Pseudoreplication is defined as the use of inferential statistics to test for treatment effects where treatments are not replicated and/or replicates are not statistically independent. It is a ...genuine but controversial issue in ecology particularly in the case of costly landscape‐scale manipulations, behavioral studies where ethics or other concerns may limit sample sizes, ad hoc monitoring data, and the analysis of natural experiments where chance events occur at a single site. Here key publications on the topic are reviewed to illustrate the debate that exists about the conceptual validity of pseudoreplication. A survey of ecologists and case studies of experimental design and publication issues are used to explore the extent of the problem, ecologists’ solutions, reviewers’ attitudes, and the fate of submitted manuscripts. Scientists working across a range of ecological disciplines regularly come across the problem of pseudoreplication and build solutions into their designs and analyses. These include carefully defining hypotheses and the population of interest, acknowledging the limits of statistical inference and using statistical approaches including nesting and random effects. Many ecologists face considerable challenges getting their work published if accusations of pseudoreplication are made – even if the problem has been dealt with. Many reviewers reject papers for pseudoreplication, and this occurs more often if they haven't experienced the issue themselves. The concept of pseudoreplication is being applied too dogmatically and often leads to rejection during review. There is insufficient consideration of the associated philosophical issues and potential statistical solutions. By stopping the publication of ecological studies, reviewers are slowing the pace of ecological research and limiting the scope of management case studies, natural events studies, and valuable data available to form evidence‐based solutions. Recommendations for fair and consistent treatment of pseudoreplication during writing and review are given for authors, reviewers, and editors.
The concept of pseudoreplication is being applied far too dogmatically and with insufficient consideration for potential solutions. By frequently and preventing the publication of ecological studies, reviewers are slowing the pace of ecological research and preventing a range of study types and valuable data getting published. We provide recommendations for consistent and fair treatment of the problem during project design, analysis writing and review.
The X-ray spectra of many active galactic nuclei (AGNs) show a soft X-ray excess below 1–2 keV on top of the extrapolated high-energy power law. The origin of this component is uncertain. It could be ...a signature of relativistically blurred, ionized reflection or the high-energy tail of thermal Comptonization in a warm (kT ~ 1 keV), optically thick (τ ≃ 10–20) corona producing the optical/UV to soft X-ray emission. The purpose of the present paper is to test the warm corona model on a statistically significant sample of unabsorbed, radio-quiet AGNs with XMM-Newton archival data, providing simultaneous optical/UV and X-ray coverage. The sample has 22 objects and 100 observations. We use two thermal Comptonization components to fit the broadband spectra, one for the warm corona emission and one for the high-energy continuum. In the optical/UV, we also include the reddening, the small blue bump, and the Galactic extinction. In the X-rays, we include a warm absorber and a neutral reflection. The model gives a good fit (reduced χ2 < 1.5) to more than 90% of the sample. We find the temperature of the warm corona to be uniformly distributed in the 0.1–1 keV range, while the optical depth is in the range ~10–40. These values are consistent with a warm corona covering a large fraction of a quasi-passive accretion disk, i.e., that mostly reprocesses the warm corona emission. The disk intrinsic emission represents no more than 20% of the disk total emission. According to this interpretation, most of the accretion power would be released in the upper layers of the accretion flow.
Context. We discuss the results of the hot corona parameters of active galactic nuclei (AGN) that have been recently measured with NuSTAR. The values taken from the literature of a sample of 19 ...bright Seyfert galaxies are analysed. Aims. The aim of this work is to look for correlations between coronal parameters, such as the photon index and cut-off energy (when a phenomenological model is adopted) or the optical depth and temperature (when a Comptonization model is used), and other parameters of the systems, such as the black hole mass or the Eddington ratio. Methods. We analysed the coronal parameters of the 19 unobscured, bright Seyfert galaxies that are present in the Swift/BAT 70-month catalogue and that have been observed by NuSTAR, alone or simultaneously with others X-ray observatories, such as Swift, Suzaku, or XMM-Newton. Results. We found an anti-correlation with a significance level >98% between the coronal optical depth and the coronal temperature of our sample. On the other hand, no correlation between the above parameters and the black hole mass, the accretion rate, and the intrinsic spectral slope of the sources is found.
