2,044 research outputs found
Sublinear bounds on the distinguishing advantage for multiple samples
The maximal achievable advantage of a (computationally unbounded) distinguisher to determine whether a source Z is distributed according to distribution or , when given access to one sample of Z, is characterized by the statistical distance . Here, we study the distinguishing advantage when given access to several i.i.d. samples of Z. For n samples, the advantage is then naturally given by , which can be bounded as . This bound is tight for some choices of and ; thus, in general, a linear increase in the distinguishing advantage is unavoidable. In this work, we show new and improved bounds on that circumvent the above pessimistic observation. Our bounds assume, necessarily, certain additional information on and/or beyond, or instead of, a bound on ; in return, the bounds grow as , rather than linearly in n. Thus, whenever applicable, our bounds show that the number of samples necessary to distinguish the two distributions is substantially larger than what the standard bound would suggest. Such bounds have already been suggested in previous literature, but our new bounds are more general and (partly) stronger, and thus applicable to a larger class of instances. In a second part, we extend our results to a modified setting, where the distinguisher only has indirect access to the source Z. By this we mean that instead of obtaining samples of Z, the distinguisher now obtains i.i.d. samples that are chosen according to a probability distribution that depends on the (one) value produced by the source Z. Finally, we offer applications of our bounds to the area of cryptography. We show on a few examples from the cryptographic literature how our bounds give rise to improved results. For instance, importing our bounds into the analyses of Blondeau et al. for the security of block ciphers against multidimensional linear and truncated differential attacks, we obtain immediate improvements to their results
Quantum Black Holes from Cosmic Rays
We investigate the possibility for cosmic ray experiments to discover
non-thermal small black holes with masses in the TeV range. Such black holes
would result due to the impact between ultra high energy cosmic rays or
neutrinos with nuclei from the upper atmosphere and decay instantaneously. They
could be produced copiously if the Planck scale is in the few TeV region. As
their masses are close to the Planck scale, these holes would typically decay
into two particles emitted back-to-back. Depending on the angles between the
emitted particles with respect to the center of mass direction of motion, it is
possible for the simultaneous showers to be measured by the detectors.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure
A Comprehensive Analysis of Electric Dipole Moment Constraints on CP-violating Phases in the MSSM
We analyze the constraints placed on individual, flavor diagonal CP-violating
phases in the minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (MSSM) by
current experimental bounds on the electric dipole moments (EDMs) of the
neutron, Thallium, and Mercury atoms. We identify the four CP-violating phases
that are individually highly constrained by current EDM bounds, and we explore
how these phases and correlations among them are constrained by current EDM
limits. We also analyze the prospective implications of the next generation of
EDM experiments. We point out that all other CP-violating phases in the MSSM
are not nearly as tightly constrained by limits on the size of EDMs. We
emphasize that a rich set of phenomenological consequences is potentially
associated with these generically large EDM-allowed phases, ranging from B
physics, electroweak baryogenesis, and signals of CP-violation at the CERN
Large Hadron Collider and at future linear colliders. Our numerical study takes
into account the complete set of contributions from one- and two-loop EDMs of
the electron and quarks, one- and two-loop Chromo-EDMs of quarks, the Weinberg
3-gluon operator, and dominant 4-fermion CP-odd operator contributions,
including contributions which are both included and not included yet in the
CPsuperH2.0 package. We also introduce an open-source numerical package, 2LEDM,
which provides the complete set of two-loop electroweak diagrams contributing
to the electric dipole moments of leptons and quarks.Comment: 23 pages, 11 figures; v2: references added, minor change
Theoretical survey of tidal-charged black holes at the LHC
We analyse a family of brane-world black holes which solve the effective
four-dimensional Einstein equations for a wide range of parameters related to
the unknown bulk/brane physics. We first constrain the parameters using known
experimental bounds and, for the allowed cases, perform a numerical analysis of
their time evolution, which includes accretion through the Earth. The study is
aimed at predicting the typical behavior one can expect if such black holes
were produced at the LHC. Most notably, we find that, under no circumstances,
would the black holes reach the (hazardous) regime of Bondi accretion.
