Topological Graph Neural Networks

Graph neural networks (GNNs) are a powerful architecture for tackling graph learning tasks, yet have been shown to be oblivious to eminent substructures, such as cycles. We present TOGL, a novel layer that incorporates global topological information of a graph using persistent homology. TOGL can be easily integrated into any type of GNN and is strictly more expressive in terms of the Weisfeiler--Lehman test of isomorphism. Augmenting GNNs with our layer leads to beneficial predictive performance for graph and node classification tasks, both on synthetic data sets, which can be classified by humans using their topology but not by ordinary GNNs, and on real-world data

Leading the green insurance revolution

Anthropogenic climate change is a significant and growing challenge. Insurance has thus far not taken a leadership role in its response to the challenge, partly because of modeling uncertainties and partly because of unclear customer expectations. It is, however, too large a sector to wait on the sidelines and a more proactive approach is required. The demand for a program we developed for insurance companies in 2021 sends a positive signal for this development. Insurers have started incorporating ESG criteria in their product and service development and have taken steps to control their environmental footprint. Both are challenging, as they involved deep collaboration across the organization and along the value chain. Investment management and risk management have also been evolving to meet the challenge, with the latter especially well-positioned to deliver also market-facing services to insurance customers. Claims handling, however, is not typically considered in an insurer’s footprint and has lagged behind. This is unfortunate, as the potential for a broader societal impact through claims is significant. There are several best practices for transforming organizations to deliver more value along corporate responsibility criteria, and insurance companies need to make treasure of this experience. Further, they need to start developing their purpose beyond purely financial dimensions to align important stakeholders and deliver the promise of insurance as a social good in the 21st Century

Next-Generation TLC: A Quantitative Platform for Parallel Spotting and Imaging

A high-throughput screening approach for simultaneous analysis and quantification of the percent conversion of up to 48 reactions has been developed using a thin-layer chromatography (TLC) imaging method. As a test-bed reaction, we monitored 48 thiol conjugate additions to a Meldrum's acid derivative (1) in parallel using TLC. The TLC elutions were imaged using a cell phone and a LEGO brick-constructed UV/vis light box. Further, a spotting device was constructed from LEGO bricks that allows simple transfer of the samples from a well-plate to the TLC plate. Using software that was developed to detect "blobs" and report their intensity, we were able to quantitatively determine the extent of completion of the 48 reactions with one analysis

Vitamin C in plasma is inversely related to blood pressure and change in blood pressure during the previous year in young Black and White women

BackgroundThe prevalence of hypertension and its contribution to cardiovascular disease risk makes it imperative to identify factors that may help prevent this disorder. Extensive biological and biochemical data suggest that plasma ascorbic acid may be such a factor. In this study we examined the association between plasma ascorbic acid concentration and blood pressure (BP) in young-adult women.MethodsParticipants were 242 Black and White women aged 18-21 yr from the Richmond, CA, cohort of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Growth and Health Study. We examined the associations of plasma ascorbic acid with BP at follow-up year 10, and with change in BP during the previous year.ResultsIn cross-sectional analysis, plasma ascorbic acid at year 10 was inversely associated with systolic BP and diastolic BP after adjusting for race, body mass index, education, and dietary intake of fat and sodium. Persons in the highest one-fourth of the plasma ascorbic acid distribution had 4.66 mmHg lower systolic BP (95% CI 1.10 to 8.22 mmHg, p = 0.005) and 6.04 mmHg lower diastolic BP (95% CI 2.70 to 9.38 mmHg, p = 0.0002) than those in the lowest one-fourth of the distribution. In analysis of the change in BP, plasma ascorbic acid was also inversely associated with change in systolic BP and diastolic BP during the previous year. While diastolic blood pressure among persons in the lowest quartile of plasma ascorbic acid increased by 5.97 mmHg (95% CI 3.82 to 8.13 mmHg) from year 9 to year 10, those in the highest quartile of plasma vitamin C increased by only 0.23 mmHg (95% CI -1.90 to +2.36 mmHg) (test for linear trend: p < 0.0001). A similar effect was seen for change in systolic BP, p = 0.005.ConclusionPlasma ascorbic acid was found to be inversely associated with BP and change in BP during the prior year. The findings suggest the possibility that vitamin C may influence BP in healthy young adults. Since lower BP in young adulthood may lead to lower BP and decreased incidence of age-associated vascular events in older adults, further investigation of treatment effects of vitamin C on BP regulation in young adults is warranted

Screen-printed back-to-back electroanalytical sensors

We introduce the concept of screen-printed back-to-back electroanalytical sensors where in this facile and generic approach, screenprinted electrodes are printed back-to-back with a common electrical connection to the two working electrodes with the counter and reference electrodes for each connected in the same manner as a normal “traditional” screen-printed sensor would be. This approach utilises the usually redundant back of the screen-printed sensor, converting this “dead-space” into a further electrochemical sensor which results in improvements in the analytical performance. In the use of the back-to-back design, the electrode area is consequently doubled with improvements in the analytical performance observed with the analytical sensitivity (gradient of a plot of peak height/ analytical signal against concentration) doubling and the corresponding limit-of-detection being reduced.We also demonstrate that through intelligent electrode design, a quadruple in the observed analytical sensitivity can also be realised when double microband electrodes are used in the back-to-back configuration as long as they are placed sufficiently apart such that no diffusional interaction occurs. Such work is generic in nature and can be facilely applied to a plethora of screen-printed (and related) sensors utilising the commonly overlooked redundant back of the electrode providing facile improvements in the electroanalytical performance

Particulate matter exposure during pregnancy is associated with birth weight, but not gestational age, 1962-1992: a cohort study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Exposure to air pollutants is suggested to adversely affect fetal growth, but the evidence remains inconsistent in relation to specific outcomes and exposure windows.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Using birth records from the two major maternity hospitals in Newcastle upon Tyne in northern England between 1961 and 1992, we constructed a database of all births to mothers resident within the city. Weekly black smoke exposure levels from routine data recorded at 20 air pollution monitoring stations were obtained and individual exposures were estimated via a two-stage modeling strategy, incorporating temporally and spatially varying covariates. Regression analyses, including 88,679 births, assessed potential associations between exposure to black smoke and birth weight, gestational age and birth weight standardized for gestational age and sex.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Significant associations were seen between black smoke and both standardized and unstandardized birth weight, but not for gestational age when adjusted for potential confounders. Not all associations were linear. For an increase in whole pregnancy black smoke exposure, from the 1^st(7.4 μg/m³) to the 25^th(17.2 μg/m³), 50^th(33.8 μg/m³), 75^th(108.3 μg/m³), and 90^th(180.8 μg/m³) percentiles, the adjusted estimated decreases in birth weight were 33 g (SE 1.05), 62 g (1.63), 98 g (2.26) and 109 g (2.44) respectively. A significant interaction was observed between socio-economic deprivation and black smoke on both standardized and unstandardized birth weight with increasing effects of black smoke in reducing birth weight seen with increasing socio-economic disadvantage.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The findings of this study progress the hypothesis that the association between black smoke and birth weight may be mediated through intrauterine growth restriction. The associations between black smoke and birth weight were of the same order of magnitude as those reported for passive smoking. These findings add to the growing evidence of the harmful effects of air pollution on birth outcomes.</p