Strong planar subsystem symmetry-protected topological phases and their dual fracton orders

We classify subsystem symmetry-protected topological (SSPT) phases in 3 + 1 dimensions (3 + 1D) protected by planar subsystem symmetries: short-range entangled phases which are dual to long-range entangled Abelian fracton topological orders via a generalized “gauging” duality. We distinguish between weak SSPTs, which can be constructed by stacking 2 + 1D SPTs, and strong SSPTs, which cannot. We identify signatures of strong phases, and show by explicit construction that such phases exist. A classification of strong phases is presented for an arbitrary finite Abelian group. Finally, we show that fracton orders realizable via p-string condensation are dual to weak SSPTs, while those dual to strong SSPTs exhibit statistical interactions prohibiting such a realization

Foliated fracton order in the Majorana checkerboard model

We establish the presence of foliated fracton order in the Majorana checkerboard model. In particular, we describe an entanglement renormalization group transformation which utilizes toric code layers as resources of entanglement, and furthermore discuss entanglement signatures and fractional excitations of the model. In fact, we give an exact local unitary equivalence between the Majorana checkerboard model and the semionic X-cube model augmented with decoupled fermionic modes. This mapping demonstrates that the model lies within the X-cube foliated fracton phase.Comment: 13 pages, 17 figure

Out of sight, out of mind... Cairo\u27s street children: a question of agency and justice

This thesis explores how the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) is translated into Egypt’s national law and examines the practical applications of the law via programs and services provided by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) when tackling the street child phenomenon. The first part of this thesis is focused on critically examining the theoretical and philosophical implications of the construction of the “child” and “adult”, and its subsequent effects on the regulation of the human body, agency and contemporary justice. The usage of language is important as it is closely linked with the contemporary notion of justice in relation to the CRC. By deconstructing the terms “child” and “adult”, I try to complicate and challenge the ways in which we understand the dichotomy and how we engage with these labels. I argue that the current theoretical and philosophical implications of child and adult as elaborated in the CRC perpetuate negative repercussions on the concept of justice, while simultaneously paving way for programs and services that both perpetuate and defy the child-adult dichotomy. The second part of this thesis examines how the CRC has been implemented into practice via NGOs in Egypt when dealing with street children. Although there are many NGOs working in Egypt, I have chosen to engage with Plan Egypt. The focus of my analyses is on the methods and implications of projects and services provided and the differences in the treatment and availability of programs for street girls and boys. Through observations and interviews, I explore how the organization both contribute and defy the contemporary manifestation of justice in relation to the State and law. Lastly, through this analytical engagement, I try and understand the current function and role of contemporary justice, as manifested in both State legislation and in programs and services offered by Plan Egypt when addressing street children. By examining pre- and post-January 25th online published news articles, I argue that although these frameworks allow street children some room for agency. However, the ultimate outcome of contemporary justice goes beyond the perpetuation of the child-adult dichotomy and into the realms of governmentality and biopolitics of all individuals

Validation of Normal Inverse Gaussian Distribution for Synthetic CDO Pricing

How to determine the default loss distribution of the whole credit portfolio is the most critical part for pricing CDOs. This paper follows Kalemanova et al (2007) and assesses the pricing efficiency of both one-factor Gaussian Copula model the Normal Inverse Gaussian (NIG) Copula model during the turbulent market condition by using data in 2008 and 2009. In addition, we test the price impact of the skewed NIG distribution by adjusting the value of the two parameters. The results show that NIG Copula performs much better than Gaussian Copula, and the introduction of the asymmetry factor in NIG distribution can further improve the modeling results

Breaking Bad: Detecting malicious domains using word segmentation

In recent years, vulnerable hosts and maliciously registered domains have been frequently involved in mobile attacks. In this paper, we explore the feasibility of detecting malicious domains visited on a cellular network based solely on lexical characteristics of the domain names. In addition to using traditional quantitative features of domain names, we also use a word segmentation algorithm to segment the domain names into individual words to greatly expand the size of the feature set. Experiments on a sample of real-world data from a large cellular network show that using word segmentation improves our ability to detect malicious domains relative to approaches without segmentation, as measured by misclassification rates and areas under the ROC curve. Furthermore, the results are interpretable, allowing one to discover (with little supervision or tuning required) which words are used most often to attract users to malicious domains. Such a lightweight approach could be performed in near-real time when a device attempts to visit a domain. This approach can complement (rather than substitute) other more expensive and time-consuming approaches to similar problems that use richer feature sets.Comment: In Proceedings of the 9th Workshop on Web 2.0 Security and Privacy (W2SP) 201

Systematic Curation of miRBase Annotation Using Integrated Small RNA High-Throughput Sequencing Data for C. elegans and Drosophila

