11,699 research outputs found
Hands-on Gravitational Wave Astronomy: Extracting astrophysical information from simulated signals
In this paper we introduce a hands-on activity in which introductory
astronomy students act as gravitational wave astronomers by extracting
information from simulated gravitational wave signals. The process mimics the
way true gravitational wave analysis will be handled by using plots of a pure
gravitational wave signal. The students directly measure the properties of the
simulated signal, and use these measurements to evaluate standard formulae for
astrophysical source parameters. An exercise based on the discussion in this
paper has been written and made publicly available online for use in
introductory laboratory courses.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures; submitted to Am. J. Phy
A survey of the treatment and management of patients with severe chronic spontaneous urticaria.
Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is characterized by the recurrent appearance of weals, angioâoedema or both, occurring at least twice weekly for longer than 6 weeks.1 It is often managed with antihistamines, but occasionally requires other systemic agents in recalcitrant cases.
A crossâsectional survey was conducted by means of an internetâbased survey tool (Typeform; https://www.typeform.com). Participating consultants with a specialist interest in urticaria were identified through the specialist registers of the British Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (BSACI), the Improving Quality in Allergy Services (IQAS) Group and the British Association of Dermatologists (BAD), and invited to take part.
The survey content was based on current CSU treatment guidelines from EAACI/GA2LEN/EDF/WAO1 and the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology (BSACI).2 The EAACI/GA2LEN/EDF/WAO guidelines are a joint initiative of the Dermatology Section of the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI), the Global Allergy and Asthma European Network (GA2LEN) (a European Unionâfunded network of excellence), the European Dermatology Forum (EDF), and the World Allergy Organization (WAO). To standardize responses, all participants were presented with a case of recalcitrant CSU (failed on maximum dose of nonsedating antihistamines and montelukast), requiring alternative systemic treatment. Questions covered usage of systemic treatments, routine disease severity assessments, adherence to treatment guidelines and perceived barriers to prescribing.
Responses (Table 1) were received from 19 UK consultants (26 surveys sent; completion rate 73%), 15 of whom had > 10 yearsâ experience in the treatment of CSU. The majority were allergy (58%) and dermatology consultants (37%). Of the 19 consultants, 56% provide a dedicated urticaria service, 37% treat both adult and paediatric patients, and the majority (79%) use systemic medications other than antihistamines and montelukast. Omalizumab and ciclosporin were the most commonly used firstâline agents (47% and 27% respectively) (Fig. 1). The majority (84%) of consultants use validated measures to assess disease severity, including the weekly Urticaria Activity Score (UASâ7, 63%), the Physician Global Assessment (63%), the Patient Global Assessment (44%) and the Dermatology Quality of Life Index (DLQI) (38%). Guidelines are used by 89% to direct their management of CSU, with 50% using the EAACI/GA2LEN/EDF/WAO guideline,1 compared with 31% primarily using the BSACI guideline.2 The main perceived barriers to prescribing systemic medications were potential adverse effects (AEs) (32% strongly agreed), potential longâterm toxicity (26% strongly agreed), cost of treatment (42% strongly agreed), and views expressed by the patient and their family (37% agreed)
Dynamic Analysis of Executables to Detect and Characterize Malware
It is needed to ensure the integrity of systems that process sensitive
information and control many aspects of everyday life. We examine the use of
machine learning algorithms to detect malware using the system calls generated
by executables-alleviating attempts at obfuscation as the behavior is monitored
rather than the bytes of an executable. We examine several machine learning
techniques for detecting malware including random forests, deep learning
techniques, and liquid state machines. The experiments examine the effects of
concept drift on each algorithm to understand how well the algorithms
generalize to novel malware samples by testing them on data that was collected
after the training data. The results suggest that each of the examined machine
learning algorithms is a viable solution to detect malware-achieving between
90% and 95% class-averaged accuracy (CAA). In real-world scenarios, the
performance evaluation on an operational network may not match the performance
achieved in training. Namely, the CAA may be about the same, but the values for
