Sample records for quadratic fisher discriminant

  1. Real-time image annotation by manifold-based biased Fisher discriminant analysis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ji, Rongrong; Yao, Hongxun; Wang, Jicheng; Sun, Xiaoshuai; Liu, Xianming

    2008-01-01

    Automatic Linguistic Annotation is a promising solution to bridge the semantic gap in content-based image retrieval. However, two crucial issues are not well addressed in state-of-art annotation algorithms: 1. The Small Sample Size (3S) problem in keyword classifier/model learning; 2. Most of annotation algorithms can not extend to real-time online usage due to their low computational efficiencies. This paper presents a novel Manifold-based Biased Fisher Discriminant Analysis (MBFDA) algorithm to address these two issues by transductive semantic learning and keyword filtering. To address the 3S problem, Co-Training based Manifold learning is adopted for keyword model construction. To achieve real-time annotation, a Bias Fisher Discriminant Analysis (BFDA) based semantic feature reduction algorithm is presented for keyword confidence discrimination and semantic feature reduction. Different from all existing annotation methods, MBFDA views image annotation from a novel Eigen semantic feature (which corresponds to keywords) selection aspect. As demonstrated in experiments, our manifold-based biased Fisher discriminant analysis annotation algorithm outperforms classical and state-of-art annotation methods (1.K-NN Expansion; 2.One-to-All SVM; 3.PWC-SVM) in both computational time and annotation accuracy with a large margin.

  2. Optimal Fisher Discriminant Ratio for an Arbitrary Spatial Light Modulator

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Juday, Richard D.

    1999-01-01

    Optimizing the Fisher ratio is well established in statistical pattern recognition as a means of discriminating between classes. I show how to optimize that ratio for optical correlation intensity by choice of filter on an arbitrary spatial light modulator (SLM). I include the case of additive noise of known power spectral density.

  3. Research of Face Recognition with Fisher Linear Discriminant

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rahim, R.; Afriliansyah, T.; Winata, H.; Nofriansyah, D.; Ratnadewi; Aryza, S.

    2018-01-01

    Face identification systems are developing rapidly, and these developments drive the advancement of biometric-based identification systems that have high accuracy. However, to develop a good face recognition system and to have high accuracy is something that’s hard to find. Human faces have diverse expressions and attribute changes such as eyeglasses, mustache, beard and others. Fisher Linear Discriminant (FLD) is a class-specific method that distinguishes facial image images into classes and also creates distance between classes and intra classes so as to produce better classification.

  4. A Feature Selection Method Based on Fisher's Discriminant Ratio for Text Sentiment Classification

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Suge; Li, Deyu; Wei, Yingjie; Li, Hongxia

    With the rapid growth of e-commerce, product reviews on the Web have become an important information source for customers' decision making when they intend to buy some product. As the reviews are often too many for customers to go through, how to automatically classify them into different sentiment orientation categories (i.e. positive/negative) has become a research problem. In this paper, based on Fisher's discriminant ratio, an effective feature selection method is proposed for product review text sentiment classification. In order to validate the validity of the proposed method, we compared it with other methods respectively based on information gain and mutual information while support vector machine is adopted as the classifier. In this paper, 6 subexperiments are conducted by combining different feature selection methods with 2 kinds of candidate feature sets. Under 1006 review documents of cars, the experimental results indicate that the Fisher's discriminant ratio based on word frequency estimation has the best performance with F value 83.3% while the candidate features are the words which appear in both positive and negative texts.

  5. Fisher Discrimination of Metabolic Changes in Rats Treated with Aspirin and Ibuprofen.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Jing; Song, Huanchun; Jiang, Shuying; Chen, Zhibin; Tong, Shuhua; Lin, Feiyan; Wen, Congcong; Zhang, Xiuhua; Hu, Lufeng

    2017-01-01

    Aspirin and ibuprofen are the most frequently prescribed non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in the world. However, both are associated with a variety of toxicities. We applied serum metabonomics and Fisher discrimination for the early diagnosis of its toxic reaction in order to help diagnose these toxicities. A total of 45 rats were randomly divided into Control group, Aspirin group, and Ibuprofen groups. The experiment groups were given intragastric aspirin (15 mg/kg) or ibuprofen (15 mg/kg) for 3 weeks. Liver function tests were performed and blood metabonomics were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The most important compounds altered were trihydroxybutyric acid and l-alanine in the aspirin group, and acetoacetic acid, l-alanine, and trihydroxybutyric acid in the ibuprofen group. With respect to metabolic profiles, all 3 groups were completely distinct from one another. Fisher discrimination showed that 91.1% of the original grouped cases were correctly classified by the third week. However, only 55.6% of liver function tests were able to classify grouped cases correctly. Trihydroxybutyric acid, l-alanine, and acetoacetic acid were the most significant indicators of altered serum metabolites following intragastric administration of aspirin and ibuprofen in rates. These metabolomic data may be used for classification of aspirin and ibuprofen toxicity. © 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  6. Identify Secretory Protein of Malaria Parasite with Modified Quadratic Discriminant Algorithm and Amino Acid Composition.

    PubMed

    Feng, Yong-E

    2016-06-01

    Malaria parasite secretes various proteins in infected red blood cell for its growth and survival. Thus identification of these secretory proteins is important for developing vaccine or drug against malaria. In this study, the modified method of quadratic discriminant analysis is presented for predicting the secretory proteins. Firstly, 20 amino acids are divided into five types according to the physical and chemical characteristics of amino acids. Then, we used five types of amino acids compositions as inputs of the modified quadratic discriminant algorithm. Finally, the best prediction performance is obtained by using 20 amino acid compositions, the sensitivity of 96 %, the specificity of 92 % with 0.88 of Mathew's correlation coefficient in fivefold cross-validation test. The results are also compared with those of existing prediction methods. The compared results shown our method are prominent in the prediction of secretory proteins.

  7. Spectral identification of melon seeds variety based on k-nearest neighbor and Fisher discriminant analysis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Cuiling; Jiang, Kai; Zhao, Xueguan; Fan, Pengfei; Wang, Xiu; Liu, Chuan

    2017-10-01

    Impurity of melon seeds variety will cause reductions of melon production and economic benefits of farmers, this research aimed to adopt spectral technology combined with chemometrics methods to identify melon seeds variety. Melon seeds whose varieties were "Yi Te Bai", "Yi Te Jin", "Jing Mi NO.7", "Jing Mi NO.11" and " Yi Li Sha Bai "were used as research samples. A simple spectral system was developed to collect reflective spectral data of melon seeds, including a light source unit, a spectral data acquisition unit and a data processing unit, the detection wavelength range of this system was 200-1100nm with spectral resolution of 0.14 7.7nm. The original reflective spectral data was pre-treated with de-trend (DT), multiple scattering correction (MSC), first derivative (FD), normalization (NOR) and Savitzky-Golay (SG) convolution smoothing methods. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) method was adopted to reduce the dimensions of reflective spectral data and extract principal components. K-nearest neighbour (KNN) and Fisher discriminant analysis (FDA) methods were used to develop discriminant models of melon seeds variety based on PCA. Spectral data pretreatments improved the discriminant effects of KNN and FDA, FDA generated better discriminant results than KNN, both KNN and FDA methods produced discriminant accuracies reaching to 90.0% for validation set. Research results showed that using spectral technology in combination with KNN and FDA modelling methods to identify melon seeds variety was feasible.

  8. Rainfall induced landslide susceptibility mapping using weight-of-evidence, linear and quadratic discriminant and logistic model tree method

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hong, H.; Zhu, A. X.

    2017-12-01

    Climate change is a common phenomenon and it is very serious all over the world. The intensification of rainfall extremes with climate change is of key importance to society and then it may induce a large impact through landslides. This paper presents GIS-based new ensemble data mining techniques that weight-of-evidence, logistic model tree, linear and quadratic discriminant for landslide spatial modelling. This research was applied in Anfu County, which is a landslide-prone area in Jiangxi Province, China. According to a literature review and research the study area, we select the landslide influencing factor and their maps were digitized in a GIS environment. These landslide influencing factors are the altitude, plan curvature, profile curvature, slope degree, slope aspect, topographic wetness index (TWI), Stream Power Index (SPI), Topographic Wetness Index (SPI), distance to faults, distance to rivers, distance to roads, soil, lithology, normalized difference vegetation index and land use. According to historical information of individual landslide events, interpretation of the aerial photographs, and field surveys supported by the government of Jiangxi Meteorological Bureau of China, 367 landslides were identified in the study area. The landslide locations were divided into two subsets, namely, training and validating (70/30), based on a random selection scheme. In this research, Pearson's correlation was used for the evaluation of the relationship between the landslides and influencing factors. In the next step, three data mining techniques combined with the weight-of-evidence, logistic model tree, linear and quadratic discriminant, were used for the landslide spatial modelling and its zonation. Finally, the landslide susceptibility maps produced by the mentioned models were evaluated by the ROC curve. The results showed that the area under the curve (AUC) of all of the models was > 0.80. At the same time, the highest AUC value was for the linear and quadratic

  9. Fisher information and asymptotic normality in system identification for quantum Markov chains

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Guta, Madalin

    2011-06-15

    This paper deals with the problem of estimating the coupling constant {theta} of a mixing quantum Markov chain. For a repeated measurement on the chain's output we show that the outcomes' time average has an asymptotically normal (Gaussian) distribution, and we give the explicit expressions of its mean and variance. In particular, we obtain a simple estimator of {theta} whose classical Fisher information can be optimized over different choices of measured observables. We then show that the quantum state of the output together with the system is itself asymptotically Gaussian and compute its quantum Fisher information, which sets an absolutemore » bound to the estimation error. The classical and quantum Fisher information are compared in a simple example. In the vicinity of {theta}=0 we find that the quantum Fisher information has a quadratic rather than linear scaling in output size, and asymptotically the Fisher information is localized in the system, while the output is independent of the parameter.« less

  10. Color model and method for video fire flame and smoke detection using Fisher linear discriminant

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wei, Yuan; Jie, Li; Jun, Fang; Yongming, Zhang

    2013-02-01

    Video fire detection is playing an increasingly important role in our life. But recent research is often based on a traditional RGB color model used to analyze the flame, which may be not the optimal color space for fire recognition. It is worse when we research smoke simply using gray images instead of color ones. We clarify the importance of color information for fire detection. We present a fire discriminant color (FDC) model for flame or smoke recognition based on color images. The FDC models aim to unify fire color image representation and fire recognition task into one framework. With the definition of between-class scatter matrices and within-class scatter matrices of Fisher linear discriminant, the proposed models seek to obtain one color-space-transform matrix and a discriminate projection basis vector by maximizing the ratio of these two scatter matrices. First, an iterative basic algorithm is designed to get one-component color space transformed from RGB. Then, a general algorithm is extended to generate three-component color space for further improvement. Moreover, we propose a method for video fire detection based on the models using the kNN classifier. To evaluate the recognition performance, we create a database including flame, smoke, and nonfire images for training and testing. The test experiments show that the proposed model achieves a flame verification rate receiver operating characteristic (ROC I) of 97.5% at a false alarm rate (FAR) of 1.06% and a smoke verification rate (ROC II) of 91.5% at a FAR of 1.2%, and lots of fire video experiments demonstrate that our method reaches a high accuracy for fire recognition.

  11. Joint L2,1 Norm and Fisher Discrimination Constrained Feature Selection for Rational Synthesis of Microporous Aluminophosphates.

    PubMed

    Qi, Miao; Wang, Ting; Yi, Yugen; Gao, Na; Kong, Jun; Wang, Jianzhong

    2017-04-01

    Feature selection has been regarded as an effective tool to help researchers understand the generating process of data. For mining the synthesis mechanism of microporous AlPOs, this paper proposes a novel feature selection method by joint l 2,1 norm and Fisher discrimination constraints (JNFDC). In order to obtain more effective feature subset, the proposed method can be achieved in two steps. The first step is to rank the features according to sparse and discriminative constraints. The second step is to establish predictive model with the ranked features, and select the most significant features in the light of the contribution of improving the predictive accuracy. To the best of our knowledge, JNFDC is the first work which employs the sparse representation theory to explore the synthesis mechanism of six kinds of pore rings. Numerical simulations demonstrate that our proposed method can select significant features affecting the specified structural property and improve the predictive accuracy. Moreover, comparison results show that JNFDC can obtain better predictive performances than some other state-of-the-art feature selection methods. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  12. After "Fisher": Academic Review and Judicial Scrutiny

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    La Noue, George R.

    2013-01-01

    This article describes the outcomes of the case "Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin," in which the plaintiff had accused the University of Texas (UT) of racial discrimination in the admission process. The author believes that the ruling of the court in this case makes it harder to hide race-based measures used in college admissions.…

  13. A new discriminative kernel from probabilistic models.

    PubMed

    Tsuda, Koji; Kawanabe, Motoaki; Rätsch, Gunnar; Sonnenburg, Sören; Müller, Klaus-Robert

    2002-10-01

    Recently, Jaakkola and Haussler (1999) proposed a method for constructing kernel functions from probabilistic models. Their so-called Fisher kernel has been combined with discriminative classifiers such as support vector machines and applied successfully in, for example, DNA and protein analysis. Whereas the Fisher kernel is calculated from the marginal log-likelihood, we propose the TOP kernel derived; from tangent vectors of posterior log-odds. Furthermore, we develop a theoretical framework on feature extractors from probabilistic models and use it for analyzing the TOP kernel. In experiments, our new discriminative TOP kernel compares favorably to the Fisher kernel.

  14. On the realization of quantum Fisher information

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Saha, Aparna; Talukdar, B.; Chatterjee, Supriya

    2017-03-01

    With special attention to the role of information theory in physical sciences we present analytical results for the coordinate- and momentum-space Fisher information of some important one-dimensional quantum systems which differ in spacing of their energy levels. The studies envisaged allow us to relate the coordinate-space information ({I}ρ ) with the familiar energy levels of the quantum system. The corresponding momentum-space information ({I}γ ) does not obey such a simple relationship with the energy spectrum. Our results for the product ({I}ρ {I}γ ) depend quadratically on the principal quantum number n and satisfy an appropriate uncertainty relation derived by Dehesa et al (2007 J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 40 1845)

  15. Fisher Matrix Preloaded — FISHER4CAST

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bassett, Bruce A.; Fantaye, Yabebal; Hlozek, Renée; Kotze, Jacques

    The Fisher Matrix is the backbone of modern cosmological forecasting. We describe the Fisher4Cast software: A general-purpose, easy-to-use, Fisher Matrix framework. It is open source, rigorously designed and tested and includes a Graphical User Interface (GUI) with automated LATEX file creation capability and point-and-click Fisher ellipse generation. Fisher4Cast was designed for ease of extension and, although written in Matlab, is easily portable to open-source alternatives such as Octave and Scilab. Here we use Fisher4Cast to present new 3D and 4D visualizations of the forecasting landscape and to investigate the effects of growth and curvature on future cosmological surveys. Early releases have been available at since mid-2008. The current release of the code is Version 2.2 which is described here. For ease of reference a Quick Start guide and the code used to produce the figures in this paper are included, in the hope that it will be useful to the cosmology and wider scientific communities.

  16. Unsupervised Wishart Classfication of Wetlands in Newfoundland, Canada Using Polsar Data Based on Fisher Linear Discriminant Analysis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mohammadimanesh, F.; Salehi, B.; Mahdianpari, M.; Homayouni, S.

    2016-06-01

    Polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar (PolSAR) imagery is a complex multi-dimensional dataset, which is an important source of information for various natural resources and environmental classification and monitoring applications. PolSAR imagery produces valuable information by observing scattering mechanisms from different natural and man-made objects. Land cover mapping using PolSAR data classification is one of the most important applications of SAR remote sensing earth observations, which have gained increasing attention in the recent years. However, one of the most challenging aspects of classification is selecting features with maximum discrimination capability. To address this challenge, a statistical approach based on the Fisher Linear Discriminant Analysis (FLDA) and the incorporation of physical interpretation of PolSAR data into classification is proposed in this paper. After pre-processing of PolSAR data, including the speckle reduction, the H/α classification is used in order to classify the basic scattering mechanisms. Then, a new method for feature weighting, based on the fusion of FLDA and physical interpretation, is implemented. This method proves to increase the classification accuracy as well as increasing between-class discrimination in the final Wishart classification. The proposed method was applied to a full polarimetric C-band RADARSAT-2 data set from Avalon area, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. This imagery has been acquired in June 2015, and covers various types of wetlands including bogs, fens, marshes and shallow water. The results were compared with the standard Wishart classification, and an improvement of about 20% was achieved in the overall accuracy. This method provides an opportunity for operational wetland classification in northern latitude with high accuracy using only SAR polarimetric data.

  17. Analysis of the Fisher solution

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Abdolrahimi, Shohreh; Shoom, Andrey A.

    2010-01-01

    We study the d-dimensional Fisher solution which represents a static, spherically symmetric, asymptotically flat spacetime with a massless scalar field. The solution has two parameters, the mass M and the “scalar charge” Σ. The Fisher solution has a naked curvature singularity which divides the spacetime manifold into two disconnected parts. The part which is asymptotically flat we call the Fisher spacetime, and another part we call the Fisher universe. The d-dimensional Schwarzschild-Tangherlini solution and the Fisher solution belong to the same theory and are dual to each other. The duality transformation acting in the parameter space (M,Σ) maps the exterior region of the Schwarzschild-Tangherlini black hole into the Fisher spacetime which has a naked timelike singularity, and interior region of the black hole into the Fisher universe, which is an anisotropic expanding-contracting universe and which has two spacelike singularities representing its “big bang” and “big crunch.” The big bang singularity and the singularity of the Fisher spacetime are radially weak in the sense that a 1-dimensional object moving along a timelike radial geodesic can arrive to the singularities intact. At the vicinity of the singularity the Fisher spacetime of nonzero mass has a region where its Misner-Sharp energy is negative. The Fisher universe has a marginally trapped surface corresponding to the state of its maximal expansion in the angular directions. These results and derived relations between geometric quantities of the Fisher spacetime, the Fisher universe, and the Schwarzschild-Tangherlini black hole may suggest that the massless scalar field transforms the black hole event horizon into the naked radially weak disjoint singularities of the Fisher spacetime and the Fisher universe which are “dual to the horizon.”

  18. Analysis of the Fisher solution

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Abdolrahimi, Shohreh; Shoom, Andrey A.

    2010-01-15

    We study the d-dimensional Fisher solution which represents a static, spherically symmetric, asymptotically flat spacetime with a massless scalar field. The solution has two parameters, the mass M and the 'scalar charge' {Sigma}. The Fisher solution has a naked curvature singularity which divides the spacetime manifold into two disconnected parts. The part which is asymptotically flat we call the Fisher spacetime, and another part we call the Fisher universe. The d-dimensional Schwarzschild-Tangherlini solution and the Fisher solution belong to the same theory and are dual to each other. The duality transformation acting in the parameter space (M,{Sigma}) maps the exteriormore » region of the Schwarzschild-Tangherlini black hole into the Fisher spacetime which has a naked timelike singularity, and interior region of the black hole into the Fisher universe, which is an anisotropic expanding-contracting universe and which has two spacelike singularities representing its 'big bang' and 'big crunch'. The big bang singularity and the singularity of the Fisher spacetime are radially weak in the sense that a 1-dimensional object moving along a timelike radial geodesic can arrive to the singularities intact. At the vicinity of the singularity the Fisher spacetime of nonzero mass has a region where its Misner-Sharp energy is negative. The Fisher universe has a marginally trapped surface corresponding to the state of its maximal expansion in the angular directions. These results and derived relations between geometric quantities of the Fisher spacetime, the Fisher universe, and the Schwarzschild-Tangherlini black hole may suggest that the massless scalar field transforms the black hole event horizon into the naked radially weak disjoint singularities of the Fisher spacetime and the Fisher universe which are 'dual to the horizon'.« less

  19. The Fisher-Markov selector: fast selecting maximally separable feature subset for multiclass classification with applications to high-dimensional data.

    PubMed

    Cheng, Qiang; Zhou, Hongbo; Cheng, Jie

    2011-06-01

    Selecting features for multiclass classification is a critically important task for pattern recognition and machine learning applications. Especially challenging is selecting an optimal subset of features from high-dimensional data, which typically have many more variables than observations and contain significant noise, missing components, or outliers. Existing methods either cannot handle high-dimensional data efficiently or scalably, or can only obtain local optimum instead of global optimum. Toward the selection of the globally optimal subset of features efficiently, we introduce a new selector--which we call the Fisher-Markov selector--to identify those features that are the most useful in describing essential differences among the possible groups. In particular, in this paper we present a way to represent essential discriminating characteristics together with the sparsity as an optimization objective. With properly identified measures for the sparseness and discriminativeness in possibly high-dimensional settings, we take a systematic approach for optimizing the measures to choose the best feature subset. We use Markov random field optimization techniques to solve the formulated objective functions for simultaneous feature selection. Our results are noncombinatorial, and they can achieve the exact global optimum of the objective function for some special kernels. The method is fast; in particular, it can be linear in the number of features and quadratic in the number of observations. We apply our procedure to a variety of real-world data, including mid--dimensional optical handwritten digit data set and high-dimensional microarray gene expression data sets. The effectiveness of our method is confirmed by experimental results. In pattern recognition and from a model selection viewpoint, our procedure says that it is possible to select the most discriminating subset of variables by solving a very simple unconstrained objective function which in fact can be

  20. Quadratic Optimisation with One Quadratic Equality Constraint

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-06-01

    This report presents a theoretical framework for minimising a quadratic objective function subject to a quadratic equality constraint. The first part of the report gives a detailed algorithm which computes the global minimiser without calling special nonlinear optimisation solvers. The second part of the report shows how the developed theory can be applied to solve the time of arrival geolocation problem.

  1. Self-Replicating Quadratics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Withers, Christopher S.; Nadarajah, Saralees

    2012-01-01

    We show that there are exactly four quadratic polynomials, Q(x) = x [superscript 2] + ax + b, such that (x[superscript 2] + ax + b) (x[superscript 2] - ax + b) = (x[superscript 4] + ax[superscript 2] + b). For n = 1, 2, ..., these quadratic polynomials can be written as the product of N = 2[superscript n] quadratic polynomials in x[superscript…

  2. Discriminative components of data.

    PubMed

    Peltonen, Jaakko; Kaski, Samuel

    2005-01-01

    A simple probabilistic model is introduced to generalize classical linear discriminant analysis (LDA) in finding components that are informative of or relevant for data classes. The components maximize the predictability of the class distribution which is asymptotically equivalent to 1) maximizing mutual information with the classes, and 2) finding principal components in the so-called learning or Fisher metrics. The Fisher metric measures only distances that are relevant to the classes, that is, distances that cause changes in the class distribution. The components have applications in data exploration, visualization, and dimensionality reduction. In empirical experiments, the method outperformed, in addition to more classical methods, a Renyi entropy-based alternative while having essentially equivalent computational cost.

  3. [Step Fisher discriminant analysis on severe clinical features of hand foot and mouth disease between enterovirus (EV) 71 and other EV].

    PubMed

    Ruan, Feng; Tan, Ai-jun; Zhang, Xue-bao; Chen, Xue-qin; Xiao, Song-jian; Ye, Zhong-wen; Wang, Song

    2011-07-01

    To compare the clinical features of severe hand foot and mouth disease between enterovirus (EV) 71 and other EV to find specific diagnosis index of EV71 severe hand foot and mouth disease. Case definition were adopted from national guideline of hand foot and mouth disease diagnose (Version 2010). Clinical data of severe hand foot and mouth disease came from case history and contents of questionnaire would include the ones between the time of onset and diagnoses being made. EV and EV71, Cox A16 nucleic acid tested were by RT-PCR in stool samples. Clinical features of severe hand foot and mouth disease between EV71 and other EV were compare. There appeared statistical differences between neurologic symptoms such as tremor, myoclonic jerk, listlessness, convulsion and white blood cell counts in CSF (P < 0.05). Results from the step Fisher discriminant analysis showed only tremor and white blood cell had an increase in CSF, with statistically significant differences. The discriminant equation of EV71 was Y = 3.059X(1) + 3.83X(5) - 2.742 and the equation of other EV was Y = 1.634X(1) + 1.623X(5) - 1.693. The specificity of EV71 was 91% and the specificity of other EV was 40%. The increase of clinical features of tremor and white blood cell in CSF could be used as diagnosis index of severe EV71.

  4. Wright-Fisher diffusion bridges.

    PubMed

    Griffiths, Robert C; Jenkins, Paul A; Spanò, Dario

    2017-10-06

    The trajectory of the frequency of an allele which begins at x at time 0 and is known to have frequency z at time T can be modelled by the bridge process of the Wright-Fisher diffusion. Bridges when x=z=0 are particularly interesting because they model the trajectory of the frequency of an allele which appears at a time, then is lost by random drift or mutation after a time T. The coalescent genealogy back in time of a population in a neutral Wright-Fisher diffusion process is well understood. In this paper we obtain a new interpretation of the coalescent genealogy of the population in a bridge from a time t∈(0,T). In a bridge with allele frequencies of 0 at times 0 and T the coalescence structure is that the population coalesces in two directions from t to 0 and t to T such that there is just one lineage of the allele under consideration at times 0 and T. The genealogy in Wright-Fisher diffusion bridges with selection is more complex than in the neutral model, but still with the property of the population branching and coalescing in two directions from time t∈(0,T). The density of the frequency of an allele at time t is expressed in a way that shows coalescence in the two directions. A new algorithm for exact simulation of a neutral Wright-Fisher bridge is derived. This follows from knowing the density of the frequency in a bridge and exact simulation from the Wright-Fisher diffusion. The genealogy of the neutral Wright-Fisher bridge is also modelled by branching Pólya urns, extending a representation in a Wright-Fisher diffusion. This is a new very interesting representation that relates Wright-Fisher bridges to classical urn models in a Bayesian setting. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Chapter 3: Fisher

    Treesearch

    Roger A. Powell; William J. Zielinski

    1994-01-01

    The fisher (Martes pennanti) is a medium-size mammalian carnivore and the largest member of the genus Martes (Anderson 1970) of the family Mustelidae in the order Carnivora. The genus Martes includes five or six other extant species. The fisher has the general body build of a stocky weasel and is long, thin, and...

  6. Subject-based feature extraction by using fisher WPD-CSP in brain-computer interfaces.

    PubMed

    Yang, Banghua; Li, Huarong; Wang, Qian; Zhang, Yunyuan

    2016-06-01

    Feature extraction of electroencephalogram (EEG) plays a vital role in brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). In recent years, common spatial pattern (CSP) has been proven to be an effective feature extraction method. However, the traditional CSP has disadvantages of requiring a lot of input channels and the lack of frequency information. In order to remedy the defects of CSP, wavelet packet decomposition (WPD) and CSP are combined to extract effective features. But WPD-CSP method considers less about extracting specific features that are fitted for the specific subject. So a subject-based feature extraction method using fisher WPD-CSP is proposed in this paper. The idea of proposed method is to adapt fisher WPD-CSP to each subject separately. It mainly includes the following six steps: (1) original EEG signals from all channels are decomposed into a series of sub-bands using WPD; (2) average power values of obtained sub-bands are computed; (3) the specified sub-bands with larger values of fisher distance according to average power are selected for that particular subject; (4) each selected sub-band is reconstructed to be regarded as a new EEG channel; (5) all new EEG channels are used as input of the CSP and a six-dimensional feature vector is obtained by the CSP. The subject-based feature extraction model is so formed; (6) the probabilistic neural network (PNN) is used as the classifier and the classification accuracy is obtained. Data from six subjects are processed by the subject-based fisher WPD-CSP, the non-subject-based fisher WPD-CSP and WPD-CSP, respectively. Compared with non-subject-based fisher WPD-CSP and WPD-CSP, the results show that the proposed method yields better performance (sensitivity: 88.7±0.9%, and specificity: 91±1%) and the classification accuracy from subject-based fisher WPD-CSP is increased by 6-12% and 14%, respectively. The proposed subject-based fisher WPD-CSP method can not only remedy disadvantages of CSP by WPD but also discriminate

  7. Generalized Fisher matrices

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Heavens, A. F.; Seikel, M.; Nord, B. D.; Aich, M.; Bouffanais, Y.; Bassett, B. A.; Hobson, M. P.

    2014-12-01

    The Fisher Information Matrix formalism (Fisher 1935) is extended to cases where the data are divided into two parts (X, Y), where the expectation value of Y depends on X according to some theoretical model, and X and Y both have errors with arbitrary covariance. In the simplest case, (X, Y) represent data pairs of abscissa and ordinate, in which case the analysis deals with the case of data pairs with errors in both coordinates, but X can be any measured quantities on which Y depends. The analysis applies for arbitrary covariance, provided all errors are Gaussian, and provided the errors in X are small, both in comparison with the scale over which the expected signal Y changes, and with the width of the prior distribution. This generalizes the Fisher Matrix approach, which normally only considers errors in the `ordinate' Y. In this work, we include errors in X by marginalizing over latent variables, effectively employing a Bayesian hierarchical model, and deriving the Fisher Matrix for this more general case. The methods here also extend to likelihood surfaces which are not Gaussian in the parameter space, and so techniques such as DALI (Derivative Approximation for Likelihoods) can be generalized straightforwardly to include arbitrary Gaussian data error covariances. For simple mock data and theoretical models, we compare to Markov Chain Monte Carlo experiments, illustrating the method with cosmological supernova data. We also include the new method in the FISHER4CAST software.

  8. Quadratic Damping

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fay, Temple H.

    2012-01-01

    Quadratic friction involves a discontinuous damping term in equations of motion in order that the frictional force always opposes the direction of the motion. Perhaps for this reason this topic is usually omitted from beginning texts in differential equations and physics. However, quadratic damping is more realistic than viscous damping in many…

  9. Quadratic soliton self-reflection at a quadratically nonlinear interface

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jankovic, Ladislav; Kim, Hongki; Stegeman, George; Carrasco, Silvia; Torner, Lluis; Katz, Mordechai

    2003-11-01

    The reflection of bulk quadratic solutions incident onto a quadratically nonlinear interface in periodically poled potassium titanyl phosphate was observed. The interface consisted of the boundary between two quasi-phase-matched regions displaced from each other by a half-period. At high intensities and small angles of incidence the soliton is reflected.

  10. The use of kernel local Fisher discriminant analysis for the channelization of the Hotelling model observer

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wen, Gezheng; Markey, Mia K.

    2015-03-01

    It is resource-intensive to conduct human studies for task-based assessment of medical image quality and system optimization. Thus, numerical model observers have been developed as a surrogate for human observers. The Hotelling observer (HO) is the optimal linear observer for signal-detection tasks, but the high dimensionality of imaging data results in a heavy computational burden. Channelization is often used to approximate the HO through a dimensionality reduction step, but how to produce channelized images without losing significant image information remains a key challenge. Kernel local Fisher discriminant analysis (KLFDA) uses kernel techniques to perform supervised dimensionality reduction, which finds an embedding transformation that maximizes betweenclass separability and preserves within-class local structure in the low-dimensional manifold. It is powerful for classification tasks, especially when the distribution of a class is multimodal. Such multimodality could be observed in many practical clinical tasks. For example, primary and metastatic lesions may both appear in medical imaging studies, but the distributions of their typical characteristics (e.g., size) may be very different. In this study, we propose to use KLFDA as a novel channelization method. The dimension of the embedded manifold (i.e., the result of KLFDA) is a counterpart to the number of channels in the state-of-art linear channelization. We present a simulation study to demonstrate the potential usefulness of KLFDA for building the channelized HOs (CHOs) and generating reliable decision statistics for clinical tasks. We show that the performance of the CHO with KLFDA channels is comparable to that of the benchmark CHOs.

  11. Co-existence of Fisheries and Marine Renewable Energy: The Spotlight on Fishers and Fishers' Knowledge (FK)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Campbell, M. S.; Ashley, M.; De Groot, J.; Rodwell, L.

    2016-02-01

    As an emerging industry, Marine Renewable Energy (MRE) is expected to play a major contributory role if the UK is to successfully reach it's desired target of renewable energy production by 2020. However, due to the competing objectives and priorities of MRE and other industries, for example fisheries, and in the delivering of conservation measures, the demand for space within our marine landscape is increasing, and interactions are inevitable. A semi structured interview was conducted with forty fishers across the UK to elicit further information on the challenges, barriers to progress and priority issues these fishers face in relation to MRE development. The questionnaire also included a fisher assessment of the mitigation agenda developed by de Groot et al. (2014) under the Natural Environment Research Council Marine Renewable Energy Knowledge Exchange Programme ( NERC MREKEP). Qualitative data were extracted and analysed using the text analysis software NVivo8. Fishers identified barriers to progress, and in order of the most important themes included; policy, consultation, trust, lack of knowledge, true representation of all fishers, science vs. fisher observation mismatch and timescales. Priority issues identified in order of importance were; displacement or loss of access, cable disturbance, timings of installation/repairs, effects on the seabed and specifically offshore windfarm (OWF) sitting. The consultation process caused discontent among all fishers interviewed. In relation to working towards a collaborative mitigation agenda, fishers highlighted issues of trust in relation to; trans-boundary management, data management and the consultation process. At all stages of the research, the response rate of the importance of gathering fishers' knowledge (FK) was high. Fishers underlined the importance of this data source in assessing the impacts of MRE on the sectors of the UK fleet. Thus, although at an early stage of development, an initial framework for the

  12. Fisher in Adelaide.

    PubMed

    Mayo, Oliver

    2014-06-01

    R. A. Fisher spent much of his final 3 years of life in Adelaide. It was a congenial place to live and work, and he was much in demand as a speaker, in Australia and overseas. It was, however, a difficult time for him because of the sustained criticism of fiducial inference from the early 1950s onwards. The article discusses some of Fisher's work on inference from an Adelaide perspective. It also considers some of the successes arising from this time, in the statistics of field experimentation and in evolutionary genetics. A few personal recollections of Fisher as houseguest are provided. This article is the text of a article presented on August 31, 2012 at the 26th International Biometric Conference, Kobe, Japan. © 2014, The International Biometric Society.

  13. Synthesis and analysis of discriminators under influence of broadband non-Gaussian noise

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Artyushenko, V. M.; Volovach, V. I.

    2018-01-01

    We considered the problems of the synthesis and analysis of discriminators, when the useful signal is exposed to non-Gaussian additive broadband noise. It is shown that in this case, the discriminator of the tracking meter should contain the nonlinear transformation unit, the characteristics of which are determined by the Fisher information relative to the probability density function of the mixture of non-Gaussian broadband noise and mismatch errors. The parameters of the discriminatory and phase characteristics of the discriminators working under the above conditions are obtained. It is shown that the efficiency of non-linear processing depends on the ratio of power of FM noise to the power of Gaussian noise. The analysis of the information loss of signal transformation caused by the linear section of discriminatory characteristics of the unit of nonlinear transformations of the discriminator is carried out. It is shown that the average slope of the nonlinear transformation characteristic is determined by the Fisher information relative to the probability density function of the mixture of non-Gaussian noise and mismatch errors.

  14. Was RA Fisher Right?

    PubMed

    Srivastava, Ayush; Srivastava, Anurag; Pandey, Ravindra M

    2017-10-01

    Randomized controlled trials have become the most respected scientific tool to measure the effectiveness of a medical therapy. The design, conduct and analysis of randomized controlled trials were developed by Sir Ronald A. Fisher, a mathematician in Great Britain. Fisher propounded that the process of randomization would equally distribute all the known and even unknown covariates in the two or more comparison groups, so that any difference observed could be ascribed to treatment effect. Today, we observe that in many situations, this prediction of Fisher does not stand true; hence, adaptive randomization schedules have been designed to adjust for major imbalance in important covariates. Present essay unravels some weaknesses inherent in Fisherian concept of randomized controlled trial.

  15. Quadratic Forms and Semiclassical Eigenfunction Hypothesis for Flat Tori

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    T. Sardari, Naser

    2018-03-01

    Let Q( X) be any integral primitive positive definite quadratic form in k variables, where {k≥4}, and discriminant D. For any integer n, we give an upper bound on the number of integral solutions of Q( X) = n in terms of n, k, and D. As a corollary, we prove a conjecture of Lester and Rudnick on the small scale equidistribution of almost all functions belonging to any orthonormal basis of a given eigenspace of the Laplacian on the flat torus {T^d} for {d≥ 5}. This conjecture is motivated by the work of Berry [2,3] on the semiclassical eigenfunction hypothesis.

  16. Credit scoring analysis using kernel discriminant

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Widiharih, T.; Mukid, M. A.; Mustafid

    2018-05-01

    Credit scoring model is an important tool for reducing the risk of wrong decisions when granting credit facilities to applicants. This paper investigate the performance of kernel discriminant model in assessing customer credit risk. Kernel discriminant analysis is a non- parametric method which means that it does not require any assumptions about the probability distribution of the input. The main ingredient is a kernel that allows an efficient computation of Fisher discriminant. We use several kernel such as normal, epanechnikov, biweight, and triweight. The models accuracy was compared each other using data from a financial institution in Indonesia. The results show that kernel discriminant can be an alternative method that can be used to determine who is eligible for a credit loan. In the data we use, it shows that a normal kernel is relevant to be selected for credit scoring using kernel discriminant model. Sensitivity and specificity reach to 0.5556 and 0.5488 respectively.

  17. Quadrat Data for Fermilab Prairie Plant Survey

    Science.gov Websites

    Quadrat Data 2012 Quadrat Data 2013 Quadrat Data None taken by volunteers in 2014 due to weather problems . 2015 Quadrat Data 2016 Quadrat Data None taken by volunteers in 2017 due to weather and other problems

  18. Fishers' knowledge on the coast of Brazil.

    PubMed

    Begossi, Alpina; Salivonchyk, Svetlana; Lopes, Priscila F M; Silvano, Renato A M

    2016-06-01

    Although fishers' knowledge has been recently considered into management programmes, there is still the need to establish a better understanding of fishers' perceptions and cognition. Fishers can provide novel information on the biology and ecology of species, which can potentially be used in the management of fisheries. The knowledge fishers have and how they classify nature is empirically based. It is common, for example, to observe that fishers' taxonomy is often represented by the generic level, one of the hierarchical categories of folk classification that is somewhat analogous to the Linnean genus, as it groups organisms of a higher rank than the folk species.In this study we compiled the knowledge fishers have on local fish, such as their folk names, diet and habitat. Five coastal communities widely distributed along the Brazilian coast were studied: two from the northeast (Porto Sauípe and Itacimirim, in Bahia State, n of interviewees = 34), two from the southeast (Itaipu at Niterói and Copacabana at Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro State, n = 35) and one from the south coast (Pântano do Sul, in Santa Catarina State, n = 23). Fish pictures were randomly ordered and the same order was presented to all interviewees (n = 92), when they were then asked about the species name and classification and its habitat and diet preferences. Fishers make clusters of fish species, usually hierarchically; fishers of the coast of Brazil use mostly primary lexemes (generic names) to name fish; and fishers did not differentiate between scientific species, since the same folk generic name included two different scientific species. Fishers provide information on species to which there is scarce or no information on diet and habitat, such as Rhinobatos percellens (chola guitarfish, arraia viola or cação viola), Sphoeroides dorsalis (marbled puffer, baiacu), Mycteroperca acutirostris (comb grouper, badejo) and Dasyatis guttata (longnose stingray, arraia, arraia

  19. Application of Fisher Information to Complex Dynamic Systems

    EPA Science Inventory

    Fisher information was developed by the statistician Ronald Fisher as a measure of the information obtainable from data being used to fit a related parameter. Starting from the work of Ronald Fisher1 and B. Roy Frieden2, we have developed Fisher information as a measure of order ...

  20. Joint recognition and discrimination in nonlinear feature space

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Talukder, Ashit; Casasent, David P.

    1997-09-01

    A new general method for linear and nonlinear feature extraction is presented. It is novel since it provides both representation and discrimination while most other methods are concerned with only one of these issues. We call this approach the maximum representation and discrimination feature (MRDF) method and show that the Bayes classifier and the Karhunen- Loeve transform are special cases of it. We refer to our nonlinear feature extraction technique as nonlinear eigen- feature extraction. It is new since it has a closed-form solution and produces nonlinear decision surfaces with higher rank than do iterative methods. Results on synthetic databases are shown and compared with results from standard Fukunaga- Koontz transform and Fisher discriminant function methods. The method is also applied to an automated product inspection problem (discrimination) and to the classification and pose estimation of two similar objects (representation and discrimination).

  1. Kernel PLS-SVC for Linear and Nonlinear Discrimination

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rosipal, Roman; Trejo, Leonard J.; Matthews, Bryan

    2003-01-01

    A new methodology for discrimination is proposed. This is based on kernel orthonormalized partial least squares (PLS) dimensionality reduction of the original data space followed by support vector machines for classification. Close connection of orthonormalized PLS and Fisher's approach to linear discrimination or equivalently with canonical correlation analysis is described. This gives preference to use orthonormalized PLS over principal component analysis. Good behavior of the proposed method is demonstrated on 13 different benchmark data sets and on the real world problem of the classification finger movement periods versus non-movement periods based on electroencephalogram.

  2. GeneFisher-P: variations of GeneFisher as processes in Bio-jETI

    PubMed Central

    Lamprecht, Anna-Lena; Margaria, Tiziana; Steffen, Bernhard; Sczyrba, Alexander; Hartmeier, Sven; Giegerich, Robert

    2008-01-01

    Background PCR primer design is an everyday, but not trivial task requiring state-of-the-art software. We describe the popular tool GeneFisher and explain its recent restructuring using workflow techniques. We apply a service-oriented approach to model and implement GeneFisher-P, a process-based version of the GeneFisher web application, as a part of the Bio-jETI platform for service modeling and execution. We show how to introduce a flexible process layer to meet the growing demand for improved user-friendliness and flexibility. Results Within Bio-jETI, we model the process using the jABC framework, a mature model-driven, service-oriented process definition platform. We encapsulate remote legacy tools and integrate web services using jETI, an extension of the jABC for seamless integration of remote resources as basic services, ready to be used in the process. Some of the basic services used by GeneFisher are in fact already provided as individual web services at BiBiServ and can be directly accessed. Others are legacy programs, and are made available to Bio-jETI via the jETI technology. The full power of service-based process orientation is required when more bioinformatics tools, available as web services or via jETI, lead to easy extensions or variations of the basic process. This concerns for instance variations of data retrieval or alignment tools as provided by the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI). Conclusions The resulting service- and process-oriented GeneFisher-P demonstrates how basic services from heterogeneous sources can be easily orchestrated in the Bio-jETI platform and lead to a flexible family of specialized processes tailored to specific tasks. PMID:18460174

  3. Fisher information and Rényi dimensions: A thermodynamical formalism

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Godó, B.; Nagy, Á.

    The relation between the Fisher information and Rényi dimensions is established: the Fisher information can be expressed as a linear combination of the first and second derivatives of the Rényi dimensions with respect to the Rényi parameter β. The Rényi parameter β is the parameter of the Fisher information. A thermodynamical description based on the Fisher information with β being the inverse temperature is introduced for chaotic systems. The link between the Fisher information and the heat capacity is emphasized, and the Fisher heat capacity is introduced.

  4. Fisher information and Rényi dimensions: A thermodynamical formalism.

    PubMed

    Godó, B; Nagy, Á

    2016-08-01

    The relation between the Fisher information and Rényi dimensions is established: the Fisher information can be expressed as a linear combination of the first and second derivatives of the Rényi dimensions with respect to the Rényi parameter β. The Rényi parameter β is the parameter of the Fisher information. A thermodynamical description based on the Fisher information with β being the inverse temperature is introduced for chaotic systems. The link between the Fisher information and the heat capacity is emphasized, and the Fisher heat capacity is introduced.

  5. Fisher information in a quantum-critical environment

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Sun Zhe; Ma Jian; Lu Xiaoming

    2010-08-15

    We consider a process of parameter estimation in a spin-j system surrounded by a quantum-critical spin chain. Quantum Fisher information lies at the heart of the estimation task. We employ Ising spin chain in a transverse field as the environment which exhibits a quantum phase transition. Fisher information decays with time almost monotonously when the environment reaches the critical point. By choosing a fixed time or taking the time average, one can see the quantum Fisher information presents a sudden drop at the critical point. Different initial states of the environment are considered. The phenomenon that the quantum Fisher information,more » namely, the precision of estimation, changes dramatically can be used to detect the quantum criticality of the environment. We also introduce a general method to obtain the maximal Fisher information for a given state.« less

  6. Score-moment combined linear discrimination analysis (SMC-LDA) as an improved discrimination method.

    PubMed

    Han, Jintae; Chung, Hoeil; Han, Sung-Hwan; Yoon, Moon-Young

    2007-01-01

    A new discrimination method called the score-moment combined linear discrimination analysis (SMC-LDA) has been developed and its performance has been evaluated using three practical spectroscopic datasets. The key concept of SMC-LDA was to use not only the score from principal component analysis (PCA), but also the moment of the spectrum, as inputs for LDA to improve discrimination. Along with conventional score, moment is used in spectroscopic fields as an effective alternative for spectral feature representation. Three different approaches were considered. Initially, the score generated from PCA was projected onto a two-dimensional feature space by maximizing Fisher's criterion function (conventional PCA-LDA). Next, the same procedure was performed using only moment. Finally, both score and moment were utilized simultaneously for LDA. To evaluate discrimination performances, three different spectroscopic datasets were employed: (1) infrared (IR) spectra of normal and malignant stomach tissue, (2) near-infrared (NIR) spectra of diesel and light gas oil (LGO) and (3) Raman spectra of Chinese and Korean ginseng. For each case, the best discrimination results were achieved when both score and moment were used for LDA (SMC-LDA). Since the spectral representation character of moment was different from that of score, inclusion of both score and moment for LDA provided more diversified and descriptive information.

  7. Combining features from ERP components in single-trial EEG for discriminating four-category visual objects.

    PubMed

    Wang, Changming; Xiong, Shi; Hu, Xiaoping; Yao, Li; Zhang, Jiacai

    2012-10-01

    Categorization of images containing visual objects can be successfully recognized using single-trial electroencephalograph (EEG) measured when subjects view images. Previous studies have shown that task-related information contained in event-related potential (ERP) components could discriminate two or three categories of object images. In this study, we investigated whether four categories of objects (human faces, buildings, cats and cars) could be mutually discriminated using single-trial EEG data. Here, the EEG waveforms acquired while subjects were viewing four categories of object images were segmented into several ERP components (P1, N1, P2a and P2b), and then Fisher linear discriminant analysis (Fisher-LDA) was used to classify EEG features extracted from ERP components. Firstly, we compared the classification results using features from single ERP components, and identified that the N1 component achieved the highest classification accuracies. Secondly, we discriminated four categories of objects using combining features from multiple ERP components, and showed that combination of ERP components improved four-category classification accuracies by utilizing the complementarity of discriminative information in ERP components. These findings confirmed that four categories of object images could be discriminated with single-trial EEG and could direct us to select effective EEG features for classifying visual objects.

  8. Olympic Fisher Reintroduction Project: Progress report 2008-2011

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Jeffrey C. Lewis,; Patti J. Happe,; Jenkins, Kurt J.; Manson, David J.

    2012-01-01

    This progress report summarizes the final year of activities of Phase I of the Olympic fisher restoration project. The intent of the Olympic fisher reintroduction project is to reestablish a self-sustaining population of fishers on the Olympic Peninsula. To achieve this goal, the Olympic fisher reintroduction project released 90 fishers within Olympic National Park from 2008 to 2010. The reintroduction of fishers to the Olympic Peninsula was designed as an adaptive management project, including the monitoring of released fishers as a means to (1) evaluate reintroduction success, (2) investigate key biological and ecological traits of fishers, and (3) inform future reintroduction, monitoring, and research efforts. This report summarizes reintroduction activities and preliminary research and monitoring results completed through December 2011. The report is non-interpretational in nature. Although we report the status of movement, survival, and home range components of the research, we have not completed final analyses and interpretation of research results. Much of the data collected during the monitoring and research project will be analyzed and interpreted in the doctoral dissertation being developed by Jeff Lewis; the completion of this dissertation is anticipated prior to April 2013. We anticipate that this work, and analyses of other data collected during the project, will result in several peer-reviewed scientific publications in ecological and conservation journals, which collectively will comprise the final reporting of work summarized here. These publications will include papers addressing post-release movements, survival, resource selection, food habits, and age determination of fishers.

  9. An evaluation of parturition indices in fishers

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Frost, H.C.; York, E.C.; Krohn, W.B.; Elowe, K.D.; Decker, T.A.; Powell, S.M.; Fuller, T.K.

    1999-01-01

    Fishers (Martes pennanti) are important forest carnivores and furbearers that are susceptible to overharvest. Traditional indices used to monitor fisher populations typically overestimate litter size and proportion of females that give birth. We evaluated the usefulness of 2 indices of reproduction to determine proportion of female fishers that gave birth in a particular year. We used female fishers of known age and reproductive histories to compare appearance of placental scars with incidence of pregnancy and litter size. Microscopic observation of freshly removed reproductive tracts correctly identified pregnant fishers and correctly estimated litter size in 3 of 4 instances, but gross observation of placental scars failed to correctly identify pregnant fishers and litter size. Microscopic observations of reproductive tracts in carcasses that were not fresh also failed to identify pregnant animals and litter size. We evaluated mean sizes of anterior nipples to see if different reproductive classes could be distinguished. Mean anterior nipple size of captive and wild fishers correctly identified current-year breeders from nonbreeders. Former breeders were misclassified in 4 of 13 instances. Presence of placental scars accurately predicted parturition in a small sample size of fishers, but absence of placental scars did not signify that a female did not give birth. In addition to enabling the estimation of parturition rates in live animals more accurately than traditional indices, mean anterior nipple size also provided an estimate of the percentage of adult females that successfully raised young. Though using mean anterior nipple size to index reproductive success looks promising, additional data are needed to evaluate effects of using dried, stretched pelts on nipple size for management purposes.

  10. Fisher information of accelerated two-qubit systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Metwally, N.

    2018-02-01

    In this paper, Fisher information for an accelerated system initially prepared in the X-state is discussed. An analytical solution, which consists of three parts: classical, the average over all pure states and a mixture of pure states, is derived for the general state and for Werner state. It is shown that the Unruh acceleration has a depleting effect on the Fisher information. This depletion depends on the degree of entanglement of the initial state settings. For the X-state, for some intervals of Unruh acceleration, the Fisher information remains constant, irrespective to the Unruh acceleration. In general, the possibility of estimating the state’s parameters decreases as the acceleration increases. However, the precision of estimation can be maximized for certain values of the Unruh acceleration. We also investigate the contribution of the different parts of the Fisher information on the dynamics of the total Fisher information.

  11. Historical harvest and incidental capture of fishers in California

    Treesearch

    Jeffrey C. Lewis; William J. Zielinski

    1996-01-01

    Recent petitions to list the fisher (Martes pennanti) under the Endangered Species Act have brought attention to fisher conservation. Although commercial trapping of fishers in California ended in 1946, summarizing the commercial harvest data can provide a historical perspective to fisher conservation and may indicate the prevalence of incidental...

  12. Application of Fisher Information to Complex Dynamic Systems (Tucson)

    EPA Science Inventory

    Fisher information was developed by the statistician Ronald Fisher as a measure of the information obtainable from data being used to fit a related parameter. Starting from the work of Ronald Fisher1 and B. Roy Frieden2, we have developed Fisher information as a measure of order ...

  13. Analysis of the discriminative methods for diagnosis of benign and malignant solitary pulmonary nodules based on serum markers.

    PubMed

    Wang, Wanping; Liu, Mingyue; Wang, Jing; Tian, Rui; Dong, Junqiang; Liu, Qi; Zhao, Xianping; Wang, Yuanfang

    2014-01-01

    Screening indexes of tumor serum markers for benign and malignant solitary pulmonary nodules (SPNs) were analyzed to find the optimum method for diagnosis. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, an automatic immune analyzer and radioimmunoassay methods were used to examine the levels of 8 serum markers in 164 SPN patients, and the sensitivity for differential diagnosis of malignant or benign SPN was compared for detection using a single plasma marker or a combination of markers. The results for serological indicators that closely relate to benign and malignant SPNs were screened using the Fisher discriminant analysis and a non-conditional logistic regression analysis method, respectively. The results were then verified by the k-means clustering analysis method. The sensitivity when using a combination of serum markers to detect SPN was higher than that using a single marker. By Fisher discriminant analysis, cytokeratin 19 fragments (CYFRA21-1), carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125), squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC) and breast cancer antigen (CA153), which relate to the benign and malignant SPNs, were screened. Through non-conditional logistic regression analysis, CYFRA21-1, SCC and CA153 were obtained. Using the k-means clustering analysis, the cophenetic correlation coefficient (0.940) obtained by the Fisher discriminant analysis was higher than that obtained with logistic regression analysis (0.875). This study indicated that the Fisher discriminant analysis functioned better in screening out serum markers to recognize the benign and malignant SPN. The combined detection of CYFRA21-1, CA125, SCC and CA153 is an effective way to distinguish benign and malignant SPN, and will find an important clinical application in the early diagnosis of SPN. © 2014 S. Karger GmbH, Freiburg.

  14. Quadratic spline subroutine package

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Rasmussen, Lowell A.

