Search results for " Statistical"
showing 10 items of 1649 documents
Effects of the Best Possible Self intervention: A systematic review and meta-analysis
2019
The Best Possible Self (BPS) exercise promotes a positive view of oneself in the best possible future, after working hard towards it. Since the first work that attempted to examine the benefits of this intervention in 2001, studies on the BPS have grown exponentially and, currently, this is one of the most widely used Positive Psychology Interventions. However, little is yet known about its overall effectiveness in increasing wellbeing outcomes. Thus, the aim of this meta-analysis is to shed light on this question. A systematic literature search was conducted, and 29 studies (in 26 articles) met the inclusion criteria of empirically testing the intervention and comparing it to a control con…
A neural network approach to movement pattern analysis.
2004
Movements are time-dependent processes and so can be modelled by time-series of coordinates: E.g., each articulation has geometric coordinates; the set of the coordinates of the relevant articulations build a high-dimensional configuration. These configurations--or "patterns"--give reason for analysing movements by means of neural networks: The Kohonen Feature Map (KFM) is a special type of neural network, which (after having been coined by training with appropriate pattern samples) is able to recognize single patterns as members of pattern clusters. This way, for example, the particular configurations of a given movement can be identified as belonging to respective configuration clusters, …
Hp, Gc, Cp, Tf, Bg and Pi phenotypes in leprosy patients and healthy controls from West Bengal (India)
1972
On a sample of n=601 leprous individuals and n=386 healthy controls from West Bengal (India) the question is discussed, if there are existing any associations between leprosy and several serum protein groups like haptoglobin, Gc, ceruloplasmin, transferrin, β2 I and Pi. No associations were found concerning the haptoglobins and transferrins. Certain associations came out respecting ceruloplasmin, β2 I and Pi phenotypes. However, these associations, which were found in connection with the different types and clinical courses of leprosy, should be reexamined by further research. The most striking results were obtained concerning the Gc proteins. In accordance with previously performed investi…
Identification of breed informative single nucleotide polymorphisms for assigning individual in Sicilian dairy sheep
2015
Assignment tests using genetic information to establish population membership of individuals, provide the most direct methods to determine the population of origin of unknown individuals. The identification of the breed or population of origin of individuals potentially offers unbiased tools in livestock and is useful in a variety of biological contexts. The aim of this study was to identify the minimum number of informative SNPs from highthroughput genotyping data in Sicilian dairy sheep breeds, and to investigate their usefulness for breed assignment purposes. Individuals of Valle del Belice (48), Comisana (48) and Pinzirita (53) sheep breeds were genotyped using Illumina OvineSNP50K Geno…
Five key attributes can increase marine protected areas performance for small-scale fisheries management
2016
AbstractMarine protected areas (MPAs) have largely proven to be effective tools for conserving marine ecosystem, while socio-economic benefits generated by MPAs to fisheries are still under debate. Many MPAs embed a no-take zone, aiming to preserve natural populations and ecosystems, within a buffer zone where potentially sustainable activities are allowed. Small-scale fisheries (SSF) within buffer zones can be highly beneficial by promoting local socio-economies. However, guidelines to successfully manage SSFs within MPAs, ensuring both conservation and fisheries goals, and reaching a win-win scenario, are largely unavailable. From the peer-reviewed literature, grey-literature and intervie…
Analysis and assessment of trace element contamination in offshore sediments of the Augusta Bay (SE Sicily): A multivariate statistical approach base…
2014
Abstract An application of multivariate statistical methods is provided to identify anthropogenic contaminants and lithogenic elements in offshore sediments collected near the heavily industrialized Augusta Bay, Sicily. An exploratory statistical technique, based on canonical correlation analysis (CCA) and mixture density estimation approach, is used for distinguishing between natural and anthropogenic contributions of trace elements in the investigated sediments. Following the intensive industrialization of Augusta area, marine sediments reveal the severe impact of local anthropogenic activities for many elements (e.g. As, Cd, Hg, Pb, and Sb), which are considered very dangerous for the en…
A Simple Noise Model with Memory for Biological Systems
2005
A noise source model, consisting of a pulse sequence at random times with memory, is presented. By varying the memory we can obtain variable randomness of the stochastic process. The delay time between pulses, i. e. the noise memory, produces different kinds of correlated noise ranging from white noise, without delay, to quasi-periodical process, with delay close to the average period of the pulses. The spectral density is calculated. This type of noise could be useful to describe physical and biological systems where some delay is present. In particular it could be useful in population dynamics. A simple dynamical model for epidemiological infection with this noise source is presented. We …
Josephson-junction-based axion detection through resonant activation
2022
We discuss the resonant activation phenomenon on a Josephson junction due to the coupling of the Josephson system with axions. We show how such an effect can be exploited for axion detection. A nonmonotonic behavior, with a minimum, of the mean switching time from the superconducting to the resistive state versus the ratio of the axion energy and the Josephson plasma energy is found. We demonstrate how variations in switching times make it possible to detect the presence of the axion field. An experimental protocol for observing axions through their coupling with a Josephson system is proposed.
Universal freezing of quantum correlations within the geometric approach
2015
Quantum correlations in a composite system can be measured by resorting to a geometric approach, according to which the distance from the state of the system to a suitable set of classically correlated states is considered. Here we show that all distance functions, which respect natural assumptions of invariance under transposition, convexity, and contractivity under quantum channels, give rise to geometric quantifiers of quantum correlations which exhibit the peculiar freezing phenomenon, i.e., remain constant during the evolution of a paradigmatic class of states of two qubits each independently interacting with a non-dissipative decohering environment. Our results demonstrate from first …
(Un)conditioned open dynamics in quantum optics
2021
The study of the dynamics of open quantum systems sheds light on dissipative processes in quantum mechanics. Any system under continuous measurement is open and the act of measuring induces abrupt changes of the system’s state (collapses). The evolution conditioned to measurement records generates the so-called quantum trajectories. A continuous (unconditioned) evolution of the system is recovered by averaging over a large number of trajectories. Historically this kind of evolution has been the main focus of theoretical investigations. In this dissertation we consider both conditional and unconditional dynamics of quantum optical systems. Unconditioned dynamics is studied through the collis…