Simple Correspondence Research Articles

Old fights, new meanings: Lions and elephants in combat

Old fights, new meanings: Lions and elephants in combat

Assessment of collisions and grounding accidents with human factors analysis and classification system (HFACS) and statistical methods

It is important to establish all the causes of marine accidents, but this is sometimes quite difficult. Therefore, analyzing the causes by examining as many accidents as possible using a common classification system and submission of proposals is extremely essential. Overall, the study is an examination of collision and grounding accidents using the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS). In the first phase of the study, the frequency and distribution of the causes of collision and grounding accidents were examined by HFACS categories. In the second phase, unsafe acts, which have been identified as the most important categories, and preconditions for unsafe acts are evaluated by bridge crew structure. The Chi-Square Test of Compliance and Independence and Simple Correspondence Analysis are used as statistical methods. As a result of study, the most important causes are identified as human factor differences between collision and grounding accidents, decision errors, resource management deficiencies, violations, skill-based errors and miscommunication.

Diversity and Distribution of Endophytic Fungi in Different Prunus africana (Hook. f.) Kalkman Provenances in Cameroon

The diversity of endophytic fungi from different provenances of Prunus africana (Hook. F.) Kalkman, an endemic medicinal plant in Cameroon, was studied through culture dependent methods.1358 endophytic fungal isolates representing 27 genera were isolated from 1360 segments of leaf, stem, bark, root and seeds of P. africana. Hyphomycetes (56.19%) were the most predominant followed by Coelomycetes (37.63%). Mycelia sterilia (isolates without spores) constituted 6.19%. Seven genera - Colletotrichum, Aspergillus, Trichoderma, Lasiodiplodia, Curvularia, Fusarium, Pestalotia - and Morphospecies P001 were common and dominant in more than one site. The diversity was highest in Mount Cameroon Forest and Limbe Botanic Garden provenances with 20 and 19 genera recorded as compared to Kilum-Ijim Forest and Bamendankwe provenances with 11 genera each. Incidence of endophytes, colonization frequency, isolation rate and dominance of fungi varied within tissues of host plant and sites. The leaves had the highest diversity index while the roots had the least. The highest similarity was recorded between Mount Cameroon Forest and the Kilum-Ijim Forest with a Sørensen similarity coefficient of 0.464. Ordination by simple correspondence analysis revealed clear distinct clusters of genera in different localities. This study represents the first comprehensive survey of endophyte diversity in P. africana from Cameroon.

Análisis de datos funcionales aplicado en electroencefalogramas: agrupamiento por k-medias funcional

El análisis de datos funcionales se basa en el estudio de la función que describe la variabilidad de un conjunto de datos en un espacio de n muestras, y dentro de sus modelos se encuentra el análisis de conglomerados por k-medias funcional. Dado que la actividad cerebral responde a una función de onda de la carga eléctrica de las neuronas sobre el tiempo, observamos la oportunidad de aplicar el análisis de datos funcionales a este tipo de registros. El objetivo de este trabajo es describir la aplicabilidad del análisis de conglomerados por k-medias funcional para clasificación de la actividad cerebral en ratas Norvegicus Wistar. Se realizó la conversión de los registros en funciones de onda en bases de Fourier, las cuales fueron procesadas con análisis de componentes principales funcionales, algoritmo de k-medias funcional (k=6) y un análisis de correspondencias entre los conglomerados y las fases de actividad registradas manualmente en el hipnograma. Los conglomerados obtenidos hacen una categorización no supervisada consistente, especialmente en respecto a los atributos de frecuencia y regularidad de las ondas; elementos a tener en cuenta para la clasificación de señales. El análisis de datos funcionales es aplicable a la clasificación de registros de electroencefalograma, dado que toma un dato que es n-dimensional (en teoría infinito) y permite manejarlo como un único valor (una función de onda) y así ser procesado con diferentes técnicas de minería de datos.