    1982-01-01

    A continuous piecewise quadratic function with continuous first derivative is devised for approximating a single-valued, but unknown, function represented by a set of discrete points. The quadratic is proposed as a treatment intermediate between using the angular (but reliable, easily constructed and manipulated) piecewise linear function and using the smoother (but occasionally erratic) cubic spline. Neither iteration nor the solution of a system of simultaneous equations is necessary to determining the coefficients. Several properties of the quadratic function are given. A set of five short FORTRAN subroutines is provided for generating the coefficients (QSC), finding function value and derivatives (QSY), integrating (QSI), finding extrema (QSE), and computing arc length and the curvature-squared integral (QSK). (USGS)

  15. Fishers' knowledge and seahorse conservation in Brazil

    PubMed Central

    Rosa, Ierecê ML; Alves, Rômulo RN; Bonifácio, Kallyne M; Mourão, José S; Osório, Frederico M; Oliveira, Tacyana PR; Nottingham, Mara C

    2005-01-01

    From a conservationist perspective, seahorses are threatened fishes. Concomitantly, from a socioeconomic perspective, they represent a source of income to many fishing communities in developing countries. An integration between these two views requires, among other things, the recognition that seahorse fishers have knowledge and abilities that can assist the implementation of conservation strategies and of management plans for seahorses and their habitats. This paper documents the knowledge held by Brazilian fishers on the biology and ecology of the longsnout seahorse Hippocampus reidi. Its aims were to explore collaborative approaches to seahorse conservation and management in Brazil; to assess fishers' perception of seahorse biology and ecology, in the context evaluating potential management options; to increase fishers' involvement with seahorse conservation in Brazil. Data were obtained through questionnaires and interviews made during field surveys conducted in fishing villages located in the States of Piauí, Ceará, Paraíba, Maranhão, Pernambuco and Pará. We consider the following aspects as positive for the conservation of seahorses and their habitats in Brazil: fishers were willing to dialogue with researchers; although captures and/or trade of brooding seahorses occurred, most interviewees recognized the importance of reproduction to the maintenance of seahorses in the wild (and therefore of their source of income), and expressed concern over population declines; fishers associated the presence of a ventral pouch with reproduction in seahorses (regardless of them knowing which sex bears the pouch), and this may facilitate the construction of collaborative management options designed to eliminate captures of brooding specimens; fishers recognized microhabitats of importance to the maintenance of seahorse wild populations; fishers who kept seahorses in captivity tended to recognize the condtions as poor, and as being a cause of seahorse mortality. PMID

  16. Fishers' knowledge and seahorse conservation in Brazil.

    PubMed

    Rosa, Ierecê Ml; Alves, Rômulo Rn; Bonifácio, Kallyne M; Mourão, José S; Osório, Frederico M; Oliveira, Tacyana Pr; Nottingham, Mara C

    2005-12-08

    From a conservationist perspective, seahorses are threatened fishes. Concomitantly, from a socioeconomic perspective, they represent a source of income to many fishing communities in developing countries. An integration between these two views requires, among other things, the recognition that seahorse fishers have knowledge and abilities that can assist the implementation of conservation strategies and of management plans for seahorses and their habitats. This paper documents the knowledge held by Brazilian fishers on the biology and ecology of the longsnout seahorse Hippocampus reidi. Its aims were to explore collaborative approaches to seahorse conservation and management in Brazil; to assess fishers' perception of seahorse biology and ecology, in the context evaluating potential management options; to increase fishers' involvement with seahorse conservation in Brazil. Data were obtained through questionnaires and interviews made during field surveys conducted in fishing villages located in the States of Piauí, Ceará, Paraíba, Maranhão, Pernambuco and Pará. We consider the following aspects as positive for the conservation of seahorses and their habitats in Brazil: fishers were willing to dialogue with researchers; although captures and/or trade of brooding seahorses occurred, most interviewees recognized the importance of reproduction to the maintenance of seahorses in the wild (and therefore of their source of income), and expressed concern over population declines; fishers associated the presence of a ventral pouch with reproduction in seahorses (regardless of them knowing which sex bears the pouch), and this may facilitate the construction of collaborative management options designed to eliminate captures of brooding specimens; fishers recognized microhabitats of importance to the maintenance of seahorse wild populations; fishers who kept seahorses in captivity tended to recognize the condtions as poor, and as being a cause of seahorse mortality.

  17. Chapter 4: Fishers and American martens

    Treesearch

    K.L. Purcell; C.M. Thompson; W.J. Zielinski

    2012-01-01

    Fishers (Martes pennanti) and American martens (M. americana) are carnivorous mustelids associated with late-successional forests. The distributions of both species have decreased in the Sierra Nevada and southern Cascade region (Zielinski et al. 2005). Fishers occur primarily in lower elevation (3,500 to 7,000 ft) (1067 to...

  18. A Global Estimate of the Number of Coral Reef Fishers.

    PubMed

    Teh, Louise S L; Teh, Lydia C L; Sumaila, U Rashid

    2013-01-01

    Overfishing threatens coral reefs worldwide, yet there is no reliable estimate on the number of reef fishers globally. We address this data gap by quantifying the number of reef fishers on a global scale, using two approaches - the first estimates reef fishers as a proportion of the total number of marine fishers in a country, based on the ratio of reef-related to total marine fish landed values. The second estimates reef fishers as a function of coral reef area, rural coastal population, and fishing pressure. In total, we find that there are 6 million reef fishers in 99 reef countries and territories worldwide, of which at least 25% are reef gleaners. Our estimates are an improvement over most existing fisher population statistics, which tend to omit accounting for gleaners and reef fishers. Our results suggest that slightly over a quarter of the world's small-scale fishers fish on coral reefs, and half of all coral reef fishers are in Southeast Asia. Coral reefs evidently support the socio-economic well-being of numerous coastal communities. By quantifying the number of people who are employed as reef fishers, we provide decision-makers with an important input into planning for sustainable coral reef fisheries at the appropriate scale.

  19. A Global Estimate of the Number of Coral Reef Fishers

    PubMed Central

    Teh, Louise S. L.; Teh, Lydia C. L.; Sumaila, U. Rashid

    2013-01-01

    Overfishing threatens coral reefs worldwide, yet there is no reliable estimate on the number of reef fishers globally. We address this data gap by quantifying the number of reef fishers on a global scale, using two approaches - the first estimates reef fishers as a proportion of the total number of marine fishers in a country, based on the ratio of reef-related to total marine fish landed values. The second estimates reef fishers as a function of coral reef area, rural coastal population, and fishing pressure. In total, we find that there are 6 million reef fishers in 99 reef countries and territories worldwide, of which at least 25% are reef gleaners. Our estimates are an improvement over most existing fisher population statistics, which tend to omit accounting for gleaners and reef fishers. Our results suggest that slightly over a quarter of the world’s small-scale fishers fish on coral reefs, and half of all coral reef fishers are in Southeast Asia. Coral reefs evidently support the socio-economic well-being of numerous coastal communities. By quantifying the number of people who are employed as reef fishers, we provide decision-makers with an important input into planning for sustainable coral reef fisheries at the appropriate scale. PMID:23840327

  20. R. A. Fisher and his advocacy of randomization.

    PubMed

    Hall, Nancy S

    2007-01-01

    The requirement of randomization in experimental design was first stated by R. A. Fisher, statistician and geneticist, in 1925 in his book Statistical Methods for Research Workers. Earlier designs were systematic and involved the judgment of the experimenter; this led to possible bias and inaccurate interpretation of the data. Fisher's dictum was that randomization eliminates bias and permits a valid test of significance. Randomization in experimenting had been used by Charles Sanders Peirce in 1885 but the practice was not continued. Fisher developed his concepts of randomizing as he considered the mathematics of small samples, in discussions with "Student," William Sealy Gosset. Fisher published extensively. His principles of experimental design were spread worldwide by the many "voluntary workers" who came from other institutions to Rothamsted Agricultural Station in England to learn Fisher's methods.

  1. Fisher classifier and its probability of error estimation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Chittineni, C. B.

    1979-01-01

    Computationally efficient expressions are derived for estimating the probability of error using the leave-one-out method. The optimal threshold for the classification of patterns projected onto Fisher's direction is derived. A simple generalization of the Fisher classifier to multiple classes is presented. Computational expressions are developed for estimating the probability of error of the multiclass Fisher classifier.

  2. Linear discriminant analysis with misallocation in training samples

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Chhikara, R. (Principal Investigator); Mckeon, J.

    1982-01-01

    Linear discriminant analysis for a two-class case is studied in the presence of misallocation in training samples. A general appraoch to modeling of mislocation is formulated, and the mean vectors and covariance matrices of the mixture distributions are derived. The asymptotic distribution of the discriminant boundary is obtained and the asymptotic first two moments of the two types of error rate given. Certain numerical results for the error rates are presented by considering the random and two non-random misallocation models. It is shown that when the allocation procedure for training samples is objectively formulated, the effect of misallocation on the error rates of the Bayes linear discriminant rule can almost be eliminated. If, however, this is not possible, the use of Fisher rule may be preferred over the Bayes rule.

  3. Fishers' knowledge about fish trophic interactions in the southeastern Brazilian coast.

    PubMed

    Ramires, Milena; Clauzet, Mariana; Barrella, Walter; Rotundo, Matheus M; Silvano, Renato Am; Begossi, Alpina

    2015-03-05

    Data derived from studies of fishers' local ecological knowledge (LEK) can be invaluable to the proposal of new studies and more appropriate management strategies. This study analyzed the fisher's LEK about trophic relationships of fishes in the southeastern Brazilian coast, comparing fishers' LEK with scientific knowledge to provide new hypotheses. The initial contacts with fishers were made through informal visits in their residences, to explain the research goals, meet fishers and their families, check the number of resident fishers and ask for fishers' consent to participate in the research. After this initial contact, fishers were selected to be included in the interviews through the technique of snowball sampling. The fishers indicated by others who attended the criteria to be included in the research were interviewed by using a semi-structured standard questionnaire. There were interviewed 26 artisanal fishers from three communities of the Ilhabela: Jabaquara, Fome and Serraria. The interviewed fishers showed a detailed knowledge about the trophic interactions of the studied coastal fishes, as fishers mentioned 17 food items for these fishes and six fish and three mammals as fish predators. The most mentioned food items were small fish, shrimps and crabs, while the most mentioned predators were large reef fishes. Fishers also mentioned some predators, such as sea otters, that have not been reported by the biological literature and are poorly known. The LEK of the studied fishers showed a high degree of concordance with the scientific literature regarding fish diet. This study evidenced the value of fishers' LEK to improve fisheries research and management, as well as the needy to increase the collaboration among managers, biologists and fishers.

  4. The Factorability of Quadratics: Motivation for More Techniques

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bosse, Michael J.; Nandakumar, N. R.

    2005-01-01

    Typically, secondary and college algebra students attempt to utilize either completing the square or the quadratic formula as techniques to solve a quadratic equation only after frustration with factoring has arisen. While both completing the square and the quadratic formula are techniques which can determine solutions for all quadratic equations,…

  5. Sir Ronald A. Fisher and the International Biometric Society.

    PubMed

    Billard, Lynne

    2014-06-01

    The year 2012 marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Sir Ronald A. Fisher, one of the two Fathers of Statistics and a Founder of the International Biometric Society (the "Society"). To celebrate the extraordinary genius of Fisher and the far-sighted vision of Fisher and Chester Bliss in organizing and promoting the formation of the Society, this article looks at the origins and growth of the Society, some of the key players and events, and especially the roles played by Fisher himself as the First President. A fresh look at Fisher, the man rather than the scientific genius is also presented. © 2014, The International Biometric Society.

  6. Recurrent Miller Fisher syndrome.

    PubMed

    Madhavan, S; Geetha; Bhargavan, P V

    2004-07-01

    Miller Fisher syndrome (MFS) is a variant of Guillan Barre syndrome characterized by the triad of ophthalmoplegia, ataxia and areflexia. Recurrences are exceptional with Miller Fisher syndrome. We are reporting a case with two episodes of MFS within two years. Initially he presented with partial ophthalmoplegia, ataxia. Second episode was characterized by full-blown presentation characterized by ataxia, areflexia and ophthalmoplegia. CSF analysis was typical during both episodes. Nerve conduction velocity study was fairly within normal limits. MRI of brain was within normal limits. He responded to symptomatic measures initially, then to steroids in the second episode. We are reporting the case due to its rarity.

  7. Students' Understanding of Quadratic Equations

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    López, Jonathan; Robles, Izraim; Martínez-Planell, Rafael

    2016-01-01

    Action-Process-Object-Schema theory (APOS) was applied to study student understanding of quadratic equations in one variable. This required proposing a detailed conjecture (called a genetic decomposition) of mental constructions students may do to understand quadratic equations. The genetic decomposition which was proposed can contribute to help…

  8. Exact solutions to quadratic gravity

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pravda, V.; Pravdová, A.; Podolský, J.; Švarc, R.

    2017-04-01

    Since all Einstein spacetimes are vacuum solutions to quadratic gravity in four dimensions, in this paper we study various aspects of non-Einstein vacuum solutions to this theory. Most such known solutions are of traceless Ricci and Petrov type N with a constant Ricci scalar. Thus we assume the Ricci scalar to be constant which leads to a substantial simplification of the field equations. We prove that a vacuum solution to quadratic gravity with traceless Ricci tensor of type N and aligned Weyl tensor of any Petrov type is necessarily a Kundt spacetime. This will considerably simplify the search for new non-Einstein solutions. Similarly, a vacuum solution to quadratic gravity with traceless Ricci type III and aligned Weyl tensor of Petrov type II or more special is again necessarily a Kundt spacetime. Then we study the general role of conformal transformations in constructing vacuum solutions to quadratic gravity. We find that such solutions can be obtained by solving one nonlinear partial differential equation for a conformal factor on any Einstein spacetime or, more generally, on any background with vanishing Bach tensor. In particular, we show that all geometries conformal to Kundt are either Kundt or Robinson-Trautman, and we provide some explicit Kundt and Robinson-Trautman solutions to quadratic gravity by solving the above mentioned equation on certain Kundt backgrounds.

  9. Orthogonality preserving infinite dimensional quadratic stochastic operators

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Akın, Hasan; Mukhamedov, Farrukh

    In the present paper, we consider a notion of orthogonal preserving nonlinear operators. We introduce π-Volterra quadratic operators finite and infinite dimensional settings. It is proved that any orthogonal preserving quadratic operator on finite dimensional simplex is π-Volterra quadratic operator. In infinite dimensional setting, we describe all π-Volterra operators in terms orthogonal preserving operators.

  10. Official portrait of Astronaut Anna L. Fisher

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1985-01-01

    Official portrait of Astronaut Anna L. Fisher. Fisher is posing with her helmet on the table in front of her and the American flag appears over the opposite shoulder (34357); Posing with an empty table in front of her and the American flag behind her (34358).

  11. Current distribution of the fisher, Martes pennanti, in California

    Treesearch

    William J. Zielinski; Thomas E. Kucera; Reginald H. Barrett

    1995-01-01

    We describe the 1989-1994 distribution of the fisher, Martes pennanti, in California based on results of detection surveys that used either sooted track-plates or cameras. Fishers were detected in two regions of the state: the northwest and the southern Sierra Nevada. Despite considerable survey effort, neither fisher tracks nor photographs were...

  12. Home range characteristics of fishers in California

    Treesearch

    W. J. Zielinski; R. L. Truex; G. A. Schmidt; F. V. Schlexer; K. N. Schmidt; R. H. Barrett

    2004-01-01

    The fisher (Martes pennanti) is a forest mustelid that historically occurred in California from the mixed conifer forests of the north coast, east to the southern Cascades, and south throughout the Sierra Nevada. Today fishers in California occur only in 2 disjunct populations in the northwestern mountains and the...

  13. Fisher information and Rényi entropies in dynamical systems.

    PubMed

    Godó, B; Nagy, Á

    2017-07-01

    The link between the Fisher information and Rényi entropies is explored. The relationship is based on a thermodynamical formalism based on Fisher information with a parameter, β, which is interpreted as the inverse temperature. The Fisher heat capacity is defined and found to be sensitive to changes of higher order than the analogous quantity in the conventional formulation.

  14. [Discrimination of Red Tide algae by fluorescence spectra and principle component analysis].

    PubMed

    Su, Rong-guo; Hu, Xu-peng; Zhang, Chuan-song; Wang, Xiu-lin

    2007-07-01

    Fluorescence discrimination technology for 11 species of the Red Tide algae at genus level was constructed by principle component analysis and non-negative least squares. Rayleigh and Raman scattering peaks of 3D fluorescence spectra were eliminated by Delaunay triangulation method. According to the results of Fisher linear discrimination, the first principle component score and the second component score of 3D fluorescence spectra were chosen as discriminant feature and the feature base was established. The 11 algae species were tested, and more than 85% samples were accurately determinated, especially for Prorocentrum donghaiense, Skeletonema costatum, Gymnodinium sp., which have frequently brought Red tide in the East China Sea. More than 95% samples were right discriminated. The results showed that the genus discriminant feature of 3D fluorescence spectra of Red Tide algae given by principle component analysis could work well.

  15. A Further Evaluation of Picture Prompts during Auditory-Visual Conditional Discrimination Training

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carp, Charlotte L.; Peterson, Sean P.; Arkel, Amber J.; Petursdottir, Anna I.; Ingvarsson, Einar T.

    2012-01-01

    This study was a systematic replication and extension of Fisher, Kodak, and Moore (2007), in which a picture prompt embedded into a least-to-most prompting sequence facilitated acquisition of auditory-visual conditional discriminations. Participants were 4 children who had been diagnosed with autism; 2 had limited prior receptive skills, and 2 had…

  16. Entanglement evaluation with atomic Fisher information

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Obada, A.-S. F.; Abdel-Khalek, S.

    2010-02-01

    In this paper, the concept of atomic Fisher information (AFI) is introduced. The marginal distributions of the AFI are defined. This quantity is used as a parameter of entanglement and compared with linear and atomic Wehrl entropies of the two-level atom. The evolution of the atomic Fisher information and atomic Wehrl entropy for only the pure state (or dissipation-free) of the Jaynes-Cummings model is analyzed. We demonstrate the connections between these measures.

  17. A nonlinear discriminant algorithm for feature extraction and data classification.

    PubMed

    Santa Cruz, C; Dorronsoro, J R

    1998-01-01

    This paper presents a nonlinear supervised feature extraction algorithm that combines Fisher's criterion function with a preliminary perceptron-like nonlinear projection of vectors in pattern space. Its main motivation is to combine the approximation properties of multilayer perceptrons (MLP's) with the target free nature of Fisher's classical discriminant analysis. In fact, although MLP's provide good classifiers for many problems, there may be some situations, such as unequal class sizes with a high degree of pattern mixing among them, that may make difficult the construction of good MLP classifiers. In these instances, the features extracted by our procedure could be more effective. After the description of its construction and the analysis of its complexity, we will illustrate its use over a synthetic problem with the above characteristics.

  18. Fisher and marten

    Treesearch

    Roger A. Powell; Steven W. Buskirk; William J. Zielinski

    2003-01-01

    The genus Martes is circumboreal in distribution, with extensions into southern (M. gwatkinsii) and southeast Asia as far as 7°S latitude (M. flavigula; Anderson 1970). The fisher (subgenus Pekania) is endemic to the New World and restricted to mesic coniferous forest of the boreal zone and its...

  19. Multiple Factors Affect Socioeconomics and Wellbeing of Artisanal Sea Cucumber Fishers.

    PubMed

    Purcell, Steven W; Ngaluafe, Poasi; Foale, Simon J; Cocks, Nicole; Cullis, Brian R; Lalavanua, Watisoni

    2016-01-01

    Small-scale fisheries are important to livelihoods and subsistence seafood consumption of millions of fishers. Sea cucumbers are fished worldwide for export to Asia, yet few studies have assessed factors affecting socioeconomics and wellbeing among fishers. We interviewed 476 men and women sea cucumber fishers at multiple villages within multiple locations in Fiji, Kiribati, Tonga and New Caledonia using structured questionnaires. Low rates of subsistence consumption confirmed a primary role of sea cucumbers in income security. Prices of sea cucumbers sold by fishers varied greatly among countries, depending on the species. Gender variation in landing prices could be due to women catching smaller sea cucumbers or because some traders take advantage of them. Dissatisfaction with fishery income was common (44% of fishers), especially for i-Kiribati fishers, male fishers, and fishers experiencing difficulty selling their catch, but was uncorrelated with sale prices. Income dissatisfaction worsened with age. The number of livelihood activities averaged 2.2-2.5 across countries, and varied significantly among locations. Sea cucumbers were often a primary source of income to fishers, especially in Tonga. Other common livelihood activities were fishing other marine resources, copra production in Kiribati, agriculture in Fiji, and salaried jobs in New Caledonia. Fishing other coastal and coral reef resources was the most common fall-back livelihood option if fishers were forced to exit the fishery. Our data highlight large disparities in subsistence consumption, gender-related price equity, and livelihood diversity among parallel artisanal fisheries. Improvement of supply chains in dispersed small-scale fisheries appears as a critical need for enhancing income and wellbeing of fishers. Strong evidence for co-dependence among small-scale fisheries, through fall-back livelihood preferences of fishers, suggests that resource managers must mitigate concomitant effects on other

  20. Uneven adaptive capacity among fishers in a sea of change

    PubMed Central

    Fuller, Emma; Crona, Beatrice I.

    2017-01-01

    Fishers worldwide operate in an environment of uncertainty and constant change. Their ability to manage risk associated with such uncertainty and subsequently adapt to change is largely a function of individual circumstances, including their access to different fisheries. However, explicit attention to the heterogeneity of fishers’ connections to fisheries at the level of the individual has been largely ignored. We illustrate the ubiquitous nature of these connections by constructing a typology of commercial fishers in the state of Maine based on the different fisheries that fishers rely on to sustain their livelihoods and find that there are over 600 combinations. We evaluate the adaptive potential of each strategy, using a set of attributes identified by fisheries experts in the state, and find that only 12% of fishers can be classified as being well positioned to adapt in the face of changing socioeconomic and ecological conditions. Sensitivity to the uneven and heterogeneous capacity of fishers to manage risk and adapt to change is critical to devising effective management strategies that broadly support fishers. This will require greater attention to the social-ecological connectivity of fishers across different jurisdictions. PMID:28604775

  1. An Unexpected Influence on a Quadratic

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Davis, Jon D.

    2013-01-01

    Using technology to explore the coefficients of a quadratic equation can lead to an unexpected result. This article describes an investigation that involves sliders and dynamically linked representations. It guides students to notice the effect that the parameter "a" has on the graphical representation of a quadratic function in the form…

  2. Normalized distance aggregation of discriminative features for person reidentification

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hou, Li; Han, Kang; Wan, Wanggen; Hwang, Jenq-Neng; Yao, Haiyan

    2018-03-01

    We propose an effective person reidentification method based on normalized distance aggregation of discriminative features. Our framework is built on the integration of three high-performance discriminative feature extraction models, including local maximal occurrence (LOMO), feature fusion net (FFN), and a concatenation of LOMO and FFN called LOMO-FFN, through two fast and discriminant metric learning models, i.e., cross-view quadratic discriminant analysis (XQDA) and large-scale similarity learning (LSSL). More specifically, we first represent all the cross-view person images using LOMO, FFN, and LOMO-FFN, respectively, and then apply each extracted feature representation to train XQDA and LSSL, respectively, to obtain the optimized individual cross-view distance metric. Finally, the cross-view person matching is computed as the sum of the optimized individual cross-view distance metric through the min-max normalization. Experimental results have shown the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm on three challenging datasets (VIPeR, PRID450s, and CUHK01).

  3. Multiple Factors Affect Socioeconomics and Wellbeing of Artisanal Sea Cucumber Fishers

    PubMed Central

    Ngaluafe, Poasi; Foale, Simon J.; Cocks, Nicole; Cullis, Brian R.; Lalavanua, Watisoni

    2016-01-01

    Small-scale fisheries are important to livelihoods and subsistence seafood consumption of millions of fishers. Sea cucumbers are fished worldwide for export to Asia, yet few studies have assessed factors affecting socioeconomics and wellbeing among fishers. We interviewed 476 men and women sea cucumber fishers at multiple villages within multiple locations in Fiji, Kiribati, Tonga and New Caledonia using structured questionnaires. Low rates of subsistence consumption confirmed a primary role of sea cucumbers in income security. Prices of sea cucumbers sold by fishers varied greatly among countries, depending on the species. Gender variation in landing prices could be due to women catching smaller sea cucumbers or because some traders take advantage of them. Dissatisfaction with fishery income was common (44% of fishers), especially for i-Kiribati fishers, male fishers, and fishers experiencing difficulty selling their catch, but was uncorrelated with sale prices. Income dissatisfaction worsened with age. The number of livelihood activities averaged 2.2–2.5 across countries, and varied significantly among locations. Sea cucumbers were often a primary source of income to fishers, especially in Tonga. Other common livelihood activities were fishing other marine resources, copra production in Kiribati, agriculture in Fiji, and salaried jobs in New Caledonia. Fishing other coastal and coral reef resources was the most common fall-back livelihood option if fishers were forced to exit the fishery. Our data highlight large disparities in subsistence consumption, gender-related price equity, and livelihood diversity among parallel artisanal fisheries. Improvement of supply chains in dispersed small-scale fisheries appears as a critical need for enhancing income and wellbeing of fishers. Strong evidence for co-dependence among small-scale fisheries, through fall-back livelihood preferences of fishers, suggests that resource managers must mitigate concomitant effects on

  4. A Bayesian framework based on a Gaussian mixture model and radial-basis-function Fisher discriminant analysis (BayGmmKda V1.1) for spatial prediction of floods

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tien Bui, Dieu; Hoang, Nhat-Duc

    2017-09-01

    In this study, a probabilistic model, named as BayGmmKda, is proposed for flood susceptibility assessment in a study area in central Vietnam. The new model is a Bayesian framework constructed by a combination of a Gaussian mixture model (GMM), radial-basis-function Fisher discriminant analysis (RBFDA), and a geographic information system (GIS) database. In the Bayesian framework, GMM is used for modeling the data distribution of flood-influencing factors in the GIS database, whereas RBFDA is utilized to construct a latent variable that aims at enhancing the model performance. As a result, the posterior probabilistic output of the BayGmmKda model is used as flood susceptibility index. Experiment results showed that the proposed hybrid framework is superior to other benchmark models, including the adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system and the support vector machine. To facilitate the model implementation, a software program of BayGmmKda has been developed in MATLAB. The BayGmmKda program can accurately establish a flood susceptibility map for the study region. Accordingly, local authorities can overlay this susceptibility map onto various land-use maps for the purpose of land-use planning or management.

  5. Facial Affect Recognition Using Regularized Discriminant Analysis-Based Algorithms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lee, Chien-Cheng; Huang, Shin-Sheng; Shih, Cheng-Yuan

    2010-12-01

    This paper presents a novel and effective method for facial expression recognition including happiness, disgust, fear, anger, sadness, surprise, and neutral state. The proposed method utilizes a regularized discriminant analysis-based boosting algorithm (RDAB) with effective Gabor features to recognize the facial expressions. Entropy criterion is applied to select the effective Gabor feature which is a subset of informative and nonredundant Gabor features. The proposed RDAB algorithm uses RDA as a learner in the boosting algorithm. The RDA combines strengths of linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA). It solves the small sample size and ill-posed problems suffered from QDA and LDA through a regularization technique. Additionally, this study uses the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm to estimate optimal parameters in RDA. Experiment results demonstrate that our approach can accurately and robustly recognize facial expressions.

  6. Automated fine structure image analysis method for discrimination of diabetic retinopathy stage using conjunctival microvasculature images

    PubMed Central

    Khansari, Maziyar M; O’Neill, William; Penn, Richard; Chau, Felix; Blair, Norman P; Shahidi, Mahnaz

    2016-01-01

    The conjunctiva is a densely vascularized mucus membrane covering the sclera of the eye with a unique advantage of accessibility for direct visualization and non-invasive imaging. The purpose of this study is to apply an automated quantitative method for discrimination of different stages of diabetic retinopathy (DR) using conjunctival microvasculature images. Fine structural analysis of conjunctival microvasculature images was performed by ordinary least square regression and Fisher linear discriminant analysis. Conjunctival images between groups of non-diabetic and diabetic subjects at different stages of DR were discriminated. The automated method’s discriminate rates were higher than those determined by human observers. The method allowed sensitive and rapid discrimination by assessment of conjunctival microvasculature images and can be potentially useful for DR screening and monitoring. PMID:27446692

  7. Seven Wonders of the Ancient and Modern Quadratic World.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Taylor, Sharon E.; Mittag, Kathleen Cage

    2001-01-01

    Presents four methods for solving a quadratic equation using graphing calculator technology: (1) graphing with the CALC feature; (2) quadratic formula program; (3) table; and (4) solver. Includes a worksheet for a lab activity on factoring quadratic equations. (KHR)

  8. Effects of snow on fisher and marten distributions in Idaho

    Treesearch

    Nathan Albrecht; C. Heusser; M. Schwartz; J. Sauder; R. Vinkey

    2013-01-01

    Studies have suggested that deep snow may limit fisher (Martes pennanti) distribution, and that fisher populations may in turn limit marten (Martes americana) distribution. We tested these hypotheses in the Northern Rocky Mountains of Idaho, a region which differs from previous study areas in its climate and relative fisher and marten abundance, but in which very...

  9. Perceived racial discrimination and hypertension: a comprehensive systematic review.

    PubMed

    Dolezsar, Cynthia M; McGrath, Jennifer J; Herzig, Alyssa J M; Miller, Sydney B

    2014-01-01

    Discrimination is posited to underlie racial disparities in hypertension. Extant literature suggests a possible association between racial discrimination and blood pressure, although inconsistent findings have been reported. The aim of this comprehensive systematic review was to quantitatively evaluate the association between perceived racial discrimination with hypertensive status and systolic, diastolic, and ambulatory blood pressure. Electronic database search of PubMed and PsycINFO (keywords: blood pressure/hypertension/diastolic/systolic, racism/discrimination/prejudice/unfair treatment) was combined with descendancy and ascendancy approaches. Forty-four articles (N = 32,651) met inclusion criteria. Articles were coded for demographics, hypertensive diagnosis, blood pressure measurement, discrimination measure and constructs, study quality, and effect sizes. Random effects meta-analytic models were tested based on Fisher's Z, the derived common effect size metric. Overall, perceived racial discrimination was associated with hypertensive status, Zhypertension = 0.048, 95% CI [.013, .087], but not with resting blood pressure, Zsystolic = 0.011, 95% CI [-.006, .031], Zdiastolic = .016, 95% CI [-.006, .034]. Moderators that strengthened the relation included sex (male), race (Black), age (older), education (lower), and hypertensive status. Perceived discrimination was most strongly associated with nighttime ambulatory blood pressure, especially among Blacks. Despite methodological limitations in the existing literature, there was a small, significant association between perceived discrimination and hypertension. Future studies should consider ambulatory nighttime blood pressure, which may more accurately capture daily variation attributable to experienced racial discrimination. Perceived discrimination may partly explain racial health disparities. 2014 APA, all rights reserved

  10. Combustion monitoring of a water tube boiler using a discriminant radial basis network.

    PubMed

    Sujatha, K; Pappa, N

    2011-01-01

    This research work includes a combination of Fisher's linear discriminant (FLD) analysis and a radial basis network (RBN) for monitoring the combustion conditions for a coal fired boiler so as to allow control of the air/fuel ratio. For this, two-dimensional flame images are required, which were captured with a CCD camera; the features of the images-average intensity, area, brightness and orientation etc of the flame-are extracted after preprocessing the images. The FLD is applied to reduce the n-dimensional feature size to a two-dimensional feature size for faster learning of the RBN. Also, three classes of images corresponding to different burning conditions of the flames have been extracted from continuous video processing. In this, the corresponding temperatures, and the carbon monoxide (CO) emissions and those of other flue gases have been obtained through measurement. Further, the training and testing of Fisher's linear discriminant radial basis network (FLDRBN), with the data collected, have been carried out and the performance of the algorithms is presented. Copyright © 2010 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. THE EFFECTIVENESS OF QUADRATS FOR MEASURING VASCULAR PLANT DIVERSITY

    EPA Science Inventory

    Quadrats are widely used for measuring characteristics of vascular plant communities. It is well recognized that quadrat size affects measurements of frequency and cover. The ability of quadrats of varying sizes to adequately measure diversity has not been established. An exha...

  12. Prediction of cognitive outcome based on the progression of auditory discrimination during coma.

    PubMed

    Juan, Elsa; De Lucia, Marzia; Tzovara, Athina; Beaud, Valérie; Oddo, Mauro; Clarke, Stephanie; Rossetti, Andrea O

    2016-09-01

    To date, no clinical test is able to predict cognitive and functional outcome of cardiac arrest survivors. Improvement of auditory discrimination in acute coma indicates survival with high specificity. Whether the degree of this improvement is indicative of recovery remains unknown. Here we investigated if progression of auditory discrimination can predict cognitive and functional outcome. We prospectively recorded electroencephalography responses to auditory stimuli of post-anoxic comatose patients on the first and second day after admission. For each recording, auditory discrimination was quantified and its evolution over the two recordings was used to classify survivors as "predicted" when it increased vs. "other" if not. Cognitive functions were tested on awakening and functional outcome was assessed at 3 months using the Cerebral Performance Categories (CPC) scale. Thirty-two patients were included, 14 "predicted survivors" and 18 "other survivors". "Predicted survivors" were more likely to recover basic cognitive functions shortly after awakening (ability to follow a standardized neuropsychological battery: 86% vs. 44%; p=0.03 (Fisher)) and to show a very good functional outcome at 3 months (CPC 1: 86% vs. 33%; p=0.004 (Fisher)). Moreover, progression of auditory discrimination during coma was strongly correlated with cognitive performance on awakening (phonemic verbal fluency: rs=0.48; p=0.009 (Spearman)). Progression of auditory discrimination during coma provides early indication of future recovery of cognitive functions. The degree of improvement is informative of the degree of functional impairment. If confirmed in a larger cohort, this test would be the first to predict detailed outcome at the single-patient level. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. R. A. Fisher: a faith fit for eugenics.

    PubMed

    Moore, James

    2007-03-01

    In discussions of 'religion-and-science', faith is usually emphasized more than works, scientists' beliefs more than their deeds. By reversing the priority, a lingering puzzle in the life of Ronald Aylmer Fisher (1890-1962), statistician, eugenicist and founder of the neo-Darwinian synthesis, can be solved. Scholars have struggled to find coherence in Fisher's simultaneous commitment to Darwinism, Anglican Christianity and eugenics. The problem is addressed by asking what practical mode of faith or faithful mode of practice lent unity to his life? Families, it is argued, with their myriad practical, emotional and intellectual challenges, rendered a mathematically-based eugenic Darwinian Christianity not just possible for Fisher, but vital.

  14. Characterizing nonclassical correlations via local quantum Fisher information

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kim, Sunho; Li, Longsuo; Kumar, Asutosh; Wu, Junde

    2018-03-01

    We define two ways of quantifying the quantum correlations based on quantum Fisher information (QFI) in order to study the quantum correlations as a resource in quantum metrology. By investigating the hierarchy of measurement-induced Fisher information introduced in Lu et al. [X. M. Lu, S. Luo, and C. H. Oh, Phys. Rev. A 86, 022342 (2012), 10.1103/PhysRevA.86.022342], we show that the presence of quantum correlation can be confirmed by the difference of the Fisher information induced by the measurements of two hierarchies. In particular, the quantitative quantum correlations based on QFI coincide with the geometric discord for pure quantum states.

  15. On the validity of cosmological Fisher matrix forecasts

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Wolz, Laura; Kilbinger, Martin; Weller, Jochen

    2012-09-01

    We present a comparison of Fisher matrix forecasts for cosmological probes with Monte Carlo Markov Chain (MCMC) posterior likelihood estimation methods. We analyse the performance of future Dark Energy Task Force (DETF) stage-III and stage-IV dark-energy surveys using supernovae, baryon acoustic oscillations and weak lensing as probes. We concentrate in particular on the dark-energy equation of state parameters w{sub 0} and w{sub a}. For purely geometrical probes, and especially when marginalising over w{sub a}, we find considerable disagreement between the two methods, since in this case the Fisher matrix can not reproduce the highly non-elliptical shape of the likelihood function.more » More quantitatively, the Fisher method underestimates the marginalized errors for purely geometrical probes between 30%-70%. For cases including structure formation such as weak lensing, we find that the posterior probability contours from the Fisher matrix estimation are in good agreement with the MCMC contours and the forecasted errors only changing on the 5% level. We then explore non-linear transformations resulting in physically-motivated parameters and investigate whether these parameterisations exhibit a Gaussian behaviour. We conclude that for the purely geometrical probes and, more generally, in cases where it is not known whether the likelihood is close to Gaussian, the Fisher matrix is not the appropriate tool to produce reliable forecasts.« less

  16. Discriminative Projection Selection Based Face Image Hashing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Karabat, Cagatay; Erdogan, Hakan

    Face image hashing is an emerging method used in biometric verification systems. In this paper, we propose a novel face image hashing method based on a new technique called discriminative projection selection. We apply the Fisher criterion for selecting the rows of a random projection matrix in a user-dependent fashion. Moreover, another contribution of this paper is to employ a bimodal Gaussian mixture model at the quantization step. Our simulation results on three different databases demonstrate that the proposed method has superior performance in comparison to previously proposed random projection based methods.

  17. General methodology for simultaneous representation and discrimination of multiple object classes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Talukder, Ashit; Casasent, David P.

    1998-03-01

    We address a new general method for linear and nonlinear feature extraction for simultaneous representation and classification. We call this approach the maximum representation and discrimination feature (MRDF) method. We develop a novel nonlinear eigenfeature extraction technique to represent data with closed-form solutions and use it to derive a nonlinear MRDF algorithm. Results of the MRDF method on synthetic databases are shown and compared with results from standard Fukunaga-Koontz transform and Fisher discriminant function methods. The method is also applied to an automated product inspection problem and for classification and pose estimation of two similar objects under 3D aspect angle variations.

  18. Job Satisfaction among Fishers in the Dominican Republic

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ruiz, Victor

    2012-01-01

    This paper reflects on the results of a job satisfaction study of small-scale fishers in the Dominican Republic. The survey results suggest that, although fishers are generally satisfied with their occupations, they also have serious concerns. These concerns include anxieties about the level of earnings, the condition of marine resources and the…

  19. Identifying alternate pathways for climate change to impact inland recreational fishers

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Hunt, Len M.; Fenichel, Eli P.; Fulton, David C.; Mendelsohn, Robert; Smith, Jordan W.; Tunney, Tyler D.; Lynch, Abigail J.; Paukert, Craig P.; Whitney, James E.

    2016-01-01

    Fisheries and human dimensions literature suggests that climate change influences inland recreational fishers in North America through three major pathways. The most widely recognized pathway suggests that climate change impacts habitat and fish populations (e.g., water temperature impacting fish survival) and cascades to impact fishers. Climate change also impacts recreational fishers by influencing environmental conditions that directly affect fishers (e.g., increased temperatures in northern climates resulting in extended open water fishing seasons and increased fishing effort). The final pathway occurs from climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts (e.g., refined energy policies result in higher fuel costs, making distant trips more expensive). To address limitations of past research (e.g., assessing climate change impacts for only one pathway at a time and not accounting for climate variability, extreme weather events, or heterogeneity among fishers), we encourage researchers to refocus their efforts to understand and document climate change impacts to inland fishers.

  20. Engaging recreational fishers in management and conservation: global case studies.

    PubMed

    Granek, E F; Madin, E M P; Brown, M A; Figueira, W; Cameron, D S; Hogan, Z; Kristianson, G; de Villiers, P; Williams, J E; Post, J; Zahn, S; Arlinghaus, R

    2008-10-01

    Globally, the number of recreational fishers is sizeable and increasing in many countries. Associated with this trend is the potential for negative impacts on fish stocks through exploitation or management measures such as stocking and introduction of non-native fishes. Nevertheless, recreational fishers can be instrumental in successful fisheries conservation through active involvement in, or initiation of, conservation projects to reduce both direct and external stressors contributing to fishery declines. Understanding fishers' concerns for sustained access to the resource and developing methods for their meaningful participation can have positive impacts on conservation efforts. We examined a suite of case studies that demonstrate successful involvement of recreational fishers in conservation and management activities that span developed and developing countries, temperate and tropical regions, marine and freshwater systems, and open- and closed-access fisheries. To illustrate potential benefits and challenges of involving recreational fishers in fisheries management and conservation, we examined the socioeconomic and ecological contexts of each case study. We devised a conceptual framework for the engagement of recreational fishers that targets particular types of involvement (enforcement, advocacy, conservation, management design [type and location], research, and monitoring) on the basis of degree of stakeholder stewardship, scale of the fishery, and source of impacts (internal or external). These activities can be enhanced by incorporating local knowledge and traditions, taking advantage of leadership and regional networks, and creating collaborations among various stakeholder groups, scientists, and agencies to maximize the probability of recreational fisher involvement and project success.

  1. Quadratic correlation filters for optical correlators

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mahalanobis, Abhijit; Muise, Robert R.; Vijaya Kumar, Bhagavatula V. K.

    2003-08-01

    Linear correlation filters have been implemented in optical correlators and successfully used for a variety of applications. The output of an optical correlator is usually sensed using a square law device (such as a CCD array) which forces the output to be the squared magnitude of the desired correlation. It is however not a traditional practice to factor the effect of the square-law detector in the design of the linear correlation filters. In fact, the input-output relationship of an optical correlator is more accurately modeled as a quadratic operation than a linear operation. Quadratic correlation filters (QCFs) operate directly on the image data without the need for feature extraction or segmentation. In this sense, the QCFs retain the main advantages of conventional linear correlation filters while offering significant improvements in other respects. Not only is more processing required to detect peaks in the outputs of multiple linear filters, but choosing a winner among them is an error prone task. In contrast, all channels in a QCF work together to optimize the same performance metric and produce a combined output that leads to considerable simplification of the post-processing. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to the design of quadratic correlation based on the Fukunaga Koontz transform. Although quadratic filters are known to be optimum when the data is Gaussian, it is expected that they will perform as well as or better than linear filters in general. Preliminary performance results are provided that show that quadratic correlation filters perform better than their linear counterparts.

  2. On the time-weighted quadratic sum of linear discrete systems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jury, E. I.; Gutman, S.

    1975-01-01

    A method is proposed for obtaining the time-weighted quadratic sum for linear discrete systems. The formula of the weighted quadratic sum is obtained from matrix z-transform formulation. In addition, it is shown that this quadratic sum can be derived in a recursive form for several useful weighted functions. The discussion presented parallels that of MacFarlane (1963) for weighted quadratic integral for linear continuous systems.

  3. Fast discrimination of hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose using portable Raman spectrometer and multivariate methods

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Song, Biao; Lu, Dan; Peng, Ming; Li, Xia; Zou, Ye; Huang, Meizhen; Lu, Feng

    2017-02-01

    Raman spectroscopy is developed as a fast and non-destructive method for the discrimination and classification of hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) samples. 44 E series and 41 K series of HPMC samples are measured by a self-developed portable Raman spectrometer (Hx-Raman) which is excited by a 785 nm diode laser and the spectrum range is 200-2700 cm-1 with a resolution (FWHM) of 6 cm-1. Multivariate analysis is applied for discrimination of E series from K series. By methods of principal components analysis (PCA) and Fisher discriminant analysis (FDA), a discrimination result with sensitivity of 90.91% and specificity of 95.12% is achieved. The corresponding receiver operating characteristic (ROC) is 0.99, indicting the accuracy of the predictive model. This result demonstrates the prospect of portable Raman spectrometer for rapid, non-destructive classification and discrimination of E series and K series samples of HPMC.

  4. A Unified Fisher's Ratio Learning Method for Spatial Filter Optimization.

    PubMed

    Li, Xinyang; Guan, Cuntai; Zhang, Haihong; Ang, Kai Keng

    To detect the mental task of interest, spatial filtering has been widely used to enhance the spatial resolution of electroencephalography (EEG). However, the effectiveness of spatial filtering is undermined due to the significant nonstationarity of EEG. Based on regularization, most of the conventional stationary spatial filter design methods address the nonstationarity at the cost of the interclass discrimination. Moreover, spatial filter optimization is inconsistent with feature extraction when EEG covariance matrices could not be jointly diagonalized due to the regularization. In this paper, we propose a novel framework for a spatial filter design. With Fisher's ratio in feature space directly used as the objective function, the spatial filter optimization is unified with feature extraction. Given its ratio form, the selection of the regularization parameter could be avoided. We evaluate the proposed method on a binary motor imagery data set of 16 subjects, who performed the calibration and test sessions on different days. The experimental results show that the proposed method yields improvement in classification performance for both single broadband and filter bank settings compared with conventional nonunified methods. We also provide a systematic attempt to compare different objective functions in modeling data nonstationarity with simulation studies.To detect the mental task of interest, spatial filtering has been widely used to enhance the spatial resolution of electroencephalography (EEG). However, the effectiveness of spatial filtering is undermined due to the significant nonstationarity of EEG. Based on regularization, most of the conventional stationary spatial filter design methods address the nonstationarity at the cost of the interclass discrimination. Moreover, spatial filter optimization is inconsistent with feature extraction when EEG covariance matrices could not be jointly diagonalized due to the regularization. In this paper, we propose a novel

  5. An early "Atkins' Diet": RA Fisher analyses a medical "experiment".

    PubMed

    Senn, Stephen

    2006-04-01

    A study on vitamin absorption which RA Fisher analysed for WRG Atkins and co-authored with him is critically examined. The historical background as well as correspondence between Atkins and Fisher is presented.

  6. An Algebraic Approach for Solving Quadratic Inequalities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mahmood, Munir; Al-Mirbati, Rudaina

    2017-01-01

    In recent years most text books utilise either the sign chart or graphing functions in order to solve a quadratic inequality of the form ax[superscript 2] + bx + c < 0 This article demonstrates an algebraic approach to solve the above inequality. To solve a quadratic inequality in the form of ax[superscript 2] + bx + c < 0 or in the…

  7. Time-frequency optimization for discrimination between imagination of right and left hand movements based on two bipolar electroencephalography channels

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yang, Yuan; Chevallier, Sylvain; Wiart, Joe; Bloch, Isabelle

    2014-12-01

    To enforce a widespread use of efficient and easy to use brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), the inter-subject robustness should be increased and the number of electrodes should be reduced. These two key issues are addressed in this contribution, proposing a novel method to identify subject-specific time-frequency characteristics with a minimal number of electrodes. In this method, two alternative criteria, time-frequency discrimination factor ( TFDF) and F score, are proposed to evaluate the discriminative power of time-frequency regions. Distinct from classical measures (e.g., Fisher criterion, r 2 coefficient), the TFDF is based on the neurophysiologic phenomena, on which the motor imagery BCI paradigm relies, rather than only from statistics. F score is based on the popular Fisher's discriminant and purely data driven; however, it differs from traditional measures since it provides a simple and effective measure for quantifying the discriminative power of a multi-dimensional feature vector. The proposed method is tested on BCI competition IV datasets IIa and IIb for discriminating right and left hand motor imagery. Compared to state-of-the-art methods, our method based on both criteria led to comparable or even better classification results, while using fewer electrodes (i.e., only two bipolar channels, C3 and C4). This work indicates that time-frequency optimization can not only improve the classification performance but also contribute to reducing the number of electrodes required in motor imagery BCIs.

  8. Identification of wheat varieties with a parallel-plate capacitance sensor using fisher linear discriminant analysis

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Fisher’s linear discriminant (FLD) models for wheat variety classification were developed and validated. The inputs to the FLD models were the capacitance (C), impedance (Z), and phase angle ('), measured at two frequencies. Classification of wheat varieties was obtained as output of the FLD mod...

  9. Assessing Fishers' Support of Striped Bass Management Strategies.

    PubMed

    Murphy, Robert D; Scyphers, Steven B; Grabowski, Jonathan H

    2015-01-01

    Incorporating the perspectives and insights of stakeholders is an essential component of ecosystem-based fisheries management, such that policy strategies should account for the diverse interests of various groups of anglers to enhance their efficacy. Here we assessed fishing stakeholders' perceptions on the management of Atlantic striped bass (Morone saxatilis) and receptiveness to potential future regulations using an online survey of recreational and commercial fishers in Massachusetts and Connecticut (USA). Our results indicate that most fishers harbored adequate to positive perceptions of current striped bass management policies when asked to grade their state's management regime. Yet, subtle differences in perceptions existed between recreational and commercial fishers, as well as across individuals with differing levels of fishing experience, resource dependency, and tournament participation. Recreational fishers in both states were generally supportive or neutral towards potential management actions including slot limits (71%) and mandated circle hooks to reduce mortality of released fish (74%), but less supportive of reduced recreational bag limits (51%). Although commercial anglers were typically less supportive of management changes than their recreational counterparts, the majority were still supportive of slot limits (54%) and mandated use of circle hooks (56%). Our study suggests that both recreational and commercial fishers are generally supportive of additional management strategies aimed at sustaining healthy striped bass populations and agree on a variety of strategies. However, both stakeholder groups were less supportive of harvest reductions, which is the most direct measure of reducing mortality available to fisheries managers. By revealing factors that influence stakeholders' support or willingness to comply with management strategies, studies such as ours can help managers identify potential stakeholder support for or conflicts that may

  10. Pediatric Miller Fisher Syndrome Complicating an Epstein-Barr Virus Infection.

    PubMed

    Communal, Céline; Filleron, Anne; Baron-Joly, Sandrine; Salet, Randa; Tran, Tu-Anh

    2016-10-01

    Miller Fisher syndrome, a variant of Guillain-Barré syndrome, is an acute inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy that may occur weeks after a bacterial or viral infection. Campylobacter jejuni and Haemophilus influenzae are frequently reported etiological agents. We describe a boy with Miller Fisher syndrome following Epstein-002DBarr virus primary infectious mononucleosis. He presented with bilateral dysfunction of several cranial nerves and hyporeflexia of the limbs but without ataxia. Miller Fisher syndrome was confirmed by the presence of anti-GQ1b antibodies in a blood sample. Epstein-Barr virus was identified by polymerase chain reaction and serology. Epstein-Barr virus should be considered as a Miller Fisher syndrome's causative agent. The physiopathology of this condition may involve cross-reactive T-cells against Epstein-Barr virus antigens and gangliosides. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Graphical Solution of the Monic Quadratic Equation with Complex Coefficients

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Laine, A. D.

    2015-01-01

    There are many geometrical approaches to the solution of the quadratic equation with real coefficients. In this article it is shown that the monic quadratic equation with complex coefficients can also be solved graphically, by the intersection of two hyperbolas; one hyperbola being derived from the real part of the quadratic equation and one from…

  12. On Fisher Information and Thermodynamics

    EPA Science Inventory

    Fisher information is a measure of the information obtainable by an observer from the observation of reality. However, information is obtainable only when there are patterns or features to observe, and these only exist when there is order. For example, a system in perfect disor...

  13. Assessing Fishers' Support of Striped Bass Management Strategies

    PubMed Central

    Murphy, Robert D.; Scyphers, Steven B.; Grabowski, Jonathan H.

    2015-01-01

    Incorporating the perspectives and insights of stakeholders is an essential component of ecosystem-based fisheries management, such that policy strategies should account for the diverse interests of various groups of anglers to enhance their efficacy. Here we assessed fishing stakeholders’ perceptions on the management of Atlantic striped bass (Morone saxatilis) and receptiveness to potential future regulations using an online survey of recreational and commercial fishers in Massachusetts and Connecticut (USA). Our results indicate that most fishers harbored adequate to positive perceptions of current striped bass management policies when asked to grade their state’s management regime. Yet, subtle differences in perceptions existed between recreational and commercial fishers, as well as across individuals with differing levels of fishing experience, resource dependency, and tournament participation. Recreational fishers in both states were generally supportive or neutral towards potential management actions including slot limits (71%) and mandated circle hooks to reduce mortality of released fish (74%), but less supportive of reduced recreational bag limits (51%). Although commercial anglers were typically less supportive of management changes than their recreational counterparts, the majority were still supportive of slot limits (54%) and mandated use of circle hooks (56%). Our study suggests that both recreational and commercial fishers are generally supportive of additional management strategies aimed at sustaining healthy striped bass populations and agree on a variety of strategies. However, both stakeholder groups were less supportive of harvest reductions, which is the most direct measure of reducing mortality available to fisheries managers. By revealing factors that influence stakeholders’ support or willingness to comply with management strategies, studies such as ours can help managers identify potential stakeholder support for or conflicts that

  14. Canine Distemper in an isolated population of fishers (Martes pennanti) from California

    Treesearch

    Stefan m. Keller; Mourad Gabriel; Karen A. Terio; Edward J. Dubovi; Elizabeth Van Wormer; Rick Sweitzer; Reginald Barret; Craig Thompson; Kathryn Purcell; Linda Munson

    2012-01-01

    Four fishers (Martes pennanti) from an insular population in the southern Sierra Nevada Mountains, California, USA died as a consequence of an infection with canine distemper virus (CDV) in 2009. Three fishers were found in close temporal and spatial relationship; the fourth fisher died 4 mo later at a 70 km distance from the initial group. Gross...

  15. Thermodynamical transcription of density functional theory with minimum Fisher information

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nagy, Á.

    2018-03-01

    Ghosh, Berkowitz and Parr designed a thermodynamical transcription of the ground-state density functional theory and introduced a local temperature that varies from point to point. The theory, however, is not unique because the kinetic energy density is not uniquely defined. Here we derive the expression of the phase-space Fisher information in the GBP theory taking the inverse temperature as the Fisher parameter. It is proved that this Fisher information takes its minimum for the case of constant temperature. This result is consistent with the recently proven theorem that the phase-space Shannon information entropy attains its maximum at constant temperature.

  16. Quantum Fisher information of the Greenberg-Horne-Zeilinger state in decoherence channels

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Ma Jian; Huang Yixiao; Wang Xiaoguang

    2011-08-15

    Quantum Fisher information of a parameter characterizes the sensitivity of the state with respect to changes of the parameter. In this article, we study the quantum Fisher information of a state with respect to SU(2) rotations under three decoherence channels: the amplitude-damping, phase-damping, and depolarizing channels. The initial state is chosen to be a Greenberg-Horne-Zeilinger state of which the phase sensitivity can achieve the Heisenberg limit. By using the Kraus operator representation, the quantum Fisher information is obtained analytically. We observe the decay and sudden change of the quantum Fisher information in all three channels.

  17. The stability of quadratic-reciprocal functional equation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Song, Aimin; Song, Minwei

    2018-04-01

    A new quadratic-reciprocal functional equation f ((k +1 )x +k y )+f ((k +1 )x -k y )=2/f (x )f (y )[(k+1 ) 2f (y )+k2f (x )] [(k+1)2f (y )-k2f (x )] 2 is introduced. The Hyers-Ulam stability for the quadratic-reciprocal functional equations is proved in Banach spaces using the direct method and the fixed point method, respectively.

  18. Test spaces and characterizations of quadratic spaces

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dvurečenskij, Anatolij

    1996-10-01

    We show that a test space consisting of nonzero vectors of a quadratic space E and of the set all maximal orthogonal systems in E is algebraic iff E is Dacey or, equivalently, iff E is orthomodular. In addition, we present another orthomodularity criteria of quadratic spaces, and using the result of Solèr, we show that they can imply that E is a real, complex, or quaternionic Hilbert space.

