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Motivation Protein–protein interactions (PPIs) are central to most biological processes. However, reliable identification of PPI sites using conventional experimental methods is slow and expensive. Therefore, great efforts are being put into computational methods to identify PPI sites. Results We present Edge Aggregated GRaph Attention NETwork (EGRET), a highly accurate deep learning-based method for PPI site prediction, where we have used an edge aggregated graph attention network to effectively leverage the structural information. We, for the first time, have used transfer learning in PPI site prediction. Our proposed edge aggregated network, together with transfer learning, has achieved notable improvement over the best alternate methods. Furthermore, we systematically investigated EGRET's network behavior to provide insights about the causes of its decisions. Availability EGRET is freely available as an open source project at https://github.com/Sazan-Mahbub/EGRET. Contact shams_bayzid@cse.buet.ac.bd [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider the (4 + 1)D topologically massive tensor gauge theory. This theory is an analog of the (2 + 1)D topologically massive Maxwell–Chern–Simons theory. If the space has a boundary, we find that a (3 + 1)D gapless theory appears at the boundary. This gapless theory is a chiral version of the (3 + 1)D φ theory. This gapless theory is protected by the anomaly inflow mechanism for subsystem symmetry. We also consider the corner of our topologically massive tensor gauge theory, and find that an infinite number of (1 + 1)D chiral bosons appear at the corner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation MinION is a portable nanopore sequencing device that can be easily operated in the field with features including monitoring of run progress and selective sequencing. To fully exploit these features, real-time base calling is required. Up to date, this has only been achieved at the cost of high computing requirements that pose limitations in terms of hardware availability in common laptops and energy consumption. Results We developed a new base caller DeepNano-coral for nanopore sequencing, which is optimized to run on the Coral Edge Tensor Processing Unit, a small USB-attached hardware accelerator. To achieve this goal, we have designed new versions of two key components used in convolutional neural networks for speech recognition and base calling. In our components, we propose a new way of factorization of a full convolution into smaller operations, which decreases memory access operations, memory access being a bottleneck on this device. DeepNano-coral achieves real-time base calling during sequencing with the accuracy slightly better than the fast mode of the Guppy base caller and is extremely energy efficient, using only 10 W of power. Availability and implementation https://github.com/fmfi-compbio/coral-basecaller Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Redundancy needs more precise characterization as it is a major factor in the evolution and robustness of networks of multivariate interactions. We investigate the complexity of such interactions by inferring a connection transitivity that includes all possible measures of path length for weighted graphs. The result, without breaking the graph into smaller components, is a distance backbone subgraph sufficient to compute all shortest paths. This is important for understanding the dynamics of spread and communication phenomena in real-world networks. The general methodology we formally derive yields a principled graph reduction technique and provides a finer characterization of the triangular geometry of all edges—those that contribute to shortest paths and those that do not but are involved in other network phenomena. We demonstrate that the distance backbone is very small in large networks across domains ranging from air traffic to the human brain connectome, revealing that network robustness to attacks and failures seems to stem from surprisingly vast amounts of redundancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lepidoptera—a group of insects in which wing transparency has arisen multiple times—exhibits much variation in the size and position of transparent wing zones. However, little is known as to how this variability affects detectability. Here, we test how the size and position of transparent elements affect the predation of artificial moths by wild birds in the field. Morphs with transparent elements touching wing borders showed a reduced predation risk, with the effect being the same regardless of the number of wing borders being touched. By contrast, transparent element size had little to no effect on predation risk. Overall, this experiment shows for the first time that transparency offers higher protection when it disrupts prey contour in terrestrial habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historically, most North American periodical cicada (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Magicicada spp. Davis 1925) distribution records have been mapped at county-level resolution. In recent decades, Magicicada brood distributions and