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It is essential to understand the complex structure of the human brain to develop new treatment approaches for neurodegenerative disorders (NDDs). This review paper comprehensively discusses the challenges associated with modelling the complex brain networks and dynamic processes involved in NDDs, particularly Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), and cortical spreading depression (CSD). We investigate how the brain's biological processes and associated multiphysics interact and how this influences the structure and functionality of the brain. We review the literature on brain network models and dynamic processes, highlighting the need for sophisticated mathematical and statistical modelling techniques. Specifically, we go through large-scale brain network models relevant to AD and PD, highlighting the pathological mechanisms and potential therapeutic strategies investigated in the literature. Additionally, we investigate the propagation of CSD in the brain and its implications for neurological disorders. Furthermore, we discuss how data-driven approaches and artificial neural networks refine and validate models related to NDDs. Overall, this review underscores the significance of coupled multiscale models in deciphering disease mechanisms, offering potential avenues for therapeutic development and advancing our understanding of pathological brain dynamics., Comment: 5 figures, 26 pages

Parkinson's disease (PD) belongs to the class of neurodegenerative disorders that affect the central nervous system. It is usually defined as the gradual loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta, which causes both motor and non-motor symptoms. Understanding the neuronal processes that underlie PD is critical for creating successful therapies. This study combines machine learning (ML), stochastic modelling, and Bayesian inference with connectomic data to analyze the brain networks involved in PD. We use modern computational methods to study large-scale neural networks to identify neuronal activity patterns related to PD development. We aim to define the subtle structural and functional connection changes in PD brains by combining connectomic with stochastic noises. Stochastic modelling approaches reflect brain dynamics' intrinsic variability and unpredictability, shedding light on the origin and spread of pathogenic events in PD. We employ a novel hybrid model to assess how stochastic noise impacts the cortex-basal ganglia-thalamus (CBGTH) network, using data from the Human Connectome Project (HCP). Bayesian inference allows us to quantify uncertainty in model parameters, improving the accuracy of our predictions. Our findings reveal that stochastic disturbances increase thalamus activity, even under deep brain stimulation (DBS). Bayesian analysis suggests that reducing these disturbances could enhance healthy brain states, providing insights for potential therapeutic interventions. This approach offers a deeper understanding of PD dynamics and paves the way for personalized treatment strategies. This is an extended version of our work presented at the ICCS-2024 conference., Comment: 22 pages, 10 figures

Neuronal oscillations are related to symptoms of Parkinson's disease. The random inputs could affect such oscillations in the brain states that translate collective activities of neurons interconnected via synaptic connections. In this paper, we study coupled effects of channels and synaptic dynamics under the stochastic influence, together with spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) of healthy brain cells with applications to Parkinson's disease (PD). In particular, we investigate the effects of random inputs and input correlations in a subthalamic nucleus (STN) cell membrane potential model. Our numerical results show that the random inputs strongly affect the spiking activities of the STN neuron not only in the case of healthy cells but also in the case of PD cells in the presence of DBS treatment. The STDP increases the interspike interval (ISI) regularity of spike trains of the output neurons. However, the existence of a random refractory period and random input current in the system may substantially influence an increased irregularity of spike trains of the output neurons. Furthermore, the presence of the stochastic influence together with spike-timing-dependent plasticity could increase the correlation of the neurons. These effects would potentially contribute to the management of PD symptoms., Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures

We present a novel Hand-pose Embedding Interactive System (HpEIS) as a virtual sensor, which maps users' flexible hand poses to a two-dimensional visual space using a Variational Autoencoder (VAE) trained on a variety of hand poses. HpEIS enables visually interpretable and guidable support for user explorations in multimedia collections, using only a camera as an external hand pose acquisition device. We identify general usability issues associated with system stability and smoothing requirements through pilot experiments with expert and inexperienced users. We then design stability and smoothing improvements, including hand-pose data augmentation, an anti-jitter regularisation term added to loss function, stabilising post-processing for movement turning points and smoothing post-processing based on One Euro Filters. In target selection experiments (n=12), we evaluate HpEIS by measures of task completion time and the final distance to target points, with and without the gesture guidance window condition. Experimental responses indicate that HpEIS provides users with a learnable, flexible, stable and smooth mid-air hand movement interaction experience., Comment: 6 pages, 8 figures, 3 tables

In recent yerars, Bismuth sodium titanate (BNT) and BNT-based piezoelectric materials have proved potential for lead-free piezoelectric technologies. Such materials' complicated phase structure is crucial to their thermo-electromechanical behaviour. Pure BNT has a rhombohedral (R3c) lattice structure at room temperature. The phase transition to an orthorhombic phase (Pnma) at 200\textcelsius is mainly due to octahedral tilting. This transition is called the depolarization temperature ($T_{d}$). The R3c phase ferroelectric domains have a higher spontaneous polarization, which declines with increasing temperature and reaches a local minimum at $T_{d}$, causing a phase change. Additionally, BNT transitions from Pnma to P4bm at 320\textcelsius and from P4bm to Pm3m at 520\textcelsius. These transitions also result in the changes in the spontaneous polarization. Therefore, the investigation of domain switching and phase change dynamics in relation to temperature and electromechanical coupling has acquired considerable importance. The complex phase regimes and their activation under different temperature settings will be examined to improve the use of these materials in sensors, actuators, energy harvesting devices, and haptic technologies. The micro-sized BNT inclusions are implanted in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to reperesent the practical scenario. A two-dimensional phase-field thermo-electromechanical computational model has been created to investigate the complex phase transition and domain switching behaviour of BNT-PDMS composite under varying temperature conditions. The model uses Landau-Ginzburg and thermo-electromechanical free energy to accurately simulate phase shift and domain switching. Data from pure BNT experiments validated the model. It can predict thermo-electromechanical response in different phase regimes and temperature-induced phase coexistence., Comment: 36 pages, 12 figures

