Non-periodic pseudo-random numbers used in Monte Carlo calculations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barberis, Gaston E.

    2007-01-01

    The generation of pseudo-random numbers is one of the interesting problems in Monte Carlo simulations, mostly because the common computer generators produce periodic numbers. We used simple pseudo-random numbers generated with the simplest chaotic system, the logistic map, with excellent results. The numbers generated in this way are non-periodic, which we demonstrated for 10 13 numbers, and they are obtained in a deterministic way, which allows to repeat systematically any calculation. The Monte Carlo calculations are the ideal field to apply these numbers, and we did it for simple and more elaborated cases. Chemistry and Information Technology use this kind of simulations, and the application of this numbers to quantum Monte Carlo and cryptography is immediate. I present here the techniques to calculate, analyze and use these pseudo-random numbers, show that they lack periodicity up to 10 13 numbers and that they are not correlated

  15. [Geographic distribution of supportive care for disabled young people].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bourgarel, Sophie; Piteau-Delord, Monique

    2013-01-01

    To analyse the logic for the distribution of home care services for disabled children (SESSAD) in a context of under-equipment. Questionnaire-based survey of 75 units (82% of the region's SESSAD units) concerning patient transport. Equipment and transport mapping. Support units for disabled children are often set up in the housing facilities that contributed to their creation. These sites are sometimes situated a long way from densely populated regions, thereby generating unnecessary travel times and expenses. Chronic under-equipment makes these sites viable, as the various units are always full, despite their distance from the children for whom they provide support. Mapping illustrates the extensive recruitment zones overlapping several units managing similar patients. The major revision of accreditation of these units, planned for 2017, could lead to redefinition of geographical zones of accreditations. New unit opening procedures based on ARS calls for tenders may help to improve the geographical distribution of this supportive care.

  16. Data mining methods in the prediction of Dementia: A real-data comparison of the accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of linear discriminant analysis, logistic regression, neural networks, support vector machines, classification trees and random forests

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Santana Isabel

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Dementia and cognitive impairment associated with aging are a major medical and social concern. Neuropsychological testing is a key element in the diagnostic procedures of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI, but has presently a limited value in the prediction of progression to dementia. We advance the hypothesis that newer statistical classification methods derived from data mining and machine learning methods like Neural Networks, Support Vector Machines and Random Forests can improve accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of predictions obtained from neuropsychological testing. Seven non parametric classifiers derived from data mining methods (Multilayer Perceptrons Neural Networks, Radial Basis Function Neural Networks, Support Vector Machines, CART, CHAID and QUEST Classification Trees and Random Forests were compared to three traditional classifiers (Linear Discriminant Analysis, Quadratic Discriminant Analysis and Logistic Regression in terms of overall classification accuracy, specificity, sensitivity, Area under the ROC curve and Press'Q. Model predictors were 10 neuropsychological tests currently used in the diagnosis of dementia. Statistical distributions of classification parameters obtained from a 5-fold cross-validation were compared using the Friedman's nonparametric test. Results Press' Q test showed that all classifiers performed better than chance alone (p Conclusions When taking into account sensitivity, specificity and overall classification accuracy Random Forests and Linear Discriminant analysis rank first among all the classifiers tested in prediction of dementia using several neuropsychological tests. These methods may be used to improve accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of Dementia predictions from neuropsychological testing.

  17. Layered Fiberconcrete with Non-Homogeneous Fibers Distribution

    OpenAIRE

    Lūsis, V; Krasņikovs, A

    2013-01-01

    The aim of present research is to create fiberconcrete construction with non-homogeneous fibers distribution in it. Traditionally fibers are homogeneously dispersed in a concrete. At the same time in many situations fiberconcretes with homogeneously dispersed fibers are not optimal (majority of added fibers are not participating in a loads bearing process).

  18. Strong result for real zeros of random algebraic polynomials

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. Uno

    2001-01-01

    Full Text Available An estimate is given for the lower bound of real zeros of random algebraic polynomials whose coefficients are non-identically distributed dependent Gaussian random variables. Moreover, our estimated measure of the exceptional set, which is independent of the degree of the polynomials, tends to zero as the degree of the polynomial tends to infinity.

  19. Supporting non proliferation and global security efforts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pochon, E.

    2013-01-01

    CEA contributes as a major actor of France's action against nuclear proliferation and to the strengthening of nuclear security at national level as European and International levels, in particular through the support of the IAEA activities in nuclear non proliferation with the French Support Programme for the IAEA safeguards system and security with the contribution to the IAEA Nuclear Security Plan and cooperation projects with the European Commission. The CEA is a French government funded technological research organization, organized around 5 branches: Nuclear Energy, Technological Researches, Defence (DAM), Material Sciences and Life Sciences. Within the scope of its activities, CEA covers most of the research areas and techniques in nuclear non-proliferation and security. The CEA is also the advisor of the French Government on nuclear policy. Treaty monitoring and the development and implementation of non proliferation and global security programs is an important mission of DAM which rely on nuclear weapons manufacture and past testing experience. The programmes on non proliferation and global security carried out to fulfil DAM's mission cover the following areas: development of monitoring and detection methods and equipments, country profiles and nuclear stockpiles assessment, arms control instruments, proliferation resistance of nuclear fuel cycle, monitoring of nuclear tests, operation and maintenance of national detection capabilities and contribution to CTBT verification systems. (A.C.)

  20. Current methods of non-invasive ventilatory support for neonates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahmoud, Ramadan A; Roehr, Charles Christoph; Schmalisch, Gerd

    2011-09-01

    Non-invasive ventilatory support can reduce the adverse effects associated with intubation and mechanical ventilation, such as bronchopulmonary dysplasia, sepsis, and trauma to the upper airways. In the last 4 decades, nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) has been used to wean preterm infants off mechanical ventilation and, more recently, as a primary mode of respiratory support for preterm infants with respiratory insufficiency. Moreover, new methods of respiratory support have been developed, and the devices used to provide non-invasive ventilation (NIV) have improved technically. Use of NIV is increasing, and a variety of equipment is available in different clinical settings. There is evidence that NIV improves gas exchange and reduces extubation failure after mechanical ventilation in infants. However, more research is needed to identify the most suitable devices for particular conditions; the NIV settings that should be used; and whether to employ synchronized or non-synchronized NIV. Furthermore, the optimal treatment strategy and the best time for initiation of NIV remain to be identified. This article provides an overview of the use of non-invasive ventilation (NIV) in newborn infants, and the clinical applications of NIV. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Time distributions of solar energetic particle events: Are SEPEs really random?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiggens, P. T. A.; Gabriel, S. B.

    2009-10-01

    Solar energetic particle events (SEPEs) can exhibit flux increases of several orders of magnitude over background levels and have always been considered to be random in nature in statistical models with no dependence of any one event on the occurrence of previous events. We examine whether this assumption of randomness in time is correct. Engineering modeling of SEPEs is important to enable reliable and efficient design of both Earth-orbiting and interplanetary spacecraft and future manned missions to Mars and the Moon. All existing engineering models assume that the frequency of SEPEs follows a Poisson process. We present analysis of the event waiting times using alternative distributions described by Lévy and time-dependent Poisson processes and compared these with the usual Poisson distribution. The results show significant deviation from a Poisson process and indicate that the underlying physical processes might be more closely related to a Lévy-type process, suggesting that there is some inherent “memory” in the system. Inherent Poisson assumptions of stationarity and event independence are investigated, and it appears that they do not hold and can be dependent upon the event definition used. SEPEs appear to have some memory indicating that events are not completely random with activity levels varying even during solar active periods and are characterized by clusters of events. This could have significant ramifications for engineering models of the SEP environment, and it is recommended that current statistical engineering models of the SEP environment should be modified to incorporate long-term event dependency and short-term system memory.

  2. Joint probability distributions for a class of non-Markovian processes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baule, A; Friedrich, R

    2005-02-01

    We consider joint probability distributions for the class of coupled Langevin equations introduced by Fogedby [H. C. Fogedby, Phys. Rev. E 50, 1657 (1994)]. We generalize well-known results for the single-time probability distributions to the case of N -time joint probability distributions. It is shown that these probability distribution functions can be obtained by an integral transform from distributions of a Markovian process. The integral kernel obeys a partial differential equation with fractional time derivatives reflecting the non-Markovian character of the process.

  3. Modeling and Compensation of Random Drift of MEMS Gyroscopes Based on Least Squares Support Vector Machine Optimized by Chaotic Particle Swarm Optimization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xing, Haifeng; Hou, Bo; Lin, Zhihui; Guo, Meifeng

    2017-10-13

    MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical System) gyroscopes have been widely applied to various fields, but MEMS gyroscope random drift has nonlinear and non-stationary characteristics. It has attracted much attention to model and compensate the random drift because it can improve the precision of inertial devices. This paper has proposed to use wavelet filtering to reduce noise in the original data of MEMS gyroscopes, then reconstruct the random drift data with PSR (phase space reconstruction), and establish the model for the reconstructed data by LSSVM (least squares support vector machine), of which the parameters were optimized using CPSO (chaotic particle swarm optimization). Comparing the effect of modeling the MEMS gyroscope random drift with BP-ANN (back propagation artificial neural network) and the proposed method, the results showed that the latter had a better prediction accuracy. Using the compensation of three groups of MEMS gyroscope random drift data, the standard deviation of three groups of experimental data dropped from 0.00354°/s, 0.00412°/s, and 0.00328°/s to 0.00065°/s, 0.00072°/s and 0.00061°/s, respectively, which demonstrated that the proposed method can reduce the influence of MEMS gyroscope random drift and verified the effectiveness of this method for modeling MEMS gyroscope random drift.

  4. Vocal activities reflect the temporal distribution of bottlenose dolphin social and non-social activity in a zoological park.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lima, Alice; Lemasson, Alban; Boye, Martin; Hausberger, Martine

    2017-12-01

    Under natural conditions bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) spend their time mostly feeding and then travelling, socializing, or resting. These activities are not randomly distributed, with feeding being higher in early morning and late afternoon. Social activities and vocal behavior seem to be very important in dolphin daily activity. This study aimed to describe the activity time-budget and its relation to vocal behavior for dolphins in a zoological park. We recorded behaviors and vocalizations of six dolphins over 2 months. All subjects performed more non-agonistic social interactions and play in the morning than in the afternoon. The different categories of vocalizations were distributed non-randomly throughout the day, with more chirps in the afternoon, when the animals were "less social." The most striking result was the strong correlation between activities and the categories of vocalizations produced. The results confirm the association between burst pulses and whistles with social activities, but also reveal that both are also associated with solitary play. More chirps were produced when dolphins were engaged in socio-sexual behaviors, emphasizing the need for further questioning about the function of this vocal category. This study reveals that: (i) in a group kept in zoological management, social activities are mostly present in the morning; and (ii) the acoustic signals produced by dolphins may give a reliable representation of their current activities. While more studies on the context of signal production are needed, our findings provide a useful tool for understanding free ranging dolphin behavior when they are not visible. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  5. Non-stationary random vibration analysis of a 3D train-bridge system using the probability density evolution method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Zhi-wu; Mao, Jian-feng; Guo, Feng-qi; Guo, Wei

    2016-03-01

    Rail irregularity is one of the main sources causing train-bridge random vibration. A new random vibration theory for the coupled train-bridge systems is proposed in this paper. First, number theory method (NTM) with 2N-dimensional vectors for the stochastic harmonic function (SHF) of rail irregularity power spectrum density was adopted to determine the representative points of spatial frequencies and phases to generate the random rail irregularity samples, and the non-stationary rail irregularity samples were modulated with the slowly varying function. Second, the probability density evolution method (PDEM) was employed to calculate the random dynamic vibration of the three-dimensional (3D) train-bridge system by a program compiled on the MATLAB® software platform. Eventually, the Newmark-β integration method and double edge difference method of total variation diminishing (TVD) format were adopted to obtain the mean value curve, the standard deviation curve and the time-history probability density information of responses. A case study was presented in which the ICE-3 train travels on a three-span simply-supported high-speed railway bridge with excitation of random rail irregularity. The results showed that compared to the Monte Carlo simulation, the PDEM has higher computational efficiency for the same accuracy, i.e., an improvement by 1-2 orders of magnitude. Additionally, the influences of rail irregularity and train speed on the random vibration of the coupled train-bridge system were discussed.

  6. A prospective randomized multicentre study comparing vaginal progesterone gel and vaginal micronized progesterone tablets for luteal support after in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bergh, Christina; Lindenberg, Svend; Al Humaidan, Peter Samir Heskjær

    2012-01-01

    fertility centres in Denmark and Sweden between March 2006 and January 2010. A web-based randomization program was used with concealed allocation of patients. Patients were randomized to one of two groups: vaginal progesterone gel or vaginal micronized progesterone tablets. There was no blinding of patients....... PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: A total of 2057 women ≤ 40 years of age were included and down-regulated, using the long agonist protocol and rFSH for stimulation. Luteal support was given for 19 days after embryo transfer or until a negative pregnancy test Day 14 after embryo transfer. Patient convenience...... (pregnancy) is robust, blinding would have been unlikely to affect the results. Unfortunately, owing to an error in the randomization, the intended age distribution allocated older women to the micronized progesterone tablet group. In the analysis of results, adjustments were made for age and number...

  7. Non-surgical treatment of lateral epicondylitis: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sims, Susan E G; Miller, Katherine; Elfar, John C; Hammert, Warren C

    2014-12-01

    Non-surgical approaches to treatment of lateral epicondylitis are numerous. The aim of this systematic review is to examine randomized, controlled trials of these treatments. Numerous databases were systematically searched from earliest records to February 2013. Search terms included "lateral epicondylitis," "lateral elbow pain," "tennis elbow," "lateral epicondylalgia," and "elbow tendinopathy" combined with "randomized controlled trial." Two reviewers examined the literature for eligibility via article abstract and full text. Fifty-eight articles met eligibility criteria: (1) a target population of patients with symptoms of lateral epicondylitis; (2) evaluation of treatment of lateral epicondylitis with the following non-surgical techniques: corticosteroid injection, injection technique, iontophoresis, botulinum toxin A injection, prolotherapy, platelet-rich plasma or autologous blood injection, bracing, physical therapy, shockwave therapy, or laser therapy; and (3) a randomized controlled trial design. Lateral epicondylitis is a condition that is usually self-limited. There may be a short-term pain relief advantage found with the application of corticosteroids, but no demonstrable long-term pain relief. Injection of botulinum toxin A and prolotherapy are superior to placebo but not to corticosteroids, and botulinum toxin A is likely to produce concomitant extensor weakness. Platelet-rich plasma or autologous blood injections have been found to be both more and less effective than corticosteroid injections. Non-invasive treatment methods such as bracing, physical therapy, and extracorporeal shockwave therapy do not appear to provide definitive benefit regarding pain relief. Some studies of low-level laser therapy show superiority to placebo whereas others do not. There are multiple randomized controlled trials for non-surgical management of lateral epicondylitis, but the existing literature does not provide conclusive evidence that there is one preferred method

  8. Analysis of load distribution in tooth-implant supported fixed partial dentures by the use of resilient abutment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glisić, Mirko; Stamenković, Dragoslav; Grbović, Aleksandar; Todorović, Aleksandar; Marković, Aleksa; Trifković, Branka

    2016-01-01

    Differences between the tooth and implant response to load can lead to many biological and technical implications in the conditions of occlusal forces. The objective of this study was to analyze load distribution in tooth/implant-supported fixed partial dentures with the use of resilient TSA (Titan Shock Absorber, BoneCare GmbH, Augsburg, Germany) abutment and conventional non-resilient abutment using finite element method. This study presents two basic 3D models. For one model a standard non-resilient abutment is used, and on the implant of the second model a resilient TSA abutment is applied. The virtual model contains drawn contours of tooth, mucous membranes, implant, cortical bones and spongiosa, abutment and suprastructure. The experiment used 500 N of vertical force, applied in three different cases of axial load. Calculations of von Mises equivalent stresses of the tooth root and periodontium, implants and peri-implant tissue were made. For the model to which a non-resilient abutment is applied, maximum stress values in all three cases are observed in the cortical part of the bone (maximum stress value of 49.7 MPa). Measurements of stress and deformation in the bone tissue in the model with application of the resilientTSA abutment demonstrated similar distribution; however, these values are many times lower than in the model with non-resilient TSA abutment (maximum stress value of 28.9 MPa). Application of the resilient TSA abutment results in more equal distribution of stress and deformations in the bone tissue under vertical forces. These values are many times lower than in the model with the non-resilient abutment.

  9. Capturing information needs of care providers to support knowledge sharing and distributed decision making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rogers, M; Zach, L; An, Y; Dalrymple, P

    2012-01-01

    This paper reports on work carried out to elicit information needs at a trans-disciplinary, nurse-managed health care clinic that serves a medically disadvantaged urban population. The trans-disciplinary model provides a "one-stop shop" for patients who can receive a wide range of services beyond traditional primary care. However, this model of health care presents knowledge sharing challenges because little is known about how data collected from the non-traditional services can be integrated into the traditional electronic medical record (EMR) and shared with other care providers. There is also little known about how health information technology (HIT) can be used to support the workflow in such a practice. The objective of this case study was to identify the information needs of care providers in order to inform the design of HIT to support knowledge sharing and distributed decision making. A participatory design approach is presented as a successful technique to specify requirements for HIT applications that can support a trans-disciplinary model of care. Using this design approach, the researchers identified the information needs of care providers working at the clinic and suggested HIT improvements to integrate non-traditional information into the EMR. These modifications allow knowledge sharing among care providers and support better health decisions. We have identified information needs of care providers as they are relevant to the design of health information systems. As new technology is designed and integrated into various workflows it is clear that understanding information needs is crucial to acceptance of that technology.

  10. Characterisation of random Gaussian and non-Gaussian stress processes in terms of extreme responses

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Colin Bruno

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available In the field of military land vehicles, random vibration processes generated by all-terrain wheeled vehicles in motion are not classical stochastic processes with a stationary and Gaussian nature. Non-stationarity of processes induced by the variability of the vehicle speed does not form a major difficulty because the designer can have good control over the vehicle speed by characterising the histogram of instantaneous speed of the vehicle during an operational situation. Beyond this non-stationarity problem, the hard point clearly lies in the fact that the random processes are not Gaussian and are generated mainly by the non-linear behaviour of the undercarriage and the strong occurrence of shocks generated by roughness of the terrain. This non-Gaussian nature is expressed particularly by very high flattening levels that can affect the design of structures under extreme stresses conventionally acquired by spectral approaches, inherent to Gaussian processes and based essentially on spectral moments of stress processes. Due to these technical considerations, techniques for characterisation of random excitation processes generated by this type of carrier need to be changed, by proposing innovative characterisation methods based on time domain approaches as described in the body of the text rather than spectral domain approaches.

  11. Analysis of the spatial distribution of infant mortality by cause of death in Austria in 1984 to 2006

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Heinzl Harald

    2008-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background In Austria, over the last 20 years infant mortality declined from 11.2 per 1,000 life births (1985 to 4.7 per 1,000 in1997 but remained rather constant since then. In addition to this time trend we already reported a non-random spatial distribution of infant mortality rates in a recent study covering the time period 1984 to 2002. This present study includes four additional years and now covers about 1.9 million individual birth certificates. It aimes to elucidate the observed non-random spatial distribution in more detail. We split up infant mortality into six groups according to the underlying cause of death. The underlying spatial distribution of standardized mortality ratios (SMR is estimated by univariate models as well as by two models incorporating all six groups simultaneously. Results We observe strong correlations between the individual spatial patterns of SMR's except for "Sudden Infant Death Syndrome" and to some extent for "Peripartal Problems". The spatial distribution of SMR's is non-random with an area of decreased risk in the South-East of Austria. The group "Sudden Infant Death Syndrome" clearly and the group "Peripartal Problems" slightly show deviations from the common pattern. When comparing univariate and multivariate SMR estimates we observe that the resulting spatial distributions are very similar. Conclusion We observe different non-random spatial distributions of infant mortality rates when grouped by cause of death. The models applied were based on individual data thereby avoiding ecological regression bias. The estimated spatial distributions do not substantially depend on the employed estimation method. The observed non-random spatial patterns of Austrian infant mortality remain to appear ambiguous.

  12. Statistical mechanics of the $N$-point vortex system with random intensities on $R^2$

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cassio Neri

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available The system of N -point vortices on $mathbb{R}^2$ is considered under the hypothesis that vortex intensities are independent and identically distributed random variables with respect to a law $P$ supported on $(0,1]$. It is shown that, in the limit as $N$ approaches $infty$, the 1-vortex distribution is a minimizer of the free energy functional and is associated to (some solutions of the following non-linear Poisson Equation:$$ -Delta u(x = C^{-1}int_{(0,1]} rhbox{e}^{-eta ru(x- gamma r|x|^2}P(hbox{d}r, quadforall xin mathbb{R}^2, $$where $displaystyle C = int_{(0,1]}int_{mathbb{R}^2}hbox{e}^{-eta ru(y - gamma r|y|^2}hbox{d} yP(hbox{d}r$

  13. Non-equilibrium work distribution for interacting colloidal particles under friction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gomez-Solano, Juan Ruben; July, Christoph; Mehl, Jakob; Bechinger, Clemens

    2015-01-01

    We experimentally investigate the non-equilibrium steady-state distribution of the work done by an external force on a mesoscopic system with many coupled degrees of freedom: a colloidal crystal mechanically driven across a commensurate periodic light field. Since this system mimics the spatiotemporal dynamics of a crystalline surface moving on a corrugated substrate, our results show general properties of the work distribution for atomically flat surfaces undergoing friction. We address the role of several parameters which can influence the shape of the work distribution, e.g. the number of particles used to locally probe the properties of the system and the time interval to measure the work. We find that, when tuning the control parameters to induce particle depinning from the substrate, there is an abrupt change of the shape of the work distribution. While in the completely static and sliding friction regimes the work distribution is Gaussian, non-Gaussian tails show up due to the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of the particle dynamics during the transition between these two regimes. (paper)

  14. Suppression of thermal noise in a non-Markovian random velocity field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ueda, Masahiko

    2016-01-01

    We study the diffusion of Brownian particles in a Gaussian random velocity field with short memory. By extending the derivation of an effective Fokker–Planck equation for the Lanvegin equation with weakly colored noise to a random velocity-field problem, we find that the effect of thermal noise on particles is suppressed by the existence of memory. We also find that the renormalization effect for the relative diffusion of two particles is stronger than that for single-particle diffusion. The results are compared with those of molecular dynamics simulations. (paper: classical statistical mechanics, equilibrium and non-equilibrium)

  15. Fatigue Reliability under Random Loads

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Talreja, R.

    1979-01-01

    We consider the problem of estimating the probability of survival (non-failure) and the probability of safe operation (strength greater than a limiting value) of structures subjected to random loads. These probabilities are formulated in terms of the probability distributions of the loads...... propagation stage. The consequences of this behaviour on the fatigue reliability are discussed....

  16. A random effects meta-analysis model with Box-Cox transformation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamaguchi, Yusuke; Maruo, Kazushi; Partlett, Christopher; Riley, Richard D

    2017-07-19

    In a random effects meta-analysis model, true treatment effects for each study are routinely assumed to follow a normal distribution. However, normality is a restrictive assumption and the misspecification of the random effects distribution may result in a misleading estimate of overall mean for the treatment effect, an inappropriate quantification of heterogeneity across studies and a wrongly symmetric prediction interval. We focus on problems caused by an inappropriate normality assumption of the random effects distribution, and propose a novel random effects meta-analysis model where a Box-Cox transformation is applied to the observed treatment effect estimates. The proposed model aims to normalise an overall distribution of observed treatment effect estimates, which is sum of the within-study sampling distributions and the random effects distribution. When sampling distributions are approximately normal, non-normality in the overall distribution will be mainly due to the random effects distribution, especially when the between-study variation is large relative to the within-study variation. The Box-Cox transformation addresses this flexibly according to the observed departure from normality. We use a Bayesian approach for estimating parameters in the proposed model, and suggest summarising the meta-analysis results by an overall median, an interquartile range and a prediction interval. The model can be applied for any kind of variables once the treatment effect estimate is defined from the variable. A simulation study suggested that when the overall distribution of treatment effect estimates are skewed, the overall mean and conventional I 2 from the normal random effects model could be inappropriate summaries, and the proposed model helped reduce this issue. We illustrated the proposed model using two examples, which revealed some important differences on summary results, heterogeneity measures and prediction intervals from the normal random effects model. The

  17. A random effects meta-analysis model with Box-Cox transformation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yusuke Yamaguchi

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background In a random effects meta-analysis model, true treatment effects for each study are routinely assumed to follow a normal distribution. However, normality is a restrictive assumption and the misspecification of the random effects distribution may result in a misleading estimate of overall mean for the treatment effect, an inappropriate quantification of heterogeneity across studies and a wrongly symmetric prediction interval. Methods We focus on problems caused by an inappropriate normality assumption of the random effects distribution, and propose a novel random effects meta-analysis model where a Box-Cox transformation is applied to the observed treatment effect estimates. The proposed model aims to normalise an overall distribution of observed treatment effect estimates, which is sum of the within-study sampling distributions and the random effects distribution. When sampling distributions are approximately normal, non-normality in the overall distribution will be mainly due to the random effects distribution, especially when the between-study variation is large relative to the within-study variation. The Box-Cox transformation addresses this flexibly according to the observed departure from normality. We use a Bayesian approach for estimating parameters in the proposed model, and suggest summarising the meta-analysis results by an overall median, an interquartile range and a prediction interval. The model can be applied for any kind of variables once the treatment effect estimate is defined from the variable. Results A simulation study suggested that when the overall distribution of treatment effect estimates are skewed, the overall mean and conventional I 2 from the normal random effects model could be inappropriate summaries, and the proposed model helped reduce this issue. We illustrated the proposed model using two examples, which revealed some important differences on summary results, heterogeneity measures and

  18. Internet peer support for individuals with psychiatric disabilities: A randomized controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaplan, Katy; Salzer, Mark S; Solomon, Phyllis; Brusilovskiy, Eugene; Cousounis, Pamela

    2011-01-01

    Despite the prevalence of Internet support groups for individuals with mental illnesses little is known about the potential benefits, or harm, of participating in such groups. Therefore, this randomized controlled trial sought to determine the impact of unmoderated, unstructured Internet peer support, similar to what is naturally occurring on the Internet, on the well-being of individuals with psychiatric disabilities. Three hundred individuals resident in the USA diagnosed with a Schizophrenia Spectrum or an Affective Disorder were randomized into one of three conditions: experimental Internet peer support via a listserv, experimental Internet peer support via a bulletin board, or a control condition. Three measurement time points, baseline, 4- and 12 months post-baseline, assessed well-being by examining measures of recovery, quality of life, empowerment, social support, and distress. Time × group interactions in the repeated measures ANOVA showed no differences between conditions on the main outcomes. Post-hoc repeated measures ANOVAs found that those individuals who participated more in Internet peer support reported higher levels of distress than those with less or no participation (p = 0.03). Those who reported more positive experiences with the Internet peer support group also reported higher levels of psychological distress than those reporting less positive experiences (p = 0.01). Study results therefore do not support the hypothesis that participation in an unmoderated, unstructured Internet listserv or bulletin board peer support group for individuals with psychiatric disabilities enhances well-being. Counterintuitive findings demonstrating those who report more positive experiences also experienced higher levels of distress are discussed but we also point to the need for additional research. Future research should explore the various structures, formats, and interventions of Internet support, as well as the content and quality of interactions

  19. Potential fluctuations due to randomly distributed charges at the semiconductor-insulator interface in MIS-structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yanchev, I.

    2003-01-01

    A new expression for the Fourier transform of the binary correlation function of the random potential near the semiconductor-insulator interface is derived. The screening from the metal electrode in MIS-structure is taken into account introducing an effective insulator thickness. An essential advantage of this correlation function is the finite dispersion of the random potential to which it leads in distinction with the so far known correlation functions leading to a divergent dispersion. The dispersion, an important characteristic of the random potential distribution, determining the amplitude of the potential fluctuations is calculated

  20. Potential fluctuations due to randomly distributed charges at the semiconductor-insulator interface in MIS-structures

    CERN Document Server

    Yanchev, I

    2003-01-01

    A new expression for the Fourier transform of the binary correlation function of the random potential near the semiconductor-insulator interface is derived. The screening from the metal electrode in MIS-structure is taken into account introducing an effective insulator thickness. An essential advantage of this correlation function is the finite dispersion of the random potential to which it leads in distinction with the so far known correlation functions leading to a divergent dispersion. The dispersion, an important characteristic of the random potential distribution, determining the amplitude of the potential fluctuations is calculated.

  1. Potential fluctuations due to randomly distributed charges at the semiconductor-insulator interface in MIS-structures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yanchev, I

    2003-07-01

    A new expression for the Fourier transform of the binary correlation function of the random potential near the semiconductor-insulator interface is derived. The screening from the metal electrode in MIS-structure is taken into account introducing an effective insulator thickness. An essential advantage of this correlation function is the finite dispersion of the random potential to which it leads in distinction with the so far known correlation functions leading to a divergent dispersion. The dispersion, an important characteristic of the random potential distribution, determining the amplitude of the potential fluctuations is calculated.

  2. Statistical properties of random clique networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ding, Yi-Min; Meng, Jun; Fan, Jing-Fang; Ye, Fang-Fu; Chen, Xiao-Song

    2017-10-01

    In this paper, a random clique network model to mimic the large clustering coefficient and the modular structure that exist in many real complex networks, such as social networks, artificial networks, and protein interaction networks, is introduced by combining the random selection rule of the Erdös and Rényi (ER) model and the concept of cliques. We find that random clique networks having a small average degree differ from the ER network in that they have a large clustering coefficient and a power law clustering spectrum, while networks having a high average degree have similar properties as the ER model. In addition, we find that the relation between the clustering coefficient and the average degree shows a non-monotonic behavior and that the degree distributions can be fit by multiple Poisson curves; we explain the origin of such novel behaviors and degree distributions.

  3. Non-perturbative inputs for gluon distributions in the hadrons

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ermolaev, B.I.; Troyan, S.I.

    2017-01-01

    Description of hadronic reactions at high energies is conventionally done in the framework of QCD factorization. All factorization convolutions comprise non-perturbative inputs mimicking non-perturbative contributions and perturbative evolution of those inputs. We construct inputs for the gluon-hadron scattering amplitudes in the forward kinematics and, using the optical theorem, convert them into inputs for gluon distributions in the hadrons, embracing the cases of polarized and unpolarized hadrons. In the first place, we formulate mathematical criteria which any model for the inputs should obey and then suggest a model satisfying those criteria. This model is based on a simple reasoning: after emitting an active parton off the hadron, the remaining set of spectators becomes unstable and therefore it can be described through factors of the resonance type, so we call it the resonance model. We use it to obtain non-perturbative inputs for gluon distributions in unpolarized and polarized hadrons for all available types of QCD factorization: basic, K_T-and collinear factorizations. (orig.)

  4. Non-perturbative inputs for gluon distributions in the hadrons

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ermolaev, B.I. [Ioffe Physico-Technical Institute, Saint Petersburg (Russian Federation); Troyan, S.I. [St. Petersburg Institute of Nuclear Physics, Gatchina (Russian Federation)

    2017-03-15

    Description of hadronic reactions at high energies is conventionally done in the framework of QCD factorization. All factorization convolutions comprise non-perturbative inputs mimicking non-perturbative contributions and perturbative evolution of those inputs. We construct inputs for the gluon-hadron scattering amplitudes in the forward kinematics and, using the optical theorem, convert them into inputs for gluon distributions in the hadrons, embracing the cases of polarized and unpolarized hadrons. In the first place, we formulate mathematical criteria which any model for the inputs should obey and then suggest a model satisfying those criteria. This model is based on a simple reasoning: after emitting an active parton off the hadron, the remaining set of spectators becomes unstable and therefore it can be described through factors of the resonance type, so we call it the resonance model. We use it to obtain non-perturbative inputs for gluon distributions in unpolarized and polarized hadrons for all available types of QCD factorization: basic, K{sub T}-and collinear factorizations. (orig.)

  5. Approximate Forward Difference Equations for the Lower Order Non-Stationary Statistics of Geometrically Non-Linear Systems subject to Random Excitation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Köylüoglu, H. U.; Nielsen, Søren R. K.; Cakmak, A. S.

    Geometrically non-linear multi-degree-of-freedom (MDOF) systems subject to random excitation are considered. New semi-analytical approximate forward difference equations for the lower order non-stationary statistical moments of the response are derived from the stochastic differential equations...... of motion, and, the accuracy of these equations is numerically investigated. For stationary excitations, the proposed method computes the stationary statistical moments of the response from the solution of non-linear algebraic equations....

  6. Mutual trust method for forwarding information in wireless sensor networks using random secret pre-distribution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chih-Hsueh Lin

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available In wireless sensor networks, sensing information must be transmitted from sensor nodes to the base station by multiple hopping. Every sensor node is a sender and a relay node that forwards the sensing information that is sent by other nodes. Under an attack, the sensing information may be intercepted, modified, interrupted, or fabricated during transmission. Accordingly, the development of mutual trust to enable a secure path to be established for forwarding information is an important issue. Random key pre-distribution has been proposed to establish mutual trust among sensor nodes. This article modifies the random key pre-distribution to a random secret pre-distribution and incorporates identity-based cryptography to establish an effective method of establishing mutual trust for a wireless sensor network. In the proposed method, base station assigns an identity and embeds n secrets into the private secret keys for every sensor node. Based on the identity and private secret keys, the mutual trust method is utilized to explore the types of trust among neighboring sensor nodes. The novel method can resist malicious attacks and satisfy the requirements of wireless sensor network, which are resistance to compromising attacks, masquerading attacks, forger attacks, replying attacks, authentication of forwarding messages, and security of sensing information.

  7. Evidence of significant bias in an elementary random number generator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Borgwaldt, H.; Brandl, V.

