| 1. |
- Arun, K. G., et al.
(author)
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New horizons for fundamental physics with LISA
- 2022
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In: Living Reviews in Relativity. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1433-8351 .- 2367-3613. ; 25:1
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) has the potential to reveal wonders about the fundamental theory of nature at play in the extreme gravity regime, where the gravitational interaction is both strong and dynamical. In this white paper, the Fundamental Physics Working Group of the LISA Consortium summarizes the current topics in fundamental physics where LISA observations of gravitational waves can be expected to provide key input. We provide the briefest of reviews to then delineate avenues for future research directions and to discuss connections between this working group, other working groups and the consortium work package teams. These connections must be developed for LISA to live up to its science potential in these areas.
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| 2. |
- Berner, Logan T., et al.
(author)
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The Arctic plant aboveground biomass synthesis dataset
- 2024
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In: Scientific Data. - : Springer Nature. - 2052-4463. ; 11:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Plant biomass is a fundamental ecosystem attribute that is sensitive to rapid climatic changes occurring in the Arctic. Nevertheless, measuring plant biomass in the Arctic is logistically challenging and resource intensive. Lack of accessible field data hinders efforts to understand the amount, composition, distribution, and changes in plant biomass in these northern ecosystems. Here, we present The Arctic plant aboveground biomass synthesis dataset, which includes field measurements of lichen, bryophyte, herb, shrub, and/or tree aboveground biomass (g m−2) on 2,327 sample plots from 636 field sites in seven countries. We created the synthesis dataset by assembling and harmonizing 32 individual datasets. Aboveground biomass was primarily quantified by harvesting sample plots during mid- to late-summer, though tree and often tall shrub biomass were quantified using surveys and allometric models. Each biomass measurement is associated with metadata including sample date, location, method, data source, and other information. This unique dataset can be leveraged to monitor, map, and model plant biomass across the rapidly warming Arctic.
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| 3. |
- Brito, Flavio, et al.
(author)
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Compression of Activation Signals from Split Deep Neural Network
- 2022
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In: 2022 IEEE Latin-American Conference on Communications, LATINCOM 2022. - 9781665482257
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The use of artificial neural networks for the purpose of image classification, together with the advancement in computational capabilities of edge devices, plays an important role in the new emerging 5G use case scenarios. However, one of the main challenges of applications involving the use of these networks in edge devices is still the limitation of computational resources. An alternative for saving resources and promoting privacy are the split learning (or split inference) techniques, in which a deep neural network is cut into two parts and executed in distinct devices. Most of these techniques rely on sending the activation signals (output of the cut layer) through the communication channel. This work proposes a new compression algorithm for decreasing the bit rate required for the transmission of the activation signals (or simply 'scores'). The presented results demonstrate that the transmission rate can be decreased without hurting the neural network accuracy.
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| 4. |
- Brütt, Katharina, et al.
(author)
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Competition and moral behavior: A meta-analysis of forty-five crowd-sourced experimental designs
- 2023
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In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS. - : National Academy of Sciences. - 1091-6490 .- 0027-8424. ; 120:23
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Does competition affect moral behavior? This fundamental question has been debated among leading scholars for centuries, and more recently, it has been tested in experimental studies yielding a body of rather inconclusive empirical evidence. A potential source of ambivalent empirical results on the same hypothesis is design heterogeneity-variation in true effect sizes across various reasonable experimental research protocols. To provide further evidence on whether competition affects moral behavior and to examine whether the generalizability of a single experimental study is jeopardized by design heterogeneity, we invited independent research teams to contribute experimental designs to a crowd-sourced project. In a large-scale online data collection, 18,123 experimental participants were randomly allocated to 45 randomly selected experimental designs out of 95 submitted designs. We find a small adverse effect of competition on moral behavior in a meta-analysis of the pooled data. The crowd-sourced design of our study allows for a clean identification and estimation of the variation in effect sizes above and beyond what could be expected due to sampling variance. We find substantial design heterogeneity-estimated to be about 1.6 times as large as the average standard error of effect size estimates of the 45 research designs-indicating that the informativeness and generalizability of results based on a single experimental design are limited. Drawing strong conclusions about the underlying hypotheses in the presence of substantive design heterogeneity requires moving toward much larger data collections on various experimental designs testing the same hypothesis.
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| 5. |
- Chang, Yueqing, et al.