TOI-1266 is a benchmark system of two temperate ($<$ 450 K) sub-Neptune-sized planets orbiting a nearby M dwarf exhibiting a rare inverted architecture with a larger interior planet. In this study, we characterize transit timing variations (TTVs) in the TOI-1266 system using high-precision ground-based follow-up and new TESS data. We confirm the presence of a third exterior non-transiting planet, TOI-1266 d (P = 32.5 d, $M_d$ = 3.68$^{+1.05}_{-1.11} M_{\oplus}$), and combine the TTVs with archival radial velocity (RV) measurements to improve our knowledge of the planetary masses and radii. We find that, consistent with previous studies, TOI-1266 b ($R_b$ = 2.52 $\pm$ 0.08 $R_{\oplus}$, $M_b$ = 4.46 $\pm$ 0.69 $M_{\oplus}$) has a low bulk density requiring the presence of a hydrogen-rich envelope, while TOI-1266 c ($R_c$ = 1.98 $\pm$ 0.10 $R_{\oplus}$, $M_c$ = 3.17 $\pm$ 0.76 $M_{\oplus}$) has a higher bulk density that can be matched by either a hydrogen-rich or water-rich envelope. Our new dynamical model reveals that this system is arranged in a rare configuration with the inner and outer planets located near the 3:1 period ratio with a non-resonant planet in between them. Our dynamical fits indicate that the inner and outer planet have significantly nonzero eccentricities ($e_b + e_d = 0.076^{+0.029}_{-0.019}$), suggesting that TOI-1266 b may have an inflated envelope due to tidal heating. Finally, we explore the corresponding implications for the formation and long-term evolution of the system, which contains two of the most favorable cool ($<$ 500 K) sub-Neptunes for atmospheric characterization with JWST., Comment: 36 pages, 19 figures, 5 tables, submitted to The Astronomical Journal

Recent advances in Natural Language Interfaces (NLIs) and Large Language Models (LLMs) have transformed our approach to NLP tasks, shifting the focus towards a more Pragmatics-based approach. This shift enables more natural interactions between humans and voice assistants, which have been historically difficult to achieve. Pragmatics involves understanding how users often talk out of turn, interrupt one another, or provide relevant information without being explicitly asked (maxim of quantity). To explore this, we developed a digital assistant that continuously listens to conversations and proactively generates relevant visualizations during data exploration tasks. In a within-subject study, participants interacted with both proactive and non-proactive versions of a voice assistant while exploring the Hawaii Climate Data Portal (HCDP). Results suggest that the proactive assistant enhanced user engagement and facilitated quicker insights. Our study highlights the potential of Pragmatic, proactive AI in NLIs and identifies key challenges in its implementation, offering insights for future research., Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures, 1 table

With the decreasing cost of consumer display technologies making it easier for universities to have larger displays in classrooms, and the ubiquitous use of online tools such as collaborative whiteboards for remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, combining the two can be useful in higher education. This is especially true in visually intensive classes, such as data visualization courses, that can benefit from additional "space to teach," coined after the "space to think" sense-making idiom. In this paper, we reflect on our approach to using SAGE3, a collaborative whiteboard with advanced features, in higher education to teach visually intensive classes, provide examples of activities from our own visually-intensive courses, and present student feedback. We gather our observations into usage patterns for using content-rich canvases in education., Comment: To be published in the EDUVIS workshop at IEEE VIS 2024

For public health programs with limited resources, the ability to predict how behaviors change over time and in response to interventions is crucial for deciding when and to whom interventions should be allocated. Using data from a real-world maternal health program, we demonstrate how a cognitive model based on Instance-Based Learning (IBL) Theory can augment existing purely computational approaches. Our findings show that, compared to general time-series forecasters (e.g., LSTMs), IBL models, which reflect human decision-making processes, better predict the dynamics of individuals' states. Additionally, IBL provides estimates of the volatility in individuals' states and their sensitivity to interventions, which can improve the efficiency of training of other time series models.

This paper explores the intersection of data visualization and Large Language Models (LLMs). Driven by the need to make a broader range of data visualization types accessible for novice users, we present a guided LLM-based pipeline designed to transform data, guided by high-level user questions (referred to as macro-queries), into a diverse set of useful visualizations. This approach leverages various prompting techniques, fine-tuning inspired by Abela's Chart Taxonomy, and integrated SQL tool usage.

In the field of detection and ranging, multiple complementary sensing modalities may be used to enrich the information obtained from a dynamic scene. One application of this sensor fusion is in public security and surveillance, whose efficacy and privacy protection measures must be continually evaluated. We present a novel deployment of sensor fusion for the discrete detection of concealed metal objects on persons whilst preserving their privacy. This is achieved by coupling off-the-shelf mmWave radar and depth camera technology with a novel neural network architecture that processes the radar signals using convolutional Long Short-term Memory (LSTM) blocks and the depth signal, using convolutional operations. The combined latent features are then magnified using a deep feature magnification to learn cross-modality dependencies in the data. We further propose a decoder, based on the feature extraction and embedding block, to learn an efficient upsampling of the latent space to learn the location of the concealed object in the spatial domain through radar feature guidance. We demonstrate the detection of presence and inference of 3D location of concealed metal objects with an accuracy of up to 95%, using a technique that is robust to multiple persons. This work provides a demonstration of the potential for cost effective and portable sensor fusion, with strong opportunities for further development.

In recent years, Large Language Models (LLM) have demonstrated impressive capabilities in the field of natural language processing (NLP). This paper explores the application of LLMs in negotiation transcript analysis by the Vanderbilt AI Negotiation Lab. Starting in September 2022, we applied multiple strategies using LLMs from zero shot learning to fine tuning models to in-context learning). The final strategy we developed is explained, along with how to access and use the model. This study provides a sense of both the opportunities and roadblocks for the implementation of LLMs in real life applications and offers a model for how LLMs can be applied to coding in other fields.