precision and recall over the malware can change significantly. We structure
experiments to highlight these caveats and offer insights into expected
performance in operational environments. In addition, we use the induced models
to gain a better understanding about what differentiates the malware samples
from the goodware, which can further be used as a forensics tool to understand
what the malware (or goodware) was doing to provide directions for
investigation and remediation.Comment: 9 pages, 6 Tables, 4 Figure
Robust automatic mapping algorithms in a network monitoring scenario
Automatically generating maps of a measured variable of interest can be problematic. In this work we focus on the monitoring network context where observations are collected and reported by a network of sensors, and are then transformed into interpolated maps for use in decision making. Using traditional geostatistical methods, estimating the covariance structure of data collected in an emergency situation can be difficult. Variogram determination, whether by method-of-moment estimators or by maximum likelihood, is very sensitive to extreme values. Even when a monitoring network is in a routine mode of operation, sensors can sporadically malfunction and report extreme values. If this extreme data destabilises the model, causing the covariance structure of the observed data to be incorrectly estimated, the generated maps will be of little value, and the uncertainty estimates in particular will be misleading. Marchant and Lark [2007] propose a REML estimator for the covariance, which is shown to work on small data sets with a manual selection of the damping parameter in the robust likelihood. We show how this can be extended to allow treatment of large data sets together with an automated approach to all parameter estimation. The projected process kriging framework of Ingram et al. [2007] is extended to allow the use of robust likelihood functions, including the two component Gaussian and the Huber function. We show how our algorithm is further refined to reduce the computational complexity while at the same time minimising any loss of information. To show the benefits of this method, we use data collected from radiation monitoring networks across Europe. We compare our results to those obtained from traditional kriging methodologies and include comparisons with Box-Cox transformations of the data. We discuss the issue of whether to treat or ignore extreme values, making the distinction between the robust methods which ignore outliers and transformation methods which treat them as part of the (transformed) process. Using a case study, based on an extreme radiological events over a large area, we show how radiation data collected from monitoring networks can be analysed automatically and then used to generate reliable maps to inform decision making. We show the limitations of the methods and discuss potential extensions to remedy these
Matrix controlled channel diffusion of sodium in amorphous silica
To find the origin of the diffusion channels observed in sodium-silicate
glasses, we have performed classical molecular dynamics simulations of
NaO--4SiO during which the mass of the Si and O atoms has been
multiplied by a tuning coefficient. We observe that the channels disappear and
that the diffusive motion of the sodium atoms vanishes if this coefficient is
larger than a threshold value. Above this threshold the vibrational states of
the matrix are not compatible with those of the sodium ions. We interpret hence
the decrease of the diffusion by the absence of resonance conditions.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Nicotine Enemas for Active Crohn's Colitis: An Open Pilot Study
Background. Smoking has a detrimental effect in Crohn's disease (CD), but this may be due to factors in smoking other than nicotine. Given that transdermal nicotine benefits ulcerative colitis (UC), and there is a considerable overlap in the treatment of UC and CD, the possible beneficial effect of nicotine has been examined in patients with Crohn's colitis. Aims. To assess the efficacy and safety of nicotine enemas in active Crohn's colitis. Patients. Thirteen patients with active rectosigmoid CD; 3 patients were excluded because they received antibiotics.
Methods. Subjects were given 6 mg nicotine enemas, each day for 4 weeks, in an open pilot study. At the beginning and end of the trial, a Crohn's disease activity index (CDAI) score was calculated, sigmoidoscopy was performed, and haematological inflammatory markers measured.
Results. Mean CDAI decreased from 202 to 153âthe score was reduced in 6 patients, unchanged in 3, and increased in one. Frequency of bowel movements decreased in 8 patients and the sigmoidoscopy grade was reduced in 7. Mean C-reactive protein decreased from 22.0 to 12.3 mg/L. There were no withdrawals due to adverse events.