Under the US National Flood Insurance Program, lands behind levees certified as protecting against the 100-year flood are considered to be out of the officially recognized “floodplain.” However, such ...lands are still vulnerable to flooding that exceeds the design capacity of the levees—known as residual risk. In the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta of California, we encounter the curious situation that lands below sea level are considered not “floodplain” and open to residential and commercial development because they are “protected” by levees. Residents are not informed that they are at risk from floods, because officially they are not in the floodplain. We surveyed residents of a recently constructed subdivision in Stockton, California, to assess their awareness of their risk of flooding. Median household income in the development was $80,000, 70% of respondents had a 4-year university degree or higher, and the development was ethnically mixed. Despite the levels of education and income, they did not understand the risk of being flooded. Given that literature shows informed individuals are more likely to take preventative measures than uninformed individuals, our results have important implications for flood policy. Climate-change-induced sea-level rise exacerbates the problems posed by increasing urbanization and aging infrastructure, increasing the threat of catastrophic flooding in the California Delta and in flood-prone areas worldwide.
This paper aims to identify the minimum requirements for an accurate model of the diffusion MR signal in white matter of the brain. We construct a taxonomy of multi-compartment models of white matter ...from combinations of simple models for the intra- and the extra-axonal spaces. We devise a new diffusion MRI protocol that provides measurements with a wide range of imaging parameters for diffusion sensitization both parallel and perpendicular to white matter fibres. We use the protocol to acquire data from two fixed rat brains, which allows us to fit, study and compare the different models. The study examines a total of 47 analytic models, including several well-used models from the literature, which we place within the taxonomy. The results show that models that incorporate intra-axonal restriction, such as ball and stick or CHARMED, generally explain the data better than those that do not, such as the DT or the biexponential models. However, three-compartment models which account for restriction parallel to the axons and incorporate pore size explain the measurements most accurately. The best fit comes from combining a full diffusion tensor (DT) model of the extra-axonal space with a cylindrical intra-axonal component of single radius and a third spherical compartment of non-zero radius. We also measure the stability of the non-zero radius intra-axonal models and find that single radius intra-axonal models are more stable than gamma distributed radii models with similar fitting performance.
► Identify least requirements for a precise model of diffusion in white matter. ► Taxonomy of analytic models including well-used models from literature. ► New imaging protocol for model comparison. ► Restriction is essential to explain the data. ► Three-compartment models outperform two-compartments.
The evolution of galaxies is connected to the growth of supermassive black holes in their centers. During the quasar phase, a huge luminosity is released as matter falls onto the black hole, and ...radiation-driven winds can transfer most of this energy back to the host galaxy. Over five different epochs, we detected the signatures of a nearly spherical stream of highly ionized gas in the broadband x-ray spectra of the luminous quasar PDS 456. This persistent wind is expelled at relativistic speeds from the inner accretion disk, and its wide aperture suggests an effective coupling with the ambient gas. The outflow's kinetic power larger than 1046 ergs per second is enough to provide the feedback required by models of black hole and host galaxy coevolution.
BACKGROUND:Medical mistrust, a result of systemic racism, is prevalent among Black Americans and may play a role in COVID-19 inequities. In a convenience sample of HIV-positive Black Americans, we ...examined associations of COVID-19 related medical mistrust with COVID-19 vaccine and COVID-19 treatment hesitancy, and negative impacts of COVID-19 on antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence.
METHODS:Participants were 101 HIV-positive Black Americans (ageM=50.3 years; SD=11.5; 86% cisgender male; 77% sexual minority) enrolled in a randomized controlled trial of a community-based ART adherence intervention in Los Angeles County, CA. From May to July 2020, participants completed telephone interviews on negative COVID-19 impacts, general COVID-19 mistrust (e.g., about the government withholding information), COVID-19 vaccine and treatment hesitancy, and trust in COVID-19 information sources. Adherence was monitored electronically with the Medication Events Monitoring System.
