Paradigms in Statistical Inference for Finite Populations; Up to the 1950s

Modern sample surveys started to spread after statistician at the U.S. Bureau of the Census in the 1940s had developed a sampling design for the Current Population Survey (CPS). A significant factor was also that digital computers became available for statisticians. In the beginning of 1950s, the theory was documented in textbooks on survey sampling. This thesis is about the development of the statistical inference for sample surveys. For the first time the idea of statistical inference was enunciated by a French scientist, P. S. Laplace. In 1781, he published a plan for a partial investigation in which he determined the sample size needed to reach the desired accuracy in estimation. The plan was based on Laplace s Principle of Inverse Probability and on his derivation of the Central Limit Theorem. They were published in a memoir in 1774 which is one of the origins of statistical inference. Laplace s inference model was based on Bernoulli trials and binominal probabilities. He assumed that populations were changing constantly. It was depicted by assuming a priori distributions for parameters. Laplace s inference model dominated statistical thinking for a century. Sample selection in Laplace s investigations was purposive. In 1894 in the International Statistical Institute meeting, Norwegian Anders Kiaer presented the idea of the Representative Method to draw samples. Its idea was that the sample would be a miniature of the population. It is still prevailing. The virtues of random sampling were known but practical problems of sample selection and data collection hindered its use. Arhtur Bowley realized the potentials of Kiaer s method and in the beginning of the 20th century carried out several surveys in the UK. He also developed the theory of statistical inference for finite populations. It was based on Laplace s inference model. R. A. Fisher contributions in the 1920 s constitute a watershed in the statistical science He revolutionized the theory of statistics. In addition, he introduced a new statistical inference model which is still the prevailing paradigm. The essential idea is to draw repeatedly samples from the same population and the assumption that population parameters are constants. Fisher s theory did not include a priori probabilities. Jerzy Neyman adopted Fisher s inference model and applied it to finite populations with the difference that Neyman s inference model does not include any assumptions of the distributions of the study variables. Applying Fisher s fiducial argument he developed the theory for confidence intervals. Neyman s last contribution to survey sampling presented a theory for double sampling. This gave the central idea for statisticians at the U.S. Census Bureau to develop the complex survey design for the CPS. Important criterion was to have a method in which the costs of data collection were acceptable, and which provided approximately equal interviewer workloads, besides sufficient accuracy in estimation.

Conformational Polymorphism in G-tetraplex Structures: Strand Reversal by Base Flipover or Sugar Flipover

Guanine rich sequences adopt a variety of four stranded structures, which differ in strand orientation and conformation about the glycosidic bond even though they are all stabilised by Hoogsteen hydrogen bonded guanine tetrads. Detailed model building and molecular mechanics calculations have been carried out to investigate various possible conformations of guanines along a strand and different possible orientations of guanine strands in a G-tetraplex structure. It is found that for an oligo G stretch per se, a parallel four stranded structure with all guanines in anti conformation is favoured over other possible tetraplex structures. Hence an alternating syn-anti arrangement of guanines along a strand is likely to occur only in folded back tetraplex structures with antiparallel G strands. Our study provides a theoretical rationale for the observed alternation of glycosidic conformation and the inverted stacking arrangement arising from base flipover, in antiparallel G-tetraplex structures and also highlights the various structural features arising due to different types of strand orientations. The molecular mechanics calculations help in elucidating the various interactions which stabilize different G-tetraplex structures and indicate that screening of phosphate charge by counterions could have a dramatic effect on groove width in these four stranded structures.

