18,719 research outputs found
Algorithm Diversity for Resilient Systems
Diversity can significantly increase the resilience of systems, by reducing
the prevalence of shared vulnerabilities and making vulnerabilities harder to
exploit. Work on software diversity for security typically creates variants of
a program using low-level code transformations. This paper is the first to
study algorithm diversity for resilience. We first describe how a method based
on high-level invariants and systematic incrementalization can be used to
create algorithm variants. Executing multiple variants in parallel and
comparing their outputs provides greater resilience than executing one variant.
To prevent different parallel schedules from causing variants' behaviors to
diverge, we present a synchronized execution algorithm for DistAlgo, an
extension of Python for high-level, precise, executable specifications of
distributed algorithms. We propose static and dynamic metrics for measuring
diversity. An experimental evaluation of algorithm diversity combined with
implementation-level diversity for several sequential algorithms and
distributed algorithms shows the benefits of algorithm diversity
A hybrid HMM/ANN based approach for online signature verification
2007-2008 > Academic research: refereed > Refereed conference paperVersion of RecordPublishe
ECoFFeS: A Software Using Evolutionary Computation for Feature Selection in Drug Discovery
Feature selection is of particular importance in the field of drug discovery. Many methods have been put forward for feature selection during recent decades. Among them, evolutionary computation has gained increasing attention owing to its superior global search ability. However, there still lacks a simple and efficient software for drug developers to take advantage of evolutionary computation for feature selection. To remedy this issue, in this paper, a user-friendly and standalone software, named ECoFFeS, is developed. ECoFFeS is expected to lower the entry barrier for drug developers to deal with feature selection problems at hand by using evolutionary algorithms. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first software integrating a set of evolutionary algorithms (including two modified evolutionary algorithms proposed by the authors) with various evaluation combinations for feature selection. Specifically, ECoFFeS considers both single-objective and multi-objective evolutionary algorithms, and both regression- and classification-based models to meet different requirements. Five data sets in drug discovery are collected in ECoFFeS. In addition, to reduce the total analysis time, the parallel execution technique is incorporated into ECoFFeS. The source code of ECoFFeS can be available from https://github.com/JiaweiHuang/ECoFFeS/
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Tbr1 instructs laminar patterning of retinal ganglion cell dendrites.
Visual information is delivered to the brain by >40 types of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Diversity in this representation arises within the inner plexiform layer (IPL), where dendrites of each RGC type are restricted to specific sublaminae, limiting the interneuronal types that can innervate them. How such dendritic restriction arises is unclear. We show that the transcription factor Tbr1 is expressed by four mouse RGC types with dendrites in the outer IPL and is required for their laminar specification. Loss of Tbr1 results in elaboration of dendrites within the inner IPL, while misexpression in other cells retargets their neurites to the outer IPL. Two transmembrane molecules, Sorcs3 and Cdh8, act as effectors of the Tbr1-controlled lamination program. However, they are expressed in just one Tbr1+ RGC type, supporting a model in which a single transcription factor implements similar laminar choices in distinct cell types by recruiting partially non-overlapping effectors
Epidemiology of acute primary angle-closure glaucoma in the Hong Kong Chinese population: prospective study.
OBJECTIVES: To determine the incidence of acute primary angle-closure glaucoma in the Hong Kong Chinese population, and to identify risk factors for this condition. DESIGN: Prospective study. SETTING: University teaching hospital, Hong Kong. PARTICIPANTS: Patients with acute primary angle-closure glaucoma presenting between 1 March 1998 and 29 February 2000. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Demographic data, presenting symptoms and signs, temporal details of the presentation, and precipitating factors. The crude regional incidence was calculated according to the Hong Kong population census of 1991 and the age-specific incidence was calculated. RESULTS: Seventy-two cases (72 eyes of 72 patients) of acute primary angle-closure glaucoma were recruited. The crude incidence was 10.4 per 100,000 per year in the population aged 30 years and older. Patients at higher risk of attacks were those aged 70 years or older (age-specific incidence, 58.7 per 100,000 per year) and females, who had a relative risk of 3.8 compared with males (95% confidence interval, 1.7-8.4). Only four (5.6%) patients had a positive family history of acute primary angle-closure glaucoma. Seventeen (23.6%) patients were noted to have an upper respiratory tract infection before the attack, and 25 (34.7%) patients had taken antitussive agents. There was a statistically significant inverse correlation between the monthly attack rate and the monthly rate of influenza (Spearman's rank correlation coefficient = -0.388; P=0.031). CONCLUSION: There is a high incidence of acute primary angle-closure glaucoma among Chinese residents of Hong Kong, with elderly females at highest risk. A significant proportion of patients reported upper respiratory tract infection or the use of antitussive medication prior to attacks.published_or_final_versio
Treatment of Linear and Nonlinear Dielectric Property of Molecular Monolayer and Submonolayer with Microscopic Dipole Lattice Model: I. Second Harmonic Generation and Sum-Frequency Generation
In the currently accepted models of the nonlinear optics, the nonlinear
radiation was treated as the result of an infinitesimally thin polarization
sheet layer, and a three layer model was generally employed. The direct
consequence of this approach is that an apriori dielectric constant, which
still does not have a clear definition, has to be assigned to this polarization
layer. Because the Second Harmonic Generation (SHG) and the Sum-Frequency
Generation vibrational Spectroscopy (SFG-VS) have been proven as the sensitive
probes for interfaces with the submonolayer coverage, the treatment based on
the more realistic discrete induced dipole model needs to be developed. Here we
show that following the molecular optics theory approach the SHG, as well as
the SFG-VS, radiation from the monolayer or submonolayer at an interface can be
rigorously treated as the radiation from an induced dipole lattice at the
interface. In this approach, the introduction of the polarization sheet is no
longer necessary. Therefore, the ambiguity of the unaccounted dielectric
constant of the polarization layer is no longer an issue. Moreover, the
anisotropic two dimensional microscopic local field factors can be explicitly
expressed with the linear polarizability tensors of the interfacial molecules.