  19. Sensory nerves are frequently involved in the spectrum of fisher syndrome.

    PubMed

    Shahrizaila, Nortina; Goh, Khean J; Kokubun, Norito; Tan, Ai H; Tan, Cheng Y; Yuki, Nobuhiro

    2014-04-01

    Differing patterns of neurophysiological abnormalities have been reported in patients with Fisher syndrome. Fisher syndrome is rare, and few series have incorporated prospective serial studies to define the natural history of nerve conduction studies in Guillain-Barré syndrome. In an ongoing prospective study of Guillain-Barré syndrome patients, patients who presented with Fisher syndrome and its spectrum of illness were assessed through serial neurological examinations, nerve conduction studies, and serological testing of IgG against gangliosides and ganglioside complexes. Of the 36 Guillain-Barré syndrome patients identified within 2 years, 17 had features of Fisher syndrome. Serial nerve conduction studies detected significant abnormalities in sensory nerve action potential amplitude in 94% of patients associated with 2 patterns of recovery-non-demyelinating reversible distal conduction failure and axonal regeneration. Similar changes were seen in motor nerves of 5 patients. Patients with the Fisher syndrome spectrum of illness have significant sensory involvement, which may only be evident with serial neurophysiological studies. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  20. Geometric quadratic stochastic operator on countable infinite set

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Ganikhodjaev, Nasir; Hamzah, Nur Zatul Akmar

    2015-02-03

    In this paper we construct the family of Geometric quadratic stochastic operators defined on the countable sample space of nonnegative integers and investigate their trajectory behavior. Such operators can be reinterpreted in terms of of evolutionary operator of free population. We show that Geometric quadratic stochastic operators are regular transformations.

  1. Takotsubo cardiomyopathy associated with Miller-Fisher syndrome.

    PubMed

    Gill, Dalvir; Liu, Kan

    2017-07-01

    51-year-old female who presented with progressive paresthesia, numbness of the lower extremities, double vision, and trouble walking. Physical exam was remarkable for areflexia, and ptosis. Her initial EKG showed nonspecific ST segment changes and her Troponin T was elevated to 0.41ng/mL which peaked at 0.66ng/mL. Echocardiogram showed a depressed left ventricular ejection fraction to 35% with severely hypokinetic anterior wall and left ventricular apex was severely hypokinetic. EMG nerve conduction study showed severely decreased conduction velocity and prolonged distal latency in all nerves consistent with demyelinating disease. She was treated with 5days of intravenous immunoglobulin therapy to which she showed significant improvement in strength in her lower extremities. Echocardiogram repeated 4days later showing an improved left ventricular ejection fraction of 55% and no left ventricular wall motion abnormalities. Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is a rare complication of Miller-Fisher syndrome and literature review did not reveal any cases. Miller-Fisher syndrome is an autoimmune process that affects the peripheral nervous system causing autonomic dysfunction which may involve the heart. Due to significant autonomic dysfunction in Miller-Fisher syndrome, it could lead to arrhythmias, blood pressure changes, acute coronary syndrome and myocarditis, Takotsubo cardiomyopathy can be difficult to distinguish. The treatment of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is supportive with beta-blockers and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors are recommended until left ventricle ejection fraction improvement. Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is a rare complication during the acute phase of Miller-Fisher syndrome and must be distinguished from autonomic dysfunction as both diagnoses have different approaches to treatment. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  2. Resources and estuarine health: Perceptions of elected officials and recreational fishers

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Burger, J.; Sanchez, J.; McMahon, M.

    1999-10-29

    It is important to understand the perceptions of user groups regarding both the health of their estuaries and environmental problems requiring management. Recreational fishers were interviewed to determine the perceptions of one of the traditional user groups of Barnegat Bay (New Jersey), and elected officials were interviewed to determine if the people charged with making decisions about environmental issues in the bay held similar perceptions. Although relative ratings were similar, there were significant differences in perceptions of the severity of environmental problems, and for the most part, public officials thought the problems were more severe than did the fishers. Personalmore » watercraft (often called Jet Skis) were rated as the most severe problem, followed by chemical pollution, junk, over fishing, street runoff, and boat oil. Small boats, sailboats, wind surfers, and foraging birds were not considered environmental problems by either elected officials or fishermen. The disconnect between the perceptions of the recreational fishers and those of the locally elected public officials suggests that officials may be hearing from some of the more vocal people about problems, rather than from the typical fishers. Both groups felt there were decreases in some of the resources in the bay; over 50% felt the number of fish and crabs had declined, the size of fish and crabs had declined, and the number of turtles had declined. Among recreational fishers, there were almost no differences in perceptions of the severity of environmental problems or in changes in the bay. The problems that were rated the most severe were personal watercraft and over fishing by commercial fishers. Recreational fishers ranked sailboats, wind surfers, and fishing by birds as posing no problem for the bay. Most fishers felt there had been recent major changes in Barnegat Bay, with there now being fewer and smaller fish, fewer and smaller crabs, and fewer turtles. The results suggest

  3. Fisher statistics for analysis of diffusion tensor directional information.

    PubMed

    Hutchinson, Elizabeth B; Rutecki, Paul A; Alexander, Andrew L; Sutula, Thomas P

    2012-04-30

    A statistical approach is presented for the quantitative analysis of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) directional information using Fisher statistics, which were originally developed for the analysis of vectors in the field of paleomagnetism. In this framework, descriptive and inferential statistics have been formulated based on the Fisher probability density function, a spherical analogue of the normal distribution. The Fisher approach was evaluated for investigation of rat brain DTI maps to characterize tissue orientation in the corpus callosum, fornix, and hilus of the dorsal hippocampal dentate gyrus, and to compare directional properties in these regions following status epilepticus (SE) or traumatic brain injury (TBI) with values in healthy brains. Direction vectors were determined for each region of interest (ROI) for each brain sample and Fisher statistics were applied to calculate the mean direction vector and variance parameters in the corpus callosum, fornix, and dentate gyrus of normal rats and rats that experienced TBI or SE. Hypothesis testing was performed by calculation of Watson's F-statistic and associated p-value giving the likelihood that grouped observations were from the same directional distribution. In the fornix and midline corpus callosum, no directional differences were detected between groups, however in the hilus, significant (p<0.0005) differences were found that robustly confirmed observations that were suggested by visual inspection of directionally encoded color DTI maps. The Fisher approach is a potentially useful analysis tool that may extend the current capabilities of DTI investigation by providing a means of statistical comparison of tissue structural orientation. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. A Case of Miller Fisher Syndrome, Thromboembolic Disease, and Angioedema: Association or Coincidence?

    PubMed

    Salehi, Nooshin; Choi, Eric D; Garrison, Roger C

    2017-01-16

    BACKGROUND Miller Fisher Syndrome is characterized by the clinical triad of ophthalmoplegia, ataxia, and areflexia, and is considered to be a variant of Guillain-Barre Syndrome. Miller Fisher Syndrome is observed in approximately 1-5% of all Guillain-Barre cases in Western countries. Patients with Miller Fisher Syndrome usually have good recovery without residual deficits. Venous thromboembolism is a common complication of Guillain-Barre Syndrome and has also been reported in Miller Fisher Syndrome, but it has generally been reported in the presence of at least one prothrombotic risk factor such as immobility. A direct correlation between venous thromboembolism and Miller Fisher Syndrome or Guillain-Barre Syndrome has not been previously described. CASE REPORT We report the case of a 32-year-old Hispanic male who presented with acute, severe thromboembolic disease and concurrently demonstrated characteristic clinical features of Miller Fisher Syndrome including ophthalmoplegia, ataxia, and areflexia. Past medical and family history were negative for thromboembolic disease, and subsequent hypercoagulability workup was unremarkable. During the course of hospitalization, the patient also developed angioedema. CONCLUSIONS We describe a possible association between Miller Fisher Syndrome, thromboembolic disease, and angioedema.

  5. 33 CFR 110.50a - Fishers Island Sound, Stonington, Conn.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Fishers Island Sound, Stonington, Conn. 110.50a Section 110.50a Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY ANCHORAGES ANCHORAGE REGULATIONS Special Anchorage Areas § 110.50a Fishers Island Sound...

  6. Quadratic Programming for Allocating Control Effort

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Singh, Gurkirpal

    2005-01-01

    A computer program calculates an optimal allocation of control effort in a system that includes redundant control actuators. The program implements an iterative (but otherwise single-stage) algorithm of the quadratic-programming type. In general, in the quadratic-programming problem, one seeks the values of a set of variables that minimize a quadratic cost function, subject to a set of linear equality and inequality constraints. In this program, the cost function combines control effort (typically quantified in terms of energy or fuel consumed) and control residuals (differences between commanded and sensed values of variables to be controlled). In comparison with prior control-allocation software, this program offers approximately equal accuracy but much greater computational efficiency. In addition, this program offers flexibility, robustness to actuation failures, and a capability for selective enforcement of control requirements. The computational efficiency of this program makes it suitable for such complex, real-time applications as controlling redundant aircraft actuators or redundant spacecraft thrusters. The program is written in the C language for execution in a UNIX operating system.

  7. Fisher information for two gamma frailty bivariate Weibull models.

    PubMed

    Bjarnason, H; Hougaard, P

    2000-03-01

    The asymptotic properties of frailty models for multivariate survival data are not well understood. To study this aspect, the Fisher information is derived in the standard bivariate gamma frailty model, where the survival distribution is of Weibull form conditional on the frailty. For comparison, the Fisher information is also derived in the bivariate gamma frailty model, where the marginal distribution is of Weibull form.

  8. More than Anecdotes: Fishers' Ecological Knowledge Can Fill Gaps for Ecosystem Modeling.

    PubMed

    Bevilacqua, Ana Helena V; Carvalho, Adriana R; Angelini, Ronaldo; Christensen, Villy

    2016-01-01

    Ecosystem modeling applied to fisheries remains hampered by a lack of local information. Fishers' knowledge could fill this gap, improving participation in and the management of fisheries. The same fishing area was modeled using two approaches: based on fishers' knowledge and based on scientific information. For the former, the data was collected by interviews through the Delphi methodology, and for the latter, the data was gathered from the literature. Agreement between the attributes generated by the fishers' knowledge model and scientific model is discussed and explored, aiming to improve data availability, the ecosystem model, and fisheries management. The ecosystem attributes produced from the fishers' knowledge model were consistent with the ecosystem attributes produced by the scientific model, and elaborated using only the scientific data from literature. This study provides evidence that fishers' knowledge may suitably complement scientific data, and may improve the modeling tools for the research and management of fisheries.

  9. Some Paradoxical Results for the Quadratically Weighted Kappa

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Warrens, Matthijs J.

    2012-01-01

    The quadratically weighted kappa is the most commonly used weighted kappa statistic for summarizing interrater agreement on an ordinal scale. The paper presents several properties of the quadratically weighted kappa that are paradoxical. For agreement tables with an odd number of categories "n" it is shown that if one of the raters uses the same…

  10. Hidden supersymmetry and quadratic deformations of the space-time conformal superalgebra

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yates, L. A.; Jarvis, P. D.

    2018-04-01

    We analyze the structure of the family of quadratic superalgebras, introduced in Jarvis et al (2011 J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 44 235205), for the quadratic deformations of N  =  1 space-time conformal supersymmetry. We characterize in particular the ‘zero-step’ modules for this case. In such modules, the odd generators vanish identically, and the quadratic superalgebra is realized on a single irreducible representation of the even subalgebra (which is a Lie algebra). In the case under study, the quadratic deformations of N  =  1 space-time conformal supersymmetry, it is shown that each massless positive energy unitary irreducible representation (in the standard classification of Mack), forms such a zero-step module, for an appropriate parameter choice amongst the quadratic family (with vanishing central charge). For these massless particle multiplets therefore, quadratic supersymmetry is unbroken, in that the supersymmetry generators annihilate all physical states (including the vacuum state), while at the same time, superpartners do not exist.

  11. 33 CFR 110.50a - Fishers Island Sound, Stonington, Conn.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Fishers Island Sound, Stonington... SECURITY ANCHORAGES ANCHORAGE REGULATIONS Special Anchorage Areas § 110.50a Fishers Island Sound, Stonington, Conn. An area on the east side of Mason Island bounded as follows: Beginning at the shore line on...

  12. 33 CFR 110.50a - Fishers Island Sound, Stonington, Conn.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Fishers Island Sound, Stonington... SECURITY ANCHORAGES ANCHORAGE REGULATIONS Special Anchorage Areas § 110.50a Fishers Island Sound, Stonington, Conn. An area on the east side of Mason Island bounded as follows: Beginning at the shore line on...

  13. 33 CFR 110.50a - Fishers Island Sound, Stonington, Conn.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Fishers Island Sound, Stonington... SECURITY ANCHORAGES ANCHORAGE REGULATIONS Special Anchorage Areas § 110.50a Fishers Island Sound, Stonington, Conn. An area on the east side of Mason Island bounded as follows: Beginning at the shore line on...

  14. 33 CFR 110.50a - Fishers Island Sound, Stonington, Conn.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Fishers Island Sound, Stonington... SECURITY ANCHORAGES ANCHORAGE REGULATIONS Special Anchorage Areas § 110.50a Fishers Island Sound, Stonington, Conn. An area on the east side of Mason Island bounded as follows: Beginning at the shore line on...

  15. Quadratic Frequency Modulation Signals Parameter Estimation Based on Two-Dimensional Product Modified Parameterized Chirp Rate-Quadratic Chirp Rate Distribution.

    PubMed

    Qu, Zhiyu; Qu, Fuxin; Hou, Changbo; Jing, Fulong

    2018-05-19

    In an inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) imaging system for targets with complex motion, the azimuth echo signals of the target are always modeled as multicomponent quadratic frequency modulation (QFM) signals. The chirp rate (CR) and quadratic chirp rate (QCR) estimation of QFM signals is very important to solve the ISAR image defocus problem. For multicomponent QFM (multi-QFM) signals, the conventional QR and QCR estimation algorithms suffer from the cross-term and poor anti-noise ability. This paper proposes a novel estimation algorithm called a two-dimensional product modified parameterized chirp rate-quadratic chirp rate distribution (2D-PMPCRD) for QFM signals parameter estimation. The 2D-PMPCRD employs a multi-scale parametric symmetric self-correlation function and modified nonuniform fast Fourier transform-Fast Fourier transform to transform the signals into the chirp rate-quadratic chirp rate (CR-QCR) domains. It can greatly suppress the cross-terms while strengthening the auto-terms by multiplying different CR-QCR domains with different scale factors. Compared with high order ambiguity function-integrated cubic phase function and modified Lv's distribution, the simulation results verify that the 2D-PMPCRD acquires higher anti-noise performance and obtains better cross-terms suppression performance for multi-QFM signals with reasonable computation cost.

  16. A Quadratic Spring Equation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fay, Temple H.

    2010-01-01

    Through numerical investigations, we study examples of the forced quadratic spring equation [image omitted]. By performing trial-and-error numerical experiments, we demonstrate the existence of stability boundaries in the phase plane indicating initial conditions yielding bounded solutions, investigate the resonance boundary in the [omega]…

  17. Dynamic occupancy modelling reveals a hierarchy of competition among fishers, grey foxes and ringtails.

    PubMed

    Green, David S; Matthews, Sean M; Swiers, Robert C; Callas, Richard L; Scott Yaeger, J; Farber, Stuart L; Schwartz, Michael K; Powell, Roger A

    2018-05-01

    Determining how species coexist is critical for understanding functional diversity, niche partitioning and interspecific interactions. Identifying the direct and indirect interactions among sympatric carnivores that enable their coexistence is particularly important to elucidate because they are integral for maintaining ecosystem function. We studied the effects of removing nine fishers (Pekania pennanti) on their population dynamics and used this perturbation to elucidate the interspecific interactions among fishers, grey foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) and ringtails (Bassariscus astutus). Grey foxes (family: Canidae) are likely to compete with fishers due to their similar body sizes and dietary overlap, and ringtails (family: Procyonidae), like fishers, are semi-arboreal species of conservation concern. We used spatial capture-recapture to investigate fisher population numbers and dynamic occupancy models that incorporated interspecific interactions to investigate the effects members of these species had on the colonization and persistence of each other's site occupancy. The fisher population showed no change in density for up to 3 years following the removals of fishers for translocations. In contrast, fisher site occupancy decreased in the years immediately following the translocations. During this same time period, site occupancy by grey foxes increased and remained elevated through the end of the study. We found a complicated hierarchy among fishers, foxes and ringtails. Fishers affected grey fox site persistence negatively but had a positive effect on their colonization. Foxes had a positive effect on ringtail site colonization. Thus, fishers were the dominant small carnivore where present and negatively affected foxes directly and ringtails indirectly. Coexistence among the small carnivores we studied appears to reflect dynamic spatial partitioning. Conservation and management efforts should investigate how intraguild interactions may influence the

  18. On orthogonality preserving quadratic stochastic operators

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Mukhamedov, Farrukh; Taha, Muhammad Hafizuddin Mohd

    2015-05-15

    A quadratic stochastic operator (in short QSO) is usually used to present the time evolution of differing species in biology. Some quadratic stochastic operators have been studied by Lotka and Volterra. In the present paper, we first give a simple characterization of Volterra QSO in terms of absolutely continuity of discrete measures. Further, we introduce a notion of orthogonal preserving QSO, and describe such kind of operators defined on two dimensional simplex. It turns out that orthogonal preserving QSOs are permutations of Volterra QSO. The associativity of genetic algebras generated by orthogonal preserving QSO is studied too.

  19. 76 FR 63355 - Proposed Information Collection (Regulation on Application for Fisher Houses and Other Temporary...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-10-12

    ... (Regulation on Application for Fisher Houses and Other Temporary Lodging and VHA Fisher House Application... information technology. Title: Regulation on Application for Fisher Houses and Other Temporary Lodging and VHA Fisher House Application, VA Forms 10-0408 and 10-0408a. OMB Control Number: 2900-0630. Type of Review...

  20. 76 FR 78739 - Agency Information Collection (Regulation on Application for Fisher Houses and Other Temporary...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-12-19

    ... (Regulation on Application for Fisher Houses and Other Temporary Lodging and VHA Fisher House Application... INFORMATION: Title: Regulation on Application for Fisher Houses and Other Temporary Lodging and VHA Fisher House Application, VA Forms 10-0408 and 10-0408a. OMB Control Number: 2900-0630. Type of Review...

  1. Rapidly shifting environmental baselines among fishers of the Gulf of California

    PubMed Central

    Sáenz-Arroyo, Andrea; Roberts, Callum M; Torre, Jorge; Cariño-Olvera, Micheline; Enríquez-Andrade, Roberto R

    2005-01-01

    Shifting environmental baselines are inter-generational changes in perception of the state of the environment. As one generation replaces another, people's perceptions of what is natural change even to the extent that they no longer believe historical anecdotes of past abundance or size of species. Although widely accepted, this phenomenon has yet to be quantitatively tested. Here we survey three generations of fishers from Mexico's Gulf of California (N=108), where fish populations have declined steeply over the last 60 years, to investigate how far and fast their environmental baselines are shifting. Compared to young fishers, old fishers named five times as many species and four times as many fishing sites as once being abundant/productive but now depleted (Kruskal–Wallis tests, both p<0.001) with no evidence of a slowdown in rates of loss experienced by younger compared to older generations (Kruskal–Wallis test, n.s. in both cases). Old fishers caught up to 25 times as many Gulf grouper Mycteroperca jordani as young fishers on their best ever fishing day (regression r2=0.62, p<0.001). Despite times of plentiful large fish still being within living memory, few young fishers appreciated that large species had ever been common or nearshore sites productive. Such rapid shifts in perception of what is natural help explain why society is tolerant of the creeping loss of biodiversity. They imply a large educational hurdle in efforts to reset expectations and targets for conservation. PMID:16191603

  2. Fisher Information, Entropy, and the Second and Third Laws of Thermodynamics

    EPA Science Inventory

    We propose Fisher Information as a new calculable thermodynamic property that can be shown to follow the Second and the Third Laws of Thermodynamics. Fisher Information is, however, qualitatively different from entropy and potentially possessing a great deal more structure. Hence...

  3. Astronaut Anna Fisher practices control of the RMS in a trainer

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1984-01-01

    Astronaut Anna Lee Fisher, mission specialist for 51-A, practices control of the remote manipulator system (RMS) at a special trainer at JSC. Dr. Fisher is pictured in the manipulator development facility (MDF) of JSC's Shuttle mockup and integration laboratory.

  4. The Mystical "Quadratic Formula."

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    March, Robert H.

    1993-01-01

    Uses projectile motion to explain the two roots found when using the quadratic formula. An example is provided for finding the time of flight for a projectile which has a negative root implying a negative time of flight. This negative time of flight also has a useful physical meaning. (MVL)

  5. Linear quadratic optimization for positive LTI system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Muhafzan, Yenti, Syafrida Wirma; Zulakmal

    2017-05-01

    Nowaday the linear quadratic optimization subject to positive linear time invariant (LTI) system constitute an interesting study considering it can become a mathematical model of variety of real problem whose variables have to nonnegative and trajectories generated by these variables must be nonnegative. In this paper we propose a method to generate an optimal control of linear quadratic optimization subject to positive linear time invariant (LTI) system. A sufficient condition that guarantee the existence of such optimal control is discussed.

  6. Determining the Optimal Solution for Quadratically Constrained Quadratic Programming (QCQP) on Energy-Saving Generation Dispatch Problem

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lesmana, E.; Chaerani, D.; Khansa, H. N.

    2018-03-01

    Energy-Saving Generation Dispatch (ESGD) is a scheme made by Chinese Government in attempt to minimize CO2 emission produced by power plant. This scheme is made related to global warming which is primarily caused by too much CO2 in earth’s atmosphere, and while the need of electricity is something absolute, the power plants producing it are mostly thermal-power plant which produced many CO2. Many approach to fulfill this scheme has been made, one of them came through Minimum Cost Flow in which resulted in a Quadratically Constrained Quadratic Programming (QCQP) form. In this paper, ESGD problem with Minimum Cost Flow in QCQP form will be solved using Lagrange’s Multiplier Method

  7. PSQP: Puzzle Solving by Quadratic Programming.

    PubMed

    Andalo, Fernanda A; Taubin, Gabriel; Goldenstein, Siome

    2017-02-01

    In this article we present the first effective method based on global optimization for the reconstruction of image puzzles comprising rectangle pieces-Puzzle Solving by Quadratic Programming (PSQP). The proposed novel mathematical formulation reduces the problem to the maximization of a constrained quadratic function, which is solved via a gradient ascent approach. The proposed method is deterministic and can deal with arbitrary identical rectangular pieces. We provide experimental results showing its effectiveness when compared to state-of-the-art approaches. Although the method was developed to solve image puzzles, we also show how to apply it to the reconstruction of simulated strip-shredded documents, broadening its applicability.

  8. Fisher population and landscape genetics

    Treesearch

    Michael Schwartz; Joel Saunder; Kristine L. Pilgrim; Ray Vinkey; Michael K. Lucid; Sean Parks; Nathan Albrecht

    2013-01-01

    This talk provides a population and landscape genetic overview of fishers in Idaho and Montana. We start by discussing some of our initial findings using mitochondrial DNA (Vinkey et al. 2006, Schwartz 2007, Knaus et al. 2011). On balance these results demonstrate the uniqueness of a native haplotype that persisted in the Bitterroot-Selway Ecosystem. They also show the...

  9. Visualising the Roots of Quadratic Equations with Complex Coefficients

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bardell, Nicholas S.

    2014-01-01

    This paper is a natural extension of the root visualisation techniques first presented by Bardell (2012) for quadratic equations with real coefficients. Consideration is now given to the familiar quadratic equation "y = ax[superscript 2] + bx + c" in which the coefficients "a," "b," "c" are generally…

  10. Scaling Laws for the Multidimensional Burgers Equation with Quadratic External Potential

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Leonenko, N. N.; Ruiz-Medina, M. D.

    2006-07-01

    The reordering of the multidimensional exponential quadratic operator in coordinate-momentum space (see X. Wang, C.H. Oh and L.C. Kwek (1998). J. Phys. A.: Math. Gen. 31:4329-4336) is applied to derive an explicit formulation of the solution to the multidimensional heat equation with quadratic external potential and random initial conditions. The solution to the multidimensional Burgers equation with quadratic external potential under Gaussian strongly dependent scenarios is also obtained via the Hopf-Cole transformation. The limiting distributions of scaling solutions to the multidimensional heat and Burgers equations with quadratic external potential are then obtained under such scenarios.

  11. FISHER INFORMATION AND ECOSYSTEM REGIME CHANGES

    EPA Science Inventory

    Following Fisher’s work, we propose two different expressions for the Fisher Information along with Shannon Information as a means of detecting and assessing shifts between alternative ecosystem regimes. Regime shifts are a consequence of bifurcations in the dynamics of an ecosys...

  12. Fisher research in the US Rocky Mountains: A critical overview

    Treesearch

    Michael Schwartz; J. Sauder

    2013-01-01

    In this talk we review the recent fisher research and monitoring efforts that have occurred throughout Idaho and Montana in past 2 decades. We begin this talk with a summary of the habitat relationship work that has examined fisher habitat use at multiple scales. These have largely been conducted using radio and satellite telemetry, although a new, joint effort to use...

  13. Revisited Fisher's equation in a new outlook: A fractional derivative approach

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Alquran, Marwan; Al-Khaled, Kamel; Sardar, Tridip; Chattopadhyay, Joydev

    2015-11-01

    The well-known Fisher equation with fractional derivative is considered to provide some characteristics of memory embedded into the system. The modified model is analyzed both analytically and numerically. A comparatively new technique residual power series method is used for finding approximate solutions of the modified Fisher model. A new technique combining Sinc-collocation and finite difference method is used for numerical study. The abundance of the bird species Phalacrocorax carbois considered as a test bed to validate the model outcome using estimated parameters. We conjecture non-diffusive and diffusive fractional Fisher equation represents the same dynamics in the interval (memory index, α ∈(0.8384 , 0.9986)). We also observe that when the value of memory index is close to zero, the solutions bifurcate and produce a wave-like pattern. We conclude that the survivability of the species increases for long range memory index. These findings are similar to Fisher observation and act in a similar fashion that advantageous genes do.

  14. Geometric Approaches to Quadratic Equations from Other Times and Places.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Allaire, Patricia R.; Bradley, Robert E.

    2001-01-01

    Focuses on geometric solutions of quadratic problems. Presents a collection of geometric techniques from ancient Babylonia, classical Greece, medieval Arabia, and early modern Europe to enhance the quadratic equation portion of an algebra course. (KHR)

  15. Threatened fish and fishers along the Brazilian Atlantic Forest Coast.

    PubMed

    Begossi, Alpina; Salivonchyk, Svetlana; Hallwass, Gustavo; Hanazaki, Natalia; Lopes, Priscila F M; Silvano, Renato A M

    2017-12-01

    Small-scale fisheries of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest Coast (BAFC) depend on fish resources for food and income. Thus, if the catch diminishes or if fish species that are a target for fishers are overexploited or impacted, this could affect fishers' livelihoods. The exclusion of threatened fish species from the catch is believed to be a threat to small-scale fisheries, which is likely to be the case along the BAFC. Many fish species are currently listed as threatened or vulnerable, whereas there is not enough biological information available to determine the status of the majority of the other species. Failure to protect the BAFC biodiversity might negatively impact fishers' income and the regional economy of local small-scale fisheries. We collected data from 1986 to 2009 through 347 interviews and 24-h food recall surveys at seven southeastern coastal sites of the Atlantic Forest. We show that important species of consumed fish are currently threatened: of the 65 species mentioned by fishers as the most consumed fishes, 33% are decreasing and 54% have an unknown status. Thus, biological and ecological data for BAFC marine species are urgently needed, along with co-management, to promote fish conservation.

  16. When reintroductions are augmentations: the genetic legacy of the fisher (Martes pennanti) in Montana

    Treesearch

    Ray S. Vinkey; Michael K. Schwartz; Kevin S. McKelvey; Kerry R. Foresman; Kristine L. Pilgrim; Brian J. Giddings; Eric C. Lofroth

    2006-01-01

    Fishers (Martes pennanti) were purportedly extirpated from Montana by 1930 and extant populations are assumed to be descended from translocated fishers. To determine the lineage of fisher populations, we sequenced 2 regions of the mitochondrial DNA genome from 207 tissue samples from British Columbia, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Montana. In...

  17. "Fisher v. Texas": Strictly Disappointing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nieli, Russell K.

    2013-01-01

    Russell K. Nieli writes in this opinion paper that as far as the ability of state colleges and universities to use race as a criteria for admission goes, "Fisher v. Texas" was a big disappointment, and failed in the most basic way. Nieli states that although some affirmative action opponents have tried to put a more positive spin on the…

  18. Linear state feedback, quadratic weights, and closed loop eigenstructures. M.S. Thesis

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Thompson, P. M.

    1979-01-01

    Results are given on the relationships between closed loop eigenstructures, state feedback gain matrices of the linear state feedback problem, and quadratic weights of the linear quadratic regulator. Equations are derived for the angles of general multivariable root loci and linear quadratic optimal root loci, including angles of departure and approach. The generalized eigenvalue problem is used for the first time to compute angles of approach. Equations are also derived to find the sensitivity of closed loop eigenvalues and the directional derivatives of closed loop eigenvectors (with respect to a scalar multiplying the feedback gain matrix or the quadratic control weight). An equivalence class of quadratic weights that produce the same asymptotic eigenstructure is defined, sufficient conditions to be in it are given, a canonical element is defined, and an algorithm to find it is given. The behavior of the optimal root locus in the nonasymptotic region is shown to be different for quadratic weights with the same asymptotic properties.

  19. Analysis of Students' Error in Learning of Quadratic Equations

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zakaria, Effandi; Ibrahim; Maat, Siti Mistima

    2010-01-01

    The purpose of the study was to determine the students' error in learning quadratic equation. The samples were 30 form three students from a secondary school in Jambi, Indonesia. Diagnostic test was used as the instrument of this study that included three components: factorization, completing the square and quadratic formula. Diagnostic interview…

  20. Discriminant projective non-negative matrix factorization.

    PubMed

    Guan, Naiyang; Zhang, Xiang; Luo, Zhigang; Tao, Dacheng; Yang, Xuejun

    2013-01-01

    Projective non-negative matrix factorization (PNMF) projects high-dimensional non-negative examples X onto a lower-dimensional subspace spanned by a non-negative basis W and considers W(T) X as their coefficients, i.e., X≈WW(T) X. Since PNMF learns the natural parts-based representation Wof X, it has been widely used in many fields such as pattern recognition and computer vision. However, PNMF does not perform well in classification tasks because it completely ignores the label information of the dataset. This paper proposes a Discriminant PNMF method (DPNMF) to overcome this deficiency. In particular, DPNMF exploits Fisher's criterion to PNMF for utilizing the label information. Similar to PNMF, DPNMF learns a single non-negative basis matrix and needs less computational burden than NMF. In contrast to PNMF, DPNMF maximizes the distance between centers of any two classes of examples meanwhile minimizes the distance between any two examples of the same class in the lower-dimensional subspace and thus has more discriminant power. We develop a multiplicative update rule to solve DPNMF and prove its convergence. Experimental results on four popular face image datasets confirm its effectiveness comparing with the representative NMF and PNMF algorithms.

  1. Discriminant Projective Non-Negative Matrix Factorization

    PubMed Central

    Guan, Naiyang; Zhang, Xiang; Luo, Zhigang; Tao, Dacheng; Yang, Xuejun

    2013-01-01

    Projective non-negative matrix factorization (PNMF) projects high-dimensional non-negative examples X onto a lower-dimensional subspace spanned by a non-negative basis W and considers WT X as their coefficients, i.e., X≈WWT X. Since PNMF learns the natural parts-based representation Wof X, it has been widely used in many fields such as pattern recognition and computer vision. However, PNMF does not perform well in classification tasks because it completely ignores the label information of the dataset. This paper proposes a Discriminant PNMF method (DPNMF) to overcome this deficiency. In particular, DPNMF exploits Fisher's criterion to PNMF for utilizing the label information. Similar to PNMF, DPNMF learns a single non-negative basis matrix and needs less computational burden than NMF. In contrast to PNMF, DPNMF maximizes the distance between centers of any two classes of examples meanwhile minimizes the distance between any two examples of the same class in the lower-dimensional subspace and thus has more discriminant power. We develop a multiplicative update rule to solve DPNMF and prove its convergence. Experimental results on four popular face image datasets confirm its effectiveness comparing with the representative NMF and PNMF algorithms. PMID:24376680

  2. Hazardous Waste Cleanup: Fisher Scientific Chemical Division in Fair Lawn, New Jersey

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Fisher Scientific Chemical Division occupies a 10-acre site at 1 Reagent Lane in the Fair Lawn Industrial Park, New Jersey. Since 1955, Fisher has formulated, distilled, repackaged and distributed high-purity, laboratory-grade reagents and solvents.

  3. Coherence, quantum Fisher information, superradiance, and entanglement as interconvertible resources

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tan, Kok Chuan; Choi, Seongjeon; Kwon, Hyukjoon; Jeong, Hyunseok

    2018-05-01

    We demonstrate that quantum Fisher information and superradiance can be formulated as coherence measures in accordance with the resource theory of coherence, thus establishing a direct link between metrological resources, superradiance, and coherence. The arguments are generalized to show that coherence may be considered as the underlying fundamental resource for any functional of state that is first of all faithful, and second, concave or linear. It is also shown that quantum Fisher information and the superradiant quantity are in fact antithetical resources in the sense that if coherence were directed to saturate one quantity, then it must come at the expense of the other. Finally, a key result of the paper is to demonstrate that coherence, quantum Fisher information, superradiant quantity, and entanglement are mutually interconvertible resources under incoherent operations.

  4. An information measure for class discrimination. [in remote sensing of crop observation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Shen, S. S.; Badhwar, G. D.

    1986-01-01

    This article describes a separability measure for class discrimination. This measure is based on the Fisher information measure for estimating the mixing proportion of two classes. The Fisher information measure not only provides a means to assess quantitatively the information content in the features for separating classes, but also gives the lower bound for the variance of any unbiased estimate of the mixing proportion based on observations of the features. Unlike most commonly used separability measures, this measure is not dependent on the form of the probability distribution of the features and does not imply a specific estimation procedure. This is important because the probability distribution function that describes the data for a given class does not have simple analytic forms, such as a Gaussian. Results of applying this measure to compare the information content provided by three Landsat-derived feature vectors for the purpose of separating small grains from other crops are presented.

  5. Self-accelerating parabolic beams in quadratic nonlinear media

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dolev, Ido; Libster, Ana; Arie, Ady

    2012-09-01

    We present experimental observation of self-accelerating parabolic beams in quadratic nonlinear media. We show that the intensity peaks of the first and second harmonics are asynchronous with respect to one another in the two transverse coordinates. In addition, the two coupled harmonics have the same acceleration within and after the nonlinear medium. We also study the evolution of second harmonic accelerating beams inside the quadratic media and their correlation with theoretical beams.

  6. Emotion recognition from single-trial EEG based on kernel Fisher's emotion pattern and imbalanced quasiconformal kernel support vector machine.

    PubMed

    Liu, Yi-Hung; Wu, Chien-Te; Cheng, Wei-Teng; Hsiao, Yu-Tsung; Chen, Po-Ming; Teng, Jyh-Tong

    2014-07-24

    Electroencephalogram-based emotion recognition (EEG-ER) has received increasing attention in the fields of health care, affective computing, and brain-computer interface (BCI). However, satisfactory ER performance within a bi-dimensional and non-discrete emotional space using single-trial EEG data remains a challenging task. To address this issue, we propose a three-layer scheme for single-trial EEG-ER. In the first layer, a set of spectral powers of different EEG frequency bands are extracted from multi-channel single-trial EEG signals. In the second layer, the kernel Fisher's discriminant analysis method is applied to further extract features with better discrimination ability from the EEG spectral powers. The feature vector produced by layer 2 is called a kernel Fisher's emotion pattern (KFEP), and is sent into layer 3 for further classification where the proposed imbalanced quasiconformal kernel support vector machine (IQK-SVM) serves as the emotion classifier. The outputs of the three layer EEG-ER system include labels of emotional valence and arousal. Furthermore, to collect effective training and testing datasets for the current EEG-ER system, we also use an emotion-induction paradigm in which a set of pictures selected from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) are employed as emotion induction stimuli. The performance of the proposed three-layer solution is compared with that of other EEG spectral power-based features and emotion classifiers. Results on 10 healthy participants indicate that the proposed KFEP feature performs better than other spectral power features, and IQK-SVM outperforms traditional SVM in terms of the EEG-ER accuracy. Our findings also show that the proposed EEG-ER scheme achieves the highest classification accuracies of valence (82.68%) and arousal (84.79%) among all testing methods.

  7. Emotion Recognition from Single-Trial EEG Based on Kernel Fisher's Emotion Pattern and Imbalanced Quasiconformal Kernel Support Vector Machine

    PubMed Central

    Liu, Yi-Hung; Wu, Chien-Te; Cheng, Wei-Teng; Hsiao, Yu-Tsung; Chen, Po-Ming; Teng, Jyh-Tong

    2014-01-01

    Electroencephalogram-based emotion recognition (EEG-ER) has received increasing attention in the fields of health care, affective computing, and brain-computer interface (BCI). However, satisfactory ER performance within a bi-dimensional and non-discrete emotional space using single-trial EEG data remains a challenging task. To address this issue, we propose a three-layer scheme for single-trial EEG-ER. In the first layer, a set of spectral powers of different EEG frequency bands are extracted from multi-channel single-trial EEG signals. In the second layer, the kernel Fisher's discriminant analysis method is applied to further extract features with better discrimination ability from the EEG spectral powers. The feature vector produced by layer 2 is called a kernel Fisher's emotion pattern (KFEP), and is sent into layer 3 for further classification where the proposed imbalanced quasiconformal kernel support vector machine (IQK-SVM) serves as the emotion classifier. The outputs of the three layer EEG-ER system include labels of emotional valence and arousal. Furthermore, to collect effective training and testing datasets for the current EEG-ER system, we also use an emotion-induction paradigm in which a set of pictures selected from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) are employed as emotion induction stimuli. The performance of the proposed three-layer solution is compared with that of other EEG spectral power-based features and emotion classifiers. Results on 10 healthy participants indicate that the proposed KFEP feature performs better than other spectral power features, and IQK-SVM outperforms traditional SVM in terms of the EEG-ER accuracy. Our findings also show that the proposed EEG-ER scheme achieves the highest classification accuracies of valence (82.68%) and arousal (84.79%) among all testing methods. PMID:25061837

  8. Can reliable values of Young's modulus be deduced from Fisher's (1971) spinning lens measurements?

    PubMed

    Burd, H J; Wilde, G S; Judge, S J

    2006-04-01

    The current textbook view of the causes of presbyopia rests very largely on a series of experiments reported by R.F. Fisher some three decades ago, and in particular on the values of lens Young's modulus inferred from the deformation caused by spinning excised lenses about their optical axis (Fisher 1971) We studied the extent to which inferred values of Young's modulus are influenced by assumptions inherent in the mathematical procedures used by Fisher to interpret the test and we investigated several alternative interpretation methods. The results suggest that modelling assumptions inherent in Fisher's original method may have led to systematic errors in the determination of the Young's modulus of the cortex and nucleus. Fisher's conclusion that the cortex is stiffer than the nucleus, particularly in middle age, may be an artefact associated with these systematic errors. Moreover, none of the models we explored are able to account for Fisher's claim that the removal of the capsule has only a modest effect on the deformations induced in the spinning lens.

  9. Binary Inspiral in Quadratic Gravity

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yagi, Kent

    2015-01-01

    Quadratic gravity is a general class of quantum-gravity-inspired theories, where the Einstein-Hilbert action is extended through the addition of all terms quadratic in the curvature tensor coupled to a scalar field. In this article, we focus on the scalar Gauss- Bonnet (sGB) theory and consider the black hole binary inspiral in this theory. By applying the post-Newtonian (PN) formalism, we found that there is a scalar dipole radiation which leads to -1PN correction in the energy flux relative to gravitational radiation in general relativity. From the orbital decay rate of a low-mass X-ray binary A0600-20, we obtain the bound that is six orders of magnitude stronger than the current solar system bound. Furthermore, we show that the excess in the orbital decay rate of XTE J1118+480 can be explained by the scalar radiation in sGB theory.

  10. Tangent Lines without Derivatives for Quadratic and Cubic Equations

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carroll, William J.

    2009-01-01

    In the quadratic equation, y = ax[superscript 2] + bx + c, the equation y = bx + c is identified as the equation of the line tangent to the parabola at its y-intercept. This is extended to give a convenient method of graphing tangent lines at any point on the graph of a quadratic or a cubic equation. (Contains 5 figures.)

  11. Sketching the General Quadratic Equation Using Dynamic Geometry Software

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stols, G. H.

    2005-01-01

    This paper explores a geometrical way to sketch graphs of the general quadratic in two variables with Geometer's Sketchpad. To do this, a geometric procedure as described by De Temple is used, bearing in mind that this general quadratic equation (1) represents all the possible conics (conics sections), and the fact that five points (no three of…

  12. Michael Fisher at King's College London

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Domb, Cyril

    1991-09-01

    Michael Fisher spent the first 16 years of his academic life in the Physics Department of King's College, London, starting as an undergraduate and ending as a full professor. A survey is undertaken of his activities and achievements during the various periods of this phase of his career.

  13. Michael Fisher at King's College London

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Domb, Cyril

    Michael Fisher spent the first 16 years of his academic life in the Physics Department of King's College, London, starting as an undergraduate and ending as a full professor. A survey is undertaken of his activities and achievements during the various periods of this phase of his career.

  14. Occupational injuries and diseases among commercial fishers in Finland 1996-2015.

    PubMed

    Kaustell, Kim O; Mattila, Tiina E A; Rautiainen, Risto H

    2016-01-01

    Commercial fishing is recognised as one of the most hazardous professions worldwide. In Finland, commercial fishing has some special characteristics, including fishing on ice during frozen waters, and pluriactivity of the fisher family to gain additional income. The goal of this study was to describe injury characteristics among commercial fishers in Finland during the years 1996-2015. With this information, we wish to promote creation of effective safety campaigns and interventions. The data for this study was acquired from The Farmers' Social Insurance Institution, who handles the mandatory pension and occupational injury insurance of Finnish commercial fishers. Descriptive statistics was used to categorise and analyse the data that comprised the anonymized insurance history of 1954 insured fishers and reports on 1135 compensated injuries, 11 fatalities, and 53 occupational disease cases. The results show, that the injury rate of Finnish commercial fishers is high. Forty per cent of the fishing-related injuries occur aboard or when entering or leaving the vessel, while 37% happened ashore, and 11% on sea or lake ice. The most common type of incident is preceded by a slip, trip, or sway followed by a fall to lower level. The injuries result in a median disability length of 21 days. An elevated risk for Finnish (vs. Swedish) speaking, as well as for male fishers was found. The occupational diseases of the studied population were for the most part results of manual, repetitive and/or physically straining work due to e.g. hauling in fishing equipment. Due to small numbers and lack of case data, it is not possible to make any further analysis of the 11 fatalities, which were all drownings. Based on our findings, injury prevention should be targeted, besides preventing fatalities because of drowning, at mitigating the risks for slips, trips, and falls both aboard and ashore.

  15. Cosmology with the largest galaxy cluster surveys: going beyond Fisher matrix forecasts

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Khedekar, Satej; Majumdar, Subhabrata, E-mail: satej@mpa-garching.mpg.de, E-mail: subha@tifr.res.in

    2013-02-01

    We make the first detailed MCMC likelihood study of cosmological constraints that are expected from some of the largest, ongoing and proposed, cluster surveys in different wave-bands and compare the estimates to the prevalent Fisher matrix forecasts. Mock catalogs of cluster counts expected from the surveys — eROSITA, WFXT, RCS2, DES and Planck, along with a mock dataset of follow-up mass calibrations are analyzed for this purpose. A fair agreement between MCMC and Fisher results is found only in the case of minimal models. However, for many cases, the marginalized constraints obtained from Fisher and MCMC methods can differ bymore » factors of 30-100%. The discrepancy can be alarmingly large for a time dependent dark energy equation of state, w(a); the Fisher methods are seen to under-estimate the constraints by as much as a factor of 4-5. Typically, Fisher estimates become more and more inappropriate as we move away from ΛCDM, to a constant-w dark energy to varying-w dark energy cosmologies. Fisher analysis, also, predicts incorrect parameter degeneracies. There are noticeable offsets in the likelihood contours obtained from Fisher methods that is caused due to an asymmetry in the posterior likelihood distribution as seen through a MCMC analysis. From the point of mass-calibration uncertainties, a high value of unknown scatter about the mean mass-observable relation, and its redshift dependence, is seen to have large degeneracies with the cosmological parameters σ{sub 8} and w(a) and can degrade the cosmological constraints considerably. We find that the addition of mass-calibrated cluster datasets can improve dark energy and σ{sub 8} constraints by factors of 2-3 from what can be obtained from CMB+SNe+BAO only . Finally, we show that a joint analysis of datasets of two (or more) different cluster surveys would significantly tighten cosmological constraints from using clusters only. Since, details of future cluster surveys are still being planned, we

  16. Symmetric quadratic Hamiltonians with pseudo-Hermitian matrix representation

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Fernández, Francisco M., E-mail: fernande@quimica.unlp.edu.ar

    2016-06-15

    We prove that any symmetric Hamiltonian that is a quadratic function of the coordinates and momenta has a pseudo-Hermitian adjoint or regular matrix representation. The eigenvalues of the latter matrix are the natural frequencies of the Hamiltonian operator. When all the eigenvalues of the matrix are real, then the spectrum of the symmetric Hamiltonian is real and the operator is Hermitian. As illustrative examples we choose the quadratic Hamiltonians that model a pair of coupled resonators with balanced gain and loss, the electromagnetic self-force on an oscillating charged particle and an active LRC circuit. -- Highlights: •Symmetric quadratic operators aremore » useful models for many physical applications. •Any such operator exhibits a pseudo-Hermitian matrix representation. •Its eigenvalues are the natural frequencies of the Hamiltonian operator. •The eigenvalues may be real or complex and describe a phase transition.« less

  17. Case study 6.1: DNA survey for fisher in northern Idaho

    Treesearch

    Samuel Cushman; Kevin McKelvey; Michael Schwartz

    2008-01-01

    Unique haplotypes indicating the presence of a residual native population of fisher were found in central Idaho (Vinkey et al. 2006). Fishers had been detected previously using camera sets in the Selkirk Mountains just south of the Canadian border, but their population status and genetic composition were unknown. The purpose of the study was to provide a comprehensive...

  18. Landscape-scale habitat selection by fishers translocated to the Olympic Peninsula of Washington

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Lewis, Jeffrey C.; Jenkins, Kurt J.; Happe, Patricia J.; Manson, David J.; McCalmon, Marc

    2016-01-01

    The fisher was extirpated from much of the Pacific Northwestern United States during the mid- to late-1900s and is now proposed for federal listing as a threatened species in all or part of its west coast range. Following the translocation of 90 fishers from central British Columbia, Canada, to the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State from 2008 to 2010, we investigated the landscape-scale habitat selection of reintroduced fishers across a broad range of forest ages and disturbance histories, providing the first information on habitat relationships of newly reintroduced fishers in coastal coniferous forests in the Pacific Northwest. We developed 17 a priori models to evaluate several habitat-selection hypotheses based on premises of habitat models used to forecast habitat suitability for the reintroduced population. Further, we hypothesized that female fishers, because of their smaller body size than males, greater vulnerability to predation, and specific reproductive requirements, would be more selective than males for mid- to late-seral forest communities, where complex forest structural elements provide secure foraging, resting, and denning sites. We assessed 11 forest structure and landscape characteristics within the home range core-areas used by 19 females and 12 males and within randomly placed pseudo core areas that represented available habitats. We used case-controlled logistic regression to compare the characteristics of used and pseudo core areas and to assess selection by male and female fishers. Females were more selective of core area placement than males. Fifteen of 19 females (79%) and 5 of 12 males (42%) selected core areas within federal lands that encompassed primarily forests with an overstory of mid-sized or large trees. Male fishers exhibited only weak selection for core areas dominated by forests with an overstory of small trees, primarily on land managed for timber production or at high elevations. The amount of natural open area best

  19. Statistical classification approach to discrimination between weak earthquakes and quarry blasts recorded by the Israel Seismic Network

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kushnir, A. F.; Troitsky, E. V.; Haikin, L. M.; Dainty, A.

    1999-06-01

    A semi-automatic procedure has been developed to achieve statistically optimum discrimination between earthquakes and explosions at local or regional distances based on a learning set specific to a given region. The method is used for step-by-step testing of candidate discrimination features to find the optimum (combination) subset of features, with the decision taken on a rigorous statistical basis. Linear (LDF) and Quadratic (QDF) Discriminant Functions based on Gaussian distributions of the discrimination features are implemented and statistically grounded; the features may be transformed by the Box-Cox transformation z=(1/ α)( yα-1) to make them more Gaussian. Tests of the method were successfully conducted on seismograms from the Israel Seismic Network using features consisting of spectral ratios between and within phases. Results showed that the QDF was more effective than the LDF and required five features out of 18 candidates for the optimum set. It was found that discrimination improved with increasing distance within the local range, and that eliminating transformation of the features and failing to correct for noise led to degradation of discrimination.

  20. Understanding spearfishing in a coral reef fishery: Fishers' opportunities, constraints, and decision-making.

    PubMed

    Pavlowich, Tyler; Kapuscinski, Anne R

    2017-01-01

    Social and ecological systems come together during the act of fishing. However, we often lack a deep understanding of the fishing process, despite its importance for understanding and managing fisheries. A quantitative, mechanistic understanding of the opportunities fishers encounter, the constraints they face, and how they make decisions within the context of opportunities and constraints will enhance the design of fisheries management strategies to meet linked ecological and social objectives and will improve scientific capacity to predict impacts of different strategies. We examined the case of spearfishing in a Caribbean coral reef fishery. We mounted cameras on fishers' spearguns to observe the fish they encountered, what limited their ability to catch fish, and how they made decisions about which fish to target. We observed spearfishers who dove with and without the assistance of compressed air, and compared the fishing process of each method using content analysis of videos and decision models of fishers' targeting selections. Compressor divers encountered more fish, took less time to catch each fish, and had a higher rate of successful pursuits. We also analyzed differences among taxa in this multispecies fishery, because some taxa are known to be ecologically or economically more valuable than others. Parrotfish are ecologically indispensable for healthy coral reefs, and they were encountered and captured more frequently than any other taxon. Fishers made decisions about which fish to target based on a fish's market value, proximity to the fisher, and taxon. The information uncovered on fishers' opportunities, constraints, and decision making has implications for managing this fishery and others. Moreover, it demonstrates the value of pursuing an improved understanding of the fishing process from the perspective of the fishers.

  1. Determining the gender of American martens and fishers at track plate stations

    Treesearch

    Keith M. Slauson; Richard L. Truex; William J. Zielinski

    2008-01-01

    Determining the gender of American martens (Martes americana) and fishers (M. pennanti) from track plate stations would significantly augment the information currently gathered from this simple and inexpensive survey method. We used track-plate impressions collected from captured individual martens and fishers of known gender to...

  2. Survival of fishers in the southern Sierra Nevada region of California

    Treesearch

    Richard A. Sweitzer; Craig M. Thompson; Rebecca E. Green; Reginald H. Barrett; Kathryn L. Purcell

    2015-01-01

    Fishers in the western United States were recently proposed for listing under the U.S. Endangered Species Act because of concerns for loss of suitable habitat and evidence of a diversity of mortality risks that reduce survival. One of 2 remnant populations of fishers in California is in the southern Sierra Nevada region, where we studied them at 2 research sites in the...

  3. Electromagnetic tracking system with reduced distortion using quadratic excitation.

    PubMed

    Bien, Tomasz; Li, Mengfei; Salah, Zein; Rose, Georg

    2014-03-01

    Electromagnetic tracking systems, frequently used in minimally invasive surgery, are affected by conductive distorters. The influence of conductive distorters on electromagnetic tracking system accuracy can be reduced through magnetic field modifications. This approach was developed and tested. The voltage induced directly by the emitting coil in the sensing coil without additional influence by the conductive distorter depends on the first derivative of the voltage on the emitting coil. The voltage which is induced indirectly by the emitting coil across the conductive distorter in the sensing coil, however, depends on the second derivative of the voltage on the emitting coil. The electromagnetic tracking system takes advantage of this difference by supplying the emitting coil with a quadratic excitation voltage. The method is adaptive relative to the amount of distortion cause by the conductive distorters. This approach is evaluated with an experimental setup of the electromagnetic tracking system. In vitro testing showed that the maximal error decreased from 10.9 to 3.8 mm when the quadratic voltage was used to excite the emitting coil instead of the sinusoidal voltage. Furthermore, the root mean square error in the proximity of the aluminum disk used as a conductive distorter was reduced from 3.5 to 1.6 mm when the electromagnetic tracking system used the quadratic instead of sinusoidal excitation. Electromagnetic tracking with quadratic excitation is immune to the effects of a conductive distorter, especially compared with sinusoidal excitation of the emitting coil. Quadratic excitation of electromagnetic tracking for computer-assisted surgery is promising for clinical applications.

  4. Online Quadrat Study - Site Index

    Science.gov Websites

    Study Project - Prairie Advocates Project ) Background Information - Data Collection and Entry - Data Data Entry Data Summaries and Graphs Quadrat Study Poster for your classroom. Directions for Looking at by Prairie Study Prairie Experts For Non-Fermilab Prairie researchers: Complete step-by-step

  5. Is LambdaCDM consistent with the Tully-Fisher relation?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Reyes, Reinabelle; Gunn, J. E.; Mandelbaum, R.

    2013-07-01

    We consider the question of the origin of the Tully-Fisher relation in LambdaCDM cosmology. Reproducing the observed tight relation between stellar masses and rotation velocities of disk galaxies presents a challenge for semi-analytical models and hydrodynamic simulations of galaxy formation. Here, our goal is to construct a suite of galaxy mass models that is fully consistent with observations, and that also reproduces the observed Tully-Fisher relation. We take advantage of a well-defined sample of disk galaxies in SDSS with measured rotation velocities (from long-slit spectroscopy of H-alpha), stellar bulge and disk profiles (from fits to SDSS images), and average dark matter halo masses (from stacked weak lensing of a larger, similarly-selected sample). The primary remaining freedom in the mass models come from the final dark matter halo profile (after contraction from baryon infall and, possibly, feedback) and the stellar IMF. We find that the observed velocities are reproduced by models with Kroupa IMF and NFW (i.e., unmodified) dark matter haloes for galaxies with stellar masses 10^9-10^10 M_sun. For higher stellar masses, models with contracted NFW haloes are favored. A scenario in which the amount of halo contraction varies with stellar mass is able to reproduce the observed Tully-Fisher relation over the full stellar mass range of our sample from 10^9 to 10^11 M_sun. We present this as a proof-of-concept for consistency between LambdaCDM and the Tully-Fisher relation.

  6. The forest carnivores: marten and fisher

    Treesearch

    William J. Zielinski

    2014-01-01

    Martens and fishers, as predators, perform important functions that help sustain the integrity of ecosystems. Both species occur primarily in mature forest environments that are characterized by dense canopy, large-diameter trees, a diverse understory community, and abundant standing and downed dead trees. Martens occur in the upper montane forests, where the threat of...

