A Markov model for inferring flows in directed contact networks

Directed contact networks (DCNs) are a particularly flexible and convenient class of temporal networks, useful for modeling and analyzing the transfer of discrete quantities in communications, transportation, epidemiology, etc. Transfers modeled by contacts typically underlie flows that associate multiple contacts based on their spatiotemporal relationships. To infer these flows, we introduce a simple inhomogeneous Markov model associated to a DCN and show how it can be effectively used for data reduction and anomaly detection through an example of kernel-level information transfers within a computer.Comment: 12 page

Variables in the Southern Polar Region Evryscope 2016 Dataset

The regions around the celestial poles offer the ability to find and characterize long-term variables from ground-based observatories. We used multi-year Evryscope data to search for high-amplitude (~5% or greater) variable objects among 160,000 bright stars (Mv < 14.5) near the South Celestial Pole. We developed a machine learning based spectral classifier to identify eclipse and transit candidates with M-dwarf or K-dwarf host stars - and potential low-mass secondary stars or gas giant planets. The large amplitude transit signals from low-mass companions of smaller dwarf host stars lessens the photometric precision and systematics removal requirements necessary for detection, and increases the discoveries from long-term observations with modest light curve precision. The Evryscope is a robotic telescope array that observes the Southern sky continuously at 2-minute cadence, searching for stellar variability, transients, transits around exotic stars and other observationally challenging astrophysical variables. In this study, covering all stars 9 < Mv < 14.5, in declinations -75 to -90 deg, we recover 346 known variables and discover 303 new variables, including 168 eclipsing binaries. We characterize the discoveries and provide the amplitudes, periods, and variability type. A 1.7 Jupiter radius planet candidate with a late K-dwarf primary was found and the transit signal was verified with the PROMPT telescope network. Further followup revealed this object to be a likely grazing eclipsing binary system with nearly identical primary and secondary K5 stars. Radial velocity measurements from the Goodman Spectrograph on the 4.1 meter SOAR telescope of the likely-lowest-mass targets reveal that six of the eclipsing binary discoveries are low-mass (.06 - .37 solar mass) secondaries with K-dwarf primaries, strong candidates for precision mass-radius measurements.Comment: 32 pages, 17 figures, accepted to PAS

The Concept “Soul” and its Translingual Background (a Close Reading of Mourner’s Kaddish and Aleinu Prayer)

Aleinu, a prayer that initially left us with questions, contains interesting qualities. It comprises the text that has changed its tone over generations. Having become more peaceful and perhaps accepting, Aleinu has kept its power to bind Jewish people together as a reminder to praise God collectively. Co-existence of both particularistic and universalistic themes in such a short piece of liturgy is quite a powerful thing. While preserving the very kernel of Jewish theology (oneness of God and His connection with Jewish people) the text of Aleinu goes further and suggests a very brave idea which signifies an ability of all to understand universal ethics. The historic association of Aleinu with stoicism of Jewish people in the face of tragedy creates an additional dimension for understanding of the meaning of the prayer as a source of hope and comfort. When S. Sulzer created his light melody the most communities know today, he realized the re-assuring spiritual potential of Aleinu

Asymmetric spin-wave dispersion due to Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in an ultrathin Pt/CoFeB film

Employing Brillouin spectroscopy, strong interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions have been observed in an ultrathin Pt/CoFeB film. Our micromagnetic simulations show that spin-wave nonreciprocity due to asymmetric surface pinning is insignificant for the 0.8nmthick CoFeB film studied. The observed high asymmetry of the monotonic spin wave dispersion relation is thus ascribed to strong Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions present at the Pt/CoFeB interface. Our findings should further enhance the significance of CoFeB as an important material for magnonic, spintronic and skyrmionic applications.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure

Diversity of Thought, Duality and Stoicism in Aleinu Prayer

Aleinu, a prayer that initially left us with questions, contains interesting qualities. 1. It comprises the text that has changed its tone over generations. Having become more peaceful and perhaps accepting, Aleinu has kept its power to bind Jewish people together as a reminder to praise God collectively. 2. Co-existence of both particularistic and universalistic themes in such a short piece of liturgy is quite a powerful thing. While preserving the very kernel of Jewish theology (oneness of God and His connection with Jewish people) the text of Aleinu goes further and suggests a very brave idea which signifies an ability of all to understand universal ethics. 3. The historic association of Aleinu with stoicism of Jewish people in the face of tragedy creates an additional dimension for understanding of the meaning of the prayer as a source of hope and comfort. When S. Sulzer created his light melody the most communities know today, he realized the re-assuring spiritual potential of Aleinu

Evolutionary Multitask Optimization: Fundamental research questions, practices, and directions for the future

Transfer Optimization has gained a remarkable attention from the Swarm and Evolutionary Computation community in the recent years. It is undeniable that the concepts underlying Transfer Optimization are formulated on solid grounds. However, evidences observed in recent contributions confirm that there are critical aspects that are not properly addressed to date. This short communication aims to engage the readership around a reflection on these issues, and to provide rationale why they remain unsolved. Specifically, we emphasize on three critical points of Evolutionary Multitasking Optimization: (i) the plausibility and practical applicability of this paradigm; (ii) the novelty of some proposed multitasking methods; and (iii) the methodologies used for evaluating newly proposed multitasking algorithms. As a result of this research, we conclude that some important efforts should be directed by the community in order to keep the future of this promising field on the right track. Our ultimate purpose is to unveil gaps in the current literature, so that prospective works can attempt to fix these gaps, avoiding to stumble on the same stones and eventually achieve valuable advances in the area

Beyond Speculative Robot Ethics

In this article we develop a dialogue model for robot technology experts and designated users to discuss visions on the future of robotics in long-term care. Our vision assessment study aims for more distinguished and more informed visions on future robots. Surprisingly, our experiment also lead to some promising co-designed robot concepts in which jointly articulated moral guidelines are embedded. With our model we think to have designed an interesting response on a recent call for a less speculative ethics of technology by encouraging discussions about the quality of positive and negative visions on the future of robotics.