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of 20–23 nucleotide small RNAs that regulate gene expression post-transcriptionally in animals and plants. Annotation of miRNAs by the miRNA database (miRBase) has largely relied on computational approaches. As a result, many miRBase entries lack experimental validation, and discrepancies between miRBase annotation and actual miRNA sequences are often observed. In this study, we integrated the small RNA sequencing (smRNA-seq) datasets in Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster and devised an analytical pipeline coupled with detailed manual inspection to curate miRNA annotation systematically in miRBase. Our analysis reveals 19 (17.0%) and 51 (31.3%) miRNAs entries with detectable smRNA-seq reads have mature sequence discrepancies in C. elegans and D. melanogaster, respectively. These discrepancies frequently occur either for conserved miRNA families whose mature sequences were predicted according to their homologous counterparts in other species or for miRNAs whose precursor miRNA (pre-miRNA) hairpins produce an abundance of multiple miRNA isoforms or variants. Our analysis shows that while Drosophila pre-miRNAs, on average, produce less than 60% accurate mature miRNA reads in addition to their 5′ and 3′ variant isoforms, the precision of miRNA processing in C. elegans is much higher, at over 90%. Based on the revised miRNA sequences, we analyzed expression patterns of the more conserved (MC) and less conserved (LC) miRNAs and found that, whereas MC miRNAs are often co-expressed at multiple developmental stages, LC miRNAs tend to be expressed specifically at fewer stages

Protein kinase C-dependent signaling controls the midgut epithelial barrier to malaria parasite infection in anopheline mosquitoes.

Anopheline mosquitoes are the primary vectors of parasites in the genus Plasmodium, the causative agents of malaria. Malaria parasites undergo a series of complex transformations upon ingestion by the mosquito host. During this process, the physical barrier of the midgut epithelium, along with innate immune defenses, functionally restrict parasite development. Although these defenses have been studied for some time, the regulatory factors that control them are poorly understood. The protein kinase C (PKC) gene family consists of serine/threonine kinases that serve as central signaling molecules and regulators of a broad spectrum of cellular processes including epithelial barrier function and immunity. Indeed, PKCs are highly conserved, ranging from 7 isoforms in Drosophila to 16 isoforms in mammals, yet none have been identified in mosquitoes. Despite conservation of the PKC gene family and their potential as targets for transmission-blocking strategies for malaria, no direct connections between PKCs, the mosquito immune response or epithelial barrier integrity are known. Here, we identify and characterize six PKC gene family members--PKCδ, PKCε, PKCζ, PKD, PKN, and an indeterminate conventional PKC--in Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles stephensi. Sequence and phylogenetic analyses of the anopheline PKCs support most subfamily assignments. All six PKCs are expressed in the midgut epithelia of A. gambiae and A. stephensi post-blood feeding, indicating availability for signaling in a tissue that is critical for malaria parasite development. Although inhibition of PKC enzymatic activity decreased NF-κB-regulated anti-microbial peptide expression in mosquito cells in vitro, PKC inhibition had no effect on expression of a panel of immune genes in the midgut epithelium in vivo. PKC inhibition did, however, significantly increase midgut barrier integrity and decrease development of P. falciparum oocysts in A. stephensi, suggesting that PKC-dependent signaling is a negative regulator of epithelial barrier function and a potential new target for transmission-blocking strategies

The Impact of a Value-Based Insurance Design Plus Health Coaching on Medication Adherence and Medical Spending

The objective of this study was to evaluate medication adherence, medical services utilization, and combined medical and pharmacy expenditures associated with diabetes and hypertension value-based insurance design (VBID) plus health/disease coaching programs implemented by a large employer. A pre/post participant versus nonparticipant study design was used to measure medication possession ratios (MPRs), inpatient admissions, emergency room utilization, and combined medical and pharmacy expenditures for employees/spouses with diabetes (n=1090; average 23 months follow-up) and hypertension (n=3254; average 13 months follow-up) participating in a VBID plus health/disease coaching relative to eligible nonparticipants. Outcome measures were propensity score weighted and regression adjusted to estimate the independent impact of the programs. MPRs for diabetes and hypertension were significantly increased 3 to 4 percentage points for VBID participants, while MPRs for respective nonparticipants decreased by about 10 percentage points. Employer-paid pharmacy expenditures increased significantly for both participants with diabetes and hypertension while out-of-pocket patient co-payments decreased significantly. Medical expenditures for diabetes VBID participants decreased but not significantly. Hypertension participants experienced medical expenditure increases. Medical services utilization of inpatient admissions and emergency room visits underwent minimal change. Thus employer-sponsored diabetes and hypertension VBID plus health/disease coaching programs can be expected to lower patient co-payments and significantly increase medication adherence. Meanwhile, medical spending outcomes indicated that increased diabetes and hypertension pharmacy expenditures were partially offset by medical savings (for diabetes) but not sufficiently to be cost neutral. (Population Health Management 2015;18:151?158)Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/140186/1/pop.2014.0081.pd