  7. L1-norm kernel discriminant analysis via Bayes error bound optimization for robust feature extraction.

    PubMed

    Zheng, Wenming; Lin, Zhouchen; Wang, Haixian

    2014-04-01

    A novel discriminant analysis criterion is derived in this paper under the theoretical framework of Bayes optimality. In contrast to the conventional Fisher's discriminant criterion, the major novelty of the proposed one is the use of L1 norm rather than L2 norm, which makes it less sensitive to the outliers. With the L1-norm discriminant criterion, we propose a new linear discriminant analysis (L1-LDA) method for linear feature extraction problem. To solve the L1-LDA optimization problem, we propose an efficient iterative algorithm, in which a novel surrogate convex function is introduced such that the optimization problem in each iteration is to simply solve a convex programming problem and a close-form solution is guaranteed to this problem. Moreover, we also generalize the L1-LDA method to deal with the nonlinear robust feature extraction problems via the use of kernel trick, and hereafter proposed the L1-norm kernel discriminant analysis (L1-KDA) method. Extensive experiments on simulated and real data sets are conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method in comparing with the state-of-the-art methods.

  8. [Case of posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome caused by Fisher syndrome].

    PubMed

    Yokoi, Katsunori; Ando, Tetsuo; Kawakami, Osamu

    2018-01-26

    This report presents a case of a 71-year-old woman with Fisher syndrome who had posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) before the initiation of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) treatment. She had symptoms of common cold 2 weeks before the onset of PRES. On the day of the onset, she began to stagger while walking. On day 2, she developed hypertension, vision impairment, and limb weakness and was admitted to the hospital. On day 3, she was provided steroid pulse therapy. On day 4, she developed convulsions and right imperfection single paralysis and was transferred to the our hospital. During the transfer, the patient was conscious. Her blood pressure was high at 198/107 mmHg. She had mild weakness in her limbs and face, light perception in both eyes, dilation of both pupils, total external ophthalmoplegia, no tendon reflexes, and limb and trunk ataxia. We diagnosed PRES because of the high signal intensities observed on T 2 -weighted MRI on both sides of the parietal and occipital lobes. We also diagnosed Fisher syndrome because of a positive anti-GQ1b immunoglobulin G antibody test and albuminocytologic dissociation in the cerebrospinal fluid. PRES showed prompt improvement with antihypertensive therapy, whereas Fisher syndrome slowly improved over a course of 2 months. This case is the first report of PRES without IVIg suggesting that Fisher syndrome induces hypertension and causes PRES.

  9. Fish Consumption Patterns and Mercury Advisory Knowledge Among Fishers in the Haw River Basin.

    PubMed

    Johnston, Jill E; Hoffman, Kate; Wing, Steve; Lowman, Amy

    2016-01-01

    Fish consumption has numerous health benefits, with fish providing a source of protein as well as omega-3 fatty acids. However, some fish also contain contaminants that can impair human health. In North Carolina, the Department of Health and Human Services has issued fish consumption advisories due to methylmercury contamination in fish. Little is known about local fishers' consumption patterns and advisory adherence in North Carolina. We surveyed a consecutive sample of 50 fishers (74.6% positive response rate) who reported eating fish caught from the Haw River Basin or Jordan Lake. They provided information on demographic characteristics, species caught, and the frequency of local fish consumption. Additionally, fishers provided information on their knowledge of fish consumption advisories and the impact of those advisories on their fishing and fish consumption patterns. The majority of participants were male (n = 44) and reported living in central North Carolina. Catfish, crappie, sunfish, and large-mouth bass were consumed more frequently than other species of fish. Of the fishers surveyed, 8 reported eating more than 1 fish meal high in mercury per week, which exceeds the North Carolina advisory recommendation. Most participants (n = 32) had no knowledge of local fish advisories, and only 4 fishers reported that advisories impacted their fishing practices. We sampled 50 fishers at 11 locations. There is no enumeration of the dynamic population of fishers and no way to assess the representativeness of this sample. Additional outreach is needed to make local fishers aware of fish consumption advisories and the potential health impacts of eating high-mercury fish, which may also contain other persistent and bioaccumulative toxins. ©2016 by the North Carolina Institute of Medicine and The Duke Endowment. All rights reserved.

  10. Using forest inventory data to assess fisher resting habitat suitability in California.

    Treesearch

    William J. Zielinski; Richard L. Truex; Jeffrey R. Dunk; Tom Gaman

    2006-01-01

    The fisher (Martes pennanti) is a forest-dwelling carnivore whose current distribution and association with late-seral forest conditions make it vulnerable to stand-altering human activities or natural disturbances. Fishers select a variety of structures for daily resting bouts. These habitat elements, together with foraging and reproductive (denning) habitat,...

  11. EXERGY AND FISHER INFORMATION AS ECOLOGICAL INDEXES

    EPA Science Inventory

    Ecological indices are used to provide summary information about a particular aspect of ecosystem behavior. Many such indices have been proposed and here we investigate two: exergy and Fisher Information. Exergy, a thermodynamically based index, is a measure of maximum amount o...

  12. Quadratic elongation: A quantitative measure of distortion in coordination polyhedra

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Robinson, Kelly F.; Gibbs, G.V.; Ribbe, P.H.

    1971-01-01

    Quadratic elongation and the variance of bond angles are linearly correlated for distorted octahedral and tetrahedral coordination complexes, both of which show variations in bond length and bond angle. The quadratic elonga tion is dimensionless, giving a quantitative measure of polyhedral distortion which is independent of the effective size of the polyhedron.

  13. Macroscopic response to microscopic intrinsic noise in three-dimensional Fisher fronts.

    PubMed

    Nesic, S; Cuerno, R; Moro, E

    2014-10-31

    We study the dynamics of three-dimensional Fisher fronts in the presence of density fluctuations. To this end we simulate the Fisher equation subject to stochastic internal noise, and study how the front moves and roughens as a function of the number of particles in the system, N. Our results suggest that the macroscopic behavior of the system is driven by the microscopic dynamics at its leading edge where number fluctuations are dominated by rare events. Contrary to naive expectations, the strength of front fluctuations decays extremely slowly as 1/logN, inducing large-scale fluctuations which we find belong to the one-dimensional Kardar-Parisi-Zhang universality class of kinetically rough interfaces. Hence, we find that there is no weak-noise regime for Fisher fronts, even for realistic numbers of particles in macroscopic systems.

  14. Fisher equation for anisotropic diffusion: simulating South American human dispersals.

    PubMed

    Martino, Luis A; Osella, Ana; Dorso, Claudio; Lanata, José L

    2007-09-01

    The Fisher equation is commonly used to model population dynamics. This equation allows describing reaction-diffusion processes, considering both population growth and diffusion mechanism. Some results have been reported about modeling human dispersion, always assuming isotropic diffusion. Nevertheless, it is well-known that dispersion depends not only on the characteristics of the habitats where individuals are but also on the properties of the places where they intend to move, then isotropic approaches cannot adequately reproduce the evolution of the wave of advance of populations. Solutions to a Fisher equation are difficult to obtain for complex geometries, moreover, when anisotropy has to be considered and so few studies have been conducted in this direction. With this scope in mind, we present in this paper a solution for a Fisher equation, introducing anisotropy. We apply a finite difference method using the Crank-Nicholson approximation and analyze the results as a function of the characteristic parameters. Finally, this methodology is applied to model South American human dispersal.

  15. Ancient DNA confirms native Rocky Mountain fisher (Martes pennanti) avoided early 20th century extinction

    Treesearch

    Michael K. Schwartz

    2007-01-01

    Until recently it was assumed that fishers (Martes pennanti) in the Rocky Mountains all were descended from reintroduced stocks. However, a recent study reported that mitochondrial DNA (cytochrome-b and control region) haplotypes of fishers found only in west-central Montana are likely derived from a relic population of fishers that escaped harvests conducted in the...

  16. Effects of Classroom Instruction on Students' Understanding of Quadratic Equations

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vaiyavutjamai, Pongchawee; Clements, M. A.

    2006-01-01

    Two hundred and thirty-one students in six Grade 9 classes in two government secondary schools located near Chiang Mai, Thailand, attempted to solve the same 18 quadratic equations before and after participating in 11 lessons on quadratic equations. Data from the students' written responses to the equations, together with data in the form of…

  17. Analyzing Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization Problems Via Multicommodity Flows

    PubMed Central

    Wang, Di; Kleinberg, Robert D.

    2009-01-01

    Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization (QUBO) problems concern the minimization of quadratic polynomials in n {0, 1}-valued variables. These problems are NP-complete, but prior work has identified a sequence of polynomial-time computable lower bounds on the minimum value, denoted by C2, C3, C4,…. It is known that C2 can be computed by solving a maximum-flow problem, whereas the only previously known algorithms for computing Ck (k > 2) require solving a linear program. In this paper we prove that C3 can be computed by solving a maximum multicommodity flow problem in a graph constructed from the quadratic function. In addition to providing a lower bound on the minimum value of the quadratic function on {0, 1}n, this multicommodity flow problem also provides some information about the coordinates of the point where this minimum is achieved. By looking at the edges that are never saturated in any maximum multicommodity flow, we can identify relational persistencies: pairs of variables that must have the same or different values in any minimizing assignment. We furthermore show that all of these persistencies can be detected by solving single-commodity flow problems in the same network. PMID:20161596

  18. Analyzing Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization Problems Via Multicommodity Flows.

    PubMed

    Wang, Di; Kleinberg, Robert D

    2009-11-28

    Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization (QUBO) problems concern the minimization of quadratic polynomials in n {0, 1}-valued variables. These problems are NP-complete, but prior work has identified a sequence of polynomial-time computable lower bounds on the minimum value, denoted by C(2), C(3), C(4),…. It is known that C(2) can be computed by solving a maximum-flow problem, whereas the only previously known algorithms for computing C(k) (k > 2) require solving a linear program. In this paper we prove that C(3) can be computed by solving a maximum multicommodity flow problem in a graph constructed from the quadratic function. In addition to providing a lower bound on the minimum value of the quadratic function on {0, 1}(n), this multicommodity flow problem also provides some information about the coordinates of the point where this minimum is achieved. By looking at the edges that are never saturated in any maximum multicommodity flow, we can identify relational persistencies: pairs of variables that must have the same or different values in any minimizing assignment. We furthermore show that all of these persistencies can be detected by solving single-commodity flow problems in the same network.

  19. The generalized quadratic knapsack problem. A neuronal network approach.

    PubMed

    Talaván, Pedro M; Yáñez, Javier

    2006-05-01

    The solution of an optimization problem through the continuous Hopfield network (CHN) is based on some energy or Lyapunov function, which decreases as the system evolves until a local minimum value is attained. A new energy function is proposed in this paper so that any 0-1 linear constrains programming with quadratic objective function can be solved. This problem, denoted as the generalized quadratic knapsack problem (GQKP), includes as particular cases well-known problems such as the traveling salesman problem (TSP) and the quadratic assignment problem (QAP). This new energy function generalizes those proposed by other authors. Through this energy function, any GQKP can be solved with an appropriate parameter setting procedure, which is detailed in this paper. As a particular case, and in order to test this generalized energy function, some computational experiments solving the traveling salesman problem are also included.

  20. In Memoriam: Albert Kenrick Fisher

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Uhler, F.M.

    1951-01-01

    Dr. Albert Kenrick Fisher, a Founder and Past President of the American Ornithologists' Union and one of its best known Fellows for nearly 65 years, died in Washington, D. C. on June 12, 1948, after a brief illness from circulatory complications that developed as a result of advanced age. With his passing, the American Ornithologists' Union has lost one of its last links with that eminent group of bird students who founded this organization in the autumn of 1883.

  1. The Tully-Fisher relation of the IRAS minisurvey galaxies

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Van Driel, W.; Van Den Broek, A. C.; Baan, W. A.

    1995-01-01

    We investigated the possible influence on the Tully-Fisher relation of active massive star formation in IRAS galaxies, in order to estimate the contribution of star formation to their near-infrared luminosity. We observed 60 galaxies from the infrared complete so-called IRAS Minisurvey sample in the 21 cm H1 line at Arecibo, determined the near-infrared (H-band) Tully-Fisher relation for the 36 objects in the sample we judged to be usable for this purpose, and compared this relation with that of optically selected normal galaxies. The results show no significant enhancement of the near-infrared luminosities of the IRAS Minisurvey galaxies compared to those of the optically selected normal glaxies. From these results we inferred that in the minisurvey galaxies the average contribution of the active massive star formation to the total near-infrared luminosity is less and that exponential decay times for the starbursts occurring in the Minisurvey galaxies are of the order of 10 Myr. The Tully-Fisher relation shows one exceptional galaxy (IRAS 03565+2139) with an about 25 times higher luminosity than average for its rotational velocity.

  2. Exploring Quadratic Functions with Logger "Pro"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pope, Derek

    2018-01-01

    The author shares the lesson that he used to introduce the quadratic unit to students in an extended second-year algebra class, demonstrate why it was appropriate for his struggling learners, and discuss possible future modifications to this lesson.

  3. Face recognition based on two-dimensional discriminant sparse preserving projection

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Dawei; Zhu, Shanan

    2018-04-01

    In this paper, a supervised dimensionality reduction algorithm named two-dimensional discriminant sparse preserving projection (2DDSPP) is proposed for face recognition. In order to accurately model manifold structure of data, 2DDSPP constructs within-class affinity graph and between-class affinity graph by the constrained least squares (LS) and l1 norm minimization problem, respectively. Based on directly operating on image matrix, 2DDSPP integrates graph embedding (GE) with Fisher criterion. The obtained projection subspace preserves within-class neighborhood geometry structure of samples, while keeping away samples from different classes. The experimental results on the PIE and AR face databases show that 2DDSPP can achieve better recognition performance.

  4. Geometrical Solutions of Some Quadratic Equations with Non-Real Roots

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pathak, H. K.; Grewal, A. S.

    2002-01-01

    This note gives geometrical/graphical methods of finding solutions of the quadratic equation ax[squared] + bx + c = 0, a [not equal to] 0, with non-real roots. Three different cases which give rise to non-real roots of the quadratic equation have been discussed. In case I a geometrical construction and its proof for finding the solutions of the…

  5. Unsupervised learning of discriminative edge measures for vehicle matching between nonoverlapping cameras.

    PubMed

    Shan, Ying; Sawhney, Harpreet S; Kumar, Rakesh

    2008-04-01

    This paper proposes a novel unsupervised algorithm learning discriminative features in the context of matching road vehicles between two non-overlapping cameras. The matching problem is formulated as a same-different classification problem, which aims to compute the probability of vehicle images from two distinct cameras being from the same vehicle or different vehicle(s). We employ a novel measurement vector that consists of three independent edge-based measures and their associated robust measures computed from a pair of aligned vehicle edge maps. The weight of each measure is determined by an unsupervised learning algorithm that optimally separates the same-different classes in the combined measurement space. This is achieved with a weak classification algorithm that automatically collects representative samples from same-different classes, followed by a more discriminative classifier based on Fisher' s Linear Discriminants and Gibbs Sampling. The robustness of the match measures and the use of unsupervised discriminant analysis in the classification ensures that the proposed method performs consistently in the presence of missing/false features, temporally and spatially changing illumination conditions, and systematic misalignment caused by different camera configurations. Extensive experiments based on real data of over 200 vehicles at different times of day demonstrate promising results.

  6. Geometrical and Graphical Solutions of Quadratic Equations.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hornsby, E. John, Jr.

    1990-01-01

    Presented are several geometrical and graphical methods of solving quadratic equations. Discussed are Greek origins, Carlyle's method, von Staudt's method, fixed graph methods and imaginary solutions. (CW)

  7. Comparing fishers' and scientific estimates of size at maturity and maximum body size as indicators for overfishing.

    PubMed

    Mclean, Elizabeth L; Forrester, Graham E

    2018-04-01

    We tested whether fishers' local ecological knowledge (LEK) of two fish life-history parameters, size at maturity (SAM) at maximum body size (MS), was comparable to scientific estimates (SEK) of the same parameters, and whether LEK influenced fishers' perceptions of sustainability. Local ecological knowledge was documented for 82 fishers from a small-scale fishery in Samaná Bay, Dominican Republic, whereas SEK was compiled from the scientific literature. Size at maturity estimates derived from LEK and SEK overlapped for most of the 15 commonly harvested species (10 of 15). In contrast, fishers' maximum size estimates were usually lower than (eight species), or overlapped with (five species) scientific estimates. Fishers' size-based estimates of catch composition indicate greater potential for overfishing than estimates based on SEK. Fishers' estimates of size at capture relative to size at maturity suggest routine inclusion of juveniles in the catch (9 of 15 species), and fishers' estimates suggest that harvested fish are substantially smaller than maximum body size for most species (11 of 15 species). Scientific estimates also suggest that harvested fish are generally smaller than maximum body size (13 of 15), but suggest that the catch is dominated by adults for most species (9 of 15 species), and that juveniles are present in the catch for fewer species (6 of 15). Most Samaná fishers characterized the current state of their fishery as poor (73%) and as having changed for the worse over the past 20 yr (60%). Fishers stated that concern about overfishing, catching small fish, and catching immature fish contributed to these perceptions, indicating a possible influence of catch-size composition on their perceptions. Future work should test this link more explicitly because we found no evidence that the minority of fishers with more positive perceptions of their fishery reported systematically different estimates of catch-size composition than those with the more

  8. Impact of catch shares on diversification of fishers' income and risk.

    PubMed

    Holland, Daniel S; Speir, Cameron; Agar, Juan; Crosson, Scott; DePiper, Geret; Kasperski, Stephen; Kitts, Andrew W; Perruso, Larry

    2017-08-29

    Many fishers diversify their income by participating in multiple fisheries, which has been shown to significantly reduce year-to-year variation in income. The ability of fishers to diversify has become increasingly constrained in the last few decades, and catch share programs could further reduce diversification as a result of consolidation. This could increase income variation and thus financial risk. However, catch shares can also offer fishers opportunities to enter or increase participation in catch share fisheries by purchasing or leasing quota. Thus, the net effect on diversification is uncertain. We tested whether diversification and variation in fishing revenues changed after implementation of catch shares for 6,782 vessels in 13 US fisheries that account for 20% of US landings revenue. For each of these fisheries, we tested whether diversification levels, trends, and variation in fishing revenues changed after implementation of catch shares, both for fishers that remained in the catch share fishery and for those that exited but remained active in other fisheries. We found that diversification for both groups was nearly always reduced. However, in most cases, we found no significant change in interannual variation of revenues, and, where changes were significant, variation decreased nearly as often as it increased.

  9. Resting habitat selection by fishers in California

    Treesearch

    William J. Zielinski; Richard L. Truex; Gregory A. Schmidt; Fredrick V. Schlexer; Kristin N. Schmidt; Reginald H. Barrett

    2004-01-01

    We studied the resting habitat ecology of fishers (Martes pennanti) in 2 disjunct populations in California, USA: the northwestern coastal mountains (hereafter, Coastal) and the southern Sierra Nevada (hereafter, Sierra). We described resting structures and compared features surrounding resting structures (the resting site) with those at randomly...

  10. Comparison of discriminant analysis methods: Application to occupational exposure to particulate matter

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ramos, M. Rosário; Carolino, E.; Viegas, Carla; Viegas, Sandra

    2016-06-01

    Health effects associated with occupational exposure to particulate matter have been studied by several authors. In this study were selected six industries of five different areas: Cork company 1, Cork company 2, poultry, slaughterhouse for cattle, riding arena and production of animal feed. The measurements tool was a portable device for direct reading. This tool provides information on the particle number concentration for six different diameters, namely 0.3 µm, 0.5 µm, 1 µm, 2.5 µm, 5 µm and 10 µm. The focus on these features is because they might be more closely related with adverse health effects. The aim is to identify the particles that better discriminate the industries, with the ultimate goal of classifying industries regarding potential negative effects on workers' health. Several methods of discriminant analysis were applied to data of occupational exposure to particulate matter and compared with respect to classification accuracy. The selected methods were linear discriminant analyses (LDA); linear quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA), robust linear discriminant analysis with selected estimators (MLE (Maximum Likelihood Estimators), MVE (Minimum Volume Elipsoid), "t", MCD (Minimum Covariance Determinant), MCD-A, MCD-B), multinomial logistic regression and artificial neural networks (ANN). The predictive accuracy of the methods was accessed through a simulation study. ANN yielded the highest rate of classification accuracy in the data set under study. Results indicate that the particle number concentration of diameter size 0.5 µm is the parameter that better discriminates industries.

  11. Fisher Grading Scale Associated with Language Disorders in Patients with Anterior Circulation Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage.

    PubMed

    de Souza, Moysés Loiola Ponte; Vieira, Ana Cláudia C; Andrade, Gustavo; Quinino, Saul; de Fátima Leal Griz, Maria; Azevedo-Filho, Hildo R C

    2015-08-01

    To associate the presence of language deficits with varying scores of the Fisher grading scale in patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage in the period preceding the treatment of aneurysm in the anterior circulation, as well as to compare the scores of this scale, identifying the grades more associated with the decline of language. Database analysis of 185 preoperative evaluations of language, through the Montreal Toulouse Protocol Alpha version and verbal fluency through CERAD battery, of patients from "Hospital da Restauração" with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage, divided according to the Fisher grading scale (Fisher I, II, III, or IV) and compared with a control group of individuals considered normal. The various scores of the Fisher grading scale have different levels of language deficits, more pronounced as the amount of blood increases. Fisher III and IV scores are most associated with the decline of language. Our study made it possible to obtain information not yet available in the literature, by correlating the various scores of the Fisher grading scale with language yet in the period preceding treatment. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Fish Consumption Patterns and Mercury Advisory Knowledge Among Fishers in the Haw River Basin

    PubMed Central

    Johnston, Jill E.; Hoffman, Kate; Wing, Steve; Lowman, Amy

    2016-01-01

    BACKGROUND Fish consumption has numerous health benefits, with fish providing a source of protein as well as omega-3 fatty acids. However, some fish also contain contaminants that can impair human health. In North Carolina, the Department of Health and Human Services has issued fish consumption advisories due to methylmercury contamination in fish. Little is known about local fishers’ consumption patterns and advisory adherence in North Carolina. METHODS We surveyed a consecutive sample of 50 fishers (74.6% positive response rate) who reported eating fish caught from the Haw River Basin or Jordan Lake. They provided information on demographic characteristics, species caught, and the frequency of local fish consumption. Additionally, fishers provided information on their knowledge of fish consumption advisories and the impact of those advisories on their fishing and fish consumption patterns. RESULTS The majority of participants were male (n = 44) and reported living in central North Carolina. Catfish, crappie, sunfish, and large-mouth bass were consumed more frequently than other species of fish. Of the fishers surveyed, 8 reported eating more than 1 fish meal high in mercury per week, which exceeds the North Carolina advisory recommendation. Most participants (n = 32) had no knowledge of local fish advisories, and only 4 fishers reported that advisories impacted their fishing practices. LIMITATIONS We sampled 50 fishers at 11 locations. There is no enumeration of the dynamic population of fishers and no way to assess the representativeness of this sample. CONCLUSIONS Additional outreach is needed to make local fishers aware of fish consumption advisories and the potential health impacts of eating high-mercury fish, which may also contain other persistent and bioaccumulative toxins. PMID:26763238

  13. Homotopy approach to optimal, linear quadratic, fixed architecture compensation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mercadal, Mathieu

    1991-01-01

    Optimal linear quadratic Gaussian compensators with constrained architecture are a sensible way to generate good multivariable feedback systems meeting strict implementation requirements. The optimality conditions obtained from the constrained linear quadratic Gaussian are a set of highly coupled matrix equations that cannot be solved algebraically except when the compensator is centralized and full order. An alternative to the use of general parameter optimization methods for solving the problem is to use homotopy. The benefit of the method is that it uses the solution to a simplified problem as a starting point and the final solution is then obtained by solving a simple differential equation. This paper investigates the convergence properties and the limitation of such an approach and sheds some light on the nature and the number of solutions of the constrained linear quadratic Gaussian problem. It also demonstrates the usefulness of homotopy on an example of an optimal decentralized compensator.

  14. Gene Ranking of RNA-Seq Data via Discriminant Non-Negative Matrix Factorization.

    PubMed

    Jia, Zhilong; Zhang, Xiang; Guan, Naiyang; Bo, Xiaochen; Barnes, Michael R; Luo, Zhigang

    2015-01-01

    RNA-sequencing is rapidly becoming the method of choice for studying the full complexity of transcriptomes, however with increasing dimensionality, accurate gene ranking is becoming increasingly challenging. This paper proposes an accurate and sensitive gene ranking method that implements discriminant non-negative matrix factorization (DNMF) for RNA-seq data. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work to explore the utility of DNMF for gene ranking. When incorporating Fisher's discriminant criteria and setting the reduced dimension as two, DNMF learns two factors to approximate the original gene expression data, abstracting the up-regulated or down-regulated metagene by using the sample label information. The first factor denotes all the genes' weights of two metagenes as the additive combination of all genes, while the second learned factor represents the expression values of two metagenes. In the gene ranking stage, all the genes are ranked as a descending sequence according to the differential values of the metagene weights. Leveraging the nature of NMF and Fisher's criterion, DNMF can robustly boost the gene ranking performance. The Area Under the Curve analysis of differential expression analysis on two benchmarking tests of four RNA-seq data sets with similar phenotypes showed that our proposed DNMF-based gene ranking method outperforms other widely used methods. Moreover, the Gene Set Enrichment Analysis also showed DNMF outweighs others. DNMF is also computationally efficient, substantially outperforming all other benchmarked methods. Consequently, we suggest DNMF is an effective method for the analysis of differential gene expression and gene ranking for RNA-seq data.

  15. Quadratic spatial soliton interactions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jankovic, Ladislav

    Quadratic spatial soliton interactions were investigated in this Dissertation. The first part deals with characterizing the principal features of multi-soliton generation and soliton self-reflection. The second deals with two beam processes leading to soliton interactions and collisions. These subjects were investigated both theoretically and experimentally. The experiments were performed by using potassium niobate (KNBO 3) and periodically poled potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP) crystals. These particular crystals were desirable for these experiments because of their large nonlinear coefficients and, more importantly, because the experiments could be performed under non-critical-phase-matching (NCPM) conditions. The single soliton generation measurements, performed on KNBO3 by launching the fundamental component only, showed a broad angular acceptance bandwidth which was important for the soliton collisions performed later. Furthermore, at high input intensities multi-soliton generation was observed for the first time. The influence on the multi-soliton patterns generated of the input intensity and beam symmetry was investigated. The combined experimental and theoretical efforts indicated that spatial and temporal noise on the input laser beam induced multi-soliton patterns. Another research direction pursued was intensity dependent soliton routing by using of a specially engineered quadratically nonlinear interface within a periodically poled KTP sample. This was the first time demonstration of the self-reflection phenomenon in a system with a quadratic nonlinearity. The feature investigated is believed to have a great potential for soliton routing and manipulation by engineered structures. A detailed investigation was conducted on two soliton interaction and collision processes. Birth of an additional soliton resulting from a two soliton collision was observed and characterized for the special case of a non-planar geometry. A small amount of spiraling, up to 30

  16. Suzanne Fisher Staples: From Journalist to Novelist.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Greever, Ellen A.; Austin, Patricia

    1997-01-01

    Presents the story of Suzanne Fisher Staples, author of the Newbery Honor Book, "Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind." States that she was first a journalist who experienced different foreign cultures firsthand, which provided the background for the novel. Discusses the difference between writing for newspapers and writing fiction. (PA)

  17. Utility of two modified-live virus canine distemper vaccines in wild-caught fishers (Martes pennanti).

    PubMed

    Peper, Steven T; Peper, Randall L; Mitcheltree, Denise H; Kollias, George V; Brooks, Robert P; Stevens, Sadie S; Serfass, Thomas L

    2016-12-01

    Canine distemper virus (CDV) infects families in the order Carnivora. As a preventive measure, vaccinations against CDV are frequently given to mustelids in captive environments. Our objectives were to compare the utility between two modified-live virus canine distemper vaccines (MLV CDV's), Fervac-D® (no longer manufactured) and Galaxy-D® (now manufactured by MSD Animal Health as part of a multivalent vaccine), in developing an immune response in wild-caught fishers. The Pennsylvania Fisher Reintroduction Project (PFRP) used 14 wild-caught fishers during one year of the project to evaluate the utility of vaccinations against CDV as part of any reintroduction project. Fishers were injected subcutaneously in the nape of the neck with their designated vaccine. Fervac-D® did not effectively stimulate development of a serologic antibody response, whereas Galaxy-D® had adequate seroconversion or rise of titer levels to suggest that the general use of MLV CDV may be suitable in fishers pending further studies. We recommend that future studies be conducted, evaluating the use of currently produced vaccines in fishers. Future research should also focus on the length of days required between administration of primary and booster vaccines to achieve sufficient immune response. If only primary doses are required, then hard-release reintroduction projects for fishers could be recommended. If primary and booster vaccines are required then soft-release reintroduction projects should be recommended that include captive management periods, allowing for appropriate vaccination intervals needed to maximize the probability of protection against CDV.

  18. Traditional botanical knowledge of artisanal fishers in southern Brazil

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Background This study characterized the botanical knowledge of artisanal fishers of the Lami community, Porto Alegre, southern Brazil based on answers to the following question: Is the local botanical knowledge of the artisanal fishers of the rural-urban district of Lami still active, even since the district’s insertion into the metropolitan region of Porto Alegre? Methods This region, which contains a mosaic of urban and rural areas, hosts the Lami Biological Reserve (LBR) and a community of 13 artisanal fisher families. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 fishers, complemented by participatory observation techniques and free-lists; in these interviews, the species of plants used by the community and their indicated uses were identified. Results A total of 111 species belonging to 50 families were identified. No significant differences between the diversities of native and exotic species were found. Seven use categories were reported: medicinal (49%), human food (23.2%), fishing (12.3%), condiments (8%), firewood (5%), mystical purposes (1.45%), and animal food (0.72%). The medicinal species with the highest level of agreement regarding their main uses (AMUs) were Aloe arborescens Mill., Plectranthus barbatus Andrews, Dodonaea viscosa Jacq., Plectranthus ornatus Codd, Eugenia uniflora L., and Foeniculum vulgare Mill. For illness and diseases, most plants were used for problems with the digestive system (20 species), followed by the respiratory system (16 species). This community possesses a wide botanical knowledge, especially of medicinal plants, comparable to observations made in other studies with fishing communities in coastal areas of the Atlantic Forest of Brazil. Conclusions Ethnobotanical studies in rural-urban areas contribute to preserving local knowledge and provide information that aids in conserving the remaining ecosystems in the region. PMID:23898973

  19. Searching for discrimination rules in protease proteolytic cleavage activity using genetic programming with a min-max scoring function.

    PubMed

    Yang, Zheng Rong; Thomson, Rebecca; Hodgman, T Charles; Dry, Jonathan; Doyle, Austin K; Narayanan, Ajit; Wu, XiKun

    2003-11-01

    This paper presents an algorithm which is able to extract discriminant rules from oligopeptides for protease proteolytic cleavage activity prediction. The algorithm is developed using genetic programming. Three important components in the algorithm are a min-max scoring function, the reverse Polish notation (RPN) and the use of minimum description length. The min-max scoring function is developed using amino acid similarity matrices for measuring the similarity between an oligopeptide and a rule, which is a complex algebraic equation of amino acids rather than a simple pattern sequence. The Fisher ratio is then calculated on the scoring values using the class label associated with the oligopeptides. The discriminant ability of each rule can therefore be evaluated. The use of RPN makes the evolutionary operations simpler and therefore reduces the computational cost. To prevent overfitting, the concept of minimum description length is used to penalize over-complicated rules. A fitness function is therefore composed of the Fisher ratio and the use of minimum description length for an efficient evolutionary process. In the application to four protease datasets (Trypsin, Factor Xa, Hepatitis C Virus and HIV protease cleavage site prediction), our algorithm is superior to C5, a conventional method for deriving decision trees.

  20. Finite Element Simulation of Articular Contact Mechanics with Quadratic Tetrahedral Elements

    PubMed Central

    Maas, Steve A.; Ellis, Benjamin J.; Rawlins, David S.; Weiss, Jeffrey A.

    2016-01-01

    Although it is easier to generate finite element discretizations with tetrahedral elements, trilinear hexahedral (HEX8) elements are more often used in simulations of articular contact mechanics. This is due to numerical shortcomings of linear tetrahedral (TET4) elements, limited availability of quadratic tetrahedron elements in combination with effective contact algorithms, and the perceived increased computational expense of quadratic finite elements. In this study we implemented both ten-node (TET10) and fifteen-node (TET15) quadratic tetrahedral elements in FEBio (www.febio.org) and compared their accuracy, robustness in terms of convergence behavior and computational cost for simulations relevant to articular contact mechanics. Suitable volume integration and surface integration rules were determined by comparing the results of several benchmark contact problems. The results demonstrated that the surface integration rule used to evaluate the contact integrals for quadratic elements affected both convergence behavior and accuracy of predicted stresses. The computational expense and robustness of both quadratic tetrahedral formulations compared favorably to the HEX8 models. Of note, the TET15 element demonstrated superior convergence behavior and lower computational cost than both the TET10 and HEX8 elements for meshes with similar numbers of degrees of freedom in the contact problems that we examined. Finally, the excellent accuracy and relative efficiency of these quadratic tetrahedral elements was illustrated by comparing their predictions with those for a HEX8 mesh for simulation of articular contact in a fully validated model of the hip. These results demonstrate that TET10 and TET15 elements provide viable alternatives to HEX8 elements for simulation of articular contact mechanics. PMID:26900037

  1. Finite element simulation of articular contact mechanics with quadratic tetrahedral elements.

    PubMed

    Maas, Steve A; Ellis, Benjamin J; Rawlins, David S; Weiss, Jeffrey A

    2016-03-21

    Although it is easier to generate finite element discretizations with tetrahedral elements, trilinear hexahedral (HEX8) elements are more often used in simulations of articular contact mechanics. This is due to numerical shortcomings of linear tetrahedral (TET4) elements, limited availability of quadratic tetrahedron elements in combination with effective contact algorithms, and the perceived increased computational expense of quadratic finite elements. In this study we implemented both ten-node (TET10) and fifteen-node (TET15) quadratic tetrahedral elements in FEBio (www.febio.org) and compared their accuracy, robustness in terms of convergence behavior and computational cost for simulations relevant to articular contact mechanics. Suitable volume integration and surface integration rules were determined by comparing the results of several benchmark contact problems. The results demonstrated that the surface integration rule used to evaluate the contact integrals for quadratic elements affected both convergence behavior and accuracy of predicted stresses. The computational expense and robustness of both quadratic tetrahedral formulations compared favorably to the HEX8 models. Of note, the TET15 element demonstrated superior convergence behavior and lower computational cost than both the TET10 and HEX8 elements for meshes with similar numbers of degrees of freedom in the contact problems that we examined. Finally, the excellent accuracy and relative efficiency of these quadratic tetrahedral elements was illustrated by comparing their predictions with those for a HEX8 mesh for simulation of articular contact in a fully validated model of the hip. These results demonstrate that TET10 and TET15 elements provide viable alternatives to HEX8 elements for simulation of articular contact mechanics. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. On Volterra quadratic stochastic operators with continual state space

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Ganikhodjaev, Nasir; Hamzah, Nur Zatul Akmar

    2015-05-15

    Let (X,F) be a measurable space, and S(X,F) be the set of all probability measures on (X,F) where X is a state space and F is σ - algebraon X. We consider a nonlinear transformation (quadratic stochastic operator) defined by (Vλ)(A) = ∫{sub X}∫{sub X}P(x,y,A)dλ(x)dλ(y), where P(x, y, A) is regarded as a function of two variables x and y with fixed A ∈ F . A quadratic stochastic operator V is called a regular, if for any initial measure the strong limit lim{sub n→∞} V{sup n }(λ) is exists. In this paper, we construct a family of quadratic stochastic operators defined on themore » segment X = [0,1] with Borel σ - algebra F on X , prove their regularity and show that the limit measure is a Dirac measure.« less

  3. Schur Stability Regions for Complex Quadratic Polynomials

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cheng, Sui Sun; Huang, Shao Yuan

    2010-01-01

    Given a quadratic polynomial with complex coefficients, necessary and sufficient conditions are found in terms of the coefficients such that all its roots have absolute values less than 1. (Contains 3 figures.)

  4. Single and simultaneous binary mergers in Wright-Fisher genealogies.

    PubMed

    Melfi, Andrew; Viswanath, Divakar

    2018-05-01

    The Kingman coalescent is a commonly used model in genetics, which is often justified with reference to the Wright-Fisher (WF) model. Current proofs of convergence of WF and other models to the Kingman coalescent assume a constant sample size. However, sample sizes have become quite large in human genetics. Therefore, we develop a convergence theory that allows the sample size to increase with population size. If the haploid population size is N and the sample size is N 1∕3-ϵ , ϵ>0, we prove that Wright-Fisher genealogies involve at most a single binary merger in each generation with probability converging to 1 in the limit of large N. Single binary merger or no merger in each generation of the genealogy implies that the Kingman partition distribution is obtained exactly. If the sample size is N 1∕2-ϵ , Wright-Fisher genealogies may involve simultaneous binary mergers in a single generation but do not involve triple mergers in the large N limit. The asymptotic theory is verified using numerical calculations. Variable population sizes are handled algorithmically. It is found that even distant bottlenecks can increase the probability of triple mergers as well as simultaneous binary mergers in WF genealogies. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. [Charles Miller Fisher: the grandmaster of neurological observation].

    PubMed

    Fukutake, Toshio

    2014-11-01

    Charles Miller Fisher is widely regarded as the father of modern stroke neurology. He discovered almost all pathomechanisms of cerebral infarction, including embolism from atrial fibrillation, carotid artery disease, and lacunar infarcts and their syndromes, by the most meticulous clinico-pathological observations. Moreover, his work provided the basis for treatments such as anticoagulation, antiplatelet therapy, and carotid endarterectomy. He also contributed greatly to several topics of General Neurology; for example, migraine, normal pressure hydrocephalus, and Miller Fisher syndrome. In his late years, he tried to expand the neurological field to the more complex disorders of human behavior, including hysteria, dementia, and ill-defined pain syndromes. He thus became known as the grandmaster of refined neurological observation. His lifelong detailed studies were crucially important in helping neurologists all over the world recognize disorders and syndromes that had not previously been understood.

  6. Fisher-Level Decision Making to Participate in Fisheries Improvement Projects (FIPs) for Yellowfin Tuna in the Philippines

    PubMed Central

    Berentsen, Paul; Bush, Simon R.; Digal, Larry; Oude Lansink, Alfons

    2016-01-01

    This study identifies the capabilities needed by small-scale fishers to participate in Fishery Improvement Projects (FIPs) for yellowfin tuna in the Philippines. The current literature provides little empirical evidence on how different models, or types of FIPs, influence the participation of fishers in their programs and the degree which FIPs are able to foster improvements in fishing practices. To address this literature gap, two different FIPs are empirically analysed, each with different approaches for fostering improvement. The first is the non-governmental organisation-led Partnership Programme Towards Sustainable Tuna, which adopts a bottom-up or development oriented FIP model. The second is the private-led Artesmar FIP, which adopts a top-down or market-oriented FIP approach. The data were obtained from 350 fishers surveyed and were analysed using two separate models run in succession, taking into consideration full, partial, and non-participation in the two FIPs. The results demonstrate that different types of capabilities are required in order to participate in different FIP models. Individual firm capabilities are more important for fishers participation in market-oriented FIPs, which use direct economic incentives to encourage improvements in fisher practices. Collective capabilities are more important for fishers to participate in development-oriented FIPs, which drive improvement by supporting fishers, fisher associations, and governments to move towards market requirements. PMID:27732607

  7. Fisher-Level Decision Making to Participate in Fisheries Improvement Projects (FIPs) for Yellowfin Tuna in the Philippines.

    PubMed

    Tolentino-Zondervan, Frazen; Berentsen, Paul; Bush, Simon R; Digal, Larry; Oude Lansink, Alfons

    2016-01-01

    This study identifies the capabilities needed by small-scale fishers to participate in Fishery Improvement Projects (FIPs) for yellowfin tuna in the Philippines. The current literature provides little empirical evidence on how different models, or types of FIPs, influence the participation of fishers in their programs and the degree which FIPs are able to foster improvements in fishing practices. To address this literature gap, two different FIPs are empirically analysed, each with different approaches for fostering improvement. The first is the non-governmental organisation-led Partnership Programme Towards Sustainable Tuna, which adopts a bottom-up or development oriented FIP model. The second is the private-led Artesmar FIP, which adopts a top-down or market-oriented FIP approach. The data were obtained from 350 fishers surveyed and were analysed using two separate models run in succession, taking into consideration full, partial, and non-participation in the two FIPs. The results demonstrate that different types of capabilities are required in order to participate in different FIP models. Individual firm capabilities are more important for fishers participation in market-oriented FIPs, which use direct economic incentives to encourage improvements in fisher practices. Collective capabilities are more important for fishers to participate in development-oriented FIPs, which drive improvement by supporting fishers, fisher associations, and governments to move towards market requirements.

  8. Linear and quadratic static response functions and structure functions in Yukawa liquids.

    PubMed

    Magyar, Péter; Donkó, Zoltán; Kalman, Gabor J; Golden, Kenneth I

    2014-08-01

    We compute linear and quadratic static density response functions of three-dimensional Yukawa liquids by applying an external perturbation potential in molecular dynamics simulations. The response functions are also obtained from the equilibrium fluctuations (static structure factors) in the system via the fluctuation-dissipation theorems. The good agreement of the quadratic response functions, obtained in the two different ways, confirms the quadratic fluctuation-dissipation theorem. We also find that the three-point structure function may be factorizable into two-point structure functions, leading to a cluster representation of the equilibrium triplet correlation function.

  9. Statistics is not enough: revisiting Ronald A. Fisher's critique (1936) of Mendel's experimental results (1866).

    PubMed

    Pilpel, Avital

    2007-09-01

    This paper is concerned with the role of rational belief change theory in the philosophical understanding of experimental error. Today, philosophers seek insight about error in the investigation of specific experiments, rather than in general theories. Nevertheless, rational belief change theory adds to our understanding of just such cases: R. A. Fisher's criticism of Mendel's experiments being a case in point. After an historical introduction, the main part of this paper investigates Fisher's paper from the point of view of rational belief change theory: what changes of belief about Mendel's experiment does Fisher go through and with what justification. It leads to surprising insights about what Fisher had done right and wrong, and, more generally, about the limits of statistical methods in detecting error.

  10. Work environment and health in the fishing fleet: results from a survey amongst Norwegian fishers.

    PubMed

    Sønvisen, Signe Annie; Thorvaldsen, Trine; Holmen, Ingunn M; Øren, Anita

    Fishery is an important industry in Norway. Compared to other industries the number of occupational accidents is high. Fishers are exposed to a range of unfavourable working conditions, but there is limited research-based knowledge about the interaction between working conditions and health. The aim of the article is to study fishers' 1) work-related exposures and health complaints, 2) sickness absence, 3) subjective perception of health status and 3) level of job satisfaction. Data was gathered through a telephone survey. The survey included questions about exposure, health complaints, health status and job satisfaction. Methods for analysis were descriptive statistics and relative risk (RR). A total of 830 full-time fishers were interviewed. Coastal fishers are more exposed to factors such as climatic (RR = 1.546, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.311-1.823), ergonomic (RR = 1.539, 95% CI 1.293-1.833) and processing (RR = 2.119, 95% CI 1.847-2.431), compared to other groups of fishers. Coastal fishers are also more likely to experience musculoskeletal problems (RR = 1.623, 95% CI 1.139-2.314), sickness absence (RR = 1.337, 95% CI 1.081-1.655) and to perceive their own health as poor (RR = 2.155, 95% CI 1.119-4.152). Purse sein fishers are less exposed to climatic (RR = 0.777, 95% CI 0.633-0.953), ergonomic (RR = 0.617, 95% CI 0.487-0.783) and processing (RR = 0.292, 95% CI 0.221-0.385) factors and are less likely to experience sickness absence (RR = 0.635, 95% CI 0.479-0.840). In terms of job satisfaction, 99% if our respondents enjoy their work. Norwegian fishers have a high degree of job satisfaction and overall good health. Challenges regarding health complaints and exposures in the working environment were identified. This may be helpful for the industry, showing where measures should be implemented to prevent exposure, illness and sickness absence. Findings may also serve as a basis for future intervention studies aimed at promoting healthy working environments

  11. Fishers' knowledge identifies environmental changes and fish abundance trends in impounded tropical rivers.

    PubMed

    Hallwass, Gustavo; Lopes, Priscila F; Juras, Anastácio A; Silvano, Renato A M

    2013-03-01

    The long-term impacts of large hydroelectric dams on small-scale fisheries in tropical rivers are poorly known. A promising way to investigate such impacts is to compare and integrate the local ecological knowledge (LEK) of resource users with biological data for the same region. We analyzed the accuracy of fishers' LEK to investigate fisheries dynamics and environmental changes in the Lower Tocantins River (Brazilian Amazon) downstream from a large dam. We estimated fishers' LEK through interviews with 300 fishers in nine villages and collected data on 601 fish landings in five of these villages, 22 years after the dam's establishment (2006-2008). We compared these two databases with each other and with data on fish landings from before the dam's establishment (1981) gathered from the literature. The data obtained based on the fishers' LEK (interviews) and from fisheries agreed regarding the primary fish species caught, the most commonly used type of fishing gear (gill nets) and even the most often used gill net mesh sizes but disagreed regarding seasonal fish abundance. According to the interviewed fishers, the primary environmental changes that occurred after the impoundment were an overall decrease in fish abundance, an increase in the abundance of some fish species and, possibly, the local extinction of a commercial fish species (Semaprochilodus brama). These changes were corroborated by comparing fish landings sampled before and 22 years after the impoundment, which indicated changes in the composition of fish landings and a decrease in the total annual fish production. Our results reinforce the hypothesis that large dams may adversely affect small-scale fisheries downstream and establish a feasible approach for applying fishers' LEK to fisheries management, especially in regions with a low research capacity.

  12. Resting structures and resting habitat of fishers in the southern Sierra Nevada, California

    Treesearch

    Kathryn L. Purcell; Amie K. Mazzoni; Sylvia R. Mori; Brian B. Boroski

    2009-01-01

    The fisher (Martes pennanti) is a forest mustelid endemic to North America that has experienced range reductions in Pacific states that have led to their listing under the Endangered Species Act as warranted but precluded by higher priorities. The viability of the southern Sierra Nevada fisher population is of particular concern due to its reduced...

  13. Geometrical Solutions of Quadratic Equations.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Grewal, A. S.; Godloza, L.

    1999-01-01

    Demonstrates that the equation of a circle (x-h)2 + (y-k)2 = r2 with center (h; k) and radius r reduces to a quadratic equation x2-2xh + (h2 + k2 -r2) = O at the intersection with the x-axis. Illustrates how to determine the center of a circle as well as a point on a circle. (Author/ASK)

  14. Post-tsunami relocation of fisher settlements in South Asia: evidence from the Coromandel Coast, India.

    PubMed

    Bavinck, Maarten; de Klerk, Leo; van der Plaat, Felice; Ravesteijn, Jorik; Angel, Dominique; Arendsen, Hendrik; van Dijk, Tom; de Hoog, Iris; van Koolwijk, Ant; Tuijtel, Stijn; Zuurendonk, Benjamin

    2015-07-01

    The tsunami that struck the coasts of India on 26 December 2004 resulted in the large-scale destruction of fisher habitations. The post-tsunami rehabilitation effort in Tamil Nadu was directed towards relocating fisher settlements in the interior. This paper discusses the outcomes of a study on the social effects of relocation in a sample of nine communities along the Coromandel Coast. It concludes that, although the participation of fishing communities in house design and in allocation procedures has been limited, many fisher households are satisfied with the quality of the facilities. The distance of the new settlements to the shore, however, is regarded as an impediment to engaging in the fishing profession, and many fishers are actually moving back to their old locations. This raises questions as to the direction of coastal zone policy in India, as well as to the weight accorded to safety (and other coastal development interests) vis-à-vis the livelihood needs of fishers. © 2015 The Author(s). Disasters © Overseas Development Institute, 2015.

  15. Using Fisher Information Criteria for Chemical Sensor Selection via Convex Optimization Methods

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-11-16

    determinant of the inverse Fisher information matrix which is proportional to the global error volume. If a practitioner has a suitable...pro- ceeds from the determinant of the inverse Fisher information matrix which is proportional to the global error volume. If a practitioner has a...design of statistical estimators (i.e. sensors) as their respective inverses act as lower bounds to the (co)variances of the subject estimator, a property

  16. Fisher zeros and conformality in lattice models

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Meurice, Yannick; Bazavov, Alexei; Berg, Bernd A.

    2012-10-01

    Fisher zeros are the zeros of the partition function in the complex beta=2N_c/g^2 plane. When they pinch the real axis, finite size scaling allows one to distinguish between first and second order transition and to estimate exponents. On the other hand, a gap signals confinement and the method can be used to explore the boundary of the conformal window. We present recent numerical results for 2D O(N) sigma models, 4D U(1) and SU(2) pure gauge and SU(3) gauge theory with N_f=4 and 12 flavors. We discuss attempts to understand some of these results using analytical methods. We discuss the 2-latticemore » matching and qualitative aspects of the renormalization group (RG) flows in the Migdal-Kadanoff approximation, in particular how RG flows starting at large beta seem to move around regions where bulk transitions occur. We consider the effects of the boundary conditions on the nonperturbative part of the average energy and on the Fisher zeros for the 1D O(2) model.« less

  17. Conservation biology. Galápagos station survives latest attack by fishers.

    PubMed

    Ferber, D

    2000-12-15

    Researchers at the Darwin Research Station are attempting to put the pieces back together after a festering dispute over fishing quotas turned violent between 13 and 17 November. The fuse that set off the most recent conflagration was an annual 50-ton limit on spiny lobsters that local fishers reached barely halfway into the 4-month season. Unruly bands of fishers laid siege to the station and the park service, blocked roads and offices, tore down the island's telephone antenna, and destroyed research records.

  18. FISHER INFORMATION AS A METRIC FOR SUSTAINABLE REGIMES

    EPA Science Inventory

    The important question in sustainability is not whether the world is sustainable, but whether a humanly acceptable regime of the world is sustainable. We propose Fisher Information as a metric for the sustainability of dynamic regimes in complex systems. The quantity now known ...

  19. An evaluation of a weaning index for wild fishers (Pekania [Martes] pennanti) in California

    Treesearch

    Sean M. Matthews; J. Mark Higley; John T. Finn; Kerry M. Rennie; Craig M. Thompson; Kathryn L. Purcell; Rick A. Sweitzer; Sandra L. Haire; Paul R. Sievert; Todd K. Fuller

    2013-01-01

    Conservation concern for fishers (Pekania [Martes] pennanti) in the Pacific states has highlighted a need to develop cost-effective methods of monitoring reproduction in extant and reintroduced fisher populations. We evaluated the efficacy of nipple size as a predictive index of weaning success for females...

  20. 78 FR 59064 - Importer of Controlled Substances; Notice of Application; Fisher Clinical Services, Inc.

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-09-25

    ... DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Drug Enforcement Administration Importer of Controlled Substances; Notice of Application; Fisher Clinical Services, Inc. Pursuant to Title 21 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 1301.34 (a), this is notice that on June 21, 2013, Fisher Clinical Services, Inc., 7554 Schantz Road, Allentown...

  1. The non-avian theropod quadrate I: standardized terminology with an overview of the anatomy and function

    PubMed Central

    Araújo, Ricardo; Mateus, Octávio

    2015-01-01

    The quadrate of reptiles and most other tetrapods plays an important morphofunctional role by allowing the articulation of the mandible with the cranium. In Theropoda, the morphology of the quadrate is particularly complex and varies importantly among different clades of non-avian theropods, therefore conferring a strong taxonomic potential. Inconsistencies in the notation and terminology used in discussions of the theropod quadrate anatomy have been noticed, including at least one instance when no less than eight different terms were given to the same structure. A standardized list of terms and notations for each quadrate anatomical entity is proposed here, with the goal of facilitating future descriptions of this important cranial bone. In addition, an overview of the literature on quadrate function and pneumaticity in non-avian theropods is presented, along with a discussion of the inferences that could be made from this research. Specifically, the quadrate of the large majority of non-avian theropods is akinetic but the diagonally oriented intercondylar sulcus of the mandibular articulation allowed both rami of the mandible to move laterally when opening the mouth in many of theropods. Pneumaticity of the quadrate is also present in most averostran clades and the pneumatic chamber—invaded by the quadrate diverticulum of the mandibular arch pneumatic system—was connected to one or several pneumatic foramina on the medial, lateral, posterior, anterior or ventral sides of the quadrate. PMID:26401455

  2. Discrimination among populations of sockeye salmon fry with Fourier analysis of otolith banding patterns formed during incubation

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Finn, James E.; Burger, Carl V.; Holland-Bartels, Leslie E.

    1997-01-01

    We used otolith banding patterns formed during incubation to discriminate among hatchery- and wild-incubated fry of sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka from Tustumena Lake, Alaska. Fourier analysis of otolith luminance profiles was used to describe banding patterns: the amplitudes of individual Fourier harmonics were discriminant variables. Correct classification of otoliths to either hatchery or wild origin was 83.1% (cross-validation) and 72.7% (test data) with the use of quadratic discriminant function analysts on 10 Fourier amplitudes. Overall classification rates among the six test groups (one hatchery and five wild groups) were 46.5% (cross-validation) and 39.3% (test data) with the use of linear discriminant function analysis on 16 Fourier amplitudes. Although classification rates for wild-incubated fry from any one site never exceeded 67% (cross-validation) or 60% (test data), location-specific information was evident for all groups because the probability of classifying an individual to its true incubation location was significantly greater than chance. Results indicate phenotypic differences in otolith microstructure among incubation sites separated by less than 10 km. Analysis of otolith luminance profiles is a potentially useful technique for discriminating among and between various populations of hatchery and wild fish.

  3. A Wavelet Bicoherence-Based Quadratic Nonlinearity Feature for Translational Axis Condition Monitoring

    PubMed Central

    Li, Yong; Wang, Xiufeng; Lin, Jing; Shi, Shengyu

    2014-01-01

    The translational axis is one of the most important subsystems in modern machine tools, as its degradation may result in the loss of the product qualification and lower the control precision. Condition-based maintenance (CBM) has been considered as one of the advanced maintenance schemes to achieve effective, reliable and cost-effective operation of machine systems, however, current vibration-based maintenance schemes cannot be employed directly in the translational axis system, due to its complex structure and the inefficiency of commonly used condition monitoring features. In this paper, a wavelet bicoherence-based quadratic nonlinearity feature is proposed for translational axis condition monitoring by using the torque signature of the drive servomotor. Firstly, the quadratic nonlinearity of the servomotor torque signature is discussed, and then, a biphase randomization wavelet bicoherence is introduced for its quadratic nonlinear detection. On this basis, a quadratic nonlinearity feature is proposed for condition monitoring of the translational axis. The properties of the proposed quadratic nonlinearity feature are investigated by simulations. Subsequently, this feature is applied to the real-world servomotor torque data collected from the X-axis on a high precision vertical machining centre. All the results show that the performance of the proposed feature is much better than that of original condition monitoring features. PMID:24473281

  4. 77 FR 72409 - Importer of Controlled Substances; Notice of Application; Fisher Clinical Services, Inc.

