Robust Coin Flipping

Alice seeks an information-theoretically secure source of private random data. Unfortunately, she lacks a personal source and must use remote sources controlled by other parties. Alice wants to simulate a coin flip of specified bias $\alpha$, as a function of data she receives from $p$ sources; she seeks privacy from any coalition of $r$ of them. We show: If $p/2 \leq r < p$, the bias can be any rational number and nothing else; if $0 < r < p/2$, the bias can be any algebraic number and nothing else. The proof uses projective varieties, convex geometry, and the probabilistic method. Our results improve on those laid out by Yao, who asserts one direction of the $r=1$ case in his seminal paper [Yao82]. We also provide an application to secure multiparty computation.Comment: 22 pages, 1 figur

Cellular automata on regular rooted trees

We study cellular automata on regular rooted trees. This includes the characterization of sofic tree shifts in terms of unrestricted Rabin automata and the decidability of the surjectivity problem for cellular automata between sofic tree shifts

Neutron Matter Distributions from Quasi-Elastic (p,n) Reactions

Supported by the National Science Foundation and Indiana Universit

Exploratory Measurements of the (3-He,n) Reaction at Medium Energies

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation Grant NSF PHY 81-14339 and by Indiana Universit

Within-Household Selection Methods: A Critical Review and Experimental Examination

Probability samples are necessary for making statistical inferences to the general population (Baker et al. 2013). Some countries (e.g. Sweden) have population registers from which to randomly select samples of adults. The U.S. and many other countries, however, do not have population registers. Instead, researchers (i) select a probability sample of households from lists of areas, addresses, or telephone numbers and (ii) select an adult within these sampled households. The process by which individuals are selected from sampled households to obtain a probability-based sample of individuals is called within-household (or within-unit) selection (Gaziano 2005).Within-household selection aims to provide each member of a sampled household with a known, nonzero chance of being selected for the survey (Gaziano 2005; Lavrakas 2008). Thus, it helps to ensure that the sample represents the target population rather than only those most willing and available to participate and, as such, reduces total survey error (TSE). In interviewer-administered surveys, trained interviewers can implement a prespecified within-household selection procedure, making the selection process relatively straightforward. In self-administered surveys, within-household selection is more challenging because households must carry out the selection task themselves. This can lead to errors in the selection process or nonresponse, resulting in too many or too few of certain types of people in the data (e.g. typically too many female, highly educated, older, and white respondents), and may also lead to biased estimates for other items. We expect the smallest biases in estimates for items that do not differ across household members (e.g. political views, household income) and the largest biases for items that do differ across household members (e.g. household division of labor). In this chapter, we review recent literature on within-household selection across survey modes, identify the methodological requirements of studying within-household selection methods experimentally, provide an example of an experiment designed to improve the quality of selecting an adult within a household in mail surveys, and summarize current implications for survey practice regarding within-household selection. We focus on selection of one adult out of all possible adults in a household; screening households for members who have particular characteristics has additional complications (e.g. Tourangeau et al. 2012; Brick et al. 2016; Brick et al. 2011), although designing experimental studies for screening follows the same principles

A meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of growth differentiation Factor-15 concentration in blood

Blood levels of growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15), also known as macrophage inhibitory cytokine-1 (MIC-1), have been associated with various pathological processes and diseases, including cardiovascular disease and cancer. Prior studies suggest genetic factors play a role in regulating blood MIC-1/GDF-15 concentration. In the current study, we conducted the largest genome-wide association study (GWAS) to date using a sample of ∼5,400 community-based Caucasian participants, to determine the genetic variants associated with MIC-1/GDF-15 blood concentration. Conditional and joint (COJO), gene-based association, and gene-set enrichment analyses were also carried out to identify novel loci, genes, and pathways. Consistent with prior results, a locus on chromosome 19, which includes nine single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (top SNP, rs888663, p = 1.690 × 10-35), was significantly associated with blood MIC-1/GDF-15 concentration, and explained 21.47% of its variance. COJO analysis showed evidence for two independent signals within this locus. Gene-based analysis confirmed the chromosome 19 locus association and in addition, a putative locus on chromosome 1. Gene-set enrichment analyses showed that the“COPI-mediated anterograde transport” gene-set was associated with MIC-1/GDF15 blood concentration with marginal significance after FDR correction (p = 0.067). In conclusion, a locus on chromosome 19 was associated with MIC-1/GDF-15 blood concentration with genome-wide significance, with evidence for a new locus (chromosome 1). Future studies using independent cohorts are needed to confirm the observed associations especially for the chromosomes 1 locus, and to further investigate and identify the causal SNPs that contribute to MIC-1/GDF-15 levels

