The Value Added of Machine Learning to Causal Inference: Evidence from Revisited Studies

A new and rapidly growing econometric literature is making advances in the problem of using machine learning methods for causal inference questions. Yet, the empirical economics literature has not started to fully exploit the strengths of these modern methods. We revisit influential empirical studies with causal machine learning methods aiming to connect the econometric theory on these methods with empirical economics. We focus on the double machine learning, causal forest and generic machine learning methods, in the context of both average and heterogeneous treatment effects. We illustrate the implementation of these methods in a variety of settings and highlight the relevance and value added relative to traditional methods used in the original studies

A general time-dependent route to Resonance-Raman spectroscopy including Franck-Condon, Herzberg-Teller and Duschinsky effects

We present a new formulation of the time-dependent theory of Resonance-Raman spectroscopy (TD-RR). Particular attention has been devoted to the generality of the framework and to the possibility of including different effects (Duschinsky mixing, Herzberg-Teller contributions). Furthermore, the effects of different harmonic models for the intermediate electronic state are also investigated. Thanks to the implementation of the TD-RR procedure within a general-purpose quantum-chemistry program, both solvation and leading anharmonicity effects have been included in an effective way. The reliability and stability of our TD-RR implementation are validated against our previously proposed and well-tested time-independent procedure. Practical applications are illustrated with some closed- and open-shell medium-size molecules (anthracene, phenoxyl radical, benzyl radical) and the simulated spectra are compared to the experimental results. More complex and larger systems, not limited to organic compounds, can be also studied, as shown for the case of Tris(bipyridine)ruthenium(II) chloride

Vibrational Density Matrix Renormalization Group

Variational approaches for the calculation of vibrational wave functions and energies are a natural route to obtain highly accurate results with controllable errors. However, the unfavorable scaling and the resulting high computational cost of standard variational approaches limit their application to small molecules with only few vibrational modes. Here, we demonstrate how the density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) can be exploited to optimize vibrational wave functions (vDMRG) expressed as matrix product states. We study the convergence of these calculations with respect to the size of the local basis of each mode, the number of renormalized block states, and the number of DMRG sweeps required. We demonstrate the high accuracy achieved by vDMRG for small molecules that were intensively studied in the literature. We then proceed to show that the complete fingerprint region of the sarcosyn-glycin dipeptide can be calculated with vDMRG.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figures, 4 table

Renin-angiotensin sistem modulating funtions in the cpu.

The caudate-putamen (CPu) of the striatum is one of the main entrances to the basal ganglia. The CPu is fundamentally a dopaminergic area receiving dopamine innervation from the substantia nigra, ventral tegmental area, and mesencephalic structures, but also has noradrenergic inputs from a post-encephalic area, the locus coeruleus, and glutamatergic innervation from cortical structures and cholinergic and GABAergic interneurons. It is well known that functional interactions between different neurotransmission systems play a crucial integrative role in the caudate-putamen, and are widely recognized as contributing to central motor activity and movements, and also to the processing of cognitive and limbic functions, despite autonomic responses across the noradrenergic system. Not only does typical neurotransmission regulate these functions, but peptidergic systems also have an important role. The brain renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is involved not only in the regulation of blood pressure, but also in the modulation of multiple additional functions in the brain, including processes of sensory information, learning and memory, and the regulation of emotional and behavioral responses. There is increasing ontogenetic, anatomic and functional evidence of the existence of a brain renin-angiotensin system and of its interaction with other putative neurotransmitters and their receptors. All components of the RAS have been observed in the striatum, and Ang II modulates dopamine release from striatal dopaminergic terminals, in vivo and in vitro, via their AT1 receptors. There is considerable evidence supporting a key role for dopamine (DA) neurotransmission in the Cpu in long-term neuroadaptative changes induced by stress or psychostimulants, such as cocaine or amphetamine. Repeated amphetamine or cocaine administration results in progressive and enduring enhancement of their psychomotor and positive reinforcing effects (sensitization phenomenon). We recently found evidence of the participation of Ang II, through its AT1 receptors, in the development of the locomotor sensitization induced by psychostimulant drugs. Moreover, the brain RAS may play a role in the pathogenesis and progression of Parkinson?s disease and aging-related loss of DA neurons. Manipulation of RAS components may be useful for neuroprotection in Parkinson?s disease patients because local RAS plays a major role in proinflammatory and pro-oxidative changes in aged substantia nigra. RAS is involved in modulating neurotransmission systems in the CPu and their functions, and for this reason it could be a possible target in the treatment of stress related diseases, drug abuse or neurodegenerative disorders.http://www.novapublishers.com/catalog/product_info.Fil: Bregonzio, Claudia. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Farmacología, ArgentinaFil: Bregonzio, Claudia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Farmacología Experimental de Córdoba, Argentina.Fil: Marinzalda, M. A. Universidad Católica de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Laboratorio de Neurofarmacología, Argentina.Fil: Baiardi, Gustavo.Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, ArgentinaFil: Baiardi, Gustavo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas, Argentina.Fil: Baiardi, Gustavo. Universidad Católica de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Laboratorio de Neurofarmacologia, Argentina.Fil: Paz, María Constanza. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Farmacología Experimental de Córdoba, Argentina , Argentina.Fil: Paz, María Constanza. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Farmacología, ArgentinaNeurociencias (incluye Psicofiosiología