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-12-05

    ... Application; Fisher Clinical Services, Inc. Pursuant to Title 21 Code of Federal Regulations 1301.34 (a), this is notice that on October 16, 2012, Fisher Clinical Services, Inc., 7554 Schantz Road, Allentown... import the listed controlled substance for analytical research and clinical trials. The import of the...

  5. 78 FR 5497 - Importer of Controlled Substances; Notice of Registration; Fisher Clinical Services, Inc.

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-01-25

    ... Registration; Fisher Clinical Services, Inc. By Notice dated November 1, 2012, and published in the Federal Register on November 9, 2012, 77 FR 67396, Fisher Clinical Services, Inc., 7554 Schantz Road, Allentown... plans to import the listed controlled substance to conduct clinical trials. No comments or objections...

  6. Association Between Socioeconomic Position Discrimination and Psychological Distress: Findings From a Community-Based Sample of Gay and Bisexual Men in New York City

    PubMed Central

    Gamarel, Kristi E.; Reisner, Sari L.; Parsons, Jeffrey T.

    2012-01-01

    Objectives. We examined the association between discrimination and mental health distress, focusing specifically on the relative importance of discrimination because of particular demographic domains (i.e., race/ethnicity, socioeconomic position [SEP]). Methods. The research team surveyed a sample of gay and bisexual men (n = 294) at a community event in New York City. Participants completed a survey on demographics, discrimination experiences in the past 12 months, attributed domains of discrimination, and mental health distress. Results. In adjusted models, discrimination was associated with higher depressive (B = 0.31; P < .01) and anxious (B = 0.29; P < .01) symptoms. A statistically significant quadratic term (discrimination-squared; P < .01) fit both models, such that moderate levels of discrimination were most robustly associated with poorer mental health. Discrimination because of SEP was associated with higher discrimination scores and was predictive of higher depressive (B = 0.22; P < .01) and anxious (B = 0.50; P < .01) symptoms. No other statistically significant relationship was found between discrimination domains and distress. Conclusions. In this sample, SEP emerged as the most important domain of discrimination in its association with mental health distress. Future research should consider intersecting domains of discrimination to better understand social disparities in mental health. PMID:22994188

  7. Quadratic canonical transformation theory and higher order density matrices.

    PubMed

    Neuscamman, Eric; Yanai, Takeshi; Chan, Garnet Kin-Lic

    2009-03-28

    Canonical transformation (CT) theory provides a rigorously size-extensive description of dynamic correlation in multireference systems, with an accuracy superior to and cost scaling lower than complete active space second order perturbation theory. Here we expand our previous theory by investigating (i) a commutator approximation that is applied at quadratic, as opposed to linear, order in the effective Hamiltonian, and (ii) incorporation of the three-body reduced density matrix in the operator and density matrix decompositions. The quadratic commutator approximation improves CT's accuracy when used with a single-determinant reference, repairing the previous formal disadvantage of the single-reference linear CT theory relative to singles and doubles coupled cluster theory. Calculations on the BH and HF binding curves confirm this improvement. In multireference systems, the three-body reduced density matrix increases the overall accuracy of the CT theory. Tests on the H(2)O and N(2) binding curves yield results highly competitive with expensive state-of-the-art multireference methods, such as the multireference Davidson-corrected configuration interaction (MRCI+Q), averaged coupled pair functional, and averaged quadratic coupled cluster theories.

  8. Differences between quadratic equations and functions: Indonesian pre-service secondary mathematics teachers’ views

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Aziz, T. A.; Pramudiani, P.; Purnomo, Y. W.

    2018-01-01

    Difference between quadratic equation and quadratic function as perceived by Indonesian pre-service secondary mathematics teachers (N = 55) who enrolled at one private university in Jakarta City was investigated. Analysis of participants’ written responses and interviews were conducted consecutively. Participants’ written responses highlighted differences between quadratic equation and function by referring to their general terms, main characteristics, processes, and geometrical aspects. However, they showed several obstacles in describing the differences such as inappropriate constraints and improper interpretations. Implications of the study are discussed.

  9. Here today, here tomorrow: Managing forests for fisher habitat in the Northern Rockies

    Treesearch

    Sue Miller; Michael Schwartz; Lucretia E. Olson

    2016-01-01

    The fisher is a unique member of the weasel family and a sensitive species in the northern Rockies. They were almost extirpated by trapping in the early twentieth century, but these animals (a mix between a native and introduced population) now inhabit a swath of mesic coniferous forests in Idaho and Montana. Forest managers need information on fisher distribution and...

  10. 77 FR 75670 - Importer of Controlled Substances; Notice of Registration; Fisher Clinical Services,Inc.

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-12-21

    ... Registration; Fisher Clinical Services,Inc. By Notice dated September 20, 2012, and published in the Federal Register on October 2, 2012, 77 FR 60143, Fisher Clinical Services, Inc., 7554 Schantz Road, Allentown... company plans to import the listed substances for analytical research and clinical trials. No comments or...

  11. Derivation of Human Chromatic Discrimination Ability from an Information-Theoretical Notion of Distance in Color Space.

    PubMed

    da Fonseca, María; Samengo, Inés

    2016-12-01

    The accuracy with which humans detect chromatic differences varies throughout color space. For example, we are far more precise when discriminating two similar orange stimuli than two similar green stimuli. In order for two colors to be perceived as different, the neurons representing chromatic information must respond differently, and the difference must be larger than the trial-to-trial variability of the response to each separate color. Photoreceptors constitute the first stage in the processing of color information; many more stages are required before humans can consciously report whether two stimuli are perceived as chromatically distinguishable. Therefore, although photoreceptor absorption curves are expected to influence the accuracy of conscious discriminability, there is no reason to believe that they should suffice to explain it. Here we develop information-theoretical tools based on the Fisher metric that demonstrate that photoreceptor absorption properties explain about 87% of the variance of human color discrimination ability, as tested by previous behavioral experiments. In the context of this theory, the bottleneck in chromatic information processing is determined by photoreceptor absorption characteristics. Subsequent encoding stages modify only marginally the chromatic discriminability at the photoreceptor level.

  12. Fishers' knowledge as a source of information about the estuarine dolphin (Sotalia guianensis, van Bénéden, 1864).

    PubMed

    Manzan, Maíra Fontes; Lopes, Priscila F M

    2015-01-01

    Fishers' local ecological knowledge (LEK) is an additional tool to obtain information about cetaceans, regarding their local particularities, fishing interactions, and behavior. However, this knowledge could vary in depth of detail according to the level of interaction that fishers have with a specific species. This study investigated differences in small-scale fishers' LEK regarding the estuarine dolphin (Sotalia guianensis) in three Brazilian northeast coastal communities where fishing is practiced in estuarine lagoons and/or coastal waters and where dolphin-watching tourism varies from incipient to important. The fishers (N = 116) were asked about general characteristics of S. guianensis and their interactions with this dolphin during fishing activities. Compared to lagoon fishers, coastal fishers showed greater knowledge about the species but had more negative interactions with the dolphin during fishing activities. Coastal fishing not only offered the opportunity for fishers to observe a wider variety of the dolphin's behavior, but also implied direct contact with the dolphins, as they are bycaught in coastal gillnets. Besides complementing information that could be used for the management of cetaceans, this study shows that the type of environment most used by fishers also affects the accuracy of the information they provide. When designing studies to gather information on species and/or populations with the support of fishers, special consideration should be given to local particularities such as gear and habitats used within the fishing community.

  13. A lattice Boltzmann model for the Burgers-Fisher equation.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Jianying; Yan, Guangwu

    2010-06-01

    A lattice Boltzmann model is developed for the one- and two-dimensional Burgers-Fisher equation based on the method of the higher-order moment of equilibrium distribution functions and a series of partial differential equations in different time scales. In order to obtain the two-dimensional Burgers-Fisher equation, vector sigma(j) has been used. And in order to overcome the drawbacks of "error rebound," a new assumption of additional distribution is presented, where two additional terms, in first order and second order separately, are used. Comparisons with the results obtained by other methods reveal that the numerical solutions obtained by the proposed method converge to exact solutions. The model under new assumption gives better results than that with second order assumption. (c) 2010 American Institute of Physics.

  14. H. A. L. Fisher: Scholar and Minister

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Judge, Harry

    2006-01-01

    H. A. L. Fisher came from an influential family, studied at Oxford and in France and Germany, and became an Oxford academic with a strong interest in public affairs. In 1912 he became Vice-Chancellor of Sheffield University and four years later was recruited by the new British Prime Minister to become his Minister of Education. In that office he…

  15. Rényi-Fisher entropy product as a marker of topological phase transitions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bolívar, J. C.; Nagy, Ágnes; Romera, Elvira

    2018-05-01

    The combined Rényi-Fisher entropy product of electrons plus holes displays a minimum at the charge neutrality points. The Stam-Rényi difference and the Stam-Rényi uncertainty product of the electrons plus holes, show maxima at the charge neutrality points. Topological quantum numbers capable of detecting the topological insulator and the band insulator phases, are defined. Upper and lower bounds for the position and momentum space Rényi-Fisher entropy products are derived.

  16. Fisher information approach to nonequilibrium phase transitions in a quantum XXZ spin chain with boundary noise

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Marzolino, Ugo; Prosen, Tomaž

    2017-09-01

    We investigated quantum critical behaviors in the nonequilibrium steady state of a XXZ spin chain with boundary Markovian noise using Fisher information. The latter represents the distance between two infinitesimally close states, and its superextensive size scaling witnesses a critical behavior due to a phase transition since all the interaction terms are extensive. Perturbatively, in the noise strength, we found superextensive Fisher information at anisotropy |Δ |⩽1 and irrational arccosΔ/π irrespective of the order of two noncommuting limits, i.e., the thermodynamic limit and the limit of sending arccosΔ/π to an irrational number via a sequence of rational approximants. From this result we argue the existence of a nonequilibrium quantum phase transition with a critical phase |Δ |⩽1 . From the nonsuperextensivity of the Fisher information of reduced states, we infer that this nonequilibrium quantum phase transition does not have local order parameters but has nonlocal ones, at least at |Δ |=1 . In the nonperturbative regime for the noise strength, we numerically computed the reduced Fisher information which lower bounds the full-state Fisher information and is superextensive only at |Δ |=1 . From the latter result, we derived local order parameters at |Δ |=1 in the nonperturbative case. The existence of critical behavior witnessed by the Fisher information in the phase |Δ |<1 is still an open problem. The Fisher information also represents the best sensitivity for any estimation of the control parameter, in our case the anisotropy Δ , and its superextensivity implies enhanced estimation precision which is also highly robust in the presence of a critical phase.

  17. Smoothing optimization of supporting quadratic surfaces with Zernike polynomials

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Hang; Lu, Jiandong; Liu, Rui; Ma, Peifu

    2018-03-01

    A new optimization method to get a smooth freeform optical surface from an initial surface generated by the supporting quadratic method (SQM) is proposed. To smooth the initial surface, a 9-vertex system from the neighbor quadratic surface and the Zernike polynomials are employed to establish a linear equation system. A local optimized surface to the 9-vertex system can be build by solving the equations. Finally, a continuous smooth optimization surface is constructed by stitching the above algorithm on the whole initial surface. The spot corresponding to the optimized surface is no longer discrete pixels but a continuous distribution.

  18. Estimating factors influencing the detection probability of semiaquatic freshwater snails using quadrat survey methods

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Roesler, Elizabeth L.; Grabowski, Timothy B.

    2018-01-01

    Developing effective monitoring methods for elusive, rare, or patchily distributed species requires extra considerations, such as imperfect detection. Although detection is frequently modeled, the opportunity to assess it empirically is rare, particularly for imperiled species. We used Pecos assiminea (Assiminea pecos), an endangered semiaquatic snail, as a case study to test detection and accuracy issues surrounding quadrat searches. Quadrats (9 × 20 cm; n = 12) were placed in suitable Pecos assiminea habitat and randomly assigned a treatment, defined as the number of empty snail shells (0, 3, 6, or 9). Ten observers rotated through each quadrat, conducting 5-min visual searches for shells. The probability of detecting a shell when present was 67.4 ± 3.0%, but it decreased with the increasing litter depth and fewer number of shells present. The mean (± SE) observer accuracy was 25.5 ± 4.3%. Accuracy was positively correlated to the number of shells in the quadrat and negatively correlated to the number of times a quadrat was searched. The results indicate quadrat surveys likely underrepresent true abundance, but accurately determine the presence or absence. Understanding detection and accuracy of elusive, rare, or imperiled species improves density estimates and aids in monitoring and conservation efforts.

  19. Photon-phonon parametric oscillation induced by quadratic coupling in an optomechanical resonator

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Lin; Ji, Fengzhou; Zhang, Xu; Zhang, Weiping

    2017-07-01

    A direct photon-phonon parametric effect of quadratic coupling on the mean-field dynamics of an optomechanical resonator in the large-scale-movement regime is found and investigated. Under a weak pumping power, the mechanical resonator damps to a steady state with a nonlinear static response sensitively modified by the quadratic coupling. When the driving power increases beyond the static energy balance, the steady states lose their stabilities via Hopf bifurcations, and the resonator produces stable self-sustained oscillation (limit-circle behavior) of discrete energies with step-like amplitudes due to the parametric effect of quadratic coupling, which can be understood roughly by the power balance between gain and loss on the resonator. A further increase in the pumping power can induce a chaotic dynamic of the resonator via a typical routine of period-doubling bifurcation, but which can be stabilized by the parametric effect through an inversion-bifurcation process back to the limit-circle states. The bifurcation-to-inverse-bifurcation transitions are numerically verified by the maximal Lyapunov exponents of the dynamics, which indicate an efficient way of suppressing the chaotic behavior of the optomechanical resonator by quadratic coupling. Furthermore, the parametric effect of quadratic coupling on the dynamic transitions of an optomechanical resonator can be conveniently detected or traced by the output power spectrum of the cavity field.

  20. Curious Consequences of a Miscopied Quadratic

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Poet, Jeffrey L.; Vestal, Donald L., Jr.

    2005-01-01

    The starting point of this article is a search for pairs of quadratic polynomials x[superscript 2] + bx plus or minus c with the property that they both factor over the integers. The search leads quickly to some number theory in the form of primitive Pythagorean triples, and this paper develops the connection between these two topics.

  1. FISHER'S GEOMETRIC MODEL WITH A MOVING OPTIMUM

    PubMed Central

    Matuszewski, Sebastian; Hermisson, Joachim; Kopp, Michael

    2014-01-01

    Fisher's geometric model has been widely used to study the effects of pleiotropy and organismic complexity on phenotypic adaptation. Here, we study a version of Fisher's model in which a population adapts to a gradually moving optimum. Key parameters are the rate of environmental change, the dimensionality of phenotype space, and the patterns of mutational and selectional correlations. We focus on the distribution of adaptive substitutions, that is, the multivariate distribution of the phenotypic effects of fixed beneficial mutations. Our main results are based on an “adaptive-walk approximation,” which is checked against individual-based simulations. We find that (1) the distribution of adaptive substitutions is strongly affected by the ecological dynamics and largely depends on a single composite parameter γ, which scales the rate of environmental change by the “adaptive potential” of the population; (2) the distribution of adaptive substitution reflects the shape of the fitness landscape if the environment changes slowly, whereas it mirrors the distribution of new mutations if the environment changes fast; (3) in contrast to classical models of adaptation assuming a constant optimum, with a moving optimum, more complex organisms evolve via larger adaptive steps. PMID:24898080

  2. Analytical approximations for the oscillators with anti-symmetric quadratic nonlinearity

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Alal Hosen, Md.; Chowdhury, M. S. H.; Yeakub Ali, Mohammad; Faris Ismail, Ahmad

    2017-12-01

    A second-order ordinary differential equation involving anti-symmetric quadratic nonlinearity changes sign. The behaviour of the oscillators with an anti-symmetric quadratic nonlinearity is assumed to oscillate different in the positive and negative directions. In this reason, Harmonic Balance Method (HBM) cannot be directly applied. The main purpose of the present paper is to propose an analytical approximation technique based on the HBM for obtaining approximate angular frequencies and the corresponding periodic solutions of the oscillators with anti-symmetric quadratic nonlinearity. After applying HBM, a set of complicated nonlinear algebraic equations is found. Analytical approach is not always fruitful for solving such kinds of nonlinear algebraic equations. In this article, two small parameters are found, for which the power series solution produces desired results. Moreover, the amplitude-frequency relationship has also been determined in a novel analytical way. The presented technique gives excellent results as compared with the corresponding numerical results and is better than the existing ones.

  3. Post Tsunami Job Satisfaction among the Fishers of Na Pru Village, on the Andaman Sea Coast of Thailand

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pollnac, Richard B.; Kotowicz, Dawn

    2012-01-01

    The paper examines job satisfaction among fishers in a tsunami-impacted area on the Andaman coast of Thailand. Following the tsunami, many predicted that fishers would be reluctant to resume their fishing activities. Observations in the fishing communities, however, indicated that as soon as fishers obtained replacements for equipment damaged by…

  4. Spatial access priority mapping (SAPM) with fishers: a quantitative GIS method for participatory planning.

    PubMed

    Yates, Katherine L; Schoeman, David S

    2013-01-01

    Spatial management tools, such as marine spatial planning and marine protected areas, are playing an increasingly important role in attempts to improve marine management and accommodate conflicting needs. Robust data are needed to inform decisions among different planning options, and early inclusion of stakeholder involvement is widely regarded as vital for success. One of the biggest stakeholder groups, and the most likely to be adversely impacted by spatial restrictions, is the fishing community. In order to take their priorities into account, planners need to understand spatial variation in their perceived value of the sea. Here a readily accessible, novel method for quantitatively mapping fishers' spatial access priorities is presented. Spatial access priority mapping, or SAPM, uses only basic functions of standard spreadsheet and GIS software. Unlike the use of remote-sensing data, SAPM actively engages fishers in participatory mapping, documenting rather than inferring their priorities. By so doing, SAPM also facilitates the gathering of other useful data, such as local ecological knowledge. The method was tested and validated in Northern Ireland, where over 100 fishers participated in a semi-structured questionnaire and mapping exercise. The response rate was excellent, 97%, demonstrating fishers' willingness to be involved. The resultant maps are easily accessible and instantly informative, providing a very clear visual indication of which areas are most important for the fishers. The maps also provide quantitative data, which can be used to analyse the relative impact of different management options on the fishing industry and can be incorporated into planning software, such as MARXAN, to ensure that conservation goals can be met at minimum negative impact to the industry. This research shows how spatial access priority mapping can facilitate the early engagement of fishers and the ready incorporation of their priorities into the decision-making process

  5. An Engineered Kinetic Amplification Mechanism for Single Nucleotide Variant Discrimination by DNA Hybridization Probes.

    PubMed

    Chen, Sherry Xi; Seelig, Georg

    2016-04-20

    Even a single-nucleotide difference between the sequences of two otherwise identical biological nucleic acids can have dramatic functional consequences. Here, we use model-guided reaction pathway engineering to quantitatively improve the performance of selective hybridization probes in recognizing single nucleotide variants (SNVs). Specifically, we build a detection system that combines discrimination by competition with DNA strand displacement-based catalytic amplification. We show, both mathematically and experimentally, that the single nucleotide selectivity of such a system in binding to single-stranded DNA and RNA is quadratically better than discrimination due to competitive hybridization alone. As an additional benefit the integrated circuit inherits the property of amplification and provides at least 10-fold better sensitivity than standard hybridization probes. Moreover, we demonstrate how the detection mechanism can be tuned such that the detection reaction is agnostic to the position of the SNV within the target sequence. in contrast, prior strand displacement-based probes designed for kinetic discrimination are highly sensitive to position effects. We apply our system to reliably discriminate between different members of the let-7 microRNA family that differ in only a single base position. Our results demonstrate the power of systematic reaction network design to quantitatively improve biotechnology.

  6. Galaxy luminosity function and Tully-Fisher relation: reconciled through rotation-curve studies

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Cattaneo, Andrea; Salucci, Paolo; Papastergis, Emmanouil, E-mail: andrea.cattaneo@oamp.fr, E-mail: salucci@sissa.it, E-mail: papastergis@astro.cornell.edu

    2014-03-10

    The relation between galaxy luminosity L and halo virial velocity v {sub vir} required to fit the galaxy luminosity function differs from the observed Tully-Fisher relation between L and disk speed v {sub rot}. Because of this, the problem of reproducing the galaxy luminosity function and the Tully-Fisher relation simultaneously has plagued semianalytic models since their inception. Here we study the relation between v {sub rot} and v {sub vir} by fitting observational average rotation curves of disk galaxies binned in luminosity. We show that the v {sub rot}-v {sub vir} relation that we obtain in this way can fullymore » account for this seeming inconsistency. Therefore, the reconciliation of the luminosity function with the Tully-Fisher relation rests on the complex dependence of v {sub rot} on v {sub vir}, which arises because the ratio of stellar mass to dark matter mass is a strong function of halo mass.« less

  7. Using Linear and Quadratic Functions to Teach Number Patterns in Secondary School

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kenan, Kok Xiao-Feng

    2017-01-01

    This paper outlines an approach to definitively find the general term in a number pattern, of either a linear or quadratic form, by using the general equation of a linear or quadratic function. This approach is governed by four principles: (1) identifying the position of the term (input) and the term itself (output); (2) recognising that each…

  8. Numerical method based on the lattice Boltzmann model for the Fisher equation.

    PubMed

    Yan, Guangwu; Zhang, Jianying; Dong, Yinfeng

    2008-06-01

    In this paper, a lattice Boltzmann model for the Fisher equation is proposed. First, the Chapman-Enskog expansion and the multiscale time expansion are used to describe higher-order moment of equilibrium distribution functions and a series of partial differential equations in different time scales. Second, the modified partial differential equation of the Fisher equation with the higher-order truncation error is obtained. Third, comparison between numerical results of the lattice Boltzmann models and exact solution is given. The numerical results agree well with the classical ones.

  9. FISHER INFORMATION AND DYNAMIC REGIME CHANGES IN ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS

    EPA Science Inventory

    Fisher Information and Dynamic Regime Changes in Ecological Systems
    Abstract for the 3rd Conference of the International Society for Ecological Informatics
    Audrey L. Mayer, Christopher W. Pawlowski, and Heriberto Cabezas

    The sustainable nature of particular dynamic...

  10. Using Fisher information to track stability in multivariate systems

    EPA Science Inventory

    With the current proliferation of data, the proficient use of statistical and mining techniques offer substantial benefits to capture useful information from any dataset. As numerous approaches make use of information theory concepts, here, we discuss how Fisher information (FI...

  11. Astronaut Anna Fisher demonstrates sleep restraints on shuttle

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1984-01-01

    Astronaut Anna L. Fisher demonstrates the versatility of shuttle sleep restraints to accommodate the preference of crewmembers as she appears to have configured hers in a horizontal hammock mode. Stowage lockers, one of the middeck walls, another sleep restraint, a jury-rigged foot and hand restraint are among other items in the frame.

  12. Stand- and landscape-scale selection of large trees by fishers in the Rocky Mountains of Montana and Idaho

    Treesearch

    Michael K. Schwartz; Nicholas J. DeCesare; Benjamin S. Jimenez; Jeffrey P. Copeland; Wayne E. Melquist

    2013-01-01

    The fisher (Pekania pennanti; formerly known as Martes pennanti) is a North American endemic mustelid with a geographic distribution that spans much of the boreal forests of North America. In the Northern Rocky Mountain (NRM) fishers have been the focus of Endangered Species Act (ESA) listing decisions. Habitat studies of West Coast fishers in California have...

  13. Scombroid fish poisoning. Underreporting and prevention among noncommercial recreational fishers.

    PubMed Central

    Gellert, G A; Ralls, J; Brown, C; Huston, J; Merryman, R

    1992-01-01

    Food-borne diseases, including those caused by seafood products, are common and greatly underreported sources of morbidity. In this article we review the epidemiology of scombroid fish poisoning and its possible relationship to the noncommercial and recreational catch and sale of fish. More than 20% of all fish sold in the United States is caught by sport fishers, and outbreaks of scombroid fish poisoning have involved improperly handled fish from private catches. We report an outbreak of scombroid fish poisoning among recreational fishers in California. The unregulated sale of recreationally caught fish for consumption and the prevention of scombrotoxism are discussed from the perspectives of public health agencies, clinicians, and the fishing public. Scientific and policy issues that require further attention are high-lighted. PMID:1475947

  14. Scombroid fish poisoning. Underreporting and prevention among noncommercial recreational fishers.

    PubMed

    Gellert, G A; Ralls, J; Brown, C; Huston, J; Merryman, R

    1992-12-01

    Food-borne diseases, including those caused by seafood products, are common and greatly underreported sources of morbidity. In this article we review the epidemiology of scombroid fish poisoning and its possible relationship to the noncommercial and recreational catch and sale of fish. More than 20% of all fish sold in the United States is caught by sport fishers, and outbreaks of scombroid fish poisoning have involved improperly handled fish from private catches. We report an outbreak of scombroid fish poisoning among recreational fishers in California. The unregulated sale of recreationally caught fish for consumption and the prevention of scombrotoxism are discussed from the perspectives of public health agencies, clinicians, and the fishing public. Scientific and policy issues that require further attention are high-lighted.

  15. Exponential Thurston maps and limits of quadratic differentials

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hubbard, John; Schleicher, Dierk; Shishikura, Mitsuhiro

    2009-01-01

    We give a topological characterization of postsingularly finite topological exponential maps, i.e., universal covers g\\colon{C}to{C}setminus\\{0\\} such that 0 has a finite orbit. Such a map either is Thurston equivalent to a unique holomorphic exponential map λ e^z or it has a topological obstruction called a degenerate Levy cycle. This is the first analog of Thurston's topological characterization theorem of rational maps, as published by Douady and Hubbard, for the case of infinite degree. One main tool is a theorem about the distribution of mass of an integrable quadratic differential with a given number of poles, providing an almost compact space of models for the entire mass of quadratic differentials. This theorem is given for arbitrary Riemann surfaces of finite type in a uniform way.

  16. FISHER INFORMATION AS A METRIC FOR SUSTAINABLE SYSTEM REGIMES

    EPA Science Inventory

    The important question in sustainability is not whether the world is sustainable, but whether a humanly acceptable regime of the world is sustainable. We propose Fisher Information as a metric for the sustainability of dynamic regimes in complex systems. The quantity now known ...

  17. Hazardous Waste Cleanup: Fisher Scientific in Bridgewater, New Jersey

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    The Fisher Scientific Packaging Facility is an operating facility located on approximately 58 acres in Bridgewater, New Jersey. The site is bounded to the north by Route 202. Most of the frontage on Route 202 is retail/commercial, but there are still small

  18. Astronaut Anna Fisher practices control of the RMS in a trainer

    NASA Image and Video Library

    1984-08-21

    S84-40162 (21 Aug. 1984) --- Astronaut Anna L. Fisher controls the Remote Manipulator System (RMS) arm from inside the "orbiter" as part of her training program in the Johnson Space Center's Shuttle Mock-up and Integration Laboratory. Dr. Fisher, one of three mission specialists for mission 51-A, is inside the cabin portion of a trainer called the Manipulatory Development Facility (MDF). She is able to operate the arm in conjunction with an air bearing floor and to log a great deal of rehearsal time for her flight, on which the retrieval of a low-orbiting communications satellite is planned. Photo credit: NASA

  19. Semi-Supervised Marginal Fisher Analysis for Hyperspectral Image Classification

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Huang, H.; Liu, J.; Pan, Y.

    2012-07-01

    The problem of learning with both labeled and unlabeled examples arises frequently in Hyperspectral image (HSI) classification. While marginal Fisher analysis is a supervised method, which cannot be directly applied for Semi-supervised classification. In this paper, we proposed a novel method, called semi-supervised marginal Fisher analysis (SSMFA), to process HSI of natural scenes, which uses a combination of semi-supervised learning and manifold learning. In SSMFA, a new difference-based optimization objective function with unlabeled samples has been designed. SSMFA preserves the manifold structure of labeled and unlabeled samples in addition to separating labeled samples in different classes from each other. The semi-supervised method has an analytic form of the globally optimal solution, and it can be computed based on eigen decomposition. Classification experiments with a challenging HSI task demonstrate that this method outperforms current state-of-the-art HSI-classification methods.

  20. Quadratic RK shooting solution for a environmental parameter prediction boundary value problem

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Famelis, Ioannis Th.; Tsitouras, Ch.

    2014-10-01

    Using tools of Information Geometry, the minimum distance between two elements of a statistical manifold is defined by the corresponding geodesic, e.g. the minimum length curve that connects them. Such a curve, where the probability distribution functions in the case of our meteorological data are two parameter Weibull distributions, satisfies a 2nd order Boundary Value (BV) system. We study the numerical treatment of the resulting special quadratic form system using Shooting method. We compare the solutions of the problem when we employ a classical Singly Diagonally Implicit Runge Kutta (SDIRK) 4(3) pair of methods and a quadratic SDIRK 5(3) pair . Both pairs have the same computational costs whereas the second one attains higher order as it is specially constructed for quadratic problems.

  1. Historical perspective on the reintroduction of the fisher and American marten in Michigan and Wisconsin

    Treesearch

    Bronwyn W. Williams; Jonathan H. Gilbert; Patrick A. Zollner

    2007-01-01

    Management of mustelid species such as fishers and martens requires an understanding of the history of local populations. This is particularly true in areas where populations were extirpated and restored through reintroduction efforts. During the late 19th and 20th centuries, fishers (Martes pennanti) and American martens (Martes americana...

  2. Exact solutions for an oscillator with anti-symmetric quadratic nonlinearity

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Beléndez, A.; Martínez, F. J.; Beléndez, T.; Pascual, C.; Alvarez, M. L.; Gimeno, E.; Arribas, E.

    2018-04-01

    Closed-form exact solutions for an oscillator with anti-symmetric quadratic nonlinearity are derived from the first integral of the nonlinear differential equation governing the behaviour of this oscillator. The mathematical model is an ordinary second order differential equation in which the sign of the quadratic nonlinear term changes. Two parameters characterize this oscillator: the coefficient of the linear term and the coefficient of the quadratic term. Not only the common case in which both coefficients are positive but also all possible combinations of positive and negative signs of these coefficients which provide periodic motions are considered, giving rise to four different cases. Three different periods and solutions are obtained, since the same result is valid in two of these cases. An interesting feature is that oscillatory motions whose equilibrium points are not at x = 0 are also considered. The periods are given in terms of an incomplete or complete elliptic integral of the first kind, and the exact solutions are expressed as functions including Jacobi elliptic cosine or sine functions.

  3. Efficiencies for the statistics of size discrimination.

    PubMed

    Solomon, Joshua A; Morgan, Michael; Chubb, Charles

    2011-10-19

    Different laboratories have achieved a consensus regarding how well human observers can estimate the average orientation in a set of N objects. Such estimates are not only limited by visual noise, which perturbs the visual signal of each object's orientation, they are also inefficient: Observers effectively use only √N objects in their estimates (e.g., S. C. Dakin, 2001; J. A. Solomon, 2010). More controversial is the efficiency with which observers can estimate the average size in an array of circles (e.g., D. Ariely, 2001, 2008; S. C. Chong, S. J. Joo, T.-A. Emmanouil, & A. Treisman, 2008; K. Myczek & D. J. Simons, 2008). Of course, there are some important differences between orientation and size; nonetheless, it seemed sensible to compare the two types of estimate against the same ideal observer. Indeed, quantitative evaluation of statistical efficiency requires this sort of comparison (R. A. Fisher, 1925). Our first step was to measure the noise that limits size estimates when only two circles are compared. Our results (Weber fractions between 0.07 and 0.14 were necessary for 84% correct 2AFC performance) are consistent with the visual system adding the same amount of Gaussian noise to all logarithmically transduced circle diameters. We exaggerated this visual noise by randomly varying the diameters in (uncrowded) arrays of 1, 2, 4, and 8 circles and measured its effect on discrimination between mean sizes. Efficiencies inferred from all four observers significantly exceed 25% and, in two cases, approach 100%. More consistent are our measurements of just-noticeable differences in size variance. These latter results suggest between 62 and 75% efficiency for variance discriminations. Although our observers were no more efficient comparing size variances than they were at comparing mean sizes, they were significantly more precise. In other words, our results contain evidence for a non-negligible source of late noise that limits mean discriminations but not

  4. Extended Decentralized Linear-Quadratic-Gaussian Control

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Carpenter, J. Russell

    2000-01-01

    A straightforward extension of a solution to the decentralized linear-Quadratic-Gaussian problem is proposed that allows its use for commonly encountered classes of problems that are currently solved with the extended Kalman filter. This extension allows the system to be partitioned in such a way as to exclude the nonlinearities from the essential algebraic relationships that allow the estimation and control to be optimally decentralized.

  5. Fisher metric, geometric entanglement, and spin networks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chirco, Goffredo; Mele, Fabio M.; Oriti, Daniele; Vitale, Patrizia

    2018-02-01

    Starting from recent results on the geometric formulation of quantum mechanics, we propose a new information geometric characterization of entanglement for spin network states in the context of quantum gravity. For the simple case of a single-link fixed graph (Wilson line), we detail the construction of a Riemannian Fisher metric tensor and a symplectic structure on the graph Hilbert space, showing how these encode the whole information about separability and entanglement. In particular, the Fisher metric defines an entanglement monotone which provides a notion of distance among states in the Hilbert space. In the maximally entangled gauge-invariant case, the entanglement monotone is proportional to a power of the area of the surface dual to the link thus supporting a connection between entanglement and the (simplicial) geometric properties of spin network states. We further extend such analysis to the study of nonlocal correlations between two nonadjacent regions of a generic spin network graph characterized by the bipartite unfolding of an intertwiner state. Our analysis confirms the interpretation of spin network bonds as a result of entanglement and to regard the same spin network graph as an information graph, whose connectivity encodes, both at the local and nonlocal level, the quantum correlations among its parts. This gives a further connection between entanglement and geometry.

  6. Quadratic grating apodized photon sieves for simultaneous multiplane microscopy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cheng, Yiguang; Zhu, Jiangping; He, Yu; Tang, Yan; Hu, Song; Zhao, Lixin

    2017-10-01

    We present a new type of imaging device, named quadratic grating apodized photon sieve (QGPS), used as the objective for simultaneous multiplane imaging in X-rays. The proposed QGPS is structured based on the combination of two concepts: photon sieves and quadratic gratings. Its design principles are also expounded in detail. Analysis of imaging properties of QGPS in terms of point-spread function shows that QGPS can image multiple layers within an object field onto a single image plane. Simulated and experimental results in visible light both demonstrate the feasibility of QGPS for simultaneous multiplane imaging, which is extremely promising to detect dynamic specimens by X-ray microscopy in the physical and life sciences.

  7. 77 FR 15650 - Fisher House and Other Temporary Lodging

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-03-16

    ... proposed rule generally reflects current VA policy and practice, and conforms to industry standards and... individuals from the medical care environment, Fisher House lodging is available only to accompanying... have an insignificant impact on small entities involved in the lodging industry. However, any effect...

  8. Investigating Students' Mathematical Difficulties with Quadratic Equations

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    O'Connor, Bronwyn Reid; Norton, Stephen

    2016-01-01

    This paper examines the factors that hinder students' success in working with and understanding the mathematics of quadratic equations using a case study analysis of student error patterns. Twenty-five Year 11 students were administered a written test to examine their understanding of concepts and procedures associated with this topic. The…

  9. Fishing for space: fine-scale multi-sector maritime activities influence fisher location choice.

    PubMed

    Tidd, Alex N; Vermard, Youen; Marchal, Paul; Pinnegar, John; Blanchard, Julia L; Milner-Gulland, E J

    2015-01-01

    The European Union and other states are moving towards Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management to balance food production and security with wider ecosystem concerns. Fishing is only one of several sectors operating within the ocean environment, competing for renewable and non-renewable resources that overlap in a limited space. Other sectors include marine mining, energy generation, recreation, transport and conservation. Trade-offs of these competing sectors are already part of the process but attempts to detail how the seas are being utilised have been primarily based on compilations of data on human activity at large spatial scales. Advances including satellite and shipping automatic tracking enable investigation of factors influencing fishers' choice of fishing grounds at spatial scales relevant to decision-making, including the presence or avoidance of activities by other sectors. We analyse the determinants of English and Welsh scallop-dredging fleet behaviour, including competing sectors, operating in the eastern English Channel. Results indicate aggregate mining activity, maritime traffic, increased fishing costs, and the English inshore 6 and French 12 nautical mile limits negatively impact fishers' likelihood of fishing in otherwise suitable areas. Past success, net-benefits and fishing within the 12 NM predispose fishers to use areas. Systematic conservation planning has yet to be widely applied in marine systems, and the dynamics of spatial overlap of fishing with other activities have not been studied at scales relevant to fisher decision-making. This study demonstrates fisher decision-making is indeed affected by the real-time presence of other sectors in an area, and therefore trade-offs which need to be accounted for in marine planning. As marine resource extraction demands intensify, governments will need to take a more proactive approach to resolving these trade-offs, and studies such as this will be required as the evidential foundation for future

  10. Changes in the structural and functional characteristics of fisher (Pekania pennanti) rest structures over time

    Treesearch

    Bill Zielinski; Fredrick V. Schlexer

    2015-01-01

    Resting habitat used by fishers (Pekania pennanti) has been relatively well studied but information on the persistence of their resting structures over time is unknown. We selected for reexamination 73 of 195 resting structures used by by fishers in northwestern California and compared their condition on the date they were found with their...

  11. Meta-analyses of habitat selection by fishers at resting sites in the Pacific coastal region

    Treesearch

    Keith B. Aubry; Catherine M. Raley; Steven W. Buskirk; William J. Zielinski; Michael K. Schwartz; Richard T. Golightly; Kathryn L. Purcell; Richard D. Weir; J. Scott Yaeger

    2013-01-01

    The fisher (Pekania pennanti) is a species of conservation concern throughout the Pacific coastal region in North America. A number of radiotelemetry studies of habitat selection by fishers at resting sites have been conducted in this region, but the applicability of observed patterns beyond the boundaries of each study area is unknown. Broadly...

  12. Evaluation of fisher (Pekania pennanti) restoration in Olympic National Park and the Olympic Recovery Area: 2015 final annual progress report

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Happe, Patricia J.; Jenkins, Kurt J.; Kay, Thomas J.; Pilgrim, Kristie; Schwartz, Michael K; Lewis, Jeffrey C.; Aubry, Keith B.

    2016-01-01

    With the translocation and release of 90 fishers (Pekania pennanti) from British Columbia to Olympic National Park during 2008–2010, the National Park Service (NPS) and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) accomplished the first phase of fisher restoration in Washington State. Beginning in 2013, we initiated a new research project to determine the current status of fishers on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula 3–8 years after the releases and evaluate the short-term success of the restoration program. Objectives of the study are to determine the current distribution of fishers and proportion of the recovery area that is currently occupied by fishers, determine several genetic characteristics of the reintroduced population, and determine reproductive success of the founding animals through genetic studies. During 2015, we continued working with a broad coalition of cooperating agencies, tribes, and nongovernmental organizations (NGO) to collect data on fisher distribution and genetics using noninvasive sampling methods. The primary sampling frame consisted of 157 24-km2 hexagons (hexes) distributed across all major land ownerships within the Olympic Peninsula target survey area. In 2014 we expanded the study by adding 58 more hexes to an expanded study area in response to incidental fisher observations outside of the target area obtained in 2013; 49 hexes were added south and 9 to the east of the target area. During 2015, Federal, State, Tribal and NGO biologists and volunteers established three Distributioned motion-sensing camera stations, paired with hair snaring devices, in 87 hexes; 75 in the targeted area and 12 in the expansion areas. Each paired camera/hair station was left in place for approximately 6 weeks, with three checks on 2-week intervals. We documented fisher presence in 7 of the 87 hexagons. Four fishers were identified through microsatellite DNA analyses. The 4 identified fishers included 1 of the original founding population of 90

  13. Detection of image structures using the Fisher information and the Rao metric.

    PubMed

    Maybank, Stephen J

    2004-12-01

    In many detection problems, the structures to be detected are parameterized by the points of a parameter space. If the conditional probability density function for the measurements is known, then detection can be achieved by sampling the parameter space at a finite number of points and checking each point to see if the corresponding structure is supported by the data. The number of samples and the distances between neighboring samples are calculated using the Rao metric on the parameter space. The Rao metric is obtained from the Fisher information which is, in turn, obtained from the conditional probability density function. An upper bound is obtained for the probability of a false detection. The calculations are simplified in the low noise case by making an asymptotic approximation to the Fisher information. An application to line detection is described. Expressions are obtained for the asymptotic approximation to the Fisher information, the volume of the parameter space, and the number of samples. The time complexity for line detection is estimated. An experimental comparison is made with a Hough transform-based method for detecting lines.

  14. Sequential design of discrete linear quadratic regulators via optimal root-locus techniques

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Shieh, Leang S.; Yates, Robert E.; Ganesan, Sekar

    1989-01-01

    A sequential method employing classical root-locus techniques has been developed in order to determine the quadratic weighting matrices and discrete linear quadratic regulators of multivariable control systems. At each recursive step, an intermediate unity rank state-weighting matrix that contains some invariant eigenvectors of that open-loop matrix is assigned, and an intermediate characteristic equation of the closed-loop system containing the invariant eigenvalues is created.

  15. Factorization method of quadratic template

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kotyrba, Martin

    2017-07-01

    Multiplication of two numbers is a one-way function in mathematics. Any attempt to distribute the outcome to its roots is called factorization. There are many methods such as Fermat's factorization, Dixońs method or quadratic sieve and GNFS, which use sophisticated techniques fast factorization. All the above methods use the same basic formula differing only in its use. This article discusses a newly designed factorization method. Effective implementation of this method in programs is not important, it only represents and clearly defines its properties.

  16. Carnivore Translocations and Conservation: Insights from Population Models and Field Data for Fishers (Martes pennanti)

    PubMed Central

    Lewis, Jeffrey C.; Powell, Roger A.; Zielinski, William J.

    2012-01-01

    Translocations are frequently used to restore extirpated carnivore populations. Understanding the factors that influence translocation success is important because carnivore translocations can be time consuming, expensive, and controversial. Using population viability software, we modeled reintroductions of the fisher, a candidate for endangered or threatened status in the Pacific states of the US. Our model predicts that the most important factor influencing successful re-establishment of a fisher population is the number of adult females reintroduced (provided some males are also released). Data from 38 translocations of fishers in North America, including 30 reintroductions, 5 augmentations and 3 introductions, show that the number of females released was, indeed, a good predictor of success but that the number of males released, geographic region and proximity of the source population to the release site were also important predictors. The contradiction between model and data regarding males may relate to the assumption in the model that all males are equally good breeders. We hypothesize that many males may need to be released to insure a sufficient number of good breeders are included, probably large males. Seventy-seven percent of reintroductions with known outcomes (success or failure) succeeded; all 5 augmentations succeeded; but none of the 3 introductions succeeded. Reintroductions were instrumental in reestablishing fisher populations within their historical range and expanding the range from its most-contracted state (43% of the historical range) to its current state (68% of the historical range). To increase the likelihood of translocation success, we recommend that managers: 1) release as many fishers as possible, 2) release more females than males (55–60% females) when possible, 3) release as many adults as possible, especially large males, 4) release fishers from a nearby source population, 5) conduct a formal feasibility assessment, and 6

  17. Quadratic forms involving Green's and Robin functions

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Dubinin, Vladimir N

    2009-10-31

    General inequalities for quadratic forms with coefficients depending on the values of Green's and Robin functions are obtained. These inequalities cover also the reduced moduli of strips and half-strips. Some applications of the results obtained to extremal partitioning problems and related questions of geometric function theory are discussed. Bibliography: 29 titles.

  18. Fisher's geometrical model emerges as a property of complex integrated phenotypic networks.

    PubMed

    Martin, Guillaume

    2014-05-01

    Models relating phenotype space to fitness (phenotype-fitness landscapes) have seen important developments recently. They can roughly be divided into mechanistic models (e.g., metabolic networks) and more heuristic models like Fisher's geometrical model. Each has its own drawbacks, but both yield testable predictions on how the context (genomic background or environment) affects the distribution of mutation effects on fitness and thus adaptation. Both have received some empirical validation. This article aims at bridging the gap between these approaches. A derivation of the Fisher model "from first principles" is proposed, where the basic assumptions emerge from a more general model, inspired by mechanistic networks. I start from a general phenotypic network relating unspecified phenotypic traits and fitness. A limited set of qualitative assumptions is then imposed, mostly corresponding to known features of phenotypic networks: a large set of traits is pleiotropically affected by mutations and determines a much smaller set of traits under optimizing selection. Otherwise, the model remains fairly general regarding the phenotypic processes involved or the distribution of mutation effects affecting the network. A statistical treatment and a local approximation close to a fitness optimum yield a landscape that is effectively the isotropic Fisher model or its extension with a single dominant phenotypic direction. The fit of the resulting alternative distributions is illustrated in an empirical data set. These results bear implications on the validity of Fisher's model's assumptions and on which features of mutation fitness effects may vary (or not) across genomic or environmental contexts.

  19. Evaluating the sustainability of a regional system using Fisher information in the San Luis Basin, Colorado

    EPA Science Inventory

    This paper describes the theory, data, and methodology necessary for using Fisher information to assess the sustainability of the San Luis Basin (SLB) regional system over time. Fisher information was originally developed as a measure of the information content in data and is an ...

  20. Dangers, delights, and destiny on the sea: fishers along the East coast of north sumatra, indonesia.

    PubMed

    Markkanen, Pia

    2005-01-01

    This article describes a collaborative project between the International Labour Organization's International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) and the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production, in identifying work hazards of fishers along the east coast of North Sumatra, Indonesia, in July 2004. The study employed qualitative investigation techniques: participant observations at fishing villages and harbors; and interviews with local fishers and skippers. Fishers work long hours in life-threatening conditions, often with low pay. It would be synergistic to incorporate fishing safety and health policies and advocacy efforts into reconstruction undertakings of fisheries devastated by the 2004 tsunami.

  1. Fisher information at the edge of chaos in random Boolean networks.

    PubMed

    Wang, X Rosalind; Lizier, Joseph T; Prokopenko, Mikhail

    2011-01-01

    We study the order-chaos phase transition in random Boolean networks (RBNs), which have been used as models of gene regulatory networks. In particular we seek to characterize the phase diagram in information-theoretic terms, focusing on the effect of the control parameters (activity level and connectivity). Fisher information, which measures how much system dynamics can reveal about the control parameters, offers a natural interpretation of the phase diagram in RBNs. We report that this measure is maximized near the order-chaos phase transitions in RBNs, since this is the region where the system is most sensitive to its parameters. Furthermore, we use this study of RBNs to clarify the relationship between Shannon and Fisher information measures.

  2. Olympic Fisher Reintroduction Project- 2009 Progress Report

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Lewis, Jeffrey C.; Happe, Patti J.; Jenkins, Kurt J.; Manson, David J.

    2009-01-01

    The 2009 progress report is a summary of the reintroduction, monitoring, and research efforts undertaken during the first two years of the Olympic fisher reintroduction project. Jeffrey C. Lewis of Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Patti J. Happe of Olympic National Park, and Kurt J. Jenkins of U. S. Geological Survey are the principal investigators of the monitoring and research program associated with the reintroduction. David J. Manson of Olympic National Park is the lead biological

  3. Olympic Fisher Reintroduction Project: 2010 Progress Report

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Lewis, Jeffrey C.; Happe, Patti J.; Jenkins, Kurt J.; Manson, David J.

    2010-01-01

    The 2010 progress report is a summary of the reintroduction, monitoring, and research efforts undertaken during the third year of the Olympic fisher reintroduction project. Jeffrey C. Lewis of Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Patti J. Happe of Olympic National Park, and Kurt J. Jenkins of U. S. Geological Survey are the principal investigators of the monitoring and research program associated with the reintroduction. David J. Manson of Olympic National Park is the lead biological technician.

  4. Fishing, fish consumption and advisory awareness among Louisiana's recreational fishers.

    PubMed

    Katner, Adrienne; Ogunyinka, Ebenezer; Sun, Mei-Hung; Soileau, Shannon; Lavergne, David; Dugas, Dianne; Suffet, Mel

    2011-11-01

    This paper presents results from the first known population-based survey of recreational fishers in Louisiana (n=1774). The ultimate goal of this study was to obtain data in support of the development of regional advisories for a high exposure population with unique seafood consumption patterns. Between July and August of 2008, a survey was mailed to a random sample of licensed recreational fishers to characterize local fishing habits, sportfish consumption, and advisory awareness. Eighty-eight percent of respondents reported eating sportfish. Respondents ate an estimated mean of four fish meals per month, of which, approximately half were sportfish. Over half of all sportfish meals (54%) were caught in the Gulf of Mexico or bordering brackish areas. Sportfish consumption varied by license and gender; and was highest among Sportsman's Paradise license holders (2.8±0.2 meals per month), and males (2.2±0.1 meals per month). The most frequently consumed sportfish species were red drum, speckled trout, catfish, bass, crappie and bream. Advisory awareness rates varied by gender, ethnicity, geographic area, license type, age and education; and were lowest among women (53%), African-Americans (43%), fishers from the southeast of Louisiana (50%), holders of Senior Hunting and Fishing licenses (51%), individuals between 15 and 19 years of age (41%), and individuals with less than a high school education (43%). Results were used to identify ways to optimize monitoring, advisory development and outreach activities. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. More fishers and fewer martens due to cumulative effects of forest management and climate change as evidenced from local knowledge.

    PubMed

    Suffice, Pauline; Asselin, Hugo; Imbeau, Louis; Cheveau, Marianne; Drapeau, Pierre

    2017-09-07

    Monitoring of fur-bearing species populations is relatively rare due to their low densities. In addition to catch data, trappers' experience provides information on the ecology and status of the harvested species. Fisher (Pekania pennanti) and American marten (Martes americana) are mustelids that are sensitive to forest management and therefore considered to be ecological indicators of forest health. Fisher populations have increased in eastern North America since the early 2000s and this could have resulted in a northeastern extension of the species' range and increased overlap with marten's range. Moreover, habitats of both species are subject to natural and anthropogenic disturbances. The objective of this study was to document the knowledge held by local trappers in the northern area of sympatry between fisher and marten to identify factors that could explain variation in populations of the two species and interactions between them. Forty-one semi-directed interviews with Indigenous and non-Indigenous trappers in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region of western Quebec (Canada), at the northern limit of the overlapping ranges of the two mustelid species. Trappers highlighted the lack of exclusivity of marten and fisher to coniferous forests, although marten is more closely associated with them than is fisher. Fisher apparently also takes advantage of open environments, including agroforestry systems. Moreover, climate change increases the frequency of freeze-thaw events that cause the formation of an ice crust on the snow surface, which favors fisher movements. The fisher was identified as a competitor and even a predator of the marten. Furthermore, the fisher is less affected than the marten by forest management, and it also seems to benefit from climate change to a greater extent.

  6. Behaviours and attitudes of recreational fishers toward safety at a 'blackspot' for fishing fatalities in Western Australia.

    PubMed

    Jasper, Randall; Stewart, Barbara A; Knight, Andrew

    2017-08-01

    Issue addressed Recreational fishing, particularly rock fishing, can be dangerous; 30 fatalities were recorded in Western Australia from 2002-2014. This study investigates differences in behaviours and attitudes towards safety among fishers at a fishing fatality 'black spot' in Australia. Methods A total of 236 fishers were surveyed at Salmon Holes, Western Australia in 2015. Fishers were grouped by country of origin and significant differences among groups for behaviours and attitudes towards personal safety were identified. Results Of fishers surveyed, 53% were born in Asia. These fishers self-assessed as poorer swimmers (F=23.27, P<0.001), yet were more likely to have fished from rocks (χ 2 =20.94, P<0.001). They were less likely to go close to the water to get a snagged line (χ 2 =15.44, P<0.001) or to drink alcohol while fishing ( χ 2 = 8.63, P<0.001), and were more likely to agree that they would drown if swept into the sea (χ 2 =9.49, P<0.001). Although most respondents agreed that wearing a life jacket made fishing safer, 78% 'never' wore a life jacket while fishing. Conclusions Some fishers who were poor swimmers and were aware of the dangers of rock fishing still choose to fish from rocks. So what? Our results support the proposal that the wearing of life jackets should be promoted, if not made mandatory, while water safety education campaigns should be continued and target vulnerable communities.

  7. New Bedform Phase Diagrams and Discriminant Functions for Formative Conditions of Bedforms in Open-Channel Flows

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ohata, Koji; Naruse, Hajime; Yokokawa, Miwa; Viparelli, Enrica

    2017-11-01

    Understanding of the formative conditions of fluvial bedforms is significant for both river management and geological studies. Diagrams showing bedform stability conditions have been widely used for the analyses of sedimentary structures. However, the use of discriminants to determine the boundaries of different bedforms regimes has not yet been explored. In this study, we use discriminant functions to describe formative conditions for a range of fluvial bedforms in a 3-D dimensionless parametric space. We do this by means of discriminant analysis using the Mahalanobis distance. We analyzed 3,793 available laboratory and field data and used these to produce new bedform phase diagrams. These diagrams employ three dimensionless parameters representing properties of flow hydraulics and sediment particles as their axes. The discriminant functions for bedform regimes proposed herein are quadratic functions of three dimensionless parameters and are expressed as curved surfaces in 3-D space. These empirical functions can be used to estimate paleoflow velocities from sedimentary structures. As an example of the reconstruction of hydraulic conditions, we calculated the paleoflow velocity of the 2011 Tohoku-Oki tsunami backwash flow from the sedimentary structures of the tsunami deposit. In so doing, we successfully reconstructed reasonable values of the paleoflow velocities.

  8. Quadratic electroabsorption studies of molecular motion in dye-doped polymers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Poga, Constantina; Kuzyk, Mark G.; Dirk, Carl W.

