Period-Luminosity Relations of Cepheid and Mira Variables and Their Application to the Extragalactic Distance Scale

In this dissertation, I present work towards accurate and precise distance determinations using both Cepheids and Miras. The work includes a Cepheid search in the galaxy M101, a study of near-infrared light curves and phase corrections for Galactic Cepheids, a Mira search in the galaxy M33, a study of near-infrared properties of Miras in the Large Magellanic Cloud, and an investigation into the suitability of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope for detecting extragalactic Miras. Using time-series observations of two fields in M101, we identified hundreds of Cepheids and derived their mean magnitudes. We obtained optical Cepheid Period-Luminosity Relations and a reddening-corrected distance to this galaxy. Combining the ground-based time-series observations for 34 Galactic Cepheids with literature data, we determined the contemporary phases of a sample of Galactic Cepheids. We used the phases and light curves to correct the single-epoch space-based observations to their mean values. Collaborating with statisticians, we carried out a Mira search in the Local Group galaxy M33 by coupling a novel semi-parametric Gaussian process model and machine learning techniques. We discovered 1847 Mira candidates using I-band measurements and obtained preliminary Period-Luminosity Relations at multiple wavelengths. We studied the near-infrared properties of Large Magellanic Cloud Mira candidates using multi-epoch JHKs observations. We found that the color excesses of Oxygen- and Carbon-rich Miras are different and compared them with the interstellar extinction law. We obtained the near-infrared Mira Period-Luminosity Relations for the Oxygen-rich subtype. We investigated the feasibility of discovering Miras with the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope. We found that our method will discover a considerable number of Oxygen-rich Miras in dozens of systems within 15 Mpc

The M33 Synoptic Stellar Survey. II. Mira Variables

We present the discovery of 1847 Mira candidates in the Local Group galaxy M33 using a novel semi-parametric periodogram technique coupled with a Random Forest classifier. The algorithms were applied to ~2.4x10^5 I-band light curves previously obtained by the M33 Synoptic Stellar Survey. We derive preliminary Period-Luminosity relations at optical, near- & mid-infrared wavelengths and compare them to the corresponding relations in the Large Magellanic Cloud.Comment: Includes small corrections to match the published versio

Hexaaqua­magnesium(II) bis­{[N-(4-meth­oxy-2-oxidobenzyl­idene)glycyl­glycinato(3−)]cuprate(II)} hexa­hydrate

In the title complex, [Mg(H2O)6][Cu(C12H11N2O5)]2·6H2O, the CuII atoms lie at the center of the square plane of triple negatively charged O,N,N′,O′-tetra­dentate Schiff base ligands, which are coordinated by one phenolate O atom, one imine N atom, one deprotonated amide N atom and one carboxyl­ate O atom. The MgII center, which sits on an inversion center, is coordinated by six aqua ligands and exhibits a slightly distorted octa­hedral conformation. The asymmetric unit consists of an [N-(4-meth­oxy-2-oxidobenzyl­idene)glycyl­glycinato]cuprate(II) anion, one half of an [Mg(H2O)6]2+ cation and three free water mol­ecules. The cations and anions form columns by O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds

On Fairness of Medical Image Classification with Multiple Sensitive Attributes via Learning Orthogonal Representations

Mitigating the discrimination of machine learning models has gained increasing attention in medical image analysis. However, rare works focus on fair treatments for patients with multiple sensitive demographic ones, which is a crucial yet challenging problem for real-world clinical applications. In this paper, we propose a novel method for fair representation learning with respect to multi-sensitive attributes. We pursue the independence between target and multi-sensitive representations by achieving orthogonality in the representation space. Concretely, we enforce the column space orthogonality by keeping target information on the complement of a low-rank sensitive space. Furthermore, in the row space, we encourage feature dimensions between target and sensitive representations to be orthogonal. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated with extensive experiments on the CheXpert dataset. To our best knowledge, this is the first work to mitigate unfairness with respect to multiple sensitive attributes in the field of medical imaging

Triaqua­bis{μ-N-[N-(4-meth­oxy-2-oxidobenzyl­idene)glyc­yl]glycinato(3−)}cadmium(II)dicopper(II) dihydrate

