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Unexpected Pattern (unexpected + pattern)
Selected AbstractsJudging Bias: Juror Confidence and Judicial Rulings on Challenges for CauseLAW & SOCIETY REVIEW, Issue 3 2008Mary R. Rose The judge in a jury trial is charged with excusing prospective jurors who will not be impartial. To assess impartiality, prospective jurors are typically asked whether they can be fair. Using an experimental paradigm, we found that small changes in jurors' self-reported confidence in their ability to be fair affected judges' decisions about bias but did not affect the judgments of either attorneys or jurors. We suggest why a judge's role and unique relationship with jurors is likely to foster a decision strategy based on reported juror confidence, and we discuss the implications of our analysis for current legal debates over jury selection practices. Unexpected patterns in our results also highlight the ways in which perceptions of impartiality are affected, in part, by the social characteristics of the observer. [source] Detecting intrusion transactions in databases using data item dependencies and anomaly analysisEXPERT SYSTEMS, Issue 5 2008Sattar Hashemi Abstract: The purpose of the intrusion detection system (IDS) database is to detect transactions that access data without permission. This paper proposes a novel approach to identifying malicious transactions. The approach concentrates on two aspects of database transactions: (1) dependencies among data items and (2) variations of each individual data item which can be considered as time-series data. The advantages are threefold. First, dependency rules among data items are extended to detect transactions that read or write data without permission. Second, a novel behaviour similarity criterion is introduced to reduce the false positive rate of the detection. Third, time-series anomaly analysis is conducted to pinpoint intrusion transactions that update data items with unexpected pattern. As a result, the proposed approach is able to track normal transactions and detect malicious ones more effectively than existing approaches. [source] Integrative approach for prioritizing cancer genes in sporadic colon cancer,GENES, CHROMOSOMES AND CANCER, Issue 11 2009James F. Reid The current multistep carcinogenesis models of colon cancer do not fully capture the genetic heterogeneity of the disease, which is additionally complicated by the presence of passenger and driver genetic alterations. The aim of this study was to select in the context of this significant heterogeneity additional genes functionally related to colon cancer development. High-throughput copy number and gene expression data of 36 microsatellite stable sporadic colon cancers resected from patients of a single institution characterized for mutations in APC, KRAS, TP53 and loss of 18q were analyzed. Genes whose expression correlated with the underlying copy number pattern were selected, and their association with the above listed mutations and overall survival was evaluated. Gain of 20q was strongly associated with TP53 mutation, and overall survival with alterations on 7p, 8p, 13q, 18q, and 20q. An association with 18q loss and gain of 8q24 was also observed. New candidate genes with a potential role in colon cancer are PLCG1 on 20q, DBC1 on 8q21, and NDGR1 on 8p24. In addition, an unexpected pattern of loss and mutability was found in the region upstream of the KRAS gene. By integrating copy number alterations with gene expression and mutations in colon cancer associated genes, we have developed a strategy that identifies previously known molecular features and additional players in the molecular landscape of colon cancer. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Trauma in the Crusader period city of Caesarea: a major port in the medieval eastern MediterraneanINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OSTEOARCHAEOLOGY, Issue 6 2006P. D. MitchellArticle first published online: 14 AUG 200 Abstract Caesarea is the first fortified city to undergo palaeopathological analysis of its Crusader period inhabitants. This study of the 12th and 13th century population aims to determine the major types of trauma present, whether from weapon injuries or accidents. Since the Crusades were known for the significant number of battles and raids that took place, weapon injuries were expected to be common. Thirteen cases of trauma are described and a highly unexpected pattern has come to light. These cases do not include one single example of weapon-related trauma. Every fracture is of a type expected from accidents or interpersonal violence without weapons. Possible explanations include the location of the city deep within Frankish territory and the robust city walls giving effective protection to the inhabitants, and also that the population were involved in activities that left them prone to accidents but not weapon injuries. The other important finding from this study was that the cases of lower limb long bone spiral fractures had healed in a near-anatomical alignment. This is not what we would expect, as a proportion of these injuries would normally have been unstable and tend to heal poorly aligned. The good position could have resulted from surgeons' use of splints to immobilise the bones while they healed. This suggestion is supported by laws of the kingdom of Jerusalem, which stated that surgeons were to be punished if they allowed such fractures to heal at an angle. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Breeding birds on small islands: island biogeography or optimal foraging?JOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY, Issue 2 2006GARETH J. RUSSELL Summary 1We test MacArthur and Wilson's theory about the biogeography of communities on isolated habitat patches using bird breeding records from 16 small islands off the coasts of Britain and Ireland. 2A traditional examination of patterns of species richness on these islands suggests that area and habitat diversity are important predictors, but that isolation and latitude have a negligible impact in this system. 3Unlike traditional studies, we directly examine the fundamental processes of colonization and local extinction (cessation of breeding), rather than higher-order phenomena such as species richness. 