    1993-02-01

    This paper reports on quadratic electroabsorption studies of thin-film solid solutions of squarylium dye molecules in poly(methylmethacrylate) polymer with the aim of understanding the role of electronic and reorientational mechanisms in the third-order nonlinear-optical susceptibility. We present a generalized theory of the quadratic electrooptic response that includes both electronic mechanisms and molecular reorientation and show that the ratio of two independent third-order susceptibility tensor components, namely (chi) (3)3333/(chi) (3)1133, determines the relative contribution of each mechanism. Based on these theoretical results, we have designed and built an experiment that determines this ratio as a function of temperature and wavelength. Results show that at room temperature and near the first electronic transition wavelength, the response is dominated by the electronic mechanism, and that the reorientational contribution dominates when the sample is heated above its glass transition temperature. Furthermore, results show that, off-resonance, the sign of the imaginary part of the third-order susceptibility is positive. Quadratic electroabsorption is thus shown to be a versatile tool for measuring the imaginary part of the third-order nonlinear-optical susceptibility which yields information about the interaction of polymer and dopant molecule.

  9. Discriminative analysis of early Alzheimer's disease based on two intrinsically anti-correlated networks with resting-state fMRI.

    PubMed

    Wang, Kun; Jiang, Tianzi; Liang, Meng; Wang, Liang; Tian, Lixia; Zhang, Xinqing; Li, Kuncheng; Liu, Zhening

    2006-01-01

    In this work, we proposed a discriminative model of Alzheimer's disease (AD) on the basis of multivariate pattern classification and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). This model used the correlation/anti-correlation coefficients of two intrinsically anti-correlated networks in resting brains, which have been suggested by two recent studies, as the feature of classification. Pseudo-Fisher Linear Discriminative Analysis (pFLDA) was then performed on the feature space and a linear classifier was generated. Using leave-one-out (LOO) cross validation, our results showed a correct classification rate of 83%. We also compared the proposed model with another one based on the whole brain functional connectivity. Our proposed model outperformed the other one significantly, and this implied that the two intrinsically anti-correlated networks may be a more susceptible part of the whole brain network in the early stage of AD.

  10. Integration of the Quadratic Function and Generalization

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mitsuma, Kunio

    2011-01-01

    We will first recall useful formulas in integration that simplify the calculation of certain definite integrals with the quadratic function. A main formula relies only on the coefficients of the function. We will then explore a geometric proof of one of these formulas. Finally, we will extend the formulas to more general cases. (Contains 3…

  11. Linear quadratic regulators with eigenvalue placement in a specified region

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Shieh, Leang S.; Dib, Hani M.; Ganesan, Sekar

    1988-01-01

    A linear optimal quadratic regulator is developed for optimally placing the closed-loop poles of multivariable continuous-time systems within the common region of an open sector, bounded by lines inclined at + or - pi/2k (k = 2 or 3) from the negative real axis with a sector angle of pi/2 or less, and the left-hand side of a line parallel to the imaginary axis in the complex s-plane. The design method is mainly based on the solution of a linear matrix Liapunov equation, and the resultant closed-loop system with its eigenvalues in the desired region is optimal with respect to a quadratic performance index.

  12. Fisher, Neyman, and Bayes at FDA.

    PubMed

    Rubin, Donald B

    2016-01-01

    The wise use of statistical ideas in practice essentially requires some Bayesian thinking, in contrast to the classical rigid frequentist dogma. This dogma too often has seemed to influence the applications of statistics, even at agencies like the FDA. Greg Campbell was one of the most important advocates there for more nuanced modes of thought, especially Bayesian statistics. Because two brilliant statisticians, Ronald Fisher and Jerzy Neyman, are often credited with instilling the traditional frequentist approach in current practice, I argue that both men were actually seeking very Bayesian answers, and neither would have endorsed the rigid application of their ideas.

  13. Early electrophysiological findings in Fisher-Bickerstaff syndrome.

    PubMed

    Alberti, M A; Povedano, M; Montero, J; Casasnovas, C

    2017-09-06

    The term Fisher-Bickerstaff syndrome (FBS) has been proposed to describe the clinical spectrum encompassing Miller-Fisher syndrome (MFS) and Bickerstaff brainstem encephalitis. The pathophysiology of FBS and the nature of the underlying neuropathy (demyelinating or axonal) are still subject to debate. This study describes the main findings of an early neurophysiological study on 12 patients diagnosed with FBS. Retrospective evaluation of clinical characteristics and electrophysiological findings of 12 patients with FBS seen in our neurology department within 10 days of disease onset. Follow-up electrophysiological studies were also evaluated, where available. The most frequent electrophysiological finding, present in 5 (42%) patients, was reduced sensory nerve action potential (SNAP) amplitude in one or more nerves. Abnormalities were rarely found in motor neurography, with no signs of demyelination. The cranial nerve exam revealed abnormalities in 3 patients (facial neurography and/or blink reflex test). Three patients showed resolution of SNAP amplitude reduction in serial neurophysiological studies, suggesting the presence of reversible sensory nerve conduction block. Results from cranial MRI scans were normal in all patients. An electrophysiological pattern of sensory axonal neuropathy, with no associated signs of demyelination, is an early finding of FBS. Early neurophysiological evaluation and follow-up are essential for diagnosing patients with FBS. Copyright © 2017 Sociedad Española de Neurología. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

  14. Fisher information framework for time series modeling

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Venkatesan, R. C.; Plastino, A.

    2017-08-01

    A robust prediction model invoking the Takens embedding theorem, whose working hypothesis is obtained via an inference procedure based on the minimum Fisher information principle, is presented. The coefficients of the ansatz, central to the working hypothesis satisfy a time independent Schrödinger-like equation in a vector setting. The inference of (i) the probability density function of the coefficients of the working hypothesis and (ii) the establishing of constraint driven pseudo-inverse condition for the modeling phase of the prediction scheme, is made, for the case of normal distributions, with the aid of the quantum mechanical virial theorem. The well-known reciprocity relations and the associated Legendre transform structure for the Fisher information measure (FIM, hereafter)-based model in a vector setting (with least square constraints) are self-consistently derived. These relations are demonstrated to yield an intriguing form of the FIM for the modeling phase, which defines the working hypothesis, solely in terms of the observed data. Cases for prediction employing time series' obtained from the: (i) the Mackey-Glass delay-differential equation, (ii) one ECG signal from the MIT-Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital (MIT-BIH) cardiac arrhythmia database, and (iii) one ECG signal from the Creighton University ventricular tachyarrhythmia database. The ECG samples were obtained from the Physionet online repository. These examples demonstrate the efficiency of the prediction model. Numerical examples for exemplary cases are provided.

  15. Tuning a fuzzy controller using quadratic response surfaces

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Schott, Brian; Whalen, Thomas

    1992-01-01

    Response surface methodology, an alternative method to traditional tuning of a fuzzy controller, is described. An example based on a simulated inverted pendulum 'plant' shows that with (only) 15 trial runs, the controller can be calibrated using a quadratic form to approximate the response surface.

  16. Quantum superintegrable system with a novel chain structure of quadratic algebras

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liao, Yidong; Marquette, Ian; Zhang, Yao-Zhong

    2018-06-01

    We analyse the n-dimensional superintegrable Kepler–Coulomb system with non-central terms. We find a novel underlying chain structure of quadratic algebras formed by the integrals of motion. We identify the elements for each sub-structure and obtain the algebra relations satisfied by them and the corresponding Casimir operators. These quadratic sub-algebras are realized in terms of a chain of deformed oscillators with factorized structure functions. We construct the finite-dimensional unitary representations of the deformed oscillators, and give an algebraic derivation of the energy spectrum of the superintegrable system.

  17. Marginal Fisher analysis and its variants for human gait recognition and content- based image retrieval.

    PubMed

    Xu, Dong; Yan, Shuicheng; Tao, Dacheng; Lin, Stephen; Zhang, Hong-Jiang

    2007-11-01

    Dimensionality reduction algorithms, which aim to select a small set of efficient and discriminant features, have attracted great attention for human gait recognition and content-based image retrieval (CBIR). In this paper, we present extensions of our recently proposed marginal Fisher analysis (MFA) to address these problems. For human gait recognition, we first present a direct application of MFA, then inspired by recent advances in matrix and tensor-based dimensionality reduction algorithms, we present matrix-based MFA for directly handling 2-D input in the form of gray-level averaged images. For CBIR, we deal with the relevance feedback problem by extending MFA to marginal biased analysis, in which within-class compactness is characterized only by the distances between each positive sample and its neighboring positive samples. In addition, we present a new technique to acquire a direct optimal solution for MFA without resorting to objective function modification as done in many previous algorithms. We conduct comprehensive experiments on the USF HumanID gait database and the Corel image retrieval database. Experimental results demonstrate that MFA and its extensions outperform related algorithms in both applications.

  18. On the geometry of mixed states and the Fisher information tensor

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Contreras, I., E-mail: icontrer@illinois.edu; Ercolessi, E., E-mail: ercolessi@bo.infn.it; Schiavina, M., E-mail: michele.schiavina@math.uzh.ch

    2016-06-15

    In this paper, we will review the co-adjoint orbit formulation of finite dimensional quantum mechanics, and in this framework, we will interpret the notion of quantum Fisher information index (and metric). Following previous work of part of the authors, who introduced the definition of Fisher information tensor, we will show how its antisymmetric part is the pullback of the natural Kostant–Kirillov–Souriau symplectic form along some natural diffeomorphism. In order to do this, we will need to understand the symmetric logarithmic derivative as a proper 1-form, settling the issues about its very definition and explicit computation. Moreover, the fibration of co-adjointmore » orbits, seen as spaces of mixed states, is also discussed.« less

  19. Conservation of the Eastern Taiwan Strait Chinese White Dolphin (Sousa chinensis): Fishers' Perspectives and Management Implications.

    PubMed

    Liu, Ta-Kang; Wang, Yu-Cheng; Chuang, Laurence Zsu-Hsin; Chen, Chih-How

    2016-01-01

    The abundance of the eastern Taiwan Strait (ETS) population of the Chinese white dolphin (Sousa chinensis) has been estimated to be less than 100 individuals. It is categorized as critically endangered in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Thus, immediate measures of conservation should be taken to protect it from extinction. Currently, the Taiwanese government plans to designate its habitat as a Major Wildlife Habitat (MWH), a type of marine protected area (MPA) for conservation of wildlife species. Although the designation allows continuing the current exploitation, however, it may cause conflicts among multiple stakeholders with competing interests. The study is to explore the attitude and opinions among the stakeholders in order to better manage the MPA. This study employs a semi-structured interview and a questionnaire survey of local fishers. Results from interviews indicated that the subsistence of fishers remains a major problem. It was found that stakeholders have different perceptions of the fishers' attitude towards conservation and also thought that the fishery-related law enforcement could be difficult. Quantitative survey showed that fishers are generally positive towards the conservation of the Chinese white dolphin but are less willing to participate in the planning process. Most fishers considered temporary fishing closure as feasible for conservation. The results of this study provide recommendations for future efforts towards the goal of better conservation for this endangered species.

  20. Appendix B: Fisher, lynx, wolverine summary of distribution information

    Treesearch

    Mary Maj

    1994-01-01

    We present maps depicting distributions of fisher, lynx, and wolverine in the western United States since 1961. Comparison of past and current distributions of species can shed light on population persistence, periods of population isolation, meta-population structure, and important connecting landscapes. Information on the distribution of the American marten is not...

  1. Astronaut William Fisher preparing to train in the WETF

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1985-01-01

    Astronaut William Fisher is shown in his extravehicular mobility unit (EMU) preparing to train in the Weightless Environment Training Facility (WETF). He is wearing the communications carrier assembly but not the full helmet (32102); Reflections of the WETF can be seen on the closed visor of the EMU helmet Fiser is wearing (32103).

  2. Maniac talk - Dr. Richard R. Fisher, Director, Heliophysics Division (Emeritus), NASA HQ

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2016-05-25

    Dr. Richard R. Fisher: "As in the case of learning how to perform in any specialized context, I found there were a number of issues I was neither taught nor did I learn from life experience. Over the course of a 50-year career that transitioned from ground-based to space-based, I came to understand that there are specific tools and values that proved vital. Using my own journey, I shall summarize a few of the more useful, to identify and make available things and ideas that helped me with my time with NASA." Dr. Richard R. Fisher, Director, Heliophysics Division (Emeritus), NASA HQ

  3. Phase space gradient of dissipated work and information: A role of relative Fisher information

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Yamano, Takuya, E-mail: yamano@amy.hi-ho.ne.jp

    2013-11-15

    We show that an information theoretic distance measured by the relative Fisher information between canonical equilibrium phase densities corresponding to forward and backward processes is intimately related to the gradient of the dissipated work in phase space. We present a universal constraint on it via the logarithmic Sobolev inequality. Furthermore, we point out that a possible expression of the lower bound indicates a deep connection in terms of the relative entropy and the Fisher information of the canonical distributions.

  4. Closed-loop stability of linear quadratic optimal systems in the presence of modeling errors

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Toda, M.; Patel, R.; Sridhar, B.

    1976-01-01

    The well-known stabilizing property of linear quadratic state feedback design is utilized to evaluate the robustness of a linear quadratic feedback design in the presence of modeling errors. Two general conditions are obtained for allowable modeling errors such that the resulting closed-loop system remains stable. One of these conditions is applied to obtain two more particular conditions which are readily applicable to practical situations where a designer has information on the bounds of modeling errors. Relations are established between the allowable parameter uncertainty and the weighting matrices of the quadratic performance index, thereby enabling the designer to select appropriate weighting matrices to attain a robust feedback design.

  5. The Influence of Fisher Knowledge on the Susceptibility of Reef Fish Aggregations to Fishing

    PubMed Central

    Robinson, Jan; Cinner, Joshua E.; Graham, Nicholas A. J.

    2014-01-01

    Reef fishes that exhibit predictable aggregating behaviour are often considered vulnerable to overexploitation. However, fisher knowledge of this behaviour is often heterogeneous and, coupled with socioeconomic factors that constrain demand for or access to aggregated fish, will influence susceptibility to fishing. At two case study locations in Papua New Guinea, Ahus and Karkar islands, we conducted interview-based surveys to examine how local context influenced heterogeneity in knowledge of fish aggregations. We then explored the role of fisher knowledge in conferring susceptibility to fishing relative to socioeconomic drivers of fishing effort. Local heterogeneity in knowledge of aggregating behaviour differed between our case studies. At Ahus, variable access rights among fishers and genders to the main habitats were sources of heterogeneity in knowledge. By contrast, knowledge was more homogenous at Karkar and the sole source of variation was gear type. Differences between locations in the susceptibility of aggregations to fishing depended primarily on socioeconomic drivers of fishing effort rather than catchability. While Ahus fishers were knowledgeable of fish aggregations and used more selective gears, Karkar fishers were less constrained by tenure in their access to aggregation habitat. However, fishing effort was greater at Ahus and likely related to high dependency on fishing, greater access to provincial capital markets than Karkar and a weakening of customary management. Moreover, highly efficient fishing techniques have emerged at Ahus to exploit the non-reproductive aggregating behaviour of target species. Understanding how knowledge is structured within fishing communities and its relation to socioeconomic drivers of fishing effort is important if customary practices for conservation, such as tambu areas, are to be supported. The findings of this study call for a holistic approach to assessing the risks posed to reef fish aggregations by fishing

  6. The influence of fisher knowledge on the susceptibility of reef fish aggregations to fishing.

    PubMed

    Robinson, Jan; Cinner, Joshua E; Graham, Nicholas A J

    2014-01-01

    Reef fishes that exhibit predictable aggregating behaviour are often considered vulnerable to overexploitation. However, fisher knowledge of this behaviour is often heterogeneous and, coupled with socioeconomic factors that constrain demand for or access to aggregated fish, will influence susceptibility to fishing. At two case study locations in Papua New Guinea, Ahus and Karkar islands, we conducted interview-based surveys to examine how local context influenced heterogeneity in knowledge of fish aggregations. We then explored the role of fisher knowledge in conferring susceptibility to fishing relative to socioeconomic drivers of fishing effort. Local heterogeneity in knowledge of aggregating behaviour differed between our case studies. At Ahus, variable access rights among fishers and genders to the main habitats were sources of heterogeneity in knowledge. By contrast, knowledge was more homogenous at Karkar and the sole source of variation was gear type. Differences between locations in the susceptibility of aggregations to fishing depended primarily on socioeconomic drivers of fishing effort rather than catchability. While Ahus fishers were knowledgeable of fish aggregations and used more selective gears, Karkar fishers were less constrained by tenure in their access to aggregation habitat. However, fishing effort was greater at Ahus and likely related to high dependency on fishing, greater access to provincial capital markets than Karkar and a weakening of customary management. Moreover, highly efficient fishing techniques have emerged at Ahus to exploit the non-reproductive aggregating behaviour of target species. Understanding how knowledge is structured within fishing communities and its relation to socioeconomic drivers of fishing effort is important if customary practices for conservation, such as tambu areas, are to be supported. The findings of this study call for a holistic approach to assessing the risks posed to reef fish aggregations by fishing

  7. One-loop Parke-Taylor factors for quadratic propagators from massless scattering equations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gomez, Humberto; Lopez-Arcos, Cristhiam; Talavera, Pedro

    2017-10-01

    In this paper we reconsider the Cachazo-He-Yuan construction (CHY) of the so called scattering amplitudes at one-loop, in order to obtain quadratic propagators. In theories with colour ordering the key ingredient is the redefinition of the Parke-Taylor factors. After classifying all the possible one-loop CHY-integrands we conjecture a new one-loop amplitude for the massless Bi-adjoint Φ3 theory. The prescription directly reproduces the quadratic propagators of the traditional Feynman approach.

  8. Historical and Contemporary DNA Indicate Fisher Decline and Isolation Occurred Prior to the European Settlement of California

    PubMed Central

    Tucker, Jody M.; Schwartz, Michael K.; Truex, Richard L.; Pilgrim, Kristine L.; Allendorf, Fred W.

    2012-01-01

    Establishing if species contractions were the result of natural phenomena or human induced landscape changes is essential for managing natural populations. Fishers (Martes pennanti) in California occur in two geographically and genetically isolated populations in the northwestern mountains and southern Sierra Nevada. Their isolation is hypothesized to have resulted from a decline in abundance and distribution associated with European settlement in the 1800s. However, there is little evidence to establish that fisher occupied the area between the two extant populations at that time. We analyzed 10 microsatellite loci from 275 contemporary and 21 historical fisher samples (1880–1920) to evaluate the demographic history of fisher in California. We did not find any evidence of a recent (post-European) bottleneck in the northwestern population. In the southern Sierra Nevada, genetic subdivision within the population strongly influenced bottleneck tests. After accounting for genetic subdivision, we found a bottleneck signal only in the northern and central portions of the southern Sierra Nevada, indicating that the southernmost tip of these mountains may have acted as a refugium for fisher during the anthropogenic changes of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Using a coalescent-based Bayesian analysis, we detected a 90% decline in effective population size and dated the time of decline to over a thousand years ago. We hypothesize that fisher distribution in California contracted to the two current population areas pre-European settlement, and that portions of the southern Sierra Nevada subsequently experienced another more recent bottleneck post-European settlement. PMID:23300783

  9. Detection and Assessment of Ecosystem Regime Shifts from Fisher Information

    EPA Science Inventory

    Ecosystem regime shifts, which are long-term system reorganizations, have profound implications for sustainability. There is a great need for indicators of regime shifts, particularly methods that are applicable to data from real systems. We have developed a form of Fisher info...

  10. Characterization of a Quadratic Function in Rn

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Xu, Conway

    2010-01-01

    It is proved that a scalar-valued function "f"(x) defined in "n"-dimensional space must be quadratic, if the intersection of tangent planes at x[subscript 1] and x[subscript 2] always contains the midpoint of the line joining x[subscript 1] and x[subscript 2]. This is the converse of a result of Stenlund proved in this JOURNAL in 2001.

  11. Evaluation of fisher (Pekania pennanti) restoration in Olympic National Park and the Olympic Recovery Area: 2014 annual progress report

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Happe, Patricia J.; Jenkins, Kurt J.; Kay, Thomas J.; Pilgrim, Kristy L.; Schwartz, Michael K.; Lewis, Jeffrey C.; Aubry, Keith B.

    2015-01-01

    With the translocation and release of 90 fishers (Pekania pennanti) from British Columbia to Olympic National Park during 2008–2010, the National Park Service and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife accomplished the first phase of fisher restoration in Washington State. Beginning in 2013, we initiated a new research project to determine the current status of fishers on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula 3–5 years after the releases and evaluate the short-term success of the restoration program. Objectives of the study are to determine the current distribution of fishers and proportion of the recovery area that is currently occupied by fishers, determine several genetic characteristics of the reintroduced population, and determine reproductive success of the founding animals through genetic studies. During 2014, we continued working with a broad coalition of cooperating agencies, tribes, and nongovernmental organizations (NGO) to collect data on fisher distribution and genetics using noninvasive sampling methods. The primary sampling frame consisted of 157 24-square-kilometer hexagons (hexes) distributed across all major land ownerships within the Olympic Peninsula target survey area. In 2014 we expanded the study by adding 58 more hexes to an expanded study area in response to incidental fisher observations outside of the target area obtained in 2013; 49 hexes were added south and 9 to the east of the target area. During 2014, federal, state, tribal and NGO biologists and volunteers established three baited motion-sensing camera stations, paired with hair snaring devices, in 80 hexes; 69 in the targeted area 11 in the expansion areas. Each paired camera/hair station was left in place for approximately 6 weeks, with three checks on 2-week intervals. We documented fisher presence in 5 of the 80 hexagons, and identified 5 different fishers through a combination of microsatellite DNA analyses and camera detections. All fisher detections were in the target area

  12. Emotion suppression moderates the quadratic association between RSA and executive function.

    PubMed

    Spangler, Derek P; Bell, Martha Ann; Deater-Deckard, Kirby

    2015-09-01

    There is uncertainty about whether respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), a cardiac marker of adaptive emotion regulation, is involved in relatively low or high executive function performance. In the present study, we investigated (a) whether RSA during rest and tasks predict both relatively low and high executive function within a larger quadratic association among the two variables, and (b) the extent to which this quadratic trend was moderated by individual differences in emotion regulation. To achieve these aims, a sample of ethnically and socioeconomically diverse women self-reported reappraisal and emotion suppression. They next experienced a 2-min resting period during which electrocardiogram (ECG) was continually assessed. In the next phase, the women completed an array of executive function and nonexecutive cognitive tasks while ECG was measured throughout. As anticipated, resting RSA showed a quadratic association with executive function that was strongest for high suppression. These results suggest that relatively high resting RSA may predict poor executive function ability when emotion regulation consumes executive control resources needed for ongoing cognitive performance. © 2015 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

  13. Emotion suppression moderates the quadratic association between RSA and executive function

    PubMed Central

    Spangler, Derek P.; Bell, Martha Ann; Deater-Deckard, Kirby

    2016-01-01

    There is uncertainty about whether respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), a cardiac marker of adaptive emotion regulation, is involved in relatively low or high executive function performance. In the present study, we investigated: (1) whether RSA during rest and tasks predict both relatively low and high executive function within a larger quadratic association among the two variables, and (2) the extent to which this quadratic trend was moderated by individual differences in emotion regulation. To achieve these aims, a sample of ethnically and socioeconomically diverse women self-reported reappraisal and emotion suppression. They next experienced a two-minute resting period during which ECG was continually assessed. In the next phase, the women completed an array of executive function and non-executive cognitive tasks while ECG was measured throughout. As anticipated, resting RSA showed a quadratic association with executive function that was strongest for high suppression. These results suggest that relatively high resting RSA may predict poor executive function ability when emotion regulation consumes executive control resources needed for ongoing cognitive performance. PMID:26018941

  14. Mortality risks and limits to population growth of fishers

    Treesearch

    Rick A. Sweitzer; Viorel D. Popescu; Craig M. Thompson; Kathryn L. Purcell; Reginald H. Barrett; Greta M. Wengert; Mourad W. Gabriel; Leslie W. Woods

    2015-01-01

    Fishers (Pekania pennanti) in the west coast states of Washington, Oregon, and California, USA have not recovered from population declines and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed options for listing them as threatened. Our objectives were to evaluate differences in survival and mortality risk from natural (e.g., predation, disease, injuries,...

  15. The Milky Way, the Local Group & the IR Tully-Fisher Diagram

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Malhotra, S.; Spergel, D.; Rhoads, J.; Li, J.

    1996-01-01

    Using the near infrared fluxes of local group galaxies derived from Cosmic Background Explorer/Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment band maps and published Cepheid distances, we construct Tully-Fisher diagrams for the Local Group.

  16. Application of multivariate statistics to vestibular testing: discriminating between Meniere's disease and migraine associated dizziness

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Dimitri, P. S.; Wall, C. 3rd; Oas, J. G.; Rauch, S. D.

    2001-01-01

    Meniere's disease (MD) and migraine associated dizziness (MAD) are two disorders that can have similar symptomatologies, but differ vastly in treatment. Vestibular testing is sometimes used to help differentiate between these disorders, but the inefficiency of a human interpreter analyzing a multitude of variables independently decreases its utility. Our hypothesis was that we could objectively discriminate between patients with MD and those with MAD using select variables from the vestibular test battery. Sinusoidal harmonic acceleration test variables were reduced to three vestibulo-ocular reflex physiologic parameters: gain, time constant, and asymmetry. A combination of these parameters plus a measurement of reduced vestibular response from caloric testing allowed us to achieve a joint classification rate of 91%, independent quadratic classification algorithm. Data from posturography were not useful for this type of differentiation. Overall, our classification function can be used as an unbiased assistant to discriminate between MD and MAD and gave us insight into the pathophysiologic differences between the two disorders.

  17. Finding Optimal Gains In Linear-Quadratic Control Problems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Milman, Mark H.; Scheid, Robert E., Jr.

    1990-01-01

    Analytical method based on Volterra factorization leads to new approximations for optimal control gains in finite-time linear-quadratic control problem of system having infinite number of dimensions. Circumvents need to analyze and solve Riccati equations and provides more transparent connection between dynamics of system and optimal gain.

  18. Comment on ‘On the realisation of quantum Fisher information’

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Olendski, O.

    2017-05-01

    It is shown that calculation of the momentum Fisher information of the quasi-one-dimensional hydrogen atom recently presented by Saha et al (2017 Eur. J. Phys. 38 025103) is wrong. A correct derivation is provided and its didactical advantages and scientific significances are highlighted.

  19. Membership-degree preserving discriminant analysis with applications to face recognition.

    PubMed

    Yang, Zhangjing; Liu, Chuancai; Huang, Pu; Qian, Jianjun

    2013-01-01

    In pattern recognition, feature extraction techniques have been widely employed to reduce the dimensionality of high-dimensional data. In this paper, we propose a novel feature extraction algorithm called membership-degree preserving discriminant analysis (MPDA) based on the fisher criterion and fuzzy set theory for face recognition. In the proposed algorithm, the membership degree of each sample to particular classes is firstly calculated by the fuzzy k-nearest neighbor (FKNN) algorithm to characterize the similarity between each sample and class centers, and then the membership degree is incorporated into the definition of the between-class scatter and the within-class scatter. The feature extraction criterion via maximizing the ratio of the between-class scatter to the within-class scatter is applied. Experimental results on the ORL, Yale, and FERET face databases demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

  20. Quadratic constrained mixed discrete optimization with an adiabatic quantum optimizer

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chandra, Rishabh; Jacobson, N. Tobias; Moussa, Jonathan E.; Frankel, Steven H.; Kais, Sabre

    2014-07-01

    We extend the family of problems that may be implemented on an adiabatic quantum optimizer (AQO). When a quadratic optimization problem has at least one set of discrete controls and the constraints are linear, we call this a quadratic constrained mixed discrete optimization (QCMDO) problem. QCMDO problems are NP-hard, and no efficient classical algorithm for their solution is known. Included in the class of QCMDO problems are combinatorial optimization problems constrained by a linear partial differential equation (PDE) or system of linear PDEs. An essential complication commonly encountered in solving this type of problem is that the linear constraint may introduce many intermediate continuous variables into the optimization while the computational cost grows exponentially with problem size. We resolve this difficulty by developing a constructive mapping from QCMDO to quadratic unconstrained binary optimization (QUBO) such that the size of the QUBO problem depends only on the number of discrete control variables. With a suitable embedding, taking into account the physical constraints of the realizable coupling graph, the resulting QUBO problem can be implemented on an existing AQO. The mapping itself is efficient, scaling cubically with the number of continuous variables in the general case and linearly in the PDE case if an efficient preconditioner is available.

  1. Dating the upper Cenozoic sediments in Fisher Valley, southeastern Utah ( USA).

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Colman, Steven M.; Choquette, Anne F.; Rosholt, J.M.; Miller, G.H.; Huntley, D.J.

    1986-01-01

    More than 140 m of upper Cenozoic basin-fill sediments were deposited and then deformed in Fisher Valley between about 2.5 and 0.25 m.y. ago, in response to uplift of the adjacent Onion Creek salt diapir. In addition to these basin-fill sediments, minor amounts of eolian and fluvial sand were depositd in Holocene time. The sediments, whose relative ages are known from the stratigraphy, are predominantly sandy, second-cycle red beds derived from nearby Mesozoic rocks; most were deposited in a vertical sequence, filling a sedimentary basin now exposed by fluvial dissection. We have applied a variety of established and experimental dating methods to the sediments in Fisher Valley to establish their age and to provide time control for the recent history of the Onion Creek salt diapir.-from Authors

  2. Reflections on a Collaboration: Communicating Educational Research in "Fisher"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Garces, Liliana M.

    2013-01-01

    It was critical that the U.S. Supreme Court have the best empirical evidence available to help inform its decisions in "Fisher." The "amicus" brief filed by 444 researchers from 172 institutions in 42 states was the result of a collaborative effort among members of the social science, educational, and legal communities. In her role as counsel of…

  3. Linear state feedback, quadratic weights, and closed loop eigenstructures. M.S. Thesis. Final Report

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Thompson, P. M.

    1980-01-01

    Equations are derived for the angles of general multivariable root loci and linear quadratic optimal root loci, including angles of departure and approach. The generalized eigenvalue problem is used to compute angles of approach. Equations are also derived to find the sensitivity of closed loop eigenvalue and the directional derivatives of closed loop eigenvectors. An equivalence class of quadratic weights that produce the same asymptotic eigenstructure is defined, a canonical element is defined, and an algorithm to find it is given. The behavior of the optimal root locus in the nonasymptotic region is shown to be different for quadratic weights with the same asymptotic properties. An algorithm is presented that can be used to select a feedback gain matrix for the linear state feedback problem which produces a specified asymptotic eigenstructure. Another algorithm is given to compute the asymptotic eigenstructure properties inherent in a given set of quadratic weights. Finally, it is shown that optimal root loci for nongeneric problems can be approximated by generic ones in the nonasymptotic region.

  4. Assessing fishing and marine biodiversity changes using fishers' perceptions: the Spanish Mediterranean and Gulf of Cadiz case study.

    PubMed

    Coll, Marta; Carreras, Marta; Ciércoles, Cristina; Cornax, Maria-José; Gorelli, Giulia; Morote, Elvira; Sáez, Raquel

    2014-01-01

    The expansion of fishing activities has intensively transformed marine ecosystems worldwide. However, available time series do not frequently cover historical periods. Fishers' perceptions were used to complement data and characterise changes in fishing activity and exploited ecosystems in the Spanish Mediterranean Sea and Gulf of Cadiz. Fishers' interviews were conducted in 27 fishing harbours of the area, and included 64 fishers from ages between 20 to >70 years old to capture the experiences and memories of various generations. Results are discussed in comparison with available independent information using stock assessments and international convention lists. According to fishers, fishing activity substantially evolved in the area with time, expanding towards deeper grounds and towards areas more distant from the coast. The maximum amount of catch ever caught and the weight of the largest species ever captured inversely declined with time. Fishers (70%) cited specific fishing grounds where depletion occurred. They documented ecological changes of marine biodiversity during the last half of the century: 94% reported the decline of commercially important fish and invertebrates and 61% listed species that could have been extirpated, with frequent mentions to cartilaginous fish. Declines and extirpations were in line with available quantitative evaluations from stock assessments and international conventions, and were likely linked to fishing impacts. Conversely, half of interviewed fishers claimed that several species had proliferated, such as cephalopods, jellyfish, and small-sized fish. These changes were likely related to trophic cascades due to fishing and due to climate change effects. The species composition of depletions, local extinctions and proliferations showed differences by region suggesting that regional dynamics are important when analysing biodiversity changes. Using fishers' perceptions, fishing and ecological changes in the study area were

  5. Assessing Fishing and Marine Biodiversity Changes Using Fishers' Perceptions: The Spanish Mediterranean and Gulf of Cadiz Case Study

    PubMed Central

    Coll, Marta; Carreras, Marta; Ciércoles, Cristina; Cornax, Maria-José; Gorelli, Giulia; Morote, Elvira; Sáez, Raquel

    2014-01-01

    Background The expansion of fishing activities has intensively transformed marine ecosystems worldwide. However, available time series do not frequently cover historical periods. Methodology Fishers' perceptions were used to complement data and characterise changes in fishing activity and exploited ecosystems in the Spanish Mediterranean Sea and Gulf of Cadiz. Fishers' interviews were conducted in 27 fishing harbours of the area, and included 64 fishers from ages between 20 to >70 years old to capture the experiences and memories of various generations. Results are discussed in comparison with available independent information using stock assessments and international convention lists. Principal Findings According to fishers, fishing activity substantially evolved in the area with time, expanding towards deeper grounds and towards areas more distant from the coast. The maximum amount of catch ever caught and the weight of the largest species ever captured inversely declined with time. Fishers (70%) cited specific fishing grounds where depletion occurred. They documented ecological changes of marine biodiversity during the last half of the century: 94% reported the decline of commercially important fish and invertebrates and 61% listed species that could have been extirpated, with frequent mentions to cartilaginous fish. Declines and extirpations were in line with available quantitative evaluations from stock assessments and international conventions, and were likely linked to fishing impacts. Conversely, half of interviewed fishers claimed that several species had proliferated, such as cephalopods, jellyfish, and small-sized fish. These changes were likely related to trophic cascades due to fishing and due to climate change effects. The species composition of depletions, local extinctions and proliferations showed differences by region suggesting that regional dynamics are important when analysing biodiversity changes. Conclusions/Significance Using fishers

  6. Unravelling Student Challenges with Quadratics: A Cognitive Approach

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kotsopoulos, Donna

    2007-01-01

    The author's secondary school mathematics students have often reported to her that quadratic relations are one of the most conceptually challenging aspects of the high school curriculum. From her own classroom experiences there seemed to be several aspects to the students' challenges. Many students, even in their early secondary education, have…

  7. Using Fisher information to track stability in multivariate ...

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    With the current proliferation of data, the proficient use of statistical and mining techniques offer substantial benefits to capture useful information from any dataset. As numerous approaches make use of information theory concepts, here, we discuss how Fisher information (FI) can be applied to sustainability science problems and used in data mining applications by analyzing patterns in data. FI was developed as a measure of information content in data, and it has been adapted to assess order in complex system behaviors. The main advantage of the approach is the ability to collapse multiple variables into an index that can be used to assess stability and track overall trends in a system, including its regimes and regime shifts. Here, we provide a brief overview of FI theory, followed by a simple step-by-step numerical example on how to compute FI. Furthermore, we introduce an open source Python library that can be freely downloaded from GitHub and we use it in a simple case study to evaluate the evolution of FI for the global-mean temperature from 1880 to 2015. Results indicate significant declines in FI starting in 1978, suggesting a possible regime shift. Demonstrate Fisher information as a useful method for assessing patterns in big data.

  8. An optimal consumption and investment problem with quadratic utility and negative wealth constraints.

    PubMed

    Roh, Kum-Hwan; Kim, Ji Yeoun; Shin, Yong Hyun

    2017-01-01

    In this paper, we investigate the optimal consumption and portfolio selection problem with negative wealth constraints for an economic agent who has a quadratic utility function of consumption and receives a constant labor income. Due to the property of the quadratic utility function, we separate our problem into two cases and derive the closed-form solutions for each case. We also illustrate some numerical implications of the optimal consumption and portfolio.

  9. Global stability and quadratic Hamiltonian structure in Lotka-Volterra and quasi-polynomial systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Szederkényi, Gábor; Hangos, Katalin M.

    2004-04-01

    We show that the global stability of quasi-polynomial (QP) and Lotka-Volterra (LV) systems with the well-known logarithmic Lyapunov function is equivalent to the existence of a local generalized dissipative Hamiltonian description of the LV system with a diagonal quadratic form as a Hamiltonian function. The Hamiltonian function can be calculated and the quadratic dissipativity neighborhood of the origin can be estimated by solving linear matrix inequalities.

  10. Improved neutron-gamma discrimination for a 3He neutron detector using subspace learning methods

    DOE PAGES

    Wang, C. L.; Funk, L. L.; Riedel, R. A.; ...

    2017-02-10

    3He gas based neutron linear-position-sensitive detectors (LPSDs) have been applied for many neutron scattering instruments. Traditional Pulse-Height Analysis (PHA) for Neutron-Gamma Discrimination (NGD) resulted in the neutron-gamma efficiency ratio on the orders of 10 5-10 6. The NGD ratios of 3He detectors need to be improved for even better scientific results from neutron scattering. Digital Signal Processing (DSP) analyses of waveforms were proposed for obtaining better NGD ratios, based on features extracted from rise-time, pulse amplitude, charge integration, a simplified Wiener filter, and the cross-correlation between individual and template waveforms of neutron and gamma events. Fisher linear discriminant analysis (FLDA)more » and three multivariate analyses (MVAs) of the features were performed. The NGD ratios are improved by about 10 2-10 3 times compared with the traditional PHA method. Finally, our results indicate the NGD capabilities of 3He tube detectors can be significantly improved with subspace-learning based methods, which may result in a reduced data-collection time and better data quality for further data reduction.« less

  11. Communications circuit including a linear quadratic estimator

    DOEpatents

    Ferguson, Dennis D.

    2015-07-07

    A circuit includes a linear quadratic estimator (LQE) configured to receive a plurality of measurements a signal. The LQE is configured to weight the measurements based on their respective uncertainties to produce weighted averages. The circuit further includes a controller coupled to the LQE and configured to selectively adjust at least one data link parameter associated with a communication channel in response to receiving the weighted averages.

  12. Low Titers of Canine Distemper Virus Antibody in Wild Fishers (Martes pennanti) in the Eastern USA.

    PubMed

    Peper, Steven T; Peper, Randall L; Mitcheltree, Denise H; Kollias, George V; Brooks, Robert P; Stevens, Sadie S; Serfass, Thomas L

    2016-01-01

    Canine distemper virus (CDV) infects species in the order Carnivora. Members of the family Mustelidae are among the species most susceptible to CDV and have a high mortality rate after infection. Assessing an animal's pathogen or disease load prior to any reintroduction project is important to help protect the animal being reintroduced, as well as the wildlife and livestock in the area of relocation. We screened 58 fishers for CDV antibody prior to their release into Pennsylvania, US, as part of a reintroduction program. Five of the 58 (9%) fishers had a weak-positive reaction for CDV antibody at a dilution of 1:16. None of the fishers exhibited any clinical sign of canine distemper while being held prior to release.

  13. A Unified Approach to Teaching Quadratic and Cubic Equations.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ward, A. J. B.

    2003-01-01

    Presents a simple method for teaching the algebraic solution of cubic equations via completion of the cube. Shows that this method is readily accepted by students already familiar with completion of the square as a method for quadratic equations. (Author/KHR)

  14. How discriminating are discriminative instruments?

    PubMed

    Hankins, Matthew

    2008-05-27

    The McMaster framework introduced by Kirshner & Guyatt is the dominant paradigm for the development of measures of health status and health-related quality of life (HRQL). The framework defines the functions of such instruments as evaluative, predictive or discriminative. Evaluative instruments are required to be sensitive to change (responsiveness), but there is no corresponding index of the degree to which discriminative instruments are sensitive to cross-sectional differences. This paper argues that indices of validity and reliability are not sufficient to demonstrate that a discriminative instrument performs its function of discriminating between individuals, and that the McMaster framework would be augmented by the addition of a separate index of discrimination. The coefficient proposed by Ferguson (Delta) is easily adapted to HRQL instruments and is a direct, non-parametric index of the degree to which an instrument distinguishes between individuals. While Delta should prove useful in the development and evaluation of discriminative instruments, further research is required to elucidate the relationship between the measurement properties of discrimination, reliability and responsiveness.

  15. Finding the Best Quadratic Approximation of a Function

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yang, Yajun; Gordon, Sheldon P.

    2011-01-01

    This article examines the question of finding the best quadratic function to approximate a given function on an interval. The prototypical function considered is f(x) = e[superscript x]. Two approaches are considered, one based on Taylor polynomial approximations at various points in the interval under consideration, the other based on the fact…

  16. Fast parallel DNA-based algorithms for molecular computation: quadratic congruence and factoring integers.

    PubMed

    Chang, Weng-Long

    2012-03-01

    Assume that n is a positive integer. If there is an integer such that M (2) ≡ C (mod n), i.e., the congruence has a solution, then C is said to be a quadratic congruence (mod n). If the congruence does not have a solution, then C is said to be a quadratic noncongruence (mod n). The task of solving the problem is central to many important applications, the most obvious being cryptography. In this article, we describe a DNA-based algorithm for solving quadratic congruence and factoring integers. In additional to this novel contribution, we also show the utility of our encoding scheme, and of the algorithm's submodules. We demonstrate how a variety of arithmetic, shifted and comparative operations, namely bitwise and full addition, subtraction, left shifter and comparison perhaps are performed using strands of DNA.

  17. Dark-bright quadratic solitons with a focusing effective Kerr nonlinearity

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chen, Manna; Ping, Xiaorou; Liang, Guo; Guo, Qi; Lu, Daquan; Hu, Wei

    2018-01-01

    Dark solitons are traditionally considered to exist in defocusing Kerr nonlinearity media. We investigate dark quadratic solitons with a focusing effective Kerr nonlinearity and a sine-oscillatory nonlocal response. A nonlinear refractive index with a focusing sine-oscillatory response leads to a defocusing effect with a strong degree of nonlocality, which causes the formation of dark solitons. By analyzing the modulational instability, we determine the parameter domain for dark quadratic solitons with a stable background and numerically obtain dark-bright soliton solutions in the form of pairs, which avoid radiative phenomena. Based on a numerical simulation, we find that all dark-bright soliton pairs are unstable after a relatively long propagation distance, and their stabilities are affected by the soliton interval and the degree of nonlocality.

  18. Postcolonial Appalachia: Bhabha, Bakhtin, and Diane Gilliam Fisher's "Kettle Bottom"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stevenson, Sheryl

    2006-01-01

    Diane Gilliam Fisher's 2004 award-winning book of poems, "Kettle Bottom," offers students a revealing vantage point for seeing Appalachian regional culture in a postcolonial context. An artful and accessible poetic sequence that was selected as the 2005 summer reading for entering students at Smith College, "Kettle Bottom"…

  19. Distinguishing tracks of marten and fisher at track-plate stations

    Treesearch

    William J. Zielinski; Richard L. Truex

    1995-01-01

    Managing and conserving uncommon mammals, such as fisher (Martes pennanti) and American marten (M. americana), depend upon a reliable mechanism to index their populations. In parts of their ranges where these species are not commercially harvested, baited track stations provide an alternative means to collect data on distribution...

  20. Martens, sables, and fishers: new synthesis informs management and conservation

    Treesearch

    Keith B. Aubry; Martin G. Raphael; Marie Oliver

    2014-01-01

    Martens, sables, and fishers are midsized carnivores belonging to the genus Martes. Their silky coats have been valued in the fur trade for centuries, which has contributed to a marked decline in their numbers. Pacific Northwest Martes species depend on structurally complex forested ecosystems and specific climatic conditions...

  1. Decrease of Fisher information and the information geometry of evolution equations for quantum mechanical probability amplitudes.

    PubMed

    Cafaro, Carlo; Alsing, Paul M

    2018-04-01

    The relevance of the concept of Fisher information is increasing in both statistical physics and quantum computing. From a statistical mechanical standpoint, the application of Fisher information in the kinetic theory of gases is characterized by its decrease along the solutions of the Boltzmann equation for Maxwellian molecules in the two-dimensional case. From a quantum mechanical standpoint, the output state in Grover's quantum search algorithm follows a geodesic path obtained from the Fubini-Study metric on the manifold of Hilbert-space rays. Additionally, Grover's algorithm is specified by constant Fisher information. In this paper, we present an information geometric characterization of the oscillatory or monotonic behavior of statistically parametrized squared probability amplitudes originating from special functional forms of the Fisher information function: constant, exponential decay, and power-law decay. Furthermore, for each case, we compute both the computational speed and the availability loss of the corresponding physical processes by exploiting a convenient Riemannian geometrization of useful thermodynamical concepts. Finally, we briefly comment on the possibility of using the proposed methods of information geometry to help identify a suitable trade-off between speed and thermodynamic efficiency in quantum search algorithms.

  2. Decrease of Fisher information and the information geometry of evolution equations for quantum mechanical probability amplitudes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cafaro, Carlo; Alsing, Paul M.

    2018-04-01

    The relevance of the concept of Fisher information is increasing in both statistical physics and quantum computing. From a statistical mechanical standpoint, the application of Fisher information in the kinetic theory of gases is characterized by its decrease along the solutions of the Boltzmann equation for Maxwellian molecules in the two-dimensional case. From a quantum mechanical standpoint, the output state in Grover's quantum search algorithm follows a geodesic path obtained from the Fubini-Study metric on the manifold of Hilbert-space rays. Additionally, Grover's algorithm is specified by constant Fisher information. In this paper, we present an information geometric characterization of the oscillatory or monotonic behavior of statistically parametrized squared probability amplitudes originating from special functional forms of the Fisher information function: constant, exponential decay, and power-law decay. Furthermore, for each case, we compute both the computational speed and the availability loss of the corresponding physical processes by exploiting a convenient Riemannian geometrization of useful thermodynamical concepts. Finally, we briefly comment on the possibility of using the proposed methods of information geometry to help identify a suitable trade-off between speed and thermodynamic efficiency in quantum search algorithms.

  3. Directional passability and quadratic steering logic for pyramid-type single gimbal control moment gyros

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yamada, Katsuhiko; Jikuya, Ichiro

    2014-09-01

    Singularity analysis and the steering logic of pyramid-type single gimbal control moment gyros are studied. First, a new concept of directional passability in a specified direction is introduced to investigate the structure of an elliptic singular surface. The differences between passability and directional passability are discussed in detail and are visualized for 0H, 2H, and 4H singular surfaces. Second, quadratic steering logic (QSL), a new steering logic for passing the singular surface, is investigated. The algorithm is based on the quadratic constrained quadratic optimization problem and is reduced to the Newton method by using Gröbner bases. The proposed steering logic is demonstrated through numerical simulations for both constant torque maneuvering examples and attitude control examples.

  4. Nonadiabatic effects in ultracold molecules via anomalous linear and quadratic Zeeman shifts.

    PubMed

    McGuyer, B H; Osborn, C B; McDonald, M; Reinaudi, G; Skomorowski, W; Moszynski, R; Zelevinsky, T

    2013-12-13

    Anomalously large linear and quadratic Zeeman shifts are measured for weakly bound ultracold 88Sr2 molecules near the intercombination-line asymptote. Nonadiabatic Coriolis coupling and the nature of long-range molecular potentials explain how this effect arises and scales roughly cubically with the size of the molecule. The linear shifts yield nonadiabatic mixing angles of the molecular states. The quadratic shifts are sensitive to nearby opposite f-parity states and exhibit fourth-order corrections, providing a stringent test of a state-of-the-art ab initio model.

  5. Robust Weak Chimeras in Oscillator Networks with Delayed Linear and Quadratic Interactions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bick, Christian; Sebek, Michael; Kiss, István Z.

    2017-10-01

    We present an approach to generate chimera dynamics (localized frequency synchrony) in oscillator networks with two populations of (at least) two elements using a general method based on a delayed interaction with linear and quadratic terms. The coupling design yields robust chimeras through a phase-model-based design of the delay and the ratio of linear and quadratic components of the interactions. We demonstrate the method in the Brusselator model and experiments with electrochemical oscillators. The technique opens the way to directly bridge chimera dynamics in phase models and real-world oscillator networks.

  6. Confidence set inference with a prior quadratic bound

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Backus, George E.

    1989-01-01

    In the uniqueness part of a geophysical inverse problem, the observer wants to predict all likely values of P unknown numerical properties z=(z sub 1,...,z sub p) of the earth from measurement of D other numerical properties y (sup 0) = (y (sub 1) (sup 0), ..., y (sub D (sup 0)), using full or partial knowledge of the statistical distribution of the random errors in y (sup 0). The data space Y containing y(sup 0) is D-dimensional, so when the model space X is infinite-dimensional the linear uniqueness problem usually is insoluble without prior information about the correct earth model x. If that information is a quadratic bound on x, Bayesian inference (BI) and stochastic inversion (SI) inject spurious structure into x, implied by neither the data nor the quadratic bound. Confidence set inference (CSI) provides an alternative inversion technique free of this objection. Confidence set inference is illustrated in the problem of estimating the geomagnetic field B at the core-mantle boundary (CMB) from components of B measured on or above the earth's surface.

  7. Linear quadratic stochastic control of atomic hydrogen masers.

    PubMed

    Koppang, P; Leland, R

    1999-01-01

    Data are given showing the results of using the linear quadratic Gaussian (LQG) technique to steer remote hydrogen masers to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) as given by the United States Naval Observatory (USNO) via two-way satellite time transfer and the Global Positioning System (GPS). Data also are shown from the results of steering a hydrogen maser to the real-time USNO mean. A general overview of the theory behind the LQG technique also is given. The LQG control is a technique that uses Kalman filtering to estimate time and frequency errors used as input into a control calculation. A discrete frequency steer is calculated by minimizing a quadratic cost function that is dependent on both the time and frequency errors and the control effort. Different penalties, chosen by the designer, are assessed by the controller as the time and frequency errors and control effort vary from zero. With this feature, controllers can be designed to force the time and frequency differences between two standards to zero, either more or less aggressively depending on the application.

  8. Evaluation of fisher restoration in Olympic National Park and the Olympic Recovery Area: 2013 Annual Progress Report

    Treesearch

    Patricia J. Happe; Kurt J. Jenkins; Michael K. Schwartz; Jeffrey C. Lewis; Keith B. Aubry

    2014-01-01

    With the translocation and release of 90 fishers [Pekania pennanti (formerly Martes pennanti)] from British Columbia to Olympic National Park during 2008-2010, the National Park Service and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife accomplished the first phase of fisher restoration in Washington State. Beginning in 2013, we initiated a new research project to...

  9. Fisher-Mendel controversy in genetics: scientific argument, intellectual integrity, a fair society, Western falls and bioethical evaluation.

    PubMed

    Tang, Bing H

    2009-10-01

    This review article aims to discuss and analyze the background and findings regarding Fisher-Mendel Controversy in Genetics and to elucidate the scientific argument and intellectual integrity involved, as well as their importance in a fair society, and the lesson of Western falls as learned. At the onset of this review, the kernel of Mendel-Fisher Controversy is dissected and then identified. The fact of an organizational restructuring that had never gone towards a happy synchronization for the ensuing years since 1933 is demonstrated. It was at that time after Fisher succeeded Karl Pearson not only as the Francis Galton Professor of Eugenics but also as the chief of the Galton Laboratory at University College, London. The academic style of eugenics in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the UK is then introduced. Fisher's ideology at that time, with its effects on the human value system and policy-making at that juncture are portrayed. Bioethical assessment is provided. Lessons in history, the emergence of the Eastern phenomenon and the decline of the Western power are outlined.

  10. On the characterization of vegetation recovery after fire disturbance using Fisher-Shannon analysis and SPOT/VEGETATION Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) time series

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lasaponara, Rosa; Lanorte, Antonio; Lovallo, Michele; Telesca, Luciano

    2015-04-01

    Time series can fruitfully support fire monitoring and management from statistical analysis of fire occurrence (Tuia et al. 2008) to danger estimation (lasaponara 2005), damage evaluation (Lanorte et al 2014) and post fire recovery (Lanorte et al. 2014). In this paper, the time dynamics of SPOT-VEGETATION Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) time series are analyzed by using the statistical approach of the Fisher-Shannon (FS) information plane to assess and monitor vegetation recovery after fire disturbance. Fisher-Shannon information plane analysis allows us to gain insight into the complex structure of a time series to quantify its degree of organization and order. The analysis was carried out using 10-day Maximum Value Composites of NDVI (MVC-NDVI) with a 1 km × 1 km spatial resolution. The investigation was performed on two test sites located in Galizia (North Spain) and Peloponnese (South Greece), selected for the vast fires which occurred during the summer of 2006 and 2007 and for their different vegetation covers made up mainly of low shrubland in Galizia test site and evergreen forest in Peloponnese. Time series of MVC-NDVI have been analyzed before and after the occurrence of the fire events. Results obtained for both the investigated areas clearly pointed out that the dynamics of the pixel time series before the occurrence of the fire is characterized by a larger degree of disorder and uncertainty; while the pixel time series after the occurrence of the fire are featured by a higher degree of organization and order. In particular, regarding the Peloponneso fire, such discrimination is more evident than in the Galizia fire. This suggests a clear possibility to discriminate the different post-fire behaviors and dynamics exhibited by the different vegetation covers. Reference Lanorte A, R Lasaponara, M Lovallo, L Telesca 2014 Fisher-Shannon information plane analysis of SPOT/VEGETATION Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) time series to

  11. A COMAPRISON OF MERCURY IN MINK AND FISHER IN RHODE ISLAND

    EPA Science Inventory

    Comparison of total mercury concentrations and nitrogen and carbon stable isotope values in muscle tissue and stomach contents of mink (Mustela vison) and fisher (Martes pennanti) from Rhode Island in 2000- 2003 showed results which appeared to reflect dietary differences betwee...

  12. Computing the Partial Fraction Decomposition of Rational Functions with Irreducible Quadratic Factors in the Denominators

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Man, Yiu-Kwong

    2012-01-01

    In this note, a new method for computing the partial fraction decomposition of rational functions with irreducible quadratic factors in the denominators is presented. This method involves polynomial divisions and substitutions only, without having to solve for the complex roots of the irreducible quadratic polynomial or to solve a system of linear…

  13. Reproduction, abundance, and population growth for a fisher (Pekania pennanti) population in the Sierra National Forest, California

    Treesearch

    Rick A. Sweitzer; Viorel D. Popescu; Reginald H. Barrett; Kathryn L. Purcell; Craig M. Thompson

    2015-01-01

    In the west coast region of the United States, fishers (Pekania pennanti) exist in 2 remnant populations—1 in northern California and 1 in the southern Sierra Nevada, California—and 3 reintroduced populations (western Washington, southern Oregon, and northeastern California). The West Coast Distinct Population Segment of fishers encompassing all of...