Monte Carlo (MC) simulations have been performed for a refined estimation of the correction-to-scaling exponent omega in the 2D phi^4 model. The best estimate omega=1.546(30) has been obtained from the finite-size scaling of the susceptibility data in the range of linear lattice sizes L from 128 to 2048 at the critical value of the Binder cumulant, this result is confirmed also by several other MC estimations. It served as a basis for a critical reconsideration of some earlier theoretical conjectures and scaling assumptions. In particular, we have corrected and refined our previous analysis by grouping Feynman diagrams. The renewed analysis gives omega = 4-d-2 eta as some approximation for spatial dimensions d<4, or omega approximately 1.5 in two dimensions. Our MC value is comparable with the known results of the epsilon-expansion., Comment: 17 pages, 8 tables

Non-charge based logic in single-hole spin of semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) can be controlled by anisotropic gate potentials providing a notion for making next generation solid-state quantum devices. In this study, we investigate the isotropic and anisotropic behavior of phonon mediated spin relaxation of heavy-hole spin hot spots in QDs. For the electron spin in isotropic QDs, hot spots are known to be always present due to the Rashba spin-orbit coupling. But for heavy holes in isotropic dots, we show that the occurrences of spin hot spots are sensitive to the bulk g-factor. The hot spot for Rashba coupling in InAs and GaSb dots arises because these materials possess negative bulk g-factor, while that for the Dresselhaus coupling in GaAs and InSb dots is found due to their positive bulk g-factor. For anisotropic QDs, on the other hand, the spin hot spot is universally present due to their broken in-plane rotational symmetry. Further, the increasing electric field, that strengthens the Rashba coupling, is shown to cover a wide range of magnetic field by the hot spots. Results demonstrate that the magnetic field, choice of dot materials and size anisotropy can act as effective control parameters which can be experimentally used to design the device for detecting the phonon mediated heavy-hole spin-relaxation behavior of III-V semiconductor QDs., Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures

In a recent Note (Am. J. Phys. 92:397, 2024; arXiv:2309.10826), Vallejo and Bove provide a physical argument based nominally on the second law of thermodynamics as a way of resolving the mathematical question appearing in the title. A remarkable aspect of their argument is that it does not depend on the numerical value of $\pi$, because $e^{x} \ge x^{e}$ for all positive $x$, with equality occurring only when $x = e$. Moreover, their argument does not depend on the validity of the second law but is rather a limited proof of it for this particular case., Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication by Am. J. Phys., comment on arXiv:2309.10826

In bio-social models, cooperative behaviour has evolved as an adaptive strategy, playing multi-functional roles. One of such roles in populations is to increase the success of survival and reproduction of individuals and their families or social groups. Moreover, collective decision-making in cooperative behaviour is an aspect that is used to study the dynamic behaviour of individuals within a social group. In this paper, we have focused on population dynamics by considering a predator-prey model as our main exemplification, where the generalist predator has adopted a cooperative hunting strategy while consuming their prey. In particular, we have analyzed the dynamic nature of the system when a nonlocal term is introduced in the cooperation. First, the Turing instability condition has been studied for the local model around the coexisting steady-state, followed by the Turing and non-Turing patterns in the presence of the nonlocal interaction term. This work is also concerned with the existence of travelling wave solutions for predator-prey interaction with the nonlocal cooperative hunting strategy. Such solutions are reported for local as well as for nonlocal models. We have characterized the invading speed of the predator with the help of the minimal wave speed of travelling wave solutions connecting the predator-free state to the co-existence state. The travelling waves are found to be non-monotonic in this system. The formation of wave trains has been demonstrated for an extended range of nonlocal interactions. Finally, the importance of psychological effects in shaping the dynamics of nonlocal collective behaviour is demonstrated with several representative examples., Comment: 39 pages, 34 figures

In this work, we introduce Pixelsmith, a zero-shot text-to-image generative framework to sample images at higher resolutions with a single GPU. We are the first to show that it is possible to scale the output of a pre-trained diffusion model by a factor of 1000, opening the road for gigapixel image generation at no additional cost. Our cascading method uses the image generated at the lowest resolution as a baseline to sample at higher resolutions. For the guidance, we introduce the Slider, a tunable mechanism that fuses the overall structure contained in the first-generated image with enhanced fine details. At each inference step, we denoise patches rather than the entire latent space, minimizing memory demands such that a single GPU can handle the process, regardless of the image's resolution. Our experimental results show that Pixelsmith not only achieves higher quality and diversity compared to existing techniques, but also reduces sampling time and artifacts. The code for our work is available at https://github.com/Thanos-DB/Pixelsmith.

We propose that chaotic Glass networks (a class of piecewise-linear Ordinary Differential Equations) are good candidates for the design of true random number generators. A Glass network design has the advantage of involving only standard Boolean logic gates. Furthermore, an already chaotic (deterministic) system combined with random ``jitter'' due to thermal noise can be used to generate random bit sequences in a more robust way than noisy limit-cycle oscillators. Since the goal is to generate bit sequences with as large a positive entropy as possible, it is desirable to have a theoretical method to assess the irregularity of a large class of networks. We develop a procedure here to calculate good upper bounds on the entropy of a Glass network, by means of symbolic representations of the continuous dynamics. Our method improves on a result by Farcot (2006), and allows in principle for an arbitrary level of precision by refinements of the estimate, and we show that in the limiting case, these estimates converge to the true entropy of the symbolic system corresponding to the continuous dynamics. As a check on the method, we demonstrate for an example network that our upper bound after only a few refinement steps is very close to the entropy estimated from a long numerical simulation., Comment: 35 pages, 14 figures

Automated biomechanical testing has great potential for the development of VR applications, as initial insights into user behaviour can be gained in silico early in the design process. In particular, it allows prediction of user movements and ergonomic variables, such as fatigue, prior to conducting user studies. However, there is a fundamental disconnect between simulators hosting state-of-the-art biomechanical user models and simulators used to develop and run VR applications. Existing user simulators often struggle to capture the intricacies of real-world VR applications, reducing ecological validity of user predictions. In this paper, we introduce SIM2VR, a system that aligns user simulation with a given VR application by establishing a continuous closed loop between the two processes. This, for the first time, enables training simulated users directly in the same VR application that real users interact with. We demonstrate that SIM2VR can predict differences in user performance, ergonomics and strategies in a fast-paced, dynamic arcade game. In order to expand the scope of automated biomechanical testing beyond simple visuomotor tasks, advances in cognitive models and reward function design will be needed., Comment: 23 pages, 10 figures, 1 tables; Supplementary Material: 5 pages, 4 figures, 1 table

