748 research outputs found
Deep Sequencing of Distinct Preparations of the Live Attenuated Varicella-Zoster Virus Vaccine Reveals a Conserved Core of Attenuating Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms
The continued success of the live attenuated varicella-zoster virus vaccine in preventing varicella-zoster and herpes zoster is well documented, as are many of the mutations that contribute to the attenuation of the vOka virus for replication in skin. At least three different preparations of vOka are marketed. Here, we show using deep sequencing of seven batches of vOka vaccine (including ZostaVax, VariVax, VarilRix, and the Oka/Biken working seed) from three different manufacturers (VariVax, GSK, and Biken) that 137 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) mutations are present in all vaccine batches. This includes six sites at which the vaccine allele is fixed or near fixation, which we speculate are likely to be important for attenuation. We also show that despite differences in the vaccine populations between preparations, batch-to-batch variation is minimal, as is the number and frequency of mutations unique to individual batches. This suggests that the vaccine manufacturing processes are not introducing new mutations and that, notwithstanding the mixture of variants present, VZV live vaccines are extremely stable
World model learning and inference
Understanding information processing in the brain-and creating general-purpose artificial intelligence-are long-standing aspirations of scientists and engineers worldwide. The distinctive features of human intelligence are high-level cognition and control in various interactions with the world including the self, which are not defined in advance and are vary over time. The challenge of building human-like intelligent machines, as well as progress in brain science and behavioural analyses, robotics, and their associated theoretical formalisations, speaks to the importance of the world-model learning and inference. In this article, after briefly surveying the history and challenges of internal model learning and probabilistic learning, we introduce the free energy principle, which provides a useful framework within which to consider neuronal computation and probabilistic world models. Next, we showcase examples of human behaviour and cognition explained under that principle. We then describe symbol emergence in the context of probabilistic modelling, as a topic at the frontiers of cognitive robotics. Lastly, we review recent progress in creating human-like intelligence by using novel probabilistic programming languages. The striking consensus that emerges from these studies is that probabilistic descriptions of learning and inference are powerful and effective ways to create human-like artificial intelligent machines and to understand intelligence in the context of how humans interact with their world
Generalized McKay quivers of rank three
For each finite subgroup G of SL(n, C), we introduce the generalized Cartan
matrix C_{G} in view of McKay correspondence from the fusion rule of its
natural representation. Using group theory, we show that the generalized Cartan
matrices have similar favorable properties such as positive semi-definiteness
as in the classical case of affine Cartan matrices (the case of SL(2,C)). The
complete McKay quivers for SL(3,C) are explicitly described and classified
based on representation theory
One-neutron knockout reaction of 17C on a hydrogen target at 70 MeV/nucleon
First experimental evidence of the population of the first 2- state in 16C
above the neutron threshold is obtained by neutron knockout from 17C on a
hydrogen target. The invariant mass method combined with in-beam gamma-ray
detection is used to locate the state at 5.45(1) MeV. Comparison of its
populating cross section and parallel momentum distribution with a Glauber
model calculation utilizing the shell-model spectroscopic factor confirms the
core-neutron removal nature of this state. Additionally, a previously known
unbound state at 6.11 MeV and a new state at 6.28(2) MeV are observed. The
position of the first 2- state, which belongs to a member of the lowest-lying
p-sd cross shell transition, is reasonably well described by the shell-model
calculation using the WBT interaction.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figure
Search for low lying dipole strength in the neutron rich nucleus Ne
Coulomb excitation of the exotic neutron-rich nucleus Ne on a
Pb target was measured at 58 A.MeV in order to search for low-lying E1
strength above the neutron emission threshold. Data were also taken on an
Al target to estimate the nuclear contribution. The radioactive beam
was produced by fragmentation of a 95 A.MeV Ar beam delivered by the
RIKEN Research Facility. The set-up included a NaI gamma-ray array, a charged
fragment hodoscope and a neutron wall. Using the invariant mass method in the
Ne+n channel, we observe a sizable amount of E1 strength between 6 and
10 MeV. The reconstructed Ne angular distribution confirms its E1
nature. A reduced dipole transition probability of B(E1)=0.490.16
is deduced. For the first time, the decay pattern of low-lying