Conformational polymorphism in G-tetraplex structures: strand reversal by base flipover or sugar flipover

Guanlne rich sequences adopt a variety of four stranded structures, which differ in strand orientation and conformation about the glycosldic bond even though they are all stabilised by Hoogsteen hydrogen bonded guanlne tetrads. Detailed model building and molecular mechanics calculations have been carried out to investigate various possible conformations of guanlnes along a strand and different possible orientations of guanlne strands In a G-tetraplex structure. It is found that for an ollgo G stretch per se, a parallel four stranded structure with all guanines In anti conformation is favoured over other possible tetraplex structures. Hence an alternating syn-anti arrangement of guanlnes along a strand is likely to occur only in folded back tetraplex structures with antiparallel G strands. Our study provides a theoretical rationale for the observed alternation of glycosldic conformation and the inverted stacking arrangement arising from base filpover, In antlparallel G-tetraplex structures and also highlights the various structural features arising due to different types of strand orientations. The molecular mechanics calculations help in elucidating the various interactions which stabilize different G-tetraplex structures and indicate that screening of phosphate charge by counterions could have a dramatic effect on groove width in these four stranded structures.

Transient analysis of mammalian cell growth in hollow fibre bioreactor

A mathematical model describing the dynamics of mammalian cell growth in hollow fibre bioreactor operated in closed shell mode is developed. Mammalian cells are assumed to grow as an expanding biofilm in the extra-capillary space surrounding the fibre. Diffusion is assumed to be the dominant process in the radial direction while axial convection dominates in the lumen of the bioreactor. The transient simulation results show that steep gradients in the cell number are possible under the condition of substrate limitation. The precise conditions which result in nonuniform growth of cells along the length of the bioreactor are delineated. The effect of various operating conditions, such as substrate feed rate, length of the bioreactor and diffusivity of substrate in different regions of the bioreactor, on the bioreactor performance are evaluated in terms of time required to attain the steady-state. The rime of growth is introduced as a measure of effectiveness factor for the bioreactor and is found to be dependent on two parameters, a modified Peclet number and a Thiele modulus. Diffusion, reaction and/or convection control regimes are identified based on these two parameters. The model is further extended to include dual substrate growth limitations, and the relative growth limiting characteristics of two substrates are evaluated. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.

Functional characterization, homology modeling and docking studies of beta-glucosidase responsible for bioactivation of cyanogenic hydroxynitrile glucosides from Leucaena leucocephala (subabul)

Glycosyl hydrolase family 1 beta-glucosidases are important enzymes that serve many diverse functions in plants including defense, whereby hydrolyzing the defensive compounds such as hydroxynitrile glucosides. A hydroxynitrile glucoside cleaving beta-glucosidase gene (Llbglu1) was isolated from Leucaena leucocephala, cloned into pET-28a (+) and expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3) cells. The recombinant enzyme was purified by Ni-NTA affinity chromatography. The optimal temperature and pH for this beta-glucosidase were found to be 45 A degrees C and 4.8, respectively. The purified Llbglu1 enzyme hydrolyzed the synthetic glycosides, pNPGlucoside (pNPGlc) and pNPGalactoside (pNPGal). Also, the enzyme hydrolyzed amygdalin, a hydroxynitrile glycoside and a few of the tested flavonoid and isoflavonoid glucosides. The kinetic parameters K (m) and V (max) were found to be 38.59 mu M and 0.8237 mu M/mg/min for pNPGlc, whereas for pNPGal the values were observed as 1845 mu M and 0.1037 mu M/mg/min. In the present study, a three dimensional (3D) model of the Llbglu1 was built by MODELLER software to find out the substrate binding sites and the quality of the model was examined using the program PROCHEK. Docking studies indicated that conserved active site residues are Glu 199, Glu 413, His 153, Asn 198, Val 270, Asn 340, and Trp 462. Docking of rhodiocyanoside A with the modeled Llbglu1 resulted in a binding with free energy change (Delta G) of -5.52 kcal/mol on which basis rhodiocyanoside A could be considered as a potential substrate.