    1981-03-01

    An elementary pseudo random number generator for isotropically distributed unit vectors in 3-dimensional space has ben tested for bias. This generator uses the IBM-suplied routine RANDU and a transparent rejection technique. The tests show clearly that non-randomness in the pseudo random numbers generated by the primary IBM generator leads to bias in the order of 1 percent in estimates obtained from the secondary random number generator. FORTRAN listings of 4 variants of the random number generator called by a simple test programme and output listings are included for direct reference. (orig.) [de

  8. Cluster randomized controlled trial of a peer support program for people with diabetes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Riddell, Michaela A; Renwick, Carla; Wolfe, Rory

    2012-01-01

    ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Well managed diabetes requires active self-management in order to ensure optimal glycaemic control and appropriate use of available clinical services and other supports. Peer supporters can assist people with their daily diabetes self-management activities, provide emotional...... and social support, assist and encourage clinical care and be available when needed. METHODS: A national database of Australians diagnosed with type 2 diabetes is being used to invite people in pre-determined locations to participate in community-based peer support groups. Peer supporters are self......-identified from these communities. All consenting participants receive diabetes self-management education and education manual prior to randomization by community to a peer support intervention or usual care. This multi-faceted intervention comprises four interconnected components for delivering support...

  9. PVUSA: The value of photovoltaics in the distribution system. The Kerman Grid-Support Project

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wenger, H.J.; Hoff, T.E. [Pacific Energy Group, Walnut Creek, CA (United States)

    1995-05-01

    As part of the Photovoltaics for Utility Scale Applications Applications (PVUSA) Project Pacific Gas Electric Company (PG&E) built the Kerman 500-kW photovoltaic power plant. Located near the end of a distribution feeder in a rural section of Fresno County, the plant was not built so much to demonstrate PV technology, but to evaluate its interaction with the local distribution grid and quantify available nontraditional grid-support benefits (those other than energy and capacity). As demand for new generation began to languish in the 1980s, and siting and permitting of power plants and transmission lines became more involved, utilities began considering smaller, distributed power sources. Potential benefits include shorter construction lead time, less capital outlay, and better utilization of existing assets. The results of a PG&E study in 1990/1991 of the benefits from a PV system to the distribution grid prompted the PVUSA Project to construct a plant at Kerman. Completed in 1993, the plant is believed to be the first one specifically built to evaluate the multiple benefits to the grid of a strategically sited plant. Each of nine discrete benefits were evaluated in detail by first establishing the technical impact, then translating the results into present economic value. Benefits span the entire system from distribution feeder to the generation fleet. This work breaks new ground in evaluation of distributed resources, and suggests that resource planning practices be expanded to account for these non-traditional benefits.

  10. Approximations to the Non-Isothermal Distributed Activation Energy Model for Biomass Pyrolysis Using the Rayleigh Distribution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dhaundiyal Alok

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper deals with the influence of some parameters relevant to biomass pyrolysis on the numerical solutions of the nonisothermal nth order distributed activation energy model using the Rayleigh distribution. Investigated parameters are the integral upper limit, the frequency factor, the heating rate, the reaction order and the scale parameters of the Rayleigh distribution. The influence of these parameters has been considered for the determination of the kinetic parameters of the non-isothermal nth order Rayleigh distribution from the experimentally derived thermoanalytical data of biomass pyrolysis.

  11. Proof of a conjecture on the supports of Wigner distributions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Janssen, A.J.E.M.

    1998-01-01

    In this note we prove that the Wigner distribution of an f ¿ L2(Rn) cannot be supported by a set of finite measure in R2n unless f = 0. We prove a corresponding statement for cross-ambiguity functions. As a strengthening of the conjecture we show that for an f ¿ L2(Rn) its Wigner distribution has a

  12. Common neural substrates support speech and non-speech vocal tract gestures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Soo-Eun; Kenney, Mary Kay; Loucks, Torrey M J; Poletto, Christopher J; Ludlow, Christy L

    2009-08-01

    The issue of whether speech is supported by the same neural substrates as non-speech vocal tract gestures has been contentious. In this fMRI study we tested whether producing non-speech vocal tract gestures in humans shares the same functional neuroanatomy as non-sense speech syllables. Production of non-speech vocal tract gestures, devoid of phonological content but similar to speech in that they had familiar acoustic and somatosensory targets, was compared to the production of speech syllables without meaning. Brain activation related to overt production was captured with BOLD fMRI using a sparse sampling design for both conditions. Speech and non-speech were compared using voxel-wise whole brain analyses, and ROI analyses focused on frontal and temporoparietal structures previously reported to support speech production. Results showed substantial activation overlap between speech and non-speech function in regions. Although non-speech gesture production showed greater extent and amplitude of activation in the regions examined, both speech and non-speech showed comparable left laterality in activation for both target perception and production. These findings posit a more general role of the previously proposed "auditory dorsal stream" in the left hemisphere--to support the production of vocal tract gestures that are not limited to speech processing.

  13. Generation of pseudo-random numbers from given probabilistic distribution with the use of chaotic maps

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lawnik, Marcin

    2018-01-01

    The scope of the paper is the presentation of a new method of generating numbers from a given distribution. The method uses the inverse cumulative distribution function and a method of flattening of probabilistic distributions. On the grounds of these methods, a new construction of chaotic maps was derived, which generates values from a given distribution. The analysis of the new method was conducted on the example of a newly constructed chaotic recurrences, based on the Box-Muller transformation and the quantile function of the exponential distribution. The obtained results certify that the proposed method may be successively applicable for the construction of generators of pseudo-random numbers.

  14. Performance Analysis of 5G Transmission over Fading Channels with Random IG Distributed LOS Components

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dejan Jaksic

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Mathematical modelling of the behavior of the radio propagation at mmWave bands is crucial to the development of transmission and reception algorithms of new 5G systems. In this study we will model 5G propagation in nondeterministic line-of-sight (LOS conditions, when the random nature of LOS component ratio will be observed as Inverse Gamma (IG distributed process. Closed-form expressions will be presented for the probability density function (PDF and cumulative distribution function (CDF of such random process. Further, closed-form expressions will be provided for important performance measures such as level crossing rate (LCR and average fade duration (AFD. Capitalizing on proposed expressions, LCR and AFD will be discussed in the function of transmission parameters.

  15. The Use of Cell Phone Support for Non-adherent HIV-Infected Youth and Young Adults: An Initial Randomized and Controlled Intervention Trial

    Science.gov (United States)

    Belzer, Marvin E.; Naar-King, Sylvie; Olson, Johanna; Sarr, Moussa; Thornton, Sarah; Kahana, Shoshana Y.; Gaur, Aditya H.; Clark, Leslie F.

    2014-01-01

    This randomized behavioral trial examined whether youth living with HIV (YLH) receiving cell-phone support with study funded phone plans, demonstrated improved adherence and viral control during the 24 week intervention and 24 weeks post-intervention compared to controls. Monday through Friday phone calls confirmed medications were taken, provided problem-solving support, and referred to services to address adherence barriers. Of 37 participants (ages 15–24), 62 % were male and 70 % were African American. Self-reported adherence was significantly higher in the intervention group compared to the control at 24 and 48 weeks for the past month (P = 0.007) and log 10 HIV VL was significantly lower at both 24 weeks (2.82 versus 4.52 P = 0.002) and 48 weeks (3.23 versus 4.23 P = 0.043). Adherence and viral load showed medium to large effect sizes across the 48 week study. This is the first study to demonstrate sustained clinically significant reductions in HIV VL using youth friendly technology. PMID:24271347

  16. Potential fluctuations due to randomly distributed charges at the semiconductor-insulator interface in mis-structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yanchev, I; Slavcheva, G.

    1993-01-01

    A new expression for the Fourier transform of the binary correlation function of the random potential near the semiconductor-insulator interface is derived. The screening from the metal electrode in MIS-structure is taken into account introducing an effective insulator thickness. An essential advantage of this correlation function is the finite dispersion of the random potential Γ 2 to which it leads in distinction with the so far known correlation functions leading to divergent dispersion. The important characteristic of the random potential distribution Γ 2 determining the amplitude of the potential fluctuations is calculated. 7 refs. (orig.)

  17. Multi-VO support in IHEP's distributed computing environment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yan, T; Suo, B; Zhao, X H; Zhang, X M; Ma, Z T; Yan, X F; Lin, T; Deng, Z Y; Li, W D; Belov, S; Pelevanyuk, I; Zhemchugov, A; Cai, H

    2015-01-01

    Inspired by the success of BESDIRAC, the distributed computing environment based on DIRAC for BESIII experiment, several other experiments operated by Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP), such as Circular Electron Positron Collider (CEPC), Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO), Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) and Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT) etc, are willing to use DIRAC to integrate the geographically distributed computing resources available by their collaborations. In order to minimize manpower and hardware cost, we extended the BESDIRAC platform to support multi-VO scenario, instead of setting up a self-contained distributed computing environment for each VO. This makes DIRAC as a service for the community of those experiments. To support multi-VO, the system architecture of BESDIRAC is adjusted for scalability. The VOMS and DIRAC servers are reconfigured to manage users and groups belong to several VOs. A lightweight storage resource manager StoRM is employed as the central SE to integrate local and grid data. A frontend system is designed for user's massive job splitting, submission and management, with plugins to support new VOs. A monitoring and accounting system is also considered to easy the system administration and VO related resources usage accounting. (paper)

  18. Inverter power module with distributed support for direct substrate cooling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, David Harold [San Pedro, CA; Korich, Mark D [Chino Hills, CA; Ward, Terence G [Redondo Beach, CA; Mann, Brooks S [Redondo Beach, CA

    2012-08-21

    Systems and/or methods are provided for an inverter power module with distributed support for direct substrate cooling. An inverter module comprises a power electronic substrate. A first support frame is adapted to house the power electronic substrate and has a first region adapted to allow direct cooling of the power electronic substrate. A gasket is interposed between the power electronic substrate and the first support frame. The gasket is configured to provide a seal between the first region and the power electronic substrate. A second support frame is adapted to house the power electronic substrate and joined to the first support frame to form the seal.

  19. Active and reactive power support of MV distribution systems using battery energy storage

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wang, Jiawei; Hashemi Toghroljerdi, Seyedmostafa; You, Shi

    2017-01-01

    shaving and voltage support service from the perspective of Distribution System Operators (DSOs). An active power support algorithm is implemented and the effects of various load profiles as well as different Photovoltaic (PV) penetration scenarios on the operation of BESS and the optimal BESS converter......Adoption of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESSs) for provision of grid services is increasing. This paper investigates the applications of BESS for the grid upgrade deferral and voltage support of Medium Voltage (MV) distribution systems. A BESS is modelled in Matlab/Simulink to perform peak load...... size for peak load shaving are investigated. The BESS annual lifetime degradation is also estimated using a rainflow counting algorithm. A reactive power support algorithm embedded with Q-U droop control is proposed in order to reduce the voltage drop in a part of 10 kV distribution network of Nordhavn...

  20. An Analysis of Spherical Particles Distribution Randomly Packed in a Medium for the Monte Carlo Implicit Modeling

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Jae Yong; Kim, Song Hyun; Shin, Chang Ho; Kim, Jong Kyung [Hanyang Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2014-05-15

    In this study, as a preliminary study to develop an implicit method having high accuracy, the distribution characteristics of spherical particles were evaluated by using explicit modeling techniques in various volume packing fractions. This study was performed to evaluate implicitly simulated distribution of randomly packed spheres in a medium. At first, an explicit modeling method to simulate random packed spheres in a hexahedron medium was proposed. The distributed characteristics of l{sub p} and r{sub p}, which are used in the particle position sampling, was estimated. It is analyzed that the use of the direct exponential distribution, which is generally used in the implicit modeling, can cause the distribution bias of the spheres. It is expected that the findings in this study can be utilized for improving the accuracy in using the implicit method. Spherical particles, which are randomly distributed in medium, are utilized for the radiation shields, fusion reactor blanket, fuels of VHTR reactors. Due to the difficulty on the simulation of the stochastic distribution, Monte Carlo (MC) method has been mainly considered as the tool for the analysis of the particle transport. For the MC modeling of the spherical particles, three methods are known; repeated structure, explicit modeling, and implicit modeling. Implicit method (called as the track length sampling method) is a modeling method that is the sampling based modeling technique of each spherical geometry (or track length of the sphere) during the MC simulation. Implicit modeling method has advantages in high computational efficiency and user convenience. However, it is noted that the implicit method has lower modeling accuracy in various finite mediums.

  1. Distributed Pseudo-Random Number Generation and Its Application to Cloud Database

    OpenAIRE

    Chen, Jiageng; Miyaji, Atsuko; Su, Chunhua

    2014-01-01

    Cloud database is now a rapidly growing trend in cloud computing market recently. It enables the clients run their computation on out-sourcing databases or access to some distributed database service on the cloud. At the same time, the security and privacy concerns is major challenge for cloud database to continue growing. To enhance the security and privacy of the cloud database technology, the pseudo-random number generation (PRNG) plays an important roles in data encryptions and privacy-pr...

  2. Residual Defect Density in Random Disks Deposits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Topic, Nikola; Pöschel, Thorsten; Gallas, Jason A C

    2015-08-03

    We investigate the residual distribution of structural defects in very tall packings of disks deposited randomly in large channels. By performing simulations involving the sedimentation of up to 50 × 10(9) particles we find all deposits to consistently show a non-zero residual density of defects obeying a characteristic power-law as a function of the channel width. This remarkable finding corrects the widespread belief that the density of defects should vanish algebraically with growing height. A non-zero residual density of defects implies a type of long-range spatial order in the packing, as opposed to only local ordering. In addition, we find deposits of particles to involve considerably less randomness than generally presumed.

  3. Characterization of geometrical random uncertainty distribution for a group of patients in radiotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Munoz Montplet, C.; Jurado Bruggeman, D.

    2010-01-01

    Geometrical random uncertainty in radiotherapy is usually characterized by a unique value in each group of patients. We propose a novel approach based on a statistically accurate characterization of the uncertainty distribution, thus reducing the risk of obtaining potentially unsafe results in CTV-PTV margins or in the selection of correction protocols.

  4. Shear elastic modulus of magnetic gels with random distribution of magnetizable particles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iskakova, L. Yu; Zubarev, A. Yu

    2017-04-01

    Magnetic gels present new type of composite materials with rich set of uniquie physical properties, which find active applications in many industrial and bio-medical technologies. We present results of mathematically strict theoretical study of elastic modulus of these systems with randomly distributed magnetizable particles in an elastic medium. The results show that an external magnetic field can pronouncedly increase the shear modulus of these composites.

  5. Comparison of the distribution of non-AIDS Kaposi's sarcoma and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in Europe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maso, L Dal; Franceschi, S; Re, A Lo; Vecchia, C La

    1999-01-01

    To evaluate whether some form of mild immunosuppression may influence the geographical distribution of non-AIDS Kaposi's sarcoma (KS), we correlated incidence rates of KS and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in individuals aged 60 or more in 18 European countries and Israel. Significant positive correlations emerged but, within highest risk countries (i.e.Italy and Israel), internal correlations were inconsistent. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaign PMID:10408708

  6. Tukey g-and-h Random Fields

    KAUST Repository

    Xu, Ganggang; Genton, Marc G.

    2016-01-01

    We propose a new class of trans-Gaussian random fields named Tukey g-and-h (TGH) random fields to model non-Gaussian spatial data. The proposed TGH random fields have extremely flexible marginal distributions, possibly skewed and/or heavy-tailed, and, therefore, have a wide range of applications. The special formulation of the TGH random field enables an automatic search for the most suitable transformation for the dataset of interest while estimating model parameters. Asymptotic properties of the maximum likelihood estimator and the probabilistic properties of the TGH random fields are investigated. An efficient estimation procedure, based on maximum approximated likelihood, is proposed and an extreme spatial outlier detection algorithm is formulated. Kriging and probabilistic prediction with TGH random fields are developed along with prediction confidence intervals. The predictive performance of TGH random fields is demonstrated through extensive simulation studies and an application to a dataset of total precipitation in the south east of the United States.

  7. Tukey g-and-h Random Fields

    KAUST Repository

    Xu, Ganggang

    2016-07-15

    We propose a new class of trans-Gaussian random fields named Tukey g-and-h (TGH) random fields to model non-Gaussian spatial data. The proposed TGH random fields have extremely flexible marginal distributions, possibly skewed and/or heavy-tailed, and, therefore, have a wide range of applications. The special formulation of the TGH random field enables an automatic search for the most suitable transformation for the dataset of interest while estimating model parameters. Asymptotic properties of the maximum likelihood estimator and the probabilistic properties of the TGH random fields are investigated. An efficient estimation procedure, based on maximum approximated likelihood, is proposed and an extreme spatial outlier detection algorithm is formulated. Kriging and probabilistic prediction with TGH random fields are developed along with prediction confidence intervals. The predictive performance of TGH random fields is demonstrated through extensive simulation studies and an application to a dataset of total precipitation in the south east of the United States.

  8. Three-dimensional direct laser written graphitic electrical contacts to randomly distributed components

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dorin, Bryce; Parkinson, Patrick; Scully, Patricia

    2018-04-01

    The development of cost-effective electrical packaging for randomly distributed micro/nano-scale devices is a widely recognized challenge for fabrication technologies. Three-dimensional direct laser writing (DLW) has been proposed as a solution to this challenge, and has enabled the creation of rapid and low resistance graphitic wires within commercial polyimide substrates. In this work, we utilize the DLW technique to electrically contact three fully encapsulated and randomly positioned light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in a one-step process. The resolution of the contacts is in the order of 20 μ m, with an average circuit resistance of 29 ± 18 kΩ per LED contacted. The speed and simplicity of this technique is promising to meet the needs of future microelectronics and device packaging.

  9. Measuring symmetry, asymmetry and randomness in neural network connectivity.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Umberto Esposito

    Full Text Available Cognitive functions are stored in the connectome, the wiring diagram of the brain, which exhibits non-random features, so-called motifs. In this work, we focus on bidirectional, symmetric motifs, i.e. two neurons that project to each other via connections of equal strength, and unidirectional, non-symmetric motifs, i.e. within a pair of neurons only one neuron projects to the other. We hypothesise that such motifs have been shaped via activity dependent synaptic plasticity processes. As a consequence, learning moves the distribution of the synaptic connections away from randomness. Our aim is to provide a global, macroscopic, single parameter characterisation of the statistical occurrence of bidirectional and unidirectional motifs. To this end we define a symmetry measure that does not require any a priori thresholding of the weights or knowledge of their maximal value. We calculate its mean and variance for random uniform or Gaussian distributions, which allows us to introduce a confidence measure of how significantly symmetric or asymmetric a specific configuration is, i.e. how likely it is that the configuration is the result of chance. We demonstrate the discriminatory power of our symmetry measure by inspecting the eigenvalues of different types of connectivity matrices. We show that a Gaussian weight distribution biases the connectivity motifs to more symmetric configurations than a uniform distribution and that introducing a random synaptic pruning, mimicking developmental regulation in synaptogenesis, biases the connectivity motifs to more asymmetric configurations, regardless of the distribution. We expect that our work will benefit the computational modelling community, by providing a systematic way to characterise symmetry and asymmetry in network structures. Further, our symmetry measure will be of use to electrophysiologists that investigate symmetry of network connectivity.

  10. Measuring symmetry, asymmetry and randomness in neural network connectivity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Esposito, Umberto; Giugliano, Michele; van Rossum, Mark; Vasilaki, Eleni

    2014-01-01

    Cognitive functions are stored in the connectome, the wiring diagram of the brain, which exhibits non-random features, so-called motifs. In this work, we focus on bidirectional, symmetric motifs, i.e. two neurons that project to each other via connections of equal strength, and unidirectional, non-symmetric motifs, i.e. within a pair of neurons only one neuron projects to the other. We hypothesise that such motifs have been shaped via activity dependent synaptic plasticity processes. As a consequence, learning moves the distribution of the synaptic connections away from randomness. Our aim is to provide a global, macroscopic, single parameter characterisation of the statistical occurrence of bidirectional and unidirectional motifs. To this end we define a symmetry measure that does not require any a priori thresholding of the weights or knowledge of their maximal value. We calculate its mean and variance for random uniform or Gaussian distributions, which allows us to introduce a confidence measure of how significantly symmetric or asymmetric a specific configuration is, i.e. how likely it is that the configuration is the result of chance. We demonstrate the discriminatory power of our symmetry measure by inspecting the eigenvalues of different types of connectivity matrices. We show that a Gaussian weight distribution biases the connectivity motifs to more symmetric configurations than a uniform distribution and that introducing a random synaptic pruning, mimicking developmental regulation in synaptogenesis, biases the connectivity motifs to more asymmetric configurations, regardless of the distribution. We expect that our work will benefit the computational modelling community, by providing a systematic way to characterise symmetry and asymmetry in network structures. Further, our symmetry measure will be of use to electrophysiologists that investigate symmetry of network connectivity.

  11. Scientific Evidence Supporting Policy Change: A Study on Secondhand Smoke Exposure in Non-smoking Areas of PC Rooms in Korea.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hong, Soon-Yeol; Lim, Min Kyung; Yun, E Hwa; Park, Eun Young; Jeong, Bo Yoon; Yang, Wonho; Lee, Do-Hoon

    2016-04-01

    The objective of this study was to measure secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure in personal computer (PC) rooms with the purpose of determining the strength of scientific evidence supporting the legislative ban on smoking in PC rooms located in the Republic of Korea. From June to September 2012, particulate matter (PM2.5) and air nicotine concentration (ANC) were measured in the smoking and non-smoking areas of PC rooms in Goyang City, Korea. In 28 randomly sampled PC rooms, field investigators completed an observational questionnaire on building characteristics, smoking policies, and evidence of smoking. The geometric means (GM) of PM2.5 and ANC in smoking and non-smoking areas were compared. Evidence of smoking was identified in both the smoking and non-smoking areas of all PC rooms. The GMs of PM2.5 and ANC in both areas were high and did not differ significantly (174.77 μg/m(3) and 48.95 μg/m(3) in smoking areas; 93.38 μg/m(3) and 41.30 μg/m(3) in non-smoking areas). Overall PM2.5 concentrations were 5.5-fold higher than those listed in the World Health Organization guidelines. This study supported previous reports that a partial smoking ban did not protect individuals from SHS exposure. Furthermore, the results from our study suggest how research can support policy. Countries in which smoke-free policies are not yet comprehensive may find our results useful.

  12. Scattering of elastic waves on fractures randomly distributed in a three-dimensional medium

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strizhkov, S. A.; Ponyatovskaya, V. I.

    1985-02-01

    The purpose of this work is to determine the variation in basic characteristics of the wave field formed in a jointed medium, such as the intensity of fluctuations of amplitude, correlation radius, scattering coefficient and frequency composition of waves, as functions of jointing parameters. Fractures are simulated by flat plates randomly distributed and chaotically oriented in a three-dimensional medium. Experiments were performed using an alabaster model, a rectangular block measuring 50 x 50 x 120 mm. The plates were introduced into liquid alabaster which was then agitated. Models made in this way contain randomly distributed and chaotically oriented fractures. The influence of these fractures appears as fluctuations in the wave field formed in the medium. The data obtained in experimental studies showed that the dimensions of heterogeneities determined by waves in the jointed medium and the dimensions of the fractures themselves coincide only if the distance between fractures is rather great. If the distance between fractures is less than the wavelength, the dimensions of the heterogeneities located by the wave depend on wavelength.

  13. Random magnetism

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tahir-Kheli, R.A.

    1975-01-01

    A few simple problems relating to random magnetic systems are presented. Translational symmetry, only on the macroscopic scale, is assumed for these systems. A random set of parameters, on the microscopic scale, for the various regions of these systems is also assumed. A probability distribution for randomness is obeyed. Knowledge of the form of these probability distributions, is assumed in all cases [pt

  14. Kinetic corrections from analytic non-Maxwellian distribution functions in magnetized plasmas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Izacard, Olivier, E-mail: izacard@llnl.gov [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Avenue, L-637, Livermore, California 94550 (United States)

    2016-08-15

    In magnetized plasma physics, almost all developed analytic theories assume a Maxwellian distribution function (MDF) and in some cases small deviations are described using the perturbation theory. The deviations with respect to the Maxwellian equilibrium, called kinetic effects, are required to be taken into account especially for fusion reactor plasmas. Generally, because the perturbation theory is not consistent with observed steady-state non-Maxwellians, these kinetic effects are numerically evaluated by very central processing unit (CPU)-expensive codes, avoiding the analytic complexity of velocity phase space integrals. We develop here a new method based on analytic non-Maxwellian distribution functions constructed from non-orthogonal basis sets in order to (i) use as few parameters as possible, (ii) increase the efficiency to model numerical and experimental non-Maxwellians, (iii) help to understand unsolved problems such as diagnostics discrepancies from the physical interpretation of the parameters, and (iv) obtain analytic corrections due to kinetic effects given by a small number of terms and removing the numerical error of the evaluation of velocity phase space integrals. This work does not attempt to derive new physical effects even if it could be possible to discover one from the better understandings of some unsolved problems, but here we focus on the analytic prediction of kinetic corrections from analytic non-Maxwellians. As applications, examples of analytic kinetic corrections are shown for the secondary electron emission, the Langmuir probe characteristic curve, and the entropy. This is done by using three analytic representations of the distribution function: the Kappa distribution function, the bi-modal or a new interpreted non-Maxwellian distribution function (INMDF). The existence of INMDFs is proved by new understandings of the experimental discrepancy of the measured electron temperature between two diagnostics in JET. As main results, it

  15. Path probability distribution of stochastic motion of non dissipative systems: a classical analog of Feynman factor of path integral

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lin, T.L.; Wang, R.; Bi, W.P.; El Kaabouchi, A.; Pujos, C.; Calvayrac, F.; Wang, Q.A.

    2013-01-01

    We investigate, by numerical simulation, the path probability of non dissipative mechanical systems undergoing stochastic motion. The aim is to search for the relationship between this probability and the usual mechanical action. The model of simulation is a one-dimensional particle subject to conservative force and Gaussian random displacement. The probability that a sample path between two fixed points is taken is computed from the number of particles moving along this path, an output of the simulation, divided by the total number of particles arriving at the final point. It is found that the path probability decays exponentially with increasing action of the sample paths. The decay rate increases with decreasing randomness. This result supports the existence of a classical analog of the Feynman factor in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics for Hamiltonian systems

  16. Non-specific filtering of beta-distributed data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xinhui; Laird, Peter W; Hinoue, Toshinori; Groshen, Susan; Siegmund, Kimberly D

    2014-06-19

    Non-specific feature selection is a dimension reduction procedure performed prior to cluster analysis of high dimensional molecular data. Not all measured features are expected to show biological variation, so only the most varying are selected for analysis. In DNA methylation studies, DNA methylation is measured as a proportion, bounded between 0 and 1, with variance a function of the mean. Filtering on standard deviation biases the selection of probes to those with mean values near 0.5. We explore the effect this has on clustering, and develop alternate filter methods that utilize a variance stabilizing transformation for Beta distributed data and do not share this bias. We compared results for 11 different non-specific filters on eight Infinium HumanMethylation data sets, selected to span a variety of biological conditions. We found that for data sets having a small fraction of samples showing abnormal methylation of a subset of normally unmethylated CpGs, a characteristic of the CpG island methylator phenotype in cancer, a novel filter statistic that utilized a variance-stabilizing transformation for Beta distributed data outperformed the common filter of using standard deviation of the DNA methylation proportion, or its log-transformed M-value, in its ability to detect the cancer subtype in a cluster analysis. However, the standard deviation filter always performed among the best for distinguishing subgroups of normal tissue. The novel filter and standard deviation filter tended to favour features in different genome contexts; for the same data set, the novel filter always selected more features from CpG island promoters and the standard deviation filter always selected more features from non-CpG island intergenic regions. Interestingly, despite selecting largely non-overlapping sets of features, the two filters did find sample subsets that overlapped for some real data sets. We found two different filter statistics that tended to prioritize features with

  17. Continuous energy Monte Carlo calculations for randomly distributed spherical fuels based on statistical geometry model

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Murata, Isao [Osaka Univ., Suita (Japan); Mori, Takamasa; Nakagawa, Masayuki; Itakura, Hirofumi

    1996-03-01

    The method to calculate neutronics parameters of a core composed of randomly distributed spherical fuels has been developed based on a statistical geometry model with a continuous energy Monte Carlo method. This method was implemented in a general purpose Monte Carlo code MCNP, and a new code MCNP-CFP had been developed. This paper describes the model and method how to use it and the validation results. In the Monte Carlo calculation, the location of a spherical fuel is sampled probabilistically along the particle flight path from the spatial probability distribution of spherical fuels, called nearest neighbor distribution (NND). This sampling method was validated through the following two comparisons: (1) Calculations of inventory of coated fuel particles (CFPs) in a fuel compact by both track length estimator and direct evaluation method, and (2) Criticality calculations for ordered packed geometries. This method was also confined by applying to an analysis of the critical assembly experiment at VHTRC. The method established in the present study is quite unique so as to a probabilistic model of the geometry with a great number of spherical fuels distributed randomly. Realizing the speed-up by vector or parallel computations in future, it is expected to be widely used in calculation of a nuclear reactor core, especially HTGR cores. (author).

  18. Distributed support modelling for vertical track dynamic analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blanco, B.; Alonso, A.; Kari, L.; Gil-Negrete, N.; Giménez, J. G.

    2018-04-01

    The finite length nature of rail-pad supports is characterised by a Timoshenko beam element formulation over an elastic foundation, giving rise to the distributed support element. The new element is integrated into a vertical track model, which is solved in frequency and time domain. The developed formulation is obtained by solving the governing equations of a Timoshenko beam for this particular case. The interaction between sleeper and rail via the elastic connection is considered in an analytical, compact and efficient way. The modelling technique results in realistic amplitudes of the 'pinned-pinned' vibration mode and, additionally, it leads to a smooth evolution of the contact force temporal response and to reduced amplitudes of the rail vertical oscillation, as compared to the results from concentrated support models. Simulations are performed for both parametric and sinusoidal roughness excitation. The model of support proposed here is compared with a previous finite length model developed by other authors, coming to the conclusion that the proposed model gives accurate results at a reduced computational cost.

  19. Anomalous Anticipatory Responses in Networked Random Data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nelson, Roger D.; Bancel, Peter A.

    2006-01-01

    We examine an 8-year archive of synchronized, parallel time series of random data from a world spanning network of physical random event generators (REGs). The archive is a publicly accessible matrix of normally distributed 200-bit sums recorded at 1 Hz which extends from August 1998 to the present. The primary question is whether these data show non-random structure associated with major events such as natural or man-made disasters, terrible accidents, or grand celebrations. Secondarily, we examine the time course of apparently correlated responses. Statistical analyses of the data reveal consistent evidence that events which strongly affect people engender small but significant effects. These include suggestions of anticipatory responses in some cases, leading to a series of specialized analyses to assess possible non-random structure preceding precisely timed events. A focused examination of data collected around the time of earthquakes with Richter magnitude 6 and greater reveals non-random structure with a number of intriguing, potentially important features. Anomalous effects in the REG data are seen only when the corresponding earthquakes occur in populated areas. No structure is found if they occur in the oceans. We infer that an important contributor to the effect is the relevance of the earthquake to humans. Epoch averaging reveals evidence for changes in the data some hours prior to the main temblor, suggestive of reverse causation

  20. DOLCLAN – Middleware Support for Peer-to-Peer Distributed Shared Objects

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bardram, Jakob; Mogensen, Martin

    2007-01-01

    Contemporary object-oriented programming seeks to enable distributed computing by accessing remote objects using blocking remote procedure calls. This technique, however, suffers from several drawbacks because it relies on the assumption of stable network connections and synchronous method...... invocations. In this paper we present an approach to support distributed programming, which rely on local object replicas keeping themselves synchronized using an underlying peer-to-peer infrastructure. We have termed our approach Peer-to-peer Distributed Shared Objects (PDSO). This PDSO approach has been...

  1. Smooth conditional distribution function and quantiles under random censorship.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leconte, Eve; Poiraud-Casanova, Sandrine; Thomas-Agnan, Christine

    2002-09-01

    We consider a nonparametric random design regression model in which the response variable is possibly right censored. The aim of this paper is to estimate the conditional distribution function and the conditional alpha-quantile of the response variable. We restrict attention to the case where the response variable as well as the explanatory variable are unidimensional and continuous. We propose and discuss two classes of estimators which are smooth with respect to the response variable as well as to the covariate. Some simulations demonstrate that the new methods have better mean square error performances than the generalized Kaplan-Meier estimator introduced by Beran (1981) and considered in the literature by Dabrowska (1989, 1992) and Gonzalez-Manteiga and Cadarso-Suarez (1994).

  2. Photobiomodulation with non-thermal lasers: Mechanisms of action and therapeutic uses in dermatology and aesthetic medicine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nestor, Mark; Andriessen, Anneke; Berman, Brian; Katz, Bruce E; Gilbert, Dore; Goldberg, David J; Gold, Michael H; Kirsner, Robert S; Lorenc, Paul Z

    2017-08-01

    Non-thermal laser therapy in dermatology, is a growing field in medical technology by which therapeutic effects are achieved by exposing tissues to specific wavelengths of light. The purpose of this review was to gain a better understanding of the science behind non-thermal laser and the evidence supporting its use in dermatology. A group of dermatologists and surgeons recently convened to review the evidence supporting the use of non-thermal laser for body sculpting, improving the appearance of cellulite, and treating onychomycosis. The use of non-thermal laser for body sculpting is supported by three randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled studies (N = 161), one prospective open-label study (N = 54), and two retrospective studies (N = 775). Non-thermal laser application for improving the appearance of cellulite is supported by one randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled study (N = 38). The use of non-thermal laser for the treatment of onychomycosis is supported by an analysis of three non-randomized, open-label studies demonstrating clinical improvement of nails (N = 292). Non-thermal laser is steadily moving into mainstream medical practice, such as dermatology. Although present studies have demonstrated the safety and efficacy of non-thermal laser for body sculpting, cellulite reduction and onychomycosis treatment, studies demonstrating the efficacy of non-thermal laser as a stand-alone procedure are still inadequate.

