Automated Telescience: Active Machine Learning Of Remote Dynamical Systems

Automated science is an emerging field of research and technology that aims to extend the role of computers in science from a tool that stores and analyzes data to one that generates hypotheses and designs experiments. Despite the tremendous discoveries and advancements brought forth by the scientific method, it is a process that is fundamentally driven by human insight and ingenuity. Automated science aims to develop algorithms, protocols and design philosophies that are capable of automating the scientific process. This work presents advances the field of automated science and the specific contributions of this work fall into three categories: coevolutionary search methods and applications, inferring the underlying structure of dynamical systems, and remote controlled automated science. First, a collection of coevolutionary search methods and applications are presented. These approaches include: a method to reduce the computational overhead of evolutionary algorithms via trainer selection strategies in a rank predictor framework, an approach for optimal experiment design for nonparametric models using Shannon information, and an application of coevolutionary algorithms to infer kinematic poses from RGBD images. Second, three algorithms are presented that infer the underlying structure of dynamical systems: a method to infer discrete-continuous hybrid dynamical systems from unlabeled data, an approach to discovering ordinary differential equations of arbitrary order, and a principle to uncover the existence and dynamics of hidden state variables that correspond to physical quantities from nonlinear differential equations. All of these algorithms are able to uncover structure in an unsupervised manner without any prior domain knowledge. Third, a remote controlled, distributed system is demonstrated to autonomously generate scientific models by perturbing and observing a system in an intelligent fashion. By automating the components of physical experimentation, scientific modeling and experimental design, models of luminescent chemical reactions and multi-compartmental pharmacokinetic systems were discovered without any human intervention, which illustrates how a set of distributed machines can contribute scientific knowledge while scaling beyond geographic constraints

The H-alpha Luminosity Function and Star Formation Rate Volume Density at z=0.8 from the NEWFIRM H-alpha Survey

[Abridged] We present new measurements of the H-alpha luminosity function (LF) and SFR volume density for galaxies at z~0.8. Our analysis is based on 1.18$\mu$m narrowband data from the NEWFIRM H-alpha Survey, a comprehensive program designed to capture deep samples of intermediate redshift emission-line galaxies using narrowband imaging in the near-infrared. The combination of depth ($\approx1.9\times10^{-17}$ erg s$^{-1}$ cm$^{-2}$ in H-alpha at 3$\sigma$) and areal coverage (0.82 deg$^2$) complements other recent H-alpha studies at similar redshifts, and enables us to minimize the impact of cosmic variance and place robust constraints on the shape of the LF. The present sample contains 818 NB118 excess objects, 394 of which are selected as H-alpha emitters. Optical spectroscopy has been obtained for 62% of the NB118 excess objects. Empirical optical broadband color classification is used to sort the remainder of the sample. A comparison of the LFs constructed for the four individual fields reveals significant cosmic variance, emphasizing that multiple, widely separated observations are required. The dust-corrected LF is well-described by a Schechter function with L*=10^{43.00\pm0.52} ergs s^{-1}, \phi*=10^{-3.20\pm0.54} Mpc^{-3}, and \alpha=-1.6\pm0.19. We compare our H-alpha LF and SFR density to those at z<1, and find a rise in the SFR density \propto(1+z)^{3.4}, which we attribute to significant L* evolution. Our H-alpha SFR density of 10^{-1.00\pm0.18} M_sun yr^{-1} Mpc^{-3} is consistent with UV and [O II] measurements at z~1. We discuss how these results compare to other H-alpha surveys at z~0.8, and find that the different methods used to determine survey completeness can lead to inconsistent results. This suggests that future surveys probing fainter luminosities are needed, and more rigorous methods of estimating the completeness should be adopted as standard procedure.Comment: 19 pages (emulate-ApJ format), 16 figures, 5 tables, published in ApJ. Modified to match ApJ versio

Inspección de las uniones soldadas de juntas a tope de penetración completa con diseño de junta en simple "V" para un rango de espesores de 8 a 25 mm mediante el método de ensayo de ultrasonido y la técnica de arreglo de fases (Phased Array)

A través de los años ha existido la necesidad del hombre de poder unir elementos o componentes entre sí, de todos los procesos existentes el más utilizado y efectivo en el mundo es el de soldadura; sin embargo, este proceso debe pasar por un control de calidad y así asegurar su funcionabilidad y duración en el tiempo. Existen diversos métodos para certificar que la soldadura realizada es correcta, para ello se hace uso de los ensayos no destructivos; ya que nos permiten inspeccionar la soldadura y asegurar que fue realizada de forma adecuada sin afectar a la misma ni física ni químicamente. Si bien existen ensayos volumétricos tradicionales como el ultrasonido convencional y la radiografía industrial, la búsqueda en la optimización de los tiempos de inspección ha generado un método de ultrasonido avanzado (ultrasonido de arreglo de fases – Phased Array); el cual se describirá en el siguiente trabajo. Es por ello que en el presente trabajo se busca poder validar a través de la información de los códigos al ultrasonido de arreglo de fases como el método más eficaz para la inspección volumétrica de uniones soldadas de junta a tope en forma de “V” con penetración completa para un rango de espesores entre 8 a 25 mm. Para ello se utilizarán 8 probetas calificadas, las cuales serán ensayadas mediante el método de ultrasonido Phased Array y radiografía industrial convencional para su comparación. En esta tesis se ha podido comprobar que la técnica de ultrasonido Phased Array es una alternativa viable para la inspección de juntas a tope con diseño en simple “V” para el rango de espesores ensayado. Asimismo se desarrolló un procedimiento final de inspección mediante ultrasonido Phased Array y su aplicación en uniones soldadas con juntas a tope en forma de simple “V”, para un rango de espesores entre 8 a 25 mm. Pudiéndose realizar nuevamente estos ensayos, así como también utilizarlo para su aplicación en la fabricación de piezas y componentesTesi

