Influencing dynamics on social networks without knowledge of network microstructure

Social network based information campaigns can be used for promoting beneficial health behaviours and mitigating polarisation (e.g. regarding climate change or vaccines). Network-based intervention strategies typically rely on full knowledge of network structure. It is largely not possible or desirable to obtain population-level social network data due to availability and privacy issues. It is easier to obtain information about individuals’ attributes (e.g. age, income), which are jointly informative of an individual’s opinions and their social network position. We investigate strategies for influencing the system state in a statistical mechanics based model of opinion formation. Using synthetic and data based examples we illustrate the advantages of implementing coarse-grained influence strategies on Ising models with modular structure in the presence of external fields. Our work provides a scalable methodology for influencing Ising systems on large graphs and the first exploration of the Ising influence problem in the presence of ambient (social) fields. By exploiting the observation that strong ambient fields can simplify control of networked dynamics, our findings open the possibility of efficiently computing and implementing public information campaigns using insights from social network theory without costly or invasive levels of data collection

Towards precision medicine for hypertension: a review of genomic, epigenomic, and microbiomic effects on blood pressure in experimental rat models and humans

Compelling evidence for the inherited nature of essential hypertension has led to extensive research in rats and humans. Rats have served as the primary model for research on the genetics of hypertension resulting in identification of genomic regions that are causally associated with hypertension. In more recent times, genome-wide studies in humans have also begun to improve our understanding of the inheritance of polygenic forms of hypertension. Based on the chronological progression of research into the genetics of hypertension as the "structural backbone," this review catalogs and discusses the rat and human genetic elements mapped and implicated in blood pressure regulation. Furthermore, the knowledge gained from these genetic studies that provide evidence to suggest that much of the genetic influence on hypertension residing within noncoding elements of our DNA and operating through pervasive epistasis or gene-gene interactions is highlighted. Lastly, perspectives on current thinking that the more complex "triad" of the genome, epigenome, and the microbiome operating to influence the inheritance of hypertension, is documented. Overall, the collective knowledge gained from rats and humans is disappointing in the sense that major hypertension-causing genes as targets for clinical management of essential hypertension may not be a clinical reality. On the other hand, the realization that the polygenic nature of hypertension prevents any single locus from being a relevant clinical target for all humans directs future studies on the genetics of hypertension towards an individualized genomic approach

Controlled laser texturing of titanium results in reliable osteointegration

We have developed a laser-textured superhydrophilic Ti-6Al-4V surface with unique surface chemistry and topography that substantially promotes osteoblast adhesion in culture. Here we investigate the osteointegration of laser-textured implants in an ovine model. Our hypothesis was that laser-textured implants, without any surface coating (LT), would encourage comparable amounts of bone-implant contact and interfacial strength when compared with widely accepted hydroxyapatite (HA) coated implants. Additionally, we hypothesized that LT would significantly increase bony integration compared with machine-finished (MF) and grit-blasted (GB) implants. Forty-eight tapered transcortical pins were implanted into six sheep. Four experimental groups (LT, HA, MF, and GB) were investigated (n = 12) and implants remained in vivo for 6 weeks. Bone apposition rates, interfacial shear strength, and bone-implant contact (BIC) were quantified. The interfacial strength of LT and HA implants were found to be significantly greater than GB (p = 0.032 and p = 0.004) and MF (p = 0.004 and p = 0.004, respectively), but no significant difference between LT and HA implants was observed. Significantly increased BIC was measured adjacent to HA implants when compared with both LT and GB implant surfaces (p = 0.022 and p = 0.006, respectively). No significant difference was found when LT and GB implants were compared. However, all surface finishes encouraged significantly increased BIC when compared with the MF surface. Maximizing implant fixation to host bone is vital for its long-term success. The production of an LT surface is a simple and cheap manufacturing process and this study demonstrated that laser-textured implants are a very promising technical development that warrants further research. © 2016 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res

Sensitivity Analysis of Grain Surface Chemistry to Binding Energies of Ice Species

