A reappraisal of feeding current systems inferred for spire-bearing brachiopods

SUMMARY The design of experiments for discriminating between two rival models in the presence of prior information is analyzed. The method of Atkinson & Fedorov is extended. A theorem derived from the Kiefer-Wolfowitz General Equivalence Theorem is used to construct and check optimal designs. Some examples are provided. This paper is concerned with the design of experiments for discriminating between two regression models, one or both of which may be nonlinear in the parameters. Atkinson & Fedorov (1975a) describe T-optimum designs for this purpose which are optimum when it is known which one of the models is true. The designs, which satisfy an equivalence theorem of optimum design theory, are locally optimum, in the sense that they depend upon the values of the unknown parameters of the true model. In the present paper we extend the theory to situations in which there is a specified prior probability that each model is true and, conditionally on this probability, prior distributions for the parameters in the two models are specified. Our central result is that such designs again satisfy an equivalence theorem which can be used both for the construction of designs and for checking the optimality of a proposed design. In the next section we give the background to the problem and introduce our notation. The equivalence theorem for T-optimum designs with prior distributions is presented in ? 3. Examples are in ? 4. 2. BACKGROUND The aim of the experiment is to maximize the expected noncentrality parameter of the false model, the expectation being taken over models and over the prior distributions of the parameters. To be more precise we introduce our notation which is based on that of Silvey (1980, Ch. 3). Let , a compact set, be the design region; let X be the class of all probability

where the design points xi are known and the random variables Cik are independently normally distributed with zero mean and constant variance 0y2. In the theoretical development, but not in the numerical examples, we shall, without loss of generality, take 0-2 to be unity. The function st(x) is one of two known functions 81(x, 01) and 82(x, 02), where 01 and 02 are sets of unknown parameters of dimension m1 and in2. The purpose of the experiment is to determine which of the two models is true. The design of experiments for discriminating between any number of models has been investigated by several authors. References to this work and some comments on general aspects of the problem are given in the recent paper of Atkinson & Cox (1974) and in the ensuing discussion. Designs specific for discriminating between only two models have been derived by Fedorov & Malyutov (1972) and Fedorov & Uspensky (1975). In the present paper we collect, exemplify and generalize these results on designs for two models and describe the relationship with the designs of Atkinson & Cox, which are based on an extension of D-optimum design theory. In ? 2 we describe nonsequential designs which are the limits to which the sequential designs of ? 3 converge as the number of trials increases. In ? 4 we discuss the relationship between the two approaches when both models are linear. The least squares estimates of the parameters in the two models, which in general need not be linear, are the solutions of the equations

The article examines the explanatory power of six different, though in some respects complimentary, theoretical accounts of the sources of protest activity. The rival models – Relative Deprivation, Cognitive Engagement, Civic Voluntarism, Social Capital, Rational Actor and General Incentives – are tested using data from a series of monthly representative sample surveys, conducted between July 2000 and December 2002. The empirical results show that people turn to protest for three main reasons: because they make rational calculations about its costs and benefits; because they believe that it can rectify the sense of dissatisfaction or deprivation that they feel; and because they are mobilized into action by personal social contacts. Successful protests by a minority also act as a spur for the majority to increase its ‘protest potential’.

Life habit, feeding mechanism and population structure of the Cretaceous brachiopod genus Aemula

Based on social exchange theory (SET), as well as relationship marketing theory (RMT), this study investigates the impact of customer engagement (CE) underlying dimensions, namely, enthusiasm, attention, absorption, interaction and identification on customer loyalty and affective commitment in hospitality industry. This study also validates and confirms the multidimensionality of CE in hospitality industry. Perceptions of 240 hotel customers were used to explore the relationships. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis followed by multiple regression analysis were employed to examine the data. The empirical results indicate that by contrasting two rival models, five dimensional model provides the solid foundation and accomplishes excellent fit for data. Empirical results suggest that CE dimensions have influential impact on customer loyalty. Similarly, results demonstrate that CE has significant and positive influence on affective commitment. These findings offer insight into dimensionality and consequences of CE for academic research and bring value to service contexts particularly hospitality.

Previous research has documented the impact of self‐‐derived expectations as reference points in the evaluation of outcomes (e.g. Ordóñez, Connolly, & Coughlan, 2000; van den Bos et al., 1998). In the present paper we extend these studies by investigating the effects of individuals' performance expectations on their subsequent evaluations of personally‐‐relevant outcomes. In three separate studies, both in the laboratory and in the field, students' actual grade outcomes fell short, met, or exceeded grade expectations. From this information, the students evaluated their fairness and satisfaction with the actual grade outcome. The studies provide complementary results that distinguish fairness and satisfaction as different constructs based on the impact of expectations on evaluations of actual outcomes. Results demonstrate that expectations are important to perceptions of fairness and are less important to perceptions of satisfaction. Fairness judgments appear to be governed by an expectation matching proposition; whereby if the expectation is met, the outcome is fair. Whereas, satisfaction judgments are determined by the value of the actual outcome to the individual. Participants also evaluate the fairness of outcomes differently using hypothetical scenarios than they do when they experience actual outcomes in natural contexts. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

In this paper, we propose a new online learning algorithm tailored for data streams described by varying feature spaces (VFS), wherein new features constantly emerge and old features may stop to be observed over various time spans. Our proposed algorithm, named Online Random Feature Forests for Feature space Variabilities (ORF3V), provides a strategy to respect such feature dynamics by generating, updating, pruning, as well as online re-weighing an ensemble of what we call feature forests, which are generated and updated based on a compressed and storage efficient representation for each observed feature. We benchmark our algorithm on 12 datasets, including one novel real-world dataset of government COVID-19 responses collected through a crowd-sensing program in Spain. The empirical results substantiate the viability and effectiveness of our ORF3V algorithm and its superior accuracy performance over the state-of-the-art rival models.