  3. 2 × 2 random matrix ensembles with reduced symmetry: from Hermitian to PT -symmetric matrices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gong Jiangbin; Wang Qinghai

    2012-01-01

    A possibly fruitful extension of conventional random matrix ensembles is proposed by imposing symmetry constraints on conventional Hermitian matrices or parity–time (PT)-symmetric matrices. To illustrate the main idea, we first study 2 × 2 complex Hermitian matrix ensembles with O(2)-invariant constraints, yielding novel level-spacing statistics such as singular distributions, the half-Gaussian distribution, distributions interpolating between the GOE (Gaussian orthogonal ensemble) distribution and half-Gaussian distributions, as well as the gapped-GOE distribution. Such a symmetry-reduction strategy is then used to explore 2 × 2 PT-symmetric matrix ensembles with real eigenvalues. In particular, PT-symmetric random matrix ensembles with U(2) invariance can be constructed, with the conventional complex Hermitian random matrix ensemble being a special case. In two examples of PT-symmetric random matrix ensembles, the level-spacing distributions are found to be the standard GUE (Gaussian unitary ensemble) statistics or the ‘truncated-GUE’ statistics. This article is part of a special issue of Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical devoted to ‘Quantum physics with non-Hermitian operators’. (paper)

  4. Analysis of random number generators in abnormal usage conditions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Soucarros, M.

    2012-01-01

    Random numbers have been used through the ages for games of chance, more recently for secret codes and today they are necessary to the execution of computer programs. Random number generators have now evolved from simple dices to electronic circuits and algorithms. Accordingly, the ability to distinguish between random and non-random numbers has become more difficult. Furthermore, whereas in the past dices were loaded in order to increase winning chances, it is now possible to influence the outcome of random number generators. In consequence, this subject is still very much an issue and has recently made the headlines. Indeed, there was talks about the PS3 game console which generates constant random numbers and redundant distribution of secret keys on the internet. This thesis presents a study of several generators as well as different means to perturb them. It shows the inherent defects of their conceptions and possible consequences of their failure when they are embedded inside security components. Moreover, this work highlights problems yet to be solved concerning the testing of random numbers and the post-processing eliminating bias in these numbers distribution. (author) [fr

  5. Motile male gametes of the araphid diatom Tabularia fasciculata search randomly for mates.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robyn Edgar

    Full Text Available Sexuality in the marine araphid diatom Tabularia involves an unusual type of gamete, not only among diatoms but possibly in all of nature. The non-flagellated male gamete is free and vigorously motile, propelled by pseudopodia. However, the cues (if any in their search for compatible female gametes and the general search patterns to locate them are unknown. We tracked and compared male gamete movements in the presence and absence of receptive female gametes. Path linearity of male movement was not affected by presence of female gametes. Male gametes did not move towards female gametes regardless of their proximity to each other, suggesting that the detection range for a compatible mate is very small compared to known algal examples (mostly spermatozoids and that mate recognition requires (near contact with a female gamete. We therefore investigated how male gametes move to bring insight into their search strategy and found that it was consistent with the predictions of a random-walk model with changes in direction coming from an even distribution. We further investigated the type of random walk by determining the best-fit distribution on the tail of the move length distribution and found it to be consistent with a truncated power law distribution with an exponent of 2.34. Although consistent with a Lévy walk search pattern, the range of move lengths in the tail was too narrow for Lévy properties to emerge and so would be best described as Brownian motion. This is somewhat surprising because female gametes were often outnumbered by male gametes, thus contrary to the assumption that a Brownian search mode may be most optimal with an abundant target resource. This is also the first mathematically analysed search pattern of a non-flagellated protistan gamete, supporting the notion that principles of Brownian motion have wide application in biology.

  6. Self-adaptive change detection in streaming data with non-stationary distribution

    KAUST Repository

    Zhang, Xiangliang

    2010-01-01

    Non-stationary distribution, in which the data distribution evolves over time, is a common issue in many application fields, e.g., intrusion detection and grid computing. Detecting the changes in massive streaming data with a non-stationary distribution helps to alarm the anomalies, to clean the noises, and to report the new patterns. In this paper, we employ a novel approach for detecting changes in streaming data with the purpose of improving the quality of modeling the data streams. Through observing the outliers, this approach of change detection uses a weighted standard deviation to monitor the evolution of the distribution of data streams. A cumulative statistical test, Page-Hinkley, is employed to collect the evidence of changes in distribution. The parameter used for reporting the changes is self-adaptively adjusted according to the distribution of data streams, rather than set by a fixed empirical value. The self-adaptability of the novel approach enhances the effectiveness of modeling data streams by timely catching the changes of distributions. We validated the approach on an online clustering framework with a benchmark KDDcup 1999 intrusion detection data set as well as with a real-world grid data set. The validation results demonstrate its better performance on achieving higher accuracy and lower percentage of outliers comparing to the other change detection approaches. © 2010 Springer-Verlag.

  7. A simple approximation of moments of the quasi-equilibrium distribution of an extended stochastic theta-logistic model with non-integer powers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhowmick, Amiya Ranjan; Bandyopadhyay, Subhadip; Rana, Sourav; Bhattacharya, Sabyasachi

    2016-01-01

    The stochastic versions of the logistic and extended logistic growth models are applied successfully to explain many real-life population dynamics and share a central body of literature in stochastic modeling of ecological systems. To understand the randomness in the population dynamics of the underlying processes completely, it is important to have a clear idea about the quasi-equilibrium distribution and its moments. Bartlett et al. (1960) took a pioneering attempt for estimating the moments of the quasi-equilibrium distribution of the stochastic logistic model. Matis and Kiffe (1996) obtain a set of more accurate and elegant approximations for the mean, variance and skewness of the quasi-equilibrium distribution of the same model using cumulant truncation method. The method is extended for stochastic power law logistic family by the same and several other authors (Nasell, 2003; Singh and Hespanha, 2007). Cumulant truncation and some alternative methods e.g. saddle point approximation, derivative matching approach can be applied if the powers involved in the extended logistic set up are integers, although plenty of evidence is available for non-integer powers in many practical situations (Sibly et al., 2005). In this paper, we develop a set of new approximations for mean, variance and skewness of the quasi-equilibrium distribution under more general family of growth curves, which is applicable for both integer and non-integer powers. The deterministic counterpart of this family of models captures both monotonic and non-monotonic behavior of the per capita growth rate, of which theta-logistic is a special case. The approximations accurately estimate the first three order moments of the quasi-equilibrium distribution. The proposed method is illustrated with simulated data and real data from global population dynamics database. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Degradation of the compressive strength of unstiffened/stiffened steel plates due to both-sides randomly distributed corrosion wastage

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zorareh Hadj Mohammad

    Full Text Available The paper addresses the problem of the influence of randomly distributed corrosion wastage on the collapse strength and behaviour of unstiffened/stiffened steel plates in longitudinal compression. A series of elastic-plastic large deflection finite element analyses is performed on both-sides randomly corroded steel plates and stiffened plates. The effects of general corrosion are introduced into the finite element models using a novel random thickness surface model. Buckling strength, post-buckling behaviour, ultimate strength and post-ultimate behaviour of the models are investigated as results of both-sides random corrosion.

  9. Non extensivity and frequency magnitude distribution of earthquakes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sotolongo-Costa, Oscar; Posadas, Antonio

    2003-01-01

    Starting from first principles (in this case a non-extensive formulation of the maximum entropy principle) and a phenomenological approach, an explicit formula for the magnitude distribution of earthquakes is derived, which describes earthquakes in the whole range of magnitudes. The Gutenberg-Richter law appears as a particular case of the obtained formula. Comparison with geophysical data gives a very good agreement

  10. Skewness and kurtosis analysis for non-Gaussian distributions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Celikoglu, Ahmet; Tirnakli, Ugur

    2018-06-01

    In this paper we address a number of pitfalls regarding the use of kurtosis as a measure of deviations from the Gaussian. We treat kurtosis in both its standard definition and that which arises in q-statistics, namely q-kurtosis. We have recently shown that the relation proposed by Cristelli et al. (2012) between skewness and kurtosis can only be verified for relatively small data sets, independently of the type of statistics chosen; however it fails for sufficiently large data sets, if the fourth moment of the distribution is finite. For infinite fourth moments, kurtosis is not defined as the size of the data set tends to infinity. For distributions with finite fourth moments, the size, N, of the data set for which the standard kurtosis saturates to a fixed value, depends on the deviation of the original distribution from the Gaussian. Nevertheless, using kurtosis as a criterion for deciding which distribution deviates further from the Gaussian can be misleading for small data sets, even for finite fourth moment distributions. Going over to q-statistics, we find that although the value of q-kurtosis is finite in the range of 0 < q < 3, this quantity is not useful for comparing different non-Gaussian distributed data sets, unless the appropriate q value, which truly characterizes the data set of interest, is chosen. Finally, we propose a method to determine the correct q value and thereby to compute the q-kurtosis of q-Gaussian distributed data sets.

  11. Slip-Size Distribution and Self-Organized Criticality in Block-Spring Models with Quenched Randomness

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sakaguchi, Hidetsugu; Kadowaki, Shuntaro

    2017-07-01

    We study slowly pulling block-spring models in random media. Second-order phase transitions exist in a model pulled by a constant force in the case of velocity-strengthening friction. If external forces are slowly increased, nearly critical states are self-organized. Slips of various sizes occur, and the probability distributions of slip size roughly obey power laws. The exponent is close to that in the quenched Edwards-Wilkinson model. Furthermore, the slip-size distributions are investigated in cases of Coulomb friction, velocity-weakening friction, and two-dimensional block-spring models.

  12. Using ELECTRE TRI to support maintenance of water distribution networks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Flavio Trojan

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Problems encountered in the context of the maintenance management of water supply are evidenced by the lack of decision support models which gives a manager overview of the system. This paper, therefore, develops a model that uses, in its framework, the multicriteria outranking method ELECTRE TRI. The objective is to sort the areas of water flow measurement of a water distribution network, by priority of maintenance, with data collected from an automated system of abnormalities detection. This sorting is designed to support maintenance decisions in terms of the measure more appropriate to be applied per region. To illustrate the proposed model, an application was performed in a city with 100 thousand water connections. With this model it becomes possible to improve the allocation of maintenance measures for regions and mainly to improve the operation of the distribution network.

  13. Distributional and efficiency results for subset selection

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Laan, van der P.

    1996-01-01

    Assume k (??k \\geq 2) populations are given. The associated independent random variables have continuous distribution functions with an unknown location parameter. The statistical selec??tion goal is to select a non??empty subset which contains the best population,?? that is the pop??ulation with

  14. Geodesic Flow Kernel Support Vector Machine for Hyperspectral Image Classification by Unsupervised Subspace Feature Transfer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alim Samat

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available In order to deal with scenarios where the training data, used to deduce a model, and the validation data have different statistical distributions, we study the problem of transformed subspace feature transfer for domain adaptation (DA in the context of hyperspectral image classification via a geodesic Gaussian flow kernel based support vector machine (GFKSVM. To show the superior performance of the proposed approach, conventional support vector machines (SVMs and state-of-the-art DA algorithms, including information-theoretical learning of discriminative cluster for domain adaptation (ITLDC, joint distribution adaptation (JDA, and joint transfer matching (JTM, are also considered. Additionally, unsupervised linear and nonlinear subspace feature transfer techniques including principal component analysis (PCA, randomized nonlinear principal component analysis (rPCA, factor analysis (FA and non-negative matrix factorization (NNMF are investigated and compared. Experiments on two real hyperspectral images show the cross-image classification performances of the GFKSVM, confirming its effectiveness and suitability when applied to hyperspectral images.

  15. Algorithm describing pressure distribution of non-contact TNT explosion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Radosław Kiciński

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available [b]Abstract[/b]. The aim of this study is to develop a computational algorithm, describing the shock wave pressure distribution in the space induced by non-contact TNT explosion. The procedure describes pressure distribution on a damp surface of the hull. Simulations have been carried out using Abaqus/CAE. The study also shows the pressure waveform descriptions provided by various authors and presents them in charts. The formulated conclusions convince efficiency of the algorithm application.[b]Keywords:[/b] Underwater explosion, shock wave, CAE, TNT, Kobben class submarine

  16. Lactation support and breastfeeding duration in jaundiced infants: a randomized controlled trial.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Catherine M Pound

    Full Text Available Neonatal jaundice is the most common problem in full-term infants during the immediate post-natal period. We examined the effect of a lactation support intervention on breastfeeding duration in hospitalized jaundiced infants.We conducted a randomized controlled trial with a qualitative component involving mothers of hospitalized jaundiced breastfed infants <4 weeks of age. Mothers receiving the intervention met with an International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant in hospital and 1-3 times post discharge. Both groups received the standard care for jaundice. The primary outcome was exclusive breastfeeding at 3 months. To the exception of research assistants enrolling participants and completing qualitative interviews, all research staff, investigators and statisticians were blinded to group assignment. Qualitative interviews elicited feedback on breastfeeding experiences for both groups.99 participants were recruited, and 86 analyzed for primary outcome. There was no difference in exclusive breastfeeding at 3 months between groups (RR 0.84, 95% CI 0.56-1.24, p = 0.40 or in the secondary outcomes. 31 participants were included in the qualitative analysis. Participants in the intervention group described an increase in comfort and confidence levels with breastfeeding. Participants in the control group reported limited lactation support.Our hospital-based lactation support program did not result in a higher proportion of mothers exclusively breastfeeding at 3 months compared to current hospital standard care. Qualitative feedback from the intervention group suggests that mothers' confidence was increased, which is linked to breastfeeding duration. The decision to breastfeed is multifactorial and hospital-based lactation support may be only a small piece of the puzzle in hospitalized jaundiced infants. Further studies may be needed to fully elucidate the impact of an in-hospital lactation support program on successful breastfeeding for these

  17. Diffusion in randomly perturbed dissipative dynamics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodrigues, Christian S.; Chechkin, Aleksei V.; de Moura, Alessandro P. S.; Grebogi, Celso; Klages, Rainer

    2014-11-01

    Dynamical systems having many coexisting attractors present interesting properties from both fundamental theoretical and modelling points of view. When such dynamics is under bounded random perturbations, the basins of attraction are no longer invariant and there is the possibility of transport among them. Here we introduce a basic theoretical setting which enables us to study this hopping process from the perspective of anomalous transport using the concept of a random dynamical system with holes. We apply it to a simple model by investigating the role of hyperbolicity for the transport among basins. We show numerically that our system exhibits non-Gaussian position distributions, power-law escape times, and subdiffusion. Our simulation results are reproduced consistently from stochastic continuous time random walk theory.

  18. Human mammary epithelial cells exhibit a bimodal correlated random walk pattern.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Potdar, Alka A; Jeon, Junhwan; Weaver, Alissa M; Quaranta, Vito; Cummings, Peter T

    2010-03-10

    Organisms, at scales ranging from unicellular to mammals, have been known to exhibit foraging behavior described by random walks whose segments confirm to Lévy or exponential distributions. For the first time, we present evidence that single cells (mammary epithelial cells) that exist in multi-cellular organisms (humans) follow a bimodal correlated random walk (BCRW). Cellular tracks of MCF-10A pBabe, neuN and neuT random migration on 2-D plastic substrates, analyzed using bimodal analysis, were found to reveal the BCRW pattern. We find two types of exponentially distributed correlated flights (corresponding to what we refer to as the directional and re-orientation phases) each having its own correlation between move step-lengths within flights. The exponential distribution of flight lengths was confirmed using different analysis methods (logarithmic binning with normalization, survival frequency plots and maximum likelihood estimation). Because of the presence of non-uniform turn angle distribution of move step-lengths within a flight and two different types of flights, we propose that the epithelial random walk is a BCRW comprising of two alternating modes with varying degree of correlations, rather than a simple persistent random walk. A BCRW model rather than a simple persistent random walk correctly matches the super-diffusivity in the cell migration paths as indicated by simulations based on the BCRW model.

  19. Human mammary epithelial cells exhibit a bimodal correlated random walk pattern.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alka A Potdar

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available Organisms, at scales ranging from unicellular to mammals, have been known to exhibit foraging behavior described by random walks whose segments confirm to Lévy or exponential distributions. For the first time, we present evidence that single cells (mammary epithelial cells that exist in multi-cellular organisms (humans follow a bimodal correlated random walk (BCRW.Cellular tracks of MCF-10A pBabe, neuN and neuT random migration on 2-D plastic substrates, analyzed using bimodal analysis, were found to reveal the BCRW pattern. We find two types of exponentially distributed correlated flights (corresponding to what we refer to as the directional and re-orientation phases each having its own correlation between move step-lengths within flights. The exponential distribution of flight lengths was confirmed using different analysis methods (logarithmic binning with normalization, survival frequency plots and maximum likelihood estimation.Because of the presence of non-uniform turn angle distribution of move step-lengths within a flight and two different types of flights, we propose that the epithelial random walk is a BCRW comprising of two alternating modes with varying degree of correlations, rather than a simple persistent random walk. A BCRW model rather than a simple persistent random walk correctly matches the super-diffusivity in the cell migration paths as indicated by simulations based on the BCRW model.

  20. The effects of spinal support device on pain and extensibility of the hamstrings in patients with non-specific low back pain

    OpenAIRE

    Jeon, Eun Tae; Jung, Jin-Hwa; Moon, Jong Hoon; Jung, Kyoung-Sim; Won, Young Sik; Kim, Sung-Jin; Hahm, Suk-Chan; Cho, Hwi-Young

    2017-01-01

    [Purpose] The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of spinal support device (SSD) on pain and hamstring extensibility in patients with non-specific low back pain (NSLBP). [Subjects and Methods] 20 patients with NSLBP were recruited and randomly assigned to either the SSD group or the control group. In the SSD group, SSD was applied; in the control group, bed rest in supine position was performed. Both groups underwent treatment 20?min/day, 3 times a week, for a duration of 4...

  1. Non-fragile observer design for discrete-time genetic regulatory networks with randomly occurring uncertainties

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Banu, L Jarina; Balasubramaniam, P

    2015-01-01

    This paper investigates the problem of non-fragile observer design for a class of discrete-time genetic regulatory networks (DGRNs) with time-varying delays and randomly occurring uncertainties. A non-fragile observer is designed, for estimating the true concentration of mRNAs and proteins from available measurement outputs. One important feature of the results obtained that are reported here is that the parameter uncertainties are assumed to be random and their probabilities of occurrence are known a priori. On the basis of the Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional approach and using a convex combination technique, a delay-dependent estimation criterion is established for DGRNs in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) that can be efficiently solved using any available LMI solver. Finally numerical examples are provided to substantiate the theoretical results. (paper)

  2. PARAMETRIC IDENTIFICATION OF STOCHASTIC SYSTEM BY NON-GRADIENT RANDOM SEARCHING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. A. Lobaty

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available At this moment we know a great variety of identification objects, tasks and methods and its significance is constantly increasing in various fields of science and technology.  The identification problem is dependent on a priori information about identification object, besides that  the existing approaches and methods of identification are determined by the form of mathematical models (deterministic, stochastic, frequency, temporal, spectral etc.. The paper considers a problem for determination of system parameters  (identification object which is assigned by the stochastic mathematical model including random functions of time. It has been shown  that while making optimization of the stochastic systems subject to random actions deterministic methods can be applied only for a limited approximate optimization of the system by taking into account average random effects and fixed structure of the system. The paper proposes an algorithm for identification of  parameters in a mathematical model of  the stochastic system by non-gradient random searching. A specific  feature  of the algorithm is its applicability  practically to mathematic models of any type because the applied algorithm does not depend on linearization and differentiability of functions included in the mathematical model of the system. The proposed algorithm  ensures searching of  an extremum for the specified quality criteria in terms of external uncertainties and limitations while using random searching of parameters for a mathematical model of the system. The paper presents results of the investigations on operational capability of the considered identification method  while using mathematical simulation of hypothetical control system with a priori unknown parameter values of the mathematical model. The presented results of the mathematical simulation obviously demonstrate the operational capability of the proposed identification method.

  3. Generation and distribution of wealth in Blumenau non-profit social service

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Loriberto Starosky Filho

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available Non-profit organizations exist all over the world and they have an important role to the economy. These are not aimed at profits and they appeared to develop initiatives of social aspects. The main goal of this research is to check how the wealth is generated and distributed by the non-profits that are enrolled in the Welfare Assistance Council in Blumenau city. This data was gotten through a qualitative, descriptive and documentary research based on analysis of published financial statements of a sample consisting of  nineteen non-profit Welfare Assistance Organizations. The results showed that: a To maintain their activities most  institutions  rely on resources coming from social grants, partnerships and donations; b The added value distributed represents more than fifty percent of the total proceeds in a large number  of institutions; c in most organizations the biggest share of the wealth distribution was used to the workers payment; d a low percentage of  the wealth is to lenders and government. As a general rule, most organizations presented a very low rate of retentions for themselves because they do not seek profits. Their goals are related to social services activities.

  4. Analytic degree distributions of horizontal visibility graphs mapped from unrelated random series and multifractal binomial measures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xie, Wen-Jie; Han, Rui-Qi; Jiang, Zhi-Qiang; Wei, Lijian; Zhou, Wei-Xing

    2017-08-01

    Complex network is not only a powerful tool for the analysis of complex system, but also a promising way to analyze time series. The algorithm of horizontal visibility graph (HVG) maps time series into graphs, whose degree distributions are numerically and analytically investigated for certain time series. We derive the degree distributions of HVGs through an iterative construction process of HVGs. The degree distributions of the HVG and the directed HVG for random series are derived to be exponential, which confirms the analytical results from other methods. We also obtained the analytical expressions of degree distributions of HVGs and in-degree and out-degree distributions of directed HVGs transformed from multifractal binomial measures, which agree excellently with numerical simulations.

  5. Hacking on decoy-state quantum key distribution system with partial phase randomization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Shi-Hai; Jiang, Mu-Sheng; Ma, Xiang-Chun; Li, Chun-Yan; Liang, Lin-Mei

    2014-04-01

    Quantum key distribution (QKD) provides means for unconditional secure key transmission between two distant parties. However, in practical implementations, it suffers from quantum hacking due to device imperfections. Here we propose a hybrid measurement attack, with only linear optics, homodyne detection, and single photon detection, to the widely used vacuum + weak decoy state QKD system when the phase of source is partially randomized. Our analysis shows that, in some parameter regimes, the proposed attack would result in an entanglement breaking channel but still be able to trick the legitimate users to believe they have transmitted secure keys. That is, the eavesdropper is able to steal all the key information without discovered by the users. Thus, our proposal reveals that partial phase randomization is not sufficient to guarantee the security of phase-encoding QKD systems with weak coherent states.

  6. Hacking on decoy-state quantum key distribution system with partial phase randomization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Shi-Hai; Jiang, Mu-Sheng; Ma, Xiang-Chun; Li, Chun-Yan; Liang, Lin-Mei

    2014-04-23

    Quantum key distribution (QKD) provides means for unconditional secure key transmission between two distant parties. However, in practical implementations, it suffers from quantum hacking due to device imperfections. Here we propose a hybrid measurement attack, with only linear optics, homodyne detection, and single photon detection, to the widely used vacuum + weak decoy state QKD system when the phase of source is partially randomized. Our analysis shows that, in some parameter regimes, the proposed attack would result in an entanglement breaking channel but still be able to trick the legitimate users to believe they have transmitted secure keys. That is, the eavesdropper is able to steal all the key information without discovered by the users. Thus, our proposal reveals that partial phase randomization is not sufficient to guarantee the security of phase-encoding QKD systems with weak coherent states.

  7. Random distribution of nucleoli in metabolic cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Beckman, R.J.; Waterman, M.S.

    1977-01-01

    Hasofer (1974) has studied a probabilistic model for the fusion of nucleoli in metabolic cells. The nucleoli are uniformly distributed at points in the nucleus, assumed to be a sphere. The nucleoli grow from a point to a maximum size during interphase, and fusion is said to occur if the nucleoli touch. For this model, Hasofer calculated the probability of fusion and found it much smaller than experimental data would indicate. Experimental data of this type is taken by use of a microscope where a two-dimensional view or projection of the three-dimensional cell is obtained. Hasofer implicitly assumes that actual fusion can be distinguished from the case where the two nucleoli do not touch but their two-dimensional projections overlap. It is assumed, in this letter, that these two cases cannot be distinguished. The probability obtained by Beckman and Waterman is larger than Hasofer's and a much better fit to the experimental data is obtained. Even if true fusion can be unfailingly distinguished from overlap of the two-dimensional projections, it is hoped that these calculations will allow someone to propose the correct (non-uniform) model. It is concluded, for the assumptions used, that there is not sufficient evidence to reject the hypothesis of uniform distribution of the nucleoli.

  8. Mechanism of financial support of education: legislative basis of power distribution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    O. S. Kotsovska

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available The article studies the legislative basis of power distribution as a basic component of the mechanism of financial support of education at the regional level. Budgetary expenditure on education has been analyzed. It has been grounded and proposed to transfer the authority of financial support of education to appropriate regional and district administrations within the frameworks of decentralisation.

  9. Potential fluctuations due to the randomly distributed charges at the semiconductor-insulator interface in MIS-structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Slavcheva, G.; Yanchev, I.

    1991-01-01

    A new expression for the Fourier transform of the binary correlation function of the random potential near the semiconductor-insulator interface is derived. The screening due to the image charge with respect to the metal electrode in MIS-structure is taken into account, introducing an effective insulator thickness. An essential advantage of this correlation function is the finite dispersion of the random potential Γ 2 to which it leads in distinction with the so far known correlation functions leading to divergent dispersion. The important characteristic of the random potential distribution Γ 2 determining the amplitude of the potential fluctuations is calculated. (author). 7 refs, 1 fig

  10. Digital simulation of two-dimensional random fields with arbitrary power spectra and non-Gaussian probability distribution functions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Yura, Harold; Hanson, Steen Grüner

    2012-01-01

    with the desired spectral distribution, after which this colored Gaussian probability distribution is transformed via an inverse transform into the desired probability distribution. In most cases the method provides satisfactory results and can thus be considered an engineering approach. Several illustrative...

  11. Trophallaxis-inspired model for distributed transport between randomly interacting agents

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gräwer, Johannes; Ronellenfitsch, Henrik; Mazza, Marco G.; Katifori, Eleni

    2017-08-01

    Trophallaxis, the regurgitation and mouth to mouth transfer of liquid food between members of eusocial insect societies, is an important process that allows the fast and efficient dissemination of food in the colony. Trophallactic systems are typically treated as a network of agent interactions. This approach, though valuable, does not easily lend itself to analytic predictions. In this work we consider a simple trophallactic system of randomly interacting agents with finite carrying capacity, and calculate analytically and via a series of simulations the global food intake rate for the whole colony as well as observables describing how uniformly the food is distributed within the nest. Our model and predictions provide a useful benchmark to assess to what level the observed food uptake rates and efficiency in food distribution is due to stochastic effects or specific trophallactic strategies by the ant colony. Our work also serves as a stepping stone to describing the collective properties of more complex trophallactic systems, such as those including division of labor between foragers and workers.

  12. Inflation with a graceful exit in a random landscape

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pedro, F.G.; Westphal, A.

    2016-11-01

    We develop a stochastic description of small-field inflationary histories with a graceful exit in a random potential whose Hessian is a Gaussian random matrix as a model of the unstructured part of the string landscape. The dynamical evolution in such a random potential from a small-field inflation region towards a viable late-time de Sitter (dS) minimum maps to the dynamics of Dyson Brownian motion describing the relaxation of non-equilibrium eigenvalue spectra in random matrix theory. We analytically compute the relaxation probability in a saddle point approximation of the partition function of the eigenvalue distribution of the Wigner ensemble describing the mass matrices of the critical points. When applied to small-field inflation in the landscape, this leads to an exponentially strong bias against small-field ranges and an upper bound N<<10 on the number of light fields N participating during inflation from the non-observation of negative spatial curvature.

  13. Inflation with a graceful exit in a random landscape

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pedro, F.G. [Univ. Autonoma de Madrid (Spain). Dept. de Fisica Teorica y Inst. de Fisica Teorica UAM/CSIC; Westphal, A. [Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Hamburg (Germany). Theory Group

    2016-11-15

    We develop a stochastic description of small-field inflationary histories with a graceful exit in a random potential whose Hessian is a Gaussian random matrix as a model of the unstructured part of the string landscape. The dynamical evolution in such a random potential from a small-field inflation region towards a viable late-time de Sitter (dS) minimum maps to the dynamics of Dyson Brownian motion describing the relaxation of non-equilibrium eigenvalue spectra in random matrix theory. We analytically compute the relaxation probability in a saddle point approximation of the partition function of the eigenvalue distribution of the Wigner ensemble describing the mass matrices of the critical points. When applied to small-field inflation in the landscape, this leads to an exponentially strong bias against small-field ranges and an upper bound N<<10 on the number of light fields N participating during inflation from the non-observation of negative spatial curvature.

  14. Inflation with a graceful exit in a random landscape

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pedro, F.G. [Departamento de Física Teórica and Instituto de Física Teórica UAM/CSIC,Universidad Autónoma de Madrid,Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid (Spain); Westphal, A. [Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Theory Group,D-22603 Hamburg (Germany)

    2017-03-30

    We develop a stochastic description of small-field inflationary histories with a graceful exit in a random potential whose Hessian is a Gaussian random matrix as a model of the unstructured part of the string landscape. The dynamical evolution in such a random potential from a small-field inflation region towards a viable late-time de Sitter (dS) minimum maps to the dynamics of Dyson Brownian motion describing the relaxation of non-equilibrium eigenvalue spectra in random matrix theory. We analytically compute the relaxation probability in a saddle point approximation of the partition function of the eigenvalue distribution of the Wigner ensemble describing the mass matrices of the critical points. When applied to small-field inflation in the landscape, this leads to an exponentially strong bias against small-field ranges and an upper bound N≪10 on the number of light fields N participating during inflation from the non-observation of negative spatial curvature.

  15. Evaluation of the differential energy distribution of systems of non-thermally activated molecules

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rogers, E.B.

    1986-01-01

    A non-thermally activated molecule may undergo pressure dependent deactivation or energy dependent decomposition. It should be possible to use the pressure dependent stabilization/decomposition yields to determine the energy distribution in non-thermal systems. The numerical technique of regularization has been applied to this chemical problem to evaluate this distribution. The resulting method has been tested with a number of simulated distributions and kinetic models. Application was then made to several real chemical systems to determine the energy distribution resulting from the primary excitation process. Testing showed the method to be quite effective in reproducing input distributions from simulated data in all test cases. The effect of experimental error proved to be negligible when the error-filled data were first smoothed with a parabolic spline. This method has been applied to three different hot atom activated systems. Application to 18 F-for-F substituted CH 3 CF 3 generated a broad distribution extending from 62 to 318 kcal/mol, with a median energy of 138 kcal/mol. The shape of this distribution (and those from the other applications) indicated the involvement of two mechanisms in the excitation process. Analysis of the T-for-H substituted CH 3 CH 2 F system showed a more narrow distribution (56-218 kcal/mol) with a median energy of 79.8 kcal/mol. The distribution of the T-for-H substituted CH 3 CH 2 Cl system, extending from 54.5 to 199 kcal/mol was seen to be quite similar. It was concluded that this method is a valid approach to evaluating differential energy distributions in non-thermal systems, specifically those activated by hot atom substitution

  16. Tidal ventilation distribution during pressure-controlled ventilation and pressure support ventilation in post-cardiac surgery patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blankman, P; VAN DER Kreeft, S M; Gommers, D

    2014-09-01

    Inhomogeneous ventilation is an important contributor to ventilator-induced lung injury. Therefore, this study examines homogeneity of lung ventilation by means of electrical impedance tomography (EIT) measurements during pressure-controlled ventilation (PCV) and pressure support ventilation (PSV) using the same ventilation pressures. Twenty mechanically ventilated patients were studied after cardiac surgery. On arrival at the intensive care unit, ventilation distribution was measured with EIT just above the diaphragm for 15 min. After awakening, PCV was switched to PSV and EIT measurements were again recorded. Tidal impedance variation, a measure of tidal volume, increased during PSV compared with PCV, despite using the same ventilation pressures (P = 0.045). The distribution of tidal ventilation to the dependent lung region was more pronounced during PSV compared with PCV, especially during the first half of the inspiration. An even distribution of tidal ventilation between the dependent and non-dependent lung regions was seen during PCV at lower tidal volumes (tidal volumes (≥ 8 ml/kg). In addition, the distribution of tidal ventilation was predominantly distributed to the dependent lung during PSV at low tidal volumes. In post-cardiac surgery patients, PSV showed improved ventilation of the dependent lung region due to the contribution of the diaphragm activity, which is even more pronounced during lower assist levels. © 2014 The Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica Foundation. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  17. Chemical Continuous Time Random Walks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aquino, T.; Dentz, M.

    2017-12-01

    Traditional methods for modeling solute transport through heterogeneous media employ Eulerian schemes to solve for solute concentration. More recently, Lagrangian methods have removed the need for spatial discretization through the use of Monte Carlo implementations of Langevin equations for solute particle motions. While there have been recent advances in modeling chemically reactive transport with recourse to Lagrangian methods, these remain less developed than their Eulerian counterparts, and many open problems such as efficient convergence and reconstruction of the concentration field remain. We explore a different avenue and consider the question: In heterogeneous chemically reactive systems, is it possible to describe the evolution of macroscopic reactant concentrations without explicitly resolving the spatial transport? Traditional Kinetic Monte Carlo methods, such as the Gillespie algorithm, model chemical reactions as random walks in particle number space, without the introduction of spatial coordinates. The inter-reaction times are exponentially distributed under the assumption that the system is well mixed. In real systems, transport limitations lead to incomplete mixing and decreased reaction efficiency. We introduce an arbitrary inter-reaction time distribution, which may account for the impact of incomplete mixing. This process defines an inhomogeneous continuous time random walk in particle number space, from which we derive a generalized chemical Master equation and formulate a generalized Gillespie algorithm. We then determine the modified chemical rate laws for different inter-reaction time distributions. We trace Michaelis-Menten-type kinetics back to finite-mean delay times, and predict time-nonlocal macroscopic reaction kinetics as a consequence of broadly distributed delays. Non-Markovian kinetics exhibit weak ergodicity breaking and show key features of reactions under local non-equilibrium.