Advanced telescopes, such as ALMA and the James Webb Space Telescope, are likely to show that the chemical universe may be even more complex than currently observed, requiring astrochemical modelers to improve their models to account for the impact of new data. However, essential input information for gas‑grain models, such as binding energies of molecules to the surface, have been derived experimentally only for a handful of species, leaving hundreds of species with highly uncertain estimates. We present in this paper a systematic study of the effect of uncertainties in the binding energies on an astrochemical two-phase model of a dark molecular cloud, using the rate equations approach. A list of recommended binding energy values based on a literature search of published data is presented. Thousands of simulations of dark cloud models were run, and in each simulation a value for the binding energy of hundreds of species was randomly chosen from a normal distribution. Our results show that the binding energy of H2 is critical for the surface chemistry. For high binding energies, H2 freezes out on the grain forming an H2 ice. This is not physically realistic, and we suggest a change in the rate equations. The abundance ranges found are in reasonable agreement with astronomical ice observations. Pearson correlation coefficients revealed that the binding energy of HCO, HNO, CH2, and C correlate most strongly with the abundance of dominant ice species. Finally, the formation route of complex organic molecules was found to be sensitive to the branching ratios of H2CO hydrogenation

Impairments in Attention in Occasionally Snoring Children: An Event-Related Potential Study

Objective—To determine whether minimal snoring is benign in children. Procedure—22 rarely snoring children (mean age=6.9 years, 11 females) and age- and sexmatched controls participated in an auditory oddball task wearing 128-electrode nets. Parents completed Conner’s Parent Rating Scales-Revised Long (CPRS-R:L). Results—Snorers scored significantly higher on 4 CPRS-R:L subscales. Stepwise regression indicated that two ERP variables from a region of the ERP that peaked at 844 ms post-stimulus onset predicted CPRS-R:L ADHD Index scores. Conclusions—Occasional snorers according to parental report do exhibit ADHD-like behaviors. Basic sensory processing is longer than in controls, suggesting that delayed frontal activation requires more effort in snorers

The impact of constructive operating lease capitalisation on key accounting ratios

Current UK lease accounting regulation does not require operating leases to be capitalised in the accounts of lessees, although this is likely to change with the publication of FRS 5. This study conducts a prospective analysis of the effects of such a change. The potential magnitude of the impact of lease capitalisation upon individual users' decisions, market valuations, company cash flows, and managers' behaviour can be indicated by the effect on key accounting ratios, which are employed in decision-making and in financial contracts. The capitalised value of operating leases is estimated using a method similar to that suggested by Imhoff, Lipe and Wright (1991), adapted for the UK accounting and tax environment, and developed to incorporate company-specific assumptions. Results for 1994 for a random sample of 300 listed UK companies show that, on average, the unrecorded long-term liability represented 39% of reported long-term debt, while the unrecorded asset represented 6% of total assets. Capitalisation had a significant impact (at the 1% level) on six of the nine selected ratios (profit margin, return on assets, asset turnover, and three measures of gearing). Moreover, the Spearman rank correlation between each ratio before and after capitalisation revealed that the ranking of companies changed markedly for gearing measures in particular. There were significant inter-industry variations, with the services sector experiencing the greatest impact. An analysis of the impact of capitalisation over the five-year period from 1990 to 1994 showed that capitalisation had the greatest impact during the trough of the recession. Results were shown to be robust with respect to key assumptions of the capitalisation method. These findings contribute to the assessment of the economic consequences of a policy change requiring operating lease capitalisation. Significant changes in the magnitude of key accounting ratios and a major shift in company performance rankings suggest that interested parties' decisions and company cash flows are likely to be affected

Impairments in attention in occasionally snoring children: An event-related potential study.