In functionally complex systems, higher-order connectivity is often revealed in the underlying geometry of networked units. Furthermore, such systems often show signatures of self-organized criticality, a specific type of non-equilibrium collective behaviour associated with an attractor of internal dynamics with long-range correlations and scale invariance, which ensures the robust functioning of complex systems, such as the brain. Here, we highlight the intertwining of features of higher-order geometry and self-organized critical dynamics as a plausible mechanism for the emergence of new properties on a larger scale, representing the central paradigm of the physical notion of complexity. Considering the time scale of the structural evolution with the known separation of the time scale in self-organized criticality, i.e., internal dynamics and external driving, we distinguish three classes of geometries that can shape the self-organized dynamics on them differently. We provide an overview of current trends in the study of collective dynamics phenomena, such as the synchronization of phase oscillators and discrete spin dynamics with higher-order couplings embedded in the faces of simplicial complexes. For a representative example of self-organized critical behaviour induced by higher-order structures, we present a more detailed analysis of the dynamics of field-driven spin reversal on the hysteresis loops in simplicial complexes composed of triangles. These numerical results suggest that two fundamental interactions representing the edge-embedded and triangle-embedded couplings must be taken into account in theoretical models to describe the influence of higher-order geometry on critical dynamics., Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures

This study presents a computational framework to investigate and predict the complicated multiphase properties of eco-friendly lead-free piezoelectric materials, which are crucial for sustainable technological progress. Although their electromechanical properties vary by phase, lead-free piezoelectric materials show a considerable thermo-electromechanical response. Lead-free materials such as Bi$_{0.5}$Na$_{0,5}$TiO$_{3}$ (BNT) and other BNT-type piezoelectric materials transition to rhombohedral (R3c), orthorhombic (Pnma), tetragonal (P4bm), and cubic (Cc) phases with temperature variation. These phases are determined by the symmetry and alignment of the ferroelectric domains. Multiple phases can occur simultaneously under specific thermal, electrical, and mechanical conditions, leading in complex multiphase behaviour. These materials' performance must be assessed by studying such behaviour. This study uses Landau-Ginzburg-Devonshire theory to simulate material micro-domain phase transitions. The computational model for BNT-type piezoelectric material covers temperature-induced ferroelectric domain switching and phase transitions. Therefore, the developed computational approach will assist us in better understanding the influence of these materials' complex multiphase behaviour on creating sustainable solutions with green technologies.

Augmented Reality (AR) provides a safe and low-cost option for hazardous safety training that allows for the visualization of aspects that may be invisible, such as radiation. Effectively visually communicating such threats in the environment around the user is not straightforward. This work describes visually encoding radiation using the spatial awareness mesh of an AR Head Mounted Display. We leverage the AR device's GPUs to develop a real time solution that accumulates multiple dynamic sources and uses stencils to prevent an environment being over saturated with a visualization, as well as supporting the encoding of direction explicitly in the visualization. We perform a user study (25 participants) of different visualizations and obtain user feedback. Results show that there are complex interactions and while no visual representation was statistically superior or inferior, user opinions vary widely. We also discuss the evaluation approaches and provide recommendations.

Living tissues experience various external forces on cells, influencing their behaviour, physiology, shape, gene expression, and destiny through interactions with their environment. Despite much research done in this area, challenges remain in our better understanding of the behaviour of the cell in response to external stimuli, including the arrangement, quantity, and shape of organelles within the cell. This study explores the electromechanical behaviour of biological cells, including organelles like microtubules, mitochondria, nuclei, and cell membranes. Two distinct cell structures have been developed to explore the cell responses to mechanical displacement, resembling actual cell shapes. The finite element method has been utilized to integrate the linear piezoelectric and non-local flexoelectric effects accurately. It is found that the longitudinal stress is absent and only the transverse stress plays a crucial role when the mechanical load is imposed on the top side of the cell through compressive displacement. The impact of flexoelectricity is elucidated by introducing a new parameter called the maximum electric potential ratio ($V_{\text{R,max}}$). It has been found that $V_{\text{R,max}}$ depends upon the orientation angle and shape of the microtubules. Further, the study reveals that the number of microtubules significantly impacts effective elastic and piezoelectric coefficients, affecting cell behaviour based on structure, microtubule orientation, and mechanical stress direction. The insight obtained from the current study can assist in advancements in medical therapies such as tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

We propose a novel transformer-style architecture called Global-Local Filter Network (GLFNet) for medical image segmentation and demonstrate its state-of-the-art performance. We replace the self-attention mechanism with a combination of global-local filter blocks to optimize model efficiency. The global filters extract features from the whole feature map whereas the local filters are being adaptively created as 4x4 patches of the same feature map and add restricted scale information. In particular, the feature extraction takes place in the frequency domain rather than the commonly used spatial (image) domain to facilitate faster computations. The fusion of information from both spatial and frequency spaces creates an efficient model with regards to complexity, required data and performance. We test GLFNet on three benchmark datasets achieving state-of-the-art performance on all of them while being almost twice as efficient in terms of GFLOP operations.

Quality non-degree credentials can lead to good jobs and family-sustaining wages. But not all non-degree credentials lead to good outcomes -- and when they don't, they entrench economic inequalities that impact people of color and women. National Skills Coalition's new report "The Non-Degree Credential Quality Imperative" encourages state policymakers to invest in quality NDCs; shares how we've worked with states to define, measure, and track quality; and offers takeaways for how to advance quality assurance so that policymakers feel confident in investing in non-degree credentials, students have confidence in their training programs, and employers know which programs effectively prepare people for careers.