  18. Efficient Design of Distribution Logistics by Using a Model-Based Decision Support System

    OpenAIRE

    J. Becker; R. Arnold

    2016-01-01

    The design of distribution logistics has a decisive impact on a company's logistics costs and performance. Hence, such solutions make an essential contribution to corporate success. This article describes a decision support system for analyzing the potential of distribution logistics in terms of logistics costs and performance. In contrast to previous procedures of business process re-engineering (BPR), this method maps distribution logistics holistically under variable distribution structure...

  19. [Intel random number generator-based true random number generator].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Feng; Shen, Hong

    2004-09-01

    To establish a true random number generator on the basis of certain Intel chips. The random numbers were acquired by programming using Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0 via register reading from the random number generator (RNG) unit of an Intel 815 chipset-based computer with Intel Security Driver (ISD). We tested the generator with 500 random numbers in NIST FIPS 140-1 and X(2) R-Squared test, and the result showed that the random number it generated satisfied the demand of independence and uniform distribution. We also compared the random numbers generated by Intel RNG-based true random number generator and those from the random number table statistically, by using the same amount of 7500 random numbers in the same value domain, which showed that the SD, SE and CV of Intel RNG-based random number generator were less than those of the random number table. The result of u test of two CVs revealed no significant difference between the two methods. Intel RNG-based random number generator can produce high-quality random numbers with good independence and uniform distribution, and solves some problems with random number table in acquisition of the random numbers.

  20. Effects of random pebble distribution on the multiplication factor in HTR pebble bed reactors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Auwerda, G.J., E-mail: g.j.auwerda@tudelft.n [Department of Physics of Nuclear Reactors at the Delft University of Technology, Mekelweg 15, Delft (Netherlands); Kloosterman, J.L.; Lathouwers, D.; Hagen, T.H.J.J. van der [Department of Physics of Nuclear Reactors at the Delft University of Technology, Mekelweg 15, Delft (Netherlands)

    2010-08-15

    In pebble bed reactors the pebbles have a random distribution within the core. The usual approach in modeling the bed is homogenizing the entire bed. To quantify the errors arising in such a model, this article investigates the effect on k{sub eff} of three phenomena in random pebble distributions: non-uniform packing density, neutron streaming in between the pebbles, and variations in Dancoff factor. For a 100 cm high cylinder with reflective top and bottom boundary conditions 25 pebble beds were generated. Of each bed three core models were made: a homogeneous model, a zones model including density fluctuations, and an exact model with all pebbles modeled individually. The same was done for a model of the PROTEUS facility. k{sub eff} calculations were performed with three codes: Monte Carlo, diffusion, and finite element transport. By comparing k{sub eff} of the homogenized and zones model the effect of including density fluctuations in the pebble bed was found to increase k{sub eff} by 71 pcm for the infinite cylinder and 649 pcm for PROTEUS. The large value for PROTEUS is due to the low packing fraction near the top of the pebble bed, causing a significant lower packing fraction for the bulk of the pebble bed in the homogenized model. The effect of neutron streaming was calculated by comparing the zones model with the exact model, and was found to decrease k{sub eff} by 606 pcm for the infinite cylinder, and by 1240 pcm for PROTEUS. This was compared with the effect of using a streaming correction factor on the diffusion coefficient in the zones model, which resulted in {Delta}{sub streaming} values of 340 and 1085 pcm. From this we conclude neutron streaming is an important effect in pebble bed reactors, and is not accurately described by the correction factor on the diffusion coefficient. Changing the Dancoff factor in the outer part of the pebble bed to compensate for the lower probability of neutrons to enter other fuel pebbles caused no significant changes

  1. Exceptional diversity, non-random distribution, and rapid evolution of retroelements in the B73 maize genome.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Regina S Baucom

    2009-11-01

    Full Text Available Recent comprehensive sequence analysis of the maize genome now permits detailed discovery and description of all transposable elements (TEs in this complex nuclear environment. Reiteratively optimized structural and homology criteria were used in the computer-assisted search for retroelements, TEs that transpose by reverse transcription of an RNA intermediate, with the final results verified by manual inspection. Retroelements were found to occupy the majority (>75% of the nuclear genome in maize inbred B73. Unprecedented genetic diversity was discovered in the long terminal repeat (LTR retrotransposon class of retroelements, with >400 families (>350 newly discovered contributing >31,000 intact elements. The two other classes of retroelements, SINEs (four families and LINEs (at least 30 families, were observed to contribute 1,991 and approximately 35,000 copies, respectively, or a combined approximately 1% of the B73 nuclear genome. With regard to fully intact elements, median copy numbers for all retroelement families in maize was 2 because >250 LTR retrotransposon families contained only one or two intact members that could be detected in the B73 draft sequence. The majority, perhaps all, of the investigated retroelement families exhibited non-random dispersal across the maize genome, with LINEs, SINEs, and many low-copy-number LTR retrotransposons exhibiting a bias for accumulation in gene-rich regions. In contrast, most (but not all medium- and high-copy-number LTR retrotransposons were found to preferentially accumulate in gene-poor regions like pericentromeric heterochromatin, while a few high-copy-number families exhibited the opposite bias. Regions of the genome with the highest LTR retrotransposon density contained the lowest LTR retrotransposon diversity. These results indicate that the maize genome provides a great number of different niches for the survival and procreation of a great variety of retroelements that have evolved to

  2. Hardware random number generator base on monostable multivibrators dedicated for distributed measurement and control systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Czernik, Pawel

    2013-10-01

    The hardware random number generator based on the 74121 monostable multivibrators for applications in cryptographically secure distributed measurement and control systems with asymmetric resources was presented. This device was implemented on the basis of the physical electronic vibration generator in which the circuit is composed of two "loop" 74121 monostable multivibrators, D flip-flop and external clock signal source. The clock signal, witch control D flip-flop was generated by a computer on one of the parallel port pins. There was presented programmed the author's acquisition process of random data from the measuring system to a computer. The presented system was designed, builded and thoroughly tested in the term of cryptographic security in our laboratory, what there is the most important part of this publication. Real cryptographic security was tested based on the author's software and the software environment called RDieHarder. The obtained results was here presented and analyzed in detail with particular reference to the specificity of distributed measurement and control systems with asymmetric resources.

  3. New distributed fusion filtering algorithm based on covariances over sensor networks with random packet dropouts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caballero-Águila, R.; Hermoso-Carazo, A.; Linares-Pérez, J.

    2017-07-01

    This paper studies the distributed fusion estimation problem from multisensor measured outputs perturbed by correlated noises and uncertainties modelled by random parameter matrices. Each sensor transmits its outputs to a local processor over a packet-erasure channel and, consequently, random losses may occur during transmission. Different white sequences of Bernoulli variables are introduced to model the transmission losses. For the estimation, each lost output is replaced by its estimator based on the information received previously, and only the covariances of the processes involved are used, without requiring the signal evolution model. First, a recursive algorithm for the local least-squares filters is derived by using an innovation approach. Then, the cross-correlation matrices between any two local filters is obtained. Finally, the distributed fusion filter weighted by matrices is obtained from the local filters by applying the least-squares criterion. The performance of the estimators and the influence of both sensor uncertainties and transmission losses on the estimation accuracy are analysed in a numerical example.

  4. Epidermis Microstructure Inspired Graphene Pressure Sensor with Random Distributed Spinosum for High Sensitivity and Large Linearity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pang, Yu; Zhang, Kunning; Yang, Zhen; Jiang, Song; Ju, Zhenyi; Li, Yuxing; Wang, Xuefeng; Wang, Danyang; Jian, Muqiang; Zhang, Yingying; Liang, Renrong; Tian, He; Yang, Yi; Ren, Tian-Ling

    2018-03-27

    Recently, wearable pressure sensors have attracted tremendous attention because of their potential applications in monitoring physiological signals for human healthcare. Sensitivity and linearity are the two most essential parameters for pressure sensors. Although various designed micro/nanostructure morphologies have been introduced, the trade-off between sensitivity and linearity has not been well balanced. Human skin, which contains force receptors in a reticular layer, has a high sensitivity even for large external stimuli. Herein, inspired by the skin epidermis with high-performance force sensing, we have proposed a special surface morphology with spinosum microstructure of random distribution via the combination of an abrasive paper template and reduced graphene oxide. The sensitivity of the graphene pressure sensor with random distribution spinosum (RDS) microstructure is as high as 25.1 kPa -1 in a wide linearity range of 0-2.6 kPa. Our pressure sensor exhibits superior comprehensive properties compared with previous surface-modified pressure sensors. According to simulation and mechanism analyses, the spinosum microstructure and random distribution contribute to the high sensitivity and large linearity range, respectively. In addition, the pressure sensor shows promising potential in detecting human physiological signals, such as heartbeat, respiration, phonation, and human motions of a pushup, arm bending, and walking. The wearable pressure sensor array was further used to detect gait states of supination, neutral, and pronation. The RDS microstructure provides an alternative strategy to improve the performance of pressure sensors and extend their potential applications in monitoring human activities.

  5. MINIMUM ENTROPY DECONVOLUTION OF ONE-AND MULTI-DIMENSIONAL NON-GAUSSIAN LINEAR RANDOM PROCESSES

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    程乾生

    1990-01-01

    The minimum entropy deconvolution is considered as one of the methods for decomposing non-Gaussian linear processes. The concept of peakedness of a system response sequence is presented and its properties are studied. With the aid of the peakedness, the convergence theory of the minimum entropy deconvolution is established. The problem of the minimum entropy deconvolution of multi-dimensional non-Gaussian linear random processes is first investigated and the corresponding theory is given. In addition, the relation between the minimum entropy deconvolution and parameter method is discussed.

  6. Tumour control probability (TCP) for non-uniform activity distribution in radionuclide therapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Uusijaervi, Helena; Bernhardt, Peter; Forssell-Aronsson, Eva

    2008-01-01

    Non-uniform radionuclide distribution in tumours will lead to a non-uniform absorbed dose. The aim of this study was to investigate how tumour control probability (TCP) depends on the radionuclide distribution in the tumour, both macroscopically and at the subcellular level. The absorbed dose in the cell nuclei of tumours was calculated for 90 Y, 177 Lu, 103m Rh and 211 At. The radionuclides were uniformly distributed within the subcellular compartment and they were uniformly, normally or log-normally distributed among the cells in the tumour. When all cells contain the same amount of activity, the cumulated activities required for TCP = 0.99 (A-tilde TCP=0.99 ) were 1.5-2 and 2-3 times higher when the activity was distributed on the cell membrane compared to in the cell nucleus for 103m Rh and 211 At, respectively. TCP for 90 Y was not affected by different radionuclide distributions, whereas for 177 Lu, it was slightly affected when the radionuclide was in the nucleus. TCP for 103m Rh and 211 At were affected by different radionuclide distributions to a great extent when the radionuclides were in the cell nucleus and to lesser extents when the radionuclides were distributed on the cell membrane or in the cytoplasm. When the activity was distributed in the nucleus, A-tilde TCP=0.99 increased when the activity distribution became more heterogeneous for 103m Rh and 211 At, and the increase was large when the activity was normally distributed compared to log-normally distributed. When the activity was distributed on the cell membrane, A-tilde TCP=0.99 was not affected for 103m Rh and 211 At when the activity distribution became more heterogeneous. A-tilde TCP=0.99 for 90 Y and 177 Lu were not affected by different activity distributions, neither macroscopic nor subcellular

  7. Random walk of the baryon number

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kazaryan, A.M.; Khlebnikov, S.Y.; Shaposhnikov, M.E.

    1989-01-01

    A new approach is suggested for the anomalous nonconservation of baryon number in the electroweak theory at high temperatures. Arguments are presented in support of the idea that the baryon-number changing reactions may be viewed as random Markov processes. Making use of the general theory of Markov processes, the Fokker--Planck equation for the baryon-number distribution density is obtained and kinetic coefficients are calculated

  8. Management control of support services : Organizational embeddedness and non-strategic IT

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lau, La E.; Laan, van der M.; Speklé, R.F.; Kruis, A.

    2012-01-01

    This chapter provides evidence on the factors that influence the design of the control arrangements that govern support services. Specifically, we study sourcing decisions of non-strategic information technology (IT) support services. While the popular management literature suggests to outsource

  9. On properties of continuous-time random walks with non-Poissonian jump-times

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Villarroel, Javier; Montero, Miquel

    2009-01-01

    The usual development of the continuous-time random walk (CTRW) proceeds by assuming that the present is one of the jumping times. Under this restrictive assumption integral equations for the propagator and mean escape times have been derived. We generalize these results to the case when the present is an arbitrary time by recourse to renewal theory. The case of Erlang distributed times is analyzed in detail. Several concrete examples are considered.

  10. Validation Support for Distributed Real-Time Embedded Systems in VDM++

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    S. Fitzgerald, John; Gorm Larsen, Peter; Tjell, Simon

    2007-01-01

    We present a tool-supported approach to the validation of system-level timing properties in formal models of distributed real-time embedded systems. Our aim is to provide system architects with rapid feedback on the timing characteristics of alternative designs in the often volatile early stages ...

  11. In the eye of the beholder: Inhomogeneous distribution of high-resolution shapes within the random-walk ensemble

    Science.gov (United States)

    Müller, Christian L.; Sbalzarini, Ivo F.; van Gunsteren, Wilfred F.; Žagrović, Bojan; Hünenberger, Philippe H.

    2009-06-01

    The concept of high-resolution shapes (also referred to as folds or states, depending on the context) of a polymer chain plays a central role in polymer science, structural biology, bioinformatics, and biopolymer dynamics. However, although the idea of shape is intuitively very useful, there is no unambiguous mathematical definition for this concept. In the present work, the distributions of high-resolution shapes within the ideal random-walk ensembles with N =3,…,6 beads (or up to N =10 for some properties) are investigated using a systematic (grid-based) approach based on a simple working definition of shapes relying on the root-mean-square atomic positional deviation as a metric (i.e., to define the distance between pairs of structures) and a single cutoff criterion for the shape assignment. Although the random-walk ensemble appears to represent the paramount of homogeneity and randomness, this analysis reveals that the distribution of shapes within this ensemble, i.e., in the total absence of interatomic interactions characteristic of a specific polymer (beyond the generic connectivity constraint), is significantly inhomogeneous. In particular, a specific (densest) shape occurs with a local probability that is 1.28, 1.79, 2.94, and 10.05 times (N =3,…,6) higher than the corresponding average over all possible shapes (these results can tentatively be extrapolated to a factor as large as about 1028 for N =100). The qualitative results of this analysis lead to a few rather counterintuitive suggestions, namely, that, e.g., (i) a fold classification analysis applied to the random-walk ensemble would lead to the identification of random-walk "folds;" (ii) a clustering analysis applied to the random-walk ensemble would also lead to the identification random-walk "states" and associated relative free energies; and (iii) a random-walk ensemble of polymer chains could lead to well-defined diffraction patterns in hypothetical fiber or crystal diffraction experiments

  12. Modeling random telegraph signal noise in CMOS image sensor under low light based on binomial distribution

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang Yu; Wang Guangyi; Lu Xinmiao; Hu Yongcai; Xu Jiangtao

    2016-01-01

    The random telegraph signal noise in the pixel source follower MOSFET is the principle component of the noise in the CMOS image sensor under low light. In this paper, the physical and statistical model of the random telegraph signal noise in the pixel source follower based on the binomial distribution is set up. The number of electrons captured or released by the oxide traps in the unit time is described as the random variables which obey the binomial distribution. As a result, the output states and the corresponding probabilities of the first and the second samples of the correlated double sampling circuit are acquired. The standard deviation of the output states after the correlated double sampling circuit can be obtained accordingly. In the simulation section, one hundred thousand samples of the source follower MOSFET have been simulated, and the simulation results show that the proposed model has the similar statistical characteristics with the existing models under the effect of the channel length and the density of the oxide trap. Moreover, the noise histogram of the proposed model has been evaluated at different environmental temperatures. (paper)

  13. Multi-isocenter stereotactic radiotherapy: implications for target dose distributions of systematic and random localization errors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ebert, M.A.; Zavgorodni, S.F.; Kendrick, L.A.; Weston, S.; Harper, C.S.

    2001-01-01

    Purpose: This investigation examined the effect of alignment and localization errors on dose distributions in stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) with arced circular fields. In particular, it was desired to determine the effect of systematic and random localization errors on multi-isocenter treatments. Methods and Materials: A research version of the FastPlan system from Surgical Navigation Technologies was used to generate a series of SRT plans of varying complexity. These plans were used to examine the influence of random setup errors by recalculating dose distributions with successive setup errors convolved into the off-axis ratio data tables used in the dose calculation. The influence of systematic errors was investigated by displacing isocenters from their planned positions. Results: For single-isocenter plans, it is found that the influences of setup error are strongly dependent on the size of the target volume, with minimum doses decreasing most significantly with increasing random and systematic alignment error. For multi-isocenter plans, similar variations in target dose are encountered, with this result benefiting from the conventional method of prescribing to a lower isodose value for multi-isocenter treatments relative to single-isocenter treatments. Conclusions: It is recommended that the systematic errors associated with target localization in SRT be tracked via a thorough quality assurance program, and that random setup errors be minimized by use of a sufficiently robust relocation system. These errors should also be accounted for by incorporating corrections into the treatment planning algorithm or, alternatively, by inclusion of sufficient margins in target definition

  14. Signature of non-isotropic distribution of stellar rotation inclination angles in the Praesepe cluster

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kovacs, Geza

    2018-04-01

    The distribution of the stellar rotation axes of 113 main sequence stars in the open cluster Praesepe are examined by using current photometric rotation periods, spectroscopic rotation velocities, and estimated stellar radii. Three different samples of stellar rotation data on spotted stars from the Galactic field and two independent samples of planetary hosts are used as control samples to support the consistency of the analysis. Considering the high completeness of the Praesepe sample and the behavior of the control samples, we find that the main sequence F - K stars in this cluster are susceptible to rotational axis alignment. Using a cone model, the most likely inclination angle is 76° ± 14° with a half opening angle of 47° ± 24°. Non-isotropic distribution of the inclination angles is preferred over the isotropic distribution, except if the rotation velocities used in this work are systematically overestimated. We found no indication of this being the case on the basis of the currently available data. Data are only available at the CDS, together with the other two compiled datasets used in this paper, via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (http://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/612/L2

  15. Analysis and applications of a frequency selective surface via a random distribution method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xie Shao-Yi; Huang Jing-Jian; Yuan Nai-Chang; Liu Li-Guo

    2014-01-01

    A novel frequency selective surface (FSS) for reducing radar cross section (RCS) is proposed in this paper. This FSS is based on the random distribution method, so it can be called random surface. In this paper, the stacked patches serving as periodic elements are employed for RCS reduction. Previous work has demonstrated the efficiency by utilizing the microstrip patches, especially for the reflectarray. First, the relevant theory of the method is described. Then a sample of a three-layer variable-sized stacked patch random surface with a dimension of 260 mm×260 mm is simulated, fabricated, and measured in order to demonstrate the validity of the proposed design. For the normal incidence, the 8-dB RCS reduction can be achieved both by the simulation and the measurement in 8 GHz–13 GHz. The oblique incidence of 30° is also investigated, in which the 7-dB RCS reduction can be obtained in a frequency range of 8 GHz–14 GHz. (condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties)

  16. Validation of the k-filtering technique for a signal composed of random-phase plane waves and non-random coherent structures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    O. W. Roberts

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Recent observations of astrophysical magnetic fields have shown the presence of fluctuations being wave-like (propagating in the plasma frame and those described as being structure-like (advected by the plasma bulk velocity. Typically with single-spacecraft missions it is impossible to differentiate between these two fluctuations, due to the inherent spatio-temporal ambiguity associated with a single point measurement. However missions such as Cluster which contain multiple spacecraft have allowed for temporal and spatial changes to be resolved, using techniques such as k filtering. While this technique does not assume Taylor's hypothesis it requires both weak stationarity of the time series and that the fluctuations can be described by a superposition of plane waves with random phases. In this paper we test whether the method can cope with a synthetic signal which is composed of a combination of non-random-phase coherent structures with a mean radius d and a mean separation λ, as well as plane waves with random phase.

  17. Fitting and Analyzing Randomly Censored Geometric Extreme Exponential Distribution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muhammad Yameen Danish

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents the Bayesian analysis of two-parameter geometric extreme exponential distribution with randomly censored data. The continuous conjugate prior of the scale and shape parameters of the model does not exist while computing the Bayes estimates, it is assumed that the scale and shape parameters have independent gamma priors. It is seen that the closed-form expressions for the Bayes estimators are not possible; we suggest the Lindley’s approximation to obtain the Bayes estimates. However, the Bayesian credible intervals cannot be constructed while using this method, we propose Gibbs sampling to obtain the Bayes estimates and also to construct the Bayesian credible intervals. Monte Carlo simulation study is carried out to observe the behavior of the Bayes estimators and also to compare with the maximum likelihood estimators. One real data analysis is performed for illustration.

  18. Plasma Dielectric Tensor for Non-Maxwellian Distributions in the FLR Limit

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Phillips, C.K.; Pletzer, A.; Dumont, R.J.; Smithe, D.N.

    2003-01-01

    Previous analytical and numerical studies have noted that the presence of fully non-Maxwellian plasma species can significantly alter the dynamics of electromagnetic waves in magnetized plasmas. In this paper, a general form for the hot plasma dielectric tensor for non-Maxwellian distributions is derived that is valid in the finite Larmor radius approximation. This model provides some insight into understanding the limitations on representing non-Maxwellian plasma species with equivalent Maxwellian components in modeling radio-frequency wave propagation and absorption

  19. Random-Resistor-Random-Temperature Kirchhoff-Law-Johnson-Noise (RRRT-KLJN Key Exchange

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kish Laszlo B.

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available We introduce two new Kirchhoff-law-Johnson-noise (KLJN secure key distribution schemes which are generalizations of the original KLJN scheme. The first of these, the Random-Resistor (RR- KLJN scheme, uses random resistors with values chosen from a quasi-continuum set. It is well-known since the creation of the KLJN concept that such a system could work in cryptography, because Alice and Bob can calculate the unknown resistance value from measurements, but the RR-KLJN system has not been addressed in prior publications since it was considered impractical. The reason for discussing it now is the second scheme, the Random Resistor Random Temperature (RRRT- KLJN key exchange, inspired by a recent paper of Vadai, Mingesz and Gingl, wherein security was shown to be maintained at non-zero power flow. In the RRRT-KLJN secure key exchange scheme, both the resistances and their temperatures are continuum random variables. We prove that the security of the RRRT-KLJN scheme can prevail at a non-zero power flow, and thus the physical law guaranteeing security is not the Second Law of Thermodynamics but the Fluctuation-Dissipation Theorem. Alice and Bob know their own resistances and temperatures and can calculate the resistance and temperature values at the other end of the communication channel from measured voltage, current and power-flow data in the wire. However, Eve cannot determine these values because, for her, there are four unknown quantities while she can set up only three equations. The RRRT-KLJN scheme has several advantages and makes all former attacks on the KLJN scheme invalid or incomplete.

  20. When supervisors perceive non-work support: test of a trickle-down model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Tsung-Yu; Lee, Shao-Jen; Hu, Changya; Yang, Chun-Chi

    2014-01-01

    Using the trickle-down model as the theoretical foundation, we explored whether subordinates' perceived supervisory non-work support (subordinates' PSNS) mediates the relationship between supervisors' perception of higher-level managers' non-work support (supervisors' PSNS) and subordinates' organizational citizenship behaviors. Using dyadic data collected from 132 employees and their immediate supervisors, we found support for the aforementioned mediation process. Furthermore, supervisors' perceived in-group/out-group membership of subordinates moderated the aforementioned supervisors' PSNS-subordinates' PSNS relationship, such that this relationship is stronger for out-group subordinates. Theoretical and practical implications and future research directions are discussed.

  1. Transient modeling of non-Fickian transport and first-order reaction using continuous time random walk

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burnell, Daniel K.; Hansen, Scott K.; Xu, Jie

    2017-09-01

    Contaminants in groundwater may experience a broad spectrum of velocities and multiple rates of mass transfer between mobile and immobile zones during transport. These conditions may lead to non-Fickian plume evolution which is not well described by the advection-dispersion equation (ADE). Simultaneously, many groundwater contaminants are degraded by processes that may be modeled as first-order decay. It is now known that non-Fickian transport and reaction are intimately coupled, with reaction affecting the transport operator. However, closed-form solutions for these important scenarios have not been published for use in applications. In this paper, we present four new Green's function analytic solutions in the uncoupled, uncorrelated continuous time random walk (CTRW) framework for reactive non-Fickian transport, corresponding to the quartet of conservative tracer solutions presented by Kreft and Zuber (1978) for Fickian transport. These consider pulse injection for both resident and flux concentration combined with detection in both resident and flux concentration. A pair of solutions for resident concentration temporal pulses with detection in both flux and resident concentration is also presented. We also derive the relationship between flux and resident concentration for non-Fickian transport with first-order reaction for this CTRW formulation. An explicit discussion of employment of the new solutions to model transport with arbitrary upgradient boundary conditions as well as mobile-immobile mass transfer is then presented. Using the new solutions, we show that first-order reaction has no effect on the anomalous spatial spreading rate of concentration profiles, but produces breakthrough curves at fixed locations that appear to have been generated by Fickian transport. Under the assumption of a Pareto CTRW transition distribution, we present a variety of numerical simulations including results showing coherence of our analytic solutions and CTRW particle

  2. Common neural substrates support speech and non-speech vocal tract gestures

    OpenAIRE

    Chang, Soo-Eun; Kenney, Mary Kay; Loucks, Torrey M.J.; Poletto, Christopher J.; Ludlow, Christy L.

    2009-01-01

    The issue of whether speech is supported by the same neural substrates as non-speech vocal-tract gestures has been contentious. In this fMRI study we tested whether producing non-speech vocal tract gestures in humans shares the same functional neuroanatomy as non-sense speech syllables. Production of non-speech vocal tract gestures, devoid of phonological content but similar to speech in that they had familiar acoustic and somatosensory targets, were compared to the production of speech sylla...

  3. Optimal allocation and adaptive VAR control of PV-DG in distribution networks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fu, Xueqian; Chen, Haoyong; Cai, Runqing; Yang, Ping

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • A methodology for optimal PV-DG allocation based on a combination of algorithms. • Dealing with the randomicity of solar power energy using CCSP. • Presenting a VAR control strategy to balance the technical demands. • Finding the Pareto solutions using MOPSO and SVM. • Evaluating the Pareto solutions using WRSR. - Abstract: The development of distributed generation (DG) has brought new challenges to power networks. One of them that catches extensive attention is the voltage regulation problem of distribution networks caused by DG. Optimal allocation of DG in distribution networks is another well-known problem being widely investigated. This paper proposes a new method for the optimal allocation of photovoltaic distributed generation (PV-DG) considering the non-dispatchable characteristics of PV units. An adaptive reactive power control model is introduced in PV-DG allocation as to balance the trade-off between the improvement of voltage quality and the minimization of power loss in a distribution network integrated with PV-DG units. The optimal allocation problem is formulated as a chance-constrained stochastic programming (CCSP) model for dealing with the randomness of solar power energy. A novel algorithm combining the multi-objective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO) with support vector machines (SVM) is proposed to find the Pareto front consisting of a set of possible solutions. The Pareto solutions are further evaluated using the weighted rank sum ratio (WRSR) method to help the decision-maker obtain the desired solution. Simulation results on a 33-bus radial distribution system show that the optimal allocation method can fully take into account the time-variant characteristics and probability distribution of PV-DG, and obtain the best allocation scheme

  4. Maternal mental health and social support: effect on childhood atopic and non-atopic asthma symptoms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marques dos Santos, Letícia; Neves dos Santos, Darci; Rodrigues, Laura Cunha; Barreto, Maurício Lima

    2012-11-01

    Atopic and non-atopic asthma have distinct risk factors and immunological mechanisms, and few studies differentiate between the impacts of psychosocial factors on the prevalence of these disease phenotypes. The authors aimed to identify whether the effect of maternal mental health on prevalence of asthma symptoms differs between atopic and non-atopic children, taking into account family social support. This is a cross-sectional study of 1013 children participating in the Social Change Allergy and Asthma in Latin America project. Psychosocial data were collected through a household survey utilising Self-Reporting Questionnaire and Medical Outcome Study Social Support Scale. Socioeconomic and wheezing information was obtained through the questionnaire of the International Study of Allergy and Asthma in Childhood, and level of allergen-specific IgE was measured to identify atopy. Polytomous logistic regression was used to estimate the association between maternal mental health, social support and atopic and non-atopic wheezing. Effect modification was evaluated through stratified polytomous regression according to social support level. Maternal mental disorder had the same impact on atopic and non-atopic wheezing, even after adjusting for confounding variables. Affective, material and informational supports had protective effects on non-atopic asthma, and there is some evidence that social supports may act as a buffer for the impact of maternal mental disorder on non-atopic wheezing. Poor maternal mental health is positively associated with wheezing, independent of whether asthma is atopic or non-atopic, but perception of high levels of social support appears to buffer this relationship in non-atopic wheezers only.

  5. Random phenomena; Phenomenes aleatoires

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bonnet, G. [Commissariat a l' energie atomique et aux energies alternatives - CEA, C.E.N.G., Service d' Electronique, Section d' Electronique, Grenoble (France)

    1963-07-01

    This document gathers a set of conferences presented in 1962. A first one proposes a mathematical introduction to the analysis of random phenomena. The second one presents an axiomatic of probability calculation. The third one proposes an overview of one-dimensional random variables. The fourth one addresses random pairs, and presents basic theorems regarding the algebra of mathematical expectations. The fifth conference discusses some probability laws: binomial distribution, the Poisson distribution, and the Laplace-Gauss distribution. The last one deals with the issues of stochastic convergence and asymptotic distributions.

  6. The investigation of social networks based on multi-component random graphs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zadorozhnyi, V. N.; Yudin, E. B.

    2018-01-01

    The methods of non-homogeneous random graphs calibration are developed for social networks simulation. The graphs are calibrated by the degree distributions of the vertices and the edges. The mathematical foundation of the methods is formed by the theory of random graphs with the nonlinear preferential attachment rule and the theory of Erdôs-Rényi random graphs. In fact, well-calibrated network graph models and computer experiments with these models would help developers (owners) of the networks to predict their development correctly and to choose effective strategies for controlling network projects.

  7. Online Distributed Learning Over Networks in RKH Spaces Using Random Fourier Features

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bouboulis, Pantelis; Chouvardas, Symeon; Theodoridis, Sergios

    2018-04-01

    We present a novel diffusion scheme for online kernel-based learning over networks. So far, a major drawback of any online learning algorithm, operating in a reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS), is the need for updating a growing number of parameters as time iterations evolve. Besides complexity, this leads to an increased need of communication resources, in a distributed setting. In contrast, the proposed method approximates the solution as a fixed-size vector (of larger dimension than the input space) using Random Fourier Features. This paves the way to use standard linear combine-then-adapt techniques. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that a complete protocol for distributed online learning in RKHS is presented. Conditions for asymptotic convergence and boundness of the networkwise regret are also provided. The simulated tests illustrate the performance of the proposed scheme.

  8. Non-canonical spectral decomposition of random functions of the traction voltage and current in electric transportation systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N.A. Kostin

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available The paper proposes the non-canonical spectral decomposition of random functions of the traction voltages and currents. This decomposition is adapted for the electric transportation systems. The numerical representation is carried out for the random function of voltage on the pantograph of electric locomotives VL8 and DE1.

  9. Risk of viral acute gastrointestinal illness from non-disinfected drinking water distribution systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Acute gastrointestinal illness (AGI) resulting from pathogens directly entering the piping of drinking water distribution systems is insufficiently understood. Here, we estimate AGI incidence attributable to virus intrusions into non-disinfecting municipal distribution systems. Viruses were enumerat...

  10. Study of Landau spectrum for a two-dimensional random magnetic field

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Furtlehner, C.

    1997-01-01

    This thesis deals with the two-dimensional problem of a charged particle coupled to a random magnetic field. Various situations are considered, according to the relative importance of the mean value of field and random component. The last one is conceived as a distribution of magnetic impurities (punctual vortex), having various statistical properties (local or non-local correlations, Poisson distribution, etc). The study of this system has led to two distinct situations: - the case of the charged particle feeling the influence of mean field that manifests its presence in the spectrum of broadened Landau levels; - the disordered situation in which the spectrum can be distinguished from the free one only by a low energy Lifshits behaviour. Additional properties are occurring in the limit of 'strong' mean field, namely a non-conventional low energy behaviour (in contrast to Lifshits behaviour) which was interpreted in terms of localized states. (author)

  11. Characterizing the strand-specific distribution of non-CpG methylation in human pluripotent cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Weilong; Chung, Wen-Yu; Qian, Minping; Pellegrini, Matteo; Zhang, Michael Q

    2014-03-01

    DNA methylation is an important defense and regulatory mechanism. In mammals, most DNA methylation occurs at CpG sites, and asymmetric non-CpG methylation has only been detected at appreciable levels in a few cell types. We are the first to systematically study the strand-specific distribution of non-CpG methylation. With the divide-and-compare strategy, we show that CHG and CHH methylation are not intrinsically different in human embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). We also find that non-CpG methylation is skewed between the two strands in introns, especially at intron boundaries and in highly expressed genes. Controlling for the proximal sequences of non-CpG sites, we show that the skew of non-CpG methylation in introns is mainly guided by sequence skew. By studying subgroups of transposable elements, we also found that non-CpG methylation is distributed in a strand-specific manner in both short interspersed nuclear elements (SINE) and long interspersed nuclear elements (LINE), but not in long terminal repeats (LTR). Finally, we show that on the antisense strand of Alus, a non-CpG site just downstream of the A-box is highly methylated. Together, the divide-and-compare strategy leads us to identify regions with strand-specific distributions of non-CpG methylation in humans.

  12. Size Distribution Imaging by Non-Uniform Oscillating-Gradient Spin Echo (NOGSE MRI.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Noam Shemesh

    Full Text Available Objects making up complex porous systems in Nature usually span a range of sizes. These size distributions play fundamental roles in defining the physicochemical, biophysical and physiological properties of a wide variety of systems - ranging from advanced catalytic materials to Central Nervous System diseases. Accurate and noninvasive measurements of size distributions in opaque, three-dimensional objects, have thus remained long-standing and important challenges. Herein we describe how a recently introduced diffusion-based magnetic resonance methodology, Non-Uniform-Oscillating-Gradient-Spin-Echo (NOGSE, can determine such distributions noninvasively. The method relies on its ability to probe confining lengths with a (length6 parametric sensitivity, in a constant-time, constant-number-of-gradients fashion; combined, these attributes provide sufficient sensitivity for characterizing the underlying distributions in μm-scaled cellular systems. Theoretical derivations and simulations are presented to verify NOGSE's ability to faithfully reconstruct size distributions through suitable modeling of their distribution parameters. Experiments in yeast cell suspensions - where the ground truth can be determined from ancillary microscopy - corroborate these trends experimentally. Finally, by appending to the NOGSE protocol an imaging acquisition, novel MRI maps of cellular size distributions were collected from a mouse brain. The ensuing micro-architectural contrasts successfully delineated distinctive hallmark anatomical sub-structures, in both white matter and gray matter tissues, in a non-invasive manner. Such findings highlight NOGSE's potential for characterizing aberrations in cellular size distributions upon disease, or during normal processes such as development.

  13. Angular Distribution of Particles Emerging from a Diffusive Region and its Implications for the Fleck-Canfield Random Walk Algorithm for Implicit Monte Carlo Radiation Transport

    CERN Document Server

    Cooper, M A

    2000-01-01

    We present various approximations for the angular distribution of particles emerging from an optically thick, purely isotropically scattering region into a vacuum. Our motivation is to use such a distribution for the Fleck-Canfield random walk method [1] for implicit Monte Carlo (IMC) [2] radiation transport problems. We demonstrate that the cosine distribution recommended in the original random walk paper [1] is a poor approximation to the angular distribution predicted by transport theory. Then we examine other approximations that more closely match the transport angular distribution.

  14. Simulating Sustainment for an Unmanned Logistics System Concept of Operation in Support of Distributed Operations

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-06-01

    SYSTEM CONCEPT OF OPERATION IN SUPPORT OF DISTRIBUTED OPERATIONS by Elle M. Ekman June 2017 Thesis...UNMANNED LOGISTICS SYSTEM CONCEPT OF OPERATION IN SUPPORT OF DISTRIBUTED OPERATIONS Elle M. Ekman Captain, United States Marine Corps B.S...Corps CO company CONEPS concept of employment CONOPS concept of operations CP command post CUAS cargo unmanned aircraft system DES discrete

  15. Neonatal non-invasive respiratory support: synchronised NIPPV, non-synchronised NIPPV or bi-level CPAP: what is the evidence in 2013?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roberts, C T; Davis, P G; Owen, L S

    2013-01-01

    Nasal continuous positive airway pressure (NCPAP) has proven to be an effective mode of non-invasive respiratory support in preterm infants; however, many infants still require endotracheal ventilation, placing them at an increased risk of morbidities such as bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Several other modes of non-invasive respiratory support beyond NCPAP, including synchronised and non-synchronised nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation (SNIPPV and nsNIPPV) and bi-level positive airway pressure (BiPAP) are now also available. These techniques require different approaches, and the exact mechanisms by which they act remain unclear. SNIPPV has been shown to reduce the rate of reintubation in comparison to NCPAP when used as post-extubation support, but the evidence for nsNIPPV and BiPAP in this context is less convincing. There is some evidence that NIPPV (whether synchronised or non-synchronised) used as primary respiratory support is beneficial, but the variation in study methodology makes this hard to translate confidently into clinical practice. There is currently no evidence to suggest a reduction in mortality or important morbidities such as bronchopulmonary dysplasia, with NIPPV or BiPAP in comparison to NCPAP, and there is a lack of appropriately designed studies in this area. This review discusses the different approaches and proposed mechanisms of action of SNIPPV, nsNIPPV and BiPAP, the challenges of applying the available evidence for these distinct modalities of non-invasive respiratory support to clinical practice, and possible areas of future research. © 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  16. Multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis of analog random multiplicative processes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Silva, L.B.M.; Vermelho, M.V.D. [Instituto de Fisica, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Maceio - AL, 57072-970 (Brazil); Lyra, M.L. [Instituto de Fisica, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Maceio - AL, 57072-970 (Brazil)], E-mail: marcelo@if.ufal.br; Viswanathan, G.M. [Instituto de Fisica, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Maceio - AL, 57072-970 (Brazil)

    2009-09-15

    We investigate non-Gaussian statistical properties of stationary stochastic signals generated by an analog circuit that simulates a random multiplicative process with weak additive noise. The random noises are originated by thermal shot noise and avalanche processes, while the multiplicative process is generated by a fully analog circuit. The resulting signal describes stochastic time series of current interest in several areas such as turbulence, finance, biology and environment, which exhibit power-law distributions. Specifically, we study the correlation properties of the signal by employing a detrended fluctuation analysis and explore its multifractal nature. The singularity spectrum is obtained and analyzed as a function of the control circuit parameter that tunes the asymptotic power-law form of the probability distribution function.

  17. Further Developments in Characterizing Capture Zone Distributions (CZD) in Island Growth

    Science.gov (United States)

    Einstein, T. L.; Pimpinelli, Alberto; González, Diego Luis

    2014-03-01

    As argued previously, analysis of the distribution of the areas of capture zones (i.e. proximity polygons [or Voronoi tesselations] with respect to island centers) is often the best way to extract the critical nucleus size in studies of epitaxial growth. For non-Poisson deposition (i.e. when island nucleation is not fully random) the areas of these Voronoi cells can be well described by the generalized Wigner distribution (GWD), particularly in the central region around the mean area where the distribution is largest. We discuss several recent applications to experimental systems, catelogued in a recent minireview,[2] showing how this perspective leads to insights about the critical nucleus size. In contrast, several (but not all) studies have shown that the GWD may not describe the numerical data from painstaking simulations in both tails.2 We discuss some refinements that have been proposed, as well as scaling forms. Finally, we comment on applications to social phenomena. Emphasis is on very recent developments. Work at UMD supported by NSF CHE 13-05892 & NSF MRSEC DMR 05-20471.

  18. Distributional patterns of the Neotropical genus Thecomyia Perty (Diptera, Sciomyzidae and phylogenetic support

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amanda Ciprandi Pires

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available Distributional patterns of the Neotropical genus Thecomyia Perty (Diptera, Sciomyzidae and phylogenetic support. The distributional pattern of the genus Thecomyia Perty, 1833 was defined using panbiogeographic tools, and analyzed based on the phylogeny of the group. This study sought to establish biogeographical homologies in the Neotropical region between different species of the genus, based on their distribution pattern and later corroboration through its phylogeny. Eight individual tracks and 16 generalized tracks were identified, established along nearly the entire swath of the Neotropics. Individual tracks are the basic units of a panbiogeographic study, and correspond to the hypothesis of minimum distribution of the organisms involved. The generalized tracks, obtained from the spatial congruence between two or more individual tracks, are important in the identification of smaller areas of endemism. Thus, we found evidence from the generalized tracks in support of previous classification for the Neotropical region. The Amazon domain is indicated as an area of outstanding importance in the diversification of the group, by the confluence of generalized tracks and biogeographic nodes in the region. Most of the generalized tracks and biogeographical nodes were congruent with the phylogenetic hypothesis of the genus, indicating support of the primary biogeographical homologies originally defined by the track analysis.

  19. Affordable non-traditional source data mining for context assessment to improve distributed fusion system robustness

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bowman, Christopher; Haith, Gary; Steinberg, Alan; Morefield, Charles; Morefield, Michael

    2013-05-01

    This paper describes methods to affordably improve the robustness of distributed fusion systems by opportunistically leveraging non-traditional data sources. Adaptive methods help find relevant data, create models, and characterize the model quality. These methods also can measure the conformity of this non-traditional data with fusion system products including situation modeling and mission impact prediction. Non-traditional data can improve the quantity, quality, availability, timeliness, and diversity of the baseline fusion system sources and therefore can improve prediction and estimation accuracy and robustness at all levels of fusion. Techniques are described that automatically learn to characterize and search non-traditional contextual data to enable operators integrate the data with the high-level fusion systems and ontologies. These techniques apply the extension of the Data Fusion & Resource Management Dual Node Network (DNN) technical architecture at Level 4. The DNN architecture supports effectively assessment and management of the expanded portfolio of data sources, entities of interest, models, and algorithms including data pattern discovery and context conformity. Affordable model-driven and data-driven data mining methods to discover unknown models from non-traditional and `big data' sources are used to automatically learn entity behaviors and correlations with fusion products, [14 and 15]. This paper describes our context assessment software development, and the demonstration of context assessment of non-traditional data to compare to an intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance fusion product based upon an IED POIs workflow.

  20. Physically transient photonics: random versus distributed feedback lasing based on nanoimprinted DNA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Camposeo, Andrea; Del Carro, Pompilio; Persano, Luana; Cyprych, Konrad; Szukalski, Adam; Sznitko, Lech; Mysliwiec, Jaroslaw; Pisignano, Dario

    2014-10-28

    Room-temperature nanoimprinted, DNA-based distributed feedback (DFB) laser operation at 605 nm is reported. The laser is made of a pure DNA host matrix doped with gain dyes. At high excitation densities, the emission of the untextured dye-doped DNA films is characterized by a broad emission peak with an overall line width of 12 nm and superimposed narrow peaks, characteristic of random lasing. Moreover, direct patterning of the DNA films is demonstrated with a resolution down to 100 nm, enabling the realization of both surface-emitting and edge-emitting DFB lasers with a typical line width of <0.3 nm. The resulting emission is polarized, with a ratio between the TE- and TM-polarized intensities exceeding 30. In addition, the nanopatterned devices dissolve in water within less than 2 min. These results demonstrate the possibility of realizing various physically transient nanophotonics and laser architectures, including random lasing and nanoimprinted devices, based on natural biopolymers.

  1. Dimer coverings on random multiple chains of planar honeycomb lattices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ren, Haizhen; Zhang, Fuji; Qian, Jianguo

    2012-01-01

    We study dimer coverings on random multiple chains. A multiple chain is a planar honeycomb lattice constructed by successively fusing copies of a ‘straight’ condensed hexagonal chain at the bottom of the previous one in two possible ways. A random multiple chain is then generated by admitting the Bernoulli distribution on the two types of fusing, which describes a zeroth-order Markov process. We determine the expectation of the number of the pure dimer coverings (perfect matchings) over the ensemble of random multiple chains by the transfer matrix approach. Our result shows that, with only two exceptions, the average of the logarithm of this expectation (i.e., the annealed entropy per dimer) is asymptotically nonzero when the fusing process goes to infinity and the length of the hexagonal chain is fixed, though it is zero when the fusing process and the length of the hexagonal chain go to infinity simultaneously. Some numerical results are provided to support our conclusion, from which we can see that the asymptotic behavior fits well to the theoretical results. We also apply the transfer matrix approach to the quenched entropy and reveal that the quenched entropy of random multiple chains has a close connection with the well-known Lyapunov exponent of random matrices. Using the theory of Lyapunov exponents we show that, for some random multiple chains, the quenched entropy per dimer is strictly smaller than the annealed one when the fusing process goes to infinity. Finally, we determine the expectation of the free energy per dimer over the ensemble of the random multiple chains in which the three types of dimers in different orientations are distinguished, and specify a series of non-random multiple chains whose free energy per dimer is asymptotically equal to this expectation. (paper)

  2. Phase shift effects for fluid conveying pipes with non-ideal supports

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dahl, Jonas; Thomsen, Jon Juel

    2008-01-01

    Vibrations of a fluid-conveying pipe with non-ideal supports are investigated with respect to phase shift effects. A numerical Galerkin approach is developed for this general problem, and the use of it exemplified with a investigation of phase shift effects from rotational damping at supports...

  3. Vibration due to non-circularity of a rotating ring having discrete radial supports - With application to thin-walled rotor/magnetic bearing systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fakkaew, Wichaphon; Cole, Matthew O. T.

    2018-06-01

    This paper investigates the vibration arising in a thin-walled cylindrical rotor subject to small non-circularity and coupled to discrete space-fixed radial bearing supports. A Fourier series description of rotor non-circularity is incorporated within a mathematical model for vibration of a rotating annulus. This model predicts the multi-harmonic excitation of the rotor wall due to bearing interactions. For each non-circularity harmonic there is a set of distinct critical speeds at which resonance can potentially arise due to flexural mode excitation within the rotor wall. It is shown that whether each potential resonance occurs depends on the multiplicity and symmetry of the bearing supports. Also, a sufficient number of evenly spaced identical supports will eliminate low order resonances. The considered problem is pertinent to the design and operation of thin-walled rotors with active magnetic bearing (AMB) supports, for which small clearances exist between the rotor and bearing and so vibration excitation must be limited to avoid contacts. With this motivation, the mathematical model is further developed for the case of a distributed array of electromagnetic actuators controlled by feedback of measured rotor wall displacements. A case study involving an experimental system with short cylindrical rotor and a single radial AMB support is presented. The results show that flexural mode resonance is largely avoided for the considered design topology. Moreover, numerical predictions based on measured non-circularity show good agreement with measurements of rotor wall vibration, thereby confirming the validity and utility of the theoretical model.

  4. Model correction factor method for reliability problems involving integrals of non-Gaussian random fields

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Franchin, P.; Ditlevsen, Ove Dalager; Kiureghian, Armen Der

    2002-01-01

    The model correction factor method (MCFM) is used in conjunction with the first-order reliability method (FORM) to solve structural reliability problems involving integrals of non-Gaussian random fields. The approach replaces the limit-state function with an idealized one, in which the integrals ...

  5. A distributed scheduling algorithm for heterogeneous real-time systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeineldine, Osman; El-Toweissy, Mohamed; Mukkamala, Ravi

    1991-01-01

    Much of the previous work on load balancing and scheduling in distributed environments was concerned with homogeneous systems and homogeneous loads. Several of the results indicated that random policies are as effective as other more complex load allocation policies. The effects of heterogeneity on scheduling algorithms for hard real time systems is examined. A distributed scheduler specifically to handle heterogeneities in both nodes and node traffic is proposed. The performance of the algorithm is measured in terms of the percentage of jobs discarded. While a random task allocation is very sensitive to heterogeneities, the algorithm is shown to be robust to such non-uniformities in system components and load.

  6. Mobile Autonomous Sensing Unit (MASU: A Framework That Supports Distributed Pervasive Data Sensing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Esunly Medina

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Pervasive data sensing is a major issue that transverses various research areas and application domains. It allows identifying people’s behaviour and patterns without overwhelming the monitored persons. Although there are many pervasive data sensing applications, they are typically focused on addressing specific problems in a single application domain, making them difficult to generalize or reuse. On the other hand, the platforms for supporting pervasive data sensing impose restrictions to the devices and operational environments that make them unsuitable for monitoring loosely-coupled or fully distributed work. In order to help address this challenge this paper present a framework that supports distributed pervasive data sensing in a generic way. Developers can use this framework to facilitate the implementations of their applications, thus reducing complexity and effort in such an activity. The framework was evaluated using simulations and also through an empirical test, and the obtained results indicate that it is useful to support such a sensing activity in loosely-coupled or fully distributed work scenarios.

  7. Changes in the content of edible and non-edible components and distribution of tissue components in cockerels and capons

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Magdalena Zawacka

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study was to determine the effects of castration and age on the content of edible and non-edible components, and the distribution of tissue components in the carcasses of cockerels and capons. The study was conducted on 200 birds (Green-legged Partridge, divided into two sex categories (with 5 replications per group and 20 birds per replication, raised to 28 wk of age. At 8 wk of age, 100 birds were surgically castrated and afterwards at 12 wk of age and at four-wk intervals, 10 intact cockerels and 10 capons were selected randomly and slaughtered. Cockerels, compared with capons, were characterized by a higher proportion of edible components at 24 and 28 wk of age, and a more desirable carcass tissue composition due to a higher content of lean meat in total body weight (BW. Capons had higher abdominal fat content than cockerels, which resulted in a higher percentage of non-edible components in their BW at 24 and 28 wk of age. Differences in the distribution of lean meat in the carcass were noted from 20 wk of age in both castrated and intact birds. The content of breast muscles increased in capons, and the content of leg muscles (thigh and drumstick increased in cockerels. The results of this study indicate that in view of the optimal lean meat content of the carcass and the optimal distribution of major tissue components, Green-legged Partridge capons should be fattened for a maximum period of 24 wk.

  8. Changes in the content of edible and non-edible components and distribution of tissue components in cockerels and capons

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zawacka, M.; Gesek, M.; Michalik, D.; Murawska, D.

    2018-01-01

    The aim of this study was to determine the effects of castration and age on the content of edible and non-edible components, and the distribution of tissue components in the carcasses of cockerels and capons. The study was conducted on 200 birds (Green-legged Partridge), divided into two sex categories (with 5 replications per group and 20 birds per replication), raised to 28 wk of age. At 8 wk of age, 100 birds were surgically castrated and afterwards at 12 wk of age and at four-wk intervals, 10 intact cockerels and 10 capons were selected randomly and slaughtered. Cockerels, compared with capons, were characterized by a higher proportion of edible components at 24 and 28 wk of age, and a more desirable carcass tissue composition due to a higher content of lean meat in total body weight (BW). Capons had higher abdominal fat content than cockerels, which resulted in a higher percentage of non-edible components in their BW at 24 and 28 wk of age. Differences in the distribution of lean meat in the carcass were noted from 20 wk of age in both castrated and intact birds. The content of breast muscles increased in capons, and the content of leg muscles (thigh and drumstick) increased in cockerels. The results of this study indicate that in view of the optimal lean meat content of the carcass and the optimal distribution of major tissue components, Green-legged Partridge capons should be fattened for a maximum period of 24 wk.

  9. The effectiveness of non-pharmacological interventions in improvement of sleep quality among non-remissive cancer patients: A systematic review of randomized trials

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fatmawati Fadli

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Statistical results estimated that most of non-remissive cancer patients face sleep problem and experience the symptoms of insomnia throughout and after the completion of cancer treatment. The purpose of this review was to compare the effectiveness between several types of non-pharmacological interventions and standard care or treatment to improve the sleep quality among non-remissive cancer patients. All randomized studies focused on non-pharmacological interventions to improve sleep quality among non-remissive cancer patients were included. Thirteen studies were selected with a total of 1,617 participants. The results found that only four interventions were significantly effective to improve sleep quality among non-remissive cancer patients, included cognitive behavioral therapy, relaxation and guided imagery program, self-care behavior education program, and energy and sleep enhancement program.

  10. Randomized Trial of a Smartphone Mobile Application Compared to Text Messaging to Support Smoking Cessation

    OpenAIRE

    Buller, David B.; Borland, Ron; Bettinghaus, Erwin P.; Shane, James H.; Zimmerman, Donald E.

    2014-01-01

    Background: Text messaging has successfully supported smoking cessation. This study compares a mobile application with text messaging to support smoking cessation. Materials and Methods: Young adult smokers 18–30 years old (n=102) participated in a randomized pretest–posttest trial. Smokers received a smartphone application (REQ-Mobile) with short messages and interactive tools or a text messaging system (onQ), managed by an expert system. Self-reported usability of REQ-Mobile and qu...

  11. Dutch gas distribution grid goes green: decision support tool for local biogas utilization

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Weidenaar, Teade; Hoekstra, Sipke; Wolters, Mannes

    2011-01-01

    A Decision Support Tool (DST) has been developed that will aid Distribution Service Operators (DSOs) in their decision making process on which investments to make in the gas distribution grid in order to facilitate the use of biogas. The DST considers both the conversion of biogas to electricity as

  12. A Danish randomized trial comparing breast-preserving therapy with mastectomy in mammary carcinoma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blichert-Toft, M.; Brincker, H.; Andersen, J.A.; Andersen, K.W.; Axelsson, C.K.; Mouridsen, H.T.; Dombernowsky, P.; Overgaard, M.; Gadeberg, C.; Knudsen, G.; Borgeskov, S.; Bertelsen, S.; Knudsen, J.B.; Hansen, J.B.; Poulsen, P.E.; Willumsen, H.; Schousen, P.; Froberg, D.; Oernsholt, J.; Andersen, M.; Olesen, S.; Skovgaard, S.; Oester, M.; Schumacher, H.; Lynderup, E.K.; Holm, C.N.

    1988-01-01

    The present study comprises 847 women operated upon for invasive breast carcinoma at 19 surgical departments and enrolled in protocol DBCG-82TM from January 1983 to November 1987. Among them 662 (78%) were allocated for breast-preserving therapy or mastectomy by randomization, while 185 patients (22%) did not accept randomization. Within the randomized group 6% could not be entered into adjuvant protocols, i.e. subsequent programmes of postoperative therapy and follow-up. This left 619 evaluable patients. In the non-randomized series 26% did not fulfil the demands for entrance into the adjuvant protocols, leaving 136 evaluable patients, 60 of whom had chosen a breast-preserving operation and 76 mastectomy. In the randomized series the patients in the two treatment arms were comparable in age, menopausal status, site of tumour, pathoanatomical diameter of the tumour, number of removed axillary lymph nodes, number of metastatic axillary lymph nodes, and distribution on adjuvant regimens. Ninety per cent of the patients in the randomized group accepted the method offered, whereas 10% declined and wanted the alternate form of operation. The median follow-up period was approximately 1.75 years. The cumulative recurrence rate in the randomized group was 13% and in the non-randomized group 7%. These results are preliminary. Life-table analyses have not so far demonstrated differences in recurrence-free survival either in the randomized or the non-randomized series. (orig.)

  13. Gossip and Distributed Kalman Filtering: Weak Consensus Under Weak Detectability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kar, Soummya; Moura, José M. F.

    2011-04-01

    The paper presents the gossip interactive Kalman filter (GIKF) for distributed Kalman filtering for networked systems and sensor networks, where inter-sensor communication and observations occur at the same time-scale. The communication among sensors is random; each sensor occasionally exchanges its filtering state information with a neighbor depending on the availability of the appropriate network link. We show that under a weak distributed detectability condition: 1. the GIKF error process remains stochastically bounded, irrespective of the instability properties of the random process dynamics; and 2. the network achieves \\emph{weak consensus}, i.e., the conditional estimation error covariance at a (uniformly) randomly selected sensor converges in distribution to a unique invariant measure on the space of positive semi-definite matrices (independent of the initial state.) To prove these results, we interpret the filtered states (estimates and error covariances) at each node in the GIKF as stochastic particles with local interactions. We analyze the asymptotic properties of the error process by studying as a random dynamical system the associated switched (random) Riccati equation, the switching being dictated by a non-stationary Markov chain on the network graph.

  14. Limit distribution function of inhomogeneities in regions with random boundary in the Hilbert space

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rasulova, M.Yu.; Tashpulatov, S.M.

    2004-10-01

    The interaction of charged particle systems with a membrane consisting of nonhomogeneities which are randomly distributed by the same law in the vicinity of appropriate sites of a planax crystal lattice is studied. A system of equations for the self-consistent potential U 1 (x,ξ 0 ,..., ξ N ,...) and the density of induced charges σ(x,ξ 0 ,...,ξ N ,...) is solved on Hilbert space. (author)

  15. Electronic oscillations in a hot plasma due the non-Maxwellian velocity distributions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dias, L.A.V.; Nakamura, Y.

    1977-01-01

    In a completely ionized hot plasma, with a non-Maxwellian electron velocity distribution, it is shown that, depending on the electron temperature, oscillations may occur at the elctron plasma and gyro frequencies. For three different electron velocity distributions, it is shown the oscillations dependency on the temperature. This situation occurs in the ionospheric plasma when artificially heated by HF radio waves. If the distribution is Maxwellian, the oscillation only occur near the electron plasma frequency [pt

  16. Stochastic space interval as a link between quantum randomness and macroscopic randomness?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haug, Espen Gaarder; Hoff, Harald

    2018-03-01

    For many stochastic phenomena, we observe statistical distributions that have fat-tails and high-peaks compared to the Gaussian distribution. In this paper, we will explain how observable statistical distributions in the macroscopic world could be related to the randomness in the subatomic world. We show that fat-tailed (leptokurtic) phenomena in our everyday macroscopic world are ultimately rooted in Gaussian - or very close to Gaussian-distributed subatomic particle randomness, but they are not, in a strict sense, Gaussian distributions. By running a truly random experiment over a three and a half-year period, we observed a type of random behavior in trillions of photons. Combining our results with simple logic, we find that fat-tailed and high-peaked statistical distributions are exactly what we would expect to observe if the subatomic world is quantized and not continuously divisible. We extend our analysis to the fact that one typically observes fat-tails and high-peaks relative to the Gaussian distribution in stocks and commodity prices and many aspects of the natural world; these instances are all observable and documentable macro phenomena that strongly suggest that the ultimate building blocks of nature are discrete (e.g. they appear in quanta).

  17. Superstatistical generalised Langevin equation: non-Gaussian viscoelastic anomalous diffusion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ślęzak, Jakub; Metzler, Ralf; Magdziarz, Marcin

    2018-02-01

    Recent advances in single particle tracking and supercomputing techniques demonstrate the emergence of normal or anomalous, viscoelastic diffusion in conjunction with non-Gaussian distributions in soft, biological, and active matter systems. We here formulate a stochastic model based on a generalised Langevin equation in which non-Gaussian shapes of the probability density function and normal or anomalous diffusion have a common origin, namely a random parametrisation of the stochastic force. We perform a detailed analysis demonstrating how various types of parameter distributions for the memory kernel result in exponential, power law, or power-log law tails of the memory functions. The studied system is also shown to exhibit a further unusual property: the velocity has a Gaussian one point probability density but non-Gaussian joint distributions. This behaviour is reflected in the relaxation from a Gaussian to a non-Gaussian distribution observed for the position variable. We show that our theoretical results are in excellent agreement with stochastic simulations.

  18. Ice Water Classification Using Statistical Distribution Based Conditional Random Fields in RADARSAT-2 Dual Polarization Imagery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Y.; Li, F.; Zhang, S.; Hao, W.; Zhu, T.; Yuan, L.; Xiao, F.

    2017-09-01

    In this paper, Statistical Distribution based Conditional Random Fields (STA-CRF) algorithm is exploited for improving marginal ice-water classification. Pixel level ice concentration is presented as the comparison of methods based on CRF. Furthermore, in order to explore the effective statistical distribution model to be integrated into STA-CRF, five statistical distribution models are investigated. The STA-CRF methods are tested on 2 scenes around Prydz Bay and Adélie Depression, where contain a variety of ice types during melt season. Experimental results indicate that the proposed method can resolve sea ice edge well in Marginal Ice Zone (MIZ) and show a robust distinction of ice and water.

  19. Non-intersecting Brownian walkers and Yang-Mills theory on the sphere

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Forrester, Peter J.; Majumdar, Satya N.; Schehr, Gregory

    2011-01-01

    We study a system of N non-intersecting Brownian motions on a line segment [0,L] with periodic, absorbing and reflecting boundary conditions. We show that the normalized reunion probabilities of these Brownian motions in the three models can be mapped to the partition function of two-dimensional continuum Yang-Mills theory on a sphere respectively with gauge groups U(N), Sp(2N) and SO(2N). Consequently, we show that in each of these Brownian motion models, as one varies the system size L, a third order phase transition occurs at a critical value L=L c (N)∼√(N) in the large N limit. Close to the critical point, the reunion probability, properly centered and scaled, is identical to the Tracy-Widom distribution describing the probability distribution of the largest eigenvalue of a random matrix. For the periodic case we obtain the Tracy-Widom distribution corresponding to the GUE random matrices, while for the absorbing and reflecting cases we get the Tracy-Widom distribution corresponding to GOE random matrices. In the absorbing case, the reunion probability is also identified as the maximal height of N non-intersecting Brownian excursions ('watermelons' with a wall) whose distribution in the asymptotic scaling limit is then described by GOE Tracy-Widom law. In addition, large deviation formulas for the maximum height are also computed.

  20. Generalized parton distribution for non zero skewness

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kumar, Narinder; Dahiya, Harleen; Teryaev, Oleg

    2012-01-01

    In the theory of strong interactions the main open question is how the nucleon and other hadrons are built from quarks and gluons, the fundamental degrees of freedom in QCD. An essential tool to investigate hadron structure is the study of deep inelastic scattering processes, where individual quarks and gluons can be resolved. The parton densities extracted from such processes encode the distribution of longitudinal momentum and polarization carried by quarks, antiquarks and gluons within a fast moving hadron. They have provided much to shape the physical picture of hadron structure. In the recent years, it has become clear that appropriate exclusive scattering processes may provide such information encoded in the general parton distributions (GPDs). Here, we investigate the GPD for deep virtual compton scattering (DVCS) for the non zero skewness. The study has investigated the GPDs by expressing them in terms of overlaps of light front wave functions (LFWFs). The work represented a spin 1/2 system as a composite of spin 1/2 fermion and spin 1 boson with arbitrary masses

  1. Calculation of momentum distribution function of a non-thermal fermionic dark matter

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Biswas, Anirban; Gupta, Aritra, E-mail: anirbanbiswas@hri.res.in, E-mail: aritra@hri.res.in [Harish-Chandra Research Institute, Chhatnag Road, Jhunsi, Allahabad 211 019 (India)

    2017-03-01

    The most widely studied scenario in dark matter phenomenology is the thermal WIMP scenario. Inspite of numerous efforts to detect WIMP, till now we have no direct evidence for it. A possible explanation for this non-observation of dark matter could be because of its very feeble interaction strength and hence, failing to thermalise with the rest of the cosmic soup. In other words, the dark matter might be of non-thermal origin where the relic density is obtained by the so-called freeze-in mechanism. Furthermore, if this non-thermal dark matter is itself produced substantially from the decay of another non-thermal mother particle, then their distribution functions may differ in both size and shape from the usual equilibrium distribution function. In this work, we have studied such a non-thermal (fermionic) dark matter scenario in the light of a new type of U(1){sub B−L} model. The U(1){sub B−L} model is interesting, since, besides being anomaly free, it can give rise to neutrino mass by Type II see-saw mechanism. Moreover, as we will show, it can accommodate a non-thermal fermionic dark matter as well. Starting from the collision terms, we have calculated the momentum distribution function for the dark matter by solving a coupled system of Boltzmann equations. We then used it to calculate the final relic abundance, as well as other relevant physical quantities. We have also compared our result with that obtained from solving the usual Boltzmann (or rate) equations directly in terms of comoving number density, Y . Our findings suggest that the latter approximation is valid only in cases where the system under study is close to equilibrium, and hence should be used with caution.

  2. Bias analysis applied to Agricultural Health Study publications to estimate non-random sources of uncertainty.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lash, Timothy L

    2007-11-26

    The associations of pesticide exposure with disease outcomes are estimated without the benefit of a randomized design. For this reason and others, these studies are susceptible to systematic errors. I analyzed studies of the associations between alachlor and glyphosate exposure and cancer incidence, both derived from the Agricultural Health Study cohort, to quantify the bias and uncertainty potentially attributable to systematic error. For each study, I identified the prominent result and important sources of systematic error that might affect it. I assigned probability distributions to the bias parameters that allow quantification of the bias, drew a value at random from each assigned distribution, and calculated the estimate of effect adjusted for the biases. By repeating the draw and adjustment process over multiple iterations, I generated a frequency distribution of adjusted results, from which I obtained a point estimate and simulation interval. These methods were applied without access to the primary record-level dataset. The conventional estimates of effect associating alachlor and glyphosate exposure with cancer incidence were likely biased away from the null and understated the uncertainty by quantifying only random error. For example, the conventional p-value for a test of trend in the alachlor study equaled 0.02, whereas fewer than 20% of the bias analysis iterations yielded a p-value of 0.02 or lower. Similarly, the conventional fully-adjusted result associating glyphosate exposure with multiple myleoma equaled 2.6 with 95% confidence interval of 0.7 to 9.4. The frequency distribution generated by the bias analysis yielded a median hazard ratio equal to 1.5 with 95% simulation interval of 0.4 to 8.9, which was 66% wider than the conventional interval. Bias analysis provides a more complete picture of true uncertainty than conventional frequentist statistical analysis accompanied by a qualitative description of study limitations. The latter approach is

  3. Bias analysis applied to Agricultural Health Study publications to estimate non-random sources of uncertainty

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lash Timothy L

    2007-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The associations of pesticide exposure with disease outcomes are estimated without the benefit of a randomized design. For this reason and others, these studies are susceptible to systematic errors. I analyzed studies of the associations between alachlor and glyphosate exposure and cancer incidence, both derived from the Agricultural Health Study cohort, to quantify the bias and uncertainty potentially attributable to systematic error. Methods For each study, I identified the prominent result and important sources of systematic error that might affect it. I assigned probability distributions to the bias parameters that allow quantification of the bias, drew a value at random from each assigned distribution, and calculated the estimate of effect adjusted for the biases. By repeating the draw and adjustment process over multiple iterations, I generated a frequency distribution of adjusted results, from which I obtained a point estimate and simulation interval. These methods were applied without access to the primary record-level dataset. Results The conventional estimates of effect associating alachlor and glyphosate exposure with cancer incidence were likely biased away from the null and understated the uncertainty by quantifying only random error. For example, the conventional p-value for a test of trend in the alachlor study equaled 0.02, whereas fewer than 20% of the bias analysis iterations yielded a p-value of 0.02 or lower. Similarly, the conventional fully-adjusted result associating glyphosate exposure with multiple myleoma equaled 2.6 with 95% confidence interval of 0.7 to 9.4. The frequency distribution generated by the bias analysis yielded a median hazard ratio equal to 1.5 with 95% simulation interval of 0.4 to 8.9, which was 66% wider than the conventional interval. Conclusion Bias analysis provides a more complete picture of true uncertainty than conventional frequentist statistical analysis accompanied by a

  4. Support or competition? How online social networks increase physical activity: A randomized controlled trial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jingwen Zhang, PhD

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available To identify what features of online social networks can increase physical activity, we conducted a 4-arm randomized controlled trial in 2014 in Philadelphia, PA. Students (n = 790, mean age = 25.2 at an university were randomly assigned to one of four conditions composed of either supportive or competitive relationships and either with individual or team incentives for attending exercise classes. The social comparison condition placed participants into 6-person competitive networks with individual incentives. The social support condition placed participants into 6-person teams with team incentives. The combined condition with both supportive and competitive relationships placed participants into 6-person teams, where participants could compare their team's performance to 5 other teams' performances. The control condition only allowed participants to attend classes with individual incentives. Rewards were based on the total number of classes attended by an individual, or the average number of classes attended by the members of a team. The outcome was the number of classes that participants attended. Data were analyzed using multilevel models in 2014. The mean attendance numbers per week were 35.7, 38.5, 20.3, and 16.8 in the social comparison, the combined, the control, and the social support conditions. Attendance numbers were 90% higher in the social comparison and the combined conditions (mean = 1.9, SE = 0.2 in contrast to the two conditions without comparison (mean = 1.0, SE = 0.2 (p = 0.003. Social comparison was more effective for increasing physical activity than social support and its effects did not depend on individual or team incentives.

  5. Supportive and non-supportive interactions in families with a type 2 diabetes patient

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bennich, Birgitte B; Røder, Michael E; Overgaard, Dorthe

    2017-01-01

    changes and diabetes self-management. The purpose of this integrative review was to summarise and assess published studies on the intra-family perspective of supportive and non-supportive interactions in families with a type 2 diabetes patient. METHODS: Included in the review were published qualitative......BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes and its management affect the patient and the close family potentially causing either psychological distress or increased sense of responsibility and collaboration in these families. Interactions between patient and family play an important role in maintaining lifestyle...... of reference lists. Quality assessment, data extraction and analysis were undertaken on all included studies. RESULTS: We identified five eligible research papers. Employing content analysis three categories describing interactions were refined: Impact of practical action, impact of emotional involvement...

  6. Effect of a data buffer on the recorded distribution of time intervals for random events

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Barton, J C [Polytechnic of North London (UK)

    1976-03-15

    The use of a data buffer enables the distribution of the time intervals between events to be studied for times less than the recording system dead-time but the usual negative exponential distribution for random events has to be modified. The theory for this effect is developed for an n-stage buffer followed by an asynchronous recorder. Results are evaluated for the values of n from 1 to 5. In the language of queueing theory the system studied is of type M/D/1/n+1, i.e. with constant service time and a finite number of places.

  7. Requirements for advanced decision support tools in future distribution network planning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Grond, M.O.W.; Morren, J.; Slootweg, J.G.

    2013-01-01

    This paper describes the need and requirements for advanced decision support tools in future network planning from a distribution network operator perspective. The existing tools will no longer be satisfactory for future application due to present developments in the electricity sector that increase

  8. A Distributed Simulation Facility to Support Human Factors Research in Advanced Air Transportation Technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amonlirdviman, Keith; Farley, Todd C.; Hansman, R. John, Jr.; Ladik, John F.; Sherer, Dana Z.

    1998-01-01

    A distributed real-time simulation of the civil air traffic environment developed to support human factors research in advanced air transportation technology is presented. The distributed environment is based on a custom simulation architecture designed for simplicity and flexibility in human experiments. Standard Internet protocols are used to create the distributed environment, linking all advanced cockpit simulator, all Air Traffic Control simulator, and a pseudo-aircraft control and simulation management station. The pseudo-aircraft control station also functions as a scenario design tool for coordinating human factors experiments. This station incorporates a pseudo-pilot interface designed to reduce workload for human operators piloting multiple aircraft simultaneously in real time. The application of this distributed simulation facility to support a study of the effect of shared information (via air-ground datalink) on pilot/controller shared situation awareness and re-route negotiation is also presented.

  9. Scale-dependent bias from the reconstruction of non-Gaussian distributions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chongchitnan, Sirichai; Silk, Joseph

    2011-01-01

    Primordial non-Gaussianity introduces a scale-dependent variation in the clustering of density peaks corresponding to rare objects. This variation, parametrized by the bias, is investigated on scales where a linear perturbation theory is sufficiently accurate. The bias is obtained directly in real space by comparing the one- and two-point probability distributions of density fluctuations. We show that these distributions can be reconstructed using a bivariate Edgeworth series, presented here up to an arbitrarily high order. The Edgeworth formalism is shown to be well-suited for ''local'' cubic-order non-Gaussianity parametrized by g NL . We show that a strong scale dependence in the bias can be produced by g NL of order 10 5 , consistent with cosmic microwave background constraints. On a separation length of ∼100 Mpc, current constraints on g NL still allow the bias for the most massive clusters to be enhanced by 20-30% of the Gaussian value. We further examine the bias as a function of mass scale, and also explore the relationship between the clustering and the abundance of massive clusters in the presence of g NL . We explain why the Edgeworth formalism, though technically challenging, is a very powerful technique for constraining high-order non-Gaussianity with large-scale structures.

  10. Developing electricity distribution networks and their regulation to support sustainable energy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shaw, Rita; Attree, Mike; Jackson, Tim

    2010-01-01

    A more sustainable energy system will alter the current patterns of electricity demand and generation. This means technical, commercial and regulatory change for electricity network systems such as distribution networks. This paper traces the links in Great Britain between changes in energy policy since privatisation, changes in the objectives of the electricity regulator and changes in the objectives of the distribution networks and their owners, the distribution network operators (DNOs). The paper identifies tensions in regulatory policy and suggests reforms to the regulatory framework to support a lower-carbon future. DNOs are licensed regional infrastructure providers. In addition to their network services, the network companies can potentially deliver public policy objectives to facilitate heat infrastructure, energy-efficiency and distributed renewables. The paper identifies the potential benefits of a novel approach to facilitating renewable energy feed-in tariffs for electricity and heat, using DNOs.

  11. Human cognitive task distribution model for maintenance support system of a nuclear power plant

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Park, Young Ho

    2007-02-15

    In human factors research, more attention has been devoted to the operation of nuclear power plants (NPPs) than to their maintenance. However, human error related to maintenance is 45% among the total human errors from 1990 to 2005 in Korean nuclear power plants. Therefore, it is necessary to study human factors in the maintenance of an NPP. There is a current trend toward introducing digital technology into both safety and non-safety systems in NPPs. A variety of information about plant conditions can be used digitally. In the future, maintenance support systems will be developed based on an information-oriented NPP. In this context, it is necessary to study the cognitive tasks of the personnel involved in maintenance and the interaction between the personnel and maintenance support systems. The fundamental purpose of this work is how to distribute the cognitive tasks of the personnel involved in the maintenance in order to develop a maintenance support system that considers human factors. The second purpose is to find the causes of errors due to engineers or maintainers and propose system functions that are countermeasures to reduce these errors. In this paper, a cognitive task distribution model of the personnel involved in maintenance is proposed using Rasmussen's decision making model. First, the personnel were divided into three groups: the operators (inspectors), engineers, and maintainers. Second, human cognitive tasks related to maintenance were distributed based on these groups. The operators' cognitive tasks are detection and observation; the engineers' cognitive tasks are identification, evaluation, target state, select target, and procedure: and the maintainers' cognitive task is execution. The case study is an analysis of failure reports related to human error in maintenance over a period of 15years. By using error classification based on the information processing approach, the human errors involved in maintenance were classified

  12. Human cognitive task distribution model for maintenance support system of a nuclear power plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, Young Ho

    2007-02-01

    In human factors research, more attention has been devoted to the operation of nuclear power plants (NPPs) than to their maintenance. However, human error related to maintenance is 45% among the total human errors from 1990 to 2005 in Korean nuclear power plants. Therefore, it is necessary to study human factors in the maintenance of an NPP. There is a current trend toward introducing digital technology into both safety and non-safety systems in NPPs. A variety of information about plant conditions can be used digitally. In the future, maintenance support systems will be developed based on an information-oriented NPP. In this context, it is necessary to study the cognitive tasks of the personnel involved in maintenance and the interaction between the personnel and maintenance support systems. The fundamental purpose of this work is how to distribute the cognitive tasks of the personnel involved in the maintenance in order to develop a maintenance support system that considers human factors. The second purpose is to find the causes of errors due to engineers or maintainers and propose system functions that are countermeasures to reduce these errors. In this paper, a cognitive task distribution model of the personnel involved in maintenance is proposed using Rasmussen's decision making model. First, the personnel were divided into three groups: the operators (inspectors), engineers, and maintainers. Second, human cognitive tasks related to maintenance were distributed based on these groups. The operators' cognitive tasks are detection and observation; the engineers' cognitive tasks are identification, evaluation, target state, select target, and procedure: and the maintainers' cognitive task is execution. The case study is an analysis of failure reports related to human error in maintenance over a period of 15years. By using error classification based on the information processing approach, the human errors involved in maintenance were classified

  13. Non-Gaussian probability distributions of solar wind fluctuations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E. Marsch

    Full Text Available The probability distributions of field differences ∆x(τ=x(t+τ-x(t, where the variable x(t may denote any solar wind scalar field or vector field component at time t, have been calculated from time series of Helios data obtained in 1976 at heliocentric distances near 0.3 AU. It is found that for comparatively long time lag τ, ranging from a few hours to 1 day, the differences are normally distributed according to a Gaussian. For shorter time lags, of less than ten minutes, significant changes in shape are observed. The distributions are often spikier and narrower than the equivalent Gaussian distribution with the same standard deviation, and they are enhanced for large, reduced for intermediate and enhanced for very small values of ∆x. This result is in accordance with fluid observations and numerical simulations. Hence statistical properties are dominated at small scale τ by large fluctuation amplitudes that are sparsely distributed, which is direct evidence for spatial intermittency of the fluctuations. This is in agreement with results from earlier analyses of the structure functions of ∆x. The non-Gaussian features are differently developed for the various types of fluctuations. The relevance of these observations to the interpretation and understanding of the nature of solar wind magnetohydrodynamic (MHD turbulence is pointed out, and contact is made with existing theoretical concepts of intermittency in fluid turbulence.

  14. Multimedia support for improving preoperative patient education: a randomized controlled trial using the example of radical prostatectomy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huber, Johannes; Ihrig, Andreas; Yass, Mohammed; Bruckner, Tom; Peters, Tim; Huber, Christian G; Konyango, Beryl; Lozankovski, Novica; Stredele, Regina J F; Moll, Peter; Schneider, Meike; Pahernik, Sascha; Hohenfellner, Markus

    2013-01-01

    Growing evidence supports the use of multimedia presentations for informing patients. Therefore, we supported preoperative education by adding a multimedia tool and examined the effects in a randomized controlled trial. We randomized German-speaking patients scheduled for radical prostatectomy at our center to receive either a multimedia-supported (MME) or a standard education (SE). Outcomes were measured in a structured interview. Primary outcome was patient satisfaction. In addition, we applied validated instruments to determine anxiety and measures of decision-making. Results were given by mean and standard deviation. For comparison of groups we used t test and chi-square test. For an explorative analysis we applied multivariate logistic regression. We randomized 203 patients to receive MME (n=102) or SE (n=101). Complete satisfaction with preoperative education was more frequent in the MME group (69 vs 52%, p=.016) and patients after MME reported more questions (5.7 vs 4.2, p=.018). There was no difference concerning the duration of talks and the number of recalled risks. However, perceived knowledge was higher after MME (1.3 vs 1.6, p=.037). Anxiety and measures of decision-making were comparable. Patients judged the multimedia tool very positive, and 74% of the MME group thought that their preoperative education had been superior to SE. Multimedia support should be considered worthwhile for improving the informed consent process before surgery (www.germanctr.de; DRKS00000096).

  15. A randomized controlled trial of support group intervention after breast cancer treatment: results on sick leave, health care utilization and health economy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Björneklett, Helena Granstam; Rosenblad, Andreas; Lindemalm, Christina; Ojutkangas, Marja-Leena; Letocha, Henry; Strang, Peter; Bergkvist, Leif

    2013-01-01

    More than 50% of breast cancer patients are diagnosed before the age of 65. Returning to work after treatment is, therefore, of interest for both the individual and society. The aim was to study the effect of support group intervention on sick leave and health care utilization in economic terms. Of 382 patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer, 191 + 191 patients were randomized to an intervention group or to a routine control group, respectively. The intervention group received support intervention on a residential basis for one week, followed by four days of follow-up two months later. The support intervention included informative-educational sections, relaxation training, mental visualization and non-verbal communication. Patients answered a questionnaire at baseline, two, six and 12 months about sick leave and health care utilization. There was a trend towards longer sick leave and more health care utilization in the intervention group. The difference in total costs was statistically significantly higher in the intervention group after 12 months (p = 0.0036). Costs to society were not reduced with intervention in its present form.

  16. Scaling behaviour of randomly alternating surface growth processes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Raychaudhuri, Subhadip; Shapir, Yonathan

    2002-01-01

    The scaling properties of the roughness of surfaces grown by two different processes randomly alternating in time are addressed. The duration of each application of the two primary processes is assumed to be independently drawn from given distribution functions. We analytically address processes in which the two primary processes are linear and extend the conclusions to nonlinear processes as well. The growth scaling exponent of the average roughness with the number of applications is found to be determined by the long time tail of the distribution functions. For processes in which both mean application times are finite, the scaling behaviour follows that of the corresponding cyclical process in which the uniform application time of each primary process is given by its mean. If the distribution functions decay with a small enough power law for the mean application times to diverge, the growth exponent is found to depend continuously on this power-law exponent. In contrast, the roughness exponent does not depend on the timing of the applications. The analytical results are supported by numerical simulations of various pairs of primary processes and with different distribution functions. Self-affine surfaces grown by two randomly alternating processes are common in nature (e.g., due to randomly changing weather conditions) and in man-made devices such as rechargeable batteries

  17. Toward Understanding Non-Centralized Technology Support in Higher Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jackson, Robert Jonathan

    2009-01-01

    The focus of this research is an examination of service quality provided by non-centralized technology personnel, Local Technical Support Providers (LSPs), at a southern research university. The SERVQUAL instrument was selected to measure service quality of LSPs within the Academic Affairs Division. The rationale for selecting and testing SERVQUAL…

  18. Law of Iterated Logarithm for NA Sequences with Non-Identical ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Based on a law of the iterated logarithm for independent random variables sequences, an iterated logarithm theorem for NA sequences with non-identical distributions is obtained. The proof is based on a Kolmogrov-type exponential inequality.

  19. Network Regulation and Support Schemes - How Policy Interactions Affect the Integration of Distributed Generation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ropenus, Stephanie; Jacobsen, Henrik; Schröder, Sascha Thorsten

    2011-01-01

    This article seeks to investigate the interactions between the policy dimensions of support schemes and network regulation and how they affect distributed generation. Firstly, the incentives of distributed generators and distribution system operators are examined. Frequently there exists a trade......-off between the incentives for these two market agents to facilitate the integration of distributed generation. Secondly, the interaction of these policy dimensions is analyzed, including case studies based on five EU Member States. Aspects of operational nature and investments in grid and distributed...

  20. Randomized phase III trial of regorafenib in metastatic colorectal cancer: analysis of the CORRECT Japanese and non-Japanese subpopulations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoshino, Takayuki; Komatsu, Yoshito; Yamada, Yasuhide; Yamazaki, Kentaro; Tsuji, Akihito; Ura, Takashi; Grothey, Axel; Van Cutsem, Eric; Wagner, Andrea; Cihon, Frank; Hamada, Yoko; Ohtsu, Atsushi

    2015-06-01

    In the international, phase III, randomized, double-blind CORRECT trial, regorafenib significantly prolonged overall survival (OS) versus placebo in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) that had progressed on all standard therapies. This post hoc analysis evaluated the efficacy and safety of regorafenib in Japanese and non-Japanese subpopulations in the CORRECT trial. Patients were randomized 2 : 1 to regorafenib 160 mg once daily or placebo for weeks 1-3 of each 4-week cycle. The primary endpoint was OS. Outcomes were assessed using descriptive statistics. One hundred Japanese and 660 non-Japanese patients were randomized to regorafenib (n = 67 and n = 438) or placebo (n = 33 and n = 222). Regorafenib had a consistent OS benefit in the Japanese and non-Japanese subpopulations, with hazard ratios of 0.81 (95 % confidence interval [CI] 0.43-1.51) and 0.77 (95 % CI 0.62-0.94), respectively. Regorafenib-associated hand-foot skin reaction, hypertension, proteinuria, thrombocytopenia, and lipase elevations occurred more frequently in the Japanese subpopulation than in the non-Japanese subpopulation, but were generally manageable. Regorafenib appears to have comparable efficacy in Japanese and non-Japanese subpopulations, with a manageable adverse-event profile, suggesting that this agent could potentially become a standard of care in patients with mCRC.

  1. ACORN—A new method for generating sequences of uniformly distributed Pseudo-random Numbers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wikramaratna, R. S.

    1989-07-01

    A new family of pseudo-random number generators, the ACORN ( additive congruential random number) generators, is proposed. The resulting numbers are distributed uniformly in the interval [0, 1). The ACORN generators are defined recursively, and the ( k + 1)th order generator is easily derived from the kth order generator. Some theorems concerning the period length are presented and compared with existing results for linear congruential generators. A range of statistical tests are applied to the ACORN generators, and their performance is compared with that of the linear congruential generators and the Chebyshev generators. The tests show the ACORN generators to be statistically superior to the Chebyshev generators, while being statistically similar to the linear congruential generators. However, the ACORN generators execute faster than linear congruential generators for the same statistical faithfulness. The main advantages of the ACORN generator are speed of execution, long period length, and simplicity of coding.

  2. Effect of particle size distribution on permeability in the randomly packed porous media

    Science.gov (United States)

    Markicevic, Bojan

    2017-11-01

    An answer of how porous medium heterogeneity influences the medium permeability is still inconclusive, where both increase and decrease in the permeability value are reported. A numerical procedure is used to generate a randomly packed porous material consisting of spherical particles. Six different particle size distributions are used including mono-, bi- and three-disperse particles, as well as uniform, normal and log-normal particle size distribution with the maximum to minimum particle size ratio ranging from three to eight for different distributions. In all six cases, the average particle size is kept the same. For all media generated, the stochastic homogeneity is checked from distribution of three coordinates of particle centers, where uniform distribution of x-, y- and z- positions is found. The medium surface area remains essentially constant except for bi-modal distribution in which medium area decreases, while no changes in the porosity are observed (around 0.36). The fluid flow is solved in such domain, and after checking for the pressure axial linearity, the permeability is calculated from the Darcy law. The permeability comparison reveals that the permeability of the mono-disperse medium is smallest, and the permeability of all poly-disperse samples is less than ten percent higher. For bi-modal particles, the permeability is for a quarter higher compared to the other media which can be explained by volumetric contribution of larger particles and larger passages for fluid flow to take place.

  3. Distribution of orientation selectivity in recurrent networks of spiking neurons with different random topologies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sadeh, Sadra; Rotter, Stefan

    2014-01-01

    Neurons in the primary visual cortex are more or less selective for the orientation of a light bar used for stimulation. A broad distribution of individual grades of orientation selectivity has in fact been reported in all species. A possible reason for emergence of broad distributions is the recurrent network within which the stimulus is being processed. Here we compute the distribution of orientation selectivity in randomly connected model networks that are equipped with different spatial patterns of connectivity. We show that, for a wide variety of connectivity patterns, a linear theory based on firing rates accurately approximates the outcome of direct numerical simulations of networks of spiking neurons. Distance dependent connectivity in networks with a more biologically realistic structure does not compromise our linear analysis, as long as the linearized dynamics, and hence the uniform asynchronous irregular activity state, remain stable. We conclude that linear mechanisms of stimulus processing are indeed responsible for the emergence of orientation selectivity and its distribution in recurrent networks with functionally heterogeneous synaptic connectivity.

  4. NON-COHESIVE SOILS’ COMPRESSIBILITY AND UNEVEN GRAIN-SIZE DISTRIBUTION RELATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anatoliy Mirnyy

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the results of laboratory investigation of soil compression phases with consideration of various granulometric composition. Materials and Methods Experimental soil box with microscale video recording for compression phases studies is described. Photo and video materials showing the differences of microscale particle movements were obtained for non-cohesive soils with different grain-size distribution. Results The analysis of the compression tests results and elastic and plastic deformations separation allows identifying each compression phase. It is shown, that soil density is correlating with deformability parameters only for the same grain-size distribution. Basing on the test results the authors suggest that compaction ratio is not sufficient for deformability estimating without grain-size distribution taken into account. Discussion and Conclusions Considering grain-size distribution allows refining technological requirements for artificial soil structures, backfills, and sand beds. Further studies could be used for developing standard documents, SP45.13330.2012 in particular.

  5. A random number generator for continuous random variables

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guerra, V. M.; Tapia, R. A.; Thompson, J. R.

    1972-01-01

    A FORTRAN 4 routine is given which may be used to generate random observations of a continuous real valued random variable. Normal distribution of F(x), X, E(akimas), and E(linear) is presented in tabular form.

  6. Shared Visualizations in Support of Distributed Creative Communities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alastair Weakley

    2004-05-01

    Full Text Available The paper is concerned with support for distributed groups of creative knowledge workers: in this case designers. We consider requirements that designers have regarding internalisation and externalisation of ideas and concepts as well as requirements relating to collaboration. We review an online system whose facilities for the graphical representation of data were found to be popular. The evaluation was in the context of a group task and the results, including instances of tacit knowledge sharing, have led us to formulate a number of recommendations as to how such systems might be made still more effective for collaborative working.

  7. Models for randomly distributed nanoscopic domains on spherical vesicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anghel, Vinicius N. P.; Bolmatov, Dima; Katsaras, John

    2018-06-01

    The existence of lipid domains in the plasma membrane of biological systems has proven controversial, primarily due to their nanoscopic size—a length scale difficult to interrogate with most commonly used experimental techniques. Scattering techniques have recently proven capable of studying nanoscopic lipid domains populating spherical vesicles. However, the development of analytical methods able of predicting and analyzing domain pair correlations from such experiments has not kept pace. Here, we developed models for the random distribution of monodisperse, circular nanoscopic domains averaged on the surface of a spherical vesicle. Specifically, the models take into account (i) intradomain correlations corresponding to form factors and interdomain correlations corresponding to pair distribution functions, and (ii) the analytical computation of interdomain correlations for cases of two and three domains on a spherical vesicle. In the case of more than three domains, these correlations are treated either by Monte Carlo simulations or by spherical analogs of the Ornstein-Zernike and Percus-Yevick (PY) equations. Importantly, the spherical analog of the PY equation works best in the case of nanoscopic size domains, a length scale that is mostly inaccessible by experimental approaches such as, for example, fluorescent techniques and optical microscopies. The analytical form factors and structure factors of nanoscopic domains populating a spherical vesicle provide a new and important framework for the quantitative analysis of experimental data from commonly studied phase-separated vesicles used in a wide range of biophysical studies.

  8. Magneto-transport properties of a random distribution of few-layer graphene patches

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Iacovella, Fabrice; Mitioglu, Anatolie; Pierre, Mathieu; Raquet, Bertrand; Goiran, Michel; Plochocka, Paulina; Escoffier, Walter; Trinsoutrot, Pierre; Vergnes, Hugues; Caussat, Brigitte; Conédéra, Véronique

    2014-01-01

    In this study, we address the electronic properties of conducting films constituted of an array of randomly distributed few layer graphene patches and investigate on their most salient galvanometric features in the moderate and extreme disordered limit. We demonstrate that, in annealed devices, the ambipolar behaviour and the onset of Landau level quantization in high magnetic field constitute robust hallmarks of few-layer graphene films. In the strong disorder limit, however, the magneto-transport properties are best described by a variable-range hopping behaviour. A large negative magneto-conductance is observed at the charge neutrality point, in consistency with localized transport regime

  9. ALOHA Random Access that Operates as a Rateless Code

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Stefanovic, Cedomir; Popovski, Petar

    2013-01-01

    Various applications of wireless Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications have rekindled the research interest in random access protocols, suitable to support a large number of connected devices. Slotted ALOHA and its derivatives represent a simple solution for distributed random access in wireless...... the contention when the instantaneous throughput is maximized. The paper presents the related analysis, providing heuristic criteria for terminating the contention period and showing that very high throughputs can be achieved, even for a low number for contending users. The demonstrated results potentially have...

  10. Non-Maxwellian electron distributions in time-dependent simulations of low-Z materials illuminated by a high-intensity X-ray laser

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    de la Varga, A.G.; Velarde, P.; de Gaufridy de Dortan, Francois; Portillo, D.; Cotelo, M.; Barbas, A.; González, A.; Zeitoun, Ph.

    2013-01-01

    Roč. 9, č. 3 (2013), s. 542-547 ISSN 1574-1818 R&D Projects: GA MŠk ED1.1.00/02.0061; GA MŠk EE.2.3.20.0087 Grant - others:ELI Beamlines(XE) CZ.1.05/1.1.00/02.0061; OP VK 2 LaserGen(XE) CZ.1.07/2.3.00/20.0087 Institutional support: RVO:68378271 Keywords : non-Maxwellian electron distribution * time - dependent atomic kinetics Subject RIV: BE - Theoretical Physics Impact factor: 1.519, year: 2013

  11. Peers versus professional training of basic life support in Syria: a randomized controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abbas, Fatima; Sawaf, Bisher; Hanafi, Ibrahem; Hajeer, Mohammad Younis; Zakaria, Mhd Ismael; Abbas, Wafaa; Alabdeh, Fadi; Ibrahim, Nazir

    2018-06-18

    Peer training has been identified as a useful tool for delivering undergraduate training in basic life support (BLS) which is fundamental as an initial response in cases of emergency. This study aimed to (1) Evaluate the efficacy of peer-led model in basic life support training among medical students in their first three years of study, compared to professional-led training and (2) To assess the efficacy of the course program and students' satisfaction of peer-led training. A randomized controlled trial with blinded assessors was conducted on 72 medical students from the pre-clinical years (1st to 3rd years in Syria) at Syrian Private University. Students were randomly assigned to peer-led or to professional-led training group for one-day-course of basic life support skills. Sixty-four students who underwent checklist based assessment using objective structured clinical examination design (OSCE) (practical assessment of BLS skills) and answered BLS knowledge checkpoint-questionnaire were included in the analysis. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in delivering BLS skills to medical students in practical (P = 0.850) and BLS knowledge questionnaire outcomes (P = 0.900). Both groups showed statistically significant improvement from pre- to post-course assessment with significant statistical difference in both practical skills and theoretical knowledge (P-Value life support for medical students was beneficial and it provided a quality of education which was as effective as training conducted by professionals. This method is applicable and desirable especially in poor-resource countries and in crisis situation.

  12. Effectiveness of a Technology-Based Supportive Educational Parenting Program on Parental Outcomes in Singapore: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shorey, Shefaly; Ng, Yvonne Peng Mei; Siew, An Ling; Yoong, Joanne; Mörelius, Evalotte

    2018-01-10

    Supportive educational programs during the perinatal period are scarce in Singapore. There is no continuity of care available in terms of support from community care nurses in Singapore. Parents are left on their own most of the time, which results in a stressful transition to parenthood. There is a need for easily accessible technology-based educational programs that can support parents during this crucial perinatal period. The aim of this study was to describe the study protocol of a randomized controlled trial on a technology-based supportive educational parenting program. A randomized controlled two-group pretest and repeated posttest experimental design will be used. The study will recruit 118 parents (59 couples) from the antenatal clinics of a tertiary public hospital in Singapore. Eligible parents will be randomly allocated to receive either the supportive educational parenting program or routine perinatal care from the hospital. Outcome measures include parenting self-efficacy, parental bonding, postnatal depression, social support, parenting satisfaction, and cost evaluation. Data will be collected at the antenatal period, immediate postnatal period, and at 1 month and 3 months post childbirth. Recruitment of the study participants commenced in December 2016 and is still ongoing. Data collection is projected to finish within 12 months, by December 2017. This study will identify a potentially clinically useful, effective, and cost-effective supportive educational parenting program to improve parental self-efficacy and bonding in newborn care, which will then improve parents' social support-seeking behaviors, emotional well-being, and satisfaction with parenting. It is hoped that better supported and satisfied parents will consider having more children, which may in turn influence Singapore's ailing birth rate. International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number (ISRCTN): 48536064; https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN48536064 (Archived by WebCite at http

  13. Broadband diffuse terahertz wave scattering by flexible metasurface with randomized phase distribution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yin; Liang, Lanju; Yang, Jing; Feng, Yijun; Zhu, Bo; Zhao, Junming; Jiang, Tian; Jin, Biaobing; Liu, Weiwei

    2016-05-26

    Suppressing specular electromagnetic wave reflection or backward radar cross section is important and of broad interests in practical electromagnetic engineering. Here, we present a scheme to achieve broadband backward scattering reduction through diffuse terahertz wave reflection by a flexible metasurface. The diffuse scattering of terahertz wave is caused by the randomized reflection phase distribution on the metasurface, which consists of meta-particles of differently sized metallic patches arranged on top of a grounded polyimide substrate simply through a certain computer generated pseudorandom sequence. Both numerical simulations and experimental results demonstrate the ultralow specular reflection over a broad frequency band and wide angle of incidence due to the re-distribution of the incident energy into various directions. The diffuse scattering property is also polarization insensitive and can be well preserved when the flexible metasurface is conformably wrapped on a curved reflective object. The proposed design opens up a new route for specular reflection suppression, and may be applicable in stealth and other technology in the terahertz spectrum.

  14. 3D vector distribution of the electro-magnetic fields on a random gold film

    Science.gov (United States)

    Canneson, Damien; Berini, Bruno; Buil, Stéphanie; Hermier, Jean-Pierre; Quélin, Xavier

    2018-05-01

    The 3D vector distribution of the electro-magnetic fields at the very close vicinity of the surface of a random gold film is studied. Such films are well known for their properties of light confinement and large fluctuations of local density of optical states. Using Finite-Difference Time-Domain simulations, we show that it is possible to determine the local orientation of the electro-magnetic fields. This allows us to obtain a complete characterization of the fields. Large fluctuations of their amplitude are observed as previously shown. Here, we demonstrate large variations of their direction depending both on the position on the random gold film, and on the distance to it. Such characterization could be useful for a better understanding of applications like the coupling of point-like dipoles to such films.

  15. Distributed generation in the Dutch LV network - self-supporting residential area

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mes, M.; Vanalme, G.M.A.; Myrzik, J.M.A.; Bongaerts, M.; Verbong, G.P.J.; Kling, W.L.

    2008-01-01

    A self-supporting residential area is seen as an alternative operational approach of power supply in low voltage (LV) networks. The intention of the new approach is to exploit the advantages of distributed generation (DG) and avoid the difficulties, that come with DG when implemented in the

  16. A Correction of Random Incidence Absorption Coefficients for the Angular Distribution of Acoustic Energy under Measurement Conditions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jeong, Cheol-Ho

    2009-01-01

    Most acoustic measurements are based on an assumption of ideal conditions. One such ideal condition is a diffuse and reverberant field. In practice, a perfectly diffuse sound field cannot be achieved in a reverberation chamber. Uneven incident energy density under measurement conditions can cause...... discrepancies between the measured value and the theoretical random incidence absorption coefficient. Therefore the angular distribution of the incident acoustic energy onto an absorber sample should be taken into account. The angular distribution of the incident energy density was simulated using the beam...... tracing method for various room shapes and source positions. The averaged angular distribution is found to be similar to a Gaussian distribution. As a result, an angle-weighted absorption coefficient was proposed by considering the angular energy distribution to improve the agreement between...

  17. Developing electricity distribution networks and their regulation to support sustainable energy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shaw, Rita; Attree, Mike [Electricity North West Ltd., 304 Bridgewater Place, Birchwood, Warrington, Cheshire WA3 6XG (United Kingdom); Jackson, Tim [RESOLVE, Centre for Environmental Strategy D3, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey GU2 7XH (United Kingdom)

    2010-10-15

    A more sustainable energy system will alter the current patterns of electricity demand and generation. This means technical, commercial and regulatory change for electricity network systems such as distribution networks. This paper traces the links in Great Britain between changes in energy policy since privatisation, changes in the objectives of the electricity regulator and changes in the objectives of the distribution networks and their owners, the distribution network operators (DNOs). The paper identifies tensions in regulatory policy and suggests reforms to the regulatory framework to support a lower-carbon future. DNOs are licensed regional infrastructure providers. In addition to their network services, the network companies can potentially deliver public policy objectives to facilitate heat infrastructure, energy-efficiency and distributed renewables. The paper identifies the potential benefits of a novel approach to facilitating renewable energy feed-in tariffs for electricity and heat, using DNOs. (author)

  18. The impact of an online Facebook support group for people with multiple sclerosis on non-active users

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jacqui Steadman

    2014-11-01

    Objectives: This study therefore aimed to explore the experiences of non-active users of an online Facebook support group for PwMS. Emphasis was placed on the facilitators and the barriers that were associated with membership to this group. Method: An exploratory qualitative research design was implemented, whereby thematic analysis was utilised to examine the ten semi-structured interviews that were conducted. Results: Several facilitators were acquired through the online support group; namely emotional support (constant source of support, exposure to negative aspects of the disease,informational support (group as a source of knowledge, quality of information and social companionship (place of belonging. Some barriers were also identified; namely emotional support (emotions lost online, response to messages, exposure to negative aspects of the disease, informational support (information posted on the group, misuse of group and social companionship (non-active status. Conclusion: These findings demonstrate that the non-active members of the online support group for PwMS have valid reasons for their non-active membership status. More important,the findings suggest that the online Facebook support group provided the group members with an important support network in the form of emotional support, informational support and social companionship, despite their non-active membership status or the barriers that have been identified.

