Critical congenital heart disease screening by pulse oximetry in a neonatal intensive care unit.

ObjectiveCritical congenital heart disease (CCHD) screening is effective in asymptomatic late preterm and term newborn infants with a low false-positive rate (0.035%). (1) To compare 2817 neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) discharges before and after implementation of CCHD screening; and (2) to evaluate CCHD screening at <35 weeks gestation.Study designCollection of results of CCHD screening including pre- and postductal pulse oximetry oxygen saturation (SpO2) values.ResultDuring the pre-CCHD screen period, 1247 infants were discharged from the NICU and one case of CCHD was missed. After 1 March 2012, 1508 CCHD screens were performed among 1570 discharges and no CCHDs were missed. The pre- and postductal SpO2 values were 98.8 ± 1.4% and 99 ± 1.3%, respectively, in preterm and 98.9 ± 1.3% and 98.9 ± 1.4%, respectively, in term infants. Ten infants had false-positive screens (10/1508 = 0.66%).ConclusionPerforming universal screening in the NICU is feasible but is associated with a higher false-positive rate compared with asymptomatic newborn infants

Big brother is watching - using digital disease surveillance tools for near real-time forecasting

Abstract for the International Journal of Infectious Diseases 79 (S1) (2019).https://www.ijidonline.com/article/S1201-9712(18)34659-9/abstractPublished versio

Study of Apollo water impact. Volume 11 - User's manual for unsymmetric shell of revolution analysis Final report

Users manual on static and dynamic computer programs on linear elastic thin shell theory - Apollo command module water impac

Online Causal Inference for Advertising in Real-Time Bidding Auctions

Real-time bidding (RTB) systems, which leverage auctions to programmatically allocate user impressions to multiple competing advertisers, continue to enjoy widespread success in digital advertising. Assessing the effectiveness of such advertising remains a lingering challenge in research and practice. This paper presents a new experimental design to perform causal inference on advertising bought through such mechanisms. Our method leverages the economic structure of first- and second-price auctions, which are ubiquitous in RTB systems, embedded within a multi-armed bandit (MAB) setup for online adaptive experimentation. We implement it via a modified Thompson sampling (TS) algorithm that estimates causal effects of advertising while minimizing the costs of experimentation to the advertiser by simultaneously learning the optimal bidding policy that maximizes her expected payoffs from auction participation. Simulations show that not only the proposed method successfully accomplishes the advertiser's goals, but also does so at a much lower cost than more conventional experimentation policies aimed at performing causal inference

Classification of irreps and invariants of the N-extended Supersymmetric Quantum Mechanics

We present an algorithmic classification of the irreps of the $N$-extended one-dimensional supersymmetry algebra linearly realized on a finite number of fields. Our work is based on the 1-to-1 \cite{pt} correspondence between Weyl-type Clifford algebras (whose irreps are fully classified) and classes of irreps of the $N$-extended 1D supersymmetry. The complete classification of irreps is presented up to $N\leq 10$. The fields of an irrep are accommodated in $l$ different spin states. N=10 is the minimal value admitting length $l>4$ irreps. The classification of length-4 irreps of the N=12 and {\em real} N=11 extended supersymmetries is also explicitly presented.\par Tensoring irreps allows us to systematically construct manifestly ($N$-extended) supersymmetric multi-linear invariants {\em without} introducing a superspace formalism. Multi-linear invariants can be constructed both for {\em unconstrained} and {\em multi-linearly constrained} fields. A whole class of off-shell invariant actions are produced in association with each irreducible representation. The explicit example of the N=8 off-shell action of the $(1,8,7)$ multiplet is presented.\par Tensoring zero-energy irreps leads us to the notion of the {\em fusion algebra} of the 1D $N$-extended supersymmetric vacua.Comment: Final version to appear in JHEP. 52 pages. The part with the complete classification of irreps (and the explicit presentation of length-4 irreps of N=9,10,11,12 and N=10 length-5 irreps) is unchanged. An extra section has been added with an entire class of off-shell invariant actions for arbitrary values N of the 1D extended supersymmetry. A non-trivial N=8 off-shell action for the (1,8,7) multiplet has been constructed as an example. It is obtained in terms of the octonionic structure constant

