cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
NH-TTC: A gradient-based framework for generalized anticipatory collision avoidance

We propose NH-TTC, a general method for fast, anticipatory collision avoidance for autonomous robots having arbitrary equations of motions. Our proposed approach exploits implicit differentiation and subgradient descent to locally optimize the non-convex and non-smooth cost functions that arise from planning over the anticipated future positions of nearby obstacles. The result is a flexible framework capable of supporting high-quality, collision-free navigation with a wide variety of robot motion models in various challenging scenarios. We show results for different navigating tasks, with our method controlling various numbers of agents (with and without reciprocity), on both physical differential drive robots, and simulated robots with different motion models and kinematic and dynamic constraints, including acceleration-controlled agents, differential-drive agents, and smooth car-like agents. The resulting paths are high quality and collision-free, while needing only a few milliseconds of computation as part of an integrated sense-plan-act navigation loop.
Reference map technique for incompressible fluid–structure interaction

We present a general simulation approach for fluid–solid interactions based on the fully Eulerian reference map technique. The approach permits the modelling of one or more finitely deformable continuum solid bodies interacting with a fluid and with each other. A key advantage of this approach is its ease of use, as the solid and fluid are discretized on the same fixed grid, which greatly simplifies the coupling between the phases. We use the method to study a number of illustrative examples involving an incompressible Navier–Stokes fluid interacting with multiple neo-Hookean solids. Our method has several useful features including the ability to model solids with sharp corners and the ability to model actuated solids. The latter permits the simulation of active media such as swimmers, which we demonstrate. The method is validated favourably in the flag-flapping geometry, for which a number of experimental, numerical and analytical studies have been performed. We extend the flapping analysis beyond the thin-flag limit, revealing an additional destabilization mechanism to induce flapping.
The level ancestor problem simplified

We present a simple algorithm for the Level Ancestor Problem. A Level Ancestor Query LA(v,d) requests the depth d ancestor of node v. The Level Ancestor Problem is to preprocess a given rooted tree T to support level ancestor queries. While optimal solutions to this problem already exist, our new optimal solution is simple enough to be taught and implemented.
Group A Streptococcus Infection of the Nasopharynx Requires Proinflammatory Signaling through the Interleukin-1 Receptor

Group A Streptococcus (GAS) is the etiologic agent of numerous high-morbidity and high-mortality diseases. Infections are typically highly proinflammatory. During the invasive infection necrotizing fasciitis, this is in part due to the GAS protease SpeB directly activating interleukin-1β (IL-1β) independent of the canonical inflammasome pathway. The upper respiratory tract is the primary site for GAS colonization, infection, and transmission, but the host-pathogen interactions at this site are still largely unknown. We found that in the murine nasopharynx, SpeB enhanced IL-1β-mediated inflammation and the chemotaxis of neutrophils. However, neutrophilic inflammation did not restrict infection and instead promoted GAS replication and disease. Inhibiting IL-1β or depleting neutrophils, which both promote invasive infection, prevented GAS infection of the nasopharynx. Mice pretreated with penicillin became more susceptible to GAS challenge, and this reversed the attenuation from neutralization or depletion of IL-1β, neutrophils, or SpeB. Collectively, our results suggest that SpeB is essential to activate an IL-1β-driven neutrophil response. Unlike during invasive tissue infections, this is beneficial in the upper respiratory tract because it disrupts colonization resistance mediated by the microbiota. This provides experimental evidence that the notable inflammation of strep throat, which presents with significant swelling, pain, and neutrophil influx, is not an ineffectual immune response but rather is a GAS-directed remodeling of this niche for its pathogenic benefit.
Integrated breakup modeling solutions from debrisat analysis

Abstract On-orbit hypervelocity breakup models are of increasing importance as the space environment becomes more congested and issues of debris lethality and lifetime become more relevant to space operators. One such fragmentation model is The Aerospace Corporation's IMPACT, which simulates debris from explosions and hypervelocity collisions. IMPACT is a mass-based, semi-empirical model combining empirical distributions for parameters such as number, spreading velocity, fragment dimensions, and area-to-mass ratio (AMR), with physical conservation laws and boundary conditions. The original empirical relationships were based upon limited ground-test data during the early 1990s and were then updated during the late 2000′s following an extensive evaluation of over 11,000 pieces of debris from more than three-dozen historical on-orbit fragmentation events. The availability of extensive fragmentation data from the DebriSat project, including data for smaller debris fragments, now enables a fresh look at the overall model. This paper addresses observations from evaluation of specific components of the model, such as mass and density distributions, fragment shapes as a function of material, and AMR distributions, and discusses the integration of these components into a cohesive model. The combination of detailed ground test results with key parameters available from on-orbit observations provides a fuller understanding of the implications of any on-orbit fragmentation event.
Reactive Oxygen Species Modulate Activity-Dependent AMPA Receptor Transport in C. elegans.

The AMPA subtype of synaptic glutamate receptors (AMPARs) plays an essential role in cognition. Their function, numbers, and change at synapses during synaptic plasticity are tightly regulated by neuronal activity. Although we know that long-distance transport of AMPARs is essential for this regulation, we do not understand the associated regulatory mechanisms of it. Neuronal transmission is a metabolically demanding process in which ATP consumption and production are tightly coupled and regulated. Aerobic ATP synthesis unavoidably produces reactive oxygen species (ROS), such as hydrogen peroxide, which are known modulators of calcium signaling. Although a role for calcium signaling in AMPAR transport has been described, there is little understanding of the mechanisms involved and no known link to physiological ROS signaling. Here, using real-time in vivo imaging of AMPAR transport in the intact C. elegans nervous system, we demonstrate that long-distance synaptic AMPAR transport is bidirectionally regulated by calcium influx and activation of calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II. Quantification of in vivo calcium dynamics revealed that modest, physiological increases in ROS decrease calcium transients in C. elegans glutamatergic neurons. By combining genetic and pharmacological manipulation of ROS levels and calcium influx, we reveal a mechanism in which physiological increases in ROS cause a decrease in synaptic AMPAR transport and delivery by modulating activity-dependent calcium signaling. Together, our results identify a novel role for oxidant signaling in the regulation of synaptic AMPAR transport and delivery, which in turn could be critical for coupling the metabolic demands of neuronal activity with excitatory neurotransmission. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Synaptic AMPARs are critical for excitatory synaptic transmission. The disruption of their synaptic localization and numbers is associated with numerous psychiatric, neurologic, and neurodegenerative conditions. However, very little is known about the regulatory mechanisms controlling transport and delivery of AMPAR to synapses. Here, we describe a novel physiological signaling mechanism in which ROS, such as hydrogen peroxide, modulate AMPAR transport by modifying activity-dependent calcium signaling. Our findings provide the first evidence in support of a mechanistic link between physiological ROS signaling, AMPAR transport, localization, and excitatory transmission. This is of fundamental and clinical significance since dysregulation of intracellular calcium and ROS signaling is implicated in aging and the pathogenesis of several neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer9s and Parkinson9s disease.
Epithelial WNT2B and Desert Hedgehog are necessary for human colonoid regeneration after bacterial cytotoxin injury

Summary Intestinal regeneration and crypt hyperplasia after radiation or pathogen injury relies on Wnt signaling to stimulate stem cell proliferation. Mesenchymal Wnts are essential for homeostasis and regeneration in mice, but the role of epithelial Wnts remains largely uncharacterized. Using the enterohemorrhagic E. coli-secreted cytotoxin EspP to induce injury to human colonoids, we evaluated a simplified, epithelial regeneration model that lacks mesenchymal Wnts. Here, we demonstrate that epithelial-produced WNT2B is upregulated following injury and essential for regeneration. Hedgehog signaling, specifically activation via the ligand Desert Hedgehog (DHH), but not Indian or Sonic Hedgehog, is another driver of regeneration and modulates WNT2B expression. These findings highlight the importance of epithelial WNT2B and DHH in regulating human colonic regeneration after injury.
Assessment of Respiratory Droplet Transmission During the Ophthalmic Slit-Lamp Exam: A Particle Tracking Analysis.

Purpose The global COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a renewed focus on the importance of personal protective equipment (PPE) and other interventions to decrease spread of infectious diseases. Although several ophthalmology organizations have released guidance on appropriate PPE for surgical procedures and ophthalmology clinics, there is limited experimental evidence that demonstrates the efficacy of various interventions that have been suggested. In this study, we evaluated high-risk aspects of the slit-lamp exam and the effect of various PPE interventions, specifically the use of a surgical mask and a slit-lamp shield. Design Experimental simulation study. Methods This was a single-center study in a patient simulation population. This study examined the presence of particles in the air near or on a slit-lamp, a simulated slit-lamp examiner, or a simulated patient using a fluorescent surrogate of respiratory droplets. Results Simulated coughing without a mask or slit-lamp shield resulted in widespread dispersion of fluorescent droplets during the model slit-lamp examination. Coughing with a mask resulted in the most significant decrease in droplets; however, particles still escaped from the top of the mask. Coughing with the slit-lamp shield alone blocked most of forward particle dispersion; however, significant distributions of respiratory droplets were found on the slit-lamp joystick and table. Coughing with both a mask and slit-lamp shield resulted in the least dispersion to the simulated examiner and the simulated patient. Scanning electron microscopy demonstrated particle sizes of 3-100 μm. Conclusions Masking had the greatest effect in limiting spread of respiratory droplets, whereas slit-lamp shields and gloves also contributed to limiting exposure to droplets from SARS-CoV-2 during slit-lamp examination.
Optimal inapproximability of satisfiable k-LIN over non-abelian groups

