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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Wavelet-Based Functional Mixed Models To Characterize Population Heterogeneity In Accelerometer Profiles: A Case Study. , Jeffrey S. Morris, Cassandra Arroyo, Brent A. Coull, Louise M. Ryan, Steven L. Gortmaker Dec 2006

Wavelet-Based Functional Mixed Models To Characterize Population Heterogeneity In Accelerometer Profiles: A Case Study. , Jeffrey S. Morris, Cassandra Arroyo, Brent A. Coull, Louise M. Ryan, Steven L. Gortmaker

Jeffrey S. Morris

We present a case study illustrating the challenges of analyzing accelerometer data taken from a sample of children participating in an intervention study designed to increase physical activity. An accelerometer is a small device worn on the hip that records the minute-by-minute activity levels of the child throughout the day for each day it is worn. The resulting data are irregular functions characterized by many peaks representing short bursts of intense activity. We model these data using the wavelet-based functional mixed model. This approach incorporates multiple fixed effects and random effect functions of arbitrary form, the estimates of which are …


Placing The Monocots: Conflicting Signal From Trigenomic Analyses, Melvin R. Duvall, Sarah Matthews, Neill Mohammad, Tammy Russel Jan 2006

Placing The Monocots: Conflicting Signal From Trigenomic Analyses, Melvin R. Duvall, Sarah Matthews, Neill Mohammad, Tammy Russel

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

Despite recent significant advances in understanding angiosperm phylogeny, the position of monocots remains uncertain. We present here a phylogeny inferred from four genes that unambiguously unite monocots with eumagnoliids. A well-supported position for the monocots was obtained only after we replaced the available nuclear 18S rDNA sequence data with data from phytochrome C in a matrix that also included plastid rbcL and ndhF and mitochondrial atp1. Over 5000 base pairs of sequence data from 42 taxa were analyzed using Bayesian inference. The results of these analyses united monocots with the eumagnoliids in a well-supported clade. Although the …


Nonparametric Estimation Of Natural Selection On A Quantitative Trait Using Mark-Recapture Data, Olivier Gimenez, Rita Covas, Charles R. Brown, Mark D. Anderson, Mary Bomberger Brown, Thomas Lenormand Jan 2006

Nonparametric Estimation Of Natural Selection On A Quantitative Trait Using Mark-Recapture Data, Olivier Gimenez, Rita Covas, Charles R. Brown, Mark D. Anderson, Mary Bomberger Brown, Thomas Lenormand

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Assessing natural selection on a phenotypic trait in wild populations is of primary importance for evolutionary ecologists. To cope with the imperfect detection of individuals inherent to monitoring in the wild, we develop a nonparametric method for evaluating the form of natural selection on a quantitative trait using mark-recapture data. Our approach uses penalized splines to achieve flexibility in exploring the form of natural selection by avoiding the need to specify an a priori parametric function. If needed, it can help in suggesting a new parametric model. We employ Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling in a Bayesian framework to estimate …