Objective: To determine whether minimal snoring is benign in children. Procedure: 22 rarely snoring children (mean age = 6.9 years, 11 females) and age- and sex-matched controls participated in an auditory oddball task wearing 128-electrode nets. Parents completed the Conners Parent Rating Scales–Revised Long (CPRS–R:L). Results: Snorers scored significantly higher on four CPRS-R:L subscales. Stepwise regression indicated that two ERP variables from a region of the ERP that peaked at 844 msec post-stimulus onset predicted CPRS-R:L Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Index scores. Conclusions: Occasional snorers, according to parental report, do exhibit ADHD-like behaviors. Basic sensory processing is longer than in controls, suggesting that delayed frontal activation requires more effort in snorers

First Acetic Acid Survey with CARMA in Hot Molecular Cores

Acetic acid (CH$_3$COOH) has been detected mainly in hot molecular cores where the distribution between oxygen (O) and nitrogen (N) containing molecular species is co-spatial within the telescope beam. Previous work has presumed that similar cores with co-spatial O and N species may be an indicator for detecting acetic acid. However, does this presumption hold as higher spatial resolution observations become available of large O and N-containing molecules? As the number of detected acetic acid sources is still low, more observations are needed to support this postulate. In this paper, we report the first acetic acid survey conducted with the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy (CARMA) at 3 mm wavelengths towards G19.61-0.23, G29.96-0.02 and IRAS 16293-2422. We have successfully detected CH$_3$COOH via two transitions toward G19.61-0.23 and tentatively confirmed the detection toward IRAS 16293-2422 A. The determined column density of CH$_3$COOH is 2.0(1.0)$\times 10^{16}$ cm$^{-2}$ and the abundance ratio of CH$_3$COOH to methyl formate (HCOOCH$_3$) is 2.2(0.1)$\times 10^{-1}$ toward G19.61-0.23. Toward IRAS 16293 A, the determined column density of CH$_3$COOH is $\sim$ 1.6 $\times 10^{15}$ cm$^{-2}$ and the abundance ratio of CH$_3$COOH to methyl formate (HCOOCH$_3$) is $\sim$ 1.0 $\times 10^{-1}$ both of which are consistent with abundance ratios determined toward other hot cores. Finally, we model all known line emission in our passband to determine physical conditions in the regions and introduce a new metric to better reveal weak spectral features that are blended with stronger lines or that may be near the 1-2$\sigma$ detection limit.Comment: 28 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in the ApJ; Revised citation in session 2, references remove

Genomic analysis reveals neutral and adaptive patterns that challenge the current management regime for East Atlantic cod Gadus morhua L

Challenging long‐held perceptions of fish management units can help to protect vulnerable stocks. When a fishery consisting of multiple genetic stocks is managed as a single unit, overexploitation and depletion of minor genetic units can occur. Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) is an economically and ecologically important marine species across the North Atlantic. The application of new genomic resources, including SNP arrays, allows us to detect and explore novel structure within specific cod management units. In Norwegian waters, coastal cod (i.e. those not undertaking extensive migrations) are divided into two arbitrary management units defined by ICES: one between 62° and 70°N (Norwegian coastal cod; NCC) and one between 58° and 62°N (Norwegian coastal south; NCS). Together, these capture a fishery area of >25,000 km2 containing many spawning grounds. To assess whether these geographic units correctly represent genetic stocks, we analysed spawning cod of NCC and NCS for more than 8,000 SNPs along with samples of Russian White Sea cod, north‐east Arctic cod (NEAC: the largest Atlantic stock), and outgroup samples representing the Irish and Faroe Sea's. Our analyses revealed large differences in spatial patterns of genetic differentiation across the genome and revealed a complex biological structure within NCC and NCS. Haplotype maps from four chromosome sets show regional specific SNP indicating a complex genetic structure. The current management plan dividing the coastal cod into only two management units does not accurately reflect the genetic units and needs to be revised. Coastal cod in Norway, while highly heterogenous, is also genetically distinct from neighbouring stocks in the north (NEAC), west (Faroe Island) and the south. The White Sea cod are highly divergent from other cod, possibly yielding support to the earlier notion of subspecies rank.publishedVersio