A seminal result of Hastad (2001) shows that it is NP-hard to find an assignment that satisfies 1/|G|+e fraction of the constraints of a given k-LIN instance over an abelian group, even if there is an assignment that satisfies (1−e) fraction of the constraints, for any constant e>0. Engebretsen, Holmerin and Russell (2004) later showed that the same hardness result holds for k-LIN instances over any finite non-abelian group. Unlike the abelian case, where we can efficiently find a solution if the instance is satisfiable, in the non-abelian case, it is NP-complete to decide if a given system of linear equations is satisfiable or not, as shown by Goldmann and Russell (1999). Surprisingly, for certain non-abelian groups G, given a satisfiable k-LIN instance over G, one can in fact do better than just outputting a random assignment using a simple but clever algorithm. The approximation factor achieved by this algorithm varies with the underlying group. In this paper, we show that this algorithm is optimal by proving a tight hardness of approximation of satisfiable k-LIN instance over any non-abelian G, assuming P≠ NP. As a corollary, we also get 3-query probabilistically checkable proofs with perfect completeness over large alphabets with improved soundness. Our proof crucially uses the quasi-random properties of the non-abelian groups defined by Gowers (2008).
Swan: a library for the analysis and visualization of long-read transcriptomes.

Motivation Long-read RNA-sequencing technologies such as PacBio and Oxford Nanopore have discovered an explosion of new transcript isoforms that are difficult to visually analyze using currently available tools. We introduce the Swan Python library, which is designed to analyze and visualize transcript models. Results Swan finds 4909 differentially expressed transcripts between cell lines HepG2 and HFFc6, including 279 that are differentially expressed even though the parent gene is not. Additionally, Swan discovers 285 reproducible exon skipping and 47 intron retention events not recorded in the GENCODE v29 annotation. Availability and implementation The Swan library for Python 3 is available on PyPi at https://pypi.org/project/swan-vis/ and on GitHub at https://github.com/mortazavilab/swan_vis.
Most words are geometrically almost uniform

If w is a word in d > 1 letters and G is a finite group, evaluation of w on a uniformly randomly chosen d -tuple in G gives a random variable with values in G , which may or may not be uniform. It is known that if G ranges over finite simple groups of given root system and characteristic, a positive proportion of words w give a distribution which approaches uniformity in the limit as | G | → ∞ . In this paper, we show that the proportion is in fact 1 .
DECAPS: Detail-Oriented Capsule Networks

Capsule Networks (CapsNets) have demonstrated to be a promising alternative to Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs). However, they often fall short of state-of-the-art accuracies on large-scale high-dimensional datasets. We propose a Detail-Oriented Capsule Network (DECAPS) that combines the strength of CapsNets with several novel techniques to boost its classification accuracies. First, DECAPS uses an Inverted Dynamic Routing (IDR) mechanism to group lower-level capsules into heads before sending them to higher-level capsules. This strategy enables capsules to selectively attend to small but informative details within the data which may be lost during pooling operations in CNNs. Second, DECAPS employs a Peekaboo training procedure, which encourages the network to focus on fine-grained information through a second-level attention scheme. Finally, the distillation process improves the robustness of DECAPS by averaging over the original and attended image region predictions. We provide extensive experiments on the CheXpert and RSNA Pneumonia datasets to validate the effectiveness of DECAPS. Our networks achieve state-of-the-art accuracies not only in classification (increasing the average area under ROC curves from 87.24% to 92.82% on the CheXpert dataset) but also in the weakly-supervised localization of diseased areas (increasing average precision from 41.7% to 80% for the RSNA Pneumonia detection dataset).
Detecting and tracking drift in quantum information processors.

If quantum information processors are to fulfill their potential, the diverse errors that affect them must be understood and suppressed. But errors typically fluctuate over time, and the most widely used tools for characterizing them assume static error modes and rates. This mismatch can cause unheralded failures, misidentified error modes, and wasted experimental effort. Here, we demonstrate a spectral analysis technique for resolving time dependence in quantum processors. Our method is fast, simple, and statistically sound. It can be applied to time-series data from any quantum processor experiment. We use data from simulations and trapped-ion qubit experiments to show how our method can resolve time dependence when applied to popular characterization protocols, including randomized benchmarking, gate set tomography, and Ramsey spectroscopy. In the experiments, we detect instability and localize its source, implement drift control techniques to compensate for this instability, and then demonstrate that the instability has been suppressed. Time-dependent errors are one of the main obstacles to fully-fledged quantum information processing. Here, the authors develop a general methodology to monitor time-dependent errors, which could be used to make other characterisation protocols time-resolved, and demonstrate it on a trapped-ion qubit.
A directional Gaussian smoothing optimization method for computational inverse design in nanophotonics

