Particular Hypothesis (particular + hypothesis)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Selection of evolutionary models for phylogenetic hypothesis testing using parametric methods

JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, Issue 4 2001
B. C. Emerson
Recent molecular studies have incorporated the parametric bootstrap method to test a priori hypotheses when the results of molecular based phylogenies are in conflict with these hypotheses. The parametric bootstrap requires the specification of a particular substitutional model, the parameters of which will be used to generate simulated, replicate DNA sequence data sets. It has been both suggested that, (a) the method appears robust to changes in the model of evolution, and alternatively that, (b) as realistic model of DNA substitution as possible should be used to avoid false rejection of a null hypothesis. Here we empirically evaluate the effect of suboptimal substitution models when testing hypotheses of monophyly with the parametric bootstrap using data sets of mtDNA cytochrome oxidase I and II (COI and COII) sequences for Macaronesian Calathus beetles, and mitochondrial 16S rDNA and nuclear ITS2 sequences for European Timarcha beetles. Whether a particular hypothesis of monophyly is rejected or accepted appears to be highly dependent on whether the nucleotide substitution model being used is optimal. It appears that a parameter rich model is either equally or less likely to reject a hypothesis of monophyly where the optimal model is unknown. A comparison of the performance of the Kishino,Hasegawa (KH) test shows it is not as severely affected by the use of suboptimal models, and overall it appears to be a less conservative method with a higher rate of failure to reject null hypotheses. [source]


Long-Term Properties of Butt-Welded Poly(propylene)

MACROMOLECULAR MATERIALS & ENGINEERING, Issue 4 2003
Ernst Schmachtenberg
Abstract It is still not clear why the long-term properties of plastic weld seams can only be differentiated by the very expensive medium tensile creep tests. One hypothesis for justifying this is based on the change in the structure of the weld seam surroundings, another cites the consumption of antioxidants and the following ageing in the weld seam area to be responsible for this. Butt-welded weld seams made of poly(propylene) were systematically produced under different process parameters. Corresponding to the particular hypothesis, these weld seams were then analyzed in various ways to find correlations or to prove one of the hypotheses. Regarding their short-term weld seam quality, the analyzed weld seams could not be differentiated through short-term tensile or short-term bend test. However, the medium tensile creep tests showed significant differences in both time until failure and long-term weld seam quality. Under long-term loading, the start of the brittle crack could be detected in most weld seams in the fine spherulite-zone or between this zone and the area of the flow lines. This demonstrated again that only long-term tests are suitable for examining different weld seam qualities. Depending on the welding parameters, times until failure decline with increasing heated-tool temperature and heating time. Though these parameters lead to a higher consumption of antioxidants in the weld seam, a degradation was not detected in the breaking area. In fact, increasing heated-tool temperatures and heating times, as well as higher joining pressures lead to a change in the internal structure of the material. This can be seen in morphological structure analyses in the larger bend of the entire weld seam area. A larger bend, however, correlates with higher residual stresses in the weld seam. In the medium tensile creep tests, these residual stresses as well as the tensile stress in the border region and the compressive stress in the middle are superimposed by the tensile stress resulting from the test stress. Thus a greater bend of the weld seam area and higher residual stresses in the weld seam itself lead to shorter times until failure in medium tensile creep tests. Schematic representation of the formation of residual stresses in a weld seam and residual stresses in the different bended weld seam areas. [source]


Catching a red herring: autumn colours and aphids

OIKOS, Issue 11 2009
T. C. R. White
The purpose of this note is not to support any particular hypothesis explaining the evolution of red coloured autumn leaves, but to present evidence that shows existing knowledge does not support one such hypothesis , that red coloured leaves evolved as a signal to protect trees from aphids feeding and laying eggs on them in autumn. An alternative hypothesis is that autumn-feeding aphids are senescence-feeders, evolved to feed only on senescing leaves. These aphids are programmed to detect and feed on such leaves when they are still green and yellow and actively exporting their nutrients. Aphids reject or ignore red leaves because they are no longer good food, not because they are protecting the trees from the aphids. [source]


Analysis of Twin Data Using SAS

BIOMETRICS, Issue 2 2009
Rui Feng
Summary Twin studies are essential for assessing disease inheritance. Data generated from twin studies are traditionally analyzed using specialized computational programs. For many researchers, especially those who are new to twin studies, understanding and using those specialized computational programs can be a daunting task. Given that SAS (Statistical Analysis Software) is the most popular software for statistical analysis, we suggest that the use of SAS procedures for twin data may be a helpful alternative and demonstrate that we can obtain similar results from SAS to those produced by specialized computational programs. This numerical validation is practically useful, because a natural concern with general statistical software is whether it can deal with data that are generated from special study designs such as twin studies and if it can test a particular hypothesis. We concluded through our extensive simulation that SAS procedures can be used easily as a very convenient alternative to specialized programs for twin data analysis. [source]