Biofluid-based staging of Alzheimer’s disease

Recently, conceptual systems for the in vivo staging of Alzheimer's disease (AD) using fluid biomarkers have been suggested. Thus, it is important to assess whether available fluid biomarkers can successfully stage AD into clinically and biologically relevant categories. In the TRIAD cohort, we explored whether p-tau217, p-tau205 and NTA-tau (biomarkers of early, intermediate and late AD pathology, respectively) have potential for biofluid-based staging in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF; n = 219) and plasma (n = 150), and compared them in a paired CSF and plasma subset (n = 76). Our findings suggest a good concordance between biofluid staging and underlying pathology when classifying amyloid-positivity into three categories based on neurofibrillary pathology: minimal/non-existent (p-tau217 positive), early-to-intermediate (p-tau217 and p-tau205 positivity), and advanced tau tangle deposition (p-tau217, p-tau205 and NTA-tau positive), as indexed by tau-PET. Discordant cases accounted for 4.6% and 13.3% of all CSF and plasma measurements respectively (9.2% and 11.8% in paired samples). Notably, CSF- and plasma-based staging matched one another in 61.7% of the cases, while approximately 32% of the remaining participants were one to three biofluid stages higher in CSF as compared to plasma. Overall, these exploratory results suggest that biofluid staging of AD holds potential for offering valuable insights into underlying AD hallmarks and disease severity. However, its applicability beyond molecular characterization at research settings has yet to be demonstrated

EXPLORING IGLC LITERATURE ON SUBCONTRACTING

Subcontractors are essential to the delivery of many construction projects. However, current approaches to subcontracting are known to be disjointed, with systemic issues such as misaligned objectives among project stakeholders, fragmented workflows, and transactional relationships often limiting subcontractors’ contribution to project success. To support future research in this area, this paper explores how subcontracting has been discussed in selected IGLC literature, grouped into four themes to reflect subcontractors’ involvement across project stages: Selection, Engagement, Execution, and Evaluation. Within each theme, the paper offers reflections and poses open-ended questions that may help inform future studies into the role of subcontractors in Lean Construction. While acknowledging that the observations may not capture the full breadth of existing research, this paper offers preliminary insights into how subcontracting has been addressed in the IGLC literature and suggests opportunities for future study

GSWorld: Closed-Loop Photo-Realistic Simulation Suite for Robotic Manipulation

This paper builds GSWorld, a robust photo-realistic simulator for robotics manipulation by combining 3D Gaussian Splatting with physics engines. Our framework advocates `closing the loop' of developing manipulation policies with \textbf{reproducible evaluation} of policies learned from real-robot data and \textbf{automated photorealistic data collection} without using real robots. To enable photo-realistic rendering of diverse scenes, we propose a new asset format, which we term GSDF (Gaussian Scene Description File), that infuses Gaussian-on-Mesh representation with robot URDF and other objects. With a streamlined reconstruction pipeline, we curate a database of GSDF containing 3 robot embodiments for single-arm and bimanual manipulation as well as 29 objects. Combining GSDF with physics engines, we demonstrate several immediate interesting applications: (1) learning zero-shot sim2real pixel-to-action manipulation policy with photo-realsitic rendering (2) reproducible benchmarking of real-robot manipulation policies in simulation, and (3) automated high-quality DAGGER data collection for adapting policies to deployment environments. We plan to open-source both the GSDF assets and code

Enabling Decentralized Applications: A Transport Perspective

The growing centralization of the Internet is raising concerns over user privacy, third-party censorship, and the control of the Internet by a few dominant players. This centralized control persists even in recent applications explicitly designed for decentralization. Fundamental limitations within the current Internet architecture, particularly the node-centric, point-to-point connectivity model of TCP/IP, and the absence of built-in security protection, compounded by Network Address Translation (NAT) and the lack of platform-independent end user identity, significantly hinder the ability for users to communicate directly and securely, which is the necessary condition to build truly decentralized applications.Named Data Networking (NDN) shows promise as a foundation for addressing these challenges through its data-centric communication model, which utilizes semantic names to identify users, applications, and data, and secures data directly. In this dissertation, built on the foundation of NDN, we present the design and implementation of several key components in the NDN protocol stack to enable resilient decentralized applications. First, we introduce State Vector Sync~(SVS), a multi-party transport protocol to support NDN applications through simple, resilient, and efficient dataset synchronization. Second, we describe the NDN Distance Vector Routing Protocol~(ndn-dv), which can establish reachability in name-based NDN networks, scalably and efficiently. ndn-dv is both a showcase of SVS usage and a unique solution in its own right, demonstrating how NDN's stateful forwarding plane mitigates traditional distance-vector routing issues. Third, to enhance developer accessibility, we implemented NDNd, a consolidated Golang NDN stack featuring high-level APIs.We integrate the above primitives to build Ownly, a decentralized collaborative workspace application. By leveraging SVS for communication and NDN's data-centric, name-based security, Ownly successfully eliminates the dependency on infrastructure-based control points, which could lead to centralized control. This research provides an analysis of Internet centralization from a networking perspective, contributing practical NDN-based components and a real-world application. We describe in detail the insights gained from our development experiences regarding the reasons for Internet centralization, namely the lack of direct user-to-user communication and the dependency on platform-specific user identifiers. With these insights, we hope to demonstrate a viable path towards long-term decentralization and resilience in the digital ecosystem