  19. High-resolution characterization of sequence signatures due to non-random cleavage of cell-free DNA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chandrananda, Dineika; Thorne, Natalie P; Bahlo, Melanie

    2015-06-17

    High-throughput sequencing of cell-free DNA fragments found in human plasma has been used to non-invasively detect fetal aneuploidy, monitor organ transplants and investigate tumor DNA. However, many biological properties of this extracellular genetic material remain unknown. Research that further characterizes circulating DNA could substantially increase its diagnostic value by allowing the application of more sophisticated bioinformatics tools that lead to an improved signal to noise ratio in the sequencing data. In this study, we investigate various features of cell-free DNA in plasma using deep-sequencing data from two pregnant women (>70X, >50X) and compare them with matched cellular DNA. We utilize a descriptive approach to examine how the biological cleavage of cell-free DNA affects different sequence signatures such as fragment lengths, sequence motifs at fragment ends and the distribution of cleavage sites along the genome. We show that the size distributions of these cell-free DNA molecules are dependent on their autosomal and mitochondrial origin as well as the genomic location within chromosomes. DNA mapping to particular microsatellites and alpha repeat elements display unique size signatures. We show how cell-free fragments occur in clusters along the genome, localizing to nucleosomal arrays and are preferentially cleaved at linker regions by correlating the mapping locations of these fragments with ENCODE annotation of chromatin organization. Our work further demonstrates that cell-free autosomal DNA cleavage is sequence dependent. The region spanning up to 10 positions on either side of the DNA cleavage site show a consistent pattern of preference for specific nucleotides. This sequence motif is present in cleavage sites localized to nucleosomal cores and linker regions but is absent in nucleosome-free mitochondrial DNA. These background signals in cell-free DNA sequencing data stem from the non-random biological cleavage of these fragments. This

  20. Probability Distribution and Deviation Information Fusion Driven Support Vector Regression Model and Its Application

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Changhao Fan

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available In modeling, only information from the deviation between the output of the support vector regression (SVR model and the training sample is considered, whereas the other prior information of the training sample, such as probability distribution information, is ignored. Probabilistic distribution information describes the overall distribution of sample data in a training sample that contains different degrees of noise and potential outliers, as well as helping develop a high-accuracy model. To mine and use the probability distribution information of a training sample, a new support vector regression model that incorporates probability distribution information weight SVR (PDISVR is proposed. In the PDISVR model, the probability distribution of each sample is considered as the weight and is then introduced into the error coefficient and slack variables of SVR. Thus, the deviation and probability distribution information of the training sample are both used in the PDISVR model to eliminate the influence of noise and outliers in the training sample and to improve predictive performance. Furthermore, examples with different degrees of noise were employed to demonstrate the performance of PDISVR, which was then compared with those of three SVR-based methods. The results showed that PDISVR performs better than the three other methods.

  1. Asymptotic Approximations to the Non-Isothermal Distributed Activation Energy Model for Bio-Mass Pyrolysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dhaundiyal Alok

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes the influence of some parameters significant to biomass pyrolysis on the numerical solutions of the non-isothermal nth order distributed activation energy model (DAEM using the Gamma distribution and discusses the special case for the positive integer value of the scale parameter (λ, i.e. the Erlang distribution. Investigated parameters are the integral upper limit, the frequency factor, the heating rate, the reaction order, and the shape and rate parameters of the Gamma distribution. Influence of these parameters has been considered for the determination of the kinetic parameters of the non-isothermal nth order Gamma distribution from the experimentally derived thermoanalytical data of biomass pyrolysis. Mathematically, the effect of parameters on numerical solution is also used for predicting the behaviour of the unpyrolysized fraction of biomass with respect to temperature. Analysis of the mathematical model is based upon asymptotic expansions, which leads to the systematic methods for efficient way to determine the accurate approximations. The proposed method, therefore, provides a rapid and highly effective way for estimating the kinetic parameters and the distribution of activation energies.

  2. Lyapunov Functions, Stationary Distributions, and Non-equilibrium Potential for Reaction Networks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Anderson, David F; Craciun, Gheorghe; Gopalkrishnan, Manoj

    2015-01-01

    We consider the relationship between stationary distributions for stochastic models of reaction systems and Lyapunov functions for their deterministic counterparts. Specifically, we derive the well-known Lyapunov function of reaction network theory as a scaling limit of the non-equilibrium potent...

  3. TYPE Ia SUPERNOVA COLORS AND EJECTA VELOCITIES: HIERARCHICAL BAYESIAN REGRESSION WITH NON-GAUSSIAN DISTRIBUTIONS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mandel, Kaisey S.; Kirshner, Robert P.; Foley, Ryan J.

    2014-01-01

    We investigate the statistical dependence of the peak intrinsic colors of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) on their expansion velocities at maximum light, measured from the Si II λ6355 spectral feature. We construct a new hierarchical Bayesian regression model, accounting for the random effects of intrinsic scatter, measurement error, and reddening by host galaxy dust, and implement a Gibbs sampler and deviance information criteria to estimate the correlation. The method is applied to the apparent colors from BVRI light curves and Si II velocity data for 79 nearby SNe Ia. The apparent color distributions of high-velocity (HV) and normal velocity (NV) supernovae exhibit significant discrepancies for B – V and B – R, but not other colors. Hence, they are likely due to intrinsic color differences originating in the B band, rather than dust reddening. The mean intrinsic B – V and B – R color differences between HV and NV groups are 0.06 ± 0.02 and 0.09 ± 0.02 mag, respectively. A linear model finds significant slopes of –0.021 ± 0.006 and –0.030 ± 0.009 mag (10 3 km s –1 ) –1 for intrinsic B – V and B – R colors versus velocity, respectively. Because the ejecta velocity distribution is skewed toward high velocities, these effects imply non-Gaussian intrinsic color distributions with skewness up to +0.3. Accounting for the intrinsic-color-velocity correlation results in corrections to A V extinction estimates as large as –0.12 mag for HV SNe Ia and +0.06 mag for NV events. Velocity measurements from SN Ia spectra have the potential to diminish systematic errors from the confounding of intrinsic colors and dust reddening affecting supernova distances

  4. Random phenomena fundamentals of probability and statistics for engineers

    CERN Document Server

    Ogunnaike, Babatunde A

    2009-01-01

    PreludeApproach PhilosophyFour Basic PrinciplesI FoundationsTwo Motivating ExamplesYield Improvement in a Chemical ProcessQuality Assurance in a Glass Sheet Manufacturing ProcessOutline of a Systematic ApproachRandom Phenomena, Variability, and UncertaintyTwo Extreme Idealizations of Natural PhenomenaRandom Mass PhenomenaIntroducing ProbabilityThe Probabilistic FrameworkII ProbabilityFundamentals of Probability TheoryBuilding BlocksOperationsProbabilityConditional ProbabilityIndependenceRandom Variables and DistributionsDistributionsMathematical ExpectationCharacterizing DistributionsSpecial Derived Probability FunctionsMultidimensional Random VariablesDistributions of Several Random VariablesDistributional Characteristics of Jointly Distributed Random VariablesRandom Variable TransformationsSingle Variable TransformationsBivariate TransformationsGeneral Multivariate TransformationsApplication Case Studies I: ProbabilityMendel and HeredityWorld War II Warship Tactical Response Under AttackIII DistributionsIde...

  5. 76 FR 36534 - Toxicological Review of Methanol (Non-Cancer): In Support of Summary Information on the...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-06-22

    ... Review of Methanol (Non-Cancer): In Support of Summary Information on the Integrated Risk Information... review draft human health assessment titled ``Toxicological Review of Methanol (Non- Cancer): In Support... Toxicological Review of Methanol (Non-Cancer) and announcing a 14-day public comment period for the addendum...

  6. 78 FR 26029 - Toxicological Review of Methanol (Non-Cancer): In Support of Summary Information on the...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-05-03

    ... Review of Methanol (Non-Cancer): In Support of Summary Information on the Integrated Risk Information... and peer review on the draft non-cancer toxicological review of methanol. SUMMARY: EPA is announcing a... Review of Methanol (Non-Cancer): In Support of Summary Information on the Integrated Risk Information...

  7. Mathematical models application for mapping soils spatial distribution on the example of the farm from the North of Udmurt Republic of Russia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dokuchaev, P. M.; Meshalkina, J. L.; Yaroslavtsev, A. M.

    2018-01-01

    Comparative analysis of soils geospatial modeling using multinomial logistic regression, decision trees, random forest, regression trees and support vector machines algorithms was conducted. The visual interpretation of the digital maps obtained and their comparison with the existing map, as well as the quantitative assessment of the individual soil groups detection overall accuracy and of the models kappa showed that multiple logistic regression, support vector method, and random forest models application with spatial prediction of the conditional soil groups distribution can be reliably used for mapping of the study area. It has shown the most accurate detection for sod-podzolics soils (Phaeozems Albic) lightly eroded and moderately eroded soils. In second place, according to the mean overall accuracy of the prediction, there are sod-podzolics soils - non-eroded and warp one, as well as sod-gley soils (Umbrisols Gleyic) and alluvial soils (Fluvisols Dystric, Umbric). Heavy eroded sod-podzolics and gray forest soils (Phaeozems Albic) were detected by methods of automatic classification worst of all.

  8. Estimating Non-Normal Latent Trait Distributions within Item Response Theory Using True and Estimated Item Parameters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sass, D. A.; Schmitt, T. A.; Walker, C. M.

    2008-01-01

    Item response theory (IRT) procedures have been used extensively to study normal latent trait distributions and have been shown to perform well; however, less is known concerning the performance of IRT with non-normal latent trait distributions. This study investigated the degree of latent trait estimation error under normal and non-normal…

  9. Metastatic and non-metastatic lymph nodes. Quantification and different distribution of iodine uptake assessed by dual-energy CT

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rizzo, Stefania [European Institute of Oncology, Department of Radiology, Milan (Italy); Radice, Davide [Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Milan (Italy); Femia, Marco; Vigorito, Raffaella [Universita di Milano, Department of Health Sciences, Milan (Italy); De Marco, Paolo; Origgi, Daniela [Medical Physics, European Institute of Oncology, Milan (Italy); Preda, Lorenzo [Division of Radiology, National Centre of Oncological Hadrontherapy (CNAO Foundation), Pavia (Italy); University of Pavia, Department of Clinical, Surgical, Diagnostic and Paediatric Sciences, Pavia (Italy); Barberis, Massimo [European Institute of Oncology, Department of Pathology, Milan (Italy); Mauri, Giovanni [European Institute of Oncology, Division of Interventional Radiology, Milan (Italy); Mauro, Alberto [GE Medical Systems Italia SpA, Milan (Italy); Bellomi, Massimo [European Institute of Oncology, Department of Radiology, Milan (Italy); Universita di Milano, Department of Oncology, Milan (Italy)

    2018-02-15

    To evaluate quantification of iodine uptake in metastatic and non-metastatic lymph nodes (LNs) by dual-energy CT (DECT) and to assess if the distribution of iodine within LNs at DECT correlates with the pathological structure. Ninety LNs from 37 patients (23 with lung and 14 with gynaecological malignancies) were retrospectively selected. Information of LNs sent for statistical analysis included Hounsfield units (HU) at different energy levels; decomposition material densities fat-iodine, iodine-fat, iodine-water, water-iodine. Statistical analysis included evaluation of interobserver variability, material decomposition densities and spatial HU distribution within LNs. Interobserver agreement was excellent. There was a significant difference in iodine-fat and iodine-water decompositions comparing metastatic and non-metastatic LNs (p < 0.001); fat-iodine and water-iodine did not show significant differences. HU distribution showed a significant gradient from centre to periphery within non-metastatic LNs that was significant up to 20-30% from the centre, whereas metastatic LNs showed a more homogeneous distribution of HU, with no significant gradient. DECT demonstrated a lower iodine uptake in metastatic compared to non-metastatic LNs. Moreover, the internal iodine distribution showed an evident gradient of iodine distribution from centre to periphery in non-metastatic LNs, and a more homogeneous distribution within metastatic LNs, which corresponded to the pathological structure. (orig.)

  10. Exposure and non-fear emotions: A randomized controlled study of exposure-based and rescripting-based imagery in PTSD treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Langkaas, Tomas Formo; Hoffart, Asle; Øktedalen, Tuva; Ulvenes, Pål G; Hembree, Elizabeth A; Smucker, Mervin

    2017-10-01

    Interventions involving rescripting-based imagery have been proposed as a better approach than exposure-based imagery when posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with emotions other than fear. Prior research led to the study's hypotheses that (a) higher pretreatment non-fear emotions would predict relatively better response to rescripting as compared to exposure, (b) rescripting would be associated with greater reduction in non-fear emotions, and (c) pretreatment non-fear emotions would predict poor response to exposure. A clinically representative sample of 65 patients presenting a wide range of traumas was recruited from patients seeking and being offered PTSD treatment in an inpatient setting. Subjects were randomly assigned to 10 weeks of treatment involving either rescripting-based imagery (Imagery Rescripting; IR) or exposure-based imagery (Prolonged Exposure; PE). Patients were assessed on outcome and emotion measures at pretreatment, posttreatment and 12 months follow-up. Comparison to control benchmarks indicated that both treatments were effective, but no outcome differences between them appeared. None of the initial hypotheses were supported. The results from this study challenge previous observations and hypotheses about exposure mainly being effective for fear-based PTSD and strengthen the notion that exposure-based treatment is a generally effective treatment for all types of PTSD. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Smoothing the redshift distributions of random samples for the baryon acoustic oscillations: applications to the SDSS-III BOSS DR12 and QPM mock samples

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Shao-Jiang; Guo, Qi; Cai, Rong-Gen

    2017-12-01

    We investigate the impact of different redshift distributions of random samples on the baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) measurements of D_V(z)r_d^fid/r_d from the two-point correlation functions of galaxies in the Data Release 12 of the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). Big surveys, such as BOSS, usually assign redshifts to the random samples by randomly drawing values from the measured redshift distributions of the data, which would necessarily introduce fiducial signals of fluctuations into the random samples, weakening the signals of BAO, if the cosmic variance cannot be ignored. We propose a smooth function of redshift distribution that fits the data well to populate the random galaxy samples. The resulting cosmological parameters match the input parameters of the mock catalogue very well. The significance of BAO signals has been improved by 0.33σ for a low-redshift sample and by 0.03σ for a constant-stellar-mass sample, though the absolute values do not change significantly. Given the precision of the measurements of current cosmological parameters, it would be appreciated for the future improvements on the measurements of galaxy clustering.

  12. Modeling superhydrophobic surfaces comprised of random roughness

    Science.gov (United States)

    Samaha, M. A.; Tafreshi, H. Vahedi; Gad-El-Hak, M.

    2011-11-01

    We model the performance of superhydrophobic surfaces comprised of randomly distributed roughness that resembles natural surfaces, or those produced via random deposition of hydrophobic particles. Such a fabrication method is far less expensive than ordered-microstructured fabrication. The present numerical simulations are aimed at improving our understanding of the drag reduction effect and the stability of the air-water interface in terms of the microstructure parameters. For comparison and validation, we have also simulated the flow over superhydrophobic surfaces made up of aligned or staggered microposts for channel flows as well as streamwise or spanwise ridge configurations for pipe flows. The present results are compared with other theoretical and experimental studies. The numerical simulations indicate that the random distribution of surface roughness has a favorable effect on drag reduction, as long as the gas fraction is kept the same. The stability of the meniscus, however, is strongly influenced by the average spacing between the roughness peaks, which needs to be carefully examined before a surface can be recommended for fabrication. Financial support from DARPA, contract number W91CRB-10-1-0003, is acknowledged.

  13. Probing the random distribution of half-metallic Co2Mn1-xFexSi Heusler alloys

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wurmehl, S.; Kohlhepp, J.T.; Swagten, H.J.M.; Koopmans, B.; Wójcik, M.; Balke, B.; Blum, C.G.F.; Ksenofontov, V.; Fecher, G.H.; Felser, C.

    2007-01-01

    Co2Mn1-xFexSi Heusler alloys crystallize in the L21 structure. This structure type requires random distribution of Mn and Fe in case of the mixed alloys. The spin echo nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique probes the direct local environments of the active atoms and is thus able to resolve next

  14. Estimating return levels from maxima of non-stationary random sequences using the Generalized PWM method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P. Ribereau

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available Since the pioneering work of Landwehr et al. (1979, Hosking et al. (1985 and their collaborators, the Probability Weighted Moments (PWM method has been very popular, simple and efficient to estimate the parameters of the Generalized Extreme Value (GEV distribution when modeling the distribution of maxima (e.g., annual maxima of precipitations in the Identically and Independently Distributed (IID context. When the IID assumption is not satisfied, a flexible alternative, the Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE approach offers an elegant way to handle non-stationarities by letting the GEV parameters to be time dependent. Despite its qualities, the MLE applied to the GEV distribution does not always provide accurate return level estimates, especially for small sample sizes or heavy tails. These drawbacks are particularly true in some non-stationary situations. To reduce these negative effects, we propose to extend the PWM method to a more general framework that enables us to model temporal covariates and provide accurate GEV-based return levels. Theoretical properties of our estimators are discussed. Small and moderate sample sizes simulations in a non-stationary context are analyzed and two brief applications to annual maxima of CO2 and seasonal maxima of cumulated daily precipitations are presented.

  15. Observability and Decision Support for Supervision of Distributed Power System Control

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pertl, Michael

    approach for real-time voltage estimation in active distribution grids, and a modeling approach to harness the flexibility of an aggregation of electric vehicles. For improved monitoring and maintaining power system stability, a decision support tool for transient stability preventive control, based...... stability margin is presented. The approach delivers a near optimal solution in terms of cost minimization due to its sequential nature and shows to be robust when applied to larger power systems. The general problem of low distribution grid observability is addressed by proposing a data-driven approach...... results in additional demand for charging which will require large investments in power distribution, transmission, and generation. However, this demand is often also flexible in time and can be actively managed to reduce the required investments and to enhance power system operation. Harnessing...

  16. Improvement of Characteristics of Clayey Soil Mixed with Randomly Distributed Natural Fibers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maity, J.; Chattopadhyay, B. C.; Mukherjee, S. P.

    2017-11-01

    In subgrade construction for flexible road pavement, properties of clayey soils available locally can be improved by providing randomly distributed fibers in the soil. The fibers added in subgrade constructions are expected to provide better compact interlocking system between the fiber and the soil grain, greater resistance to deformation and quicker dissipation of pore water pressure, thus helping consolidation and strengthening. Many natural fibers like jute, coir, sabai grass etc. which are economical and eco-friendly, are grown in abundance in India. If suitable they can be used as additive material in the subgrade soil to result in increase in strength and decrease in deformability. Such application will also reduce the cost of construction of roads, by providing lesser thickness of pavement layer. In this paper, the efficacy of using natural jute, coir or sabai grass fibers with locally available clayey soil has been studied. A series of Standard Proctor test, Soaked and Unsoaked California Bearing Ratio (CBR) test, and Unconfined Compressive Strength test were done on locally available clayey soil mixed with different types of natural fiber for various length and proportion to study the improvement of strength properties of fiber-soil composites placed at optimum moisture content. From the test results, it was observed that there was a substantial increase in CBR value for the clayey soil when mixed with increasing percentage of all three types of randomly distributed natural fibers up to 2% of the dry weight of soil. The CBR attains maximum value when the length for all types of fibers mixed with the clay taken in this study, attains a value of 10 mm.

  17. A Framework To Support Management Of HIVAIDS Using K-Means And Random Forest Algorithm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gladys Iseu

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Healthcare industry generates large amounts of complex data about patients hospital resources disease management electronic patient records and medical devices among others. The availability of these huge amounts of medical data creates a need for powerful mining tools to support health care professionals in diagnosis treatment and management of HIVAIDS. Several data mining techniques have been used in management of different data sets. Data mining techniques have been categorized into regression algorithms segmentation algorithms association algorithms sequence analysis algorithms and classification algorithms. In the medical field there has not been a specific study that has incorporated two or more data mining algorithms hence limiting decision making levels by medical practitioners. This study identified the extent to which K-means algorithm cluster patient characteristics it has also evaluated the extent to which random forest algorithm can classify the data for informed decision making as well as design a framework to support medical decision making in the treatment of HIVAIDS related diseases in Kenya. The paper further used random forest classification algorithm to compute proximities between pairs of cases that can be used in clustering locating outliers or by scaling to give interesting views of the data.

  18. Random matrix ensembles for PT-symmetric systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Graefe, Eva-Maria; Mudute-Ndumbe, Steve; Taylor, Matthew

    2015-01-01

    Recently much effort has been made towards the introduction of non-Hermitian random matrix models respecting PT-symmetry. Here we show that there is a one-to-one correspondence between complex PT-symmetric matrices and split-complex and split-quaternionic versions of Hermitian matrices. We introduce two new random matrix ensembles of (a) Gaussian split-complex Hermitian; and (b) Gaussian split-quaternionic Hermitian matrices, of arbitrary sizes. We conjecture that these ensembles represent universality classes for PT-symmetric matrices. For the case of 2 × 2 matrices we derive analytic expressions for the joint probability distributions of the eigenvalues, the one-level densities and the level spacings in the case of real eigenvalues. (fast track communication)

  19. Random and non-random mating populations: Evolutionary dynamics in meiotic drive.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarkar, Bijan

    2016-01-01

    Game theoretic tools are utilized to analyze a one-locus continuous selection model of sex-specific meiotic drive by considering nonequivalence of the viabilities of reciprocal heterozygotes that might be noticed at an imprinted locus. The model draws attention to the role of viability selections of different types to examine the stable nature of polymorphic equilibrium. A bridge between population genetics and evolutionary game theory has been built up by applying the concept of the Fundamental Theorem of Natural Selection. In addition to pointing out the influences of male and female segregation ratios on selection, configuration structure reveals some noted results, e.g., Hardy-Weinberg frequencies hold in replicator dynamics, occurrence of faster evolution at the maximized variance fitness, existence of mixed Evolutionarily Stable Strategy (ESS) in asymmetric games, the tending evolution to follow not only a 1:1 sex ratio but also a 1:1 different alleles ratio at particular gene locus. Through construction of replicator dynamics in the group selection framework, our selection model introduces a redefining bases of game theory to incorporate non-random mating where a mating parameter associated with population structure is dependent on the social structure. Also, the model exposes the fact that the number of polymorphic equilibria will depend on the algebraic expression of population structure. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Prediction of plant promoters based on hexamers and random triplet pair analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Noman Nasimul

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background With an increasing number of plant genome sequences, it has become important to develop a robust computational method for detecting plant promoters. Although a wide variety of programs are currently available, prediction accuracy of these still requires further improvement. The limitations of these methods can be addressed by selecting appropriate features for distinguishing promoters and non-promoters. Methods In this study, we proposed two feature selection approaches based on hexamer sequences: the Frequency Distribution Analyzed Feature Selection Algorithm (FDAFSA and the Random Triplet Pair Feature Selecting Genetic Algorithm (RTPFSGA. In FDAFSA, adjacent triplet-pairs (hexamer sequences were selected based on the difference in the frequency of hexamers between promoters and non-promoters. In RTPFSGA, random triplet-pairs (RTPs were selected by exploiting a genetic algorithm that distinguishes frequencies of non-adjacent triplet pairs between promoters and non-promoters. Then, a support vector machine (SVM, a nonlinear machine-learning algorithm, was used to classify promoters and non-promoters by combining these two feature selection approaches. We referred to this novel algorithm as PromoBot. Results Promoter sequences were collected from the PlantProm database. Non-promoter sequences were collected from plant mRNA, rRNA, and tRNA of PlantGDB and plant miRNA of miRBase. Then, in order to validate the proposed algorithm, we applied a 5-fold cross validation test. Training data sets were used to select features based on FDAFSA and RTPFSGA, and these features were used to train the SVM. We achieved 89% sensitivity and 86% specificity. Conclusions We compared our PromoBot algorithm to five other algorithms. It was found that the sensitivity and specificity of PromoBot performed well (or even better with the algorithms tested. These results show that the two proposed feature selection methods based on hexamer frequencies

  1. The impact of an online Facebook support group for people with multiple sclerosis on non-active users.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steadman, Jacqui; Pretorius, Chrisma

    2014-01-01

    Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating disease and there is little research on support networks for people with MS (PwMS). More specifically, most studies on online support groups focus on those who actively participate in the group, whereas the majority of those who utilise online support groups do so in a passive way. This study therefore aimed to explore the experiences of non-active users of an online Facebook support group for PwMS. Emphasis was placed on the facilitators and the barriers that were associated with membership to this group. An exploratory qualitative research design was implemented, whereby thematic analysis was utilised to examine the ten semi-structured interviews that were conducted. Several facilitators were acquired through the online support group; namely emotional support (constant source of support, exposure to negative aspects of the disease), informational support (group as a source of knowledge, quality of information) and social companionship (place of belonging). Some barriers were also identified; namely emotional support (emotions lost online, response to messages, exposure to negative aspects of the disease), informational support (information posted on the group, misuse of group) and social companionship (non-active status). These findings demonstrate that the non-active members of the online support group for PwMS have valid reasons for their non-active membership status. More important, the findings suggest that the online Facebook support group provided the group members with an important support network in the form of emotional support, informational support and social companionship, despite their non-active membership status or the barriers that have been identified.

  2. Variation of mutational burden in healthy human tissues suggests non-random strand segregation and allows measuring somatic mutation rates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Werner, Benjamin; Sottoriva, Andrea

    2018-06-01

    The immortal strand hypothesis poses that stem cells could produce differentiated progeny while conserving the original template strand, thus avoiding accumulating somatic mutations. However, quantitating the extent of non-random DNA strand segregation in human stem cells remains difficult in vivo. Here we show that the change of the mean and variance of the mutational burden with age in healthy human tissues allows estimating strand segregation probabilities and somatic mutation rates. We analysed deep sequencing data from healthy human colon, small intestine, liver, skin and brain. We found highly effective non-random DNA strand segregation in all adult tissues (mean strand segregation probability: 0.98, standard error bounds (0.97,0.99)). In contrast, non-random strand segregation efficiency is reduced to 0.87 (0.78,0.88) in neural tissue during early development, suggesting stem cell pool expansions due to symmetric self-renewal. Healthy somatic mutation rates differed across tissue types, ranging from 3.5 × 10-9/bp/division in small intestine to 1.6 × 10-7/bp/division in skin.

  3. Variation of mutational burden in healthy human tissues suggests non-random strand segregation and allows measuring somatic mutation rates.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Benjamin Werner

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available The immortal strand hypothesis poses that stem cells could produce differentiated progeny while conserving the original template strand, thus avoiding accumulating somatic mutations. However, quantitating the extent of non-random DNA strand segregation in human stem cells remains difficult in vivo. Here we show that the change of the mean and variance of the mutational burden with age in healthy human tissues allows estimating strand segregation probabilities and somatic mutation rates. We analysed deep sequencing data from healthy human colon, small intestine, liver, skin and brain. We found highly effective non-random DNA strand segregation in all adult tissues (mean strand segregation probability: 0.98, standard error bounds (0.97,0.99. In contrast, non-random strand segregation efficiency is reduced to 0.87 (0.78,0.88 in neural tissue during early development, suggesting stem cell pool expansions due to symmetric self-renewal. Healthy somatic mutation rates differed across tissue types, ranging from 3.5 × 10-9/bp/division in small intestine to 1.6 × 10-7/bp/division in skin.

  4. On the Convergence and Law of Large Numbers for the Non-Euclidean Lp -Means

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    George Livadiotis

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes and proves two important theorems that compose the Law of Large Numbers for the non-Euclidean L p -means, known to be true for the Euclidean L 2 -means: Let the L p -mean estimator, which constitutes the specific functional that estimates the L p -mean of N independent and identically distributed random variables; then, (i the expectation value of the L p -mean estimator equals the mean of the distributions of the random variables; and (ii the limit N → ∞ of the L p -mean estimator also equals the mean of the distributions.

  5. A Randomized Trial Comparing Mail versus In-Office Distribution of the CAHPS Clinician and Group Survey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anastario, Michael P; Rodriguez, Hector P; Gallagher, Patricia M; Cleary, Paul D; Shaller, Dale; Rogers, William H; Bogen, Karen; Safran, Dana Gelb

    2010-01-01

    Objective To assess the effect of survey distribution protocol (mail versus handout) on data quality and measurement of patient care experiences. Data Sources/Study Setting Multisite randomized trial of survey distribution protocols. Analytic sample included 2,477 patients of 15 clinicians at three practice sites in New York State. Data Collection/Extraction Methods Mail and handout distribution modes were alternated weekly at each site for 6 weeks. Principal Findings Handout protocols yielded an incomplete distribution rate (74 percent) and lower overall response rates (40 percent versus 58 percent) compared with mail. Handout distribution rates decreased over time and resulted in more favorable survey scores compared with mailed surveys. There were significant mode–physician interaction effects, indicating that data cannot simply be pooled and adjusted for mode. Conclusions In-office survey distribution has the potential to bias measurement and comparison of physicians and sites on patient care experiences. Incomplete distribution rates observed in-office, together with between-office differences in distribution rates and declining rates over time suggest staff may be burdened by the process and selective in their choice of patients. Further testing with a larger physician and site sample is important to definitively establish the potential role for in-office distribution in obtaining reliable, valid assessment of patient care experiences. PMID:20579126

  6. Quantifying spatial distribution of snow depth errors from LiDAR using Random Forests

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tinkham, W.; Smith, A. M.; Marshall, H.; Link, T. E.; Falkowski, M. J.; Winstral, A. H.

    2013-12-01

    There is increasing need to characterize the distribution of snow in complex terrain using remote sensing approaches, especially in isolated mountainous regions that are often water-limited, the principal source of terrestrial freshwater, and sensitive to climatic shifts and variations. We apply intensive topographic surveys, multi-temporal LiDAR, and Random Forest modeling to quantify snow volume and characterize associated errors across seven land cover types in a semi-arid mountainous catchment at a 1 and 4 m spatial resolution. The LiDAR-based estimates of both snow-off surface topology and snow depths were validated against ground-based measurements across the catchment. Comparison of LiDAR-derived snow depths to manual snow depth surveys revealed that LiDAR based estimates were more accurate in areas of low lying vegetation such as shrubs (RMSE = 0.14 m) as compared to areas consisting of tree cover (RMSE = 0.20-0.35 m). The highest errors were found along the edge of conifer forests (RMSE = 0.35 m), however a second conifer transect outside the catchment had much lower errors (RMSE = 0.21 m). This difference is attributed to the wind exposure of the first site that led to highly variable snow depths at short spatial distances. The Random Forest modeled errors deviated from the field measured errors with a RMSE of 0.09-0.34 m across the different cover types. Results show that snow drifts, which are important for maintaining spring and summer stream flows and establishing and sustaining water-limited plant species, contained 30 × 5-6% of the snow volume while only occupying 10% of the catchment area similar to findings by prior physically-based modeling approaches. This study demonstrates the potential utility of combining multi-temporal LiDAR with Random Forest modeling to quantify the distribution of snow depth with a reasonable degree of accuracy. Future work could explore the utility of Terrestrial LiDAR Scanners to produce validation of snow-on surface

  7. Phase-wise enhanced voltage support from electric vehicles in a Danish low-voltage distribution grid

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Knezovic, Katarina; Marinelli, Mattia

    2016-01-01

    High deployment of electric vehicles (EVs) imposes great challenges for the distribution grids, especially in unbalanced systems with notable voltage variations which detrimentally affect security of supply. On the other hand, with development of Vehicle-to-Grid technology, EVs may be able...... to provide numerous services for grid support, e.g., voltage control. Implemented electronic equipment will allow them to exchange reactive power for autonomous voltage support without communicating with the distribution system operator or influencing the available active power for primary transportation...

  8. Quantum Hash function and its application to privacy amplification in quantum key distribution, pseudo-random number generation and image encryption

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Yu-Guang; Xu, Peng; Yang, Rui; Zhou, Yi-Hua; Shi, Wei-Min

    2016-01-01

    Quantum information and quantum computation have achieved a huge success during the last years. In this paper, we investigate the capability of quantum Hash function, which can be constructed by subtly modifying quantum walks, a famous quantum computation model. It is found that quantum Hash function can act as a hash function for the privacy amplification process of quantum key distribution systems with higher security. As a byproduct, quantum Hash function can also be used for pseudo-random number generation due to its inherent chaotic dynamics. Further we discuss the application of quantum Hash function to image encryption and propose a novel image encryption algorithm. Numerical simulations and performance comparisons show that quantum Hash function is eligible for privacy amplification in quantum key distribution, pseudo-random number generation and image encryption in terms of various hash tests and randomness tests. It extends the scope of application of quantum computation and quantum information.

  9. Quantum Hash function and its application to privacy amplification in quantum key distribution, pseudo-random number generation and image encryption

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Yu-Guang; Xu, Peng; Yang, Rui; Zhou, Yi-Hua; Shi, Wei-Min

    2016-01-01

    Quantum information and quantum computation have achieved a huge success during the last years. In this paper, we investigate the capability of quantum Hash function, which can be constructed by subtly modifying quantum walks, a famous quantum computation model. It is found that quantum Hash function can act as a hash function for the privacy amplification process of quantum key distribution systems with higher security. As a byproduct, quantum Hash function can also be used for pseudo-random number generation due to its inherent chaotic dynamics. Further we discuss the application of quantum Hash function to image encryption and propose a novel image encryption algorithm. Numerical simulations and performance comparisons show that quantum Hash function is eligible for privacy amplification in quantum key distribution, pseudo-random number generation and image encryption in terms of various hash tests and randomness tests. It extends the scope of application of quantum computation and quantum information. PMID:26823196

  10. Waiting-time distributions of magnetic discontinuities: Clustering or Poisson process?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Greco, A.; Matthaeus, W. H.; Servidio, S.; Dmitruk, P.

    2009-01-01

    Using solar wind data from the Advanced Composition Explorer spacecraft, with the support of Hall magnetohydrodynamic simulations, the waiting-time distributions of magnetic discontinuities have been analyzed. A possible phenomenon of clusterization of these discontinuities is studied in detail. We perform a local Poisson's analysis in order to establish if these intermittent events are randomly distributed or not. Possible implications about the nature of solar wind discontinuities are discussed.