  14. Fisher Scoring Method for Parameter Estimation of Geographically Weighted Ordinal Logistic Regression (GWOLR) Model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Widyaningsih, Purnami; Retno Sari Saputro, Dewi; Nugrahani Putri, Aulia

    2017-06-01

    GWOLR model combines geographically weighted regression (GWR) and (ordinal logistic reression) OLR models. Its parameter estimation employs maximum likelihood estimation. Such parameter estimation, however, yields difficult-to-solve system of nonlinear equations, and therefore numerical approximation approach is required. The iterative approximation approach, in general, uses Newton-Raphson (NR) method. The NR method has a disadvantage—its Hessian matrix is always the second derivatives of each iteration so it does not always produce converging results. With regard to this matter, NR model is modified by substituting its Hessian matrix into Fisher information matrix, which is termed Fisher scoring (FS). The present research seeks to determine GWOLR model parameter estimation using Fisher scoring method and apply the estimation on data of the level of vulnerability to Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) in Semarang. The research concludes that health facilities give the greatest contribution to the probability of the number of DHF sufferers in both villages. Based on the number of the sufferers, IR category of DHF in both villages can be determined.

  15. 33 CFR 162.85 - Yazoo Diversion Canal, Vicksburg, Miss., from its mouth at Kleinston Landing to Fisher Street...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ..., Miss., from its mouth at Kleinston Landing to Fisher Street; navigation. 162.85 Section 162.85... mouth at Kleinston Landing to Fisher Street; navigation. (a) Speed. Excessive speeding is prohibited. A... motion or tied up, a wharf or other structure, works under construction, plant engaged in river and...

  16. 33 CFR 162.85 - Yazoo Diversion Canal, Vicksburg, Miss., from its mouth at Kleinston Landing to Fisher Street...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Yazoo Diversion Canal, Vicksburg, Miss., from its mouth at Kleinston Landing to Fisher Street; navigation. 162.85 Section 162.85... mouth at Kleinston Landing to Fisher Street; navigation. (a) Speed. Excessive speeding is prohibited. A...

  17. Fisher information in confined hydrogen-like ions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mukherjee, Neetik; Majumdar, Sangita; Roy, Amlan K.

    2018-01-01

    Fisher information (I) is investigated for confined hydrogen atom (CHA)-like systems in conjugate r and p spaces. A comparative study between CHA and free H atom (with respect to I) is pursued. A detailed systematic result of I with respect to variation of confinement radius rc is presented, with particular emphasis on non-zero- (l, m) states. In certain respect, inferences in CHA are significantly different from free counterpart, such as (i) dependence on n, l quantum numbers (ii) appearance of maxima in Ip plots for | m | ≠ 0 . The role of atomic number and atomic radius is discussed.

  18. Statistical classification techniques for engineering and climatic data samples

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Temple, E. C.; Shipman, J. R.

    1981-01-01

    Fisher's sample linear discriminant function is modified through an appropriate alteration of the common sample variance-covariance matrix. The alteration consists of adding nonnegative values to the eigenvalues of the sample variance covariance matrix. The desired results of this modification is to increase the number of correct classifications by the new linear discriminant function over Fisher's function. This study is limited to the two-group discriminant problem.

  19. Solving the Integral of Quadratic Forms of Covariance Matrices for Applications in Polarimetric Radar Imagery

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Marino, Armando; Hajnsek, Irena

    2015-04-01

    In this work, the solution of quadratic forms with special application to polarimetric and interferometric covariance matrices is investigated. An analytical solution for the integral of a single quadratic form is derived. Additionally, the integral of the Pol-InSAR coherence (expressed as combination of quadratic forms) is investigated. An approximation for such integral is proposed and defined as Trace coherence. Such approximation is tested on real data to verify that the error is acceptable. The trace coherence can be used for tackle problems related to change detection. Moreover, the use of the Trace coherence in model inversion (as for the RVoG three stage inversion) will be investigated in the future.

  20. Mixing of ultrasonic Lamb waves in thin plates with quadratic nonlinearity.

    PubMed

    Li, Feilong; Zhao, Youxuan; Cao, Peng; Hu, Ning

    2018-07-01

    This paper investigates the propagation of Lamb waves in thin plates with quadratic nonlinearity by one-way mixing method using numerical simulations. It is shown that an A 0 -mode wave can be generated by a pair of S 0 and A 0 mode waves only when mixing condition is satisfied, and mixing wave signals are capable of locating the damage zone. Additionally, it is manifested that the acoustic nonlinear parameter increases linearly with quadratic nonlinearity but monotonously with the size of mixing zone. Furthermore, because of frequency deviation, the waveform of the mixing wave changes significantly from a regular diamond shape to toneburst trains. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Accelerating Wright–Fisher Forward Simulations on the Graphics Processing Unit

    PubMed Central

    Lawrie, David S.

    2017-01-01

    Forward Wright–Fisher simulations are powerful in their ability to model complex demography and selection scenarios, but suffer from slow execution on the Central Processor Unit (CPU), thus limiting their usefulness. However, the single-locus Wright–Fisher forward algorithm is exceedingly parallelizable, with many steps that are so-called “embarrassingly parallel,” consisting of a vast number of individual computations that are all independent of each other and thus capable of being performed concurrently. The rise of modern Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) and programming languages designed to leverage the inherent parallel nature of these processors have allowed researchers to dramatically speed up many programs that have such high arithmetic intensity and intrinsic concurrency. The presented GPU Optimized Wright–Fisher simulation, or “GO Fish” for short, can be used to simulate arbitrary selection and demographic scenarios while running over 250-fold faster than its serial counterpart on the CPU. Even modest GPU hardware can achieve an impressive speedup of over two orders of magnitude. With simulations so accelerated, one can not only do quick parametric bootstrapping of previously estimated parameters, but also use simulated results to calculate the likelihoods and summary statistics of demographic and selection models against real polymorphism data, all without restricting the demographic and selection scenarios that can be modeled or requiring approximations to the single-locus forward algorithm for efficiency. Further, as many of the parallel programming techniques used in this simulation can be applied to other computationally intensive algorithms important in population genetics, GO Fish serves as an exciting template for future research into accelerating computation in evolution. GO Fish is part of the Parallel PopGen Package available at: http://dl42.github.io/ParallelPopGen/. PMID:28768689

  2. Fisher Sand & Gravel New Mexico, Inc. General Air Quality Permit: Related Documents

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Documents related to the Fisher Sand & Gravel – New Mexico, Inc., Grey Mesa Gravel Pit General Air Quality Permit for New or Modified Minor Source Stone Quarrying, Crushing, and Screening Facilities in Indian Country.

  3. Design of linear quadratic regulators with eigenvalue placement in a specified region

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Shieh, Leang-San; Zhen, Liu; Coleman, Norman P.

    1990-01-01

    Two linear quadratic regulators are developed for placing the closed-loop poles of linear multivariable continuous-time systems within the common region of an open sector, bounded by lines inclined at +/- pi/2k (for a specified integer k not less than 1) from the negative real axis, and the left-hand side of a line parallel to the imaginary axis in the complex s-plane, and simultaneously minimizing a quadratic performance index. The design procedure mainly involves the solution of either Liapunov equations or Riccati equations. The general expression for finding the lower bound of a constant gain gamma is also developed.

  4. Quantum Fisher Information as a function response to a weak external perturbation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rojas, Fernando; Maytorena, Jesus A.

    The quantum fisher information (QFI) is known as a good indicator of entanglement in a multipartite systems. In this work we show that it can be treated as an induced response to an external field, in the same spirit of the usual linear response theory, with respect to a linear combination of observables of each subsystem. We derive an expression for a corresponding linear dynamical susceptibilitywhich contains relevant information about entanglement properties of a multipartite system. This approach is applied to investigate the hybrid entanglement in the driven Jaynes-Cummings model. The Fisher susceptibility response function is obtained and allows us to characterize the changes on quantum correlations between the qubit and photon states, in terms of the driving frequency, atom-field coupling, and temperature. We acknowledge financial support from DGAPA PAPPIT IN105717.

  5. American marten, fisher, lynx, and wolverine: survey methods for their detection

    Treesearch

    William J. Zielinski; Thomas E. Kucera

    1995-01-01

    The status of the American marten (Martes americana), fisher (Martes pennanti), lynx (Lynx canadensis), and wolverine (Gulo gulo) is of increasing concern to managers and conservationists in much of the western United States. Because these species are protected throughout much of their range in...

  6. Analysis of Quadratic Diophantine Equations with Fibonacci Number Solutions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Leyendekkers, J. V.; Shannon, A. G.

    2004-01-01

    An analysis is made of the role of Fibonacci numbers in some quadratic Diophantine equations. A general solution is obtained for finding factors in sums of Fibonacci numbers. Interpretation of the results is facilitated by the use of a modular ring which also permits extension of the analysis.

  7. The prediction of human exons by oligonucleotide composition and discriminant analysis of spliceable open reading frames

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Solovyev, V.V.; Salamov, A.A.; Lawrence, C.B.

    1994-12-31

    Discriminant analysis is applied to the problem of recognition 5`-, internal and 3`-exons in human DNA sequences. Specific recognition functions were developed for revealing exons of particular types. The method based on a splice site prediction algorithm that uses the linear Fisher discriminant to combine the information about significant triplet frequencies of various functional parts of splice site regions and preferences of oligonucleotide in protein coding and nation regions. The accuracy of our splice site recognition function is about 97%. A discriminant function for 5`-exon prediction includes hexanucleotide composition of upstream region, triplet composition around the ATG codon, ORF codingmore » potential, donor splice site potential and composition of downstream introit region. For internal exon prediction, we combine in a discriminant function the characteristics describing the 5`- intron region, donor splice site, coding region, acceptor splice site and Y-intron region for each open reading frame flanked by GT and AG base pairs. The accuracy of precise internal exon recognition on a test set of 451 exon and 246693 pseudoexon sequences is 77% with a specificity of 79% and a level of pseudoexon ORF prediction of 99.96%. The recognition quality computed at the level of individual nucleotides is 89%, for exon sequences and 98% for intron sequences. A discriminant function for 3`-exon prediction includes octanucleolide composition of upstream nation region, triplet composition around the stop codon, ORF coding potential, acceptor splice site potential and hexanucleotide composition of downstream region. We unite these three discriminant functions in exon predicting program FEX (find exons). FEX exactly predicts 70% of 1016 exons from the test of 181 complete genes with specificity 73%, and 89% exons are exactly or partially predicted. On the average, 85% of nucleotides were predicted accurately with specificity 91%.« less

  8. Fisher conservation in the Pacific States: field data meet genetics.

    Treesearch

    Jonathan Thompson

    2005-01-01

    Overtrapping of fishers in the early 1900s, combined with widespread habitat loss from clearcut logging, has resulted in the extirpation of this forest-dwelling carnivore throughout much of its former range in the Western United States. Poor dispersal abilities, low-density populations, and low reproductive rates all hinder the recovery of this little-known relative of...

  9. Discrimination of emotional states from scalp- and intracranial EEG using multiscale Rényi entropy.

    PubMed

    Tonoyan, Yelena; Chanwimalueang, Theerasak; Mandic, Danilo P; Van Hulle, Marc M

    2017-01-01

    A data-adaptive, multiscale version of Rényi's quadratic entropy (RQE) is introduced for emotional state discrimination from EEG recordings. The algorithm is applied to scalp EEG recordings of 30 participants watching 4 emotionally-charged video clips taken from a validated public database. Krippendorff's inter-rater statistic reveals that multiscale RQE of the mid-frontal scalp electrodes best discriminates between five emotional states. Multiscale RQE is also applied to joint scalp EEG, amygdala- and occipital pole intracranial recordings of an implanted patient watching a neutral and an emotionally charged video clip. Unlike for the neutral video clip, the RQEs of the mid-frontal scalp electrodes and the amygdala-implanted electrodes are observed to coincide in the time range where the crux of the emotionally-charged video clip is revealed. In addition, also during this time range, phase synchrony between the amygdala and mid-frontal recordings is maximal, as well as our 30 participants' inter-rater agreement on the same video clip. A source reconstruction exercise using intracranial recordings supports our assertion that amygdala could contribute to mid-frontal scalp EEG. On the contrary, no such contribution was observed for the occipital pole's intracranial recordings. Our results suggest that emotional states discriminated from mid-frontal scalp EEG are likely to be mirrored by differences in amygdala activations in particular when recorded in response to emotionally-charged scenes.

  10. Discrimination of emotional states from scalp- and intracranial EEG using multiscale Rényi entropy

    PubMed Central

    Chanwimalueang, Theerasak; Mandic, Danilo P.; Van Hulle, Marc M.

    2017-01-01

    A data-adaptive, multiscale version of Rényi’s quadratic entropy (RQE) is introduced for emotional state discrimination from EEG recordings. The algorithm is applied to scalp EEG recordings of 30 participants watching 4 emotionally-charged video clips taken from a validated public database. Krippendorff’s inter-rater statistic reveals that multiscale RQE of the mid-frontal scalp electrodes best discriminates between five emotional states. Multiscale RQE is also applied to joint scalp EEG, amygdala- and occipital pole intracranial recordings of an implanted patient watching a neutral and an emotionally charged video clip. Unlike for the neutral video clip, the RQEs of the mid-frontal scalp electrodes and the amygdala-implanted electrodes are observed to coincide in the time range where the crux of the emotionally-charged video clip is revealed. In addition, also during this time range, phase synchrony between the amygdala and mid-frontal recordings is maximal, as well as our 30 participants’ inter-rater agreement on the same video clip. A source reconstruction exercise using intracranial recordings supports our assertion that amygdala could contribute to mid-frontal scalp EEG. On the contrary, no such contribution was observed for the occipital pole’s intracranial recordings. Our results suggest that emotional states discriminated from mid-frontal scalp EEG are likely to be mirrored by differences in amygdala activations in particular when recorded in response to emotionally-charged scenes. PMID:29099846

  11. Developing and testing a landscape habitat suitability model for fisher (Martes pennanti) in forests of interior northern California

    Treesearch

    W.J. Zielinski; J. R. Dunk; J. S. Yaeger; D. W. LaPlante

    2010-01-01

    The fisher is warranted for protection under the Endangered Species Act in the western United States and, as such, it is especially important that conservation and management actions are based on sound scientific information. We developed a landscape-scale suitability model for interior northern California to predict the probability of detecting fishers and to identify...

  12. Hyers-Ulam stability of a generalized Apollonius type quadratic mapping

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Park, Chun-Gil; Rassias, Themistocles M.

    2006-10-01

    Let X,Y be linear spaces. It is shown that if a mapping satisfies the following functional equation: then the mapping is quadratic. We moreover prove the Hyers-Ulam stability of the functional equation (0.1) in Banach spaces.

  13. Quadratic Expressions by Means of "Summing All the Matchsticks"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gierdien, M. Faaiz

    2012-01-01

    This note presents demonstrations of quadratic expressions that come about when particular problems are posed with respect to matchsticks that form regular triangles, squares, pentagons and so on. Usually when such "matchstick" problems are used as ways to foster algebraic thinking, the expressions for the number of matchstick quantities are…

  14. Sequential Quadratic Programming Algorithms for Optimization

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1989-08-01

    quadratic program- ma ng (SQ(2l ) aIiatain.seenis to be relgarded aIs tie( buest choice for the solution of smiall. dlense problema (see S tour L)toS...For the step along d, note that a < nOing + 3 szH + i3.ninA A a K f~Iz,;nd and from Id1 _< ,,, we must have that for some /3 , np , 11P11 < dn"p. 5.2...Nevertheless, many of these problems are considered hard to solve. Moreover, for some of these problems the assumptions made in Chapter 2 to establish the

  15. Hyperspectral and multispectral data fusion based on linear-quadratic nonnegative matrix factorization

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Benhalouche, Fatima Zohra; Karoui, Moussa Sofiane; Deville, Yannick; Ouamri, Abdelaziz

    2017-04-01

    This paper proposes three multisharpening approaches to enhance the spatial resolution of urban hyperspectral remote sensing images. These approaches, related to linear-quadratic spectral unmixing techniques, use a linear-quadratic nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) multiplicative algorithm. These methods begin by unmixing the observable high-spectral/low-spatial resolution hyperspectral and high-spatial/low-spectral resolution multispectral images. The obtained high-spectral/high-spatial resolution features are then recombined, according to the linear-quadratic mixing model, to obtain an unobservable multisharpened high-spectral/high-spatial resolution hyperspectral image. In the first designed approach, hyperspectral and multispectral variables are independently optimized, once they have been coherently initialized. These variables are alternately updated in the second designed approach. In the third approach, the considered hyperspectral and multispectral variables are jointly updated. Experiments, using synthetic and real data, are conducted to assess the efficiency, in spatial and spectral domains, of the designed approaches and of linear NMF-based approaches from the literature. Experimental results show that the designed methods globally yield very satisfactory spectral and spatial fidelities for the multisharpened hyperspectral data. They also prove that these methods significantly outperform the used literature approaches.

  16. The algebraic decoding of the (41, 21, 9) quadratic residue code

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Reed, Irving S.; Truong, T. K.; Chen, Xuemin; Yin, Xiaowei

    1992-01-01

    A new algebraic approach for decoding the quadratic residue (QR) codes, in particular the (41, 21, 9) QR code is presented. The key ideas behind this decoding technique are a systematic application of the Sylvester resultant method to the Newton identities associated with the code syndromes to find the error-locator polynomial, and next a method for determining error locations by solving certain quadratic, cubic and quartic equations over GF(2 exp m) in a new way which uses Zech's logarithms for the arithmetic. The algorithms developed here are suitable for implementation in a programmable microprocessor or special-purpose VLSI chip. It is expected that the algebraic methods developed here can apply generally to other codes such as the BCH and Reed-Solomon codes.

  17. Optomechanically induced opacity and amplification in a quadratically coupled optomechanical system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Si, Liu-Gang; Xiong, Hao; Zubairy, M. Suhail; Wu, Ying

    2017-03-01

    We analyze theoretically the features of the output field of a quadratically coupled optomechanical system, which is driven by a strong coupling field and a weak signal field, and in which the membrane (treated as a mechanical resonator) is excited by a weak coherent driving field with two-phonon resonance. We show that the system exhibits complex quantum coherent and interference effects resulting in transmission of the signal field from opacity to remarkable amplification. We also find that the total phase of the applied fields can significantly adjust the signal field's transmission spectrum. The study of the propagation of the signal field in such a quadratically coupled optomechanical system proves that the proposed device can operate as an optical transistor.

  18. Contractions and deformations of quasiclassical Lie algebras preserving a nondegenerate quadratic Casimir operator

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Campoamor-Stursberg, R., E-mail: rutwig@mat.ucm.e

    2008-05-15

    By means of contractions of Lie algebras, we obtain new classes of indecomposable quasiclassical Lie algebras that satisfy the Yang-Baxter equations in its reformulation in terms of triple products. These algebras are shown to arise naturally from noncompact real simple algebras with nonsimple complexification, where we impose that a nondegenerate quadratic Casimir operator is preserved by the limiting process. We further consider the converse problem and obtain sufficient conditions on integrable cocycles of quasiclassical Lie algebras in order to preserve nondegenerate quadratic Casimir operators by the associated linear deformations.

  19. Scaling behaviour of Fisher and Shannon entropies for the exponential-cosine screened coulomb potential

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Abdelmonem, M. S.; Abdel-Hady, Afaf; Nasser, I.

    2017-07-01

    The scaling laws are given for the entropies in the information theory, including the Shannon's entropy, its power, the Fisher's information and the Fisher-Shannon product, using the exponential-cosine screened Coulomb potential. The scaling laws are specified, in the r-space, as a function of |μ - μc, nℓ|, where μ is the screening parameter and μc, nℓ its critical value for the specific quantum numbers n and ℓ. Scaling laws for other physical quantities, such as energy eigenvalues, the moments, static polarisability, transition probabilities, etc. are also given. Some of these are reported for the first time. The outcome is compared with the available literatures' results.

  20. R A Fisher, design theory, and the Indian connection.

    PubMed

    Rau, A R P

    2009-09-01

    Design Theory, a branch of mathematics, was born out of the experimental statistics research of the population geneticist R A Fisher and of Indian mathematical statisticians in the 1930s. The field combines elements of combinatorics, finite projective geometries, Latin squares, and a variety of further mathematical structures, brought together in surprising ways. This essay will present these structures and ideas as well as how the field came together, in itself an interesting story.

  1. Conservation of the Eastern Taiwan Strait Chinese White Dolphin (Sousa chinensis): Fishers' Perspectives and Management Implications

    PubMed Central

    Liu, Ta-Kang; Wang, Yu-Cheng; Chuang, Laurence Zsu-Hsin; Chen, Chih-How

    2016-01-01

    The abundance of the eastern Taiwan Strait (ETS) population of the Chinese white dolphin (Sousa chinensis) has been estimated to be less than 100 individuals. It is categorized as critically endangered in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Thus, immediate measures of conservation should be taken to protect it from extinction. Currently, the Taiwanese government plans to designate its habitat as a Major Wildlife Habitat (MWH), a type of marine protected area (MPA) for conservation of wildlife species. Although the designation allows continuing the current exploitation, however, it may cause conflicts among multiple stakeholders with competing interests. The study is to explore the attitude and opinions among the stakeholders in order to better manage the MPA. This study employs a semi-structured interview and a questionnaire survey of local fishers. Results from interviews indicated that the subsistence of fishers remains a major problem. It was found that stakeholders have different perceptions of the fishers’ attitude towards conservation and also thought that the fishery-related law enforcement could be difficult. Quantitative survey showed that fishers are generally positive towards the conservation of the Chinese white dolphin but are less willing to participate in the planning process. Most fishers considered temporary fishing closure as feasible for conservation. The results of this study provide recommendations for future efforts towards the goal of better conservation for this endangered species. PMID:27526102

  2. Piece-wise quadratic approximations of arbitrary error functions for fast and robust machine learning.

    PubMed

    Gorban, A N; Mirkes, E M; Zinovyev, A

    2016-12-01

    Most of machine learning approaches have stemmed from the application of minimizing the mean squared distance principle, based on the computationally efficient quadratic optimization methods. However, when faced with high-dimensional and noisy data, the quadratic error functionals demonstrated many weaknesses including high sensitivity to contaminating factors and dimensionality curse. Therefore, a lot of recent applications in machine learning exploited properties of non-quadratic error functionals based on L 1 norm or even sub-linear potentials corresponding to quasinorms L p (0quadratic error potentials of subquadratic growth (PQSQ potentials). We develop a new and universal framework to minimize arbitrary sub-quadratic error potentials using an algorithm with guaranteed fast convergence to the local or global error minimum. The theory of PQSQ potentials is based on the notion of the cone of minorant functions, and represents a natural approximation formalism based on the application of min-plus algebra. The approach can be applied in most of existing machine learning methods, including methods of data approximation and regularized and sparse regression, leading to the improvement in the computational cost/accuracy trade-off. We demonstrate that on synthetic and real-life datasets PQSQ-based machine learning methods achieve orders of magnitude faster computational performance than the corresponding state-of-the-art methods, having similar or better approximation accuracy. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Protecting quantum Fisher information in curved space-time

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Huang, Zhiming

    2018-03-01

    In this work, we investigate the quantum Fisher information (QFI) dynamics of a two-level atom interacting with quantized conformally coupled massless scalar fields in de Sitter-invariant vacuum. We first derive the master equation that governs its evolution. It is found that the QFI decays with evolution time. Furthermore, we propose two schemes to protect QFI by employing prior weak measurement (WM) and post measurement reversal (MR). We find that the first scheme can not always protect QFI and the second scheme has prominent advantage over the first scheme.

  4. A Discussion with Suzanne Fisher Staples: The Author as Writer and Cultural Observer.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sawyer, Walter E.; Sawyer, Jean C.

    1993-01-01

    Presents an interview with Suzanne Fisher Staples, author of the children's novel, "Shabanu, Daughter of the Wind." Discusses Staples' creative writing process, background, and the writer's role as cultural observer. (HB)

  5. Effects of the Ordering of Natural Selection and Population Regulation Mechanisms on Wright-Fisher Models

    PubMed Central

    He, Zhangyi; Beaumont, Mark; Yu, Feng

    2017-01-01

    We explore the effect of different mechanisms of natural selection on the evolution of populations for one- and two-locus systems. We compare the effect of viability and fecundity selection in the context of the Wright-Fisher model with selection under the assumption of multiplicative fitness. We show that these two modes of natural selection correspond to different orderings of the processes of population regulation and natural selection in the Wright-Fisher model. We find that under the Wright-Fisher model these two different orderings can affect the distribution of trajectories of haplotype frequencies evolving with genetic recombination. However, the difference in the distribution of trajectories is only appreciable when the population is in significant linkage disequilibrium. We find that as linkage disequilibrium decays the trajectories for the two different models rapidly become indistinguishable. We discuss the significance of these findings in terms of biological examples of viability and fecundity selection, and speculate that the effect may be significant when factors such as gene migration maintain a degree of linkage disequilibrium. PMID:28500051

  6. Tip-tilt disturbance model identification based on non-linear least squares fitting for Linear Quadratic Gaussian control

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yang, Kangjian; Yang, Ping; Wang, Shuai; Dong, Lizhi; Xu, Bing

    2018-05-01

    We propose a method to identify tip-tilt disturbance model for Linear Quadratic Gaussian control. This identification method based on Levenberg-Marquardt method conducts with a little prior information and no auxiliary system and it is convenient to identify the tip-tilt disturbance model on-line for real-time control. This identification method makes it easy that Linear Quadratic Gaussian control runs efficiently in different adaptive optics systems for vibration mitigation. The validity of the Linear Quadratic Gaussian control associated with this tip-tilt disturbance model identification method is verified by experimental data, which is conducted in replay mode by simulation.

  7. Convexity Conditions and the Legendre-Fenchel Transform for the Product of Finitely Many Positive Definite Quadratic Forms

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Zhao Yunbin, E-mail: zhaoyy@maths.bham.ac.u

    2010-12-15

    While the product of finitely many convex functions has been investigated in the field of global optimization, some fundamental issues such as the convexity condition and the Legendre-Fenchel transform for the product function remain unresolved. Focusing on quadratic forms, this paper is aimed at addressing the question: When is the product of finitely many positive definite quadratic forms convex, and what is the Legendre-Fenchel transform for it? First, we show that the convexity of the product is determined intrinsically by the condition number of so-called 'scaled matrices' associated with quadratic forms involved. The main result claims that if the conditionmore » number of these scaled matrices are bounded above by an explicit constant (which depends only on the number of quadratic forms involved), then the product function is convex. Second, we prove that the Legendre-Fenchel transform for the product of positive definite quadratic forms can be expressed, and the computation of the transform amounts to finding the solution to a system of equations (or equally, finding a Brouwer's fixed point of a mapping) with a special structure. Thus, a broader question than the open 'Question 11' in Hiriart-Urruty (SIAM Rev. 49, 225-273, 2007) is addressed in this paper.« less

  8. Tool and Technique for Restraining Live-Captured American Martens and Fishers

    Treesearch

    Linda Ebel Thomasma; Rolf O. Peterson; Rolf O. Peterson

    1998-01-01

    Restraining live-captured animals poses challenges when working alone, especially in remote field locations. While studying American martens (Marfes americana) and fishers (Martes pennantr) in Michigan, we developed a new tool, trap combs, to restrain a live-captured animal in the trap. The construction and use of trap combs are described.

  9. Camera trapping estimates of density and survival of fishers (Martes pennanti)

    Treesearch

    Mark J. Jordan; Reginald H. Barrett; Kathryn L. Purcell

    2011-01-01

    Developing efficient monitoring strategies for species of conservation concern is critical to ensuring their persistence. We have developed a method using camera traps to estimate density and survival in mesocarnivores and tested it on a population of fishers Martes pennanti in an area of approximately 300 km2 of the southern...

  10. Quadratic Electro-optic Effect in a Novel Nonconjugated Conductive Polymer, iodine-doped Polynorbornene

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Narayanan, Ananthakrishnan; Thakur, Mrinal

    2009-03-01

    Quadratic electro-optic effect in a novel nonconjugated conductive polymer, iodine-doped polynorbornene has been measured using field-induced birefringence at 633 nm. The electrical conductivity^1 of polynorbornene increases by twelve orders of magnitude to about 0.01 S/cm upon doping with iodine. The electro-optic measurement has been made in a film doped at the medium doping-level. The electro-optic modulation signal was recorded using a lock-in amplifier for various applied ac voltages (4 kHz) and the quadratic dependence of the modulation on the applied voltage was observed. A modulation of about 0.01% was observed for an applied electric field of 3 V/micron for a 100 nm thick film The Kerr coefficient as determined is about 1.77x10-11m/V^2. This exceptionally large quadratic electro-optic effect has been attributed to the confinement of this charge-transfer system within a sub-nanometer dimension. 1. A. Narayanan, A. Palthi and M. Thakur, J. Macromol. Sci. -- PAC, accepted.

  11. Associated factors with cervical pre-malignant lesions among the married fisher women community at Sadras, Tamil Nadu

    PubMed Central

    Ganesan, Sornam; Subbiah, Vasantha N.; Michael, Jothi Clara J.

    2015-01-01

    Objective: To identify the associated factors of cervical pre-malignant lesions among the married fisher women residing in the coastal areas of Sadras, Tamil Nadu. Methods: The study was conducted in five fishermen communities under Sadras, a coastal area in Tamil Nadu, India. Two hundred and fifty married fisher women residing in the area. Quantitative descriptive approach with a cross-sectional study design was used. Data were collected using a structured interview schedule for identifying the associated factors and Pap smear test was performed for identifying the pre-malignant cervical lesions among the married fisher women. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: Among 250 women, about six (2.4%) of them presented with pre-cancerous lesions such as atypical squamous cell of undifferentiated significance (ASCUS) — five (2%) and mild dysplasia one (0.4%). Majority of the women, about 178 (71.2%) women, had abnormal cervical findings. Statistical analysis showed a significant association of risk factors such as advanced age, lack of education, low socioeconomic status, using tobacco, multiparity, premarital sex, extramarital relationship, using cloth as sanitary napkin, etc. Conclusion: The study findings clearly show the increased vulnerable state of the fisher women for acquiring cervical cancer as they had many risk factors contributing to the same. PMID:27981091

  12. Associated factors with cervical pre-malignant lesions among the married fisher women community at Sadras, Tamil Nadu.

    PubMed

    Ganesan, Sornam; Subbiah, Vasantha N; Michael, Jothi Clara J

    2015-01-01

    To identify the associated factors of cervical pre-malignant lesions among the married fisher women residing in the coastal areas of Sadras, Tamil Nadu. The study was conducted in five fishermen communities under Sadras, a coastal area in Tamil Nadu, India. Two hundred and fifty married fisher women residing in the area. Quantitative descriptive approach with a cross-sectional study design was used. Data were collected using a structured interview schedule for identifying the associated factors and Pap smear test was performed for identifying the pre-malignant cervical lesions among the married fisher women. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Among 250 women, about six (2.4%) of them presented with pre-cancerous lesions such as atypical squamous cell of undifferentiated significance (ASCUS) - five (2%) and mild dysplasia one (0.4%). Majority of the women, about 178 (71.2%) women, had abnormal cervical findings. Statistical analysis showed a significant association of risk factors such as advanced age, lack of education, low socioeconomic status, using tobacco, multiparity, premarital sex, extramarital relationship, using cloth as sanitary napkin, etc. The study findings clearly show the increased vulnerable state of the fisher women for acquiring cervical cancer as they had many risk factors contributing to the same.

  13. DQM: Decentralized Quadratically Approximated Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mokhtari, Aryan; Shi, Wei; Ling, Qing; Ribeiro, Alejandro

    2016-10-01

    This paper considers decentralized consensus optimization problems where nodes of a network have access to different summands of a global objective function. Nodes cooperate to minimize the global objective by exchanging information with neighbors only. A decentralized version of the alternating directions method of multipliers (DADMM) is a common method for solving this category of problems. DADMM exhibits linear convergence rate to the optimal objective but its implementation requires solving a convex optimization problem at each iteration. This can be computationally costly and may result in large overall convergence times. The decentralized quadratically approximated ADMM algorithm (DQM), which minimizes a quadratic approximation of the objective function that DADMM minimizes at each iteration, is proposed here. The consequent reduction in computational time is shown to have minimal effect on convergence properties. Convergence still proceeds at a linear rate with a guaranteed constant that is asymptotically equivalent to the DADMM linear convergence rate constant. Numerical results demonstrate advantages of DQM relative to DADMM and other alternatives in a logistic regression problem.

  14. Linear-Quadratic-Gaussian Regulator Developed for a Magnetic Bearing

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Choi, Benjamin B.

    2002-01-01

    Linear-Quadratic-Gaussian (LQG) control is a modern state-space technique for designing optimal dynamic regulators. It enables us to trade off regulation performance and control effort, and to take into account process and measurement noise. The Structural Mechanics and Dynamics Branch at the NASA Glenn Research Center has developed an LQG control for a fault-tolerant magnetic bearing suspension rig to optimize system performance and to reduce the sensor and processing noise. The LQG regulator consists of an optimal state-feedback gain and a Kalman state estimator. The first design step is to seek a state-feedback law that minimizes the cost function of regulation performance, which is measured by a quadratic performance criterion with user-specified weighting matrices, and to define the tradeoff between regulation performance and control effort. The next design step is to derive a state estimator using a Kalman filter because the optimal state feedback cannot be implemented without full state measurement. Since the Kalman filter is an optimal estimator when dealing with Gaussian white noise, it minimizes the asymptotic covariance of the estimation error.

  15. Design of reinforced areas of concrete column using quadratic polynomials

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Arif Gunadi, Tjiang; Parung, Herman; Rachman Djamaluddin, Abd; Arwin Amiruddin, A.

    2017-11-01

    Designing of reinforced concrete columns mostly carried out by a simple planning method which uses column interaction diagram. However, the application of this method is limited because it valids only for certain compressive strenght of the concrete and yield strength of the reinforcement. Thus, a more applicable method is still in need. Another method is the use of quadratic polynomials as a basis for the approach in designing reinforced concrete columns, where the ratio of neutral lines to the effective height of a cross section (ξ) if associated with ξ in the same cross-section with different reinforcement ratios is assumed to form a quadratic polynomial. This is identical to the basic principle used in the Simpson rule for numerical integral using quadratic polynomials and had a sufficiently accurate level of accuracy. The basis of this approach to be used both the normal force equilibrium and the moment equilibrium. The abscissa of the intersection of the two curves is the ratio that had been mentioned, since it fulfill both of the equilibrium. The application of this method is relatively more complicated than the existing method but provided with tables and graphs (N vs ξN ) and (M vs ξM ) so that its used could be simplified. The uniqueness of these tables are only distinguished based on the compresssive strength of the concrete, so in application it could be combined with various yield strenght of the reinforcement available in the market. This method could be solved by using programming languages such as Fortran.

  16. Revealing Ozgur's Thoughts of a Quadratic Function with a Clinical Interview: Concepts and Their Underlying Reasons

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ozaltun Celik, Aytug; Bukova Guzel, Esra

    2017-01-01

    The quadratic function is an important concept for calculus but the students at high school have many difficulties related to this concept. It is important that the teaching of the quadratic function is realized considering the students' thinking. In this context, the aim of this study conducted through a qualitative case study is to reveal the…

  17. Symmetry-breaking instability of quadratic soliton bound states

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Delque, Michaeel; Departement d'Optique P.M. Duffieux, Institut FEMTO-ST, Universite de Franche-Comte, CNRS UMR 6174, F-25030 Besancon; Fanjoux, Gil

    We study both numerically and experimentally two-dimensional soliton bound states in quadratic media and demonstrate their symmetry-breaking instability. The experiment is performed in a potassium titanyl phosphate crystal in a type-II configuration. The bound state is generated by the copropagation of the antisymmetric fundamental beam locked in phase with the symmetrical second harmonic one. Experimental results are in good agreement with numerical simulations of the nonlinear wave equations.

  18. Linear quadratic regulators with eigenvalue placement in a horizontal strip

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Shieh, Leang S.; Dib, Hani M.; Ganesan, Sekar

    1987-01-01

    A method for optimally shifting the imaginary parts of the open-loop poles of a multivariable control system to the desirable closed-loop locations is presented. The optimal solution with respect to a quadratic performance index is obtained by solving a linear matrix Liapunov equation.

  19. Theories that narrate the world: Ronald A. Fisher's mass selection and Sewall Wright's shifting balance.

    PubMed

    Rosales, Alirio

    2017-04-01

    Theories are composed of multiple interacting components. I argue that some theories have narratives as essential components, and that narratives function as integrative devices of the mathematical components of theories. Narratives represent complex processes unfolding in time as a sequence of stages, and hold the mathematical elements together as pieces in the investigation of a given process. I present two case studies from population genetics: R. A. Fisher's "mas selection" theory, and Sewall Wright's shifting balance theory. I apply my analysis to an early episode of the "R. A. Fisher - Sewall Wright controversy." Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Stochastic resonance in a fractional oscillator driven by multiplicative quadratic noise

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ren, Ruibin; Luo, Maokang; Deng, Ke

    2017-02-01

    Stochastic resonance of a fractional oscillator subject to an external periodic field as well as to multiplicative and additive noise is investigated. The fluctuations of the eigenfrequency are modeled as the quadratic function of the trichotomous noise. Applying the moment equation method and Shapiro-Loginov formula, we obtain the exact expression of the complex susceptibility and related stability criteria. Theoretical analysis and numerical simulations indicate that the spectral amplification (SPA) depends non-monotonicly both on the external driving frequency and the parameters of the quadratic noise. In addition, the investigations into fractional stochastic systems have suggested that both the noise parameters and the memory effect can induce the phenomenon of stochastic multi-resonance (SMR), which is previously reported and believed to be absent in the case of the multiplicative noise with only a linear term.

  1. The Tully-Fisher Relation in Cluster Cl 0024+1654 at z=0.4

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Metevier, Anne J.; Koo, David C.; Simard, Luc; Phillips, Andrew C.

    2006-06-01

    Using moderate-resolution Keck spectra, we have examined the velocity profiles of 15 members of cluster Cl 0024+1654 at z=0.4. WFPC2 images of the cluster members have been used to determine structural parameters, including disk sizes, orientations, and inclinations. We compare two methods of optical rotation curve analysis for kinematic measurements. Both methods take seeing, slit size and orientation, and instrumental effects into account and yield similar rotation velocity measurements. Four of the galaxies in our sample exhibit unusual kinematic signatures, such as noncircular motions. Our key result is that the Cl 0024 galaxies are marginally underluminous (0.50+/-0.23 mag), given their rotation velocities, as compared to the local Tully-Fisher relation. In this analysis, we assume no slope evolution and take into account systematic differences between local and distant velocity and luminosity measurements. Our result is particularly striking considering that the Cl 0024 members have very strong emission lines and local galaxies with similar Hα equivalent widths tend to be overluminous on the Tully-Fisher relation. Cl 0024 Tully-Fisher residuals appear to be correlated most strongly with galaxy rotation velocities, indicating a possible change in the slope of the Tully-Fisher relation. However, we caution that this result may be strongly affected by magnitude selection and by the original slope assumed for the analysis. Cl 0024 residuals also depend weakly on color, emission-line strength and extent, and photometric asymmetry. In a comparison of stellar and gas motions in two Cl 0024 members, we find no evidence for counterrotating stars and gas, an expected signature of mergers. Based on observations obtained at the W. M. Keck Observatory, which is operated jointly by the California Institute of Technology and the University of California. Based in part on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science

  2. Thermal response test data of five quadratic cross section precast pile heat exchangers.

    PubMed

    Alberdi-Pagola, Maria

    2018-06-01

    This data article comprises records from five Thermal Response Tests (TRT) of quadratic cross section pile heat exchangers. Pile heat exchangers, typically referred to as energy piles, consist of traditional foundation piles with embedded heat exchanger pipes. The data presented in this article are related to the research article entitled "Comparing heat flow models for interpretation of precast quadratic pile heat exchanger thermal response tests" (Alberdi-Pagola et al., 2018) [1]. The TRT data consists of measured inlet and outlet temperatures, fluid flow and injected heat rate recorded every 10 min. The field dataset is made available to enable model verification studies.

  3. Self-repeating properties of four-petal Gaussian vortex beams in quadratic index medium

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zou, Defeng; Li, Xiaohui; Chai, Tong; Zheng, Hairong

    2018-05-01

    In this paper, we investigate the propagation properties of four-petal Gaussian vortex (FPGV) beams propagating through the quadratic index medium, obtaining the analytical expression of FPGV beams. The effects of beam order n, topological charge m and beam waist ω0 are investigated. Results show that quadratic index medium support periodic distributions of FPGV beams. A hollow optical wall or an optical central principal maximum surrounded by symmetrical sidelobes will occur at the center of a period. At length, they will evolve into four petals structure, exactly same as the intensity distributions at source plane.

  4. Fishing Farmers or Farming Fishers? Fishing Typology of Inland Small-Scale Fishing Households and Fisheries Management in Singkarak Lake, West Sumatra, Indonesia

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yuerlita; Perret, Sylvain Roger; Shivakoti, Ganesh P.

    2013-07-01

    Technical and socio-economic characteristics are known to determine different types of fishers and their livelihood strategies. Faced with declining fish and water resources, small-scale fisheries engage into transformations in livelihood and fishing practices. The paper is an attempt to understand these changes and their socio-economic patterns, in the case of Singkarak Lake in West Sumatra, Indonesia. Based upon the hypothesis that riparian communities have diverse, complex yet structured and dynamic livelihood systems, the paper's main objective is to study, document and model the actual diversity in livelihood, practices and performance of inland small-scale fisheries along the Singkarak Lake, to picture how households are adapted to the situation, and propose an updated, workable model (typology) of those for policy. Principal component analysis and cluster analysis were used to develop a typology of fishing households. The results show that small-scale fishers can be classified into different types characterized by distinct livelihood strategies. Three household types are identified, namely "farming fishers" households (type I, 30 %), "fishing farmers" households (type II, 30 %), and "mainly fishers" households (type III, 40 %). There are significant differences among these groups in the number of boats owned, annual fishing income, agriculture income and farming experience. Type I consists of farming fishers, well equipped, with high fishing costs and income, yet with the lowest return on fishing assets. They are also landowners with farming income, showing the lowest return on land capital. Type II includes poor fishing farmers, landowners with higher farming income; they show the highest return on land asset. They have less fishing equipment, costs and income. Type III (mainly fishers) consists of poorer, younger fishers, with highest return on fishing assets and on fishing costs. They have little land, low farming income, and diversified livelihood

  5. Fishing farmers or farming fishers? Fishing typology of inland small-scale fishing households and fisheries management in singkarak lake, west sumatra, indonesia.

    PubMed

    Yuerlita; Perret, Sylvain Roger; Shivakoti, Ganesh P

    2013-07-01

    Technical and socio-economic characteristics are known to determine different types of fishers and their livelihood strategies. Faced with declining fish and water resources, small-scale fisheries engage into transformations in livelihood and fishing practices. The paper is an attempt to understand these changes and their socio-economic patterns, in the case of Singkarak Lake in West Sumatra, Indonesia. Based upon the hypothesis that riparian communities have diverse, complex yet structured and dynamic livelihood systems, the paper's main objective is to study, document and model the actual diversity in livelihood, practices and performance of inland small-scale fisheries along the Singkarak Lake, to picture how households are adapted to the situation, and propose an updated, workable model (typology) of those for policy. Principal component analysis and cluster analysis were used to develop a typology of fishing households. The results show that small-scale fishers can be classified into different types characterized by distinct livelihood strategies. Three household types are identified, namely "farming fishers" households (type I, 30 %), "fishing farmers" households (type II, 30 %), and "mainly fishers" households (type III, 40 %). There are significant differences among these groups in the number of boats owned, annual fishing income, agriculture income and farming experience. Type I consists of farming fishers, well equipped, with high fishing costs and income, yet with the lowest return on fishing assets. They are also landowners with farming income, showing the lowest return on land capital. Type II includes poor fishing farmers, landowners with higher farming income; they show the highest return on land asset. They have less fishing equipment, costs and income. Type III (mainly fishers) consists of poorer, younger fishers, with highest return on fishing assets and on fishing costs. They have little land, low farming income, and diversified livelihood

  6. Using Simple Quadratic Equations to Estimate Equilibrium Concentrations of an Acid

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brilleslyper, Michael A.

    2004-01-01

    Application of quadratic equations to standard problem in chemistry like finding equilibrium concentrations of ions in an acid solution is explained. This clearly shows that pure mathematical analysis has meaningful applications in other areas as well.

  7. Entanglement in a model for Hawking radiation: An application of quadratic algebras

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Bambah, Bindu A., E-mail: bbsp@uohyd.ernet.in; Mukku, C., E-mail: mukku@iiit.ac.in; Shreecharan, T., E-mail: shreecharan@gmail.com

    2013-03-15

    Quadratic polynomially deformed su(1,1) and su(2) algebras are utilized in model Hamiltonians to show how the gravitational system consisting of a black hole, infalling radiation and outgoing (Hawking) radiation can be solved exactly. The models allow us to study the long-time behaviour of the black hole and its outgoing modes. In particular, we calculate the bipartite entanglement entropies of subsystems consisting of (a) infalling plus outgoing modes and (b) black hole modes plus the infalling modes, using the Janus-faced nature of the model. The long-time behaviour also gives us glimpses of modifications in the character of Hawking radiation. Finally, wemore » study the phenomenon of superradiance in our model in analogy with atomic Dicke superradiance. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We examine a toy model for Hawking radiation with quantized black hole modes. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We use quadratic polynomially deformed su(1,1) algebras to study its entanglement properties. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We study the 'Dicke Superradiance' in black hole radiation using quadratically deformed su(2) algebras. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We study the modification of the thermal character of Hawking radiation due to quantized black hole modes.« less

  8. Quadratic semiparametric Von Mises calculus

    PubMed Central

    Robins, James; Li, Lingling; Tchetgen, Eric

    2009-01-01

    We discuss a new method of estimation of parameters in semiparametric and nonparametric models. The method is based on U-statistics constructed from quadratic influence functions. The latter extend ordinary linear influence functions of the parameter of interest as defined in semiparametric theory, and represent second order derivatives of this parameter. For parameters for which the matching cannot be perfect the method leads to a bias-variance trade-off, and results in estimators that converge at a slower than n–1/2-rate. In a number of examples the resulting rate can be shown to be optimal. We are particularly interested in estimating parameters in models with a nuisance parameter of high dimension or low regularity, where the parameter of interest cannot be estimated at n–1/2-rate. PMID:23087487

  9. Fisher information matrix for branching processes with application to electron-multiplying charge-coupled devices

    PubMed Central

    Chao, Jerry; Ward, E. Sally; Ober, Raimund J.

    2012-01-01

    The high quantum efficiency of the charge-coupled device (CCD) has rendered it the imaging technology of choice in diverse applications. However, under extremely low light conditions where few photons are detected from the imaged object, the CCD becomes unsuitable as its readout noise can easily overwhelm the weak signal. An intended solution to this problem is the electron-multiplying charge-coupled device (EMCCD), which stochastically amplifies the acquired signal to drown out the readout noise. Here, we develop the theory for calculating the Fisher information content of the amplified signal, which is modeled as the output of a branching process. Specifically, Fisher information expressions are obtained for a general and a geometric model of amplification, as well as for two approximations of the amplified signal. All expressions pertain to the important scenario of a Poisson-distributed initial signal, which is characteristic of physical processes such as photon detection. To facilitate the investigation of different data models, a “noise coefficient” is introduced which allows the analysis and comparison of Fisher information via a scalar quantity. We apply our results to the problem of estimating the location of a point source from its image, as observed through an optical microscope and detected by an EMCCD. PMID:23049166

  10. A Conjugate Gradient Algorithm with Function Value Information and N-Step Quadratic Convergence for Unconstrained Optimization

    PubMed Central

    Li, Xiangrong; Zhao, Xupei; Duan, Xiabin; Wang, Xiaoliang

    2015-01-01

    It is generally acknowledged that the conjugate gradient (CG) method achieves global convergence—with at most a linear convergence rate—because CG formulas are generated by linear approximations of the objective functions. The quadratically convergent results are very limited. We introduce a new PRP method in which the restart strategy is also used. Moreover, the method we developed includes not only n-step quadratic convergence but also both the function value information and gradient value information. In this paper, we will show that the new PRP method (with either the Armijo line search or the Wolfe line search) is both linearly and quadratically convergent. The numerical experiments demonstrate that the new PRP algorithm is competitive with the normal CG method. PMID:26381742

  11. A Conjugate Gradient Algorithm with Function Value Information and N-Step Quadratic Convergence for Unconstrained Optimization.

    PubMed

    Li, Xiangrong; Zhao, Xupei; Duan, Xiabin; Wang, Xiaoliang

    2015-01-01

    It is generally acknowledged that the conjugate gradient (CG) method achieves global convergence--with at most a linear convergence rate--because CG formulas are generated by linear approximations of the objective functions. The quadratically convergent results are very limited. We introduce a new PRP method in which the restart strategy is also used. Moreover, the method we developed includes not only n-step quadratic convergence but also both the function value information and gradient value information. In this paper, we will show that the new PRP method (with either the Armijo line search or the Wolfe line search) is both linearly and quadratically convergent. The numerical experiments demonstrate that the new PRP algorithm is competitive with the normal CG method.

  12. Using DNA to describe and quantify interspecific killing of fishers in California

    Treesearch

    Greta M. Wengert; Mourad W. Gabriel; Sean M. Matthews; J. Mark Higley; Rick A. Sweitzer; Craig. M. Thompson; Kathryn L. Purcell; Reginald H. Barrett; Leslie W. Woods; Rebecca E. Green; Stefan M. Keller; Patricia M. Gaffney; Megan Jones; Benjamin N. Sacks

    2014-01-01

    Interspecific killing is common among carnivores and can have population-level effects on imperiled species. The fisher (Pekania [Martes] pennant) is a rare forest carnivore in western North America and a candidate for listing under the United States Endangered Species Act. Interspecific killing and...

  13. QUADRATIC SERENDIPITY FINITE ELEMENTS ON POLYGONS USING GENERALIZED BARYCENTRIC COORDINATES.

    PubMed

    Rand, Alexander; Gillette, Andrew; Bajaj, Chandrajit

    2014-01-01

    We introduce a finite element construction for use on the class of convex, planar polygons and show it obtains a quadratic error convergence estimate. On a convex n -gon, our construction produces 2 n basis functions, associated in a Lagrange-like fashion to each vertex and each edge midpoint, by transforming and combining a set of n ( n + 1)/2 basis functions known to obtain quadratic convergence. The technique broadens the scope of the so-called 'serendipity' elements, previously studied only for quadrilateral and regular hexahedral meshes, by employing the theory of generalized barycentric coordinates. Uniform a priori error estimates are established over the class of convex quadrilaterals with bounded aspect ratio as well as over the class of convex planar polygons satisfying additional shape regularity conditions to exclude large interior angles and short edges. Numerical evidence is provided on a trapezoidal quadrilateral mesh, previously not amenable to serendipity constructions, and applications to adaptive meshing are discussed.

  14. Learning quadratic receptive fields from neural responses to natural stimuli.

    PubMed

    Rajan, Kanaka; Marre, Olivier; Tkačik, Gašper

    2013-07-01

    Models of neural responses to stimuli with complex spatiotemporal correlation structure often assume that neurons are selective for only a small number of linear projections of a potentially high-dimensional input. In this review, we explore recent modeling approaches where the neural response depends on the quadratic form of the input rather than on its linear projection, that is, the neuron is sensitive to the local covariance structure of the signal preceding the spike. To infer this quadratic dependence in the presence of arbitrary (e.g., naturalistic) stimulus distribution, we review several inference methods, focusing in particular on two information theory-based approaches (maximization of stimulus energy and of noise entropy) and two likelihood-based approaches (Bayesian spike-triggered covariance and extensions of generalized linear models). We analyze the formal relationship between the likelihood-based and information-based approaches to demonstrate how they lead to consistent inference. We demonstrate the practical feasibility of these procedures by using model neurons responding to a flickering variance stimulus.

  15. QUADRATIC SERENDIPITY FINITE ELEMENTS ON POLYGONS USING GENERALIZED BARYCENTRIC COORDINATES

    PubMed Central

    RAND, ALEXANDER; GILLETTE, ANDREW; BAJAJ, CHANDRAJIT

    2013-01-01

    We introduce a finite element construction for use on the class of convex, planar polygons and show it obtains a quadratic error convergence estimate. On a convex n-gon, our construction produces 2n basis functions, associated in a Lagrange-like fashion to each vertex and each edge midpoint, by transforming and combining a set of n(n + 1)/2 basis functions known to obtain quadratic convergence. The technique broadens the scope of the so-called ‘serendipity’ elements, previously studied only for quadrilateral and regular hexahedral meshes, by employing the theory of generalized barycentric coordinates. Uniform a priori error estimates are established over the class of convex quadrilaterals with bounded aspect ratio as well as over the class of convex planar polygons satisfying additional shape regularity conditions to exclude large interior angles and short edges. Numerical evidence is provided on a trapezoidal quadrilateral mesh, previously not amenable to serendipity constructions, and applications to adaptive meshing are discussed. PMID:25301974

  16. Time resolved fluorescence of cow and goat milk powder

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Brandao, Mariana P.; de Carvalho dos Anjos, Virgílio; Bell., Maria José V.

    2017-01-01

    Milk powder is an international dairy commodity. Goat and cow milk powders are significant sources of nutrients and the investigation of the authenticity and classification of milk powder is particularly important. The use of time-resolved fluorescence techniques to distinguish chemical composition and structure modifications could assist develop a portable and non-destructive methodology to perform milk powder classification and determine composition. This study goal is to differentiate milk powder samples from cows and goats using fluorescence lifetimes. The samples were excited at 315 nm and the fluorescence intensity decay registered at 468 nm. We observed fluorescence lifetimes of 1.5 ± 0.3, 6.4 ± 0.4 and 18.7 ± 2.5 ns for goat milk powder; and 1.7 ± 0.3, 6.9 ± 0.2 and 29.9 ± 1.6 ns for cow's milk powder. We discriminate goat and cow powder milk by analysis of variance using Fisher's method. In addition, we employed quadratic discriminant analysis to differentiate the milk samples with accuracy of 100%. Our results suggest that time-resolved fluorescence can provide a new method to the analysis of powder milk and its composition.

  17. New records of Caribbomerus from Hispaniola with redescription of C. elongatus (Fisher) and a key to the genus in the West Indies (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Cerambycinae: Graciliini)

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Three species of Caribbomerus Vitali are newly recorded for the Dominican Republic: C. decoratus (Zayas), C. elongatus (Fisher), and C. asperatus (Fisher). The first two also represent first records for Hispaniola. Caribbomerus elongatus (Fisher) is redescribed based on additional material, includi...