Conclusions. In this relatively small study of patients with active Crohn's colitis, 6 mg nicotine enemas appeared to be of clinical benefit in most patients. They were well tolerated and safe
The Invisible Thin Red Line
The aim of this paper is to argue that the adoption of an unrestricted principle of bivalence is compatible with a metaphysics that (i) denies that the future is real, (ii) adopts nomological indeterminism, and (iii) exploits a branching structure to provide a semantics for future contingent claims. To this end, we elaborate what we call Flow Fragmentalism, a view inspired by Kit Fine (2005)âs non-standard tense realism, according to which reality is divided up into maximally coherent collections of tensed facts. In this way, we show how to reconcile a genuinely A-theoretic branching-time model with the idea that there is a branch corresponding to the thin red line, that is, the branch that will turn out to be the actual future history of the world
Orally active antischistosomal early leads identified from the open access malaria box.
BACKGROUND: Worldwide hundreds of millions of schistosomiasis patients rely on treatment with a single drug, praziquantel. Therapeutic limitations and the threat of praziquantel resistance underline the need to discover and develop next generation drugs. METHODOLOGY: We studied the antischistosomal properties of the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) malaria box containing 200 diverse drug-like and 200 probe-like compounds with confirmed in vitro activity against Plasmodium falciparum. Compounds were tested against schistosomula and adult Schistosoma mansoni in vitro. Based on in vitro performance, available pharmacokinetic profiles and toxicity data, selected compounds were investigated in vivo. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Promising antischistosomal activity (IC50: 1.4-9.5 ”M) was observed for 34 compounds against schistosomula. Three compounds presented IC50 values between 0.8 and 1.3 ”M against adult S. mansoni. Two promising early leads were identified, namely a N,N'-diarylurea and a 2,3-dianilinoquinoxaline. Treatment of S. mansoni infected mice with a single oral 400 mg/kg dose of these drugs resulted in significant worm burden reductions of 52.5% and 40.8%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The two candidates identified by investigating the MMV malaria box are characterized by good pharmacokinetic profiles, low cytotoxic potential and easy chemistry and therefore offer an excellent starting point for antischistosomal drug discovery and development
Probability Models for Degree Distributions of Protein Interaction Networks
The degree distribution of many biological and technological networks has
been described as a power-law distribution. While the degree distribution does
not capture all aspects of a network, it has often been suggested that its
functional form contains important clues as to underlying evolutionary
processes that have shaped the network. Generally, the functional form for the
degree distribution has been determined in an ad-hoc fashion, with clear
power-law like behaviour often only extending over a limited range of
connectivities. Here we apply formal model selection techniques to decide which
probability distribution best describes the degree distributions of protein
interaction networks. Contrary to previous studies this well defined approach
suggests that the degree distribution of many molecular networks is often
better described by distributions other than the popular power-law
distribution. This, in turn, suggests that simple, if elegant, models may not
necessarily help in the quantitative understanding of complex biological
processes.
Book Reviews
Book Reviews
The Oppenheimer Case: The Trial of a Security System
By Charles P. Curtis
New York: Simon and Schuster, 1955. Pp. xi, 281. 6.65
reviewer: J. Raymond Denney
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Military Law under the Uniform Code of Military Justice
By William B. Aycock and Seymour W. Wurfel
Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1955. Pp. xviii, 430.
reviewer: James B. Earle
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Why Johnny Can\u27t Read
By Rudolf Flesch
New York: Harper & Brothers, 1955. Pp. ix, 222.
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Plain Words: Their ABC
By Sir Ernest Gowers
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1955. Pp. viii, 298.
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Effective Legal Writing
By Frank E. Cooper
Indianapolis, The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc., 1953. Pp. x, 313.
reviewer: J. Allen Smith
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The Moral Decision: Right and Wrong in the Light of American law
By Edmond Cahn
Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, Pp. ix, 315. $5.00
reviewer: Samuel Enoch Stump
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