Adapting a Kidney Exchange Algorithm to Align with Human Values

The efficient and fair allocation of limited resources is a classical problem in economics and computer science. In kidney exchanges, a central market maker allocates living kidney donors to patients in need of an organ. Patients and donors in kidney exchanges are prioritized using ad-hoc weights decided on by committee and then fed into an allocation algorithm that determines who gets what--and who does not. In this paper, we provide an end-to-end methodology for estimating weights of individual participant profiles in a kidney exchange. We first elicit from human subjects a list of patient attributes they consider acceptable for the purpose of prioritizing patients (e.g., medical characteristics, lifestyle choices, and so on). Then, we ask subjects comparison queries between patient profiles and estimate weights in a principled way from their responses. We show how to use these weights in kidney exchange market clearing algorithms. We then evaluate the impact of the weights in simulations and find that the precise numerical values of the weights we computed matter little, other than the ordering of profiles that they imply. However, compared to not prioritizing patients at all, there is a significant effect, with certain classes of patients being (de)prioritized based on the human-elicited value judgments

Collaboration and the creation of a new piece of music : an analysis of the roles played by composer, poet, and singer in William Bolcom's Briefly it enters for soprano and piano

This document looks at American composer William Bolcom’s song cycle Briefly It Enters, from a collaborative standpoint. The cycle was written with soprano Benita Valente in mind and the poetry is taken from the work of American poet Jane Kenyon. Chapter one of the thesis offers a brief history of the practice of writing for specific singers among composers in Europe and the United States. Chapter two provides biographical information about the participants involved in the project. The third chapter narrates a timeline of events leading up to the work’s premiere; chapter four is a musical analysis of the cycle from a singer’s standpoint. Included within chapter four are ideas about the poetry, vocal considerations for Valente, and the effect of Kenyon’s death upon the creation of this work. The fifth chapter provides insight for performers who wish to learn and perform this cycle in the future

New g'r'i'z' Photometry of the NGC 5128 Globular Cluster System

We present new photometry for 323 of the globular clusters in NGC 5128 (Centaurus A), measured for the first time in the $g'r'i'z'$ filter system. The color indices are calibrated directly to standard stars in the $g'r'i'z'$ system and are used to establish the fiducial mean colors for the blue and red (low and high metallicity) globular cluster sequences. We also use spectroscopically measured abundances to establish the conversion between the most metallicity-sensitive colors ($(g'-r')_0$, $(g'-i')_0$) and metallicity, [Fe/H].Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures, accepted in A

A MicroRNA Linking Human Positive Selection and Metabolic Disorders

Postponed access: the file will be accessible after 2021-10-14Positive selection in Europeans at the 2q21.3 locus harboring the lactase gene has been attributed to selection for the ability of adults to digest milk to survive famine in ancient times. However, the 2q21.3 locus is also associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes in humans, raising the possibility that additional genetic elements in the locus may have contributed to evolutionary adaptation to famine by promoting energy storage, but which now confer susceptibility to metabolic diseases. We show here that the miR-128-1 microRNA, located at the center of the positively selected locus, represents a crucial metabolic regulator in mammals. Antisense targeting and genetic ablation of miR-128-1 in mouse metabolic disease models result in increased energy expenditure and amelioration of high-fat-diet-induced obesity and markedly improved glucose tolerance. A thrifty phenotype connected to miR-128-1-dependent energy storage may link ancient adaptation to famine and modern metabolic maladaptation associated with nutritional overabundance.acceptedVersio

Techno-economic assessment of scale-up of bio-flocculant extraction and production by using okra as biomass feedstock

This paper reports a techno-economic assessment for industrial scale bio-flocculant production with okra as biomass feedstock. The sludge dewatering ability of the bio-flocculant was evaluated prior to economic analysis. Several optimisation strategies were investigated in order to lower the bio-flocculant production cost. The results showed that continuous mode microwave extraction was more economically beneficial than conventional extraction in batch and continuous modes. Sensitivity analysis revealed that the production cost was significantly affected by annual production and extract yield, and moderately influenced by raw material price. The optimised scheme for bio-flocculant production was continuous mode microwave extraction at 90° C, a residence time of 10 minutes, a water loading of 3.5 w/w and production rate of 220 tonnes per year. The economic assessment showed that the gross margin was positive, return on investment was in the expected range of 20 to 30% and payback time was within 5 years

Breast cancer risk variants at 6q25 display different phenotype associations and regulate ESR1, RMND1 and CCDC170.

We analyzed 3,872 common genetic variants across the ESR1 locus (encoding estrogen receptor α) in 118,816 subjects from three international consortia. We found evidence for at least five independent causal variants, each associated with different phenotype sets, including estrogen receptor (ER(+) or ER(-)) and human ERBB2 (HER2(+) or HER2(-)) tumor subtypes, mammographic density and tumor grade. The best candidate causal variants for ER(-) tumors lie in four separate enhancer elements, and their risk alleles reduce expression of ESR1, RMND1 and CCDC170, whereas the risk alleles of the strongest candidates for the remaining independent causal variant disrupt a silencer element and putatively increase ESR1 and RMND1 expression.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Nature Publishing Group via http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ng.352

Discovery of common and rare genetic risk variants for colorectal cancer.

