Finding Exogenous Variables in Data with Many More Variables than Observations

Many statistical methods have been proposed to estimate causal models in classical situations with fewer variables than observations (p<n, p: the number of variables and n: the number of observations). However, modern datasets including gene expression data need high-dimensional causal modeling in challenging situations with orders of magnitude more variables than observations (p>>n). In this paper, we propose a method to find exogenous variables in a linear non-Gaussian causal model, which requires much smaller sample sizes than conventional methods and works even when p>>n. The key idea is to identify which variables are exogenous based on non-Gaussianity instead of estimating the entire structure of the model. Exogenous variables work as triggers that activate a causal chain in the model, and their identification leads to more efficient experimental designs and better understanding of the causal mechanism. We present experiments with artificial data and real-world gene expression data to evaluate the method.Comment: A revised version of this was published in Proc. ICANN201

Microscopic analysis of spin-momentum locking on a geometric phase metasurface

We revisit spin-orbit coupling in a plasmonic Berry metasurface composed of rotated nanoapertures, which is known to imprint a robust far-field polarization response. We present a scattering formalism that shows how that spin-momentum locking emerges from the geometry of the unit cell without requiring global rotation symmetries. We find and confirm with Mueller polarimetry measurements that spin-momentum locking is an approximate symmetry. The symmetry breakdown is ascribed to the elliptical projection of circularly polarized light into the planar surface. This breakdown is maximal when surface waves are excited, and a new set of spin-momentum locking rules is presented for this case

Can R CrB stars form from the merger of two helium white dwarfs?

Due to orbital decay by gravitational-wave radiation, some close-binary helium white dwarfs are expected to merge within a Hubble time. The immediate merger products are believed to be helium-rich sdO stars, essentially helium main-sequence stars. We present new evolution calculations for these post-merger stars beyond the core helium-burning phase. The most massive He-sdO's develop a strong helium-burning shell and evolve to become helium-rich giants. We include nucleosynthesis calculations following the merger of $0.4 \rm M_{\odot}$ helium white-dwarf pairs with metallicities $Z = 0.0001, 0.004, 0.008$ and 0.02. The surface chemistries of the resulting giants are in partial agreement with the observed abundances of R Coronae Borealis and extreme helium stars. Such stars might represent a third, albeit rare, evolution channel for the latter, in addition to the CO+He white dwarf merger and the very-late thermal pulse channels proposed previously. We confirm a recent suggestion that lithium seen in R\,CrB stars could form naturally during the hot phase of a merger in the presence of \iso{3}{He} from the donor white dwarf.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS letter

Double white dwarf mergers and elemental surface abundances in extreme helium and R Coronae Borealis stars

The surface abundances of extreme helium (EHe) and R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars are discussed in terms of the merger of a carbon-oxygen white dwarf with a helium white dwarf. The model is expressed as a linear mixture of the individual layers of both constituent white dwarfs, taking account of the specific evolution of each star. In developing this recipe from previous versions, particular attention has been given to the inter-shell abundances of the asymptotic giant branch star which evolved to become the carbon-oxygen white dwarf. Thus the surface composition of the merged star is estimated as a function of the initial mass and metallicity of its progenitor. The question of whether additional nucleosynthesis occurs during the white dwarf merger has been examined. The high observed abundances of carbon and oxygen must either originate by dredge-up from the core of the carbon-oxygen white dwarf during a cold merger or be generated directly by alpha-burning during a hot merger. The presence of large quantities of O18 may be consistent with both scenarios, since a significant O18 pocket develops at the carbon/helium boundary in a number of our post-AGB models. The production of fluorine, neon and phosphorus in the AGB intershell produces n overabundance at the surface of the merged stars, but generally not in sufficient quantity. However, the evidence for an AGB origin for these elements points to progenitor stars with initial masses in the range 1.9 - 3 solar masses. There is not yet sufficient information to discriminate the origin (fossil or prompt) of all the abundance anomalies observed in EHe and RCB stars. Further work is required on argon and s-process elements in the AGB intershell, and on the predicted yields of all elements from a hot merger.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figures, 3 tables, MNRAS in pres

Quantitative imaging of concentrated suspensions under flow

We review recent advances in imaging the flow of concentrated suspensions, focussing on the use of confocal microscopy to obtain time-resolved information on the single-particle level in these systems. After motivating the need for quantitative (confocal) imaging in suspension rheology, we briefly describe the particles, sample environments, microscopy tools and analysis algorithms needed to perform this kind of experiments. The second part of the review focusses on microscopic aspects of the flow of concentrated model hard-sphere-like suspensions, and the relation to non-linear rheological phenomena such as yielding, shear localization, wall slip and shear-induced ordering. Both Brownian and non-Brownian systems will be described. We show how quantitative imaging can improve our understanding of the connection between microscopic dynamics and bulk flow.Comment: Review on imaging hard-sphere suspensions, incl summary of methodology. Submitted for special volume 'High Solid Dispersions' ed. M. Cloitre, Vol. xx of 'Advances and Polymer Science' (Springer, Berlin, 2009); 22 pages, 16 fig

