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Parameter Estimation of Binary Black Hole Coalescence Using LSTM Neural Networks
No full textThe Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (aLIGO) made its first detection of gravitational waves in 2015. Since then, the rate of event detection has only increased, with a detection being made every 2-3 days during the current observing run, O4. This rapid influx of data has the potential to create bottle-necks in data analysis efforts, and can delay the scientific progress which require those efforts. Traditional gravitational wave data analysis techniques, such as matched filtering, require extremely large template banks of synthetic gravitational waveforms and can often fail to provide meaningful limits on system parameters. Not only is this process computationally intensive, but it also requires a preprocessing of the data. Given the amount of effort this analysis takes, the results leave much to be desired. With recent advances in machine learning, there have been hopes that many of the bottle-necks currently afflicting big data may be effectively resolved. This has proven to hold true in many areas of science, even gravitational physics. Machine learning neural networks have already demonstrated the ability to flag whether or not a signal is buried within noise, denoise time-series data and extract the signal, and make accurate parameter estimates. However, the majority of these neural networks still rely on data preprocessing or transformation prior to analysis, raising the question of whether a neural network could instead directly intake raw, noisy, unprocessed time-series signals from a laser interferometer and accurately estimate key system parameters. This thesis covers the development, performance, and analysis of a neural network that, given a time-series of raw, noisy, unprocessed signal from a laser interferometer, can accurately predict the chirp mass of the binary black hole (BBH) system that produced the signal. This advancement has the capability of significantly increasing the computational efficiency of gravitational wave data analysis and yielding more accurate parameter estimates than current techniques
Color Variation In Strangalia Bicolor (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)
No full text[Excerpt]
Many species of Lepturinae are noted for their great variation in color, while some are quite uniform in coloration. Strangalia bicolor (Swederus) is one of the Iatter type and usually shows virtually no variation. The elytra are uniformly blue-black with the exception of the inflexed corner of the humerus which is reddish-yellow. The wings and eyes are black, and the rest of the beetle is entirely reddish-yellow. Until recently, the only variation I had observed was one female with a small, triangular, reddish-yellow spot on the basal margin of each elytron near the scutellum. Linsley and Chemsak (1977) recorded a female with the elytra darkened only along the lateral margins
Book Reviews
No full textTHE MAYFLIES OF NORTH AND CENTRAL AMERICA, George F. Edmunds, Jr., Steven L. Jensen, and Lewis Berner. 330 p., 432 figs. University of Minnesota Press, 1976. 28.50.
INSECTS AND THE LIFE OF MAN. Sir Vincent Wigglesworth. Halsted Press of John Wiley & Sons, N.Y. 217 p. 12.50.
A FIELD GUIDE TO THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE WEST INDIES. Normal D. Riley. A Demeter Press Book, Quadrangle-The New York Times Book Co., 1976. 224 pp., 24 colored plates. $12.50
“Who Wrought It Slowly Long Ago” : Anonymity, The Unnamed, and the Ethical Use of Objects Found on the Barrow-Downs
No full textThis essay delves into the significance of two objects found by the Hobbits and Tom Bombadil on the Barrow-Downs in J.R.R. Tolkien\u27s The Lord of the Rings. It considers how the sword found by Merry and the brooch with Tom Bombadil gives to Goldberry have different fates and tell different ethical stories. The essay contrasts the ethical implications of Merry\u27s use of a sword from the Barrow-Downs, which plays a crucial role in the plot, with Goldberry\u27s wearing of a brooch, raising questions about cultural appropriation and the moral reclamation of a artifacts The combination of the importance of these objects and the namelessness of the characters who used them in life imbues these anonymous individuals with particular significance. Gender differences impact the naming and remembrance of individuals in Tolkien\u27s work, using elements from the Bible to illuminate the reading of Tolkien\u27s text. It explores the tension between honoring the memory of the original owners and the potential for appropriation by long-lived beings like Tom and Goldberry. The essay stresses the complexities of anonymity, cultural memory, and restorative justice in Tolkien\u27s legendarium, especially concerning the ethical use of objects
Variability in arthropod community surveys: observations of ground-dwelling arthropods are dependent on methodological choices
No full textSampling approaches are commonly adapted to reflect the study objectives in biodiversity monitoring projects. This approach optimizes findings to be locally relevant but comes at the cost of generalizability of findings. Here, we detail a comparison study directly examining how researchers’ choice of arthropod trap and level of specimen identification affects observations made in small-scale arthropod biodiversity studies. Four arthropod traps (pitfall traps, yellow ramp traps, yellow sticky cards, and novel jar ramp traps) were compared with respect to an array of biodiversity metrics calculated at two levels of identification. The arthropod community captured varied by trap type. Pitfalls and jar ramp traps performed similarly for most biodiversity metrics measured, suggesting that jar ramp traps provide a more comparable measurement of ground-dwelling arthropod communities to pitfall sampling than the yellow ramp traps. Identification to the lowest practical taxonomic unit enabled greater insights, including the mobility of arthropods captured in each trap type. This study illustrates the implications for biodiversity sampling of arthropods in environments with physical constraints on trapping, the tradeoffs that come with choices made in experimental design, and the importance of directly comparing adapted methods to established sampling protocol. Future biodiversity monitoring schemes should conduct comparison experiments to provide important information on performance and potential limitations of sampling methodology
Effects of Intermittent Fasting on Glycemic Markers in Patients with Insulin Resistance
No full textObjective: The purpose of this research investigation is to evaluate the impact of intermittent fasting on glycemic control in patients with prediabetes or metabolic syndrome.