Nonetheless, the possibility remains that black holes live long enough to
escape from the accelerator (and even from the Earth's gravitational field) and
result in missing energy from the detectors.Comment: RevTeX4, 12 pages, 4 figures, 5 tables, minor changes to match the
accepted version in JHE
A Submodular Approach for Reference Recommendation
© 2020, Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. Choosing appropriate references for a given topic is an important, yet challenging task. The pool of potential candidates is typically very large, in the order of tens of thousands, and growing by the day. For this reason, this paper proposes an approach for automatically providing a reference list for a given manuscript. The approach is based on an original submodular inference function which balances relevance, coverage and diversity in the reference list. Experiments are carried out using an ACL corpus as a source for the references and evaluated by MAP, MRR and precision-recall. The results show the remarkable comparative performance of the proposed approach
Minimum length effects in black hole physics
We review the main consequences of the possible existence of a minimum
measurable length, of the order of the Planck scale, on quantum effects
occurring in black hole physics. In particular, we focus on the ensuing minimum
mass for black holes and how modified dispersion relations affect the Hawking
decay, both in four space-time dimensions and in models with extra spatial
dimensions. In the latter case, we briefly discuss possible phenomenological
signatures.Comment: 29 pages, 12 figures. To be published in "Quantum Aspects of Black
Holes", ed. X. Calmet (Springer, 2014
Advances in Human-Robot Handshaking
The use of social, anthropomorphic robots to support humans in various
industries has been on the rise. During Human-Robot Interaction (HRI),
physically interactive non-verbal behaviour is key for more natural
interactions. Handshaking is one such natural interaction used commonly in many
social contexts. It is one of the first non-verbal interactions which takes
place and should, therefore, be part of the repertoire of a social robot. In
this paper, we explore the existing state of Human-Robot Handshaking and
discuss possible ways forward for such physically interactive behaviours.Comment: Accepted at The 12th International Conference on Social Robotics
(ICSR 2020) 12 Pages, 1 Figur
REST mediates resolution of HIF-dependent gene expression in prolonged hypoxia
The hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) is a key regulator of the cellular response to hypoxia which promotes oxygen delivery and metabolic adaptation to oxygen deprivation. However, the degree and duration of HIF-1α expression in hypoxia must be carefully balanced within cells in order to avoid unwanted side effects associated with excessive activity. The expression of HIF-1α mRNA is suppressed in prolonged hypoxia, suggesting that the control of HIF1A gene transcription is tightly regulated by negative feedback mechanisms. Little is known about the resolution of the HIF-1α protein response and the suppression of HIF-1α mRNA in prolonged hypoxia. Here, we demonstrate that the Repressor Element 1-Silencing Transcription factor (REST) binds to the HIF-1α promoter in a hypoxia-dependent manner. Knockdown of REST using RNAi increases the expression of HIF-1α mRNA, protein and transcriptional activity. Furthermore REST knockdown increases glucose consumption and lactate production in a HIF-1α- (but not HIF-2α-) dependent manner. Finally, REST promotes the resolution of HIF-1α protein expression in prolonged hypoxia. In conclusion, we hypothesize that REST represses transcription of HIF-1α in prolonged hypoxia, thus contributing to the resolution of the HIF-1α response
Star forming dwarf galaxies
Star forming dwarf galaxies (SFDGs) have a high gas content and low
metallicities, reminiscent of the basic entities in hierarchical galaxy
formation scenarios. In the young universe they probably also played a major
role in the cosmic reionization. Their abundant presence in the local volume
and their youthful character make them ideal objects for detailed studies of
the initial stellar mass function (IMF), fundamental star formation processes
and its feedback to the interstellar medium. Occasionally we witness SFDGs
involved in extreme starbursts, giving rise to strongly elevated production of
super star clusters and global superwinds, mechanisms yet to be explored in
more detail. SFDGs is the initial state of all dwarf galaxies and the relation
to the environment provides us with a key to how different types of dwarf
galaxies are emerging. In this review we will put the emphasis on the exotic
starburst phase, as it seems less important for present day galaxy evolution
but perhaps fundamental in the initial phase of galaxy formation.Comment: To appear in JENAM Symposium "Dwarf Galaxies: Keys to Galaxy
Formation and Evolution", P. Papaderos, G. Hensler, S. Recchi (eds.). Lisbon,
September 2010, Springer Verlag, in pres
Hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha is a critical mediator of hypoxia induced apoptosis in cardiac H9c2 and kidney epithelial HK-2 cells
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Hypoxia inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) is a transcription factor that functions to maintain cellular homeostasis in response to hypoxia. There is evidence that HIF-1 can also trigger apoptosis, possibly when cellular responses are inadequate to meet energy demands under hypoxic conditions.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Cardiac derived H9c2 and renal tubular epithelial HK-2 cells expressing either the wild type oxygen regulated subunit of HIF-1 (pcDNA3-Hif-1α) or a dominant negative version that lacked both DNA binding and transactivation domains (pcDNA3-DN-Hif-1α), were maintained in culture and exposed to hypoxia. An RNA interference approach was also employed to selectively knockdown expression of Hif-1α. Apoptosis was analyzed in both H9c2 and HK-2 cells by Hoechst and TUNEL staining, caspase 3 activity assays and activation of pro-apoptotic Bcl2 family member Bax.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Overexpression of pcDNA3-DN-Hif-1α led to a significant reduction in hypoxia -induced apoptosis (17 ± 2%, <it>P </it>< 0.01) in H9c2 cells compared to both control-transfected and wild type Hif-1α transfected cells. Moreover, selective ablation of HIF-1α protein expression by RNA interference in H9c2 cells led to 55% reduction of caspase 3 activity and 46% reduction in the number of apoptotic cells as determined by Hoechst 33258 staining, after hypoxia. Finally, upregulation of the pro-apoptotic protein, Bax, was found in H9c2 cells overexpressing full-length pcDNA3-HA-HIF-1α exposed to hypoxia. In HK-2 cells overexpression of wild-type Hif-1α led to a two-fold increase in Hif-1α levels during hypoxia. This resulted in a 3.4-fold increase in apoptotic cells and a concomitant increase in caspase 3 activity during hypoxia when compared to vector transfected control cells. HIF-1α also induced upregulation of Bax in HK-2 cells. In addition, introduction of dominant negative Hif-1α constructs in both H9c2 and HK-2 -cells led to decreased active Bax expression.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These data demonstrate that HIF-1α is an important component of the apoptotic signaling machinery in the two cell types.</p
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