Malliavin calculus for fractional heat equation

In this article, we give some existence and smoothness results for the law of the solution to a stochastic heat equation driven by a finite dimensional fractional Brownian motion with Hurst parameter $H>1/2$. Our results rely on recent tools of Young integration for convolutional integrals combined with stochastic analysis methods for the study of laws of random variables defined on a Wiener space.Comment: Dedicated to David Nualart on occasion of his 60th birthda

Cracking the laugh code: laughter through the lens of biology, psychology and neuroscience

Preface to the theme issue which tackles the biological, psychological, neural, and cultural underpinnings of laughter in humans and other animals from a naturalistic and evolutionary perspective

The MUSE-Wide Survey: A first catalogue of 831 emission line galaxies

We present a first instalment of the MUSE-Wide survey, covering an area of 22.2 arcmin$^2$ (corresponding to $\sim$20% of the final survey) in the CANDELS/Deep area of the Chandra Deep Field South. We use the MUSE integral field spectrograph at the ESO VLT to conduct a full-area spectroscopic mapping at a depth of 1h exposure time per 1 arcmin$^2$ pointing. We searched for compact emission line objects using our newly developed LSDCat software based on a 3-D matched filtering approach, followed by interactive classification and redshift measurement of the sources. Our catalogue contains 831 distinct emission line galaxies with redshifts ranging from 0.04 to 6. Roughly one third (237) of the emission line sources are Lyman $\alpha$ emitting galaxies with $3 < z < 6$, only four of which had previously measured spectroscopic redshifts. At lower redshifts 351 galaxies are detected primarily by their [OII] emission line ($0.3 \lesssim z \lesssim 1.5$), 189 by their [OIII] line ($0.21 \lesssim z \lesssim 0.85$), and 46 by their H$\alpha$ line ($0.04 \lesssim z \lesssim 0.42$). Comparing our spectroscopic redshifts to photometric redshift estimates from the literature, we find excellent agreement for $z<1.5$ with a median $\Delta z$ of only $\sim 4 \times 10^{-4}$ and an outlier rate of 6%, however a significant systematic offset of $\Delta z = 0.26$ and an outlier rate of 23% for Ly$\alpha$ emitters at $z>3$. Together with the catalogue we also release 1D PSF-weighted extracted spectra and small 3D datacubes centred on each of the 831 sources.Comment: 24 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in A&A, data products are available for download from http://muse-vlt.eu/science/muse-wide-survey/ and later via the CD

The MUSE-Wide Survey: Survey Description and First Data Release

We present the MUSE-Wide survey, a blind, 3D spectroscopic survey in the CANDELS/GOODS-S and CANDELS/COSMOS regions. Each MUSE-Wide pointing has a depth of 1 hour and hence targets more extreme and more luminous objects over 10 times the area of the MUSE-Deep fields (Bacon et al. 2017). The legacy value of MUSE-Wide lies in providing "spectroscopy of everything" without photometric pre-selection. We describe the data reduction, post-processing and PSF characterization of the first 44 CANDELS/GOODS-S MUSE-Wide pointings released with this publication. Using a 3D matched filtering approach we detected 1,602 emission line sources, including 479 Lyman-$\alpha$ (Lya) emitting galaxies with redshifts $2.9 \lesssim z \lesssim 6.3$. We cross-match the emission line sources to existing photometric catalogs, finding almost complete agreement in redshifts and stellar masses for our low redshift (z < 1.5) emitters. At high redshift, we only find ~55% matches to photometric catalogs. We encounter a higher outlier rate and a systematic offset of $\Delta$z$\simeq$0.2 when comparing our MUSE redshifts with photometric redshifts. Cross-matching the emission line sources with X-ray catalogs from the Chandra Deep Field South, we find 127 matches, including 10 objects with no prior spectroscopic identification. Stacking X-ray images centered on our Lya emitters yielded no signal; the Lya population is not dominated by even low luminosity AGN. A total of 9,205 photometrically selected objects from the CANDELS survey lie in the MUSE-Wide footprint, which we provide optimally extracted 1D spectra of. We are able to determine the spectroscopic redshift of 98% of 772 photometrically selected galaxies brighter than 24th F775W magnitude. All the data in the first data release - datacubes, catalogs, extracted spectra, maps - are available on the website https://musewide.aip.de. [abridged]Comment: 25 pages 15+1 figures. Accepted, A&A. Comments welcom

Validation of Genotyping by Sequencing Using Transcriptomics for Diversity and Application of Genomic Selection in Tetraploid Potato