To further dissect the genetic architecture of colorectal cancer (CRC), we performed whole-genome sequencing of 1,439 cases and 720 controls, imputed discovered sequence variants and Haplotype Reference Consortium panel variants into genome-wide association study data, and tested for association in 34,869 cases and 29,051 controls. Findings were followed up in an additional 23,262 cases and 38,296 controls. We discovered a strongly protective 0.3% frequency variant signal at CHD1. In a combined meta-analysis of 125,478 individuals, we identified 40 new independent signals at P < 5 × 10-8, bringing the number of known independent signals for CRC to ~100. New signals implicate lower-frequency variants, Krüppel-like factors, Hedgehog signaling, Hippo-YAP signaling, long noncoding RNAs and somatic drivers, and support a role for immune function. Heritability analyses suggest that CRC risk is highly polygenic, and larger, more comprehensive studies enabling rare variant analysis will improve understanding of biology underlying this risk and influence personalized screening strategies and drug development.Goncalo R Abecasis has received compensation from 23andMe and Helix. He is currently an employee of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. Heather Hampel performs collaborative research with Ambry Genetics, InVitae Genetics, and Myriad Genetic Laboratories, Inc., is on the scientific advisory board for InVitae Genetics and Genome Medical, and has stock in Genome Medical. Rachel Pearlman has participated in collaborative funded research with Myriad Genetics Laboratories and Invitae Genetics but has no financial competitive interest

Adapting a Kidney Exchange Algorithm to Align With Human Values

The efficient allocation of limited resources is a classical problem in economics and computer science. In kidney exchanges, a central market maker allocates living kidney donors to patients in need of an organ. Patients and donors in kidney exchanges are prioritized using ad-hoc weights decided on by committee and then fed into an allocation algorithm that determines who get what—and who does not. In this paper, we provide an end-to-end methodology for estimating weights of individual participant profiles in a kidney exchange. We first elicit from human subjects a list of patient attributes they consider acceptable for the purpose of prioritizing patients (e.g., medical characteristics, lifestyle choices, and so on). Then, we ask subjects comparison queries between patient profiles and estimate weights in a principled way from their responses. We show how to use these weights in kidney exchange market clearing algorithms. We then evaluate the impact of the weights in simulations and find that the precise numerical values of the weights we computed matter little, other than the ordering of profiles that they imply. However, compared to not prioritizing patients at all, there is a significant effect, with certain classes of patients being (de)prioritized based on the human-elicited value judgments

OD SUKOBA DO SARADNJE - INTEGRACIJA NEFORMALNIH RECIKLERA I OPERATORA PONOVNOG KORIŠĆENJA OTPADA U EVROPI: PREGLED

THE European Union (EU) hosts some of the world’s most developed waste management systems and an ambitious policy commitment to the Circular Economy. The existence of informal recycling and re-use activities in Europe has been vigorously denied until quite recently, and remains a very challenging subject for the European solid waste management sector, as well as for European government and private institutions. In countries ranging from Malta to Macedonia and from France to Turkey, informal recyclers excluded from legal recycling niches increasingly collide with formalised and controlled EU approaches to urban waste management, packaging recovery schemes, formal re-use enterprises, and extended producer responsibility systems.This review focuses on the period from 2004 through the first half of 2016. The 78 sources on European (and neighbouring) informal recycling and re-use are contextualised with global sources and experience. The articles focus on informal recovery in and at the borders of the European Union, document the conflicts and collisions, and elaborate some constructive approaches towards legalisation, integration, and reconciliation. The overarching recommendation, to locate the issue of informal recovery and integration in the framework of the European Circular Economy Package, is supported by four specific pillars of an integration strategy: documentation, legalisation, occupational and enterprise recognition, and preparation for structural integration.Evropska unija ima jedan od najrazvijenijih sistema upravljanja otpadom na svetu i ambiciozno postavljenu politiku cirkularne (kružne) ekonomije. Postojanje neformalnih oblika reciklaže, tretiranja i ponovnog korišćenja otpada u Evropi je do nedavno osporavano, tako da ove aktivnosti i dalje predstavljaju veliki izazov za evropski sektor upravljanja čvrstim otpadom, kao i za evropske vlade i privatne institucije. U mnogim zemljama Evropske unije, od Malte do Makedonije, od Francuske do Turske, neformalni recikleri (sakupljači i prerađivači otpada) su potpuno isključeni iz reciklažnog sektora, pa se sve više suočavaju i sukobljavaju sa prilično formalizovanim i kontrolisanim pristupom koji Evropska unija ima u pogledu upravljanja otpadom u urbanim sredinama, programa za reciklažu ambalaže, formalnih preduzeća za preradu otpada i proširenih sistema odgovornosti proizvođača.Ovaj rad pokriva period od 2004. godine do prve polovine 2016. godine. U radu se daje pregled 78 dokumenata koji regulišu pitanje neformalne reciklaže i prerade otpada u Evropskoj uniji i susednim državama, u kontekstu globalnih smernica i iskustava. Nakon pregleda izvora koji se odnose na neformalne vidove reciklaže u Evropskoj uniji i na granicama Evropske unije, u radu se evidentiraju sporna pitanja i sukobi nastali u ovoj oblasti, i prikazuju neki konstruktivni pristupi legalizaciji, integraciji i pomirenju sukobljenih strana. Ključne preporuke u pogledu adekvatnog pozicioniranje pitanja neformalnih vidova reciklaže i njihovog uključivanja u Evropski paket mera za uvođenje kružne ekonomije nedvosmisleno su utvrđene u okvirima četiri stuba strategije integracije: dokumentacija, legalizacija, priznavanje zanimanja i preduzeća, i priprema za strukuralnu integraciju