Confronting Tracker Field Quintessence with Data

We confront tracker field quintessence with observational data. The potentials considered in this paper include $V(\phi)\propto\phi^{-\alpha}$, $\exp(M_{p}/\phi)$, $\exp(M_{p}/\phi)-1$, $\exp(\beta M_{p}/\phi)$ and $\exp(\gamma M_{p}/\phi)-1$; while the data come from the latest SN Ia, CMB and BAO observations. Stringent parameter constraints are obtained. In comparison with the cosmological constant via information criteria, it is found that models with potentials $\exp(M_{p}/\phi)$, $\exp(M_{p}/\phi)-1$ and $\exp(\gamma M_{p}/\phi)-1$ are not supported by the current data.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figure

Semi-Supervised Object Detection in the Open World

Existing approaches for semi-supervised object detection assume a fixed set of classes present in training and unlabeled datasets, i.e., in-distribution (ID) data. The performance of these techniques significantly degrades when these techniques are deployed in the open-world, due to the fact that the unlabeled and test data may contain objects that were not seen during training, i.e., out-of-distribution (OOD) data. The two key questions that we explore in this paper are: can we detect these OOD samples and if so, can we learn from them? With these considerations in mind, we propose the Open World Semi-supervised Detection framework (OWSSD) that effectively detects OOD data along with a semi-supervised learning pipeline that learns from both ID and OOD data. We introduce an ensemble based OOD detector consisting of lightweight auto-encoder networks trained only on ID data. Through extensive evalulation, we demonstrate that our method performs competitively against state-of-the-art OOD detection algorithms and also significantly boosts the semi-supervised learning performance in open-world scenarios

Robust Joint Estimation of Galaxy Redshift and Spectral Templates using Online Dictionary Learning

We present a novel approach to analyzing astronomical spectral survey data using our non-linear extension of an online dictionary learning algorithm. Current and upcoming surveys such as SPHEREx will use spectral data to build a 3D map of the universe by estimating the redshifts of millions of galaxies. Existing algorithms rely on hand-curated external templates and have limited performance due to model mismatch error. Our algorithm addresses this limitation by jointly estimating both the underlying spectral features in common across the entire dataset, as well as the redshift of each galaxy. Our online approach scales well to large datasets since we only process a single spectrum in memory at a time. Our algorithm performs better than a state-of-the-art existing algorithm when analyzing a mock SPHEREx dataset, achieving a NMAD standard deviation of 0.18% and a catastrophic error rate of 0.40% when analyzing noiseless data. Our algorithm also performs well over a wide range of signal to noise ratios (SNR), delivering sub-percent NMAD and catastrophic error above median SNR of 20. We released our algorithm publicly at github.com/HyperspectralDictionaryLearning/BryanEtAl2023 .Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, Submitted to IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligenc

Persistent surgical wound bleeding: A rare condition related to acquired hemophilia A

SummaryAcquired hemophilia A (AHA) is a rare condition that predisposes affected patients to a bleeding tendency, even after a trivial physical insult. We present our experience with a 45-year-old male patient who was referred to our institute because of persistent bleeding from a left forearm surgical wound after fasciotomy. He was diagnosed as having AHA. Surgical treatment in combination with recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa) led to a satisfactory result. Clinical awareness and multidisciplinary professional connections are necessary in the treatment of AHA. Acquired hemophilia should be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients with uncontrolled bleeding episodes

Ultrasonic dissimilar joining of aluminum alloy and polymer with the composite material of ABS polymer doping carbonized rice husk

The metal housing is typically jointed with plastic fittings by conventional gluing method or embedding injection molding to produce this type of devices. We propose to improve this new technique with more practical approach. In plastic-aluminum substrate dissimilar joining, the 5052 aluminum plate coarsening process was performed to increase the porosity of the permeable dissimilar phase. The ABS polymer plus carbonized rice husk powder was later induced or deposited on the microstructure to improve the bonding effect. The plastic -aluminum substrate dissimilar joining is completed by the final step of ultrasonic welding. The finished substrate will be tested on the properties of tensile strength to ensure its quality. According to the simulation analysis and measuring results, the maximum temperature between the interface of ABS polymer and 5052 aluminum alloy is about 400~450 °C during ultrasonic welding, which can make the surface of ABS polymer to be melted. Furthermore, after drilling micro-hole array and covering ABS plus carbonized rice husk powder, the 5052 aluminum alloy shows better joining effect with ABS polymer sheet by ultrasonic welding. This improved approach does not require mold or injection molding machinery to produce the high quality plastic -aluminum bonding parts

Predicting serum levels of lithium-treated patients: A supervised machine learning approach

Routine monitoring of lithium levels is common clinical practice. This is because the lithium prediction strategies available developed by previous studies are still limited due to insufficient prediction performance. Thus, we used machine learning approaches to predict lithium concentration in a large real-world dataset. Real-world data from multicenter electronic medical records were used in different machine learning algorithms to predict: (1) whether the serum level was 0.6-1.2 mmol/L or 0.0-0.6 mmol/L (binary prediction), and (2) its concentration value (continuous prediction). We developed models from 1505 samples through 5-fold cross-validation and used 204 independent samples to test their performance by evaluating their accuracy. Moreover, we ranked the most important clinical features in different models and reconstructed three reduced models with fewer clinical features. For binary and continuous predictions, the average accuracy of these models was 0.70-0.73 and 0.68-0.75, respectively. Seven features were listed as important features related to serum lithium levels of 0.6-1.2 mmol/L or higher lithium concentration, namely older age, lower systolic blood pressure, higher daily and last doses of lithium prescription, concomitant psychotropic drugs with valproic acid and -pine drugs, and comorbid substance-related disorders. After reducing the features in the three new predictive models, the binary or continuous models still had an average accuracy of 0.67-0.74. Machine learning processes complex clinical data and provides a potential tool for predicting lithium concentration. This may help in clinical decision-making and reduce the frequency of serum level monitoring

Depression and anxiety in adults with hidradenitis suppurativa

Importance Previous studies suggest that depression and anxiety are common in patients with hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), more so than other dermatological conditions. Yet, to the authors’ knowledge, no previous systematic review or meta-analysis has estimated the prevalence or odds ratio (OR) for those psychiatric comorbidities in this population. Objective To assess the prevalence and odds for depression and anxiety in patients with HS. Data Sources From July 25 to September 30, 2018, observational studies investigating the prevalence and odds for depression and anxiety in adults with HS were systematically searched without language restriction from the inception of each database to July 25, 2018, in PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, and PsycINFO databases. Searches used various configurations of the terms hidradenitis suppurativa; acne inversa; depressive disorder; depression; anxiety; anxiety disorders; phobia, social; suicide; and suicide, attempted. In addition, the reference lists of included references were screened manually. Study Selection Two investigators independently screened references that measured prevalence rates and odds for depressive and anxiety symptoms in patients with HS. Of 136 unique references, 10 ultimately met inclusion criteria. Data Extraction and Synthesis Relevant data were extracted from eligible references. Authors were contacted to provide further information when necessary. Methodological quality of included studies was assessed through a modified version of the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Random-effects models were used to synthesize available evidence. Main Outcomes and Measures Prevalence rates and ORs for depression and anxiety in adults with HS were the primary outcome measures. Heterogeneity across studies was assessed with the I2 statistic. Sources of heterogeneity were explored through subgroup and meta-regression analyses. Results Ten studies comprising 40 307 participants with HS met inclusion criteria. The overall prevalence of depression was 16.9% (95% CI, 9.9%-27.2%). Heterogeneity was large. In the subgroup of studies that considered a clinical criteria–based diagnosis of depression, the prevalence of depression was 11.9% (95% CI, 4.9%-26.2%), compared with 26.8% (95% CI, 20.4%-34.5%) in studies that used a screening instrument. The methodological quality of included studies moderated those findings. The OR for depression in individuals with HS compared with individuals without HS was 1.84 (95% CI, 1.57-2.15). The prevalence of anxiety was 4.9% (95% CI, 1.7%-13.2%); there were insufficient data to determine an odds ratio for anxiety in persons with HS because 2 studies included a comparison group. Conclusions and Relevance This systematic review and meta-analysis indicates that depression and anxiety are common comorbid conditions in patients with HS. Results suggest that the development of strategies to recognize and treat those psychiatric comorbidities in patients with HS is warranted

High-Tc Cuprate Superconductivity in a Nutshell

Since the discovery of high-Tc cuprate superconductivity in 1986 many new experimental techniques and theoretical concepts have been developed. In particular it was shown that the BCS theory of d-wave superconductivity describes semi-quantitatively the high-Tc superconductivity. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that Volovik's approach is extremely useful for finding the quasiparticle properties in the vortex state. Here we survey these developments and forecast future directions.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure

Urbane Dörfer: räumliche Entgrenzungsprozesse und parzellierte Gemeinschaftsformen

A-Dorf liegt im Einzugsgebiet von zwei Großstädten und besteht seit dem Jahr 953. Ursprünglich und für den größten Teil seiner Geschichte war das Dorf eine bäuerliche Siedlung, hat aber seit den 1950er-Jahren einen deutlichen sozialstrukturellen Wandel durchgemacht. Die Einwohnerschaft hat sich seit den 1970er-Jahren durch Neubaugebiete nahezu verdoppelt. Insbesondere die Zugezogenen weisen eine eher pragmatische, zweckrationale Ortsbindung auf und sind überlokal orientiert. Ihr Lebens- und Aktionsraum geht weit über die Grenzen des Dorfes hinaus. Dies hat auch Konsequenzen für dörfliche Formen der Gemeinschaftsbildung, die inzwischen weit stärker Ergebnisse von individuellen Selektionen sind und nicht mehr durch Strukturen des Kontextes erzwungen werden. Sehr deutlich wurde dies z. B. bei den Beziehungen zu Nachbarn/ innen oder dörflichen Vereinen und Interessengruppen. »Die« Dorfgemeinschaft im Singular wird ersetzt durch interessenspezifische Teilgemeinschaften.»A-Village« is located in the catchment area of two major cities and exists since 1953. Originally, and for the most part of its history, it was a rural village, but since the 1950s it went through a major change concerning its social structure. The number of inhabitants has almost doubled since the 1970s, due to housing estates. Especially the recent settlers have a more pragmatic and function-guided binding to the village and are globally orientated. Their space of living and action exceeds the narrow boundaries of the village to a greater extent. These facts have consequences for the way of forming communities, and are less the implications of contextual structures, but reflect more results of selections by individuals. This is evident, for example, in the case of relations with neighbours or associations and interest groups. The »village-community« in the singular is being replaced by segmented communities, which are being formed to serve special interests