Potato is an important food crop due to its increasing consumption, and as a result, there is demand for varieties with improved production. However, the current status of breeding for improved varieties is a long process which relies heavily on phenotypic evaluation and dated molecular techniques and has little emphasis on modern genotyping approaches. Evaluation and selection before a cultivar is commercialized typically takes 10–15 years. Molecular markers have been developed for disease and pest resistance, resulting in initial marker-assisted selection in breeding. This study has evaluated and implemented a high-throughput transcriptome sequencing method for dense marker discovery in potato for the application of genomic selection. An Australian relevant collection of commercial cultivars was selected, and identification and distribution of high quality SNPs were examined using standard bioinformatic pipelines and a custom approach for the prediction of allelic dosage. As a result, a large number of SNP markers were identified and filtered to generate a high-quality subset that was then combined with historic phenotypic data to assess the approach for genomic selection. Genomic selection potential was predicted for highly heritable traits and the approach demonstrated advantages over the previously used technologies in terms of markers identified as well as costs incurred. The high-quality SNP list also provided acceptable genome coverage which demonstrates its applicability for much larger future studies. This SNP list was also annotated to provide an indication of function and will serve as a resource for the community in future studies. Genome wide marker tools will provide significant benefits for potato breeding efforts and the application of genomic selection will greatly enhance genetic progress

Gene Function Classification Using Bayesian Models with Hierarchy-Based Priors

We investigate the application of hierarchical classification schemes to the annotation of gene function based on several characteristics of protein sequences including phylogenic descriptors, sequence based attributes, and predicted secondary structure. We discuss three Bayesian models and compare their performance in terms of predictive accuracy. These models are the ordinary multinomial logit (MNL) model, a hierarchical model based on a set of nested MNL models, and a MNL model with a prior that introduces correlations between the parameters for classes that are nearby in the hierarchy. We also provide a new scheme for combining different sources of information. We use these models to predict the functional class of Open Reading Frames (ORFs) from the E. coli genome. The results from all three models show substantial improvement over previous methods, which were based on the C5 algorithm. The MNL model using a prior based on the hierarchy outperforms both the non-hierarchical MNL model and the nested MNL model. In contrast to previous attempts at combining these sources of information, our approach results in a higher accuracy rate when compared to models that use each data source alone. Together, these results show that gene function can be predicted with higher accuracy than previously achieved, using Bayesian models that incorporate suitable prior information

Investigating knowledge management factors affecting Chinese ICT firms performance: An integrated KM framework

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in the Journal of Information Systems Management, 28(1), 19 - 29, 2011, copyright Taylor & Francis, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/10580530.2011.536107.This article sets out to investigate the critical factors of Knowledge Management (KM) which are considered to have an impact on the performance of Chinese information and communication technology (ICT) firms. This study confirms that the cultural environment of an enterprise is central to its success in the context of China. It shows that a collaborated, trusted, and learning environment within ICT firms will have a positive impact on their KM performance

GD2 redirected CAR T and activated NK-cell-mediated secretion of IFNγovercomes MYCN-dependent IDO1 inhibition, contributing to neuroblastoma cell immune escape

Immune escape mechanisms employed by neuroblastoma (NB) cells include secretion of immunosuppressive factors disrupting effective antitumor immunity. The use of cellular therapy to treat solid tumors needs to be implemented. Killing activity of anti-GD2 Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T or natural killer (NK) cells against target NB cells was assessed through coculture experiments and quantified by FACS analysis. ELISA assay was used to quantify interferon-gamma (IFN gamma) secreted by NK and CAR T cells. Real Time PCR and Western Blot were performed to analyze gene and protein levels modifications. Transcriptional study was performed by chromatin immunoprecipitation and luciferase reporter assays on experiments of mutagenesis on the promoter sequence. NB tissue sample were analyzed by IHC and Real Time PCR to perform correlation study. We demonstrate that Indoleamine-pyrrole 2,3-dioxygenase1 (IDO1), due to its ability to convert tryptophan into kynurenines, is involved in NB resistance to activity of immune cells. In NB, IDO1 is able to inhibit the anti-tumor effect displayed by of both anti-GD2 CAR (GD2.CAR) T-cell and NK cells, mainly by impairing their IFN gamma production. Furthermore, inhibition of MYCN expression in NB results into accumulation of IDO1 and consequently of kynurenines, which negatively affect the immune surveillance. Inverse correlation between IDO1 and MYCN expression has been observed in a wide cohort of NB samples. This finding was supported by the identification of a transcriptional repressive role of MYCN on IDO1 promoter. The evidence of IDO1 involvement in NB immune escape and its ability to impair NK and GD2.CAR T-cell activity contribute to clarify one of the possible mechanisms responsible for the limited efficacy of these immunotherapeutic approaches. A combined therapy of NK or GD2.CAR T-cells with IDO1 inhibitors, a class of compounds already in phase I/II clinical studies, could represent a new and still unexplored strategy capable to improve long-term efficacy of these immunotherapeutic approaches