Non-integrable stable approximation by Stein's method

We develop Stein's method for $\alpha$-stable approximation with $\alpha\in(0,1]$, continuing the recent line of research by Xu \cite{lihu} and Chen, Nourdin and Xu \cite{C-N-X} in the case $\alpha\in(1,2).$ The main results include an intrinsic upper bound for the error of the approximation in a variant of Wasserstein distance that involves the characterizing differential operators for stable distributions, and an application to the generalized central limit theorem. Due to the lack of first moment for the approximating sequence in the latter result, we appeal to an additional truncation procedure and investigate fine regularity properties of the solution to Stein's equation

Subwavelength grating coupler

A method, system or device for configuring an optical coupling device including obtaining characteristics of an optical signal and ambient conditions for storage in memory, utilizing a processor for identifying an optimum effective subwavelength area refractive index and a grating period for the input signal and ambient characteristics stored in memory, and utilizing the processor for identifying a preferred filling factor for a transverse polarization.Board of Regents, University of Texas Syste

Alteration of T cell immunity by lentiviral transduction of human monocyte-derived dendritic cells

BACKGROUND: Dendritic cells (DCs) are professional antigen-presenting cells that play important roles during human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection. HIV-1 derived lentiviral vectors (LVs) transduce DCs at high efficiency but their effects on DC functions have not been carefully studied. Modification of DCs using LVs may lead to important applications in transplantation, treatment of cancer, autoimmune and infectious diseases. RESULTS: Using DCs prepared from multiple blood donors, we report that LV transduction of DCs resulted in altered DC phenotypes and functions. Lentiviral transduction of DCs resulted in down-regulation of cell surface molecules including CD1a, co-stimulatory molecules CD80, CD86, ICAM-1, and DC-SIGN. DCs transduced with LVs displayed a diminished capacity to polarize naive T cells to differentiate into Th1 effectors. This impaired Th1 response could be fully corrected by co-transduction of DCs with LVs encoding interleukin-12 (IL-12), interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), or small interfering RNA (siRNA) targeting IL-10. CONCLUSIONS: DCs transduced with LVs in vitro displayed diminished Th1 functions due to altered DC phenotypes. Our study addresses an important issue concerning lentiviral infection and modification of DC functions, and provides a rational approach using LVs for immunotherapy

Multivariate stable approximation in Wasserstein distance by Stein's method

We investigate regularity properties of the solution to Stein's equation associated with multivariate integrable $\alpha$-stable distribution for a general class of spectral measures and Lipschitz test functions. The obtained estimates induce an upper bound in Wasserstein distance for the multivariate $\alpha$-stable approximation