Network properties of decoys and CASP predicted models: a comparison with native protein structures

Protein structure space is believed to consist of a finite set of discrete folds, unlike the protein sequence space which is astronomically large, indicating that proteins from the available sequence space are likely to adopt one of the many folds already observed. In spite of extensive sequence-structure correlation data, protein structure prediction still remains an open question with researchers having tried different approaches (experimental as well as computational). One of the challenges of protein structure prediction is to identify the native protein structures from a milieu of decoys/models. In this work, a rigorous investigation of Protein Structure Networks (PSNs) has been performed to detect native structures from decoys/ models. Ninety four parameters obtained from network studies have been optimally combined with Support Vector Machines (SVM) to derive a general metric to distinguish decoys/models from the native protein structures with an accuracy of 94.11%. Recently, for the first time in the literature we had shown that PSN has the capability to distinguish native proteins from decoys. A major difference between the present work and the previous study is to explore the transition profiles at different strengths of non-covalent interactions and SVM has indeed identified this as an important parameter. Additionally, the SVM trained algorithm is also applied to the recent CASP10 predicted models. The novelty of the network approach is that it is based on general network properties of native protein structures and that a given model can be assessed independent of any reference structure. Thus, the approach presented in this paper can be valuable in validating the predicted structures. A web-server has been developed for this purpose and is freely available at http://vishgraph.mbu.iisc.ernet.in/GraProStr/PSN-QA.html.

CONVERGENCE ANALYSIS OF THE LOWEST ORDER WEAKLY PENALIZED ADAPTIVE DISCONTINUOUS GALERKIN METHODS

In this article, we prove convergence of the weakly penalized adaptive discontinuous Galerkin methods. Unlike other works, we derive the contraction property for various discontinuous Galerkin methods only assuming the stabilizing parameters are large enough to stabilize the method. A central idea in the analysis is to construct an auxiliary solution from the discontinuous Galerkin solution by a simple post processing. Based on the auxiliary solution, we define the adaptive algorithm which guides to the convergence of adaptive discontinuous Galerkin methods.

QEP Based Solution for Power Allocation in Amplify and Forward Networks

The problem of cooperative beamforming for maximizing the achievable data rate of an energy constrained two-hop amplify-and-forward (AF) network is considered. Assuming perfect channel state information (CSI) of all the nodes, we evaluate the optimal scaling factor for the relay nodes. Along with individual power constraint on each of the relay nodes, we consider a weighted sum power constraint. The proposed iterative algorithm initially solves a set of relaxed problems with weighted sum power constraint and then updates the solution to accommodate individual constraints. These relaxed problems in turn are solved using a sequence of Quadratic Eigenvalue Problems (QEP). The key contribution of this letter is the generalization of cooperative beamforming to incorporate both the individual and weighted sum constraint. Furthermore, we have proposed a novel algorithm based on Quadratic Eigenvalue Problem (QEP) and discussed its convergence.

离心机在海洋平台基础实验研究中的应用进展

对离心机在海工结构基础实验研究中的应用进行了综述，包括模型实验的理论研究、实验设备的发展、开展的典型实验等。指出了其中的不足和今后的发展方向。

三峡水库的工程泥沙与优化运行

简要论述了长江三峡水库的形态和库区泥沙冲淤特点，重点分析了三峡水利枢纽工程建成后水库蓄水运行过程对库区泥沙淤积的影响，以及新形势下水库运行中需要进一步深入研究的重要问题，为优化三峡水库运行方式提供依据。

Prueba avanzada de rendimiento y evaluación de diez lineas promisorias de arroz (Oryza sativa L.) en comparación con tres variedades comerciales bajo condiciones de secano. Chinandega

