Convergence of a series associated with the convexification method for coefficient inverse problems

This paper is concerned with the convergence of a series associated with a certain version of the convexification method. That version has been recently developed by the research group of the first author for solving coefficient inverse problems. The convexification method aims to construct a globally convex Tikhonov-like functional with a Carleman Weight Function in it. In the previous works the construction of the strictly convex weighted Tikhonov-like functional assumes a truncated Fourier series (i.e. a finite series instead of an infinite one) for a function generated by the total wave field. In this paper we prove a convergence property for this truncated Fourier series approximation. More precisely, we show that the residual of the approximate PDE obtained by using the truncated Fourier series tends to zero in $L^{2}$ as the truncation index in the truncated Fourier series tends to infinity. The proof relies on a convergence result in the $H^{1}$-norm for a sequence of $L^{2}$-orthogonal projections on finite-dimensional subspaces spanned by elements of a special Fourier basis. However, due to the ill-posed nature of coefficient inverse problems, we cannot prove that the solution of that approximate PDE, which results from the minimization of that Tikhonov-like functional, converges to the correct solution.Comment: 15 page

Spatial patterns and distributional controls of total and methylated mercury off the Lena River in the Laptev Sea sediments

A warmer climate is predicted to accelerate the export of mercury (Hg) from Siberian rivers to the Arctic Ocean, yet there is a dearth of process-oriented studies on the speciation and fate of Hg in the shelf sea system. Here, we present data on total Hg (HgT) and methylmercury (MeHg) in Laptev Sea surface sediments along a cross-shelf transect starting at the mouth of the Lena River. Concentrations of HgT along the 330 km cross-shelf transect ranged within a fairly narrow span from 480 to 150 pmol g−1 d.w., while concentrations of MeHg decreased one hundredfold from 13 pmol g−1 d.w. near the Lena river to 0.095 pmol g−1 d.w. in the more distall stations. The highest concentrations of HgT and MeHg were observed close to the river delta and were associated with a high supply of organic carbon (OC). Enrichment of the OC normalized HgT concentration (HgTOC) and depletion of the OC normalized MeHg concentration (MeHgOC) across the shelf suggests bulk OC content to not be the only driver of the HgT and MeHg spatial distributions. Based on correlations observed between HgTOC and MeHgOC and proxies for sediment physics and organic matter pools we suggest the spatial distribution of Hg and MeHg to also be influenced by hydrodynamic sorting of riverine-derived material. For MeHg, depletion of the MeHgOC across the shelf is likely driven by the trapping of terrestrial MeHg in sediments close to the river delta before it is degraded in the water column

Severe Pandemic H1N1 2009 Infection Is Associated with Transient NK and T Deficiency and Aberrant CD8 Responses

BACKGROUND: It is unclear why the severity of influenza varies in healthy adults or why the burden of severe influenza shifts to young adults when pandemic strains emerge. One possibility is that cross-protective T cell responses wane in this age group in the absence of recent infection. We therefore compared the acute cellular immune response in previously healthy adults with severe versus mild pandemic H1N1 infection. METHODS AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: 49 previously healthy adults admitted to the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases, Viet Nam with RT-PCR-confirmed 2009 H1N1 infection were prospectively enrolled. 39 recovered quickly whereas 10 developed severe symptoms requiring supplemental oxygen and prolonged hospitalization. Peripheral blood lymphocyte subset counts and activation (HLADR, CD38) and differentiation (CD27, CD28) marker expression were determined on days 0, 2, 5, 10, 14 and 28 by flow cytometry. NK, CD4 and CD8 lymphopenia developed in 100%, 90% and 60% of severe cases versus 13% (p<0.001), 28%, (p = 0.001) and 18% (p = 0.014) of mild cases. CD4 and NK counts normalized following recovery. B cell counts were not significantly associated with severity. CD8 activation peaked 6-8 days after mild influenza onset, when 13% (6-22%) were HLADR+CD38+, and was accompanied by a significant loss of resting/CD27+CD28+ cells without accumulation of CD27+CD28- or CD27-CD28- cells. In severe influenza CD8 activation peaked more than 9 days post-onset, and/or was excessive (30-90% HLADR+CD38+) in association with accumulation of CD27+CD28- cells and maintenance of CD8 counts. CONCLUSION: Severe influenza is associated with transient T and NK cell deficiency. CD8 phenotype changes during mild influenza are consistent with a rapidly resolving memory response whereas in severe influenza activation is either delayed or excessive, and partially differentiated cells accumulate within blood indicating that recruitment of effector cells to the lung could be impaired