Vortex erosion in a shallow water model of the polar vortex

The erosion of a model stratospheric polar vortex in response to bottom boundary forcing is investigated numerically. Stripping of filaments of air from the polar vortex has been implicated in the occurrence of stratospheric sudden warmings (SSWs) but it is not understood in detail what factors determine the rate and amount of stripping. Here a shallow water vortex forced by topography is used to investigate the factors initiating stripping and whether this leads the vortex to undergo an SSW. It is found that the amplitude of topographic forcing must exceed some threshold (of order 200–450m) in order for significant stripping to occur. For larger forcing amplitudes significant stripping occurs, but not as an instantaneous response to the forcing; rather, the forcing appears to initiate a process that ultimately results in stripping several tens of days later. There appears to be no simple quantitative relationship between the amount of mass stripped and the topography amplitude. However, at least over the early stages of the experiments, there is a good correlation between the amount of mass stripped and the global integral of wave activity, which may be interpreted as a measure of the accumulated topographic forcing. Finally there does not appear to be a simple correspondence between amount of mass stripped and the occurrence of an SSW.

A comparative analysis of the foamy and ortho virus capsid structures reveals an ancient domain duplication

BackgroundThe Spumaretrovirinae (foamy viruses) and the Orthoretrovirinae (e.g. HIV) share many similarities both in genome structure and the sequences of the core viral encoded proteins, such as the aspartyl protease and reverse transcriptase. Similarity in the gag region of the genome is less obvious at the sequence level but has been illuminated by the recent solution of the foamy virus capsid (CA) structure. This revealed a clear structural similarity to the orthoretrovirus capsids but with marked differences that left uncertainty in the relationship between the two domains that comprise the structure.MethodsWe have applied protein structure comparison methods in order to try and resolve this ambiguous relationship. These included both the DALI method and the SAP method, with rigorous statistical tests applied to the results of both methods. For this, we employed collections of artificial fold ’decoys’ (generated from the pair of native structures being compared) to provide a customised background distribution for each comparison, thus allowing significance levels to be estimated.ResultsWe have shown that the relationship of the two domains conforms to a simple linear correspondence rather than a domain transposition. These similarities suggest that the origin of both viral capsids was a common ancestor with a double domain structure. In addition, we show that there is also a significant structural similarity between the amino and carboxy domains in both the foamy and ortho viruses.ConclusionsThese results indicate that, as well as the duplication of the double domain capsid, there may have been an even more ancient gene-duplication that preceded the double domain structure. In addition, our structure comparison methodology demonstrates a general approach to problems where the components have a high intrinsic level of similarity.

Management and productivity of dairy sheep production systems in Castilla-La Mancha, Spain

The Planning, Organisation, Direction and Control functions of dairy sheep breeders in the La Mancha natural region were evaluated by constructing composite indexes of their management. The studied farms, the majority of which were family-run, rely heavily on the use of arable land through sheep grazing. A close relationship between the Direction and Control functions was found, while the functions related to the Organisation and Control stand out as the most deficient. The incidence of management functions in productivity was studied through ANOVA (analysis of variance) and SCA (simple correspondence analysis). A medium-low level of managerial functions, coupled with a positive effect of these functions on the productivity of the systems was identified, leading to the conclusion that management can be improved when special attention is given to its more neglected features, and that this improvement could lead to an important increase in productivity. These measures are particularly important in this area of production where profitability and sustainability are currently being questioned.

Seismic structure off the Kii Peninsula, Japan, deduced from passive- and active-source seismographic data

We conduct seismic tomography to model subsurface seismicity between 2010 and 2012 and structural heterogeneity off the Kii Peninsula, southwestern Japan, and to investigate their relationships with segmentation of the Nankai and Tonankai seismogenic zones of the Nankai Trough. In order to constrain both the shallow and deep structure of the offshore seismogenic segments, we use both active- and passive-source data recorded by both ocean-bottom seismometers and land seismic stations. The relocated microearthquakes indicate a lack of seismic activity in the Tonankai seismogenic segment off Kumano, whereas there was active intraslab seismicity in the Kii Channel area of the Nankai seismogenic segment. Based on comparisons among the distribution of seismicity, age, and spreading rate of the subducting Philippine Sea plate, and the slip-deficit distribution, we conclude that seismicity in the subducting slab under the Kii Channel region nucleated from structures in the Philippine Sea slab that pre-date subduction and that fluids released by dehydration are related to decreased interplate coupling of these intraslab earthquakes. Our velocity model clearly shows the areal extent of two key structures reported in previous 2-D active-source surveys: a high-velocity zone beneath Cape Shionomisaki and a subducted seamount off Cape Muroto, both of which are roughly circular and of 15–20 km radius. The epicenters of the 1944 Tonankai and 1946 Nankai earthquakes are near the edge of the high-velocity body beneath Cape Shionomisaki, suggesting that this anomalous structure is related to the nucleation of these two earthquakes. We identify several other high- and low-velocity zones immediately above the plate boundary in the Tonankai and Nankai seismogenic segments. In comparison with the slip-deficit model, some of the low-velocity zones appear to correspond to an area of strong coupling. Our observations suggest that, unlike the Japan Trench subduction zone, in our study area there is not a simple correspondence between areas of large coseismic slip or strong interplate coupling and areas of high velocity in the overriding plate.

Contrastive Analysis of Zero-Anaphor in Korean and in Mandarin

In Korean and in Mandarin, the use of zero-anaphora is extremely common. However zero-anaphora in Korean and in Mandarin do not share a simple correspondence. Comparatively speaking, the use of zero-anaphora in Korean is even more widespread than in Mandarin. This is deeply connected to morphological differences between the two languages.

Social theory of internet use: Corroboration or rejection among the digital natives? Correspondence analysis of adolescents in two societies

This paper tests a theory of social uses of the Internet (López-Sintas, Filimon, & García-Álvarez, 2012), inspired by the work of Bourdieu (1984, 1986, 1989), outside the Spanish national context in which it was initially formulated. Using the OECD's PISA 2012 data for Germany and Norway, it specifically seeks to uncover differences in patterns of Information and Communication Technologies usage among fifteen-year olds and the factors structuring those differences. Simple Correspondence Analysis has been used as the method of investigation. The results of the analysis show similarities between usage spaces in Germany and Norway; where the first, dominant dimension represents the frequency of digital use and the secondary dimension represents the type of frequent digital use. Furthermore, in both countries gender, migration background, family structure, the parents' level of education, material access to the Internet at home, and the number of books at home explain no more than 8.6 percent of the variance in digital usage. At face value, these results suggest that the theory of social uses of the Internet should be rejected when applied to the adolescents in the countries under investigation. The paper argues, however, that the results should rather be interpreted as an indirect corroboration of the theory, with age being one of the most significant aspects of an individual's social standing affecting digital use.

The “Mirror Flags”: Ship registration in globalised ship breaking industry

The incorporation of new international regulations is a rational way to avoid the use of substandard Asian ship-breaking yards. However, more restrictive regulations and agreements could lead to increase the proliferation of the use of third countries in connection with ship recycling industry. The new Open Registries provides ship-owners with legal loopholes in order to avoid strict national legislations and international rules, thus the “genuine link” disappears and the ship-owner’s responsibilities relax. Ship-breaking industry is a complex interconnected system with many important key actors, such as shipping companies, ship-owners, ship registries, brokers, and ship-breaking yards, all of which are discussed in this paper under the vision of a new global ship recycling policy, and focusing in those cases when a ship changes its flag state registration just before scrapping. This paper analyses the most common flags selected in order to send ships for scrapping. Empirical investigation to determine the relation between States and ship-breaking industry has been carried out using the multivariate statistic technic known as “Simple correspondence analysis”. The results show a relation between ship registry selection and ships that are about to end their lives, re-flagging solely for the purpose of scrapping. If we observe the evolution of the different flag states at the end of the ship’s life, we find incremented use of new open registers or “Mirror Flags”. General abuse of new registries in ship-breaking industry would lead to a ship-breaking industry without rules or transparent procedures, which could violate labour and environmental standards.

Fractionation of Hydrogen Isotopes by Sulfate- and Nitrate-Reducing Bacteria.

Hydrogen atoms from water and food are incorporated into biomass during cellular metabolism and biosynthesis, fractionating the isotopes of hydrogen—protium and deuterium—that are recorded in biomolecules. While these fractionations are often relatively constant in plants, large variations in the magnitude of fractionation are observed for many heterotrophic microbes utilizing different central metabolic pathways. The correlation between metabolism and lipid δ2H provides a potential basis for reconstructing environmental and ecological parameters, but the calibration dataset has thus far been limited mainly to aerobes. Here we report on the hydrogen isotopic fractionations of lipids produced by nitrate-respiring and sulfate-reducing bacteria. We observe only small differences in fractionation between oxygen- and nitrate-respiring growth conditions, with a typical pattern of variation between substrates that is broadly consistent with previously described trends. In contrast, fractionation by sulfate-reducing bacteria does not vary significantly between different substrates, even when autotrophic and heterotrophic growth conditions are compared. This result is in marked contrast to previously published observations and has significant implications for the interpretation of environmental hydrogen isotope data. We evaluate these trends in light of metabolic gene content of each strain, growth rate, and potential flux and reservoir-size effects of cellular hydrogen, but find no single variable that can account for the differences between nitrate- and sulfate-respiring bacteria. The emerging picture of bacterial hydrogen isotope fractionation is therefore more complex than the simple correspondence between δ2H and metabolic pathway previously understood from aerobes. Despite the complexity, the large signals and rich variability of observed lipid δ2H suggest much potential as an environmental recorder of metabolism.

Equity Investors Perception about Process Involved in Merger Deals

This proposed study tries to find the investors perception about process of mergers. This study also tries to find the influence of profile of investors on their perception about process of mergers. This study is fully based on primary data. Data have been collected from 513 equity investors in Chennai and Puducherry. The statistical tools of simple mean, cluster analysis, discriminant analysis, chi-square test, correspondence analysis, ANOVA, post-hoc analysis and canonical correlation have been adopted to analyse the data. This study finds that the equity investors feel that SEBI is effectively controlling the process of M & A. This study also finds that the profile of investors is not influencing their perception about process of mergers.

Morphogenesis and grain size variation of alluvial gold recovered in auriferous sediments of the Tormes Basin (Iberian Peninsula) using a simple correspondence analysis

With present techniques it is difficult to determine whether the gold particles present at fluvial placers have come from one or multiple sources. Knowledge of this would be useful in prospecting for larger gold deposits. The aim of the present work was to test the potential of a technique based on modern visual and classic statistical methods to determine the single or multisource origin of gold particles at different sites in the Tormes Basin (Central Iberian Zone of the Iberian Massif, Iberian Peninsula). This basin contains numerous lode and placer gold deposits that have been exploited since ancient times. Today, gold nuggets (usually associated with quartz, 0.2–6 g in weight, 0.53–3.74 cm long and mostly discoidal in shape and of intermediate roundness) can be recovered from the sediments of the upper reaches of the River Tormes. These nuggets, as well as small gold particles collected at three gravel pits from across the basin (all of which showed abrasion marks) were examined by optical and/or environmental scanning electron microscopy, and the differences in their dimensions and morphological features noted. Simple correspondence analysis of the sphericity and roundness of the nuggets and particles was used to morphologically classify the gold samples collected at each location. The gold nuggets were best classified as elongated rods of intermediate roundness. Surprisingly, the gold particles from the most upstream and downstream gravel pits were best described as discs/sub-discs of rounded appearance, while those from the intermediate gravel pit were discs of intermediate roundness. Analysis of the variance followed by the Tukey honest significant differences test revealed the particles from the most upstream gravel pit to be significantly more flattened and smaller. These were therefore transported further from their source than the particles collected at the other two pits. These results suggest that multiple sources of sedimentary gold exist in the Tormes Basin and that these feed these different gravel pits. Present techniques for classifying gold would not have detected these differences.