In the title compound, [CdCu2(C12H11N2O5)2(H2O)3]·2H2O, the CuII atoms are in a square plane of N2O2 atoms contributed by the tetra­dentate Schiff base trianion. The CuII atoms are coordinated by one phenolate O atom, one imine N atom, one amido N atom and one carboxyl­ate O atom. The CdII atom is connected via the carboxyl­ate groups, forming a heterotrinuclear CuII–CdII–CuII system. The CdII atom is seven-coordinate in a penta­gonal-bipyramidal geometry with four O atoms from two carboxyl­ate groups and three aqua ligands. The heterotrinuclear mol­ecules are linked to the uncoordinated water mol­ecules by O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds into a three-dimensional framework

Hexaaqua­cobalt(II) bis­{[N-(4-meth­oxy-2-oxidobenzyl­idene)glycylglycinato]nickel(II)} hexa­hydrate

In the title compound, [Co(H2O)6][Ni(C12H11N2O5)]2·6H2O, the NiII atom has a nearly square-planar coordination with two N and two O atoms of the N-(4-meth­oxy-2-oxidobenzyl­idene)glycylglycinate Schiff base ligand (L 3−). The CoII atom sits on an inversion center and is coordinated to six aqua ligands in a slightly distorted octa­hedral geometry. The [Co(H2O)6]2+ cations and [NiL]− anions form columns along the a axis by O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds. Additional hydrogen bonds between the uncoordinated and coordinated water molecules help to consolidate the crystal packing

Building a Flexible and Resource-Light Monitoring Platform for a WLCG-Tier2

Software development projects at Edinburgh identified a desire to build and manage our own monitoring platform. This better allows us to support the developing and varied physics and computing interests of our Experimental Particle Physics group. This production platform enables oversight of international experimental data management, local software development projects and active monitoring of lab facilities within our research group. Larger sites such as CERN have access to many resources to support generalpurpose centralised monitoring solutions such as MONIT. At a WLCG Tier2 we only have access to a fraction of these resources and manpower. Recycling nodes from grid storage and borrowed capacity from our Tier2 Hypervisors has enabled us to build a reliable monitoring infrastructure. This also contributes back to our Tier2 management improving our operational and security monitoring. Shared experiences from larger sites gave us a head-start in building our own service monitoring (FluentD) and multi-protocol (AMQP/STOMP/UDP datagram) messaging frameworks atop both our Elasticsearch and OpenSearch clusters. This has been built with minimal hardware and software complexity, maximising maintainability, and reducing manpower costs. A secondary design goal has also been the ability to migrate and upgrade individual components with minimal service interruption. To achieve this, we made heavy use of different layers of containerisation (Podman/Docker), virtualization and NGINX web proxies. This presentation details our experiences in developing this platform from scratch with a focus on minimal resource use. This includes lessons learnt in deploying and comparing both an Elasticsearch and OpenSearch clusters, as well as designing various levels of automation and resiliency for our monitoring framework. This has culminated in us effectively indexing, parsing and storing >200GB of logging and monitoring data per day

Rethinking intrapreneurship in the established MNE

Research Summary We show significant variation in the ways mainstream international business strategy (IBS) theories have addressed the discovery and pursuit of entrepreneurial opportunities in the established multinational enterprise (MNE). We adopt an extended “individual—opportunity nexus” perspective and suggest a fourfold repositioning of IBS research on MNE intrapreneurship. First, by acknowledging opportunities in activity types not historically considered as the subject of intrapreneurship, such as imposed resource reconfigurations as well as acquisitions and divestitures. Second, by paying more attention to how bundles of opportunities emerge over time, and to their sequence. Third, by recognizing more systematically different opportunity types, ranging from incremental to radical. Fourth, by analyzing more thoroughly the origins of opportunities, including those that arise from MNE weaknesses. Managerial Summary International business strategy (IBS) theories can help managers in multinational enterprises (MNEs) to better understand the unfolding of intrapreneurship. First, business decisions typically considered as merely cost-driven, including resource reconfigurations, acquisitions, and divestitures, can involve major intrapreneurial opportunities. Second, opportunities do not just appear randomly and in isolation: it is typically bundles of opportunities that emerge over time and in a particular sequence, and these bundles are closely intertwined with the MNE's own strategy that may unearth these opportunities. Third, MNE executives need to recognize more systematically different opportunity types, ranging from incremental to radical because each will require different managerial practices. Fourth, it is not only an MNE's strengths but also its weaknesses that can drive intrapreneurial action