Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Independent Components (independent + component)
Terms modified by Independent Components Selected AbstractsEstimating the number of independent components for functional magnetic resonance imaging dataHUMAN BRAIN MAPPING, Issue 11 2007Yi-Ou Li Abstract Multivariate analysis methods such as independent component analysis (ICA) have been applied to the analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data to study brain function. Because of the high dimensionality and high noise level of the fMRI data, order selection, i.e., estimation of the number of informative components, is critical to reduce over/underfitting in such methods. Dependence among fMRI data samples in the spatial and temporal domain limits the usefulness of the practical formulations of information-theoretic criteria (ITC) for order selection, since they are based on likelihood of independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) data samples. To address this issue, we propose a subsampling scheme to obtain a set of effectively i.i.d. samples from the dependent data samples and apply the ITC formulas to the effectively i.i.d. sample set for order selection. We apply the proposed method on the simulated data and show that it significantly improves the accuracy of order selection from dependent data. We also perform order selection on fMRI data from a visuomotor task and show that the proposed method alleviates the over-estimation on the number of brain sources due to the intrinsic smoothness and the smooth preprocessing of fMRI data. We use the software package ICASSO (Himberg et al. [ 2004]: Neuroimage 22:1214,1222) to analyze the independent component (IC) estimates at different orders and show that, when ICA is performed at overestimated orders, the stability of the IC estimates decreases and the estimation of task related brain activations show degradation. Hum Brain Mapp, 2007. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Ca2+ -independent hypoxic vasorelaxation in porcine coronary arteryTHE JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 3 2005Min Gu To demonstrate a Ca2+ -independent component of hypoxic vasorelaxation and to investigate its mechanism, we utilized permeabilized porcine coronary arteries, in which [Ca2+] could be clamped. Arteries permeabilized with ,-escin developed maximum force in response to free Ca2+ (6.6 ,m), concomitant with a parallel increase in myosin regulatory light chain phosphorylation (MRLC-Pi), from 0.183 ± 0.023 to 0.353 ± 0.019 MRLC-Pi (total light chain),1. Hypoxia resulted in a significant decrease in both force (,31.9 ± 4.1% prior developed force) and MRLC-Pi (from 0.353 to 0.280 ± 0.023), despite constant [Ca2+] buffered by EGTA (4 mm). Forces developed in response to Ca2+ (6.6 ,m), Ca2+ (0.2 ,m) + GTP,S (1 mm), or in the absence of Ca2+ after treatment with ATP,S (1 mm), were of similar magnitude. Hypoxia also relaxed GTP,S contractures but importantly, arteries could not be relaxed after treatment with ATP,S. Permeabilization with Triton X-100 for 60 min also abolished hypoxic relaxation. The blocking of hypoxic relaxation after ATP,S suggests that this Ca2+ -independent mechanism(s) may operate through alteration of MRLC-Pi or of phosphorylation of the myosin binding subunit of myosin light chain phosphatase. Treatment with the Rho kinase inhibitor Y27632 (1 ,m) relaxed GTP,S and Ca2+ contractures; but the latter required a higher concentration (10 ,m) for consistent relaxation. Relaxations to N2 and/or Y27632 averaged 35% and were not additive or dependent on order. Our data suggest that the GTP-mediated, Rho kinase-coupled pathway merits further investigation as a potential site of this novel, Ca2+ -independent O2 -sensing mechanism. Importantly, these results unambiguously show that hypoxia-induced vasorelaxation can occur in permeabilized arteries where the Ca2+ is clamped at a constant value. [source] Improvement of information filtering by independent components selectionELECTRICAL ENGINEERING IN JAPAN, Issue 2 2008Takeru Yokoi Abstract We propose an improvement of an information filtering process with independent components selection. The independent components are obtained by Independent Components Analysis and considered as topics. Selection of independent components is an efficient method of improving the accuracy of the information filtering for the purpose of extraction of similar topics by focusing on their meanings. To achieve this, we select the topics by Maximum Distance Algorithm with Jensen-Shannon divergence. In addition, document vectors are represented by the selected topics. We create a user profile from transformed data with a relevance feedback. Finally, we sort documents by the user profile and evaluate the accuracy by imputation precision. We carried out an evaluation experiment to confirm the validity of the proposed method considering meanings of components used in this experiment. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 163(2): 49,56, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/eej.20519 [source] Removing Eye-movement Artifacts from the EEG during the Intracarotid Amobarbital ProcedureEPILEPSIA, Issue 3 2005Weidong Zhou Summary:,Purpose: The EEG is often recorded during the intracarotid amobarbital procedure (IAP) to help in the assessment of the spatial extent and the duration of the effect of the drug. In scalp recordings, the EEG is always heavily contaminated with eye movement artifacts as the patient actively performs visual tasks. Methods: Independent component analysis (ICA) is a new technique for blind source separation. In this study, we separated the EEG data recorded during the IAP into independent components using ICA. The EEG signal was reconstructed by excluding the components related to eye movement and eye blinks. Results: EEGs from 10 IAP tests were analyzed. The experimental results indicate that ICA is very efficient at subtracting eye-movement artifacts, while retaining the EEG slow waves and making their interpretation easier. Conclusions: ICA appears to be a generally applicable and effective method for removing ocular artifacts from EEG recordings during IAP, although slow waves and ocular artifacts share similar frequency distributions. [source] Independent Component Analysis Removing Artifacts in Ictal RecordingsEPILEPSIA, Issue 9 2004Elena Urrestarazu Summary:,Purpose: Independent component analysis (ICA) is a novel algorithm able to separate independent components from complex signals. Studies in interictal EEG demonstrate its usefulness to eliminate eye, muscle, 50-Hz, electrocardiogram (ECG), and electrode artifacts. The goal of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of ICA in removing artifacts in ictal recordings with a known EEG onset. Methods: We studied 20 seizures of nine patients with focal epilepsy monitored in our video-EEG monitoring unit. ICA was applied to remove obvious artifacts in segments at the beginning of the seizure. The final EEGs were exported to the original format and were compared with the original EEG by two blinded examiners. We compared original recordings and the samples cleaned by digital filters (DFs), ICA and ICA plus digital filters (ICA + DFs), evaluating the possibility of finding an ictal pattern, the localization of the onset in area and time, and the global quality of the sample. Results: All the recordings except one (95%) improved after the use of ICA for the elimination of blinking and other artifacts. Three seizures were found in which in the original recordings did not permit us to detect an ictal pattern, and after ICA + DFs, an ictal onset was evident; in two of them, ICA alone was able to show this pattern. The best results in all the scores were obtained with ICA + DF. ICA was better than DFs. The agreement between the two reviewers was highly significant. Conclusions: ICA is useful to remove artifacts from ictal recordings. When applied to ictal recordings, it increases the quality of the recording. In some cases, ICA may be useful to show ictal onsets obscured by artifacts. ICA + DFs obtained the best results regarding removal of the artifacts. [source] Vertically fractured transversely isotropic media: dimensionality and deconstructionGEOPHYSICAL PROSPECTING, Issue 2 2009Michael A. Schoenberg ABSTRACT A vertically fractured transversely isotropic (VFTI) elastic medium is one in which any number of sets of vertical aligned fractures (each set has its normal lying in the horizontal x1, x2 -plane) pervade the medium and the sets of aligned fractures are the only features of the medium disturbing the axi-symmetry about the x3 -axis implying that in the absence of fractures, the background medium is transversely isotropic (TI). Under the assumptions of long wavelength equivalent medium theory, the compliance matrix of a fractured medium is the sum of the background medium's compliance matrix and a fracture compliance matrix. For sets of parallel rotationally symmetric fractures (on average), the fracture compliance matrix is dependent on 3 parameters , its normal and tangential compliance and its strike direction. When one fracture set is present, the medium is orthorhombic and the analysis is straightforward. When two (non-orthogonal) or more sets are present, the overall medium is in general elastically monoclinic; its compliance tensor components are subject to two equalities yielding an 11 parameter monoclinic medium. Constructing a monoclinic VFTI medium with n embedded vertical fracture sets, requires 5 TI parameters plus 3×n fracture set parameters. A deconstruction of such an 11 parameter monoclinic medium involves using its compliance tensor to find a background transversely isotropic medium and several sets of vertical fractures which, in the long wavelength limit, will behave exactly as the original 11 parameter monoclinic medium. A minimal deconstruction, would be to determine, from the 11 independent components, the transversely isotropic background (5 parameters) and two fracture sets (specified by 2 × 3 = 6 parameters). Two of the background TI medium's compliance matrix components are known immediately by inspection, leaving nine monoclinic components to be used in the minimal deconstruction of the VFTI medium. The use of the properties of a TI medium, which are linear relations on its compliance components, allows the deconstruction to be reduced to solving a pair of non-linear equations on the orientations of two fracture sets. A single root yielding a physically meaningful minimum deconstruction yields a unique minimal representation of the monoclinic medium as a VFTI medium. When no such root exists, deconstruction requires an additional fracture set and uniqueness is lost. The boundary between those monoclinic media that have a unique minimal representation and those that do not is yet to be determined. [source] Combining fMRI and SNP data to investigate connections between brain function and genetics using parallel ICA,HUMAN BRAIN MAPPING, Issue 1 2009Jingyu Liu Abstract There is current interest in understanding genetic influences on both healthy and disordered brain function. We assessed brain function with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data collected during an auditory oddball task,detecting an infrequent sound within a series of frequent sounds. Then, task-related imaging findings were utilized as potential intermediate phenotypes (endophenotypes) to investigate genomic factors derived from a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array. Our target is the linkage of these genomic factors to normal/abnormal brain functionality. We explored parallel independent component analysis (paraICA) as a new method for analyzing multimodal data. The method was aimed to identify simultaneously independent components of each modality and the relationships between them. When 43 healthy controls and 20 schizophrenia patients, all Caucasian, were studied, we found a correlation of 0.38 between one fMRI component and one SNP component. This fMRI component consisted mainly of parietal lobe activations. The relevant SNP component was contributed to significantly by 10 SNPs located in genes, including those coding for the nicotinic ,-7cholinergic receptor, aromatic amino acid decarboxylase, disrupted in schizophrenia 1, among others. Both fMRI and SNP components showed significant differences in loading parameters between the schizophrenia and control groups (P = 0.0006 for the fMRI component; P = 0.001 for the SNP component). In summary, we constructed a framework to identify interactions between brain functional and genetic information; our findings provide a proof-of-concept that genomic SNP factors can be investigated by using endophenotypic imaging findings in a multivariate format. Hum Brain Mapp, 2009. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Estimating the number of independent components for functional magnetic resonance imaging dataHUMAN BRAIN MAPPING, Issue 11 2007Yi-Ou Li Abstract Multivariate analysis methods such as independent component analysis (ICA) have been applied to the analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data to study brain function. Because of the high dimensionality and high noise level of the fMRI data, order selection, i.e., estimation of the number of informative components, is critical to reduce over/underfitting in such methods. Dependence among fMRI data samples in the spatial and temporal domain limits the usefulness of the practical formulations of information-theoretic criteria (ITC) for order selection, since they are based on likelihood of independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) data samples. To address this issue, we propose a subsampling scheme to obtain a set of effectively i.i.d. samples from the dependent data samples and apply the ITC formulas to the effectively i.i.d. sample set for order selection. We apply the proposed method on the simulated data and show that it significantly improves the accuracy of order selection from dependent data. We also perform order selection on fMRI data from a visuomotor task and show that the proposed method alleviates the over-estimation on the number of brain sources due to the intrinsic smoothness and the smooth preprocessing of fMRI data. We use the software package ICASSO (Himberg et al. [ 2004]: Neuroimage 22:1214,1222) to analyze the independent component (IC) estimates at different orders and show that, when ICA is performed at overestimated orders, the stability of the IC estimates decreases and the estimation of task related brain activations show degradation. Hum Brain Mapp, 2007. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] An accurate gradient and Hessian reconstruction method for cell-centered finite volume discretizations on general unstructured gridsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN FLUIDS, Issue 9 2010Lee J. Betchen Abstract In this paper, a novel reconstruction of the gradient and Hessian tensors on an arbitrary unstructured grid, developed for implementation in a cell-centered finite volume framework, is presented. The reconstruction, based on the application of Gauss' theorem, provides a fully second-order accurate estimate of the gradient, along with a first-order estimate of the Hessian tensor. The reconstruction is implemented through the construction of coefficient matrices for the gradient components and independent components of the Hessian tensor, resulting in a linear system for the gradient and Hessian fields, which may be solved to an arbitrary precision by employing one of the many methods available for the efficient inversion of large sparse matrices. Numerical experiments are conducted to demonstrate the accuracy, robustness, and computational efficiency of the reconstruction by comparison with other common methods. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Sphingosine kinase 1 inhibition sensitizes hormone-resistant prostate cancer to docetaxelINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CANCER, Issue 11 2009Lysann Sauer Abstract It has recently been shown that docetaxel chemotherapy is effective in prolonging life in patients with prostate cancer (PCa). We have investigated potential ways of increasing the effectiveness of chemotherapy in this disease. We have previously reported that sphingosine kinase 1 (SphK1) inhibition is a key step in docetaxel-induced apoptosis in the PC-3 PCa cell line and that pharmacologicalSphK1 inhibition is chemosensitizing in the docetaxel-resistant PCa LNCaP cell line. In this study we have addressed the mechanism of docetaxel-induced apoptosis of PC-3 cells and identified SphK1-dependent and -independent components. We have shown that SphK1 inhibition by docetaxel is a two-step process involving an initial loss of enzyme activity followed by a decrease in SphK1 gene expression. Using hormoneresistant PC-3 and DU145 PCa cells we have demonstrated that both pharmacological and siRNA-mediated SphK1 inhibition leads to a four-fold decrease in the docetaxel IC50 dose. This work points out to potential ways of increasing the effectiveness of chemotherapy for PCa by SphK1 inhibition. © 2009 UICC [source] Interpreting variability in global SST data using independent component analysis and principal component analysisINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLIMATOLOGY, Issue 3 2010Seth Westra Abstract Component extraction techniques are used widely in the analysis and interpretation of high-dimensional climate datasets such as global sea surface temperatures (SSTs). Principal component analysis (PCA), a frequently used component extraction technique, provides an orthogonal representation of the multivariate dataset and maximizes the variance explained by successive components. A disadvantage of PCA, however, is that the interpretability of the second and higher components may be limited. For this reason, a Varimax rotation is often applied to the PCA solution to enhance the interpretability of the components by maximizing a simple structure. An alternative rotational approach is known as independent component analysis (ICA), which finds a set of underlying ,source signals' which drive the multivariate ,mixed' dataset. Here we compare the capacity of PCA, the Varimax rotation and ICA in explaining climate variability present in globally distributed SST anomaly (SSTA) data. We find that phenomena which are global in extent, such as the global warming trend and the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), are well represented using PCA. In contrast, the Varimax rotation provides distinct advantages in interpreting more localized phenomena such as variability in the tropical Atlantic. Finally, our analysis suggests that the interpretability of independent components (ICs) appears to be low. This does not diminish the statistical advantages of deriving components that are mutually independent, with potential applications ranging from synthetically generating multivariate datasets, developing statistical forecasts, and reconstructing spatial datasets from patchy observations at multiple point locations. Copyright © 2009 Royal Meteorological Society [source] Anthocyanin-rich sweet potato lacto-pickle: production, nutritional and proximate compositionINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, Issue 3 2009Smita Hasini. Summary Anthocyanin pigment-rich sweet potato (SP) cubes were pickled by lactic fermentation by brining the cut and blanched cubes in common salt (NaCl, 2,10%) solution. They were then inoculated with a strain of Lactobacillus plantarum (MTCC 1407) and incubated for 28 days. Treatment with 8,10% brine solution was found to be organoleptically most acceptable. The final product with 8% and 10% brine solutions had a pH (2.5,2.8), titratable acidity (TA) (1.5,1.7 g kg,1), lactic acid (LA) (1.0,1.3 g kg,1), starch (56,58 g kg,1) and anthocyanin content (390 mg kg,1) on fresh weight basis. Sensory evaluation rated the anthocyanin-rich SP