Explainable AI (XAI) has demonstrated the potential to help reinforcement learning (RL) practitioners to understand how RL models work. However, XAI for users who do not have RL expertise (non-RL experts), has not been studied sufficiently. This results in a difficulty for the non-RL experts to participate in the fundamental discussion of how RL models should be designed for an incoming society where humans and AI coexist. Solving such a problem would enable RL experts to communicate with the non-RL experts in producing machine learning solutions that better fit our society. We argue that abstracted trajectories, that depicts transitions between the major states of the RL model, will be useful for non-RL experts to build a mental model of the agents. Our early results suggest that by leveraging a visualization of the abstracted trajectories, users without RL expertise are able to infer the behavior patterns of RL., Comment: 14pages, 11figures

Nonlocality is important in realistic mathematical models of physical and biological systems at small-length scales. It characterizes the properties of two individuals located in different locations. This review illustrates different nonlocal mathematical models applied to biology and life sciences. The major focus has been given to sources, developments, and applications of such models. Among other things, a systematic discussion has been provided for the conditions of pattern formations in biological systems of population dynamics. Special attention has also been given to nonlocal interactions on networks, network coupling and integration, including models for brain dynamics that provide us with an important tool to better understand neurodegenerative diseases. In addition, we have discussed nonlocal modelling approaches for cancer stem cells and tumor cells that are widely applied in the cell migration processes, growth, and avascular tumors in any organ. Furthermore, the discussed nonlocal continuum models can go sufficiently smaller scales applied to nanotechnology to build biosensors to sense biomaterial and its concentration. Piezoelectric and other smart materials are among them, and these devices are becoming increasingly important in the digital and physical world that is intrinsically interconnected with biological systems. Additionally, we have reviewed a nonlocal theory of peridynamics, which deals with continuous and discrete media and applies to model the relationship between fracture and healing in cortical bone, tissue growth and shrinkage, and other areas increasingly important in biomedical and bioengineering applications. Finally, we provided a comprehensive summary of emerging trends and highlighted future directions in this rapidly expanding field., Comment: 71 pages

In many real-world problems, there is a limited set of training data, but an abundance of unlabeled data. We propose a new method, Generative Posterior Networks (GPNs), that uses unlabeled data to estimate epistemic uncertainty in high-dimensional problems. A GPN is a generative model that, given a prior distribution over functions, approximates the posterior distribution directly by regularizing the network towards samples from the prior. We prove theoretically that our method indeed approximates the Bayesian posterior and show empirically that it improves epistemic uncertainty estimation and scalability over competing methods., Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables

In recent times, there have been notable advancements in haptic technology, particularly in screens found on mobile phones, laptops, LED screens, and control panels. However, it is essential to note that the progress in high-temperature haptic applications is still in the developmental phase. Due to its complex phase and domain structures, lead-free piezoelectric materials such as BNT-based haptic technology behave differently at high temperatures than ambient conditions. Therefore, it is essential to investigate the aspects of thermal management and thermal stability, as temperature plays a vital role in the phase and domain transition of BNT material. A two-dimensional thermo-electromechanical model has been proposed in this study to analyze the thermal stability of BNT material by analyzing the impact of temperature on effective electromechanical properties and mechanical and electric field parameters. However, the thermo-electromechanical modelling of BNT ceramics examines the macroscopic effects of the applied thermal field on mechanical and electric field parameters as phase change and microdomain dynamics are not considered in this model. This study analyzes the impact of thermo-electromechanical coupling on the performance of BNT-type piezoelectric materials compared to conventional electromechanical coupling. The results predicted a significant improvement in piezoelectric response compared to electromechanical coupling due to increased thermoelectric effect in absence of phase change and microdomain switching for temperature boundary conditions below depolarization temperature ($T_{d}$~200$^{\circ}$C for pure BNT material)., Comment: 37 pages, 13 figures

Even before the coronavirus pandemic began, policymakers, businesses, and workforce advocates were already recognizing that workers were not being replaced by robots, but rather, being called upon to work hand-in-glove with rapidly evolving technology. When the pandemic struck, millions of U.S. companies hustled to change how they did business. Nearly every worker suddenly had to contend with new digital demands -- even those in frontline, essential roles. The impact of the digital skill divide became more acute, weighing disproportionately on workers of color and smaller businesses struggling to survive a tumultuous economy. Now -- as leaders design labor market policies to drive a thriving and inclusive economy -- it is imperative to understand this digital transformation. This report takes a first-ever look at the demand for digital skills in the U.S. economy, as measured by a dataset of 43 million "Help Wanted" ads posted during 2021. The findings in this analysis are unequivocal: (1) there is overwhelming demand for digital skills in the labor market; (2) many workers have not had sufficient opportunity to build such skills; (3) public investments in workforce development and education are especially vital; (4) closing the digital skill divide has major payoffs for businesses; and (5) closing the digital skill divide can also generate economic benefits for individual workers and the broader economy. [This report was written with Nye Hodge.]

Patterns in a semiarid ecosystem are important because they directly and indirectly affect ecological processes, biodiversity, and ecosystem resilience. Understanding the causes and effects of these patterns is critical for long-term land surface management and conservation efforts in semiarid regions, which are especially sensitive to climate change and human-caused disturbances. It is known that there is a regular connection between the vegetation and the living species in a habitat since some animals evolved to live in a semiarid ecosystem and rely on plants for food. In this work, we have constructed a coupled mathematical model to connect the water resource, vegetation and living organisms and have investigated how the soil surface affects the resulting patterns for the long term. This study contributes to a better understanding of ecological patterns and processes in semiarid environments by shedding light on the complex interaction mechanisms that depend on the structure of semiarid ecosystems. The findings provide further critical insight into the influence of efforts for improving ecosystem resilience and adjusting to the challenges posed by climate change and human activities., Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures, 1 table

Photovoltaics (PVs) are a critical technology for curbing growing levels of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, and meeting increases in future demand for low-carbon electricity. In order to fulfil ambitions for net-zero carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2eq) emissions worldwide, the global cumulative capacity of solar PVs must increase by an order of magnitude from 0.9 TWp in 2021 to 8.5 TWp by 2050 according to the International Renewable Energy Agency, which is considered to be a highly conservative estimate. In 2020, the Henry Royce Institute brought together the UK PV community to discuss the critical technological and infrastructure challenges that need to be overcome to address the vast challenges in accelerating PV deployment. Herein, we examine the key developments in the global community, especially the progress made in the field since this earlier roadmap, bringing together experts primarily from the UK across the breadth of the photovoltaics community. The focus is both on the challenges in improving the efficiency, stability and levelized cost of electricity of current technologies for utility-scale PVs, as well as the fundamental questions in novel technologies that can have a significant impact on emerging markets, such as indoor PVs, space PVs, and agrivoltaics. We discuss challenges in advanced metrology and computational tools, as well as the growing synergies between PVs and solar fuels, and offer a perspective on the environmental sustainability of the PV industry. Through this roadmap, we emphasize promising pathways forward in both the short- and long-term, and for communities working on technologies across a range of maturity levels to learn from each other., Comment: 160 pages, 21 figures