El presente trabajo se realizó en el la localidad El Bejuco, municipio El Viejo, departamento Chinandega, con el objetivo de evaluar la adaptabilidad y comportamiento agronómico de diez lineas y tres variedades de arroz en Prueba Avanzada de Rendimiento. Se utilizó el diseño experimental de Bloques Completos al Azar con cuatro repeticiones, el ensayo se estableció en condiciones de secano favorecido, con el método de siembra a chorrillo. Para el siguiente estudio se tomó como parámetro el sistema de Evaluación Estándar del CIAT de Colombia, evaluándose características como floración, altura de planta, acame, exerción, desgrane, senescencia, aceptabilidad fenotípica y la determinación del rendimiento y sus componentes así como la calidad industrial. Los datos cuantitativos se realizaron a través de la prueba de rangos múltiples de Tukey obteniéndose sus respectivas medias. En base a los resultados obtenidos en las evaluaciones de las características agronómicas, para la variable altura todos los cultivares son semienanos, medianamente macolladores, las lineas CT 8008- 16-29-1P, CT 8553-31-MI-MC, CT 9153, P4-127-F3-30, Cuyamel 3820 y CT 5747-24-5 son resistentes al acame. En cuanto a los componentes del rendimiento las mayores longitudes de panícula con 28.6, 27.2 y 25.9 fueron obtenidas por P4-127-F3-30, Taichung sen•10 y CT 8008-16-29-1P; para el número de granos llenos por panículas los mayores valores lo obtuvieron los cultivares INTA N-1, CT 8837-3C-4C-MC, P4-127- F3-30 y Taichung sen-10 con 176, 152 y 151 granos llenos; para peso de 1000 granos los mejores valores lo presentaron los materiales CT 8553-31-MI-MC, Taichung sen-10, CT 8240-1-3-SP y CT 9153 con 28.9, 27.6, 27.5 y 26.9 gramos respectivamente. En rendimiento de grano (Kg/ha) los mejores resultados lo obtuvieron INTA N-1, Taichung sen-10, CT 8240-1-3-5P y CT 8553-31-MI-MC con 4852.6, 4722.0, 4700.1 y 4382.2 kilogramos por hectárea respectivamente.

Mejoramiento de dos componentes de sistema de producción del cultivo de la soya (Glycine max L.) variedad CEA-CH-86, su efecto sobre el crecimiento y rendimiento del cultivo

El presente trabajo se planificó con la finalidad de mejorar dos componentes del sistema tradicional de producción del cultivo de la soya (Glycine max L.) variedad CEA-CH-86. Por lo tanto, se trabajó con: densidades de siembra y períodos sin y con control de plantas indeseables para encontrar el período crítico de competencia de malezas. Para determinar la densidad óptima de siembra, se estableció un ensayo unifactorial en la época de primera de 2000 en donde se probaron seis densidades de siembra (238 095,250000, 297 619, 357 143, 378 788 y 396 825 plantas/ha. La densidad que indujo al mayor rendimiento se le determinó el período crítico de competencia de malezas, para lo cual se estableció un experimento unifactorial en donde se incluyeron tratamientos sin control y con control de malezas hasta los 20, 40, 60, 80, 100 y 120 dds. De las seis densidades evaluadas, la que dio el mayor rendimiento fue la de 297,619 plantas/ha con una producción de 2,300 kg/ha. Así mismo, se llegó a la conclusión de que el período crítico de competencia de maleza para el cultivo de la soya en la variedad CEA-CH-86 se determinó a partir de los 20 hasta los 60 días después de la siembra.

Propiedad privada, abasto y regulación del comercio y la circulación de mercancías en la campaña de Buenos Aires : desde fines de la colonia al gobierno de Martín Rodríguez

Resumen: El artículo indaga en la fiscalidad sobre el comercio interior de Buenos Aires y su relación con la consolidación de la propiedad privada en la campaña. A partir de un estudio de caso, se examinan las particularidades de las imposiciones fiscales sobre las actividades comerciales en el ámbito rural identificando cambios y continuidades en las formas de recaudación y gravamen. Este análisis se combina con el de los problemas que las prácticas ilegales vinculadas al abasto de ganado presentó tanto en su circulación en la campaña como en su introducción a los mercados citadinos. Ambas cuestiones son contrastadas con lo sucedido a partir de 1822, cuando durante el gobierno de Martín Rodríguez tanto el comercio como la circulación de ganado en el Hinterland intentarían ser regulados con mayor énfasis a fin de asegurar el respeto de la propiedad privada en el mundo rural.