Based on the planewise dipole sum rule in the molecular monolayer, crucial
experimental tests of this microscopic treatment with SHG and SFG-VS are
discussed. Many puzzles in the literature of surface SHG and SFG spectroscopy
studies can also be understood or resolved in this framework. This new
treatment may provide a solid basis for the quantitative analysis in the
surface SHG and SFG studies.Comment: 23 pages, 3 figure
Crystal growth and quantum oscillations in the topological chiral semimetal CoSi
We survey the electrical transport properties of the single-crystalline,
topological chiral semimetal CoSi which was grown via different methods.
High-quality CoSi single crystals were found in the growth from tellurium
solution. The sample's high carrier mobility enables us to observe, for the
first time, quantum oscillations (QOs) in its thermoelectrical signals. Our
analysis of QOs reveals two spherical Fermi surfaces around the R point in the
Brillouin zone corner. The extracted Berry phases of these electron orbits are
consistent with the -2 chiral charge as reported in DFT calculations. Detailed
analysis on the QOs reveals that the spin-orbit coupling induced band-splitting
is less than 2 meV near the Fermi level, one order of magnitude smaller than
our DFT calculation result. We also report the phonon-drag induced large Nernst
effect in CoSi at intermediate temperatures
Cell surface acid-base properties of the cyanobacterium Synechococcus: Influences of nitrogen source, growth phase and N:P ratios
The distribution of many trace metals in the oceans is controlled by biological uptake. Recently, Liu et al. (2015) demonstrated the propensity for a marine cyanobacterium to adsorb cadmium from seawater, suggesting that cell surface reactivity might also play an important role in the cycling of metals in the oceans. However, it remains unclear how variations in cyanobacterial growth rates and nutrient supply might affect the chemical properties of their cellular surfaces. In this study we used potentiometric titrations and Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectrometry to profile the key metabolic changes and surface chemical responses of a Synechococcus strain, PCC 7002, during different growth regimes. This included testing various nitrogen (N) to phosphorous (P) ratios (both nitrogen and phosphorous dependent), nitrogen sources (nitrate, ammonium and urea) and growth stages (exponential, stationary, and death phase). FT-IR spectroscopy showed that varying the growth substrates on which Synechococcus cells were cultured resulted in differences in either the type or abundance of cellular exudates produced or a change in the cell wall components. Potentiometric titration data were modeled using three distinct proton binding sites, with resulting pKa values for cells of the various growth conditions in the ranges of 4.96-5.51 (pKa1), 6.67-7.42 (pKa2) and 8.13-9.95 (pKa3). According to previous spectroscopic studies, these pKa ranges are consistent with carboxyl, phosphoryl, and amine groups, respectively. Comparisons between the titration data (for the cell surface) and FT-IR spectra (for the average cellular changes) generally indicate (1) that the nitrogen source is a greater determinant of ligand concentration than growth phase, and (2) that phosphorus limitation has a greater impact on Synechococcus cellular and extracellular properties than does nitrogen limitation. Taken together, these techniques indicate that nutritional quality during cell growth can noticeably influence the expression of cell surface ligands and their measurable densities. Given that cell surface charge ultimately affects metal adsorption, our results suggest that the cycling of metals by Synechococcus cells in the oceans may vary regionally
Design and evaluation of a device for fast multispectral time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy and imaging
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