Methods: A structured literature review was conducted using Google Scholar to identify relevant studies published within the last five years. Search terms included Insulin Resistance, Intermittent Fasting, Prediabetes, Intermittent Fasting, and Intermittent Fasting, Metabolic Syndrome. Inclusion criteria were English-language, full-text articles focusing on intermittent fasting interventions in populations with prediabetes or metabolic syndrome. Studies were excluded if they were published more than five years ago, focused solely on weight loss, or included participants already diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Outcomes of interest included fasting glucose, fasting insulin, HbA1c, and insulin resistance measured by the Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR).
Results: Intermittent fasting, whether by alternate day fasting or time restricted feeding, resulted in a statistically significant impact on fasting glucose and HOMA-IR consistently. There were no adverse effects identified due to the intervention.
Conclusion: Intermittent fasting appears to be a safe and effective strategy to enhance insulin sensitivity and improve glycemic control in individuals with prediabetes or metabolic syndrome. However, further longitudinal studies are needed to assess the sustainability and long-term metabolic effects of intermittent fasting in these populations.
Keywords: intermittent fasting, insulin resistance, prediabetes, metabolic syndrome, hba1c, fasting glucose, homa-i
The English and the Welsh: Tolkien’s Rewriting of History in the Legendarium
Full text linkEarly legendarium is often called a mythology for England, while Tolkien\u27s later tales have been described as mythologies for Britain (by Dimitra Fimi) or Englishness (by Thomas Honegger). Later legendarium still contains fictional versions of English-like peoples, the Hobbits and the Rohirrim. Their construction leads to a re-construction of elements of English history in the subcreation, that often produces fictional analogs not only of the English but of the Welsh. How Tolkien described contacts between the English and their closest neighbors reveals his idea of Englishness (his own national identity) and its place in the narrative.
This article traces appearances and absences of the Welsh in the legendarium. I argue that initially Tolkien\u27s mythology intended to produce an origin story for the English than could replace the more anti-English historical framework of Geoffrey of Monmouth and earlier Anglo-Saxon and Welsh texts. This led to decreasing the role of the Welsh in British history and direct attacks on their garbled tales. In later legendarium, Tolkien does not rewrite the history of the primary world but constructs idealized allusions. He sets his analogs of the English as non-imperial and culturally self-contained, confirmed by their interactions with the analogs of the Welsh. Englishness contrasts with Welshness but, paradoxically, can neither fully absorb its counterpart not separate from it
First Report of Retocomus wildii (LeConte, 1855) (Coleoptera: Anthicidae) From Nebraska
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The beetle species Retocomus wildii is reported from Nebraska for the first time with three specimens collected at Indian Cave State Park, which is located adjacent the Missouri River, in the southeast corner of Nebraska. The first specimen was collected 9 June 1992 in Nemaha County by C. A. Springer and deposited in the University of Nebraska State Museum, Lincoln. The second specimen was collected 30 June 2011 in Richardson County, no collector given. Both specimens were identified by Matt J. Paulsen during 2011 (Paulsen, pers. comm.). The third specimen was first located as a photo posted at http://bugguide. net/node/view/969717. This third specimen was collected 24 June 2014 in Richardson County by Junsuk Kim using mv-light (40°14.789´N, 95°31.056´W, 285m, Nebraska 64F Recreation Road) and is also deposited in the University of Nebraska State Museum (Kim, pers. comm.)