  18. Prenatal development in fishers (Martes pennanti)

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Frost, H.C.; Krohn, W.B.; Bezembluk, E.A.; Lott, R.; Wallace, C.R.

    2005-01-01

    We evaluated and quantified prenatal growth of fishers (Martes pennanti) using ultrasonography. Seven females gave birth to 21 kits. The first identifiable embryonic structures were seen 42 d prepartum; these appeared to be unimplanted blastocysts or gestational sacs, which subsequently implanted in the uterine horns. Maternal and fetal heart rates were monitored from first detection to birth. Maternal heart rates did not differ among sampling periods, while fetal hearts rates increased from first detection to birth. Head and body differentiation, visible limbs and skeletal ossification were visible by 30, 23 and 21 d prepartum, respectively. Mean diameter of gestational sacs and crown-rump lengths were linearly related to gestational age (P < 0.001). Biparietal and body diameters were also linearly related to gestational age (P < 0.001) and correctly predicted parturition dates within 1-2 d. ?? 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Simple expression for the quantum Fisher information matrix

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Šafránek, Dominik

    2018-04-01

    Quantum Fisher information matrix (QFIM) is a cornerstone of modern quantum metrology and quantum information geometry. Apart from optimal estimation, it finds applications in description of quantum speed limits, quantum criticality, quantum phase transitions, coherence, entanglement, and irreversibility. We derive a surprisingly simple formula for this quantity, which, unlike previously known general expression, does not require diagonalization of the density matrix, and is provably at least as efficient. With a minor modification, this formula can be used to compute QFIM for any finite-dimensional density matrix. Because of its simplicity, it could also shed more light on the quantum information geometry in general.

  20. Shannon entropies and Fisher information of K-shell electrons of neutral atoms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sekh, Golam Ali; Saha, Aparna; Talukdar, Benoy

    2018-02-01

    We represent the two K-shell electrons of neutral atoms by Hylleraas-type wave function which fulfils the exact behavior at the electron-electron and electron-nucleus coalescence points and, derive a simple method to construct expressions for single-particle position- and momentum-space charge densities, ρ (r) and γ (p) respectively. We make use of the results for ρ (r) and γ (p) to critically examine the effect of correlation on bare (uncorrelated) values of Shannon information entropies (S) and of Fisher information (F) for the K-shell electrons of atoms from helium to neon. Due to inter-electronic repulsion the values of the uncorrelated Shannon position-space entropies are augmented while those of the momentum-space entropies are reduced. The corresponding Fisher information are found to exhibit opposite behavior in respect of this. Attempts are made to provide some plausible explanation for the observed response of S and F to electronic correlation.

  1. Quadratic band touching points and flat bands in two-dimensional topological Floquet systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Du, Liang; Zhou, Xiaoting; Fiete, Gregory A.

    2017-01-01

    In this paper we theoretically study, using Floquet-Bloch theory, the influence of circularly and linearly polarized light on two-dimensional band structures with Dirac and quadratic band touching points, and flat bands, taking the nearest neighbor hopping model on the kagome lattice as an example. We find circularly polarized light can invert the ordering of this three-band model, while leaving the flat band dispersionless. We find a small gap is also opened at the quadratic band touching point by two-photon and higher order processes. By contrast, linearly polarized light splits the quadratic band touching point (into two Dirac points) by an amount that depends only on the amplitude and polarization direction of the light, independent of the frequency, and generally renders dispersion to the flat band. The splitting is perpendicular to the direction of the polarization of the light. We derive an effective low-energy theory that captures these key results. Finally, we compute the frequency dependence of the optical conductivity for this three-band model and analyze the various interband contributions of the Floquet modes. Our results suggest strategies for optically controlling band structure and interaction strength in real systems.

  2. Book review: Biology and conservation of martens, sables, and fishers: A new synthesis

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Jenkins, Kurt J.

    2013-01-01

    Review info: Biology and conservation of martens, sables, and fishers: A new synthesis. Edited by K.B. Aubry, W.J. Zielinski, M.G. Raphael, G. Proulx, and S.W. Buskirk, 2012. ISBN: 978-08014, 580pp.

  3. Comprehensive Chemical Fingerprinting of High-Quality Cocoa at Early Stages of Processing: Effectiveness of Combined Untargeted and Targeted Approaches for Classification and Discrimination.

    PubMed

    Magagna, Federico; Guglielmetti, Alessandro; Liberto, Erica; Reichenbach, Stephen E; Allegrucci, Elena; Gobino, Guido; Bicchi, Carlo; Cordero, Chiara

    2017-08-02

    This study investigates chemical information of volatile fractions of high-quality cocoa (Theobroma cacao L. Malvaceae) from different origins (Mexico, Ecuador, Venezuela, Columbia, Java, Trinidad, and Sao Tomè) produced for fine chocolate. This study explores the evolution of the entire pattern of volatiles in relation to cocoa processing (raw, roasted, steamed, and ground beans). Advanced chemical fingerprinting (e.g., combined untargeted and targeted fingerprinting) with comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry allows advanced pattern recognition for classification, discrimination, and sensory-quality characterization. The entire data set is analyzed for 595 reliable two-dimensional peak regions, including 130 known analytes and 13 potent odorants. Multivariate analysis with unsupervised exploration (principal component analysis) and simple supervised discrimination methods (Fisher ratios and linear regression trees) reveal informative patterns of similarities and differences and identify characteristic compounds related to sample origin and manufacturing step.

  4. A linear quadratic regulator approach to the stabilization of uncertain linear systems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Shieh, L. S.; Sunkel, J. W.; Wang, Y. J.

    1990-01-01

    This paper presents a linear quadratic regulator approach to the stabilization of uncertain linear systems. The uncertain systems under consideration are described by state equations with the presence of time-varying unknown-but-bounded uncertainty matrices. The method is based on linear quadratic regulator (LQR) theory and Liapunov stability theory. The robust stabilizing control law for a given uncertain system can be easily constructed from the symmetric positive-definite solution of the associated augmented Riccati equation. The proposed approach can be applied to matched and/or mismatched systems with uncertainty matrices in which only their matrix norms are bounded by some prescribed values and/or their entries are bounded by some prescribed constraint sets. Several numerical examples are presented to illustrate the results.

  5. An application of the Maslov complex germ method to the one-dimensional nonlocal Fisher-KPP equation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shapovalov, A. V.; Trifonov, A. Yu.

    A semiclassical approximation approach based on the Maslov complex germ method is considered in detail for the one-dimensional nonlocal Fisher-Kolmogorov-Petrovskii-Piskunov (Fisher-KPP) equation under the supposition of weak diffusion. In terms of the semiclassical formalism developed, the original nonlinear equation is reduced to an associated linear partial differential equation and some algebraic equations for the coefficients of the linear equation with a given accuracy of the asymptotic parameter. The solutions of the nonlinear equation are constructed from the solutions of both the linear equation and the algebraic equations. The solutions of the linear problem are found with the use of symmetry operators. A countable family of the leading terms of the semiclassical asymptotics is constructed in explicit form. The semiclassical asymptotics are valid by construction in a finite time interval. We construct asymptotics which are different from the semiclassical ones and can describe evolution of the solutions of the Fisher-KPP equation at large times. In the example considered, an initial unimodal distribution becomes multimodal, which can be treated as an example of a space structure.

  6. Linear-Quadratic Control of a MEMS Micromirror using Kalman Filtering

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2011-12-01

    LINEAR-QUADRATIC CONTROL OF A MEMS MICROMIRROR USING KALMAN FILTERING THESIS Jamie P...A MEMS MICROMIRROR USING KALMAN FILTERING THESIS Presented to the Faculty Department of Electrical Engineering Graduate School of...actuated micromirrors fabricated by PolyMUMPs. Successful application of these techniques enables demonstration of smooth, stable deflections of 50% and

  7. Charles Miller Fisher: the 65th anniversary of the publication of his groundbreaking study "Transient Monocular Blindness Associated with Hemiplegia".

    PubMed

    Araújo, Tiago Fernando Souza de; Lange, Marcos; Zétola, Viviane H; Massaro, Ayrton; Teive, Hélio A G

    2017-10-01

    Charles Miller Fisher is considered the father of modern vascular neurology and one of the giants of neurology in the 20th century. This historical review emphasizes Prof. Fisher's magnificent contribution to vascular neurology and celebrates the 65th anniversary of the publication of his groundbreaking study, "Transient Monocular Blindness Associated with Hemiplegia."

  8. Burden's on U! the Impact of the "Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin" Decision on K-16 Admissions Policies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nguyen, David H. K.

    2014-01-01

    Using race as a factor in admissions policies was contested in "Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin." Although the U.S. Supreme Court firmly held in "Grutter v. Bollinger" that race can be considered among many factors in admitting students, the recent decision in "Fisher" has posed many questions and challenges…

  9. Rational Design of QCM-D Virtual Sensor Arrays Based on Film Thickness, Viscoelasticity, and Harmonics for Vapor Discrimination.

    PubMed

    Speller, Nicholas C; Siraj, Noureen; Regmi, Bishnu P; Marzoughi, Hassan; Neal, Courtney; Warner, Isiah M

    2015-01-01

    Herein, we demonstrate an alternative strategy for creating QCM-based sensor arrays by use of a single sensor to provide multiple responses per analyte. The sensor, which simulates a virtual sensor array (VSA), was developed by depositing a thin film of ionic liquid, either 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide ([OMIm][Br]) or 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium thiocyanate ([OMIm][SCN]), onto the surface of a QCM-D transducer. The sensor was exposed to 18 different organic vapors (alcohols, hydrocarbons, chlorohydrocarbons, nitriles) belonging to the same or different homologous series. The resulting frequency shifts (Δf) were measured at multiple harmonics and evaluated using principal component analysis (PCA) and discriminant analysis (DA) which revealed that analytes can be classified with extremely high accuracy. In almost all cases, the accuracy for identification of a member of the same class, that is, intraclass discrimination, was 100% as determined by use of quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA). Impressively, some VSAs allowed classification of all 18 analytes tested with nearly 100% accuracy. Such results underscore the importance of utilizing lesser exploited properties that influence signal transduction. Overall, these results demonstrate excellent potential of the virtual sensor array strategy for detection and discrimination of vapor phase analytes utilizing the QCM. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on QCM VSAs, as well as an experimental sensor array, that is based primarily on viscoelasticity, film thickness, and harmonics.

  10. The Tully-Fisher relation for flat galaxies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Makarov, D. I.; Zaitseva, N. A.; Bizyaev, D. V.

    2018-06-01

    We construct a multiparametric Tully-Fisher (TF) relation for a large sample of edge-on galaxies from the Revised Flat Galaxy Catalog using H I data from the EDD database and parameters from the EGIS catalog. We incorporate a variety of additional parameters including structural parameters of edge-on galaxies in different bandpasses. Besides the rotation curve maximum, only the H I-to-optical luminosity ratio and optical colours play a statistically significant role in the multiparametric TF relation. We are able to decrease the standard deviation of the multiparametric TF relation down to 0.32 mag, which is at the level of best modern samples of galaxies used for studies of the matter motion in the Universe via the TF-relation.

  11. Fisher: a program for the detection of H/ACA snoRNAs using MFE secondary structure prediction and comparative genomics - assessment and update.

    PubMed

    Freyhult, Eva; Edvardsson, Sverker; Tamas, Ivica; Moulton, Vincent; Poole, Anthony M

    2008-07-21

    The H/ACA family of small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) plays a central role in guiding the pseudouridylation of ribosomal RNA (rRNA). In an effort to systematically identify the complete set of rRNA-modifying H/ACA snoRNAs from the genome sequence of the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we developed a program - Fisher - and previously presented several candidate snoRNAs based on our analysis 1. In this report, we provide a brief update of this work, which was aborted after the publication of experimentally-identified snoRNAs 2 identical to candidates we had identified bioinformatically using Fisher. Our motivation for revisiting this work is to report on the status of the candidate snoRNAs described in 1, and secondly, to report that a modified version of Fisher together with the available multiple yeast genome sequences was able to correctly identify several H/ACA snoRNAs for modification sites not identified by the snoGPS program 3. While we are no longer developing Fisher, we briefly consider the merits of the Fisher algorithm relative to snoGPS, which may be of use for workers considering pursuing a similar search strategy for the identification of small RNAs. The modified source code for Fisher is made available as supplementary material. Our results confirm the validity of using minimum free energy (MFE) secondary structure prediction to guide comparative genomic screening for RNA families with few sequence constraints.

  12. The Hijdra scale has significant prognostic value for the functional outcome of Fisher grade 3 patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage.

    PubMed

    Bretz, Julia S; Von Dincklage, Falk; Woitzik, Johannes; Winkler, Maren K L; Major, Sebastian; Dreier, Jens P; Bohner, Georg; Scheel, Michael

    2017-09-01

    Despite its high prevalence among patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) and high risk of delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI), the Fisher grade 3 category remains a poorly studied subgroup. The aim of this cohort study has been to investigate the prognostic value of the Hijdra sum scoring system for the functional outcome in patients with Fisher grade 3 aSAH, in order to improve the risk stratification within this Fisher category. Initial CT scans of 72 prospectively enrolled patients with Fisher grade 3 aSAH were analyzed, and cisternal, ventricular, and total amount of blood were graded according to the Hijdra scale. Additionally, space-occupying subarachnoid blood clots were assessed. Outcome was evaluated after 6 months. Within the subgroup of Fisher grade 3, aSAH patients with an unfavorable outcome showed a significantly larger cisternal Hijdra sum score (HSS: 21.1 ± 5.2) than patients with a favorable outcome (HSS: 17.6 ± 5.9; p = 0.009). However, both the amount of ventricular blood (p = 0.165) and space-occupying blood clots (p = 0.206) appeared to have no prognostic relevance. After adjusting for the patient's age, gender, tobacco use, clinical status at admission, and presence of intracerebral hemorrhage, the cisternal and total HSS remained the only independent parameters included in multivariate logistic regression models to predict functional outcome (p < 0.01). The cisternal Hijdra score is fairly easy to perform and the present study indicates that it has an additional predictive value for the functional outcome within the Fisher 3 category. We suggest that the Hijdra scale is a practically useful prognostic instrument for the risk evaluation after aSAH and should be applied more often in the clinical setting.

  13. Elegant Ince-Gaussian beams in a quadratic-index medium

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bai, Zhi-Yong; Deng, Dong-Mei; Guo, Qi

    2011-09-01

    Elegant Ince—Gaussian beams, which are the exact solutions of the paraxial wave equation in a quadratic-index medium, are derived in elliptical coordinates. These kinds of beams are the alternative form of standard Ince—Gaussian beams and they display better symmetry between the Ince-polynomials and the Gaussian function in mathematics. The transverse intensity distribution and the phase of the elegant Ince—Gaussian beams are discussed.

  14. A Factorization Approach to the Linear Regulator Quadratic Cost Problem

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Milman, M. H.

    1985-01-01

    A factorization approach to the linear regulator quadratic cost problem is developed. This approach makes some new connections between optimal control, factorization, Riccati equations and certain Wiener-Hopf operator equations. Applications of the theory to systems describable by evolution equations in Hilbert space and differential delay equations in Euclidean space are presented.

  15. A quadratic regression modelling on paddy production in the area of Perlis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Goh, Aizat Hanis Annas; Ali, Zalila; Nor, Norlida Mohd; Baharum, Adam; Ahmad, Wan Muhamad Amir W.

    2017-08-01

    Polynomial regression models are useful in situations in which the relationship between a response variable and predictor variables is curvilinear. Polynomial regression fits the nonlinear relationship into a least squares linear regression model by decomposing the predictor variables into a kth order polynomial. The polynomial order determines the number of inflexions on the curvilinear fitted line. A second order polynomial forms a quadratic expression (parabolic curve) with either a single maximum or minimum, a third order polynomial forms a cubic expression with both a relative maximum and a minimum. This study used paddy data in the area of Perlis to model paddy production based on paddy cultivation characteristics and environmental characteristics. The results indicated that a quadratic regression model best fits the data and paddy production is affected by urea fertilizer application and the interaction between amount of average rainfall and percentage of area defected by pest and disease. Urea fertilizer application has a quadratic effect in the model which indicated that if the number of days of urea fertilizer application increased, paddy production is expected to decrease until it achieved a minimum value and paddy production is expected to increase at higher number of days of urea application. The decrease in paddy production with an increased in rainfall is greater, the higher the percentage of area defected by pest and disease.

  16. Constraints on both the quadratic and quartic symmetry energy coefficients by 2β --decay energies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wan, Niu; Xu, Chang; Ren, Zhongzhou; Liu, Jie

    2018-05-01

    In this Rapid Communication, the 2 β- -decay energies Q (2 β-) given in the atomic mass evaluation are used to extract not only the quadratic volume symmetry energy coefficient csymv, but also the quartic one csym,4 v. Based on the modified Bethe-Weizsäcker nuclear mass formula of the liquid-drop model, the decay energy Q (2 β-) is found to be closely related to both the quadratic and quartic symmetry energy coefficients csymv and csym,4 v. There are totally 449 data of decay energies Q (2 β-) used in the present analysis where the candidate nuclei are carefully chosen by fulfilling the following criteria: (1) large neutron-proton number difference N -Z , (2) large isospin asymmetry I , and (3) limited shell effect. The values of csymv and csym,4 v are extracted to be 29.345 and 3.634 MeV, respectively. Moreover, the quadratic surface-volume symmetry energy coefficient ratio is determined to be κ =csyms/csymv=1.356 .

  17. Community-based comprehensive intervention for people with schizophrenia in Guangzhou, China: Effects on clinical symptoms, social functioning, internalized stigma and discrimination.

    PubMed

    Li, Jie; Huang, Yuan-Guang; Ran, Mao-Sheng; Fan, Yu; Chen, Wen; Evans-Lacko, Sara; Thornicroft, Graham

    2018-04-01

    Comprehensive interventions including components of stigma and discrimination reduction in schizophrenia in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are lacking. We developed a community-based comprehensive intervention to evaluate its effects on clinical symptoms, social functioning, internalized stigma and discrimination among patients with schizophrenia. A randomized controlled trial including an intervention group (n = 169) and a control group (n = 158) was performed. The intervention group received comprehensive intervention (strategies against stigma and discrimination, psycho-education, social skills training and cognitive behavioral therapy) and the control group received face to face interview. Both lasted for nine months. Participants were measured at baseline, 6 months and 9 months using the Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness scale (ISMI), Discrimination and Stigma Scale (DISC-12), Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF), Schizophrenia Quality of Life Scale (SQLS), Self-Esteem Scale (SES), Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and PANSS negative scale (PANSS-N). Insight and medication compliance were evaluated by senior psychiatrists. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, t-test, chi-square test or Fisher's exact test. Linear Mixed Models were used to show intervention effectiveness on scales. General Linear Mixed Models with multinomial logistic link function were used to assess the effectiveness on medication compliance and insight. We found a significant reduction on anticipated discrimination, BPRS and PANSS-N total scores, and an elevation on overcoming stigma and GAF in the intervention group after 9 months. These suggested the intervention may be effective in reducing anticipated discrimination, increasing skills overcoming stigma as well as improving clinical symptoms and social functioning in Chinese patients with schizophrenia. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. An efficient inverse radiotherapy planning method for VMAT using quadratic programming optimization.

    PubMed

    Hoegele, W; Loeschel, R; Merkle, N; Zygmanski, P

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to investigate the feasibility of an inverse planning optimization approach for the Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT) based on quadratic programming and the projection method. The performance of this method is evaluated against a reference commercial planning system (eclipse(TM) for rapidarc(TM)) for clinically relevant cases. The inverse problem is posed in terms of a linear combination of basis functions representing arclet dose contributions and their respective linear coefficients as degrees of freedom. MLC motion is decomposed into basic motion patterns in an intuitive manner leading to a system of equations with a relatively small number of equations and unknowns. These equations are solved using quadratic programming under certain limiting physical conditions for the solution, such as the avoidance of negative dose during optimization and Monitor Unit reduction. The modeling by the projection method assures a unique treatment plan with beneficial properties, such as the explicit relation between organ weightings and the final dose distribution. Clinical cases studied include prostate and spine treatments. The optimized plans are evaluated by comparing isodose lines, DVH profiles for target and normal organs, and Monitor Units to those obtained by the clinical treatment planning system eclipse(TM). The resulting dose distributions for a prostate (with rectum and bladder as organs at risk), and for a spine case (with kidneys, liver, lung and heart as organs at risk) are presented. Overall, the results indicate that similar plan qualities for quadratic programming (QP) and rapidarc(TM) could be achieved at significantly more efficient computational and planning effort using QP. Additionally, results for the quasimodo phantom [Bohsung et al., "IMRT treatment planning: A comparative inter-system and inter-centre planning exercise of the estro quasimodo group," Radiother. Oncol. 76(3), 354-361 (2005)] are presented as an example

  19. QUADrATiC: scalable gene expression connectivity mapping for repurposing FDA-approved therapeutics.

    PubMed

    O'Reilly, Paul G; Wen, Qing; Bankhead, Peter; Dunne, Philip D; McArt, Darragh G; McPherson, Suzanne; Hamilton, Peter W; Mills, Ken I; Zhang, Shu-Dong

    2016-05-04

    Gene expression connectivity mapping has proven to be a powerful and flexible tool for research. Its application has been shown in a broad range of research topics, most commonly as a means of identifying potential small molecule compounds, which may be further investigated as candidates for repurposing to treat diseases. The public release of voluminous data from the Library of Integrated Cellular Signatures (LINCS) programme further enhanced the utilities and potentials of gene expression connectivity mapping in biomedicine. We describe QUADrATiC ( http://go.qub.ac.uk/QUADrATiC ), a user-friendly tool for the exploration of gene expression connectivity on the subset of the LINCS data set corresponding to FDA-approved small molecule compounds. It enables the identification of compounds for repurposing therapeutic potentials. The software is designed to cope with the increased volume of data over existing tools, by taking advantage of multicore computing architectures to provide a scalable solution, which may be installed and operated on a range of computers, from laptops to servers. This scalability is provided by the use of the modern concurrent programming paradigm provided by the Akka framework. The QUADrATiC Graphical User Interface (GUI) has been developed using advanced Javascript frameworks, providing novel visualization capabilities for further analysis of connections. There is also a web services interface, allowing integration with other programs or scripts. QUADrATiC has been shown to provide an improvement over existing connectivity map software, in terms of scope (based on the LINCS data set), applicability (using FDA-approved compounds), usability and speed. It offers potential to biological researchers to analyze transcriptional data and generate potential therapeutics for focussed study in the lab. QUADrATiC represents a step change in the process of investigating gene expression connectivity and provides more biologically-relevant results than

  20. Design of Linear Quadratic Regulators and Kalman Filters

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lehtinen, B.; Geyser, L.

    1986-01-01

    AESOP solves problems associated with design of controls and state estimators for linear time-invariant systems. Systems considered are modeled in state-variable form by set of linear differential and algebraic equations with constant coefficients. Two key problems solved by AESOP are linear quadratic regulator (LQR) design problem and steady-state Kalman filter design problem. AESOP is interactive. User solves design problems and analyzes solutions in single interactive session. Both numerical and graphical information available to user during the session.

  1. Field-antifield and BFV formalisms for quadratic systems with open gauge algebras

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Nirov, K.S.; Razumov, A.V.

    1992-09-20

    In this paper the Lagrangian field-antifield (BV) and Hamiltonian (BFV) BRST formalisms for the general quadratic systems with open gauge algebra are considered. The equivalence between the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formalisms is proven.

  2. Numerical solution of quadratic matrix equations for free vibration analysis of structures

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gupta, K. K.

    1975-01-01

    This paper is concerned with the efficient and accurate solution of the eigenvalue problem represented by quadratic matrix equations. Such matrix forms are obtained in connection with the free vibration analysis of structures, discretized by finite 'dynamic' elements, resulting in frequency-dependent stiffness and inertia matrices. The paper presents a new numerical solution procedure of the quadratic matrix equations, based on a combined Sturm sequence and inverse iteration technique enabling economical and accurate determination of a few required eigenvalues and associated vectors. An alternative procedure based on a simultaneous iteration procedure is also described when only the first few modes are the usual requirement. The employment of finite dynamic elements in conjunction with the presently developed eigenvalue routines results in a most significant economy in the dynamic analysis of structures.

  3. First report of soybean pest, Euschistus quadrator (Hempitera: pentatomidae) in Mississippi

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Here we report on the first state and county record of Euschistus quadrator Ralston (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) in Washington County, Mississippi. The species has been documented from Honduras to Virginia primarily on soybeans, cotton, various row crops, fruit, and non-crop hosts. The local impact...

  4. Status of fisher in the northern Idaho panhandle and adjacent mountain ranges

    Treesearch

    Michael Lucid; L. Robinson; S. Cushman; L. Allen; M. Schwartz; K. Pilgrim

    2013-01-01

    The Multi-species Baseline Initiative (MBI) is a collaborative of organizations which is conducting a comprehensive inventory for fisher (Martes pennanti) and other wildlife species across the Idaho Panhandle and adjacent mountain ranges. From 2010-2012, MBI partners established 112 forest carnivore bait stations to collect photographs and DNA from 22 wildlife species...

  5. Estimating trend in occupancy for the Southern Sierra fisher Martes pennanti population

    Treesearch

    William J. Zielinski; James A. Baldwin; Richard L. Truex; Jody M. Tucker; Patricia A. Flebbe

    2013-01-01

    Carnivores are important elements of biodiversity, not only because of their role in transferring energy and nutrients, but also because they influence the structure of the communities where they occur. The fisher Martes pennanti is amammalian carnivore that is associated with late-successional mixed forests in the Sierra Nevada in California, and...

  6. Disentangling Similarity Judgments from Pragmatic Judgments: Response to Sloutsky and Fisher (2012)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Noles, Nicholaus S.; Gelman, Susan A.

    2012-01-01

    Sloutsky and Fisher (2012) attempt to reframe the results presented in Noles and Gelman (2012) as a pure replication of their original work validating the similarity, induction, naming, and categorization (SINC) model. However, their critique fails to engage with the central findings reported in Noles and Gelman, and their reanalysis fails to…

  7. Importance of the cutoff value in the quadratic adaptive integrate-and-fire model.

    PubMed

    Touboul, Jonathan

    2009-08-01

    The quadratic adaptive integrate-and-fire model (Izhikevich, 2003 , 2007 ) is able to reproduce various firing patterns of cortical neurons and is widely used in large-scale simulations of neural networks. This model describes the dynamics of the membrane potential by a differential equation that is quadratic in the voltage, coupled to a second equation for adaptation. Integration is stopped during the rise phase of a spike at a voltage cutoff value V(c) or when it blows up. Subsequently the membrane potential is reset, and the adaptation variable is increased by a fixed amount. We show in this note that in the absence of a cutoff value, not only the voltage but also the adaptation variable diverges in finite time during spike generation in the quadratic model. The divergence of the adaptation variable makes the system very sensitive to the cutoff: changing V(c) can dramatically alter the spike patterns. Furthermore, from a computational viewpoint, the divergence of the adaptation variable implies that the time steps for numerical simulation need to be small and adaptive. However, divergence of the adaptation variable does not occur for the quartic model (Touboul, 2008 ) and the adaptive exponential integrate-and-fire model (Brette & Gerstner, 2005 ). Hence, these models are robust to changes in the cutoff value.

  8. Quadratic band touching points and flat bands in two-dimensional topological Floquet systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Du, Liang; Zhou, Xiaoting; Fiete, Gregory; The CenterComplex Quantum Systems Team

    In this work we theoretically study, using Floquet-Bloch theory, the influence of circularly and linearly polarized light on two-dimensional band structures with Dirac and quadratic band touching points, and flat bands, taking the nearest neighbor hopping model on the kagome lattice as an example. We find circularly polarized light can invert the ordering of this three band model, while leaving the flat-band dispersionless. We find a small gap is also opened at the quadratic band touching point by 2-photon and higher order processes. By contrast, linearly polarized light splits the quadratic band touching point (into two Dirac points) by an amount that depends only on the amplitude and polarization direction of the light, independent of the frequency, and generally renders dispersion to the flat band. The splitting is perpendicular to the direction of the polarization of the light. We derive an effective low-energy theory that captures these key results. Finally, we compute the frequency dependence of the optical conductivity for this 3-band model and analyze the various interband contributions of the Floquet modes. Our results suggest strategies for optically controlling band structure and interaction strength in real systems. We gratefully acknowledge funding from ARO Grant W911NF-14-1-0579 and NSF DMR-1507621.

  9. Confidence set interference with a prior quadratic bound. [in geophysics

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Backus, George E.

    1989-01-01

    Neyman's (1937) theory of confidence sets is developed as a replacement for Bayesian interference (BI) and stochastic inversion (SI) when the prior information is a hard quadratic bound. It is recommended that BI and SI be replaced by confidence set interference (CSI) only in certain circumstances. The geomagnetic problem is used to illustrate the general theory of CSI.

  10. Cooperative Solutions in Multi-Person Quadratic Decision Problems: Finite-Horizon and State-Feedback Cost-Cumulant Control Paradigm

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2007-01-01

    CONTRACT NUMBER Problems: Finite -Horizon and State-Feedback Cost-Cumulant Control Paradigm (PREPRINT) 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER...cooperative cost-cumulant control regime for the class of multi-person single-objective decision problems characterized by quadratic random costs and... finite -horizon integral quadratic cost associated with a linear stochastic system . Since this problem formation is parameterized by the number of cost

  11. Discrete-time Markovian-jump linear quadratic optimal control

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Chizeck, H. J.; Willsky, A. S.; Castanon, D.

    1986-01-01

    This paper is concerned with the optimal control of discrete-time linear systems that possess randomly jumping parameters described by finite-state Markov processes. For problems having quadratic costs and perfect observations, the optimal control laws and expected costs-to-go can be precomputed from a set of coupled Riccati-like matrix difference equations. Necessary and sufficient conditions are derived for the existence of optimal constant control laws which stabilize the controlled system as the time horizon becomes infinite, with finite optimal expected cost.

  12. Genetic Discrimination

    MedlinePlus

    ... the News Canadian 41 st Parliament Passes New Law, S-201 "Genetic Non-Discrimination Act" Canadian lawmakers passed ... Title II). Read more Genetic Discrimination and Other Laws Genetic Discrimination and Other Laws includes the Health ...

  13. Revisiting the comparison between the Shack-Hartmann and the pyramid wavefront sensors via the Fisher information matrix.

    PubMed

    Plantet, C; Meimon, S; Conan, J-M; Fusco, T

    2015-11-02

    Exoplanet direct imaging with large ground based telescopes requires eXtreme Adaptive Optics that couples high-order adaptive optics and coronagraphy. A key element of such systems is the high-order wavefront sensor. We study here several high-order wavefront sensing approaches, and more precisely compare their sensitivity to noise. Three techniques are considered: the classical Shack-Hartmann sensor, the pyramid sensor and the recently proposed LIFTed Shack-Hartmann sensor. They are compared in a unified framework based on precise diffractive models and on the Fisher information matrix, which conveys the information present in the data whatever the estimation method. The diagonal elements of the inverse of the Fisher information matrix, which we use as a figure of merit, are similar to noise propagation coefficients. With these diagonal elements, so called "Fisher coefficients", we show that the LIFTed Shack-Hartmann and pyramid sensors outperform the classical Shack-Hartmann sensor. In photon noise regime, the LIFTed Shack-Hartmann and modulated pyramid sensors obtain a similar overall noise propagation. The LIFTed Shack-Hartmann sensor however provides attractive noise properties on high orders.

  14. Relations among Categorization, Induction, Recognition, and Similarity: Comment on Sloutsky and Fisher (2004)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Heit, Evan; Hayes, Brett K.

    2005-01-01

    V. M. Sloutsky and A. V. Fisher reported 5 experiments documenting relations among categorization, induction, recognition, and similarity in children as well as adults and proposed a new model of induction, SINC (similarity, induction, categorization). Those authors concluded that induction depends on perceptual similarity rather than conceptual…

  15. Learning Ecosystem Complexity: A Study on Small-Scale Fishers' Ecological Knowledge Generation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Garavito-Bermúdez, Diana

    2018-01-01

    Small-scale fisheries are learning contexts of importance for generating, transferring and updating ecological knowledge of natural environments through everyday work practices. The rich knowledge fishers have of local ecosystems is the result of the intimate relationship fishing communities have had with their natural environments across…

  16. Positive interactions between irrawaddy dolphins and artisanal fishers in the Chilika Lagoon of eastern India are driven by ecology, socioeconomics, and culture.

    PubMed

    D'Lima, Coralie; Marsh, Helene; Hamann, Mark; Sinha, Anindya; Arthur, Rohan

    2014-09-01

    In human-dominated landscapes, interactions and perceptions towards wildlife are influenced by multidimensional drivers. Understanding these drivers could prove useful for wildlife conservation. We surveyed the attitudes and perceptions of fishers towards threatened Irrawaddy dolphins (Orcaella brevirostris) at Chilika Lagoon India. To validate the drivers of fisher perceptions, we : (1) observed dolphin foraging behavior at stake nets, and (2) compared catch per unit effort (CPUE) and catch income of fishers from stake nets in the presence and absence of foraging dolphins. We found that fishers were mostly positive towards dolphins, believing that dolphins augmented their fish catch and using culture to express their perceptions. Foraging dolphins were observed spending half their time at stake nets and were associated with significantly higher catch income and CPUE of mullet (Liza sp.), a locally preferred food fish species. Wildlife conservation efforts should use the multidimensional drivers of human-wildlife interactions to involve local stakeholders in management.

  17. An experimental demonstration of Fisher's principle: evolution of sexual proportion by natural selection.

    PubMed Central

    Carvalho, A B; Sampaio, M C; Varandas, F R; Klaczko, L B

    1998-01-01

    Most sexually reproducing species have sexual proportions around 1:1. This major biological phenomenon remained unexplained until 1930, when FISHER proposed that it results from a mechanism of natural selection. Here we report the first experimental test of his model that obeys all its assumptions. We used a naturally occurring X-Y meiotic drive system--the sex-ratio trait of Drosophila mediopunctat--to generate female-biased experimental populations. As predicted by FISHER, these populations evolved toward equal sex proportions due to natural selection, by accumulation of autosomal alleles that direct the parental reproductive effort toward the rare sex. Classical Fisherian evolution is a rather slow mechanism: despite a very large amount of genetic variability, the experimental populations evolved from 16% of males to 32% of males in 49 generations and would take 330 generations (29 years) to reach 49%. This slowness has important implications for species potentially endangered by skewed sexual proportions, such as reptiles with temperature sex determination. PMID:9504919

  18. Automatic Recognition of Fetal Facial Standard Plane in Ultrasound Image via Fisher Vector.

    PubMed

    Lei, Baiying; Tan, Ee-Leng; Chen, Siping; Zhuo, Liu; Li, Shengli; Ni, Dong; Wang, Tianfu

    2015-01-01

    Acquisition of the standard plane is the prerequisite of biometric measurement and diagnosis during the ultrasound (US) examination. In this paper, a new algorithm is developed for the automatic recognition of the fetal facial standard planes (FFSPs) such as the axial, coronal, and sagittal planes. Specifically, densely sampled root scale invariant feature transform (RootSIFT) features are extracted and then encoded by Fisher vector (FV). The Fisher network with multi-layer design is also developed to extract spatial information to boost the classification performance. Finally, automatic recognition of the FFSPs is implemented by support vector machine (SVM) classifier based on the stochastic dual coordinate ascent (SDCA) algorithm. Experimental results using our dataset demonstrate that the proposed method achieves an accuracy of 93.27% and a mean average precision (mAP) of 99.19% in recognizing different FFSPs. Furthermore, the comparative analyses reveal the superiority of the proposed method based on FV over the traditional methods.

  19. Improved dense trajectories for action recognition based on random projection and Fisher vectors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ai, Shihui; Lu, Tongwei; Xiong, Yudian

    2018-03-01

    As an important application of intelligent monitoring system, the action recognition in video has become a very important research area of computer vision. In order to improve the accuracy rate of the action recognition in video with improved dense trajectories, one advanced vector method is introduced. Improved dense trajectories combine Fisher Vector with Random Projection. The method realizes the reduction of the characteristic trajectory though projecting the high-dimensional trajectory descriptor into the low-dimensional subspace based on defining and analyzing Gaussian mixture model by Random Projection. And a GMM-FV hybrid model is introduced to encode the trajectory feature vector and reduce dimension. The computational complexity is reduced by Random Projection which can drop Fisher coding vector. Finally, a Linear SVM is used to classifier to predict labels. We tested the algorithm in UCF101 dataset and KTH dataset. Compared with existed some others algorithm, the result showed that the method not only reduce the computational complexity but also improved the accuracy of action recognition.

  20. Quantum Fisher information on its own is not a valid measure of the coherence

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kwon, Hyukjoon; Tan, Kok Chuan; Choi, Seongjeon; Jeong, Hyunseok

    2018-06-01

    We show that contrary to the claim in Feng and Wei (2017), the quantum Fisher information itself is not a valid measure of the coherence based on the resource theory because it can increase via an incoherent operation.

  1. A Multi-modal, Discriminative and Spatially Invariant CNN for RGB-D Object Labeling.

    PubMed

    Asif, Umar; Bennamoun, Mohammed; Sohel, Ferdous

    2017-08-30

    While deep convolutional neural networks have shown a remarkable success in image classification, the problems of inter-class similarities, intra-class variances, the effective combination of multimodal data, and the spatial variability in images of objects remain to be major challenges. To address these problems, this paper proposes a novel framework to learn a discriminative and spatially invariant classification model for object and indoor scene recognition using multimodal RGB-D imagery. This is achieved through three postulates: 1) spatial invariance - this is achieved by combining a spatial transformer network with a deep convolutional neural network to learn features which are invariant to spatial translations, rotations, and scale changes, 2) high discriminative capability - this is achieved by introducing Fisher encoding within the CNN architecture to learn features which have small inter-class similarities and large intra-class compactness, and 3) multimodal hierarchical fusion - this is achieved through the regularization of semantic segmentation to a multi-modal CNN architecture, where class probabilities are estimated at different hierarchical levels (i.e., imageand pixel-levels), and fused into a Conditional Random Field (CRF)- based inference hypothesis, the optimization of which produces consistent class labels in RGB-D images. Extensive experimental evaluations on RGB-D object and scene datasets, and live video streams (acquired from Kinect) show that our framework produces superior object and scene classification results compared to the state-of-the-art methods.

  2. Design of Linear-Quadratic-Regulator for a CSTR process

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Meghna, P. R.; Saranya, V.; Jaganatha Pandian, B.

    2017-11-01

    This paper aims at creating a Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) for a Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor (CSTR). A CSTR is a common process used in chemical industries. It is a highly non-linear system. Therefore, in order to create the gain feedback controller, the model is linearized. The controller is designed for the linearized model and the concentration and volume of the liquid in the reactor are kept at a constant value as required.

  3. Steering of Frequency Standards by the Use of Linear Quadratic Gaussian Control Theory

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Koppang, Paul; Leland, Robert

    1996-01-01

    Linear quadratic Gaussian control is a technique that uses Kalman filtering to estimate a state vector used for input into a control calculation. A control correction is calculated by minimizing a quadratic cost function that is dependent on both the state vector and the control amount. Different penalties, chosen by the designer, are assessed by the controller as the state vector and control amount vary from given optimal values. With this feature controllers can be designed to force the phase and frequency differences between two standards to zero either more or less aggressively depending on the application. Data will be used to show how using different parameters in the cost function analysis affects the steering and the stability of the frequency standards.

  4. Visualising the Complex Roots of Quadratic Equations with Real Coefficients

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bardell, Nicholas S.

    2012-01-01

    The roots of the general quadratic equation y = ax[superscript 2] + bx + c (real a, b, c) are known to occur in the following sets: (i) real and distinct; (ii) real and coincident; and (iii) a complex conjugate pair. Case (iii), which provides the focus for this investigation, can only occur when the values of the real coefficients a, b, and c are…

  5. Vagal activity is quadratically related to prosocial traits, prosocial emotions, and observer perceptions of prosociality.

    PubMed

    Kogan, Aleksandr; Oveis, Christopher; Carr, Evan W; Gruber, June; Mauss, Iris B; Shallcross, Amanda; Impett, Emily A; van der Lowe, Ilmo; Hui, Bryant; Cheng, Cecilia; Keltner, Dacher

    2014-12-01

    In the present article, we introduce the quadratic vagal activity-prosociality hypothesis, a theoretical framework for understanding the vagus nerve's involvement in prosociality. We argue that vagus nerve activity supports prosocial behavior by regulating physiological systems that enable emotional expression, empathy for others' mental and emotional states, the regulation of one's own distress, and the experience of positive emotions. However, we contend that extremely high levels of vagal activity can be detrimental to prosociality. We present 3 studies providing support for our model, finding consistent evidence of a quadratic relationship between respiratory sinus arrhythmia--the degree to which the vagus nerve modulates the heart rate--and prosociality. Individual differences in vagal activity were quadratically related to prosocial traits (Study 1), prosocial emotions (Study 2), and outside ratings of prosociality by complete strangers (Study 3). Thus, too much or too little vagal activity appears to be detrimental to prosociality. The present article provides the 1st theoretical and empirical account of the nonlinear relationship between vagal activity and prosociality.

  6. Influence of the Onion Creek salt diapir on the late Cenozoic history of Fisher Valley, southeastern Utah.

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Colman, Steven M.

    1983-01-01

    Apparently, several pulses of salt flowed into the diapir between about 2-3 and 0.25Myr ago, and the diapir may still be active. The rising salt diapir impeded the flow of ancestral Fisher Creek, causing deposition of more than 125m of basin-fill sediments, and eventually diverted the creek down Cottonwood graben to the Dolores River about 0.25Myr ago. Onion Creek has eroded headward from the Colorado River, through both the diapir and the basin-fill sediments, and is about to capture Fisher Creek, restoring the original drainage course. -from Author

  7. Quadratic integrand double-hybrid made spin-component-scaled

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Brémond, Éric, E-mail: eric.bremond@iit.it; Savarese, Marika; Sancho-García, Juan C.

    2016-03-28

    We propose two analytical expressions aiming to rationalize the spin-component-scaled (SCS) and spin-opposite-scaled (SOS) schemes for double-hybrid exchange-correlation density-functionals. Their performances are extensively tested within the framework of the nonempirical quadratic integrand double-hybrid (QIDH) model on energetic properties included into the very large GMTKN30 benchmark database, and on structural properties of semirigid medium-sized organic compounds. The SOS variant is revealed as a less computationally demanding alternative to reach the accuracy of the original QIDH model without losing any theoretical background.

  8. Application of artificial neural network model combined with four biomarkers in auxiliary diagnosis of lung cancer.

    PubMed

    Duan, Xiaoran; Yang, Yongli; Tan, Shanjuan; Wang, Sihua; Feng, Xiaolei; Cui, Liuxin; Feng, Feifei; Yu, Songcheng; Wang, Wei; Wu, Yongjun

    2017-08-01

    The purpose of the study was to explore the application of artificial neural network model in the auxiliary diagnosis of lung cancer and compare the effects of back-propagation (BP) neural network with Fisher discrimination model for lung cancer screening by the combined detections of four biomarkers of p16, RASSF1A and FHIT gene promoter methylation levels and the relative telomere length. Real-time quantitative methylation-specific PCR was used to detect the levels of three-gene promoter methylation, and real-time PCR method was applied to determine the relative telomere length. BP neural network and Fisher discrimination analysis were used to establish the discrimination diagnosis model. The levels of three-gene promoter methylation in patients with lung cancer were significantly higher than those of the normal controls. The values of Z(P) in two groups were 2.641 (0.008), 2.075 (0.038) and 3.044 (0.002), respectively. The relative telomere lengths of patients with lung cancer (0.93 ± 0.32) were significantly lower than those of the normal controls (1.16 ± 0.57), t = 4.072, P < 0.001. The areas under the ROC curve (AUC) and 95 % CI of prediction set from Fisher discrimination analysis and BP neural network were 0.670 (0.569-0.761) and 0.760 (0.664-0.840). The AUC of BP neural network was higher than that of Fisher discrimination analysis, and Z(P) was 0.76. Four biomarkers are associated with lung cancer. BP neural network model for the prediction of lung cancer is better than Fisher discrimination analysis, and it can provide an excellent and intelligent diagnosis tool for lung cancer.

  9. New records of Caribbomerus from Hispaniola and Dominica with redescription of C. elongatus (Fisher) and a key to species of the genus in the West Indies (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae, Cerambycinae, Graciliini).

    PubMed

    Lingafelter, Steven W

    2011-03-11

    Three species of Caribbomerus Vitali are newly recorded for the Dominican Republic: Caribbomerus decoratus (Zayas), Caribbomerus elongatus (Fisher), and Caribbomerus asperatus (Fisher). The first two also represent first records for Hispaniola. Caribbomerus elongatus (Fisher) is redescribed based on additional material, including the first known males. Caribbomerus similis (Fisher) is newly recorded for Dominica. A key to the species of the genus from the West Indies is provided.

  10. To fish or not to fish: factors at multiple scales affecting artisanal fishers' readiness to exit a declining fishery.

    PubMed

    Daw, Tim M; Cinner, Joshua E; McClanahan, Timothy R; Brown, Katrina; Stead, Selina M; Graham, Nicholas A J; Maina, Joseph

    2012-01-01

    Globally, fisheries are challenged by the combined impacts of overfishing, degradation of ecosystems and impacts of climate change, while fisheries livelihoods are further pressured by conservation policy imperatives. Fishers' adaptive responses to these pressures, such as exiting from a fishery to pursue alternative livelihoods, determine their own vulnerability, as well as the potential for reducing fishing effort and sustaining fisheries. The willingness and ability to make particular adaptations in response to change, such as exiting from a declining fishery, is influenced by economic, cultural and institutional factors operating at scales from individual fishers to national economies. Previous studies of exit from fisheries at single or few sites, offer limited insight into the relative importance of individual and larger-scale social and economic factors. We asked 599 fishers how they would respond to hypothetical scenarios of catch declines in 28 sites in five western Indian Ocean countries. We investigated how socioeconomic variables at the individual-, household- and site-scale affected whether they would exit fisheries. Site-level factors had the greatest influence on readiness to exit, but these relationships were contrary to common predictions. Specifically, higher levels of infrastructure development and economic vitality - expected to promote exit from fisheries - were associated with less readiness to exit. This may be due to site level histories of exit from fisheries, greater specialisation of fishing households, or higher rewards from fishing in more economically developed sites due to technology, market access, catch value and government subsidies. At the individual and household scale, fishers from households with more livelihood activities, and fishers with lower catch value were more willing to exit. These results demonstrate empirically how adaptive responses to change are influenced by factors at multiple scales, and highlight the importance

  11. Who's Qualified? Seeing Race in Color-Blind Times: Lessons from Fisher v. University of Texas

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Donnor, Jamel K.

    2015-01-01

    Using Howard Winant's racial dualism theory, this chapter explains how race was discursively operationalized in the recent U.S. Supreme Court higher education antiracial diversity case Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin.

  12. An analysis of spectral envelope-reduction via quadratic assignment problems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    George, Alan; Pothen, Alex

    1994-01-01

    A new spectral algorithm for reordering a sparse symmetric matrix to reduce its envelope size was described. The ordering is computed by associating a Laplacian matrix with the given matrix and then sorting the components of a specified eigenvector of the Laplacian. In this paper, we provide an analysis of the spectral envelope reduction algorithm. We described related 1- and 2-sum problems; the former is related to the envelope size, while the latter is related to an upper bound on the work involved in an envelope Cholesky factorization scheme. We formulate the latter two problems as quadratic assignment problems, and then study the 2-sum problem in more detail. We obtain lower bounds on the 2-sum by considering a projected quadratic assignment problem, and then show that finding a permutation matrix closest to an orthogonal matrix attaining one of the lower bounds justifies the spectral envelope reduction algorithm. The lower bound on the 2-sum is seen to be tight for reasonably 'uniform' finite element meshes. We also obtain asymptotically tight lower bounds for the envelope size for certain classes of meshes.

  13. Observers for a class of systems with nonlinearities satisfying an incremental quadratic inequality

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Acikmese, Ahmet Behcet; Martin, Corless

    2004-01-01

    We consider the problem of state estimation from nonlinear time-varying system whose nonlinearities satisfy an incremental quadratic inequality. Observers are presented which guarantee that the state estimation error exponentially converges to zero.

  14. Shannon entropy and Fisher information of the one-dimensional Klein-Gordon oscillator with energy-dependent potential

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Boumali, Abdelmalek; Labidi, Malika

    2018-02-01

    In this paper, we studied, at first, the influence of the energy-dependent potentials on the one-dimensionless Klein-Gordon oscillator. Then, the Shannon entropy and Fisher information of this system are investigated. The position and momentum information entropies for the low-lying states n = 0, 1, 2 are calculated. Some interesting features of both Fisher and Shannon densities, as well as the probability densities, are demonstrated. Finally, the Stam, Cramer-Rao and Bialynicki-Birula-Mycielski (BBM) inequalities have been checked, and their comparison with the regarding results have been reported. We showed that the BBM inequality is still valid in the form Sx + Sp ≥ 1 +ln π, as well as in ordinary quantum mechanics.

  15. Pseudodynamic systems approach based on a quadratic approximation of update equations for diffuse optical tomography.

    PubMed

    Biswas, Samir Kumar; Kanhirodan, Rajan; Vasu, Ram Mohan; Roy, Debasish

    2011-08-01

    We explore a pseudodynamic form of the quadratic parameter update equation for diffuse optical tomographic reconstruction from noisy data. A few explicit and implicit strategies for obtaining the parameter updates via a semianalytical integration of the pseudodynamic equations are proposed. Despite the ill-posedness of the inverse problem associated with diffuse optical tomography, adoption of the quadratic update scheme combined with the pseudotime integration appears not only to yield higher convergence, but also a muted sensitivity to the regularization parameters, which include the pseudotime step size for integration. These observations are validated through reconstructions with both numerically generated and experimentally acquired data.

  16. Quadratic formula for determining the drop size in pressure-atomized sprays with and without swirl

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Lee, T.-W, E-mail: attwl@asu.edu; An, Keju

    2016-06-15

    We use a theoretical framework based on the integral form of the conservation equations, along with a heuristic model of the viscous dissipation, to find a closed-form solution to the liquid atomization problem. The energy balance for the spray renders to a quadratic formula for the drop size as a function, primarily of the liquid velocity. The Sauter mean diameter found using the quadratic formula shows good agreements and physical trends, when compared with experimental observations. This approach is shown to be applicable toward specifying initial drop size in computational fluid dynamics of spray flows.

  17. An application of nonlinear programming to the design of regulators of a linear-quadratic formulation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Fleming, P.

    1983-01-01

    A design technique is proposed for linear regulators in which a feedback controller of fixed structure is chosen to minimize an integral quadratic objective function subject to the satisfaction of integral quadratic constraint functions. Application of a nonlinear programming algorithm to this mathematically tractable formulation results in an efficient and useful computer aided design tool. Particular attention is paid to computational efficiency and various recommendations are made. Two design examples illustrate the flexibility of the approach and highlight the special insight afforded to the designer. One concerns helicopter longitudinal dynamics and the other the flight dynamics of an aerodynamically unstable aircraft.

  18. New records of Caribbomerus from Hispaniola and Dominica with redescription of C. elongatus (Fisher) and a key to species of the genus in the West Indies (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae, Cerambycinae, Graciliini)

    PubMed Central

    Lingafelter, Steven W.

    2011-01-01

    Abstract Three species of Caribbomerus Vitali are newly recorded for the Dominican Republic: Caribbomerus decoratus (Zayas), Caribbomerus elongatus (Fisher), and Caribbomerus asperatus (Fisher). The first two also represent first records for Hispaniola. Caribbomerus elongatus (Fisher) is redescribed based on additional material, including the first known males. Caribbomerus similis (Fisher) is newly recorded for Dominica. A key to the species of the genus from the West Indies is provided. PMID:21594096

  19. Mapping the absolute magnetic field and evaluating the quadratic Zeeman-effect-induced systematic error in an atom interferometer gravimeter

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hu, Qing-Qing; Freier, Christian; Leykauf, Bastian; Schkolnik, Vladimir; Yang, Jun; Krutzik, Markus; Peters, Achim

    2017-09-01

    Precisely evaluating the systematic error induced by the quadratic Zeeman effect is important for developing atom interferometer gravimeters aiming at an accuracy in the μ Gal regime (1 μ Gal =10-8m /s2 ≈10-9g ). This paper reports on the experimental investigation of Raman spectroscopy-based magnetic field measurements and the evaluation of the systematic error in the gravimetric atom interferometer (GAIN) due to quadratic Zeeman effect. We discuss Raman duration and frequency step-size-dependent magnetic field measurement uncertainty, present vector light shift and tensor light shift induced magnetic field measurement offset, and map the absolute magnetic field inside the interferometer chamber of GAIN with an uncertainty of 0.72 nT and a spatial resolution of 12.8 mm. We evaluate the quadratic Zeeman-effect-induced gravity measurement error in GAIN as 2.04 μ Gal . The methods shown in this paper are important for precisely mapping the absolute magnetic field in vacuum and reducing the quadratic Zeeman-effect-induced systematic error in Raman transition-based precision measurements, such as atomic interferometer gravimeters.

  20. Relation between minimum-error discrimination and optimum unambiguous discrimination

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Qiu Daowen; SQIG-Instituto de Telecomunicacoes, Departamento de Matematica, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Universidade Tecnica de Lisboa, Avenida Rovisco Pais PT-1049-001, Lisbon; Li Lvjun

    2010-09-15

    In this paper, we investigate the relationship between the minimum-error probability Q{sub E} of ambiguous discrimination and the optimal inconclusive probability Q{sub U} of unambiguous discrimination. It is known that for discriminating two states, the inequality Q{sub U{>=}}2Q{sub E} has been proved in the literature. The main technical results are as follows: (1) We show that, for discriminating more than two states, Q{sub U{>=}}2Q{sub E} may not hold again, but the infimum of Q{sub U}/Q{sub E} is 1, and there is no supremum of Q{sub U}/Q{sub E}, which implies that the failure probabilities of the two schemes for discriminating somemore » states may be narrowly or widely gapped. (2) We derive two concrete formulas of the minimum-error probability Q{sub E} and the optimal inconclusive probability Q{sub U}, respectively, for ambiguous discrimination and unambiguous discrimination among arbitrary m simultaneously diagonalizable mixed quantum states with given prior probabilities. In addition, we show that Q{sub E} and Q{sub U} satisfy the relationship that Q{sub U{>=}}(m/m-1)Q{sub E}.« less