Abstract Local-gradient-based optimization approaches lack nonlocal exploration ability required for escaping from local minima in non-convex landscapes. A directional Gaussian smoothing (DGS) approach was proposed in our recent work and used to define a truly nonlocal gradient, referred to as the DGS gradient, in order to enable nonlocal exploration in high-dimensional black-box optimization. Promising results show that replacing the traditional local gradient with the nonlocal DGS gradient can significantly improve the performance of gradient-based methods in optimizing highly multi-modal loss functions. However, the current DGS method is designed for unbounded and unconstrained optimization problems, making it inapplicable to real-world engineering design optimization problems where the tuning parameters are often bounded and the loss function is usually constrained by physical processes. In this work, we propose to extend the DGS approach to the constrained inverse design framework in order to find a better design. The proposed framework has its advantages in portability and flexibility to naturally incorporate the parameterization, physics simulation, and objective formulation together to build up an effective inverse design workflow. A series of adaptive strategies for smoothing radius and learning rate updating are developed to improve the computational efficiency and robustness. To enable a clear binarized design, a dynamic growth mechanism is imposed on the projection strength in parameterization. The methodology is demonstrated by an example of wavelength demultiplexer. Our method shows superior performance compared to the state-of-the-art approaches. By incorporating volume constraints, the optimized design achieves an equivalently high performance but significantly reduces the amount of material usage.
Some Observations for Mean-Field Spin Glass Models

We obtain bounds to show that the pressure of a two-body, mean-field spin glass is a Lipschitz function of the underlying distribution of the random coupling constants, with respect to a particular semi-norm. This allows us to re-derive a result of Carmona and Hu, on the universality of the SK model, by a different proof, and to generalize this result to the Viana–Bray model. We also prove another bound, suitable when the coupling constants are not independent, which is what is necessary if one wants to consider “canonical” instead of “grand canonical” versions of the SK and Viana–Bray models. Finally, we review Viana–Bray type models, using the language of Levy processes, which is natural in this context.
Predicting crowd behavior with big public data

With public information becoming widely accessible and shared on today's web, greater insights are possible into crowd actions by citizens and non-state actors such as large protests and cyber activism. We present efforts to predict the occurrence, specific timeframe, and location of such actions before they occur based on public data collected from over 300,000 open content web sources in 7 languages, from all over the world, ranging from mainstream news to government publications to blogs and social media. Using natural language processing, event information is extracted from content such as type of event, what entities are involved and in what role, sentiment and tone, and the occurrence time range of the event discussed. Statements made on Twitter about a future date from the time of posting prove particularly indicative. We consider in particular the case of the 2013 Egyptian coup d'etat. The study validates and quantifies the common intuition that data on social media (beyond mainstream news sources) are able to predict major events.
Optimal control of networks in the presence of attackers and defenders

We consider the problem of a dynamical network whose dynamics is subject to external perturbations (“attacks”) locally applied at a subset of the network nodes. We assume that the network has an ability to defend itself against attacks with appropriate countermeasures, which we model as actuators located at (another) subset of the network nodes. We derive the optimal defense strategy as an optimal control problem. We see that the network topology as well as the distribution of attackers and defenders over the network affect the optimal control solution and the minimum control energy. We study the optimal control defense strategy for several network topologies, including chain networks, star networks, ring networks, and scale free networks.
Analytic framework for students' use of mathematics in upper-division physics

Many students in upper-division physics courses struggle with the mathematically sophisticated tools and techniques that are required for advanced physics content. We have developed an analytical framework to assist instructors and researchers in characterizing students' difficulties with specific mathematical tools when solving the long and complex problems that are characteristic of upper division. In this paper, we present this framework, including its motivation and development. We also describe an application of the framework to investigations of student difficulties with direct integration in electricity and magnetism (i.e., Coulomb's law) and approximation methods in classical mechanics (i.e., Taylor series). These investigations provide examples of the types of difficulties encountered by advanced physics students, as well as the utility of the framework for both researchers and instructors.
Exceptional Points of Degeneracy Induced by Linear Time-Periodic Variation

Author(s): Kazemi, H; Nada, MY; Mealy, T; Abdelshafy, AF; Capolino, F | Abstract: We present a general theory of exceptional points of degeneracy (EPD) in periodically time-variant systems. We show that even a single resonator with a time-periodic component is able to develop EPDs, contrary to parity-time- (PT) symmetric systems that require two coupled resonators. An EPD is a special point in a system parameter space at which two or more eigenmodes coalesce in both their eigenvalues and eigenvectors into a single degenerate eigenmode. We demonstrate the conditions for EPDs to exist when they are directly induced by time-periodic variation of a system without loss and gain elements. We also show that a single resonator system with zero time-average loss-gain exhibits EPDs with purely real resonance frequencies, yet the resonator energy grows algebraically in time since energy is injected into the system from the time-variation mechanism. Although the introduced concept and formalism are general for any time-periodic system, here, we focus on the occurrence of EPDs in a single LC resonator with time-periodic modulation. These findings have significant importance in various electromagnetic and photonic systems and pave the way for many applications, such as sensors, amplifiers, and modulators. We show a potential application of this time-varying EPD as a highly sensitive sensor.
Constraining conformal field theories with a higher spin symmetry in $d > 3$ dimensions

