Error rates in quadratic discrimination with constraints on the covariance matrices

In multivariate discrimination of several normal populations, the optimal classification procedure is based on quadratic discriminant functions. We compare expected error rates of the quadratic classification procedure if the covariance matrices are estimated under the following four models: (i) arbitrary covariance matrices, (ii) common principal components, (iii) proportional covariance matrices, and (iv) identical covariance matrices. Using Monte Carlo simulation to estimate expected error rates, we study the performance of the four discrimination procedures for five different parameter setups corresponding to standard situations that have been used in the literature. The procedures are examined for sample sizes ranging from 10 to 60, and for two to four groups. Our results quantify the extent to which a parsimonious method reduces error rates, and demonstrate that choosing a simple method of discrimination is often beneficial even if the underlying model assumptions are wrong.The authors wish to thank the editor and three referees for their helpful comments on the first draft of this article. M. J. Schmid supported by grants no. 2.724-0.85 and 2.038-0.86 of the Swiss National Science Foundation.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Naja siamensis</Emphasis>, a cryptic species of venomous snake revealed by mtDNA sequencing

Because of possible variation in venom composition, an understanding of venomous snake systematics is of great importance for the optimization of antivenom treatment of snakebite patients. Intraspecific variation in the morphology of many venomous snakes complicates the definition and indentification of some species when allopatric populations are involved. Selectively neutral or near-neutral mtDNA sequences can reveal evolutionary relationships obscured by ecogenetically-caused morphological variation. We use comparative sequencing of the cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 gene to reveal the existence of a widespread, cryptic species of spiting cobra from southeast Asia. This species,Naja siamensis, is widely sympatric with other Asiatic cobra species. This may be of considerable medical significance, and calls for further research into venom composition in Asiatic cobras.     

Variability of sterol utilization in stored-products insects

A comparison of sterol utilization by 3 stored-products insects revealed very different capabilities. The fluor beetle,Tribolium castaneum dealkylates and converts dietary sitosterol to about equal amounts of cholesterol (43.7%) and 7-dehydrocholeterol (39.8%), whereas another flour beetle,Tenebrio molitor, produces considerably less 7-dehydrocholesterol (16.8%) and relatively more cholesterol (66.7%) from sitosterol. The lepidopteran,Plodia interpunctella, utilized dietary sterol very similar to plant-feeding lepidoptera, producing primarily cholesterol (86.5%) from sitosterol.     

Sex pheromone of the pine sawflyDiprion pini (Hymenoptera: Diprionidae): Chemical identification,synthesis and biological activity

The main component of the sex pheromone secretion of femaleDiprion pini L. (Hymenoptera: Diprionidae) from insects collected both in Finland and in France has been identified as athreo-3,7-dimethyl-2-tridecanol (8 ng per female) stereoisomer by GC-MS and synthesis. The secretion also contains lower and higher homologues in small amounts (1–4% of the main component). Combined gas chromatographic-electroantennographic detection showed activity in both natural and esterified extracts (acetates and propionates); the esters of the main component gave the largest responses. The acetates and propionates of the eight stereoisomers of 3,7-dimethyl-2-tridecanol were synthesized from enantiomerically highly enriched (>99% ee) building blocks. The stereochemistry of the main component was established to be (2S,3R,7R)-3,7-dimethyl-2-tridecanol by GC analysis of the natural material. It was purified by liquid chromatography prior to the GC analysis of both its pentafluorobenzoates and its isopropylcarbamates on a non-chiral polar column (ECD) and a chiral column (NPD), respectively. Field tests demonstrated that both the acetate and propionate of the main component (100 g of each applied on cotton roll dispensers) were active in attracting males, with or without the presence of several of the minor compounds. Experiments with smaller amounts of the acetate and the propionate (1 g in France and 50 g in Finland) demonstrated that the propionate was more active than the acetate, and that it also caught more males than a blend of the two compounds.     

The first known use of vermillion

Vermillion has been shown to be useful in preserving human bones from 5000 years ago. Remarkably well-preserved human bones have been found in the dolmenic burial La Velilla in Osorno (Palencia, Spain), carefully covered by pulverized cinnabar (vermillion) which ensured their preservation even in non-favorable climatic conditions. We believe the red powder was deliberately deposited for preservative use because no cinnabar mine is to be found within 160 km, because of the large amount (hundreds of kilograms) used, and because its composition, red mercuric sulphide, is similar to that of preparations used in technical embalming. This finding pushes back the data of the use of mercury ore for preservation by four millennia in South America, and by at least one millennium in the Old World. Chemical and thermal analyses of vermillion in La Velilla have demonstrated its great purity and shown that the cinnabar was pulverized and washed (but not heated), producing a bright red-orange tone.     

用于VLSI的新型介质膜界面陷阱的特征

采用雪崩热电子注入技术和高频Ｃ－Ｖ准静态Ｃ－Ｖ特性测试,研究了新型快速热氮化的ＳｉＯｘＮｙ介质膜界面陷阱的特征,侧重于研究界面陷阱的特性与分布。结果表明：这种ＳｉＯｘＮｙ薄膜禁带中央界面陷阱密度随氮化时间的分布变化呈现”回转效应“,且存在着不同类型、密度悬殊很大的电子陷阱、指出雪崩热电子注入过程中在Ｓｉ／ＳｉＯｘＮｙ界面上产生两种性质不同的快界面态陷阱;给出了这两种界面态陷阱密度在禁带中能量的分布     

WAVELET PACKET AND FUZZY NEURAL NETWORK FOR TOOL CONDITION MONITORING *

在自动化制造中,线监控刀具状况以保护刀具与加工工件显得越来越重要．近年来,许多研究者在此领域进行了广泛的研究,然而由于加工过程的不确定性,现有的刀具监控系统的可靠性还有待提高．本文提出了一种基于小波包分析与模糊神经网络的自适应刀具监控系统,该系统利用小波包分析方法将加工过程振动信号分解为不同的频率段,并在此基础上,建立了自适应特征提取方法,为模糊神经网络提供最优的特征输入,然后模糊神经网络据此进行决策,分析刀具磨损状况．实验结果表明：该系统模糊神经网络能有效通过学习人类模糊知识和在线学习样本来提高刀具监控精度．     

A massive phytoplankton bloom induced by an ecosystem-scale iron fertilization experiment in the equatorial Pacific Ocean

The seeding of an expanse of surface waters in the equatorial Pacific Ocean with low concentrations of dissolved iron triggered a massive phytoplankton bloom which consumed large quantities of carbon dioxide and nitrate that these microscopic plants cannot fully utilize under natural conditions. These and other observations provide unequivocal support for the hypothesis that phytoplankton growth in this oceanic region is limited by iron bioavailability.     

Medical representations of the body in Japan: gender, class, and discourse in the eighteenth century

This paper examines the introduction of European anatomy to Japan via translated medical texts in the eighteenth century. It argues how detailed illustrations of the body found in the texts presented a new discourse by which to objectify and control the body, and new metaphors and analogies by which to view society. Inspection of bodily parts through dissection and the reading of anatomical texts marked a transition to Western forms of science, to 'reliable' knowledge which was certified by the social status of the author. By looking at one important text, the Kaitai shinsho [A New Book of Anatomy] (1774), it will be shown that changes in representations of the body reflect the social construction of gender.