High Aspect Ratio (L/D) Riser Viv Prediction Using Wake Oscillator Model

A two-dimensional (2-D) vortex-induced vibration (VIV) prediction model for high aspect ratio (LID) riser subjected to uniform and sheared flow is studied in this paper. The nonlinear structure equations are considered. The near wake dynamics describing the fluctuating nature of vortex shedding is modeled using classical van der Pol equation. A new approach was applied to calibrate the empirical parameters in the wake oscillator model. Compared the predicted results with the experimental data and computational fluid dynamic (CFD) results. Good agreements are observed. It can be concluded that the present model can be used as simple computational tool in predicting some aspects of VIV of long flexible structures. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluacion del rendimiento del cultivo de soya (Glycine max (L) Merr), bajo la fertilizacion organica, sintetica y combinada, en la Finca El Plantel (Masaya) postrera 2009

El experimento fue establecido en la finca El Plantel, propiedad de la Universidad Nacional Agraria, ubicada en el kilometro 42½ de la carretera Masaya–Tipitapa, con el objetivo de evaluar el efecto de la fertilización orgánica y sintética sobre el crecimiento, rendimiento y aportaciones de biomasa al suelo. El material vegetal utilizado fue la variedad CEA-CH-86. Se utilizó un diseño de bloques completos al azar (BCA) en arreglo unifactorial con cuatro réplicas por tratamiento, con un área de 84m² por tratamiento, así mismo se utilizó separación de medias de rangos múltiples de Tukey con un porcentaje de confianza del 95%. La fertilización consistió en una sola aplicación al momento de la siembra a razón de 3.5 t haˉ¹ de Bio-Green (Orgánico), el fertilizante sintético aplicado fue completo (12-30-10) en dosis de 134 kg haˉ¹ y una combinación de ambos fertilizantes a razón del 50% de cada fuente de fertilización. La variable de crecimiento evaluada fue, altura de plantas (cm). Al momento de la cosecha, altura de inserción de la primera vaina (cm), número de vainas por plantas, número de granos por vainas, peso de 100 granos (g), rendimiento del grano en kg a hˉ¹ y las aportaciones de biomasa de soya al suelo. Las variables evaluadas fueron sometidas a un análisis de varianza (ANDEVA) utilizando el programa estadístico Minitab versión 2008.Se concluye que no existe diferencia significativa en cuanto a la aplicación de los tratamientos sobre las variables evaluadas. El mayor rendimiento lo presentó el tratamiento sintético con 1923 kg haˉ¹, seguido del tratamiento combinado (Bio-Green + Sintético) con 1774.54 kg haˉ¹ sin ser estadísticamente diferentes. La mayor producción de materia seca se obtuvo el tratamiento sintético y la menor cantidad de materia con tratamiento Bio-Green 1514.72 kg haˉ¹. El tratamiento combinado presento mayor concentración de nitrógeno 1.77% y potasio con 1.69 % en tallo y hoja, el fósforo presentó una concentración de 0.29 % en el tratamiento sintético. Las mayores concentraciones de nitrógeno, fósforo y potasio, en la raíz de la planta de soya, la presenta en tratamiento Bio-Green con 0.65% de nitrógeno, el tratamiento combinado y testigo con 0.12% de fósforo, y el tratamiento combinado con 0.79 % de potasio. Las mayores extracciones por la planta de soya (tallo-Hoja y raíz) de nitrógeno, fósforo y potasio, se obtuvieron en los tratamientos combinado con 50.43 kg haˉ¹ de nitrógeno y 52.54 kg haˉ¹ de potasio seguido por el tratamiento sintético con 6.55 kg haˉ¹ de fósforo. La relación C/N en tallo y hoja son menores de 20:1, mientras que la raíz presentó una relación C/N mayor de 30:1.