We study unitary conformal field theories with a unique stress tensor and at least one higher-spin conserved current in d > 3 dimensions. We prove that every such theory contains an infinite number of higher-spin conserved currents of arbitrarily high spin, and that Ward identities generated by the conserved charges of these currents imply that the correlators of the stress tensor and the conserved currents of the theory must coincide with one of the following three possibilities: a) a theory of n free bosons (for some integer n), b) a theory of n free fermions, or c) a theory of $$ n\frac{d-2}{2} $$ -forms. For d even, all three structures exist, but for d odd, it may be the case that the third structure (c) does not; if it does exist, it is unclear what theory, if any, realizes it. This is a generalization of the result proved in three dimensions by Maldacena and Zhiboedov [1]. This paper supersedes the previous paper by the authors [2].
Ergodic Subequivalence Relations Induced by a Bernoulli Action

Let Γ be a countable group and denote by \({\mathcal{S}}\) the equivalence relation induced by the Bernoulli action \({\Gamma\curvearrowright [0, 1]^{\Gamma}}\), where [0, 1]Γ is endowed with the product Lebesgue measure. We prove that, for any subequivalence relation \({\mathcal{R}}\) of \({\mathcal{S}}\), there exists a partition {Xi}i≥0 of [0, 1]Γ into \({\mathcal{R}}\)-invariant measurable sets such that \({\mathcal{R}_{\vert X_{0}}}\) is hyperfinite and \({\mathcal{R}_{\vert X_{i}}}\) is strongly ergodic (hence ergodic and non-hyperfinite), for every i ≥ 1.
SIGNATURES OF MULTIPLE STELLAR POPULATIONS IN UNRESOLVED EXTRAGALACTIC GLOBULAR/ YOUNG MASSIVE STAR CLUSTERS

We present an investigation of potential signatures of the formation of multiple stellar populations in recently formed extragalactic star clusters. All of the Galactic globular clusters for which good samples of individual stellar abundances are available show evidence for multiple populations. This appears to require that multiple episodes of star formation and light element enrichment are the norm in the history of a globular cluster. We show that there are detectable observational signatures of multiple formation events in the unresolved spectra of massive, young extragalactic star clusters. We present the results of a pilot program to search for one of the cleanest signatures that we identify—the combined presence of emission lines from a very recently formed population and absorption lines from a somewhat older population. A possible example of such a system is identified in the Antennae galaxies. This source's spectrum shows evidence of two stellar populations with ages of 8 Myr and 80 Myr. Further investigation shows that these populations are in fact physically separated, but only by a projected distance of 59 pc. We show that the clusters are consistent with being bound and discuss the possibility that their coalescence could result in a single globular cluster hosting multiple stellar populations. While not the prototypical system proposed by most theories of the formation of multiple populations in clusters, the detection of this system in a small sample is both encouraging and interesting. Our investigation suggests that expanded surveys of massive young star clusters should detect more clusters with such signatures.
The Phase Space Structure Near Neptune Resonances in the Kuiper Belt

The Solar system beyond Neptune is believed to house a population of small primordial bodies left over from the planet formation process. The region up to heliocentric distance -50 AU (a.k.a. the Kuiper Belt) may be the source of the observed short-period comets. In this region, the phase space structure near orbital resonances with Neptune is of special interest for the long-term stability of orbits. There is reason to believe that a significant fraction (perhaps most) of the Kuiper Belt objects reside preferentially in these resonance locations. This paper describes the dynamics of small objects near the major orbital resonances with Neptune. Estimates of the widths of stable resonance zones as well as the properties of resonant orbits are obtained from the circular, planar restricted three-body model. Although this model does not contain the full complexity of the long-term orbital dynamics of Kuiper Belt objects subject to the full N-body perturbations of all the planets, it does provide a baseline for the phase space structure and properties of resonant orbits in the trans-Neptunian Solar system.
A Fast Approximate Approach to Microlensing Survey Analysis

Microlensing can be used to discover exoplanets of a wide range of masses with orbits beyond ~ 1 AU, and even free-floating planets. The WFIRST mission will use microlensing to discover approximately 1600 planets by monitoring ~100 million stars to find ~50000 microlensing events. Modelling each microlensing event, especially the ones involving two or more lenses, is typically complicated and time-consuming, and analyzing thousands of WFIRST microlensing events is possibly infeasible using current methods. Here, we present an algorithm that is able to rapidly evaluate thousands of simulated WFIRST binary-lens microlensing light curves, returning an estimate for the physical parameters of the lens systems. We find that this algorithm can recover projected separations between the planet and the star very well for low-mass-ratio events, and can also estimate mass ratios within an order of magnitude for events with wide and close caustic topologies.
Convexity of level sets and a two-point function