(author)
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Downfolding from ab initio to interacting model Hamiltonians : comprehensive analysis and benchmarking of the DFT+cRPA approach
- 2024
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In: npj Computational Materials. - 2057-3960. ; 10:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Model Hamiltonians are regularly derived from first principles to describe correlated matter. However, the standard methods for this contain a number of largely unexplored approximations. For a strongly correlated impurity model system, here we carefully compare a standard downfolding technique with the best possible ground-truth estimates for charge-neutral excited-state energies and wave functions using state-of-the-art first-principles many-body wave function approaches. To this end, we use the vanadocene molecule and analyze all downfolding aspects, including the Hamiltonian form, target basis, double-counting correction, and Coulomb interaction screening models. We find that the choice of target-space basis functions emerges as a key factor for the quality of the downfolded results, while orbital-dependent double-counting corrections diminish the quality. Background screening of the Coulomb interaction matrix elements primarily affects crystal-field excitations. Our benchmark uncovers the relative importance of each downfolding step and offers insights into the potential accuracy of minimal downfolded model Hamiltonians.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Daca, Chanvo Salvador Lucas, 1976-
(author)
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Making the connections : understanding inequalities in reproductive and child health in Mozambique
- 2024
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Background: In Mozambique, despite significant socio-economic and health system challenges, there has been progress in reproductive and child health in recent years. However, there is still a lack of comprehensive studies that thoroughly unravel the socio-economic determinants of health and health inequalities in the country.The overall aim of this thesis was to understand the socio-economic and geographic inequalities in reproductive and child health with the intention of informing and optimizing the implementation of targeted health programmes in Mozambique.Methods: This thesis is based on three sub-studies that used data obtained from population-based health surveys. In sub-study I, prevalence ratios (PRs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated by log binomial regression to assess the relationship of socio-economic, demographic, and geographic characteristics with three outcomes of interest: insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs), child immunization coverage and modern contraceptive use. Sub-study II used the concentration index (Cindex) and decomposition analysis to assess the socio-economic and regional contributions to the wealth inequality in health preventive care. Sub-study III estimated absolute risk differences and the slope index of inequality (SII) as the measures of association between the socio-economic variables and the outcomes (ITN use, fever treatment and Fansidar prophylaxis) for the 2015 and 2018 surveys, as well as for the differences between the two time points.Results: The proportion of mothers with at least one child aged under five years that did not use an ITN was 51.01%, while 46.25% of women had children aged one to four years who were not fully immunized and 74.28% of women did not use modern contraceptives. Non-educated mothers and residents of the southern region were more likely to report not using an ITN (PR = 1.36; 95% CI: 1.17–1.59), while those in the lowest wealth quintile had a higher chance of having children who were not fully immunized (PR = 1.34; 95% CI: 1.04–1.71). Similarly, non-educated mothers (PR = 1.17; 95% CI: 1.10–1.25), non-working women (PR = 1.09; 95% CI: 1.04–1.16) and those in the poorest wealth quintile (PR = 1.13; 95% CI: 1.04–1.24) were more likely to not use modern contraception (sub-study I). Sub-study II found a Cindex of -0.081 for non-ITN, -0.189 for a lack of vaccination coverage and -0.284 for non-contraceptive use, showing a worse health outcome among the poorest population. The study revealed that 88.41% of the wealth gap for ITNs was explained by socio-economic factors, with education and wealth playing the largest roles. With regard to the lack of full vaccination, socio-economic factors (47.74%), particularly the wealth quintile (35.79%), emerged as the predominant contributor to the inequality. Similarly, socio-economic factors (39.39%) were also the main explanatory factors for the lack of contraceptive use, but to a lesser degree than for the other two outcomes (sub-study II). Access to health preventive activities increased in all of the three studied outcomes between 2015 and 2018. Significant reductions in ITN inequality were observed for all socio-economic variables, but no decrease of inequalities in fever treatment and Fansidar prophylaxis was found over time (sub-study III).Conclusion: This thesis revealed that bed net use and immunization coverage among children, and modern contraceptive use among women, were notably low. There was inequality, concentrated among the poor, in reproductive and child preventive measures. The greater part of this inequality could be attributed to low wealth and education, as well as to residence in rural areas. Reductions in socio-economic inequalities between 2015 and 2018 were observed for ITN use but not for fever treatment or malaria prophylaxis. Based on these findings, achieving universal health coverage in Mozambique will require an equitable resource distribution among rural regions, increased community education on health preventative measures and health service expansion to socio-economically disadvantaged households.
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| 8. |
- Ferrando, Carlos, et al.
