Or, The Triumph of the Trust

Morganeering is a satire on capitalism in the era of the "Robber Barons" like John Rockefeller, Henry Ford and John Pierpont Morgan. Their success at consolidating industries is taken to extremes by the novel's capitalist villain, Jonathan Wondergilt. Most of the novel depicts how Wondergilt came to own the entire world, how he maintained and supported his powers, and how such greed brought misery to people everywhere

A Bayesian approach to the analysis of time symmetry in light curves: Reconsidering Scorpius X-1 occultations

We present a new approach to the analysis of time symmetry in light curves, such as those in the x-ray at the center of the Scorpius X-1 occultation debate. Our method uses a new parameterization for such events (the bilogistic event profile) and provides a clear, physically relevant characterization of each event's key features. We also demonstrate a Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm to carry out this analysis, including a novel independence chain configuration for the estimation of each event's location in the light curve. These tools are applied to the Scorpius X-1 light curves presented in Chang et al. (2007), providing additional evidence based on the time series that the events detected thus far are most likely not occultations by TNOs.Comment: 24 pages, 18 figures. Preprint typeset using LaTeX style emulateapj v. 04/20/0

Language and iconic gesture use in procedural discourse by speakers with aphasia

Background: Conveying instructions is an everyday use of language, and gestures are likely to be a key feature of this. Although co-speech iconic gestures are tightly integrated with language, and people with aphasia (PWA) produce procedural discourses impaired at a linguistic level, no previous studies have investigated how PWA use co-speech iconic gestures in these contexts.Aims: This study investigated how PWA communicated meaning using gesture and language in procedural discourses, compared with neurologically healthy people (NHP). We aimed to identify the relative relationship of gesture and speech, in the context of impaired language, both overall and in individual events.Methods & Procedures: Twenty-nine PWA and 29 NHP produced two procedural discourses. The structure and semantic content of language of the whole discourses were analysed through predicate argument structure and spatial motor terms, and gestures were analysed for frequency and semantic form. Gesture and language were analysed in two key events, to determine the relative information presented in each modality.Outcomes & Results: PWA and NHP used similar frequencies and forms of gestures, although PWA used syntactically simpler language and fewer spatial words. This meant, overall, relatively more information was present in PWA gesture. This finding was also reflected in the key events, where PWA used gestures conveying rich semantic information alongside semantically impoverished language more often than NHP.Conclusions: PWA gestures, containing semantic information omitted from the concurrent speech, may help listeners with meaning when language is impaired. This finding indicates gesture should be included in clinical assessments of meaning-making

Do bilinguals have different concepts? The case of shape and material in Japanese L2 users of English

An experiment investigated whether Japanese speakers’ categorisation of objects and substances as shape or material is influenced by acquiring English, based on Imai and Gentner (1997). Subjects were presented with an item such as a cork pyramid and asked to choose between two other items that matched it for shape (plastic pyramid) or for material (piece of cork). The hypotheses were that for simple objects the number of shape-based categorisations would increase according to experience of English and that the preference for shape and material-based categorisations of Japanese speakers of English would differ from mono¬lingual speakers of both languages. Subjects were 18 adult Japanese users of English who had lived in English-speaking countries between 6 months and 3 years (short-stay group), and 18 who had lived in English-speaking countries for 3 years or more (long-stay group). Both groups achieved above criterion on an English vocabulary test. Results were: both groups preferred material responses for simple objects and substances but not for complex objects, in line with Japanese mono¬linguals, but the long-stay group showed more shape preference than the short-stay group and also were less different from Americans. These effects of acquiring a second language on categorisation have implications for conceptual representation and methodology

The TAOS Project: Upper Bounds on the Population of Small KBOs and Tests of Models of Formation and Evolution of the Outer Solar System