We establish a maximum principle for a two-point function in order to analyze the convexity of level sets of harmonic functions. We show that this can be used to prove a strict convexity result involving the smallest principal curvature of the level sets.
A Supervised Learning Approach for Robust Health Monitoring using Face Videos

Monitoring of cardiovascular activity is highly desired and can enable novel applications in diagnosing potential cardiovascular diseases and maintaining an individual's well-being. Currently, such vital signs are measured using intrusive contact devices such as an electrocardiogram (ECG), chest straps, and pulse oximeters that require the patient or the health provider to manually implement. User engagement and compliance with wearables is a well-known problem that presents a significant barrier to capturing the continuous measurements needed for health monitoring. Non-contact, device-free human sensing methods can eliminate the need for specialized heart and blood pressure monitoring equipment. Non-contact methods can have additional advantages since they are scalable with any environment where video can be captured, can be used for continuous measurements, and can be used on patients with varying levels of dexterity and independence, from people with physical impairments to infants (e.g., baby camera). In this paper, we used a non-contact method that only requires face videos recorded using commercially-available webcams. These videos were exploited to predict the health attributes like pulse rate and variance in pulse rate. The proposed approach used facial recognition to detect the face in each frame of the video using facial landmarks, followed by supervised learning using deep neural networks to train the machine learning model. The videos captured subjects performing different physical activities that result in varying cardiovascular responses. The proposed method did not require training data from every individual and thus the prediction can be obtained for the new individuals for which there is no prior data; critical in approach generalization. The approach was also evaluated on a dataset of people with different ethnicity. The proposed approach had less than a 4.6% error in predicting the pulse rate.
An Asymptotic Integral Representation for Carleman Orthogonal Polynomials

In this paper, we investigate the asymptotic behavior of polynomials that are orthonormal over the interior domain of an analytic Jordan curve L with respect to area measure. We prove that, inside L, these polynomials behave asymptotically like a sequence of certain integrals involving the canonical conformal map of the exterior of L onto the exterior of the unit circle and certain meromorphic kernel function defined in terms of a conformal map of the interior of L onto the unit disk. We then use this result to obtain more precise asymptotic formulas for the polynomials under certain additional geometric considerations. These formulas yield, in turn, fine results on the location, limiting distribution, and accumulation points of the zeros of the polynomials.
Foliations on Modular Curves

It is proved, that a foliation on a modular curve given by the vertical trajectories of holomorphic differential corresponding to the Hecke eigenform is either the Strebel foliation or the pseudo-Anosov foliation.
The Production of Cold Gas Within Galaxy Outflows

I present a suite of three-dimensional simulations of the evolution of initially-hot material ejected by starburst-driven galaxy outflows. The simulations are conducted in a comoving frame that moves with the material, tracking atomic/ionic cooling, Compton cooling, and dust cooling and destruction. Compton cooling is most efficient of these processes, while the main role of atomic/ionic cooling is to enhance density inhomogeneities. Dust, on the other hand, has little effect on the outflow evolution, and is rapidly destroyed in all the simulations except the case with the smallest mass flux. I use the results to construct a simple steady-state model of the observed UV/optical emission from each outflow. The velocity profiles in this case are dominated by geometric effects, and the overall luminosities are extremely strong functions of the properties of the host system, as observed in ultra-luminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs). Furthermore the luminosities and maximum velocities in several models are consistent with emission-line observations of ULIRGs, although the velocities are significantly greater than observed in absorption-line studies. It may be that absorption line observations of galaxy outflows probe entrained cold material at small radii, while emission-line observations probe cold material condensing from the initially hot medium at larger distances.
Bistable switching asymptotics for the self regulating gene

A simple stochastic model of a self regulating gene that displays bistable switching is analyzed. While on, a gene transcribes mRNA at a constant rate. Transcription factors can bind to the DNA and affect the gene?s transcription rate. Before an mRNA is degraded, it synthesizes protein, which in turn regulates gene activity by influencing the activity of transcription factors. Protein is slowly removed from the system through degradation. Depending on how the protein regulates gene activity, the protein concentration can exhibit noise induced bistable switching. An asymptotic approximation of the mean switching rate is derived that includes the pre exponential factor, which improves upon a previously reported logarithmically accurate approximation. With the improved accuracy, a uniformly accurate approximation of the stationary probability density, describing the gene, mRNA copy number, and protein concentration is also obtained.
Surprises with nonrelativistic naturalness

We explore the landscape of technical naturalness for nonrelativistic systems, finding surprises which challenge and enrich our relativistic intuition already in the simplest case of a single scalar field. While the immediate applications are expected in condensed matter and perhaps in cosmology, the study is motivated by the leading puzzles of fundamental physics involving gravity: the cosmological constant problem and the Higgs mass hierarchy problem.
A Unified Theory for the Cuprates, Iron-Based and Similar Superconducting Systems: Application for Spin and Charge Excitations in the Hole-Doped Cuprates