Borel Graphs: Measurable Consequences of their Geometry and Complexity of Labeling Problems

This dissertation investigates Borel graphs on Polish spaces. It explores two main directions: the relationship between a Borel graph's geometry and its measurable properties, and the projective complexity of labeling problems in Borel combinatorics.Chapter 2 contains joint work with Clark Lyons on the Baire measurable combinatorics of Borel graphs with non-amenable connected components. In this setting, we show that a Baire measurable perfect matching exists when the graph is vertex transitive, and that a Baire measurable balanced orientation exists when all degrees are even.Chapter 3 presents a proof that Borel graphs of subexponential growth are measure hyperfinite, and includes a discussion of recent advances concerning hyperfiniteness under growth rate constraints.Chapter 4 introduces a problem of Kechris and Chen about the $\sigma$-structurability of compressible countable Borel equivalence relations. We provide a proof in non-probabilistic language that a locally finite vertex transitive connected graph has a realization as a probability-measure-preserving graph if and only if it is unimodular. We also generalize this result to the case of countable relational structures with compact stabilizers.Chapter 5 explores the projective complexity of characterizing which Borel graphs admit Borel solutions to labeling problems. We introduce a formal notion of gadget reduction and use this notion to lift NP-completeness results in finite combinatorics to $\mathbf{Sigma}^1_2$-completeness results for their Borel analogues. We then give several concrete examples where this idea is applied.Chapter 6 contains joint work with Clark Lyons to provide a classical proof that for a Borel family of games, the set of games where player II wins is Baire measurable, universally measurable, and Ramsey measurable

Cultural Identity as Worldviews: A Natural Experiment With Maya Adolescents Before and After Community Adoption of Digital Communication

The spread of digital communication around the globe has raised questions about the nature of digitally mediated cultural identity and how worldviews are constructed in the context of permeable and dynamic communities less tethered to physical geography. To expand research on the impacts of digital communication on cultural identity development among adolescents in the Majority World, the present study compared the worldviews of indigenous Maya adolescents before and after the Internet and mobile devices became widely used in their community. Adolescents were interviewed in 2009 (N = 80; 40 girls, Mage = 16.94) and in 2018 (N = 79; 44 girls, Mage = 15.91) using eight vignettes that were developed from ethnographic work in the community and designed to elicit participants' cultural beliefs and values. In each story, one character articulates a traditional, collectivistic worldview, and another articulates a Western, individualistic worldview present in the community. Participants were asked who they agreed with and why, and responses were analyzed quantitatively (pattern of character endorsements) and qualitatively (frameworks of meaning). Analysis of covariance showed no differences in character endorsements across the two cohorts. Schooling, not the use of mobile devices or social media, uniquely predicted alignment with individualistic characters in regression analyses. Although individualistic values did not increase, qualitative analyses of frameworks of meaning showed that adolescents in the two cohorts differed in how they integrated individualistic and collectivistic perspectives. The study demonstrates the importance of locally relevant mixed methods for understanding changes in the contents of cultural identity over historical time. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)

Design of Catalysts for Enhanced Acidic Oxygen Evolution Reaction Activity and Stability

Hydrogen (H2) has emerged as a carbon-free energy carrier with the potential to replace fossil fuels in the pursuit of a sustainable future. However, conventional H₂ production methods are still associated with significant carbon emissions. In recent years, proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer (PEMWE) technology has gained increasing interest due to its high efficiency, high product purity, and compatibility with renewable energy sources. Despite these advantages, the performance of PEMWE is primarily limited by the sluggish kinetics of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) at the anode. This reaction proceeds through a complex, multi-step mechanism under highly corrosive conditions, which also compromises catalyst durability. Additionally, the anode is the largest contributor to the total cell stack manufacturing cost, primarily due to its dependence on costly iridium (Ir)-based catalysts.To promote the commercialization of PEMWE and the broader implementation of H2 as a sustainable fuel, it is essential to address the dual challenges of limited OER performance and high production cost. This dissertation explores the development of advanced OER catalysts that demonstrate improved activity and durability, while significantly lowering the overall cost when integrated into PEMWE systems