Expected Anomalies in the Fossil Record

The problem of intermediates in the fossil record has been frequently discussed ever since Darwin. The extent of `gaps' (missing transitional stages) has been used to argue against gradual evolution from a common ancestor. Traditionally, gaps have often been explained by the improbability of fossilization and the discontinuous selection of found fossils. Here we take an analytical approach and demonstrate why, under certain sampling conditions, we may not expect intermediates to be found. Using a simple null model, we show mathematically that the question of whether a taxon sampled from some time in the past is likely to be morphologically intermediate to other samples (dated earlier and later) depends on the shape and dimensions of the underlying phylogenetic tree that connects the taxa, and the times from which the fossils are sampled

The Relationships of Sociometric Status and Personality Factors Among Sixth Grade Children

Historically, social interaction has played a central role in the development of personality constructs. How one sees himself, how others perceive him, and how these variables interact have played a core role in many theoretical systems. If the theoretical assumptions underlying the relationships between personality development and social interaction are true, then significant relationships should exist between sociometric measures of personality. This was the rationale surrounding the development of this study

On Combining Lensing Shear Information from Multiple Filters

We consider the possible gain in the measurement of lensing shear from imaging data in multiple filters. Galaxy shapes may differ significantly across filters, so that the same galaxy offers multiple samples of the shear. On the other extreme, if galaxy shapes are identical in different filters, one can combine them to improve the signal-to-noise and thus increase the effective number density of faint, high redshift galaxies. We use the GOODS dataset to test these scenarios by calculating the covariance matrix of galaxy ellipticities in four visual filters (B,V,i,z). We find that galaxy shapes are highly correlated, and estimate the gain in galaxy number density by combining their shapes.Comment: 8 pages, no figures, submitted to JCA

Funktionelle Charakterisierung und prognostische Bedeutung von Dectin-1-Varianten für das Auftreten infektiologischer Komplikationen bei Patienten mit akuter myeloischer Leukämie

Patienten mit akuter myeloischer Leukämie (AML) sind anfällig für lebensbedrohliche Infektionen, vor allem infolge der toxischen Chemotherapie. Insbesondere invasive Pilzinfektionen (IPI) in der Lunge sind häufig und stellen eine erhebliche Komplikation dar. Eine Schlüsselrolle in der Erkennung und Abwehr von Pilzerregern nimmt der Immunrezeptor Dectin-1 ein. Polymorphismen (SNPs) im Dectin-1-Gen sind mit einer erhöhten Anfälligkeit für IPI assoziiert. Neben genetischen Variationen von Dectin-1 existieren die zwei funktionell relevanten Proteinisoformen A und B. Isoform A ist gekennzeichnet durch eine zusätzliche glykosylierte, extrazelluläre Domäne. Es wurde zunächst der Zusammenhang von Dectin-1-SNPs hinsichtlich der Häufigkeit von IPI nach Chemotherapie bei 186 AML-Patienten untersucht. Träger des G-Allels des Dectin-1-SNPs rs7309123 hatten ein signifikant erhöhtes Risiko für die Ausprägung einer IPI. Weiterhin erfolgte eine vergleichende Charakterisierung der beiden Dectin-1-Proteinisoformen A und B auf Basis von Zellkulturmodellen. Isoform A zeigte hierbei ein etwa zehnfach höheres Proteinlevel in der Plasmazellmembran und steht in Abhängigkeit zu dessen Glykosylierungsstatus. Demgegenüber konnte eine selektive Induktion des proinflammatorischen Zytokins Interleukin-6 (IL-6) durch Isoform B gezeigt werden. Analysen ergaben die Heraufregulation von Isoform B in ex vivo differenzierten Makrophagen und dendritischen Zellen. Die vorliegende Arbeit zeigt erstmalig die Assoziation von Dectin-1-Genotypen mit einer erhöhten Anfälligkeit für IPI bei AML-Patienten nach Chemotherapie. Die Erkenntnisse können zu einer besseren Risikostratifizierung beitragen. Weiterhin wurde der substanzielle Zusammenhang der Glykosylierung von Isoform A mit der Lokalisation in der Plasmazellmembran dargestellt. Die Isoform B-spezifische Induktion von IL-6 und die selektive Heraufregulation in verschiedenen Phagozytentypen deuten auf eine eigenständige funktionelle Rolle von Isoform B hin

Set-Membership Inference Attacks using Data Watermarking

In this work, we propose a set-membership inference attack for generative models using deep image watermarking techniques. In particular, we demonstrate how conditional sampling from a generative model can reveal the watermark that was injected into parts of the training data. Our empirical results demonstrate that the proposed watermarking technique is a principled approach for detecting the non-consensual use of image data in training generative models.Comment: Preliminary wor

Toward Seaport Resilience for Climate Change Adaptation: Stakeholder Perceptions of Hurricane Impacts in Gulfport (MS) and Providence (RI)

A growing body of research indicates that climate change is having and will continue to have a range of negative impacts on social–environmental systems. Reducing the vulnerability and increasing the resilience of these systems has thus becomes a focus of research, disaster planning, and policy-making. Seaports, located in environmentally sensitive, high-risk locations, are particularly vulnerable to severe storms and the increased sea levels resulting from such climate changes. Planning and policy making must therefore consider the human factor, that is the population potentially vulnerable to climate change induced events and also the complex network of stakeholders that depend on their functionality. An increasing body of literature suggests that, for planners to be effective in increasing resiliency of social-environmental systems to climate change-related events and other hazards, they must understand and incorporate the perceptions and concerns of the stakeholders in their assessment and planning processes. This study uses empirical evidence collected through case studies of two particularly exposed ports: Gulfport (MS) and Providence (RI), in order to examine how port stakeholders such as port operators, municipal planners, port tenants, coastal managers, perceive storm impacts and the seaport\u27s vulnerability, and how their planning and policy making address these perceived concerns. Results suggest the following: (1) Port stakeholders of Gulfport (MS) and Providence (RI) identified a wide range of direct damages, indirect costs, and intangible consequences of a hurricane hitting the port; (2) these impacts would result in costs that would be borne by all port stakeholders as well as society as a whole; and (3) in Providence and Gulfport, plans and policies that address storm resilience for the ports did not include the concerns of many stakeholders

Single-Model Attribution of Generative Models Through Final-Layer Inversion

Recent groundbreaking developments on generative modeling have sparked interest in practical single-model attribution. Such methods predict whether a sample was generated by a specific generator or not, for instance, to prove intellectual property theft. However, previous works are either limited to the closed-world setting or require undesirable changes of the generative model. We address these shortcomings by proposing FLIPAD, a new approach for single-model attribution in the open-world setting based on final-layer inversion and anomaly detection. We show that the utilized final-layer inversion can be reduced to a convex lasso optimization problem, making our approach theoretically sound and computationally efficient. The theoretical findings are accompanied by an experimental study demonstrating the effectiveness of our approach, outperforming the existing methods