RESULTS:Nearly all participants (97%) endorsed at least one general COVID-19 mistrust belief, and over half endorsed at least one COVID-19 vaccine or treatment hesitancy belief. Social service and healthcare providers were the most trusted sources. Greater COVID-19 mistrust was related to greater vaccine and treatment hesitancy b (SE)=0.85 (0.14), p<.0001 and b (SE)=0.88 (0.14), p<.0001, respectively. Participants experiencing more negative COVID-19 impacts showed lower ART adherence, assessed among a subset of 49 participants b (SE) = -5.19 (2.08), p = .02.
DISCUSSION:To prevent widening health inequities, healthcare providers should engage with communities to tailor strategies to overcome mistrust and deliver evidence-based information, in order to encourage COVID-19 vaccine and treatment uptake.
Abstract
Broadband X-ray spectroscopy of the X-ray emission produced in the coronae of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) can provide important insights into the physical conditions very close to their ...central supermassive black holes. The temperature of the Comptonizing plasma that forms the corona is manifested through a high-energy cutoff that has been difficult to directly constrain even in the brightest AGN because it requires high-quality data at energies above 10 keV. In this paper we present a large collection of coronal cutoff constraints for obscured AGNs based on a sample of 130 AGNs selected in the hard X-ray band with Swift/BAT and observed nearly simultaneously with NuSTAR and Swift/XRT. We find that under a reasonable set of assumptions regarding partial constraints the median cutoff is well constrained to 290 ± 20 keV, where the uncertainty is statistical and given at the 68% confidence level. We investigate the sensitivity of this result to our assumptions and find that consideration of various known systematic uncertainties robustly places the median cutoff between 240 and 340 keV. The central 68% of the intrinsic cutoff distribution is found to be between about 140 and 500 keV, with estimated uncertainties of 20 and 100 keV, respectively. In comparison with the literature, we find no clear evidence that the cutoffs in obscured and unobscured AGNs are substantially different. Our analysis highlights the importance of carefully considering partial and potentially degenerate constraints on the coronal high-energy cutoff in AGNs.
Supermassive black holes in the nuclei of active galaxies expel large
amounts of matter through powerful winds of ionized gas. The archetypal
active galaxy NGC 5548 has been studied for decades, and ...high-resolution
x-ray and ultraviolet (UV) observations have previously shown a
persistent ionized outflow. An observing campaign in 2013 with six space
observatories shows the nucleus to be obscured by a long-lasting, clumpy
stream of ionized gas not seen before. It blocks 90% of the soft x-ray
emission and causes simultaneous deep, broad UV absorption troughs. The
outflow velocities of this gas are up to five times faster than those in
the persistent outflow, and, at a distance of only a few light days from
the nucleus, it may likely originate from the accretion disk.
In 2016 we carried out a Swift monitoring programme to track the X-ray hardness variability of eight type-I AGN over a year. The purpose of this monitoring was to find intense obscuration events in ...AGN, and thereby study them by triggering joint XMM-Newton, NuSTAR, and HST observations. We successfully accomplished this for NGC 3783 in December 2016. We found heavy X-ray absorption produced by an obscuring outflow in this AGN. As a result of this obscuration, interesting absorption features appear in the UV and X-ray spectra, which are not present in the previous epochs. Namely, the obscuration produces broad and blue-shifted UV absorption lines of Lyα, C iv, and N v, together with a new high-ionisation component producing Fe xxv and Fe xxvi absorption lines. In soft X-rays, only narrow emission lines stand out above the diminished continuum as they are not absorbed by the obscurer. Our analysis shows that the obscurer partially covers the central source with a column density of few 1023 cm-2, outflowing with a velocity of few thousand km s-1. The obscuration in NGC 3783 is variable and lasts for about a month. Unlike the commonly seen warm-absorber winds at pc-scale distances from the black hole, the eclipsing wind in NGC 3783 is located at about 10 light days. Our results suggest that the obscuration is produced by an inhomogeneous and clumpy medium, consistent with clouds in the base of a radiatively driven disk wind at the outer broad-line region of the AGN.
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