The role of comparative city policy data in assessing progress toward the urban SDG targets

As part of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, all countries have agreed to“make cities and human set-tlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”. We argue that there is a critical need for large-scale com-parative city policy data that, when linked with outcome data, could be used to identify where policies areworking and where they could be improved. In an assessment of the landscape of existing city policy data, basedon a comprehensive scoping review, wefind that existing databases are insufficient for the purposes of com-parative analysis. We then describe what an“ideal”city policy database would look like, where it could behoused, and how it could be developed. Such a database could be a key tool for achieving SDG 11, the urbanSustainable Development Go

Optical and near-IR spectroscopy of candidate red galaxies in two z~2.5 proto-clusters

We present a spectroscopic campaign to follow-up red colour-selected candidate massive galaxies in two high redshift proto-clusters surrounding radio galaxies. We observed a total of 57 galaxies in the field of MRC0943-242 (z=2.93) and 33 in the field of PKS1138-262 (z=2.16) with a mix of optical and near-infrared multi-object spectroscopy. We confirm two red galaxies in the field of PKS1138-262 at the redshift of the radio galaxy. Based on an analysis of their spectral energy distributions, and their derived star formation rates from the H-alpha and 24um flux, one object belongs to the class of dust-obscured star-forming red galaxies, while the other is evolved with little ongoing star formation. This result represents the first red and mainly passively evolving galaxy to be confirmed as companion galaxies in a z>2 proto-cluster. Both red galaxies in PKS1138-262 are massive, of the order of 4-6x10^11 M_Sol. They lie along a Colour-Magnitude relation which implies that they formed the bulk of their stellar population around z=4. In the MRC0943-242 field we find no red galaxies at the redshift of the radio galaxy but we do confirm the effectiveness of our JHK_s selection of galaxies at 2.3<z<3.1, finding that 10 out of 18 (56%) of JHK_s-selected galaxies whose redshifts could be measured fall within this redshift range. We also serendipitously identify an interesting foreground structure of 6 galaxies at z=2.6 in the field of MRC0943-242. This may be a proto-cluster itself, but complicates any interpretation of the red sequence build-up in MRC0943-242 until more redshifts can be measured.Comment: 17 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Evolutionarily Conserved Regulation of Sleep by the Protein Translational Regulator PERK

Sleep is a cross-species phenomenon whose evolutionary and biological function remain poorly understood. Clinical and animal studies suggest that sleep disturbance is significantly associated with disruptions in protein homeostasis—or proteostasis—in the brain, but the mechanism of this link has not been explored. In the cell, the protein kinase R (PKR)-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK) pathway modulates proteostasis by transiently inhibiting protein synthesis in response to proteostatic stress. In this study, we examined the role of the PERK pathway in sleep regulation and provide the first evidence that PERK signaling is required to regulate normal sleep in both vertebrates and invertebrates. We show that pharmacological inhibition of PERK reduces sleep in both Drosophila and zebrafish, indicating an evolutionarily conserved requirement for PERK in sleep. Genetic knockdown of PERK activity also reduces sleep in Drosophila, whereas PERK overexpression induces sleep. Finally, we demonstrate that changes in PERK signaling directly impact wake-promoting neuropeptide expression, revealing a mechanism through which proteostatic pathways can affect sleep and wake behavior. Taken together, these results demonstrate that protein synthesis pathways like PERK could represent a general mechanism of sleep and wake regulation and provide greater insight into the relationship between sleep and proteostasis

Metabolic and anthropometric influences on nerve conduction parameters in patients with peripheral neuropathy: a retrospective chart analysis

Background and Aims: Nerve conduction study (NCS) measures how fast an electrical impulse moves through the nerve and is a standard technique for diagnosing and assessing neurological diseases. Despite diabetes and obesity being a common accompaniment of peripheral neuropathy, their effects on NCS patterns have not been elucidated conclusively. Our study aimed to assess several anthropometric and metabolic factors with NCS outcomes to address this gap. Research Design and Methods: This retrospective chart analysis study was conducted on subjects who underwent NCS between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2019 at a regional hospital. Metabolic, anthropometric, demographical and NCS data were collected from patients’ health records. Results: In total, 120 subjects presenting with sensorimotor peripheral neuropathy symptoms were included in the study. Age, HbA1c, urea and ESR variables were significantly negatively associated with nerve conduction outcomes (Spearman’s correlation rho between −0.210 and −0.456, p < 0.038). HbA1c and age consistently had the most substantial contribution to velocity and amplitude in all regression models (beta coefficients between −0.157 and 0.516, p < 0.001). Urea also significantly account for a large amount of variance in amplitude and velocity in the lower limbs. Conclusion: This study suggests that the severity of sensorimotor neuropathy is influenced by glycaemic control, age and uraemia. The interpretation of NCS results must consider these factors suggesting that improved glycaemic and uraemic control may improve nerve conduction outcomes