We introduce the first continuous-time score-based generative model that leverages fractional diffusion processes for its underlying dynamics. Although diffusion models have excelled at capturing data distributions, they still suffer from various limitations such as slow convergence, mode-collapse on imbalanced data, and lack of diversity. These issues are partially linked to the use of light-tailed Brownian motion (BM) with independent increments. In this paper, we replace BM with an approximation of its non-Markovian counterpart, fractional Brownian motion (fBM), characterized by correlated increments and Hurst index $H \in (0,1)$, where $H=0.5$ recovers the classical BM. To ensure tractable inference and learning, we employ a recently popularized Markov approximation of fBM (MA-fBM) and derive its reverse-time model, resulting in generative fractional diffusion models (GFDM). We characterize the forward dynamics using a continuous reparameterization trick and propose augmented score matching to efficiently learn the score function, which is partly known in closed form, at minimal added cost. The ability to drive our diffusion model via MA-fBM offers flexibility and control. $H \leq 0.5$ enters the regime of rough paths whereas $H>0.5$ regularizes diffusion paths and invokes long-term memory. The Markov approximation allows added control by varying the number of Markov processes linearly combined to approximate fBM. Our evaluations on real image datasets demonstrate that GFDM achieves greater pixel-wise diversity and enhanced image quality, as indicated by a lower FID, offering a promising alternative to traditional diffusion models

Charge carrier mobility and recombination determine the performance of many opto-electronic devices such as solar cells, sensors and light-emitting diodes. Understanding how these parameters change as a function of material choice, charge carrier density and device geometry is essential for developing the next generation of devices. The Time-Delayed-Collection-Field technique (TDCF) is becoming a widely used method to measure both recombination and carrier transport with values derived from this method being widely reported for many material systems. However, most novel materials are highly disordered with a high density of trap states and standard TDCF-theory neglects the influence of these states. In this work we examine how reliable TDCF can be as a measurement technique when the device contains significant energetic disorder. We identify regimes where the results can be relied upon and where the results should be taken with more caution. Finally, we provide simple and easy to use experimental tests to help the experimentalist decide if the physical processes are dominated by trap states.

In a predator-prey interaction, many factors are present that affect the growth of the species, either positively or negatively. Fear of predation is such a factor that causes psychological stress in a prey species, so their overall growth starts to decline. In this work, a predator-prey model is proposed where the prey species faces a reduction in their growth out of fear, and the predator is also provided with an alternative food source that helps the prey to hide in a safer place. The dynamics produce a wide range of interesting results, including the significance of the presence of a certain amount of fear or even prey refuge for population coexistence. The analysis is extended later to the nonlocal model to analyze how the non-equilibrium phenomena influence the dynamical behaviour. It is observed through numerical simulations that the scope of pattern formation reduces with the increase of fear level in the spatio-temporal model, whereas the incorporation of nonlocal interaction further increases the chance of species colonization., Comment: 26 pages, 28 figures

Over the last two decades the organic solar cell community has synthesised tens of thousands of novel polymers and small molecules in the search for an optimum light harvesting material. These materials were often crudely evaluated simply by measuring the current voltage curves in the light to obtain power conversion efficiencies (PCEs). Materials with low PCEs were quickly disregarded in the search for higher efficiencies. More complex measurements such as frequency/time domain characterisation that could explain why the material performed as it did were often not performed as they were too time consuming/complex. This limited feedback forced the field to advance using a more or less random walk of material development and has significantly slowed progress. Herein, we present a simple technique based on machine learning that can quickly and accurately extract recombination time constants and charge carrier mobilities as a function of light intensity simply from light/dark JV curves alone. This technique reduces the time to fully analyse a working cell from weeks to seconds and opens up the possibility of not only fully characterising new devices as they are fabricated, but also data mining historical data sets for promising materials the community has over looked., Comment: 10 figures, 30 pages

In a recent paper by Guglielmi and Hairer (SIADS 2015), an analysis in the $\varepsilon\to 0$ limit was proposed of regularized discontinuous ODEs in codimension-2 switching domains; this was obtained by studying a certain 2-dimensional system describing the so-called hidden dynamics. In particular, the existence of a unique limit solution was not proved in all cases, a few of which were labeled as ambiguous, and it was not clear whether or not the ambiguity could be resolved. In this paper, we show that it cannot be resolved in general. A first contribution of this paper is an illustration of the dependence of the limit solution on the form of the switching function. Considering the parameter dependence in the ambiguous class of discontinuous systems, a second contribution is a bifurcation analysis, revealing a range of possible behaviors. Finally, we investigate the sensitivity of solutions in the transition from codimension-2 domains to codimension-3 when there is a limit cycle in the hidden dynamics., Comment: 32 pages, 5 figures

In this chapter, we consider probabilistic drift-diffusion models and Bayesian inference frameworks to address this issue, assisting better social human decision-making. We provide details of the models, as well as representative numerical examples, and discuss the decision-making process with a representative example of the escape route decision-making phenomena by further developing the drift-diffusion models and Bayesian inference frameworks. In the latter context, we also give a review of recent developments in human collective decision-making and its applications with brain network models. Furthermore, we provide illustrative numerical examples to discuss the role of neuromodulation, reinforcement learning in decision-making processes. Finally, we call attention to existing challenges, open problems, and promising approaches in studying social dynamics and collective human decision-making, including those arising from nonequilibrium considerations of the associated processes., Comment: 39 pages,10 pages