Integrals Over Polytopes, Multiple Zeta Values and Polylogarithms, and Euler's Constant

Let $T$ be the triangle with vertices (1,0), (0,1), (1,1). We study certain integrals over $T$, one of which was computed by Euler. We give expressions for them both as a linear combination of multiple zeta values, and as a polynomial in single zeta values. We obtain asymptotic expansions of the integrals, and of sums of certain multiple zeta values with constant weight. We also give related expressions for Euler's constant. In the final section, we evaluate more general integrals -- one is a Chen (Drinfeld-Kontsevich) iterated integral -- over some polytopes that are higher-dimensional analogs of $T$. This leads to a relation between certain multiple polylogarithm values and multiple zeta values.Comment: 19 pages, to appear in Mat Zametki. Ver 2.: Added Remark 3 on a Chen (Drinfeld-Kontsevich) iterated integral; simplified Proposition 2; gave reference for (19); corrected [16]; fixed typ

Presence of antioxidative agent, Pyrrolo[1,2-a]pyrazine-1,4-dione, hexahydro- in newly isolated Streptomyces mangrovisoli sp. nov.

A novel Streptomyces, strain MUSC 149T was isolated from mangrove soil. A polyphasic approach was used to study the taxonomy of MUSC 149T, which shows a range of phylogenetic and chemotaxonomic properties consistent with those of the members of the genus Streptomyces. The diamino acid of the cell wall peptidoglycan was LL-diaminopimelic acid. The predominant menaquinones were identified as MK9(H8) and MK9(H6). Phylogenetic analysis indicated that closely related strains include Streptomyces rhizophilus NBRC 108885T (99.2 % sequence similarity), Streptomyces gramineus NBRC 107863T (98.7 %) and Streptomyces graminisoli NBRC 108883T (98.5 %). The DNA–DNA relatedness values between MUSC 149T and closely related type strains ranged from 12.4 ± 3.3 % to 27.3 ± 1.9 %. The DNA G + C content was determined to be 72.7 mol%. The extract of MUSC 149T exhibited strong antioxidant activity and chemical analysis reported identification of an antioxidant agent, Pyrrolo[1,2-a]pyrazine-1,4-dione, hexahydro-. These data showed that metabolites of MUSC 149T shall be useful as preventive agent against free-radical associated diseases. Based on the polyphasic study of MUSC 149T, the strain merits assignment to a novel species, for which the name Streptomyces mangrovisoli sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is MUSC 149T (= MCCC 1K00699T = DSM 100438T)

Streptomyces antioxidans sp. nov., a Novel Mangrove Soil Actinobacterium with Antioxidative and Neuroprotective Potentials

A novel strain, Streptomyces antioxidans MUSC 164(T) was recovered from mangrove forest soil located at Tanjung Lumpur, Malaysia. The Gram-positive bacterium forms yellowish-white aerial and brilliant greenish yellow substrate mycelium on ISP 2 agar. A polyphasic approach was used to determine the taxonomy status of strain MUSC 164(T). The strain showed a spectrum of phylogenetic and chemotaxonomic properties consistent with those of the members of the genus Streptomyces. The cell wall peptidoglycan was determined to contain LL-diaminopimelic acid. The predominant menaquinones were identified as MK-9(H(6)) and MK-9(H(8)), while the identified polar lipids consisted of aminolipid, diphosphatidylglycerol, glycolipid, hydroxyphosphatidylethanolamine, phospholipid, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol and lipid. The cell wall sugars consist of galactose, glucose and ribose. The predominant cellular fatty acids (>10.0%) were identified as iso-C(15:)(0) (34.8%) and anteiso-C(15:)(0)(14.0%). Phylogenetic analysis identified that closely related strains for MUSC 164(T) as Streptomyces javensis NBRC 100777(T) (99.6% sequence similarity), Streptomyces yogyakartensis NBRC 100779(T) (99.6%) and Streptomyces violaceusniger NBRC 13459(T) (99.6%). The DNA–DNA relatedness values between MUSC 164(T) and closely related type strains ranged from 23.8 ± 0.3% to 53.1 ± 4.3%. BOX-PCR fingerprints comparison showed that MUSC 164(T) exhibits a unique DNA profile, with DNA G + C content determined to be 71.6 mol%. Based on the polyphasic study of MUSC 164(T), it is concluded that this strain represents a novel species, for which the name Streptomyces antioxidans sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is MUSC 164(T) (=DSM 101523(T) = MCCC 1K01590(T)). The extract of MUSC 164(T) showed potent antioxidative and neuroprotective activities against hydrogen peroxide. The chemical analysis of the extract revealed that the strain produces pyrazines and phenolic-related compounds that could explain for the observed bioactivities