The Evolution of Compact Binary Star Systems

We review the formation and evolution of compact binary stars consisting of white dwarfs (WDs), neutron stars (NSs), and black holes (BHs). Binary NSs and BHs are thought to be the primary astrophysical sources of gravitational waves (GWs) within the frequency band of ground-based detectors, while compact binaries of WDs are important sources of GWs at lower frequencies to be covered by space interferometers (LISA). Major uncertainties in the current understanding of properties of NSs and BHs most relevant to the GW studies are discussed, including the treatment of the natal kicks which compact stellar remnants acquire during the core collapse of massive stars and the common envelope phase of binary evolution. We discuss the coalescence rates of binary NSs and BHs and prospects for their detections, the formation and evolution of binary WDs and their observational manifestations. Special attention is given to AM CVn-stars -- compact binaries in which the Roche lobe is filled by another WD or a low-mass partially degenerate helium-star, as these stars are thought to be the best LISA verification binary GW sources.Comment: 105 pages, 18 figure

Evolutionary and pulsational properties of white dwarf stars

Abridged. White dwarf stars are the final evolutionary stage of the vast majority of stars, including our Sun. The study of white dwarfs has potential applications to different fields of astrophysics. In particular, they can be used as independent reliable cosmic clocks, and can also provide valuable information about the fundamental parameters of a wide variety of stellar populations, like our Galaxy and open and globular clusters. In addition, the high densities and temperatures characterizing white dwarfs allow to use these stars as cosmic laboratories for studying physical processes under extreme conditions that cannot be achieved in terrestrial laboratories. They can be used to constrain fundamental properties of elementary particles such as axions and neutrinos, and to study problems related to the variation of fundamental constants. In this work, we review the essentials of the physics of white dwarf stars. Special emphasis is placed on the physical processes that lead to the formation of white dwarfs as well as on the different energy sources and processes responsible for chemical abundance changes that occur along their evolution. Moreover, in the course of their lives, white dwarfs cross different pulsational instability strips. The existence of these instability strips provides astronomers with an unique opportunity to peer into their internal structure that would otherwise remain hidden from observers. We will show that this allows to measure with unprecedented precision the stellar masses and to infer their envelope thicknesses, to probe the core chemical stratification, and to detect rotation rates and magnetic fields. Consequently, in this work, we also review the pulsational properties of white dwarfs and the most recent applications of white dwarf asteroseismology.Comment: 85 pages, 28 figures. To be published in The Astronomy and Astrophysics Revie

Interleukin-10 enhances the intestinal epithelial barrier in the presence of corticosteroids through p38 MAPK activity in Caco-2 monolayers : a possible mechanism for steroid responsiveness in ulcerative colitis

Altres ajuts: 2012 Spanish Gastroenterological Association i CIBER G0034Glucocorticosteroids are the first line therapy for moderate-severe flare-ups of ulcerative colitis. Despite that, up to 60% of patients do not respond adequately to steroid treatment. Previously, we reported that low IL-10 mRNA levels in intestine are associated with a poor response to glucocorticoids in active Crohn's disease. Here, we test whether IL-10 can favour the response to glucocorticoids by improving the TNFα-induced intestinal barrier damage (assessed by transepithelial electrical resistance) in Caco-2 monolayers, and their possible implications on glucocorticoid responsiveness in active ulcerative colitis. We show that the association of IL-10 and glucocorticoids improves the integrity of TNFα-treated Caco-2 cells and that p38 MAPK plays a key role. In vitro, IL-10 facilitates the nuclear translocation of p38 MAPK-phosphorylated thereby modulating glucocorticoids-receptor-α, IL-10-receptor-α and desmoglein-2 expression. In glucocorticoids-refractory patients, p38 MAPK phosphorylation and membrane desmoglein-2 expression are reduced in colonic epithelial cells. These results suggest that p38 MAPK-mediated synergism between IL-10 and glucocorticoids improves desmosome straightness contributing to the recovery of intestinal epithelium and reducing luminal antigens contact with lamina propria in ulcerative colitis. This study highlights the link between the intestinal epithelium in glucocorticoids-response in ulcerative colitis

Molecular phylogenetics and temporal diversification in the genus Aeromonas based on the sequences of five housekeeping genes

Several approaches have been developed to estimate both the relative and absolute rates of speciation and extinction within clades based on molecular phylogenetic reconstructions of evolutionary relationships, according to an underlying model of diversification. However, the macroevolutionary models established for eukaryotes have scarcely been used with prokaryotes. We have investigated the rate and pattern of cladogenesis in the genus Aeromonas (γ-Proteobacteria, Proteobacteria, Bacteria) using the sequences of five housekeeping genes and an uncorrelated relaxed-clock approach. To our knowledge, until now this analysis has never been applied to all the species described in a bacterial genus and thus opens up the possibility of establishing models of speciation from sequence data commonly used in phylogenetic studies of prokaryotes. Our results suggest that the genus Aeromonas began to diverge between 248 and 266 million years ago, exhibiting a constant divergence rate through the Phanerozoic, which could be described as a pure birth process