Measurement of the cross-section and charge asymmetry of WW bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at s=8\sqrt{s}=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents measurements of the $W^+ \rightarrow \mu^+\nu$ and $W^- \rightarrow \mu^-\nu$ cross-sections and the associated charge asymmetry as a function of the absolute pseudorapidity of the decay muon. The data were collected in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 20.2~\mbox{fb^{-1}}. The precision of the cross-section measurements varies between 0.8% to 1.5% as a function of the pseudorapidity, excluding the 1.9% uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The charge asymmetry is measured with an uncertainty between 0.002 and 0.003. The results are compared with predictions based on next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations with various parton distribution functions and have the sensitivity to discriminate between them.Comment: 38 pages in total, author list starting page 22, 5 figures, 4 tables, submitted to EPJC. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2017-13

Surrogate Models and Mixtures of Experts in Aerodynamic Performance Prediction for Mission Analysis

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/140436/1/6.2014-2301.pd

AKR1C enzymes sustain therapy resistance in paediatric T-ALL

BACKGROUND: Despite chemotherapy intensification, a subgroup of high-risk paediatric T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (TALL) patients still experience treatment failure. In this context, we hypothesised that therapy resistance in T-ALL might involve aldo-keto reductase 1C (AKR1C) enzymes as previously reported for solid tumors.METHODS: Expression of NRF2-AKR1C signaling components has been analysed in paediatric T-ALL samples endowed with different treatment outcomes as well as in patient-derived xenografts of T-ALL. The effects of AKR1C enzyme modulation has been investigated in T-ALL cell lines and primary cultures by combining AKR1C inhibition, overexpression, and gene silencing approaches.RESULTS: We show that T-ALL cells overexpress AKR1C1-3 enzymes in therapy-resistant patients. We report that AKR1C1-3 enzymes play a role in the response to vincristine (VCR) treatment, also ex vivo in patient-derived xenografts. Moreover, we demonstrate that the modulation of AKR1C1-3 levels is sufficient to sensitise T-ALL cells to VCR. Finally, we show that T-ALL chemotherapeutics induce overactivation of AKR1C enzymes independent of therapy resistance, thus establishing a potential resistance loop during T-ALL combination treatment.CONCLUSIONS: Here, we demonstrate that expression and activity of AKR1C enzymes correlate with response to chemotherapeutics in T-ALL, posing AKR1C1-3 as potential targets for combination treatments during T-ALL therapy

Dark matter interpretations of ATLAS searches for the electroweak production of supersymmetric particles in s√=8 s=8 TeV proton-proton collisions

A selection of searches by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC for the electroweak production of SUSY particles are used to study their impact on the constraints on dark matter candidates. The searches use 20 fb−1 of proton-proton collision data at s √ =8 s=8 TeV. A likelihood-driven scan of a five-dimensional effective model focusing on the gaugino-higgsino and Higgs sector of the phenomenological minimal supersymmetric Standard Model is performed. This scan uses data from direct dark matter detection experiments, the relic dark matter density and precision flavour physics results. Further constraints from the ATLAS Higgs mass measurement and SUSY searches at LEP are also applied. A subset of models selected from this scan are used to assess the impact of the selected ATLAS searches in this five-dimensional parameter space. These ATLAS searches substantially impact those models for which the mass m(χ ~ 0 1 ) m(χ~10) of the lightest neutralino is less than 65 GeV, excluding 86% of such models. The searches have limited impact on models with larger m(χ ~ 0 1 ) m(χ~10) due to either heavy electroweakinos or compressed mass spectra where the mass splittings between the produced particles and the lightest supersymmetric particle is small