A unified theory for the cuprates and the iron-based superconductors is derived on the basis of common features in their electronic structures, including quasi-two-dimensionality, and the large-U nature of the electron orbitals close to \(E_{_{\textrm{F}}}\) (smaller-U hybridized orbitals reside at bonding and antibonding states away from \(E_{_{\textrm{F}}}\) ). Consequently, low-energy excitations are described in terms of auxiliary particles, representing combinations of atomic-like electron configurations, rather than electron-like quasiparticles. The introduction of a Lagrange–Bose field is necessary to enable the treatments of these auxiliary particles as bosons or fermions. The condensation of the bosons results in static or dynamical inhomogeneities, and consequently in a commensurate or an incommensurate resonance mode. The dynamics of the fermions determines the charge transport, and their strong coupling to the Lagrange-field bosons results in pairing and superconductivity. The calculated resonance mode in hole-doped cuprates agrees with the experimental results, and is shown to be correlated with the pairing gap on the Fermi arcs.
Field-free Magnetization Switching by Utilizing the Spin Hall Effect and Interlayer Exchange Coupling of Iridium.

Magnetization switching by spin-orbit torque (SOT) via spin Hall effect represents as a competitive alternative to that by spin-transfer torque (STT) used for magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), as it doesn’t require high-density current to go through the tunnel junction. For perpendicular MRAM, however, SOT driven switching of the free layer requires an external in-plane field, which poses limitation for viability in practical applications. Here we demonstrate field-free magnetization switching of a perpendicular magnet by utilizing an Iridium (Ir) layer. The Ir layer not only provides SOTs via spin Hall effect, but also induce interlayer exchange coupling with an in-plane magnetic layer that eliminates the need for the external field. Such dual functions of the Ir layer allows future build-up of magnetoresistive stacks for memory and logic applications. Experimental observations show that the SOT driven field-free magnetization reversal is characterized as domain nucleation and expansion. Micromagnetic modeling is carried out to provide in-depth understanding of the perpendicular magnetization reversal process in the presence of an in-plane exchange coupling field.
Holographic Double Diffractive Scattering

The holographic description of Pomeron exchange in a strongly-coupled gauge theory with an AdS dual is extended to the case of two to three scattering. We study the production event of a central particle via hadron-hadron scattering in the double Regge kinematic regime of large center-of-momentum energy and fixed momentum transfer. The computation reduces to the overlap of a holographic wave function for the central particle with a source function for the Pomerons. The formalism is applied to scalar glueball production and the resulting amplitude is studied in various kinematic limits.
Laboratory Calibrations of Fe xii–xiv Line-intensity Ratios for Electron Density Diagnostics

We have used an electron beam ion trap to measure electron-density-diagnostic line-intensity ratios for extreme ultraviolet lines from F XII, XIII, and XIV at wavelengths of 185-205 255-276 Angstroms. These ratios can be used as density diagnostics for astrophysical spectra and are especially relevant to solar physics. We found that density diagnostics using the Fe XIII 196.53/202.04 and the Fe XIV 264.79/274.21 and 270.52A/274.21 line ratios are reliable using the atomic data calculated with the Flexible Atomic Code. On the other hand, we found a large discrepancy between the FAC theory and experiment for the commonly used Fe XII (186.85 + 186.88)/195.12 line ratio. These FAC theory calculations give similar results to the data tabulated in CHIANTI, which are commonly used to analyze solar observations. Our results suggest that the discrepancies seen between solar coronal density measurements using the Fe XII (186.85 + 186.88)/195.12 and Fe XIII 196.54/202.04 line ratios are likely due to issues with the atomic calculations for Fe XII.
Dilatonic effects near naked singularities

Static spherically symmetric solutions of 4d Brans–Dicke theory include a set of naked singularity solutions. Dilatonic effects near the naked singularities result in either a shielding or an antishielding effect from intruding massive test particles. One result is that for a portion of the solution parameter space, no communication between the singularity and a distant observer is possible via massive particle exchanges. Kaluza–Klein gravity is considered as a special case.
Building prime models in fully good abstract elementary classes

We show how to build prime models in classes of saturated models of abstract elementary classes (AECs) having a well-behaved independence relation: Let K be an almost fully good AEC that is categorical in LS (K) and has the LS (K)-existence property for domination triples. For any λ> LS (K), the class of Galois saturated models of K of size λ has prime models over every set of the form M∪{a}. This generalizes an argument of Shelah, who proved the result when λ is a successor cardinal.
MAGNETIC DYNAMO ACTION IN ASTROPHYSICAL TURBULENCE

