Very Close Agreement (very + close_agreement)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Applications of numerical eigenfunctions in the fractal-like finite element method

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, Issue 4 2004
D. K. L. Tsang
Abstract The fractal-like finite element method is an accurate and efficient method to determine the stress intensity factors (SIF) around crack tips. The use of a self-similar mesh together with the William's eigenfunctions reduce the number of unknowns significantly. The SIFs are the primary unknowns and no post-processing is required. In all previous studies, we used the analytic eigenfunction expression to perform the global transformation. However, the eigenfunction cannot be found analytically in general crack problems. Two-dimensional axisymmetrical cracks are considered here. The resulting static equilibrium equations in local co-ordinates are non-homogeneous ordinary differential equations, for which the analytic eigenfunction cannot be found completely. We use a finite difference method to determine all the eigenfunctions needed numerically. Our evaluated SIF values show very close agreement with published results. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Duality revisited: Construction of fractional frequency distributions based on two dual Lotka laws

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Issue 10 2002
L. Egghe
Fractional frequency distributions of, for example, authors with a certain (fractional) number of papers are very irregular and, therefore, not easy to model or to explain. This article gives a first attempt to this by assuming two simple Lotka laws (with exponent 2): one for the number of authors with n papers (total count here) and one for the number of papers with n authors, n , ,. Based on an earlier made convolution model of Egghe, interpreted and reworked now for discrete scores, we are able to produce theoretical fractional frequency distributions with only one parameter, which are in very close agreement with the practical ones as found in a large dataset produced earlier by Rao. The article also shows that (irregular) fractional frequency distributions are a consequence of Lotka's law, and are not examples of breakdowns of this famous historical law. [source]


Censusing and monitoring black rhino (Diceros bicornis) using an objective spoor (footprint) identification technique

JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY, Issue 1 2001
Zoë C. Jewell
Abstract An objective, non-invasive technique was developed for identifying individual black rhino from their footprints (spoor). Digital images were taken of left hind spoor from tracks (spoor pathways) of 15 known black rhino in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe. Thirteen landmark points were manually placed on the spoor image and from them, using customized software, a total of 77 measurements (lengths and angles) were generated. These were subjected to discriminant and canonical analyses. Discriminant analysis of spoor measurements from all 15 known animals, employing the 30 measurements with the highest F -ratio values, gave very close agreement between assigned and predicted classification of spoor. For individual spoor, the accuracy of being assigned to the correct group varied from 87% to 95%. For individual tracks, the accuracy level was 88%. Canonical analyses were based on the centroid plot method, which does not require pre-assigned grouping of spoor or tracks. The first two canonical variables were used to generate a centroid plot with 95% confidence ellipses in the test space. The presence or absence of overlap between the ellipses of track pairs allowed the classification of the tracks. Using a new ,reference centroid value' technique, the level of accuracy was high (94%) when individual tracks were compared against whole sets (total number of spoor for each rhino) but low (35%) when tracks were compared against each other. Since tracks with fewer spoor were more likely to be misclassified, track sizes were then artificially increased by summing smaller tracks for the same rhino. The modified tracks in a pairwise comparison gave an accuracy of 93%. The advantages, limitations and practical applications of the spoor identification technique are discussed in relation to censusing and monitoring black rhino populations. [source]


Scale-dependence of movement rates in stream invertebrates

OIKOS, Issue 1 2004
Göran Englund
We used analytical models and random walk simulations in a one-dimensional habitat to study the scale-dependence of migration rates in stream invertebrates. Our models predict that per capita migration rate is inversely proportional to patch length when patches are large compared to the scale of movements. When patches are small the scale-dependence is weaker and primarily determined by the length of individual movements (steps) relative to patch size. Laboratory experiments using isopods (Asellus aquaticus L.) and mayfly nymphs (Baetis sp.) confirmed that the strength of the scale-dependence decreased with increasing step length. For the case when step length distributions follow an exponential probability distribution, which is often the case for stream organisms, we provide a simple model that allows the scale-dependence to be predicted from the mean step length. We fitted this model to published field data on drift densities at different downstream distances from a net that blocks the drift from upstream areas. Agreement between model and data was excellent in most cases. We then used already published data on the length of induced drift movements to predict the scale-dependence that was observed in block experiments performed in the same system. Predicted and observed scale-dependence showed very close agreement. We conclude that our models and published data on drift distances can be used to calculate the expected scale-dependence of per capita emigration rates for a large number of taxa under a wide range of environmental conditions. [source]


The Trinitarian Metaphysics of Jonathan Edwards and Nicolas Malebranche

THE HEYTHROP JOURNAL, Issue 2 2002
Jasper Reid
This paper explores both the striking similarities and also the differences between Jonathan Edwards and Nicolas Malebranche's philosophical views on the Holy Trinity and, in particular, the ways in which they both gave important roles to specific Persons of the Trinity in the various different branches of their respective metaphysical systems,ontological, epistemological and ethical. It is shown that Edwards and Malebranche were in very close agreement on ontological questions pertaining to the Trinity, both with respect to the internal, triune nature of the divine substance (characterising the Three Persons as the divine power, as the consubstantial idea of God which was generated as He eternally reflected on Himself, and as the mutual love which proceeded between the Father and this idea), and also with respect to the various roles these Three Persons played in the creation of the world. In epistemology, Malebranche postulated an illuminating union between the mind of man and the divine Word, insisting on an absolutely direct involvement of the Second Person in all human cognition, both intellectual and sensible. On this point Edwards did differ, endorsing instead an empiricist epistemology which left no room for such a direct union with the Word. However, when it came to ethics, Edwards and Malebranche both gave the Third Person an utterly central role, postulating much the same kind of union as Malebranche alone had postulated in the epistemological case, only now between the will of man and the Holy Spirit. [source]