Agents operating in physical environments need to be able to handle delays in the input and output signals since neither data transmission nor sensing or actuating the environment are instantaneous. Shields are correct-by-construction runtime enforcers that guarantee safe execution by correcting any action that may cause a violation of a formal safety specification. Besides providing safety guarantees, shields should interfere minimally with the agent. Therefore, shields should pick the safe corrective actions in such a way that future interferences are most likely minimized. Current shielding approaches do not consider possible delays in the input signals in their safety analyses. In this paper, we address this issue. We propose synthesis algorithms to compute \emph{delay-resilient shields} that guarantee safety under worst-case assumptions on the delays of the input signals. We also introduce novel heuristics for deciding between multiple corrective actions, designed to minimize future shield interferences caused by delays. As a further contribution, we present the first integration of shields in a realistic driving simulator. We implemented our delayed shields in the driving simulator \textsc{Carla}. We shield potentially unsafe autonomous driving agents in different safety-critical scenarios and show the effect of delays on the safety analysis., Comment: 6 pages, Published at ICAPS 2023 (Main Track)

We present DiffInfinite, a hierarchical diffusion model that generates arbitrarily large histological images while preserving long-range correlation structural information. Our approach first generates synthetic segmentation masks, subsequently used as conditions for the high-fidelity generative diffusion process. The proposed sampling method can be scaled up to any desired image size while only requiring small patches for fast training. Moreover, it can be parallelized more efficiently than previous large-content generation methods while avoiding tiling artifacts. The training leverages classifier-free guidance to augment a small, sparsely annotated dataset with unlabelled data. Our method alleviates unique challenges in histopathological imaging practice: large-scale information, costly manual annotation, and protective data handling. The biological plausibility of DiffInfinite data is evaluated in a survey by ten experienced pathologists as well as a downstream classification and segmentation task. Samples from the model score strongly on anti-copying metrics which is relevant for the protection of patient data.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a prominent, worldwide, age-related neurodegenerative disease that currently has no systemic treatment. Strong evidence suggests that permeable amyloid-beta peptide (Abeta) oligomers, astrogliosis and reactive astrocytosis cause neuronal damage in AD. A large amount of Abeta is secreted by astrocytes, which contributes to the total Abeta deposition in the brain. This suggests that astrocytes may also play a role in AD, leading to increased attention to their dynamics and associated mechanisms. Therefore, in the present study, we developed and evaluated novel stochastic models for Abeta growth using ADNI data to predict the effect of astrocytes on AD progression in a clinical trial. In the AD case, accurate prediction is required for a successful clinical treatment plan. Given that AD studies are observational in nature and involve routine patient visits, stochastic models provide a suitable framework for modelling AD. Using the approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) approach, the AD etiology may be modelled as a multi-state disease process. As a result, we use this approach to examine the weak and strong influence of astrocytes at multiple disease progression stages using ADNI data from the baseline to 2-year visits for AD patients whose ages ranged from 50 to 90 years. Based on ADNI data, we discovered that the strong astrocyte effect (i.e., a higher concentration of astrocytes as compared to Abeta) could help to lower or clear the growth of Abeta, which is a key to slowing down AD progression., Comment: 10, figures and 30 pages

The abnormal aggregation of extracellular amyloid-$\beta$ (A\beta) in senile plaques resulting in calcium (Ca^{+2}) dyshomeostasis is one of the primary symptoms of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Significant research efforts have been devoted in the past to better understand the underlying molecular mechanisms driving A\beta deposition and Ca^{+2} dysregulation. To better understand this interaction, we report a novel stochastic model where we analyze the positive feedback loop between A\beta and Ca^{+2} using ADNI data. A good therapeutic treatment plan for AD requires precise predictions. Stochastic models offer an appropriate framework for modelling AD since AD studies are observational in nature and involve regular patient visits. The etiology of AD may be described as a multi-state disease process using the approximate Bayesian computation method. So, utilizing ADNI data from $2$-year visits for AD patients, we employ this method to investigate the interplay between A\beta and Ca^{+2} levels at various disease development phases. Incorporating the ADNI data in our physics-based Bayesian model, we discovered that a sufficiently large disruption in either A\beta metabolism or intracellular Ca^{+2} homeostasis causes the relative growth rate in both Ca^{+2} and A\beta, which corresponds to the development of AD. The imbalance of Ca^{+2} ions causes A\beta disorders by directly or indirectly affecting a variety of cellular and subcellular processes, and the altered homeostasis may worsen the abnormalities of Ca^{+2} ion transportation and deposition. This suggests that altering the Ca^{+2} balance or the balance between A\beta and Ca^{+2} by chelating them may be able to reduce disorders associated with AD and open up new research possibilities for AD therapy., Comment: 20 pages, 6 figures

Electrocardiography is the most common method to investigate the condition of the heart through the observation of cardiac rhythm and electrical activity, for both diagnosis and monitoring purposes. Analysis of electrocardiograms (ECGs) is commonly performed through the investigation of specific patterns, which are visually recognizable by trained physicians and are known to reflect cardiac (dis)function. In this work we study the use of $\beta$-variational autoencoders (VAEs) as an explainable feature extractor, and improve on its predictive capacities by jointly optimizing signal reconstruction and cardiac function prediction. The extracted features are then used for cardiac function prediction using logistic regression. The method is trained and tested on data from 7255 patients, who were treated for acute coronary syndrome at the Leiden University Medical Center between 2010 and 2021. The results show that our method significantly improved prediction and explainability compared to a vanilla $\beta$-VAE, while still yielding similar reconstruction performance., Comment: Conference paper, 10 pages, 3 figures, 1 table

We propose a holistic methodology for designing automotivesystems that consider security a central concern at every design stage.During the concept design, we model the system architecture and definethe security attributes of its components. We perform threat analysis onthe system model to identify structural security issues. From that analysis,we derive attack trees that define recipes describing steps to successfullyattack the system's assets and propose threat prevention measures.The attack tree allows us to derive a verification and validation (V&V)plan, which prioritizes the testing effort. In particular, we advocate usinglearning for testing approaches for the black-box components. It consistsof inferring a finite state model of the black-box component from its executiontraces. This model can then be used to generate new relevanttests, model check it against requirements, and compare two differentimplementations of the same protocol. We illustrate the methodologywith an automotive infotainment system example. Using the advocated approach, we could also document unexpected and potentially criticalbehavior in our example systems., Comment: Presented at Formal Methods 2023 25th International Symposium (FM'23). 12 pages, 5 figures