Epistemic Entanglement due to Non-Generating Partitions of Classical Dynamical Systems

Quantum entanglement relies on the fact that pure quantum states are dispersive and often inseparable. Since pure classical states are dispersion-free they are always separable and cannot be entangled. However, entanglement is possible for epistemic, dispersive classical states. We show how such epistemic entanglement arises for epistemic states of classical dynamical systems based on phase space partitions that are not generating. We compute epistemically entangled states for two coupled harmonic oscillators.Comment: 13 pages, no figures; International Journal of Theoretical Physics, 201

A passion for respect: On understanding the role of human needs and morality

In the present paper, we stress the importance of the concept respect in a wide variety of social settings and provide a working definition of this concept by emphasizing how respect relates to the act of communicating full recognition to other people on the dimensions of belongingness and morality. Subsequently, in two separate parts, we discuss why respect is so desired and valued. The first part looks at respect as a means to fulfil important human social concerns (“respect as a means to an end”). The second part looks at the potential moral underpinnings of respect and thus interprets “respect as an end in itself.” Finally, it is suggested that both reasons to value respect explain respect effects as a function of the working selfconcept that is salient (i.e., pragmatic versus idealistic self)

A passion for respect: On understanding the role of human needs and morality

In the present paper, we stress the importance of the concept respect in a wide variety of social settings and provide a working definition of this concept by emphasizing how respect relates to the act of communicating full recognition to other people on the dimensions of belongingness and morality. Subsequently, in two separate parts, we discuss why respect is so desired and valued. The first part looks at respect as a means to fulfil important human social concerns (“respect as a means to an end”). The second part looks at the potential moral underpinnings of respect and thus interprets “respect as an end in itself.” Finally, it is suggested that both reasons to value respect explain respect effects as a function of the working selfconcept that is salient (i.e., pragmatic versus idealistic self)

Comprehensive analysis of epigenetic clocks reveals associations between disproportionate biological ageing and hippocampal volume

The concept of age acceleration, the difference between biological age and chronological age, is of growing interest, particularly with respect to age-related disorders, such as Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). Whilst studies have reported associations with AD risk and related phenotypes, there remains a lack of consensus on these associations. Here we aimed to comprehensively investigate the relationship between five recognised measures of age acceleration, based on DNA methylation patterns (DNAm age), and cross-sectional and longitudinal cognition and AD-related neuroimaging phenotypes (volumetric MRI and Amyloid-β PET) in the Australian Imaging, Biomarkers and Lifestyle (AIBL) and the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI). Significant associations were observed between age acceleration using the Hannum epigenetic clock and cross-sectional hippocampal volume in AIBL and replicated in ADNI. In AIBL, several other findings were observed cross-sectionally, including a significant association between hippocampal volume and the Hannum and Phenoage epigenetic clocks. Further, significant associations were also observed between hippocampal volume and the Zhang and Phenoage epigenetic clocks within Amyloid-β positive individuals. However, these were not validated within the ADNI cohort. No associations between age acceleration and other Alzheimer’s disease-related phenotypes, including measures of cognition or brain Amyloid-β burden, were observed, and there was no association with longitudinal change in any phenotype. This study presents a link between age acceleration, as determined using DNA methylation, and hippocampal volume that was statistically significant across two highly characterised cohorts. The results presented in this study contribute to a growing literature that supports the role of epigenetic modifications in ageing and AD-related phenotypes