Wang, Hsu, Chiu, and Liang (2012, Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 26, 215–224) recently proposed a hierarchical model of social interaction anxiety and depression to account for both the commonalities and distinctions between these conditions. In the present paper, this model was extended to more broadly encompass the symptoms of social anxiety disorder, and replicated in a large unselected, undergraduate sample (n = 585). Structural equation modeling (SEM) and hierarchical regression analyses were employed. Negative affect and positive affect were conceptualized as general factors shared by social anxiety and depression; fear of negative evaluation (FNE) and disqualification of positive social outcomes were operationalized as specific factors, and fear of positive evaluation (FPE) was operationalized as a factor unique to social anxiety. This extended hierarchical model explicates structural relationships among these factors, in which the higher-level, general factors (i.e., high negative affect and low positive affect) represent vulnerability markers of both social anxiety and depression, and the lower-level factors (i.e., FNE, disqualification of positive social outcomes, and FPE) are the dimensions of specific cognitive features. Results from SEM and hierarchical regression analyses converged in support of the extended model. FPE is further supported as a key symptom that differentiates social anxiety from depression.

Peripheral nerve lesions usually are associated with neuropathic pain. In the present paper, we describe a simple scale to quantify pain after brachial plexus injuries and apply this scale to a series of patients to determine initial outcomes after reconstructive surgery. Fifty-one patients with traumatic brachial plexus avulsion injuries were treated over the period of one calendar year at one center by the same surgical team. Of these, 28 patients who were available for follow-up reported some degree of neuropathic pain radiating towards the hand or forearm and underwent reconstructive microsurgery and direct pain management, including trunk and nerve neurolysis and repair. A special pain severity rating scale was developed and used to assess patients' pain before and after surgery, over a minimum follow-up of 6 months. An independent researcher, not part of the surgical team, performed all pre- and postoperative evaluations. Of the 28 patients with brachial plexus traction injuries who met eligibility criteria, 93% were male, and most were young (mean age, 27.6 years). The mean preoperative severity of pain using our scale was 30.9 out of a maximum of 37 (± 0.76 SD), which fell to a mean of 6.9 (± 0.68 SD) 6 months post-procedure. On average, pain declined by 78% across the whole series, a decline that was statistically significant (p < .001). Subset analysis revealed similar improvements across all the different parameters of pain. We have designed and tested a simple and reliable method by which to quantify neuropathic pain after traumatic brachial plexus injuries. Initial surgical treatment of the paralysis--including nerve, trunk and root reconstruction, and neurolysis--comprises an effective means by which to initially treat neuropathic pain. Ablative or neuromodulative procedures, like dorsal root entry zone, should be reserved for refractory cases.

Guiding the percutaneous mitral valve repair by real-time three-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography: Beyond procedural navigation

In this present paper, approximate analytical study of natural convection flow of non-Newtonian fluid through Parallel-plates with heat generation is considered. The coupled non-linear momentum and energy equations was solved using perturbation technique. The cases of constant viscosity and temperaturedependent viscosity are treated with the case of temperature-dependent viscosity considered in two models: Reynold's model and Vogel's model. Within the constant viscosity case, results show that increase in the non-Newtonian parametersß, M, decreases the velocity of the fluid flow and increase in these parameters enhances the temperature of the plates. The effects of non-Newtonian and viscosity indices of both Reynold's and Vogel's models on velocity and temperature profiles are presented.

The lingual root is an area where the thyroid gland develops and small salivary glands composed of both serous and mucous glands are distributed in the submucosa. In this paper the foramen cecum and mucous glands at the root of the tongue were histologically investigated in serial sagittal sections of the medial portion of the lingual root. The materials were obtained from 59 autopsied cases, excluding the cases with metabolic disease, brain tumor and neck tumor in whom the original disease might exert direct or indirect effects to the gland tissue. The frontal end was determined to be the line which connects the right and left palatoglossal arch junctions with the tongue, and the rear end the line of transition of the vallecula to the epiglottis. The specimen was cut in half along the median lingual sulcus and median glossoepiglottic fold. Each serial section of 4 microns in thickness was cut from the median plain to the lateral and stained with Hematoxylin-Eosin or Pas-Alcian blue at pH 2.5. The results of the study were summarized as follows. 1) The foramen cecum was histopathologically confirmed in 12 cases out of 59 (20%). The ratio of the detection did not show any difference between both sexes and in the groups of different age. 2) The mucous gland opening into the mucosal epithelium, which were located at the side of the lingual apex from the Ebner's gland or serous gland, were detected in 45 out of 59 (76%).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The impact of signal pre-processing on the final interpretation of analytical outcomes – A tutorial

This report from the FOPE II Education of the Pediatrician Workgroup assesses the current status and future trends of pediatric education. The attributes of each level of the education process (undergraduate, residency, fellowship, continuing medical education [CME]) are considered within the framework of lifelong learning. The pediatric education of nonpediatrician providers is carefully considered. The Workgroup proposes and describes a new model for pediatric education that encompasses educational needs assessment, curriculum development and outcomes evaluation. Particular attention is paid to CME, with a review of the strengths and problems of the current system. The proposal for improving CME in the 21st century highlights the need for each pediatrician to have a "CME home," and several models and scenarios are explored. Appendices summarize the results of several surveys conducted on behalf of the Workgroup, and list societal trends and advances in pediatric health care that will influence pediatric education in the future. Pediatrics 2000;106(suppl):1175-1198; pediatric education, educational needs assessment, curriculum development, outcomes evaluation.

The “inclusion benefit” in clinical trials