For widespread adoption, public security and surveillance systems must be accurate, portable, compact, and real-time, without impeding the privacy of the individuals being observed. Current systems broadly fall into two categories -- image-based which are accurate, but lack privacy, and RF signal-based, which preserve privacy but lack portability, compactness and accuracy. Our paper proposes mmSense, an end-to-end portable miniaturised real-time system that can accurately detect the presence of concealed metallic objects on persons in a discrete, privacy-preserving modality. mmSense features millimeter wave radar technology, provided by Google's Soli sensor for its data acquisition, and TransDope, our real-time neural network, capable of processing a single radar data frame in 19 ms. mmSense achieves high recognition rates on a diverse set of challenging scenes while running on standard laptop hardware, demonstrating a significant advancement towards creating portable, cost-effective real-time radar based surveillance systems., Comment: Accepted by ICASSP 2023

This paper presents a new continuous interaction strategy with visual feedback of hand pose and mid-air gesture recognition and control for a smart music speaker, which utilizes only 2 video frames to recognize gestures. Frame-based hand pose features from MediaPipe Hands, containing 21 landmarks, are embedded into a 2 dimensional pose space by an autoencoder. The corresponding space for interaction with the music content is created by embedding high-dimensional music track profiles to a compatible two-dimensional embedding. A PointNet-based model is then applied to classify gestures which are used to control the device interaction or explore music spaces. By jointly optimising the autoencoder with the classifier, we manage to learn a more useful embedding space for discriminating gestures. We demonstrate the functionality of the system with experienced users selecting different musical moods by varying their hand pose., Comment: Accepted at ICASSP 2023

The GRAVITY instrument has been revolutionary for near-infrared interferometry by pushing sensitivity and precision to previously unknown limits. With the upgrade of GRAVITY and the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) in GRAVITY+, these limits will be pushed even further, with vastly improved sky coverage, as well as faint-science and high-contrast capabilities. This upgrade includes the implementation of wide-field off-axis fringe-tracking, new adaptive optics systems on all Unit Telescopes, and laser guide stars in an upgraded facility. GRAVITY+ will open up the sky to the measurement of black hole masses across cosmic time in hundreds of active galactic nuclei, use the faint stars in the Galactic centre to probe General Relativity, and enable the characterisation of dozens of young exoplanets to study their formation, bearing the promise of another scientific revolution to come at the VLTI., Comment: Published in the ESO Messenger

Besides the recent impressive results on reinforcement learning (RL), safety is still one of the major research challenges in RL. RL is a machine-learning approach to determine near-optimal policies in Markov decision processes (MDPs). In this paper, we consider the setting where the safety-relevant fragment of the MDP together with a temporal logic safety specification is given and many safety violations can be avoided by planning ahead a short time into the future. We propose an approach for online safety shielding of RL agents. During runtime, the shield analyses the safety of each available action. For any action, the shield computes the maximal probability to not violate the safety specification within the next $k$ steps when executing this action. Based on this probability and a given threshold, the shield decides whether to block an action from the agent. Existing offline shielding approaches compute exhaustively the safety of all state-action combinations ahead of time, resulting in huge computation times and large memory consumption. The intuition behind online shielding is to compute at runtime the set of all states that could be reached in the near future. For each of these states, the safety of all available actions is analysed and used for shielding as soon as one of the considered states is reached. Our approach is well suited for high-level planning problems where the time between decisions can be used for safety computations and it is sustainable for the agent to wait until these computations are finished. For our evaluation, we selected a 2-player version of the classical computer game SNAKE. The game represents a high-level planning problem that requires fast decisions and the multiplayer setting induces a large state space, which is computationally expensive to analyse exhaustively., Comment: arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2012.09539

Safety is still one of the major research challenges in reinforcement learning (RL). In this paper, we address the problem of how to avoid safety violations of RL agents during exploration in probabilistic and partially unknown environments. Our approach combines automata learning for Markov Decision Processes (MDPs) and shield synthesis in an iterative approach. Initially, the MDP representing the environment is unknown. The agent starts exploring the environment and collects traces. From the collected traces, we passively learn MDPs that abstractly represent the safety-relevant aspects of the environment. Given a learned MDP and a safety specification, we construct a shield. For each state-action pair within a learned MDP, the shield computes exact probabilities on how likely it is that executing the action results in violating the specification from the current state within the next $k$ steps. After the shield is constructed, the shield is used during runtime and blocks any actions that induce a too large risk from the agent. The shielded agent continues to explore the environment and collects new data on the environment. Iteratively, we use the collected data to learn new MDPs with higher accuracy, resulting in turn in shields able to prevent more safety violations. We implemented our approach and present a detailed case study of a Q-learning agent exploring slippery Gridworlds. In our experiments, we show that as the agent explores more and more of the environment during training, the improved learned models lead to shields that are able to prevent many safety violations.

We consider the problem of analyzing spin-flip qubit gate operation in presence of Random Telegraph Noise (RTN). Our broad approach is the following. We calculate the spin-flip probability of qubit driven by composite pulses, (Constant pulse (C-pulse), Quantum Well pulse (QW-pulse) and Barrier Potential pulse (BP-pulse)) in the presence of RTN using Feynman disentangling method. When composite pulses and RTN act in x-direction and z-direction respectively, we calculate the optimal time to achieve 100% spin-flip probability of qubit. We report the shortcut of spin-flip qubit, which can be achieved by using C-pulse, followed by BP-pulse and QW-pulse. When jumps time in RTN are very fast, tuning of perfect fidelity or spin-flip probability extends to large RTN correlation time. On the other hand, when the jumps in RTN are very slow, the BP-pulse can be used to recover the lost fidelities. Nevertheless, the fidelities of qubit gate operation are larger than 90%, regardless of RTN jumps environments which may be beneficial in quantum error correction. For more general case, we have tested several pulse sequences for achieving high fidelity quantum gates, where we have used the pulses acting in different directions. From the calculations, we find high fidelity of qubit gate operation in presence of RTN is achieved when QW-pulse, BP-pulse and C-pulse act in x-direction, y-direction and z-direction, respectively., Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2005.05493