especially edges have been mapped at a higher resolution, aided by the use of GIS technology after 2000. Brood VI of the 17-yr cicadas emerged in 2000 and 2017 and is the first for which detailed mapping has been completed in consecutive generations. Overlaying the records from the two generations suggests that in some places, Brood VI expanded its range slightly between 2000 and 2017, although the measured changes are close to the lower limit of detectability given the methods used. Even so, no simple alternative to range expansion easily accounts for these observations. We also bolster Alexander and Moore's assertion that M. cassini does not occur in Brood VI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dust production in debris discs by grinding collisions of planetesimals requires their orbits to be stirred. However, stirring levels remain largely unconstrained, and consequently the stirring mechanisms as well. This work shows how the sharpness of the outer edge of discs can be used to constrain the stirring levels. Namely, the sharper the edge the lower the eccentricity dispersion must be. For a Rayleigh distribution of eccentricities (e), I find that the disc surface density near the outer edge can be parametrized as tanh [(r max  − r)/ l out], where r max  approximates the maximum semimajor axis and l out defines the edge smoothness. If the semimajor axis distribution has sharp edges e rms is roughly 1.2 l out/ r max  or e rms = 0.77 l out/ r max  if semimajor axes have diffused due to self-stirring. This model is fitted to Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array data of five wide discs: HD 107146, HD 92945, HD 206893, AU Mic, and HR 8799. The results show that HD 107146, HD 92945, and AU Mic have the sharpest outer edges, corresponding to e rms values of 0.121 ± 0.05, |$0.15^{+0.07}_{-0.05}$|⁠ , and 0.10 ± 0.02 if their discs are self-stirred, suggesting the presence of Pluto-sized objects embedded in the disc. Although these stirring values are larger than typically assumed, the radial stirring of HD 92945 is in good agreement with its vertical stirring constrained by the disc height. HD 206893 and HR 8799, on the other hand, have smooth outer edges that are indicative of scattered discs since both systems have massive inner companions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Habitat loss and edge effects resulting from habitat fragmentation are key processes implicated in the decline of bee populations globally. Their effects on wild bees and their pollination services in natural ecosystems are poorly understood, particularly in North American prairies. Our objectives were to determine whether natural habitat loss and edge effects affect bee abundance and pollination services in the Northern Great Plains. We sampled bee abundance and pollination services along transects beginning at road or tree edges in grasslands located in Manitoba, Canada. We measured bee abundance using pan traps, and pollination services using seed-set of Brassica rapa (L.) (Brassicales: Brassicaceae) phytometers. We collected local-scale habitat data by measuring occurrence of flowering species, vegetation type, and vegetation structure, and we measured habitat amount at 1-km radii using GIS analysis of landscape cover. Increasing amounts of habitat loss resulted in declines in bee abundance, and sometimes in pollination services. Results varied with bee life-history: proximity to road edges negatively affected social bees, and litter depth had negative effects on below- ground-nesting bees. Surprisingly, few effects on bees led to corresponding impacts on pollination services. This suggests that conservation of intact natural habitat across the northern Great Plains is important for maintaining resilient and diverse bee communities, but that efforts to conserve bee populations cannot be assumed to also maintain all associated pollination services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A connected graph |$G$| is called strongly Menger (edge) connected if for any two distinct vertices |$x,y$| of |$G$|⁠ , there are |$\min \{\textrm{deg}_G(x), \textrm{deg}_G(y)\}$| internally disjoint (edge disjoint) paths between |$x$| and |$y$|⁠. Motivated by parallel routing in networks with faults, Oh and Chen (resp. Qiao and Yang) proposed the (fault-tolerant) strong Menger (edge) connectivity as follows. A graph |$G$| is called |$m$| -strongly Menger (edge) connected if |$G-F$| remains strongly Menger (edge) connected for an arbitrary vertex set |$F\subseteq V(G)$| (resp. edge set |$F\subseteq E(G)$|⁠) with |$|F|\leq m$|⁠. A graph |$G$| is called |$m$| -conditional strongly Menger (edge) connected if |$G-F$| remains strongly Menger (edge) connected for an arbitrary vertex set |$F\subseteq V(G)$| (resp. edge set |$F\subseteq E(G)$|⁠) with |$|F|\leq m$| and |$\delta (G-F)\geq 2$|⁠. In this paper, we consider strong Menger (edge) connectedness of the augmented |$k$| -ary |$n$| -cube |$AQ_{n,k}$|⁠ , which is a variant of |$k$| -ary |$n$| -cube |$Q_n^k$|⁠. By exploring the topological proprieties of |$AQ_{n,k}$|⁠ , we show that |$AQ_{n,3}$| (resp. |$AQ_{n,k}$|⁠ , |$k\geq 4$|⁠) is |$(4n-9)$| -strongly (resp. |$(4n-8)$| -strongly) Menger connected