Quaternionic and Octonionic Spinors. A Classification

Quaternionic and octonionic realizations of Clifford algebras and spinors are classified and explicitly constructed in terms of recursive formulas. The most general free dynamics in arbitrary signature space-times for both quaternionic and octonionic spinors is presented. In the octonionic case we further provide a systematic list of results and tables expressing, e.g., the relations of the octonionic Clifford algebras with the $G_2$ cosets over the Lorentz algebras, the identities satisfied by the higher-rank antisymmetric octonionic tensors and so on. Applications of these results range from the classification of octonionic generalized supersymmetries, the construction of octonionic superstrings, as well as the investigations concerning the recently discovered octonionic $M$-superalgebra and its superconformal extension.Comment: 24 pages, LaTe

The genetics of situs inversus without primary ciliary dyskinesia

Situs inversus (SI), a left-right mirror reversal of the visceral organs, can occur with recessive Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia (PCD). However, most people with SI do not have PCD, and the etiology of their condition remains poorly studied. We sequenced the genomes of 15 people with SI, of which six had PCD, as well as 15 controls. Subjects with non-PCD SI in this sample had an elevated rate of left-handedness (five out of nine), which suggested possible developmental mechanisms linking brain and body laterality. The six SI subjects with PCD all had likely recessive mutations in genes already known to cause PCD. Two non-PCD SI cases also had recessive mutations in known PCD genes, suggesting reduced penetrance for PCD in some SI cases. One non-PCD SI case had recessive mutations in PKD1L1, and another in CFAP52 (also known as WDR16). Both of these genes have previously been linked to SI without PCD. However, five of the nine non-PCD SI cases, including three of the left-handers in this dataset, had no obvious monogenic basis for their condition. Environmental influences, or possible random effects in early development, must be considered

Hermitian versus holomorphic complex and quaternionic generalized supersymmetries of the M-theory. A classification

Relying upon the division-algebra classification of Clifford algebras and spinors, a classification of generalized supersymmetries (or, with a slight abuse of language,"generalized supertranslations") is provided. In each given space-time the maximal, saturated, generalized supersymmetry, compatible with the division-algebra constraint that can be consistently imposed on spinors and on superalgebra generators, is furnished. Constraining the superalgebra generators in both the complex and the quaternionic cases gives rise to the two classes of constrained hermitian and holomorphic generalized supersymmetries. In the complex case these two classes of generalized supersymmetries can be regarded as complementary. The quaternionic holomorphic supersymmetry only exists in certain space-time dimensions and can admit at most a single bosonic scalar central charge. The results here presented pave the way for a better understanding of the various $M$ algebra-type of structures which can be introduced in different space-time signatures and in association with different division algebras, as well as their mutual relations. In a previous work, e.g., the introduction of a complex holomorphic generalized supersymmetry was shown to be necessary in order to perform the analytic continuation of the standard $M$-theory to the 11-dimensional Euclidean space. As an application of the present results, it is shown that the above algebra also admits a 12-dimensional, Euclidean, $F$-algebra presentation.Comment: 25 pages, LaTe

Satellite laser ranging work at the Goddard Space Flight Center

Laser ranging systems, their range and accuracy capabilities, and planned improvements for future systems are discussed, the systems include one fixed and two mobile lasers ranging systems. They have demonstrated better than 10 cm accuracy both on a carefully surveyed ground range and in regular satellite ranging operations. They are capable of ranging to all currently launched retroreflector equipped satellites with the exception of Timation III. A third mobile system is discussed which will be accurate to better than 5 cm and will be capable of ranging to distant satellites such as Timation III and LAGEOS

On Supergroups with Odd Clifford Parameters and Supersymmetry with Modified Leibniz Rule

We investigate supergroups with Grassmann parameters replaced by odd Clifford parameters. The connection with non-anticommutative supersymmetry is discussed. A Berezin-like calculus for odd Clifford variables is introduced. Fermionic covariant derivatives for supergroups with odd Clifford variables are derived. Applications to supersymmetric quantum mechanics are made. Deformations of the original supersymmetric theories are encountered when the fermionic covariant derivatives do not obey the graded Leibniz property. The simplest non-trivial example is given by the N=2 SQM with a real $(1,2,1)$ multiplet and a cubic potential. The action is real. Depending on the overall sign ("Euclidean" or "Lorentzian") of the deformation, a Bender-Boettcher pseudo-hermitian hamiltonian is encountered when solving the equation of motion of the auxiliary field. A possible connection of our framework with the Drinfeld twist deformation of supersymmetry is pointed out.Comment: Final version to be published in Int. J. Mod. Phys. A; 20 page