Role of the site of synaptic competition and the balance of learning forces for Hebbian encoding of probabilistic Markov sequences.

The majority of distinct sensory and motor events occur as temporally ordered sequences with rich probabilistic structure. Sequences can be characterized by the probability of transitioning from the current state to upcoming states (forward probability), as well as the probability of having transitioned to the current state from previous states (backward probability). Despite the prevalence of probabilistic sequencing of both sensory and motor events, the Hebbian mechanisms that mold synapses to reflect the statistics of experienced probabilistic sequences are not well understood. Here, we show through analytic calculations and numerical simulations that Hebbian plasticity (correlation, covariance, and STDP) with pre-synaptic competition can develop synaptic weights equal to the conditional forward transition probabilities present in the input sequence. In contrast, post-synaptic competition can develop synaptic weights proportional to the conditional backward probabilities of the same input sequence. We demonstrate that to stably reflect the conditional probability of a neuron's inputs and outputs, local Hebbian plasticity requires balance between competitive learning forces that promote synaptic differentiation and homogenizing learning forces that promote synaptic stabilization. The balance between these forces dictates a prior over the distribution of learned synaptic weights, strongly influencing both the rate at which structure emerges and the entropy of the final distribution of synaptic weights. Together, these results demonstrate a simple correspondence between the biophysical organization of neurons, the site of synaptic competition, and the temporal flow of information encoded in synaptic weights by Hebbian plasticity while highlighting the utility of balancing learning forces to accurately encode probability distributions, and prior expectations over such probability distributions.

Factors affecting home gardens ownership, diversity and structure: a case study from Benin.

BackgroundHome gardens (HGs) provide perspectives for conservation of plant genetic resources while contributing to improving livelihoods. However, knowledge of local factors shaping their ownership, plant diversity (PD) and structure is still limited especially in West-Africa, where food insecurity is acute. This is critical to ensure effective mainstreaming of HGs into future biodiversity conservation and food production policies.MethodsSocio-economic and PD data were obtained from individual interviews (n = 470) and gardens inventories (n = 235) spanning humid, sub-humid and semi-arid zones of Benin. Generalised Linear Models, Hierarchical Cluster Analysis, Principal Component Analysis and Simple Correspondence Analysis were performed to examine socio-economic characteristics (age, gender, education level and main economic activity) affecting HGs ownership, and their effect coupled with intrinsic HGs characteristics (size, age) on PD and structure within HGs, across contrasting bio-geographical regions.ResultsHG ownership was significantly dependent upon a complex relationship between age, gender and education level of the farmers. The probability to own HG increased with age with an early involvement in home gardening for women. Similarly, with increasing age, it was more likely to find a male owner than a female owner among the uneducated informants and those of primary school. Inversely, it was more likely to find female owner than a male owner among secondary school level or more.PD increased with increasing owner age and size of the HG. Larger and more diversified HGs were found in sub-humid and semi-arid zones while smaller and less diversified HGs were encountered in the humid zone. HGs were multi-layered. Based on the prevailing plant groups, three categories of HG were distinguished: Herb based gardens, Herb and Shrub/Trees based gardens, and Palm and Liana based gardens. Their prevalence was dependent upon bio-geographical zones and HG owner socio-economic characteristics, with herbs based HGs being mainly associated to women.ConclusionResults suggest effects of complex interactions between socio-economic factors on HG ownership, and influence of these effects combined with intrinsic characteristics of HGs on PD. The early involvement of women in home gardening and their particular interest in herbs and shrubs are important assets for future conservation strategies based on HG and food production. Interventions are required to interfere with declining PD in HG across generations to accommodate multiple ecosystem service benefits.

O papel da verdade na fundamentação dos direitos humanos

O presente trabalho tem por objetivo apresentar como problemática a noção de verdade como adequação, precisamente por meio da busca de uma referência mais originária que a simples correspondência entre juízo e coisa, onde os próprios entes, mostrando-se no que são, influenciam e, de alguma forma, constrangem nossos juízos sobre o mundo. Sob essa perspectiva fenomenológica, nossa experiência da verdade irá reclamar uma abertura que proporcione um espaço para a aparição dos entes, o que, no âmbito normativo, importará a possibilidade de denunciarmos uma atitude logocentrista que pode encobrir os verdadeiros sentidos dos objetos jurídicos, comprometendo o acontecer do próprio Direito e, sobretudo, levar-nosà perda de fundamento para os próprios direitos humanos.

Quem está ficando para trás? Uma década de evasão nos cursos brasileiros de graduação em Administração de Empresas e Ciências Contábeis

Dropout from public and private institutions of higher education (IHE) is associated with considerable social, academic and economic losses. These losses affect all of society, as citizens directly or indirectly pay for their own education and that of their relatives. The main purpose of this study was to analyze the dropout behavior of students enrolled in undergraduate programs of Business Administration and Accounting at Brazilian IHEs between 2001 and 2010. Dropout rates were investigated per type of IHE and correlated with the percentage of students completing their courses within the ideal time frame. Our hypotheses were tested with ANOVA and the variables were submitted to simple and multiple correspondence analysis. Descriptive statistics showed higher dropout levels for Business Administration than for Accounting, but lower overall levels when compared to the literature. The median ideal-term course completion index was higher for Accounting, though not significantly. Less than a quarter of the students completed their courses within the expected five-year period. In general, our findings indicate that Accounting programs have lower dropout rates in universities and university centers, whereas Business Administration programs have higher dropout rates in colleges, schools, institutes and technological education centers. The results of this study are not intended as a generalization, but represent patterns observed within the classifications adopted in the study.

Diagnostics in a simple correspondence analysis model: An approach based on Cook’s distance for log-linear models

Diagnostics have not received much attention in the literature of simple correspondence analysis models. Since Cook’s distance was defined to identify influential observations of the linear regression model, it has been extended to different models, in particular to log-linear models. In this paper we provide the asymptotic distribution of Cook’s distance of any kind of log-linear models and also a method for diagnostics, based on it. By using Goodman’s R C ( K ) model as a log-linear model to approximate the ordinary simple correspondence analysis procedure, we follow a Cook’s distance approach to identify influential cells and three examples illustrate the performance of this method.

Attentional load modulates large-scale functional brain connectivity beyond the core attention networks

In line with the notion of a continuously active and dynamic brain, functional networks identified during rest correspond with those revealed by task-fMRI. Characterizing the dynamic cross-talk between these network nodes is key to understanding the successful implementation of effortful cognitive processing in healthy individuals and its breakdown in a variety of conditions involving aberrant brain biology and cognitive dysfunction. We employed advanced network modeling on fMRI data collected during a task involving sustained attentive tracking of objects at two load levels and during rest. Using multivariate techniques, we demonstrate that attentional load levels can be significantly discriminated, and from a resting-state condition, the accuracy approaches 100%, by means of estimates of between-node functional connectivity. Several network edges were modulated during task engagement: The dorsal attention network increased connectivity with a visual node, while decreasing connectivity with motor and sensory nodes. Also, we observed a decoupling between left and right hemisphere dorsal visual streams. These results support the notion of dynamic network reconfigurations based on attentional effort. No simple correspondence between node signal amplitude change and node connectivity modulations was found, thus network modeling provides novel information beyond what is revealed by conventional task-fMRI analysis. The current decoding of attentional states confirms that edge connectivity contains highly predictive information about the mental state of the individual, and the approach shows promise for the utilization in clinical contexts.