Sobolev tests of goodness of fit of distributions on compact Riemannian manifolds

Classes of coordinate-invariant omnibus goodness-of-fit tests on compact Riemannian manifolds are proposed. The tests are based on Gin\'{e}'s Sobolev tests of uniformity. A condition for consistency is given. The tests are illustrated by an example on the rotation group $\mathit{SO}(3)$.Comment: Published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/009053605000000697 in the Annals of Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aos/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Classification of certain 6-manifolds

In (13) Wall classified up to diffeomorphism, PL-homeomorphism, topological homeomorphism, and homotopy equivalence all closed, oriented, 1-connected smooth (or PL) 6-manifolds with torsion-free homology and vanishing second Stiefel-Whitney class. This paper extends these classifications to all closed, oriented, 1-connected topological 6-manifolds with torsion-free homology. The method differs from that of (13) but uses two special cases of Wall's classificatio

How did they get here from there? Detecting changes of direction in terrestrial ranging

Efficient exploitation of large-scale space is crucial to many species of animal, but the difficulties of studying how animals decide on travel routes in natural environments have hampered scientific understanding of environmental cognition. Field experiments allow researchers to define travel goals for their subjects, but practical difficulties restrict large-scale studies. In contrast, data on natural travel patterns are abundant and easy to record, but hard to interpret without circularity and subjectivity when making inferences about when and why an animal began heading to a particular location. We present a method of determining objectively the point at which an animal’s travel path becomes directed at a location, for instance a distant feeding site, based on the statistical characteristics of its route. We evaluate this method and illustrate how it can be tailored to particular problems, using data that is (a) synthetic; (b) from baboons, where travel is from a single sleeping site in an overlapping home range, and (c) from chimpanzees, where sleeping sites are unlimited within a large territory. We suggest that this ‘change- point test’ might usefully become a routine first step in interpreting the decision- making behind animal travel under natural conditions

The cellular microscopy phenotype ontology

BACKGROUND: Phenotypic data derived from high content screening is currently annotated using free-text, thus preventing the integration of independent datasets, including those generated in different biological domains, such as cell lines, mouse and human tissues. DESCRIPTION: We present the Cellular Microscopy Phenotype Ontology (CMPO), a species neutral ontology for describing phenotypic observations relating to the whole cell, cellular components, cellular processes and cell populations. CMPO is compatible with related ontology efforts, allowing for future cross-species integration of phenotypic data. CMPO was developed following a curator-driven approach where phenotype data were annotated by expert biologists following the Entity-Quality (EQ) pattern. These EQs were subsequently transformed into new CMPO terms following an established post composition process. CONCLUSION: CMPO is currently being utilized to annotate phenotypes associated with high content screening datasets stored in several image repositories including the Image Data Repository (IDR), MitoSys project database and the Cellular Phenotype Database to facilitate data browsing and discoverability

Ontology mapping for semantically enabled applications

In this review, we provide a summary of recent progress in ontology mapping (OM) at a crucial time when biomedical research is under a deluge of an increasing amount and variety of data. This is particularly important for realising the full potential of semantically enabled or enriched applications and for meaningful insights, such as drug discovery, using machine-learning technologies. We discuss challenges and solutions for better ontology mappings, as well as how to select ontologies before their application. In addition, we describe tools and algorithms for ontology mapping, including evaluation of tool capability and quality of mappings. Finally, we outline the requirements for an ontology mapping service (OMS) and the progress being made towards implementation of such sustainable services

Dengue epidemic early warning system for Brazil

Copyright © 2015 UNISDR (United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction)The problem Brazil has reported more cases of dengue fever than anywhere else in the world this century1. Many cities have tropical and sub-tropical climate conditions that allow the dengue mosquito to thrive during warmer, wetter and more humid months, particularly in densely populated urban areas. Dengue epidemics depend on mosquito abundance, virus circulation and human susceptibility. In order to prepare for dengue epidemics, early warning systems, which take into account multiple dengue risk factors, are required to implement timely control measures. Seasonal climate forecasts provide an opportunity to anticipate dengue epidemics several months in advance ...European Commission’s Seventh Framework Research Programme project DENFREEEuropean Commission’s Seventh Framework Research Programme project EUPORIASEuropean Commission’s Seventh Framework Research Programme project SPECSConselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e TecnológicoFundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ

Dengue outlook for the World Cup in Brazil: an early warning model framework driven by real-time seasonal climate forecasts.

PublishedJournal ArticleResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tBACKGROUND: With more than a million spectators expected to travel among 12 different cities in Brazil during the football World Cup, June 12-July 13, 2014, the risk of the mosquito-transmitted disease dengue fever is a concern. We addressed the potential for a dengue epidemic during the tournament, using a probabilistic forecast of dengue risk for the 553 microregions of Brazil, with risk level warnings for the 12 cities where matches will be played. METHODS: We obtained real-time seasonal climate forecasts from several international sources (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts [ECMWF], Met Office, Meteo-France and Centro de Previsão de Tempo e Estudos Climáticos [CPTEC]) and the observed dengue epidemiological situation in Brazil at the forecast issue date as provided by the Ministry of Health. Using this information we devised a spatiotemporal hierarchical Bayesian modelling framework that enabled dengue warnings to be made 3 months ahead. By assessing the past performance of the forecasting system using observed dengue incidence rates for June, 2000-2013, we identified optimum trigger alert thresholds for scenarios of medium-risk and high-risk of dengue. FINDINGS: Our forecasts for June, 2014, showed that dengue risk was likely to be low in the host cities Brasília, Cuiabá, Curitiba, Porto Alegre, and São Paulo. The risk was medium in Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Salvador, and Manaus. High-risk alerts were triggered for the northeastern cities of Recife (p(high)=19%), Fortaleza (p(high)=46%), and Natal (p(high)=48%). For these high-risk areas, particularly Natal, the forecasting system did well for previous years (in June, 2000-13). INTERPRETATION: This timely dengue early warning permits the Ministry of Health and local authorities to implement appropriate, city-specific mitigation and control actions ahead of the World Cup. FUNDING: European Commission's Seventh Framework Research Programme projects DENFREE, EUPORIAS, and SPECS; Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro.DENFREE projectEUPORIAS projectSPECS projectEuropean Commission's Seventh Framework Research ProgrammeConselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeir

The rolling problem: overview and challenges

In the present paper we give a historical account -ranging from classical to modern results- of the problem of rolling two Riemannian manifolds one on the other, with the restrictions that they cannot instantaneously slip or spin one with respect to the other. On the way we show how this problem has profited from the development of intrinsic Riemannian geometry, from geometric control theory and sub-Riemannian geometry. We also mention how other areas -such as robotics and interpolation theory- have employed the rolling model.Comment: 20 page