strength in a neutron-rich nucleus is obtained. The results are discussed in
terms of a pygmy resonance centered around 9 MeV
A Reduction-Preserving Completion for Proving Confluence of Non-Terminating Term Rewriting Systems
We give a method to prove confluence of term rewriting systems that contain
non-terminating rewrite rules such as commutativity and associativity. Usually,
confluence of term rewriting systems containing such rules is proved by
treating them as equational term rewriting systems and considering E-critical
pairs and/or termination modulo E. In contrast, our method is based solely on
usual critical pairs and it also (partially) works even if the system is not
terminating modulo E. We first present confluence criteria for term rewriting
systems whose rewrite rules can be partitioned into a terminating part and a
possibly non-terminating part. We then give a reduction-preserving completion
procedure so that the applicability of the criteria is enhanced. In contrast to
the well-known Knuth-Bendix completion procedure which preserves the
equivalence relation of the system, our completion procedure preserves the
reduction relation of the system, by which confluence of the original system is
inferred from that of the completed system
Transient dynamics for sequence processing neural networks
An exact solution of the transient dynamics for a sequential associative
memory model is discussed through both the path-integral method and the
statistical neurodynamics. Although the path-integral method has the ability to
give an exact solution of the transient dynamics, only stationary properties
have been discussed for the sequential associative memory. We have succeeded in
deriving an exact macroscopic description of the transient dynamics by
analyzing the correlation of crosstalk noise. Surprisingly, the order parameter
equations of this exact solution are completely equivalent to those of the
statistical neurodynamics, which is an approximation theory that assumes
crosstalk noise to obey the Gaussian distribution. In order to examine our
theoretical findings, we numerically obtain cumulants of the crosstalk noise.
We verify that the third- and fourth-order cumulants are equal to zero, and
that the crosstalk noise is normally distributed even in the non-retrieval
case. We show that the results obtained by our theory agree with those obtained
by computer simulations. We have also found that the macroscopic unstable state
completely coincides with the separatrix.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figure
Photoinduced metallic properties of one-dimensional strongly correlated electron systems
We study photoinduced optical responses of one-dimensional strongly
correlated electron systems. The optical conductivity spectra are calculated
for the ground state and a photoexcited state in the one-dimensional Hubbard
model at half filling by using the exact diagonalization method. It is found
that, in the Mott insulator phase, the photoexcited state has large spectral
weights including the Drude weight below the optical gap. As a consequence, the
spectral weight above the optical gap is largely reduced. These results imply
that a metallic state is induced by photoexcitation. Comparison between the
photoexcited and hole-doped states shows that the photoexcitation is similar to
chemical doping.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to J. Phys. Soc. Jp
Collective Charge Excitation in a Dimer Mott Insulating System
Charge dynamics in a dimer Mott insulating system, where a non-polar
dimer-Mott (DM) phase and a polar charge-ordered (CO) phase compete with each
other, are studied. In particular, collective charge excitations are analyzed
in the three different models where the internal-degree of freedom in a dimer
is taken into account. Collective charge excitation exists both in the
non-polar DM phase and the polar CO phase, and softens in the phase boundary.
This mode is observable by the optical conductivity spectra where the light
polarization is parallel to the electric polarization in the polar CO phase.
Connections between the present theory and the recent experimental results in
kappa-(BEDT-TTF)2Cu2(CN)3 are discussed.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
14Be(p,n)14B reaction at 69 MeV in inverse kinematics
A Gamow-Teller (GT) transition from the drip-line nucleus 14Be to 14B was
studied via the (p,n) reaction in inverse kinematics using a secondary 14Be
beam at 69 MeV/nucleon. The invariant mass method is employed to reconstruct
the energy spectrum. A peak is observed at an excitation energy of 1.27(2) MeV
in 14B, together with bumps at 2.08 and 4.06(5) MeV. The observed forward
peaking of the state at 1.27 MeV and a good description for the differential
cross section, obtained with a DWBA calculation provide support for the 1+
assignment to this state. By extrapolating the cross section to zero momentum
transfer the GT-transition strength is deduced. The value is found to compare
well with that reported in a beta-delayed neutron emission study.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure
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