(author)
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Effects of oxygen on post-surgical infections during an individualised perioperative open-lung ventilatory strategy : a randomised controlled trial
- 2020
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In: British Journal of Anaesthesia. - : ELSEVIER SCI LTD. - 0007-0912 .- 1471-6771. ; 124:1, s. 110-120
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: We aimed to examine whether using a high fraction of inspired oxygen (FIO2) in the context of an individualised intra- and postoperative open-lung ventilation approach could decrease surgical site infection (SSI) in patients scheduled for abdominal surgery. Methods: We performed a multicentre, randomised controlled clinical trial in a network of 21 university hospitals from June 6, 2017 to July 19, 2018. Patients undergoing abdominal surgery were randomly assigned to receive a high (0.80) or conventional (0.3) FIO2 during the intraoperative period and during the first 3 postoperative hours. All patients were mechanically ventilated with an open-lung strategy, which included recruitment manoeuvres and individualised positive end-expiratory pressure for the best respiratory-system compliance, and individualised continuous postoperative airway pressure for adequate peripheral oxyhaemoglobin saturation. The primary outcome was the prevalence of SSI within the first 7 postoperative days. The secondary outcomes were composites of systemic complications, length of intensive care and hospital stay, and 6-month mortality. Results: We enrolled 740 subjects: 371 in the high FIO2 group and 369 in the low FIO2 group. Data from 717 subjects were available for final analysis. The rate of SSI during the first postoperative week did not differ between high (8.9%) and low (9.4%) FIO2 groups (relative risk [RR]: 0.94; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.59-1.50; P=0.90]). Secondary outcomes, such as atelectasis (7.7% vs 9.8%; RR: 0.77; 95% CI: 0.48-1.25; P=0.38) and myocardial ischaemia (0.6% [n=2] vs 0% [n=0]; P=0.47) did not differ between groups. Conclusions: An oxygenation strategy using high FIO2 compared with conventional FIO2 did not reduce postoperative SSIs in abdominal surgery. No differences in secondary outcomes or adverse events were found.
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| 9. |
- Padilla, Lorena, et al.
(author)
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Extracellular vesicles would be involved in the release and delivery of seminal TGF-beta isoforms in pigs
- 2023
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In: Frontiers in Veterinary Science. - : FRONTIERS MEDIA SA. - 2297-1769. ; 10
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Introduction : Pig seminal plasma (SP) is rich in active forms of all three isoforms (1-3) of transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta), a chemokine modulatory of the immune environment in the female genital tract once semen is delivered during mating or artificial insemination (AI). The present study aimed to examine how TGF-beta s are secreted by the epithelium of the male reproductive tract and how they are transported in semen, emphasizing the interplay with seminal extracellular vesicles (sEVs). Methods : Source of TGF-beta s was examined by immunohistochemistry in testis, epididymis, and accessory sex glands, by immunocytochemistry in ejaculated spermatozoa, and by Luminex xMAP((R)) technology in SP and sEVs retrieved from healthy, fertile male pigs used as breeders in AI programs. Results : All three TGF-beta isoforms were expressed in all reproductive tissues explored and would be released into ductal lumen either in soluble form or associated with sEVs. Ejaculated spermatozoa expressed all three TGF-beta isoforms, both inside and outside, probably the outer one associated with membrane-bound sEVs. The results confirmed that pig SP contains all three TGF-beta isoforms and demonstrated that a substantial portion of them is associated with sEVs. Discussion : Seminal EVs would be involved in the cellular secretion of the active forms of seminal TGF-beta isoforms and in their safe transport from the male to the female reproductive tract.
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| 10. |
- Quanz, Sascha P., et al.
(author)
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Atmospheric characterization of terrestrial exoplanets in the mid-infrared : biosignatures, habitability, and diversity
- 2022
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In: Experimental astronomy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0922-6435 .- 1572-9508. ; 54:2-3, s. 1197-1221
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Exoplanet science is one of the most thriving fields of modern astrophysics. A major goal is the atmospheric characterization of dozens of small, terrestrial exoplanets in order to search for signatures in their atmospheres that indicate biological activity, assess their ability to provide conditions for life as we know it, and investigate their expected atmospheric diversity. None of the currently adopted projects or missions, from ground or in space, can address these goals. In this White Paper, submitted to ESA in response to the Voyage 2050 Call, we argue that a large space-based mission designed to detect and investigate thermal emission spectra of terrestrial exoplanets in the mid-infrared wavelength range provides unique scientific potential to address these goals and surpasses the capabilities of other approaches. While NASA might be focusing on large missions that aim to detect terrestrial planets in reflected light, ESA has the opportunity to take leadership and spearhead the development of a large mid-infrared exoplanet mission within the scope of the “Voyage 2050” long-term plan establishing Europe at the forefront of exoplanet science for decades to come. Given the ambitious science goals of such a mission, additional international partners might be interested in participating and contributing to a roadmap that, in the long run, leads to a successful implementation. A new, dedicated development program funded by ESA to help reduce development and implementation cost and further push some of the required key technologies would be a first important step in this direction. Ultimately, a large mid-infrared exoplanet imaging mission will be needed to help answer one of humankind’s most fundamental questions: “How unique is our Earth?”
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