We investigate the structure of magnetic fields amplified by turbulent velocity fluctuations, in the framework of the kinematic Kazantsev-Kraichnan model. We consider Kolmogorov distribution of velocity fluctuations, and assume that both Reynolds number and magnetic Reynolds number are very large. We present the full numerical solution of the model for the spectra and the growth rates of magnetic fluctuations. We consider astrophysically relevant limits of large and small magnetic Prandtl numbers, and address both helical and nonhelical cases.
Seeking connections between wormholes, gravastars, and black holes via noncommutative geometry

Noncommutative geometry, an offshoot of string theory, replaces point-like objects by smeared objects. The resulting uncertainty may cause a black hole to be observationally indistinguishable from ...
Spin-orbit interaction from low-symmetry localized defects in semiconductors

The presence of low-symmetry impurities or defect complexes in the zinc-blende direct-gap semiconductors (e.g., interstitials, DX-centers) results in a novel spin-orbit term in the effective Hamiltonian for the conduction band. The new extrinsic spin-orbit interaction is proportional to the matrix element of the defect potential between the conduction and the valence bands. Because this interaction arises already in the first order of the expansion of the effective Hamiltonian in powers of Uext/Eg1 (where Uext is the pseudopotential of an interstitial atom, and Eg is the band gap), its contribution to the spin relaxation rate may exceed that of the previously studied extrinsic contributions, even for moderate concentrations of impurities.
On the Ozsvath-Szabo invariant of negative definite plumbed 3-manifolds

The main goal of the present article is the computation of the Heegaard Floer homology introduced by Ozsvath and Szabo for a family of plumbed rational homology 3–spheres. The main motivation is the study of the Seiberg–Witten type invariants of links of normal surface singularities. AMS Classification numbers Primary: 57M27, 57R57 Secondary: 14E15, 14B15, 14J17, 32S25, 32S45
Measurements of Non-thermal Line Widths in Solar Active Regions

Spectral line widths are often observed to be larger than can be accounted for by thermal and instrumental broadening alone. This excess broadening is a key observational constraint for both nanoflare and wave dissipation models of coronal heating. Here we present a survey of non-thermal velocities measured in the high temperature loops (1--5MK) often found in the cores of solar active regions. This survey of $\textit{Hinode}$ Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) observations covers 15 non-flaring active regions that span a wide range of solar conditions. We find relatively small non-thermal velocities, with a mean value of 17km s$^{-1}$, and no significant trend with temperature or active region magnetic flux. These measurements appear to be inconsistent with those expected from reconnection jets in the corona, chromospheric evaporation induced by coronal nanoflares, and Alfven wave turbulence models. Furthermore, because the observed non-thermal widths are generally small their measurements are difficult and susceptible to systematic effects.
Towards a theoretical analysis of PCA for heteroscedastic data

Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is a method for estimating a subspace given noisy samples. It is useful in a variety of problems ranging from dimensionality reduction to anomaly detection and the visualization of high dimensional data. PCA performs well in the presence of moderate noise and even with missing data, but is also sensitive to outliers. PCA is also known to have a phase transition when noise is independent and identically distributed; recovery of the subspace sharply declines at a threshold noise variance. Effective use of PCA requires a rigorous understanding of these behaviors. This paper provides a step towards an analysis of PCA for samples with heteroscedastic noise, that is, samples that have non-uniform noise variances and so are no longer identically distributed. In particular, we provide a simple asymptotic prediction of the recovery of a one-dimensional subspace from noisy heteroscedastic samples. The prediction enables: a) easy and efficient calculation of the asymptotic performance, and b) qualitative reasoning to understand how PCA is impacted by heteroscedasticity (such as outliers).
Burnside's Problem, spanning trees and tilings

In this paper we study geometric versions of Burnside’s Problem and the von Neumann Conjecture. This is done by considering the notion of a translation-like action. Translation-like actions were introduced by Kevin Whyte as a geometric analogue of subgroup containment. Whyte proved a geometric version of the von Neumann Conjecture by showing that a finitely generated group is nonamenable if and only if it admits a translation-like action by any (equivalently every) nonabelian free group. We strengthen Whyte’s result by proving that this translation-like action can be chosen to be transitive when the acting free group is finitely generated. We furthermore prove that the geometric version of Burnside’s Problem holds true. That is, every finitely generated infinite group admits a translation-like action by Z. This answers a question posed by Whyte. In pursuit of these results we discover an interesting property of Cayley graphs: every finitely generated infinite group G has some locally finite Cayley graph having a regular spanning tree. This regular spanning tree can be chosen to have degree 2 (and hence be a bi-infinite Hamiltonian path) if and only if G has finitely many ends, and it can be chosen to have any degree greater than 2 if and only if G is nonamenable. We use this last result to then study tilings of groups. We define a general notion of polytilings and extend the notion of MT groups and ccc groups to the setting of polytilings. We prove that every countable group is poly-MT and every finitely generated group is poly-ccc. 20F65; 05C25, 05C63