4We find that many of MacArthur and Wilson's predictions hold: colonization probability is lower on more isolated islands, and extinction probability is lower on larger islands and those with a greater diversity of habitats. 5We also find an unexpected pattern: extinction probability is much lower on more isolated islands. This is the strongest relationship in these data, and isolation is the best single predictor of colonization and extinction. 6Our results show that examination of species richness alone is misleading. Isolation has a strong effect on both of the dynamic processes that underlie richness, and in this system, the reductions in both colonization and extinction probability seen on more distant islands have opposing influences on species richness, and largely cancel each other out. 7We suggest that an appropriate model for this system might be optimal foraging theory, which predicts that organisms will stay longer in a resource patch if the distance to a neighbouring patch is large. If nest sites and food are the resources in this system, then optimal foraging theory predicts the pattern we observe. 8We advance the hypothesis that there is a class of spatial systems, defined by their scale and by the taxon under consideration, at which decision-making processes are a key driver of the spatiotemporal dynamics. The appropriate theory for such systems will be a hybrid of concepts from biogeography/metapopulation theory and behavioural ecology. [source] 122 Local to Coastal-Scale Macrophyte Community Structure: Surprizing Patterns and Possible MechanismsJOURNAL OF PHYCOLOGY, Issue 2003B. A. Menge Understanding large-scale patterns in ecological communities is a central goal of ecology, and yet, rigorous quantitative geographic data on distribution, abundance and diversity are almost totally lacking. Even in rocky intertidal habitats, our data on community structure are spatially and temporally limited, with most surveys limited to a few sites over short time periods. When linked to studies of community dynamics on similar scales, such studies should provide insights into the determinants of pattern at more relevant scales. In 1999 PISCO, the Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans, initiated survey programs aimed at determining patterns of community structure along the US west coast from Washington to Baja California. Sites are regularly spaced along the coast in a nested design, and were physically similar. Surveys used randomly placed quadrats in transects run parallel to shore in high, mid and low zones. Results show that, contrary to expectation, macroalgal diversity along the northern coast was higher, not lower than that along the southern coast. Possible factors associated with this unexpected pattern include along-coast variation in tidal amplitude, time of tide, thermal stress, upwelling intensity and resulting nutrient gradients, disturbance from storms or sand burial, and grazing. We review evidence relevant to these factors, and focus on the possible role of grazing, using field experiments done under differing oceanographic conditions along the Oregon coast as a model. Although short-term grazing rates can vary with oceanographic condition, we hypothesize that despite these results and those of many similar studies showing strong grazing effects on local spatial and short time scales, that bottom-up factors are stronger determinants of macroalgal community structure on larger spatial scales and longer time scales. [source] Mechanotransduction of bovine articular cartilage superficial zone protein by transforming growth factor , signalingARTHRITIS & RHEUMATISM, Issue 11 2007Corey P. Neu Objective Mechanical signals are key determinants in tissue morphogenesis, maintenance, and restoration strategies in regenerative medicine, although molecular mechanisms of mechanotransduction remain to be elucidated. This study was undertaken to investigate the mechanotransduction process of expression of superficial zone protein (SZP), a critical joint lubricant. Methods Regional expression of SZP was first quantified in cartilage obtained from the femoral condyles of immature bovines, using immunoblotting, and visualized by immunohistochemistry. Contact pressure mapping in whole joints was accomplished using pressure-sensitive film and a load application system for joint testing. Friction measurements on cartilage plugs were acquired under boundary lubrication conditions using a pin-on-disk tribometer modified for reciprocating sliding. Direct mechanical stimulation by shear loading of articular cartilage explants was performed with and without inhibition of transforming growth factor , (TGF,) signaling, and SZP content in media was quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results An unexpected pattern of SZP localization in knee cartilage was initially identified, with anterior regions exhibiting high levels of SZP expression. Regional SZP patterns were regulated by mechanical signals and correlated with tribological behavior. Direct relationships were demonstrated between high levels of SZP expression, maximum contact pressures, and low friction coefficients. Levels of SZP expression and accumulation were increased by applying shear stress, depending on location within the knee, and were decreased to control levels with the use of a specific inhibitor of TGF, receptor type I kinase and subsequent phospho-Smad2/3 activity. Conclusion These findings indicate a new role for TGF, signaling in the mechanism of cellular mechanotransduction that is especially significant for joint lubrication. [source] On the optimum support size in meshfree methods: A variational adaptivity approach with maximum-entropy approximantsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, Issue 7 2010Adrian Rosolen Abstract We present a method for the automatic adaption of the support size of meshfree basis functions in the context of the numerical approximation of boundary value problems stemming from a minimum principle. The method is based on a variational approach, and the central idea is that the variational principle selects both the discretized physical fields and the discretization parameters, here those defining the support size of each basis function. We consider local maximum-entropy approximation schemes, which exhibit smooth basis functions with respect to both space and the discretization parameters (the node location and the locality parameters). We illustrate by the Poisson, linear and non-linear elasticity problems the effectivity of the method, which produces very accurate solutions with very coarse discretizations and finds unexpected patterns of the support size of the shape functions. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Patterns of relatedness and parentage in an asocial, polyandrous striped hyena populationMOLECULAR ECOLOGY, Issue 20 2007AARON P. WAGNER Abstract We investigated patterns of relatedness and reproduction in a population of striped hyenas in which individuals are behaviourally solitary but form polyandrous spatial groups consisting of one adult female and multiple adult males. Group-mate males were often close relatives, but were unrelated or distantly related in some cases, indicating that male coalitions are not strictly a result of philopatry or dispersal with cohorts of relatives. Most male,female pairs within spatial groups were unrelated or only distantly related. Considering patterns of relatedness between groups, relatedness was significantly higher among adult males living in non-neighbouring ranges than among neighbouring males. Mean relatedness among male,female dyads was highest for group-mates, but relatedness among non-neighbouring males and females was also significantly higher than among dyads of opposite-sex neighbours. Female,female relatedness also increased significantly with increasing geographic separation. These unusual and unexpected patterns may reflect selection to settle in a nonadjacent manner to reduce inbreeding and/or competition among relatives for resources (both sexes), or mates (males). Finally, resident males fathered the majority of the resident female's cubs, but extra-group paternity was likely in 31% of the cases examined, and multiple paternity was likely in half of the sampled litters. [source] Safety of anthrax vaccine: a review by the Anthrax Vaccine Expert Committee (AVEC) of adverse events reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS)PHARMACOEPIDEMIOLOGY AND DRUG SAFETY, Issue 3 2002John L. Sever Abstract Purpose To assess the safety of a licensed anthrax vaccine given to nearly 400,000 US military personnel, reports of adverse events (AEs) submitted to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) were reviewed and evaluated medically. Methods The Anthrax Vaccine Expert Committee (AVEC), a civilian panel of private-sector physicians and other scientists, reviewed 602 VAERS reports using a Delphic approach (structured expert consensus) to assess the causal relationship between vaccination and the reported AEs and sought to identify unexpected patterns in the occurrence of medically important events. Reports were entered into a database and used to profile AEs with respect to person, type/location, relative frequency, severity/impact, concomitant illness or receipt of other drugs or vaccines, and vaccine lot. Results Nearly half the reports noted a local injection-site AE, with more than one-third of these involving a moderate to large degree of inflammation. Six events qualified as serious AEs (SAEs), and all were judged to be certain consequences of vaccination. Three-quarters of the reports cited a systemic AE (most common: flu-like symptoms, malaise, rash, arthralgia, headache), but only six individual medically important events were judged possibly or probably due to vaccine (aggravation of spondyloarthropathy (2), anaphylactoid reaction, arthritis (2), bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia) Conclusions Since some cases of local inflammation involved distal paresthesia, AVEC recommends giving subcutaneous injections of AVA over the inferior deltoid instead of the triceps to avoid compression injury to the ulnar nerve. At this time, ongoing evaluation of VAERS reports does not suggest a high frequency or unusual pattern of serious or other medically important AEs. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Inferring adaptation within shape diversity of the humerus of subterranean rodent CtenomysBIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY, Issue 2 2010FRANCISCO STEINER-SOUZA In subterranean rodents of the genus Ctenomys, excavation activity can be carried out with the claws and forelimbs (scratch-digging) as well as with the skull and incisor teeth (skull-tooth digging). Within the forelimb myoskeletal system, the humerus is a main bone concentrating a large number of muscles and bearing tensions during excavation. The genus Ctenomys is considered primarily a scratch-digger and secondarily a skull-tooth digger. We analysed the humerus (N = 165) of four species of Ctenomys from southern Brazil, in areas ranging from the soft soils of the first lines of coastal dunes (Ctenomys flamarioni, Ctenomys minutus), through the sandy fields of the coastal plains (Ctenomys minutus, Ctenomys lami), on to the hard soils of the southern pampas ,gaśchos' fields (Ctenomys torquatus). The differences in the form (size + shape) were quantified using geometric morphometrics methods and interpreted in the light of myological descriptions. As expected from a phylogenetic and ecological point of view, C. flamarioni had the most divergent shape and larger size among the species analysed, showing a more slender humerus, especially in the head region, than C. lami, C. minutus, and C. torquatus. Crossing the osteology data with the qualitative observations of the musculature, it was possible to detect large differences in the proximal portion of the humerus that could be related to the insertion of important extension muscles of the pectoral,shoulder joints, which could increase force. The comparison of shape differences between the three closely-related species (C. lami, C. minutus, and C. torquatus) revealed unexpected patterns because C. lami was the species phenetically more distant from C. flamarioni and not C. torquatus as expected from ecological data and phylogenetic relationships. A two-step adaptive path to humeral shapes better fit to digging is postulated where the deltoid crest and epicondylar crest increases precede an articular surface area increase. The absence of sexual dimorphism in C. torquatus is discussed with regard to the optimal size required to dig in hard soils. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 100, 353,367. [source] | ||||||||||||||||