Towards an improved early diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases: The emerging role of in vitro conversion assays for protein amyloids

Tissue accumulation of abnormal aggregates of amyloidogenic proteins such as prion protein, α-synuclein, and tau represents the hallmark of most common neurodegenerative disorders and precedes the onset of symptoms by years. As a consequence, the sensitive and specific detection of abnormal forms of these proteins in patients' accessible tissues or fluids as biomarkers may have a significant impact on the clinical diagnosis of these disorders. By exploiting seeded polymerization propagation mechanisms to obtain cell-free reactions that allow highly amplified detection of these amyloid proteins, novel emerging in vitro techniques, such as the real-time quaking-induced conversion assay (RT-QuIC) have paved the way towards this important goal. Given its high accuracy in identifying misfolded forms of prion protein from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) CSF, RT-QuIC has already been included in the diagnostic criteria for the clinical diagnosis of sporadic CJD, the most common human prion disease. By showing that this assay may also accurately discriminate between Lewy body disorders and other forms of parkinsonisms or dementias, more recent studies strongly suggested that CSF RT-QuIC can also be successfully applied to synucleinopathies. Finally, preliminary encouraging data also suggested that CSF RT-QuIC might also work for tau protein, and accurately distinguish between 3R- and 4R tauopathies, including Pick's disease, progressive supranuclear palsy, and corticobasal degeneration. Here we will review the state of the art of cell-free aggregation assays, their current diagnostic value and putative limitations, and the future perspectives for their expanded use in clinical practice

Detection of prions in skin punch biopsies of Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease patients

Prion real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) is an ultrasensitive assay detecting pathological aggregates of misfolded prion protein in biospecimens. We studied 71 punch biopsy skin samples of 35 patients with Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD), including five assessed in vitam. The results confirmed the high value of skin prion RT-QuIC for CJD diagnosis (89% sensitivity and 100% specificity) and support its use in clinical practice. Preliminary data based on a limited number of cases suggest that prion-seeding activity in the skin varies according to the prion strain, being higher in sporadic CJD subtypes linked to the V2 strain (VV2 and MV2K) than in typical CJDMM1

Como nascem e a quem interessam os mitos na agricultura brasileira?

O presente texto procura entender a origem e a essência dos mitos sobre o agro brasileiro, os quais alimentam narrativas prejudiciais à imagem da agricultura nacional que tem se destacado na obtenção da segurança alimentar interna e contribuído para a alimentação de parte da população mundial. A metodologia utilizada é tipicamente qualitativa, tendo como abordagem um enquadramento por autores institucionalistas e neo-institucionalistas e como método de procedimento a análise dos discursos míticos presentes na literatura, na mídia convencional e nas redes sociais. Em continuação, contrapõe-se argumentos contrários aos discursos míticos visando caracterizar uma controvérsia que ajude a entender o que se objetiva ao defender um mito. Pretende-se com ele contribuir para posicionar os debates em um nível menos impregnado de subjetividade e mais fundamentado em evidências empíricas

Como nascem e a quem interessam os mitos na agricultura brasileira?

O presente texto procura entender a origem e a essência dos mitos sobre o agro brasileiro, os quais alimentam narrativas prejudiciais à imagem da agricultura nacional que tem se destacado na obtenção da segurança alimentar interna e contribuído para alimentação de parte da população mundial. A metodologia utilizada é tipicamente qualitativa, tendo como abordagem um enquadramento por autores institucionalistas e neo-institucionalistas e como método de procedimento a análise dos discursos míticos presentes na literatura, na mídia convencional e nas redes sociais. Em continuação, contrapõe-se argumentos contrários aos discursos míticos visando caracterizar uma controvérsia que ajude a entender o que se objetiva ao defender um mito. Pretende-se com o mesmo contribuir para posicionar os debates em um nível menos impregnado de subjetividade e mais fundamentado em evidências empíricas.Título em inglês: How are myths born in brazilian agriculture and who is interested in? Grupo de Trabalho (GT): 13 Temas emergentes no agronegócio. Sober 2021, EBPC 2021. Evento online