lacto-pickle acceptable based on texture, taste, aroma, flavour and after taste. Principal component analyses reduced the eleven original analytical and proximate variables (pH, TA, LA, starch, total sugar, anthocyanin, organic mater, ash, fat, protein and calories) to three independent components (factors), which accounted for 91% of the total variations. [source] Multivariate analysis of a fine-scale breeding bird atlas using a geographical information system and partial canonical correspondence analysis: environmental and spatial effectsJOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY, Issue 11 2004Nicolas Titeux Abstract Aim, To assess the relative roles of environment and space in driving bird species distribution and to identify relevant drivers of bird assemblage composition, in the case of a fine-scale bird atlas data set. Location, The study was carried out in southern Belgium using grid cells of 1 × 1 km, based on the distribution maps of the Oiseaux nicheurs de Famenne: Atlas de Lesse et Lomme which contains abundance for 103 bird species. Methods, Species found in < 10% or > 90% of the atlas cells were omitted from the bird data set for the analysis. Each cell was characterized by 59 landscape metrics, quantifying its composition and spatial patterns, using a Geographical Information System. Partial canonical correspondence analysis was used to partition the variance of bird species matrix into independent components: (a) ,pure' environmental variation, (b) spatially-structured environmental variation, (c) ,pure' spatial variation and (d) unexplained, non-spatial variation. Results, The variance partitioning method shows that the selected landscape metrics explain 27.5% of the variation, whilst ,pure' spatial and spatially-structured environmental variables explain only a weak percentage of the variation in the bird species matrix (2.5% and 4%, respectively). Avian community composition is primarily related to the degree of urbanization and the amount and composition of forested and open areas. These variables explain more than half of the variation for three species and over one-third of the variation for 12 species. Main conclusions, The results seem to indicate that the majority of explained variation in species assemblages is attributable to local environmental factors. At such a fine spatial resolution, however, the method does not seem to be appropriated for detecting and extracting the spatial variation of assemblages. Consequently, the large amount of unexplained variation is probably because of missing spatial structures and ,noise' in species abundance data. Furthermore, it is possible that other relevant environmental factors, that were not taken into account in this study and which may operate at different spatial scales, can drive bird assemblage structure. As a large proportion of ecological variation can be shared by environment and space, the applied partitioning method was found to be useful when analysing multispecific atlas data, but it needs improvement to factor out all-scale spatial components of this variation (the source of ,false correlation') and to bring out the ,pure' environmental variation for ecological interpretation. [source] Trends of the bonding effect on the performance of DFT methods in electric properties calculations: A pattern recognition and metric space approach on some XY2 (X = O, S and Y = H, O, F, S, Cl) moleculesJOURNAL OF COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY, Issue 2 2010Christos Christodouleas Abstract A test set of 10 molecules (open and ring forms of ozone and sulfur dioxide as well as water and hydrogen sulfide and their respective fluoro- and chloro-substituted analogs) of specific atmospheric interest has been formed as to assess the performance of various density functional theory methods in (hyper)polarizability calculations against well-established ab initio methods. The choice of these molecules was further based on (i) the profound change in the physics between isomeric systems, e.g., open (C2v) and ring (D3h) forms of ozone, (ii) the relation between isomeric forms, e.g., open and ring form of sulfur dioxide (both of C2v symmetry), and (iii) the effect of the substitution, e.g., in fluoro- and chloro-substituted water analogs. The analysis is aided by arguments chosen from the information theory, graph theory, and pattern recognition fields of Mathematics: In brief, a multidimensional space is formed by the methods which are playing the role of vectors with the independent components of the electric properties to act as the coordinates of these vectors, hence the relation between different vectors (e.g., methods) can be quantified by a proximity measure. Results are in agreement with previous studies revealing the acceptable and consistent behavior of the mPW1PW91, B3P86, and PBE0 methods. It is worth noting the remarkable good performance of the double hybrid functionals (namely: B2PLYP and mPW2PLYP) which are for the first time used in calculations of electric response properties. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem 2010 [source] Mechanisms of glutamate release elicited in rat cerebrocortical nerve endings by ,pathologically' elevated extraterminal K+ concentrationsJOURNAL OF NEUROCHEMISTRY, Issue 3 2007Luca Raiteri Abstract Extracellular [K+] can increase during some pathological conditions, resulting into excessive glutamate release through multiple mechanisms. We here investigate the overflow of [3H]d -aspartate ([3H] d -ASP) and of endogenous glutamate elicited by increasing [K+] from purified rat cerebrocortical synaptosomes. Depolarization with [K+] , 15 mmol/L provoked [3H] d -ASP and glutamate overflows almost totally dependent on external Ca2+. Consistent with release by exocytosis, the overflow of [3H] d -ASP evoked by 12 mmol/L K+ was sensitive to clostridial toxins. The overflows evoked by 35/50 mmol/L K+ remained external Ca2+ -dependent by more than 50%. The Ca2+ -independent components of the [3H] d -ASP overflows evoked by [K+] > 15 mmol/L were prevented by the glutamate transporter inhibitors dl - threo -beta-benzyloxyaspartate (dl -TBOA) and dihydrokainate. Differently, the overflows of endogenous glutamate provoked by [K+] > 15 mmol/L were insensitive to both inhibitors; the external Ca2+ -independent glutamate overflow caused by 50 mmol/L KCl was prevented by bafilomycin, by chelating intraterminal Ca2+, by blocking the mitochondrial Na+/Ca2+ exchanger and, for a small portion, by blocking anion channels. In contrast to purified synaptosomes, the 50 mmol/L K+ -evoked release of endogenous glutamate or [3H]D-ASP was inhibited by dl -TBOA in crude synaptosomes; moreover, it was external Ca2+ -insensitive and blocked by dl -TBOA in purified gliosomes, suggesting that carrier-mediated release of endogenous glutamate provoked by excessive [K+] in CNS tissues largely originates from glia. [source] Invariant co-ordinate selectionJOURNAL OF THE ROYAL STATISTICAL SOCIETY: SERIES B (STATISTICAL METHODOLOGY), Issue 3 2009David E. Tyler Summary., A general method for exploring multivariate data by comparing different estimates of multivariate scatter is presented. The method is based on the eigenvalue,eigenvector decomposition of one scatter matrix relative to another. In particular, it is shown that the eigenvectors can be used to generate an affine invariant co-ordinate system for the multivariate data. Consequently, we view this method as a method for invariant co-ordinate selection. By plotting the data with respect to this new invariant co-ordinate system, various data structures can be revealed. For example, under certain independent components models, it is shown that the invariant co- ordinates correspond to the independent components. Another example pertains to mixtures of elliptical distributions. In this case, it is shown that a subset of the invariant co-ordinates corresponds to Fisher's linear discriminant subspace, even though the class identifications of the data points are unknown. Some illustrative examples are given. [source] Sampling bias and logistic modelsJOURNAL OF THE ROYAL STATISTICAL SOCIETY: SERIES B (STATISTICAL METHODOLOGY), Issue 4 2008Peter McCullagh Summary., In a regression model, the joint distribution for each finite sample of units is determined by a function px(y) depending only on the list of covariate values x=(x(u1),,,x(un)) on the sampled units. No random sampling of units is involved. In biological work, random sampling is frequently unavoidable, in which case the joint distribution p(y,x) depends on the sampling scheme. Regression models can be used for the study of dependence provided that the conditional distribution p(y|x) for random samples agrees with px(y) as determined by the regression model for a fixed sample having a non-random configuration x. The paper develops a model that avoids the concept of a fixed population of units, thereby forcing the sampling plan to be incorporated into the sampling distribution. For a quota sample having a predetermined covariate configuration x, the sampling distribution agrees with the standard logistic regression model with correlated components. For most natural sampling plans such as sequential or simple random sampling, the conditional distribution p(y|x) is not the same as the regression distribution unless px(y) has independent components. In this sense, most natural sampling schemes involving binary random-effects models are biased. The implications of this formulation for subject-specific and population-averaged procedures are explored. [source] Locational tying of complementary retail itemsNAVAL RESEARCH LOGISTICS: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 5 2009Bacel Maddah Abstract We study a selling practice that we refer to as locational tying (LT), which seems to be gaining wide popularity among retailers. Under this strategy, a retailer "locationally ties" two complementary items that we denote by "primary" and "secondary." The retailer sells the primary item in