We have analyzed the first 3.75 years of data from TAOS, the Taiwanese American Occultation Survey. TAOS monitors bright stars to search for occultations by Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs). This dataset comprises 5e5 star-hours of multi-telescope photometric data taken at 4 or 5 Hz. No events consistent with KBO occultations were found in this dataset. We compute the number of events expected for the Kuiper Belt formation and evolution models of Pan & Sari (2005), Kenyon & Bromley (2004), Benavidez & Campo Bagatin (2009), and Fraser (2009). A comparison with the upper limits we derive from our data constrains the parameter space of these models. This is the first detailed comparison of models of the KBO size distribution with data from an occultation survey. Our results suggest that the KBO population is comprised of objects with low internal strength and that planetary migration played a role in the shaping of the size distribution.Comment: 18 pages, 16 figures, Aj submitte

Evolutionary Multi-Objective Design of SARS-CoV-2 Protease Inhibitor Candidates

Computational drug design based on artificial intelligence is an emerging research area. At the time of writing this paper, the world suffers from an outbreak of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. A promising way to stop the virus replication is via protease inhibition. We propose an evolutionary multi-objective algorithm (EMOA) to design potential protease inhibitors for SARS-CoV-2's main protease. Based on the SELFIES representation the EMOA maximizes the binding of candidate ligands to the protein using the docking tool QuickVina 2, while at the same time taking into account further objectives like drug-likeliness or the fulfillment of filter constraints. The experimental part analyzes the evolutionary process and discusses the inhibitor candidates.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, submitted to PPSN 202

TREM2, Tau and ApoE in choroid plexus in AD pathology

Background: Genetic factors that influence AD risk include mutations in TREM2 and allelic variants of Apolipoprotein-E, influencing AD pathology in the general population and in Down syndrome (DS). Evidence shows that dysfunction of the choroid plexus (CP) may compromise the blood-CSF barrier, altering secretary, transport and immune function that can affect AD pathology Objective: To investigate the genotype and phenotype of DS individuals in relation to choroid plexus damage and blood-CSF barrier leakage to identify markers that could facilitate early diagnosis of AD in DS. Methods: To assess allele frequency and haplotype associations ApoE, Tau, TREM2 and HLADR were analysed by SNP analysis in DS participants (n=47) and controls (n = 50). The corresponding plasma protein levels were measured by ELISA. Post-mortem brains from DS, AD and age matched controls were analysed by immunohistochemistry. Results: Haplotype analysis showed that individuals with Tau H1/H1 and ApoE 4 genotypes were more prevalent among DS participants with an earlier diagnosis of dementia (17%) compared to H1/H2 haplotypes (6%). Plasma TREM2 levels decreased whereas phospho-Tau levels increased with age in DS. In AD and DS brain insoluble Tau and ApoE were found to accumulate in the choroid plexus. Conclusion: Accumulation of Tau and ApoE in the choroid plexus may increase the oligomerisation rate of Aβ42 and impair Tau trafficking, leading to AD pathology. We have identified a high-risk haplotype: ApoE 4, Tau/ H1 and TREM2/T, that manifests age-related changes potentially opening a window for treatment many years prior to the manifestation of the AD dementia

Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy in field line diffusion by anisotropic magnetic turbulence

The Kolmogorov-Sinai (KS) entropy in turbulent diffusion of magnetic field lines is analyzed on the basis of a numerical simulation model and theoretical investigations. In the parameter range of strongly anisotropic magnetic turbulence the KS entropy is shown to deviate considerably from the earlier predicted scaling relations [Rev. Mod. Phys. {\bf 64}, 961 (1992)]. In particular, a slowing down logarithmic behavior versus the so-called Kubo number $R\gg 1$ ($R = (\delta B / B_0) (\xi_\| / \xi_\bot)$, where $\delta B / B_0$ is the ratio of the rms magnetic fluctuation field to the magnetic field strength, and $\xi_\bot$ and $\xi_\|$ are the correlation lengths in respective dimensions) is found instead of a power-law dependence. These discrepancies are explained from general principles of Hamiltonian dynamics. We discuss the implication of Hamiltonian properties in governing the paradigmatic "percolation" transport, characterized by $R\to\infty$, associating it with the concept of pseudochaos (random non-chaotic dynamics with zero Lyapunov exponents). Applications of this study pertain to both fusion and astrophysical plasma and by mathematical analogy to problems outside the plasma physics. This research article is dedicated to the memory of Professor George M. ZaslavskyComment: 15 pages, 2 figures. Accepted for publication on Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusio