Whales receive underwater sounds through a fundamentally different mechanism than their close terrestrial relatives. Instead of hearing through the ear canal, cetaceans hear through specialized fatty tissues leading to an evolutionarily novel feature: an acoustic funnel located anterior to the tympanic aperture. We traced the ontogenetic development of this feature in 56 fetal specimens from 10...

We establish a sharp geometric constant for the upper bound on the resonance counting function for surfaces with hyperbolic ends. An arbitrary metric is allowed within some compact core, and the ends may be of hyperbolic planar, funnel, or cusp type. The constant in the upper bound depends only on the volume of the core and the length parameters associated to the funnel or hyperbolic planar end...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Publication bias and related biases can lead to overly optimistic conclusions in systematic reviews. The funnel plot, which is frequently used to detect such biases, has not yet been subjected to empirical evaluation as a visual tool. We sought to determine whether researchers can correctly identify publication bias from visual inspection of funnel plots in typical-size...

We develop computational tools for spectral analysis of stochastic networks representing energy landscapes of atomic and molecular clusters. Physical meaning and some properties of eigenvalues, left and right eigenvectors, and eigencurrents are discussed. We propose an approach to compute a collection of eigenpairs and corresponding eigencurrents describing the most important relaxation process...

We conducted two field trapping experiments with multiple-funnel traps in 2008 and one experiment in 2010 to determine the effects of lure placement (inside or outside funnels) on catches of saproxylic species of beetles (Coleoptera). The experiments were conducted in southern pine (Pinus spp.) stands in central Georgia using combinations of ethanol, alpha-pinene, ipsenol, and ipsdienol lures. ...

BACKGROUND Population-based cancer registries provide epidemiological cancer information, but the indicators are often too complex to be interpreted by local authorities and communities, due to numeracy and literacy limitations. The aim of this paper is to compare the commonly used visual formats to funnel plots to enable local public health authorities and communities to access valid and under...

Transcription factors (TFs) are able to associate to their binding sites on DNA faster than the physical limit posed by diffusion. Such high association rates can be achieved by alternating between three-dimensional diffusion and one-dimensional sliding along the DNA chain, a mechanism-dubbed facilitated diffusion. By studying a collection of TF binding sites of Escherichia coli from the Regulo...

We analyse the propagation of particles in the narrow funnel of a thick accretion disk. It is assumed that: (1) the funnel walls emit black body radiation with temperature decreasing outwards; (2) the magnetic and electric elds are longitudinal in the funnel. Such a scenario is consistent with models in which a large potential drop is induced by a rotating massive black hole threaded by a magne...

Objective Publication bias undermines the integrity of published research. The aim of this paper is to present a synopsis of methods for exploring and accounting for publication bias. Methods We discussed the main features of the following methods to assess publication bias: funnel plot analysis; trim-and-fill methods; regression techniques and selection models. We applied these methods to a we...

BACKGROUND Despite efforts to assure high methodological standards, systematic reviews may be affected by publication bias. The objective of this study was to evaluate the occurrence of publication bias in a collection of high quality systematic reviews on reproductive health. METHODS Systematic reviews included in the Reproductive Health Library (RHL), issue No 9, were assessed. Funnel plot ...