an appropriate "department" of his or her store. To stimulate demand, the secondary item is offered in the primary item's department, where it is displayed in very close proximity to the primary item. We consider two variations of LT: In the multilocation tying strategy (LT-M), the secondary item is offered in its appropriate department in addition to the primary item's department, whereas in the single-location tying strategy (LT-S), it is offered only in the primary item's location. We compare these LT strategies to the traditional independent components (IC) strategy, in which the two items are sold independently (each in its own department), but the pricing/inventory decisions can be centralized (IC-C) or decentralized (IC-D). Assuming ample inventory, we compare and provide a ranking of the optimal prices of the four strategies. The main insight from this comparison is that relative to IC-D, LT decreases the price of the primary item and adjusts the price of the secondary item up or down depending on its popularity in the primary item's department. We also perform a comparative statics analysis on the effect of demand and cost parameters on the optimal prices of various strategies, and identify the conditions that favor one strategy over others in terms of profitability. Then we study inventory decisions in LT under exogenous pricing by developing a model that accounts for the effect of the primary item's stock-outs on the secondary item's demand. We find that, relative to IC-D, LT increases the inventory level of the primary item. We also link the profitability of different strategies to the trade-off between the increase in demand volume of the secondary item as a result of LT and the potential increase in inventory costs due to decentralizing the inventory of the secondary item. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 2009 [source] A branch and bound algorithm for computing optimal replacement policies in consecutive k -out-of- n -systemsNAVAL RESEARCH LOGISTICS: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 3 2002James Flynn Abstract This paper presents a branch and bound algorithm for computing optimal replacement policies in a discrete-time, infinite-horizon, dynamic programming model of a binary coherent system with n statistically independent components, and then specializes the algorithm to consecutive k -out-of- n systems. The objective is to minimize the long-run expected average undiscounted cost per period. (Costs arise when the system fails and when failed components are replaced.) An earlier paper established the optimality of following a critical component policy (CCP), i.e., a policy specified by a critical component set and the rule: Replace a component if and only if it is failed and in the critical component set. Computing an optimal CCP is a optimization problem with n binary variables and a nonlinear objective function. Our branch and bound algorithm for solving this problem has memory storage requirement O(n) for consecutive k -out-of- n systems. Extensive computational experiments on such systems involving over 350,000 test problems with n ranging from 10 to 150 find this algorithm to be effective when n , 40 or k is near n. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 49: 288,302, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/nav.10017 [source] How important is consent in maternal serum screening for Down syndrome in France?PRENATAL DIAGNOSIS, Issue 3 2007Information, consent evaluation in maternal serum screening for Down syndrome: a French study Abstract Objectives To evaluate the level of information and informed consent for maternal serum screening (MSS) for Down syndrome (DS) in the second trimester of pregnancy and analyse the exercise of autonomy towards the test by the women concerned. Methods We studied the population of pregnant women attending obstetric consultations in two French hospitals over a 3-month period. The women were assigned to three groups according to MSS results for DS: women at high risk of having a child with DS (group 1), women at low risk (group 2) and women who did not undergo the test (group 3). A questionnaire was completed before the medical consultation, to assess the quality of consent before amniocentesis for the group at high risk and before the second-trimester ultrasound scan for the other two groups. Results We analysed 305 questionnaires for 89, 137 and 79 women belonging to groups 1, 2 and 3 respectively. In total, 123 women (40.3% [IC 95%, 35,46%]) were considered to be well informed; 33 (10%, [IC 95%, 8,12%]) had a high level of knowledge, but made choices not consistent with their stated attitude, and 149 (49.7% [IC 95%, 45,56%]) were considered uninformed. Logistic regression analysis showed that maternal consent depended on three independent components: The score attributed to the doctor for information about MSS (t = 4.216, p < 0.001). Whether the patient belonged to group 1 (t = ,2.631, p < 0.009). Educational level (< high-school diploma, high-school diploma or at least two years of higher education after high school) (t = 2.324, p < 0.02). The rate of consent increased with educational level and was highest for the women in group 1 and for those whose doctor had a high information score. Conclusions Our findings clearly show that women are provided with insufficient information concerning MSS screening for DS in the second trimester of pregnancy for real and valid consent to be obtained. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Calmodulin binding to M-type K+ channels assayed by TIRF/FRET in living cellsTHE JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 9 2008Manjot Bal Calmodulin (CaM) binds to KCNQ2,4 channels within their carboxy termini, where it regulates channel function. The existing data have not resolved the Ca2+ dependence of the interaction between the channels and CaM. We performed glutathione S-transferase (GST)-pull-down assays between purified KCNQ2,4 carboxy termini and CaM proteins to determine the Ca2+ dependence of the interaction in vitro. The assays showed substantial Ca2+ dependence of the interaction of the channels with wild-type (WT) CaM, but not with dominant-negative (DN) CaM. To demonstrate CaM,channel interactions in individual living cells, we performed fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) between ECFP-tagged KCNQ2,4 channels and EYFP-tagged CaM expressed in CHO cells, performed under total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy, in which excitation light only penetrates several hundred nanometres into the cell, thus isolating membrane events. FRET was assayed between the channels and either WT or DN CaM, performed under conditions of normal [Ca2+]i, low [Ca2+]i or high [Ca2+]i induced by empirically optimized bathing solutions. The FRET data suggest a strong Ca2+ dependence for the interaction between WT CaM and KCNQ2, but less so for KCNQ3 and KCNQ4. FRET between all KCNQ2,4 channels and DN CaM was robust, and not significantly Ca2+ dependent. These data show interactions between CaM and KCNQ channels in living cells, and suggest that the interactions between KCNQ2,4 channels and CaM are likely to have Ca2+ -dependent and Ca2+ -independent components. [source] Quadratic metric-affine gravityANNALEN DER PHYSIK, Issue 4 2005D. Vassiliev Abstract We consider spacetime to be a connected real 4-manifold equipped with a Lorentzian metric and an affine connection. The 10 independent components of the (symmetric) metric tensor and the 64 connection coefficients are the unknowns of our theory. We introduce an action which is (purely) quadratic in curvature and study the resulting system of Euler,Lagrange equations. In the first part of the paper we look for Riemannian solutions, i.e. solutions whose connection is Levi-Civita. We find two classes of Riemannian solutions: 1) Einstein spaces, and 2) spacetimes with pp-wave metric of parallel Ricci curvature. We prove that for a generic quadratic action these are the only Riemannian solutions. In the second part of the paper we look for non-Riemannian solutions. We define the notion of a "Weyl pseudoinstanton" (metric compatible spacetime whose curvature is purely of Weyl type) and prove that a Weyl pseudoinstanton is a solution of our field equations. Using the pseudoinstanton approach we construct explicitly a non-Riemannian solution which is a wave of torsion in a spacetime with Minkowski metric. We discuss the possibility of using this non-Riemannian solution as a mathematical model for the neutrino. [source] The 2:1 salt-type adduct formed between 6-amino-3-methyl-5-nitrosopyrimidine-2,4(1H,3H)-dione and piperidine: sheets containing 20 independent hydrogen bondsACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION C, Issue 5 2009Fabián Orozco The title compound, piperidinium 6-amino-3-methyl-5-nitroso-2,4-dioxo-1,2,3,4-tetrahydropyrimidin-1-ide 6-amino-3-methyl-5-nitrosopyrimidine-2,4(1H,3H)-dione, C5H12N+·C5H5N4O3,·C5H6N4O3, (I), crystallizes with Z, = 2 in the space group P. There is an intramolecular N,H...O hydrogen bond in each pyrimidine unit and within the selected asymmetric unit the six independent components are linked by 11 hydrogen bonds, seven of the N,H...O type and four of the N,H...N type. These six-component aggregates are linked into sheets by five further hydrogen bonds, three of the N,H...O type and one each of the N,H...N and C,H...O types. [source] Some new results involving general standby systemsAPPLIED STOCHASTIC MODELS IN BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY, Issue 5 2009Xiaohu Li Abstract This article presents a stochastic comparison on the total lifetime of the general standby system and a discussion of the optimal allocation of a general standby component in a series system with two independent components. Several examples are also presented to justify the main results, which provide nice generalizations of some existing conclusions in the literature. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||