  11. Randomized Controlled Trial of Nurse-Delivered Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Versus Supportive Psychotherapy Telehealth Interventions for Chronic Back Pain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rutledge, Thomas; Atkinson, J Hampton; Holloway, Rachael; Chircop-Rollick, Tatiana; D'Andrea, John; Garfin, Steven R; Patel, Shetal; Penzien, Donald B; Wallace, Mark; Weickgenant, Anne L; Slater, Mark

    2018-04-16

    This study evaluated a nurse-delivered, telehealth intervention of cognitive behavioral therapy versus supportive psychotherapy for chronic back pain. Participants (N=61) had chronic back pain (pain "daily" ≥ 6 months at an intensity ≥4/10 scale) and were randomized to an 8-week, 12-session, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) or to Supportive Care (SC) matched for frequency, format, and time, with each treatment delivered by a primary care nurse. The primary outcome was the Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ). Secondary outcomes included the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) and the Patient Global Impressions Scale (CGI). CBT participants (n=30) showed significant improvements on the RMDQ (means=11.4[5.9] vs. 9.4[6.1] at baseline and post-treatment, respectively, p.10). The results suggest that telehealth, nurse-delivered CBT and SC treatments for chronic back pain can offer significant and relatively comparable benefits. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00608530. This article describes the benefits of training primary care nurses to deliver evidence-based behavioral therapies for low back pain. Due to the high prevalence of chronic pain and the growing emphasis on non-opioid therapies, training nurses to provide behavior therapies could be a cost-effective way to improve pain management. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  12. Stress distribution patterns of implant supported overdentures-analog versus finite element analysis: A comparative in-vitro study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Soumyadev Satpathy

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Aims and Objectives: The aim of this study was to asses & compare the load transfer characteristics of Ball/O-ring and Bar/Clip attachment systems in implant supported overdentures using analog and finite element analysis models. Methodology: For the analog part of the study, castable bar was used for the bar and clip attachment and a metallic housing with a rubber O-ring component was used for the ball/O-ring attachment. The stress on the implant surface was measured using the strain-gauge technique. For the finite element analysis, the model were fabricated and load applications were done in a similar manner as in analog study. Results: The difference between both the attachment systems was found to be statistically significant (P<0.001. Conclusion: Ball/O-ring attachment system transmitted lesser amount of stresses to the implants on the non-loading side, as compared to the Bar-Clip attachment system. When overall stress distribution is compared, the Bar-Clip attachment seems to perform better than the Ball/O-ring attachment, because the force was distributed better.

  13. Human X-chromosome inactivation pattern distributions fit a model of genetically influenced choice better than models of completely random choice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Renault, Nisa K E; Pritchett, Sonja M; Howell, Robin E; Greer, Wenda L; Sapienza, Carmen; Ørstavik, Karen Helene; Hamilton, David C

    2013-01-01

    In eutherian mammals, one X-chromosome in every XX somatic cell is transcriptionally silenced through the process of X-chromosome inactivation (XCI). Females are thus functional mosaics, where some cells express genes from the paternal X, and the others from the maternal X. The relative abundance of the two cell populations (X-inactivation pattern, XIP) can have significant medical implications for some females. In mice, the ‘choice' of which X to inactivate, maternal or paternal, in each cell of the early embryo is genetically influenced. In humans, the timing of XCI choice and whether choice occurs completely randomly or under a genetic influence is debated. Here, we explore these questions by analysing the distribution of XIPs in large populations of normal females. Models were generated to predict XIP distributions resulting from completely random or genetically influenced choice. Each model describes the discrete primary distribution at the onset of XCI, and the continuous secondary distribution accounting for changes to the XIP as a result of development and ageing. Statistical methods are used to compare models with empirical data from Danish and Utah populations. A rigorous data treatment strategy maximises information content and allows for unbiased use of unphased XIP data. The Anderson–Darling goodness-of-fit statistics and likelihood ratio tests indicate that a model of genetically influenced XCI choice better fits the empirical data than models of completely random choice. PMID:23652377

  14. Three-dimensional distribution of random velocity inhomogeneities at the Nankai trough seismogenic zone

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takahashi, T.; Obana, K.; Yamamoto, Y.; Nakanishi, A.; Kaiho, Y.; Kodaira, S.; Kaneda, Y.

    2012-12-01

    The Nankai trough in southwestern Japan is a convergent margin where the Philippine sea plate is subducted beneath the Eurasian plate. There are major faults segments of huge earthquakes that are called Tokai, Tonankai and Nankai earthquakes. According to the earthquake occurrence history over the past hundreds years, we must expect various rupture patters such as simultaneous or nearly continuous ruptures of plural fault segments. Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) conducted seismic surveys at Nankai trough in order to clarify mutual relations between seismic structures and fault segments, as a part of "Research concerning Interaction Between the Tokai, Tonankai and Nankai Earthquakes" funded by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan. This study evaluated the spatial distribution of random velocity inhomogeneities from Hyuga-nada to Kii-channel by using velocity seismograms of small and moderate sized earthquakes. Random velocity inhomogeneities are estimated by the peak delay time analysis of S-wave envelopes (e.g., Takahashi et al. 2009). Peak delay time is defined as the time lag from the S-wave onset to its maximal amplitude arrival. This quantity mainly reflects the accumulated multiple forward scattering effect due to random inhomogeneities, and is quite insensitive to the inelastic attenuation. Peak delay times are measured from the rms envelopes of horizontal components at 4-8Hz, 8-16Hz and 16-32Hz. This study used the velocity seismograms that are recorded by 495 ocean bottom seismographs and 378 onshore seismic stations. Onshore stations are composed of the F-net and Hi-net stations that are maintained by National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED) of Japan. It is assumed that the random inhomogeneities are represented by the von Karman type PSDF. Preliminary result of inversion analysis shows that spectral gradient of PSDF (i.e., scale dependence of

  15. Peer tutoring – assisted instruction, parent supportiveness and ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The study investigated the effect of peer tutoring-assisted instruction, parent supportiveness and students locus of control on achievement in Senior Secondary Mathematics. It adopted a non-randomized pretest posttest control group design in a quasi experimental setting. It involves 300 senior secondary II students from six ...

  16. Comparison of the distribution of non-radiological and radiological fatal risk in Ontario industries (addendum)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Davis, C.K.; Forbes, W.F.; Hayward, L.M.

    1986-09-01

    Occupational limits for exposure to ionizing radiation, in force in Canada, are based on recommendations of international bodies, particularly the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). To determine whether the ICRP assertions concerning the similarity of the distributions of occupational risk at the higher risk levels (from non-radiation and from radiation work) to Canada a study of the high end of the distributions of non-radiological risk of occupational fatalities in the province of Ontario was performed. For the present study total doses from exposure to sources of ionizing radiation for Ontario workers were converted to relative risk rates to allow direct comparison with the non-radiological results. In addition, absolute values for the radiological risk rates (RRR) were derived. The radiological risk estimates are based on workers who work both from nuclear reactions and from X-rays. The conclusion is made that the radiological and non-radiological risk rate (NRRR) distributions are similar in shape, but the RRR are approximately 1 to 27 percent of the NRRR, depending on the industry concerned

  17. Distributed Hydrologic Modeling Apps for Decision Support in the Cloud

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swain, N. R.; Latu, K.; Christiensen, S.; Jones, N.; Nelson, J.

    2013-12-01

    Advances in computation resources and greater availability of water resources data represent an untapped resource for addressing hydrologic uncertainties in water resources decision-making. The current practice of water authorities relies on empirical, lumped hydrologic models to estimate watershed response. These models are not capable of taking advantage of many of the spatial datasets that are now available. Physically-based, distributed hydrologic models are capable of using these data resources and providing better predictions through stochastic analysis. However, there exists a digital divide that discourages many science-minded decision makers from using distributed models. This divide can be spanned using a combination of existing web technologies. The purpose of this presentation is to present a cloud-based environment that will offer hydrologic modeling tools or 'apps' for decision support and the web technologies that have been selected to aid in its implementation. Compared to the more commonly used lumped-parameter models, distributed models, while being more intuitive, are still data intensive, computationally expensive, and difficult to modify for scenario exploration. However, web technologies such as web GIS, web services, and cloud computing have made the data more accessible, provided an inexpensive means of high-performance computing, and created an environment for developing user-friendly apps for distributed modeling. Since many water authorities are primarily interested in the scenario exploration exercises with hydrologic models, we are creating a toolkit that facilitates the development of a series of apps for manipulating existing distributed models. There are a number of hurdles that cloud-based hydrologic modeling developers face. One of these is how to work with the geospatial data inherent with this class of models in a web environment. Supporting geospatial data in a website is beyond the capabilities of standard web frameworks and it

  18. Supplementary Material for: Tukey g-and-h Random Fields

    KAUST Repository

    Xu, Ganggang

    2016-01-01

    We propose a new class of transGaussian random fields named Tukey g-and-h (TGH) random fields to model non-Gaussian spatial data. The proposed TGH random fields have extremely flexible marginal distributions, possibly skewed and/or heavy-tailed, and, therefore, have a wide range of applications. The special formulation of the TGH random field enables an automatic search for the most suitable transformation for the dataset of interest while estimating model parameters. Asymptotic properties of the maximum likelihood estimator and the probabilistic properties of the TGH random fields are investigated. An efficient estimation procedure, based on maximum approximated likelihood, is proposed and an extreme spatial outlier detection algorithm is formulated. Kriging and probabilistic prediction with TGH random fields are developed along with prediction confidence intervals. The predictive performance of TGH random fields is demonstrated through extensive simulation studies and an application to a dataset of total precipitation in the south east of the United States. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.

  19. Association Between Telomere Length and Risk of Cancer and Non-Neoplastic Diseases: A Mendelian Randomization Study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Haycock, P.C.; Burgess, S.; Nounu, A.; Zheng, J.; Okoli, G.N.; Bowden, J.; Wade, K.H.; Timpson, N.J.; Evans, D.M.; Willeit, P.; Aviv, A.; Gaunt, T.R.; Hemani, G.; Mangino, M.; Ellis, H.P.; Kurian, K.M.; Pooley, K.A.; Eeles, R.A.; Lee, J.E.; Fang, S.; Chen, W.V.; Law, M.H.; Bowdler, L.M.; Iles, M.M.; Yang, Q.; Worrall, B.B.; Markus, H.S.; Hung, R.J.; Amos, C.I.; Spurdle, A.B.; Thompson, D.J.; O'Mara, T.A.; Wolpin, B.; Amundadottir, L.; Stolzenberg-Solomon, R.; Trichopoulou, A.; Onland-Moret, N.C.; Lund, E.; Duell, E.J.; Canzian, F.; Severi, G.; Overvad, K.; Gunter, M.J.; Tumino, R.; Svenson, U.; Rij, A. van; Baas, A.F.; Bown, M.J.; Samani, N.J.; t'Hof, F.N.G. van; Tromp, G.; Jones, G.T.; Kuivaniemi, H.; Elmore, J.R.; Johansson, M.; McKay, J.; Scelo, G.; Carreras-Torres, R.; Gaborieau, V.; Brennan, P.; Bracci, P.M.; Neale, R.E.; Olson, S.H.; Gallinger, S.; Li, D.; Petersen, G.M.; Risch, H.A.; Klein, A.P.; Han, J.; Abnet, C.C.; Freedman, N.D.; Taylor, P.R.; Maris, J.M.; Aben, K.K.H.; Kiemeney, L.A.; Vermeulen, S.H.; Wiencke, J.K.; Walsh, K.M.; Wrensch, M.; Rice, T.; Turnbull, C.; Litchfield, K.; Paternoster, L.; Standl, M.; Abecasis, G.R.; SanGiovanni, J.P.; Li, Y.; Mijatovic, V.; Sapkota, Y.; Low, S.K.; Zondervan, K.T.; Montgomery, G.W.; Nyholt, D.R.; Heel, D.A. van; Hunt, K.; Arking, D.E.; Ashar, F.N.; Sotoodehnia, N.; Woo, D.; et al.,

    2017-01-01

    Importance: The causal direction and magnitude of the association between telomere length and incidence of cancer and non-neoplastic diseases is uncertain owing to the susceptibility of observational studies to confounding and reverse causation. Objective: To conduct a Mendelian randomization study,

  20. Permutational distribution of the log-rank statistic under random censorship with applications to carcinogenicity assays.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heimann, G; Neuhaus, G

    1998-03-01

    In the random censorship model, the log-rank test is often used for comparing a control group with different dose groups. If the number of tumors is small, so-called exact methods are often applied for computing critical values from a permutational distribution. Two of these exact methods are discussed and shown to be incorrect. The correct permutational distribution is derived and studied with respect to its behavior under unequal censoring in the light of recent results proving that the permutational version and the unconditional version of the log-rank test are asymptotically equivalent even under unequal censoring. The log-rank test is studied by simulations of a realistic scenario from a bioassay with small numbers of tumors.

  1. Vertical random variability of the distribution coefficient in the soil and its effect on the migration of fallout radionuclides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bunzl, K.

    2002-01-01

    In the field, the distribution coefficient, K d , for the sorption of a radionuclide by the soil cannot be expected to be constant. Even in a well defined soil horizon, K d will vary stochastically in horizontal as well as in vertical direction around a mean value. The horizontal random variability of K d produce a pronounced tailing effect in the concentration depth profile of a fallout radionuclide, much less is known on the corresponding effect of the vertical random variability. To analyze this effect theoretically, the classical convection-dispersion model in combination with the random-walk particle method was applied. The concentration depth profile of a radionuclide was calculated one year after deposition assuming constant values of the pore water velocity, the diffusion/dispersion coefficient, and the distribution coefficient (K d = 100 cm 3 x g -1 ) and exhibiting a vertical variability for K d according to a log-normal distribution with a geometric mean of 100 cm 3 x g -1 and a coefficient of variation of CV 0.53. The results show that these two concentration depth profiles are only slightly different, the location of the peak is shifted somewhat upwards, and the dispersion of the concentration depth profile is slightly larger. A substantial tailing effect of the concentration depth profile is not perceivable. Especially with respect to the location of the peak, a very good approximation of the concentration depth profile is obtained if the arithmetic mean of the K d -values (K d = 113 cm 3 x g -1 ) and a slightly increased dispersion coefficient are used in the analytical solution of the classical convection-dispersion equation with constant K d . The evaluation of the observed concentration depth profile with the analytical solution of the classical convection-dispersion equation with constant parameters will, within the usual experimental limits, hardly reveal the presence of a log-normal random distribution of K d in the vertical direction in

  2. Weak limits for quantum random walks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grimmett, Geoffrey; Janson, Svante; Scudo, Petra F.

    2004-01-01

    We formulate and prove a general weak limit theorem for quantum random walks in one and more dimensions. With X n denoting position at time n, we show that X n /n converges weakly as n→∞ to a certain distribution which is absolutely continuous and of bounded support. The proof is rigorous and makes use of Fourier transform methods. This approach simplifies and extends certain preceding derivations valid in one dimension that make use of combinatorial and path integral methods

  3. Thermodynamics of noncommutative high-dimensional AdS black holes with non-Gaussian smeared matter distributions

    CERN Document Server

    Miao, Yan-Gang

    2016-01-01

    Considering non-Gaussian smeared matter distributions, we investigate thermodynamic behaviors of the noncommutative high-dimensional Schwarzschild-Tangherlini anti-de Sitter black hole, and obtain the condition for the existence of extreme black holes. We indicate that the Gaussian smeared matter distribution, which is a special case of non-Gaussian smeared matter distributions, is not applicable for the 6- and higher-dimensional black holes due to the hoop conjecture. In particular, the phase transition is analyzed in detail. Moreover, we point out that the Maxwell equal area law maintains for the noncommutative black hole with the Hawking temperature within a specific range, but fails with the Hawking temperature beyond this range.

  4. Gaussian likelihood inference on data from trans-Gaussian random fields with Matérn covariance function

    KAUST Repository

    Yan, Yuan; Genton, Marc G.

    2017-01-01

    Gaussian likelihood inference has been studied and used extensively in both statistical theory and applications due to its simplicity. However, in practice, the assumption of Gaussianity is rarely met in the analysis of spatial data. In this paper, we study the effect of non-Gaussianity on Gaussian likelihood inference for the parameters of the Matérn covariance model. By using Monte Carlo simulations, we generate spatial data from a Tukey g-and-h random field, a flexible trans-Gaussian random field, with the Matérn covariance function, where g controls skewness and h controls tail heaviness. We use maximum likelihood based on the multivariate Gaussian distribution to estimate the parameters of the Matérn covariance function. We illustrate the effects of non-Gaussianity of the data on the estimated covariance function by means of functional boxplots. Thanks to our tailored simulation design, a comparison of the maximum likelihood estimator under both the increasing and fixed domain asymptotics for spatial data is performed. We find that the maximum likelihood estimator based on Gaussian likelihood is overall satisfying and preferable than the non-distribution-based weighted least squares estimator for data from the Tukey g-and-h random field. We also present the result for Gaussian kriging based on Matérn covariance estimates with data from the Tukey g-and-h random field and observe an overall satisfactory performance.

  5. Gaussian likelihood inference on data from trans-Gaussian random fields with Matérn covariance function

    KAUST Repository

    Yan, Yuan

    2017-07-13

    Gaussian likelihood inference has been studied and used extensively in both statistical theory and applications due to its simplicity. However, in practice, the assumption of Gaussianity is rarely met in the analysis of spatial data. In this paper, we study the effect of non-Gaussianity on Gaussian likelihood inference for the parameters of the Matérn covariance model. By using Monte Carlo simulations, we generate spatial data from a Tukey g-and-h random field, a flexible trans-Gaussian random field, with the Matérn covariance function, where g controls skewness and h controls tail heaviness. We use maximum likelihood based on the multivariate Gaussian distribution to estimate the parameters of the Matérn covariance function. We illustrate the effects of non-Gaussianity of the data on the estimated covariance function by means of functional boxplots. Thanks to our tailored simulation design, a comparison of the maximum likelihood estimator under both the increasing and fixed domain asymptotics for spatial data is performed. We find that the maximum likelihood estimator based on Gaussian likelihood is overall satisfying and preferable than the non-distribution-based weighted least squares estimator for data from the Tukey g-and-h random field. We also present the result for Gaussian kriging based on Matérn covariance estimates with data from the Tukey g-and-h random field and observe an overall satisfactory performance.

  6. Non-random mating and convergence over time for alcohol consumption, smoking, and exercise: the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ask, Helga; Rognmo, Kamilla; Torvik, Fartein Ask; Røysamb, Espen; Tambs, Kristian

    2012-05-01

    Spouses tend to have similar lifestyles. We explored the degree to which spouse similarity in alcohol use, smoking, and physical exercise is caused by non-random mating or convergence. We used data collected for the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study from 1984 to 1986 and prospective registry information about when and with whom people entered marriage/cohabitation between 1970 and 2000. Our sample included 19,599 married/cohabitating couples and 1,551 future couples that were to marry/cohabitate in the 14-16 years following data collection. All couples were grouped according to the duration between data collection and entering into marriage/cohabitation. Age-adjusted polychoric spouse correlations were used as the dependent variables in non-linear segmented regression analysis; the independent variable was time. The results indicate that spouse concordance in lifestyle is due to both non-random mating and convergence. Non-random mating appeared to be strongest for smoking. Convergence in alcohol use and smoking was evident during the period prior to marriage/cohabitation, whereas convergence in exercise was evident throughout life. Reduced spouse similarity in smoking with relationship duration may reflect secular trends.

  7. Treatment with silver nitrate versus topical steroid treatment for umbilical granuloma: A non-inferiority randomized control trial.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chikako Ogawa

    Full Text Available The aim of this prospective multicenter randomized controlled trial was to compare the efficacy of silver nitrate cauterization against that of topical steroid ointment in the treatment of neonatal umbilical granuloma.An open-label, non-inferiority randomized controlled trial was conducted from January 2013 to January 2016. The primary endpoint for the silver nitrate cauterization and topical steroid ointment groups was the healing rate after 2 weeks of treatment, applying a non-inferiority margin of 10%. The healing rate was evaluated until completion of 3 weeks of treatment.Participants comprised 207 neonates with newly diagnosed umbilical granuloma, randomized to receive silver nitrate cauterization (n = 104 or topical steroid ointment (n = 103. Healing rates after 2 weeks of treatment were 87.5% (91/104 in the silver nitrate cauterization and 82% (82/100 in the topical steroid ointment group group. The difference between groups was -5.5% (95% confidence interval, -19.1%, 8.4%, indicating that the non-inferiority criterion was not met. After 3 weeks of treatment, the healing rate with topical steroid ointment treatment was almost identical to that of silver nitrate cauterization (94/104 [90.4%] vs. 91/100 [91.0%]; 0.6% [-13.2 to 14.3]. No major complications occurred in either group.This study did not establish non-inferiority of topical steroid ointment treatment relative to silver nitrate cauterization, presumably due to lower healing rates than expected leading to an underpowered trial. However, considering that silver nitrate cauterization carries a distinct risk of chemical burns and that the overall efficacy of topical steroid ointment treatment is similar to that of silver nitrate cauterization, topical steroid ointment might be considered as a good alternative in the treatment of neonatal umbilical granuloma due to its safety and simplicity. To clarify non-inferiority, a larger study is needed.

  8. Matrix-exponential distributions in applied probability

    CERN Document Server

    Bladt, Mogens

    2017-01-01

    This book contains an in-depth treatment of matrix-exponential (ME) distributions and their sub-class of phase-type (PH) distributions. Loosely speaking, an ME distribution is obtained through replacing the intensity parameter in an exponential distribution by a matrix. The ME distributions can also be identified as the class of non-negative distributions with rational Laplace transforms. If the matrix has the structure of a sub-intensity matrix for a Markov jump process we obtain a PH distribution which allows for nice probabilistic interpretations facilitating the derivation of exact solutions and closed form formulas. The full potential of ME and PH unfolds in their use in stochastic modelling. Several chapters on generic applications, like renewal theory, random walks and regenerative processes, are included together with some specific examples from queueing theory and insurance risk. We emphasize our intention towards applications by including an extensive treatment on statistical methods for PH distribu...

  9. Ambient Learning Displays - Distributed Mixed Reality Information Mash-ups to support Ubiquitous Learning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Börner, Dirk

    2010-01-01

    Börner, D. (2010, 19-21 March). Ambient Learning Displays Distributed Mixed Reality Information Mash-ups to support Ubiquitous Learning. Presented at the IADIS International Conference Mobile Learning 2010, Porto, Portugal.

  10. Distributed Medium Access Control with SDMA Support for WLANs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Sheng; Niu, Zhisheng

    With simultaneous multi-user transmissions, spatial division multiple access (SDMA) provides substantial throughput gain over the single user transmission. However, its implementation in WLANs with contention-based IEEE 802.11 MAC remains challenging. Problems such as coordinating and synchronizing the multiple users need to be solved in a distributed way. In this paper, we propose a distributed MAC protocol for WLANs with SDMA support. A dual-mode CTS responding mechanism is designed to accomplish the channel estimation and user synchronization required for SDMA. We analytically study the throughput performance of the proposed MAC, and dynamic parameter adjustment is designed to enhance the protocol efficiency. In addition, the proposed MAC protocol does not rely on specific physical layer realizations, and can work on legacy IEEE 802.11 equipment with slight software updates. Simulation results show that the proposed MAC outperforms IEEE 802.11 significantly, and that the dynamic parameter adjustment can effectively track the load variation in the network.

  11. Quenched Large Deviations for Simple Random Walks on Percolation Clusters Including Long-Range Correlations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berger, Noam; Mukherjee, Chiranjib; Okamura, Kazuki

    2018-03-01

    We prove a quenched large deviation principle (LDP) for a simple random walk on a supercritical percolation cluster (SRWPC) on {Z^d} ({d ≥ 2}). The models under interest include classical Bernoulli bond and site percolation as well as models that exhibit long range correlations, like the random cluster model, the random interlacement and the vacant set of random interlacements (for {d ≥ 3}) and the level sets of the Gaussian free field ({d≥ 3}). Inspired by the methods developed by Kosygina et al. (Commun Pure Appl Math 59:1489-1521, 2006) for proving quenched LDP for elliptic diffusions with a random drift, and by Yilmaz (Commun Pure Appl Math 62(8):1033-1075, 2009) and Rosenbluth (Quenched large deviations for multidimensional random walks in a random environment: a variational formula. Ph.D. thesis, NYU, arXiv:0804.1444v1) for similar results regarding elliptic random walks in random environment, we take the point of view of the moving particle and prove a large deviation principle for the quenched distribution of the pair empirical measures of the environment Markov chain in the non-elliptic case of SRWPC. Via a contraction principle, this reduces easily to a quenched LDP for the distribution of the mean velocity of the random walk and both rate functions admit explicit variational formulas. The main difficulty in our set up lies in the inherent non-ellipticity as well as the lack of translation-invariance stemming from conditioning on the fact that the origin belongs to the infinite cluster. We develop a unifying approach for proving quenched large deviations for SRWPC based on exploiting coercivity properties of the relative entropies in the context of convex variational analysis, combined with input from ergodic theory and invoking geometric properties of the supercritical percolation cluster.

  12. Probability distributions for Markov chain based quantum walks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balu, Radhakrishnan; Liu, Chaobin; Venegas-Andraca, Salvador E.

    2018-01-01

    We analyze the probability distributions of the quantum walks induced from Markov chains by Szegedy (2004). The first part of this paper is devoted to the quantum walks induced from finite state Markov chains. It is shown that the probability distribution on the states of the underlying Markov chain is always convergent in the Cesaro sense. In particular, we deduce that the limiting distribution is uniform if the transition matrix is symmetric. In the case of a non-symmetric Markov chain, we exemplify that the limiting distribution of the quantum walk is not necessarily identical with the stationary distribution of the underlying irreducible Markov chain. The Szegedy scheme can be extended to infinite state Markov chains (random walks). In the second part, we formulate the quantum walk induced from a lazy random walk on the line. We then obtain the weak limit of the quantum walk. It is noted that the current quantum walk appears to spread faster than its counterpart-quantum walk on the line driven by the Grover coin discussed in literature. The paper closes with an outlook on possible future directions.

  13. Effectiveness of web-based versus folder support interventions for young informal carers of persons with mental illness: a randomized controlled trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ali, Lilas; Krevers, Barbro; Sjöström, Nils; Skärsäter, Ingela

    2014-03-01

    Compare the impact of two interventions, a web-based support and a folder support, for young persons who care for people who suffer from mental illness. This study was a randomized control trial, following the CONSORT statements, which compared the impact of two interventions. Primary outcome variable was stress, and secondary outcome variables were caring situation, general self-efficacy, well-being, health, and quality of life of young informal carers (N=241). Data were collected in June 2010 to April 2011, with self-assessment questionnaires, comparing the two interventions and also to detect changes. The stress levels were high in both groups at baseline, but decreased in the folder group. The folder group had improvement in their caring situation (also different from the web group), general self-efficacy, well-being, and quality of life. The web group showed increase in well-being. Young informal carers who take on the responsibility for people close to them; suffer consequences on their own health. They live in a life-situation characterized by high stress and low well-being. This signals a need for support. The non-significant differences show that each intervention can be effective, and that it depends upon the individual's preferences. This highlights the importance of adopting person-centered approach, in which young persons can themselves choose support strategy. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Real-time distributed scheduling algorithm for supporting QoS over WDM networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kam, Anthony C.; Siu, Kai-Yeung

    1998-10-01

    Most existing or proposed WDM networks employ circuit switching, typically with one session having exclusive use of one entire wavelength. Consequently they are not suitable for data applications involving bursty traffic patterns. The MIT AON Consortium has developed an all-optical LAN/MAN testbed which provides time-slotted WDM service and employs fast-tunable transceivers in each optical terminal. In this paper, we explore extensions of this service to achieve fine-grained statistical multiplexing with different virtual circuits time-sharing the wavelengths in a fair manner. In particular, we develop a real-time distributed protocol for best-effort traffic over this time-slotted WDM service with near-optical fairness and throughput characteristics. As an additional design feature, our protocol supports the allocation of guaranteed bandwidths to selected connections. This feature acts as a first step towards supporting integrated services and quality-of-service guarantees over WDM networks. To achieve high throughput, our approach is based on scheduling transmissions, as opposed to collision- based schemes. Our distributed protocol involves one MAN scheduler and several LAN schedulers (one per LAN) in a master-slave arrangement. Because of propagation delays and limits on control channel capacities, all schedulers are designed to work with partial, delayed traffic information. Our distributed protocol is of the `greedy' type to ensure fast execution in real-time in response to dynamic traffic changes. It employs a hybrid form of rate and credit control for resource allocation. We have performed extensive simulations, which show that our protocol allocates resources (transmitters, receivers, wavelengths) fairly with high throughput, and supports bandwidth guarantees.

  15. A randomized experiment of issue framing and voter support of tax increases for health insurance expansion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodriguez, Hector P; Laugesen, Miriam J; Watts, Carolyn A

    2010-12-01

    To assess the effect of issue framing on voter support of tax increases for health insurance expansion. During October 2008, a random sample of registered voters (n=1203) were randomized to a control and two different 'framing' groups prior to being asked about their support for tax increases. The 'framing' groups listened to one of two statements: one emphasized the externalities or negative effects of the uninsured on the insured, and the other raised racial and ethnic disparities in health insurance coverage as a problem. All groups were asked the same questions: would they support tax increases to provide adequate and reliable health insurance for three groups, (1) all American citizens, (2) all children, irrespective of citizenship, and (3) all military veterans. Support for tax increases varied substantially depending on which group benefited from the expansion. Consensus on coverage for military veterans was highest (83.3%), followed by all children, irrespective of citizenship (64.7%), and all American citizens (60.1%). There was no statistically significant difference between voter support in the 'framing' and control groups or between the two frames. In multivariable analyses, political party affiliation was the strongest predictor of support. Voters agree on the need for coverage of military veterans, but are less united on the coverage of all children and American citizens. Framing was less important than party affiliation, suggesting that voters consider coverage expansions and related tax increases in terms of the characteristics of the targeted group, and their own personal political views and values rather than the broader impact of maintaining the status quo. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. MORSEC-SP, Step Function Angular Distribution for Cross-Sections Calculation by Program MORSE

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1980-01-01

    1 - Description of problem or function: MORSEC-SP allows one to utilize a step distribution to describe the angular dependence of the multi- group function in the MORSEC cross section module of the MORSE Monte Carlo code. The step distribution is always non-negative and may be used in the random walk and for making point detector estimators. 2 - Method of solution: MORSEC-SP utilizes a table look up procedure to provide the probability of scattering when making point detector estimates for a given incident energy group and scattering angle. In the random walk, the step distributions are converted to cumulative distributions and an angle of scatter is selected from the cumulative distributions. Step distributions are obtained from calculation using the converted moments from the given Legendre coefficients of the scattering distributions. 3 - Restrictions on the complexity of the problem: Additional coding to the MORSEC module is variable dimensional and fully incorporated into blank common

  17. Direct numerical simulation of fluid-particle heat transfer in fixed random arrays of non-spherical particles

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Tavassoli Estahbanati, H.; Peters, E.A.J.F.; Kuipers, J.A.M.

    2015-01-01

    Direct numerical simulations are conducted to characterize the fluid-particle heat transfer coefficient in fixed random arrays of non-spherical particles. The objective of this study is to examine the applicability of well-known heat transfer correlations, that are proposed for spherical particles,

  18. PARAMETRIC DISTRIBUTION FAMILIES USEFUL FOR MODELLING NON - LIFE INSURANCE PAYMENTS DATA. TAIL BEHAVIOUR

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sandra Teodorescu

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available The present paper describes a series of parametric distributions used for modeling non-life insurance payments data.Of those listed, special attention is paid to the transformed Beta distribution family.This distribution as well as those which are obtained from it(special cases of four-parameter transformed Beta distribution are used in the modeling of high costs, or even extreme ones.In the literature it follows the tail behaviour of distributions depending on the parameters, because the insurance payments data are tipically highly positively skewed and distributed with large upper tails.In the paper is described the tail behavior of the distribution in the left and right side respectively, and deduced from it, a general case.There are also some graphs of probability density function for one of the transformed Beta family members, which comes to reinforce the comments made.

  19. Integrated Logistics Support Analysis of the International Space Station Alpha, Background and Summary of Mathematical Modeling and Failure Density Distributions Pertaining to Maintenance Time Dependent Parameters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sepehry-Fard, F.; Coulthard, Maurice H.

    1995-01-01

    The process of predicting the values of maintenance time dependent variable parameters such as mean time between failures (MTBF) over time must be one that will not in turn introduce uncontrolled deviation in the results of the ILS analysis such as life cycle costs, spares calculation, etc. A minor deviation in the values of the maintenance time dependent variable parameters such as MTBF over time will have a significant impact on the logistics resources demands, International Space Station availability and maintenance support costs. There are two types of parameters in the logistics and maintenance world: a. Fixed; b. Variable Fixed parameters, such as cost per man hour, are relatively easy to predict and forecast. These parameters normally follow a linear path and they do not change randomly. However, the variable parameters subject to the study in this report such as MTBF do not follow a linear path and they normally fall within the distribution curves which are discussed in this publication. The very challenging task then becomes the utilization of statistical techniques to accurately forecast the future non-linear time dependent variable arisings and events with a high confidence level. This, in turn, shall translate in tremendous cost savings and improved availability all around.

  20. Enhancing guideline-based decision support with distributed computation through local mobile application

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Shalom, Erez; Shahar, Yuval; Goldstein, Ayelet; Ariel, Elior; Quaglini, Silvana; Sacchi, Lucia; Fung, L.S.N.; Jones, Valerie M.; Broens, T.H.F.; García-Sáez, Gema; Hernando, Elena

    2014-01-01

    We introduce the need for a distributed guideline-based decision support (DSS) process, describe its characteristics, and explain how we implemented this process within the European Union’s MobiGuide project. In particular, we have developed a mechanism of sequential, piecemeal projection, i.e.,