for |$n\geq 4$| (resp. |$n\geq 2$|⁠) and |$AQ_{n,k}$| is |$(4n-4)$| -strongly Menger edge connected for |$n\geq 2$| and |$k\geq 3$|⁠. Moreover, we obtain that |$AQ_{n,k}$| is |$(8n-10)$| -conditional strongly Menger edge connected for |$n\geq 2$| and |$k\geq 3$|⁠. These results are all optimal in the sense of the maximum number of tolerated vertex (resp. edge) faults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A |$\theta $| -deformation of the Laguerre weighted Cauchy two-matrix model, and the Bures ensemble, is introduced. Such a deformation is familiar from the Muttalib–Borodin ensemble. The |$\theta $| -deformed Cauchy–Laguerre two-matrix model is a two-component determinantal point process. It is shown that the correlation kernel, and its hard edge scaled limit, can be written in terms of particular Fox H-functions, generalising the Meijer G-function class known from the study of the case |$\theta = 1$|⁠. In the |$\theta =1$| case, it is shown that the Laguerre–Bures ensemble is related to the Laguerre–Cauchy two-matrix model, notwithstanding the Bures ensemble corresponding to a Pfaffian point process. This carries over to the |$\theta $| -deformed case, allowing explicit expressions involving Fox H-functions for the correlation kernel, and its hard edge scaling limit, to also be obtained for the |$\theta $| -deformed Laguerre–Bures ensemble. The hard edge scaling limit is in the Raney class |$(\theta /2+1,1/2)$|⁠. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The redshifted 21-cm signal of neutral hydrogen is a promising probe into the period of evolution of our Universe when the first stars were formed (Cosmic Dawn), to the period where the entire Universe changed its state from being completely neutral to completely ionized (Reionization). The most striking feature of this line of neutral hydrogen is that it can be observed across an entire frequency range as a sky-averaged continuous signature, or its fluctuations can be measured using an interferometer. However, the 21-cm signal is very faint and is dominated by a much brighter Galactic and extragalactic foregrounds, making it an observational challenge. We have used different physical models to simulate various realizations of the 21-cm global signals, including an excess radio background to match the amplitude of the Experiment to Detect the Global EoR Signature (EDGES) 21-cm signal. First, we have used an artificial neural network (ANN) to extract the astrophysical parameters from these simulated data sets. Then, mock observations were generated by adding a physically motivated foreground model and an ANN was used to extract the astrophysical parameters from such data. The R 2 score of our predictions from the mock observations is in the range of 0.65–0.89. We have used this ANN to predict the signal parameters giving the EDGES data as the input. We find that the reconstructed signal closely mimics the amplitude of the reported detection. The recovered parameters can be used to infer the physical state of the gas at high redshifts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to examine the challenges that Brexit brings for the devolution of certain aspects of competition policy to Scotland. According to section 63 of the Scotland Act 2016, Scottish Ministers can ask the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to carry out a phase 2 market investigation after having sought the agreement of their Westminster counterparts. This article will explore the consequences of Brexit for competition policy in the UK by placing the discussion against the broader background of the relationship existing between the central and devolved governments in the UK, with a particular emphasis on Scotland. After discussing, the nature and scope of the powers that have been devolved to the Scottish Government the article will examine the impact of Brexit on competition policy both in general and for these devolved aspects. It will be argued that the current system for the management of the inter-governmental relations between Westminster and Edinburgh may not be able to withstand the challenges brought by Brexit and affecting the role of the CMA and of the UK Government, respectively, in the fields of antitrust, state aid, and merger control. The article will conclude that Brexit has exposed how the current framework for intergovernmental relations may not be suitable to the demands of new forms of devolution that are not predicated upon the distinction between reserved and devolved matters, but depend on the joint decision-making between the UK and the Scottish governments. Thus, unless section 63 of the Scotland Act 2016 is to remain ineffective, it may become necessary to rethink the current ways in which Scottish and UK minister interact in areas where devolution means co-decision as opposed to one government 'giving way' to the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A graph |$G=(V,E)$| is two-disjoint-cycle-cover |$[r_1,r_2]$| -pancyclic if for any integer |$l$| satisfying |$r_1 \leq l \leq r_2$|⁠ , there exist two vertex-disjoint cycles |$C_1$| and |$C_2$| in |$G$| such that the lengths of |$C_1$| and |$C_2$| are |$l$| and |$|V(G)| - l$|⁠ , respectively, where |$|V(G)|$| denotes the total number of vertices in |$G$|⁠. On the basis of this definition, we further propose Ore-type conditions for graphs to be two-disjoint-cycle-cover vertex/edge |$[r_1,r_2]$| -pancyclic. In addition, we study cycle embedding in the |$n$| -dimensional locally twisted cube |$LTQ_n$| under the consideration of two-disjoint-cycle-cover vertex/edge pancyclicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Counting models for a two conjunctive formula (2-CF) |$F$|⁠ , a problem known as |$\sharp $| 2 Sat , is a classic |$\sharp $| P complete problem. Given a 2-CF |$F$| as input, its constraint graph |$G$| is built. If |$G$| is acyclic, then |$\sharp $| 2 Sat (⁠|$F$|⁠) can be computed efficiently. In this paper, we address the case when |$G$| has cycles. When |$G$| is cyclic, we propose a decomposition on the constraint graph |$G$| that allows the computation of |$\sharp $| 2 Sat (⁠|$F$|⁠) in incremental way. Let |$T$| be a cactus graph of |$G$| containing a maximal number of independent cycles, and let |$\overline{T}=(E(G)-E(T))$| be a subset of frond edges from |$G$|⁠. The clauses in |$\overline{T}$| are ordered in connected components |$\{K_1, \ldots , K_r\}$|⁠. Each |$(G \cup K_i), i=1,\ldots ,r$| is a knot (a set of intersected cycles) of the graph. The arrangement of the clauses of |$\overline{T}$| allows the decomposition of |$G$| in knots and provides a way of computing |$\sharp $| 2 Sat (F) in an incremental way. Our procedure has a bottom-up orientation for the computation of |$\sharp $| 2 Sat (⁠|$F$|⁠). It begins with |$F_0 = T$|⁠. In each iteration of the procedure, a new clause |$C_i \in \overline{T}$| is considered in order to form |$F_i = (F_{i-1} \wedge C_i)$| and then to compute |$\sharp $| 2 Sat |$(F_i)$| based on the computation of |$\sharp $| 2 Sat |$(F_{i-1})$|⁠. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the distribution of line-of-sight velocities of galaxies in the vicinity of Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) red-sequence Matched-filter Probabilistic Percolation (redMaPPer) galaxy clusters. Based on their velocities, galaxies can be split into two categories: galaxies that are dynamically associated with the cluster, and random line-of-sight projections. Both the fraction of galaxies associated with the galaxy clusters, and the velocity dispersion of the same, exhibit a sharp feature as a function of radius. The feature occurs at a radial scale R edge ≈ 2.2 R λ, where R λ is the cluster radius assigned by redMaPPer. We refer to R edge as the 'edge radius'. These results are naturally explained by a model that further splits the galaxies dynamically associated with a galaxy cluster into a component of galaxies orbiting the halo and an infalling galaxy component. The edge radius R edge constitutes a true 'cluster edge', in the sense that no orbiting structures exist past this radius. A companion paper tests whether the 'halo edge' hypothesis holds when investigating the full three-dimensional phase-space distribution of dark matter substructures in numerical simulations, and demonstrates that this radius coincides with a suitably defined splashback radius. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study prospects of constraining the primordial magnetic field (PMF) and its evolution during the dark ages and cosmic dawn in light of EDGES 21-cm signal. Our analysis has been carried out on a 'colder IGM' background which is one of the promising avenues to interpret the EDGES signal. We consider the dark matter-baryon interactions for the excess cooling. We find that the colder IGM suppresses both the residual free electron fraction and the coupling coefficient between the ionized and neutral components. The Compton heating also gets affected in colder IGM background. Consequently, the IGM heating rate due to the PMF enhances compared to the standard scenario. Thus, a significant fraction of the magnetic energy, for |$B_0 \lesssim 0.5 \, {\rm nG}$|⁠ , gets transferred to the IGM and the magnetic field decays at much faster rate compared to the simple (1 + z)2 scaling during the dark ages and cosmic dawn. This low PMF is an unlikely candidate for explaining the rise of the EDGES absorption signal at lower redshift. We also see that the PMF and DM-baryon interaction together introduces a plateau like feature in the redshift evolution of the IGM temperature. We find that the upper limit on the PMF depends on the underlying DM-baryon interaction. Higher PMF can be allowed when the interaction cross-section is higher and/or the DM particle mass is lower. Our study shows that the PMF with B 0 up to |${\sim}0.4 \, {\rm nG}$|⁠ , which is ruled out in the standard model, can be allowed if DM-baryon interaction with suitable cross-section and DM mass are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The parabolic Dirichlet boundary control problem and its finite element discretization are considered in convex polygonal and polyhedral domains. We improve the existing results on the regularity of the solutions by establishing and utilizing the maximal |$L^p$| -regularity of parabolic equations under inhomogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions. Based on the proved regularity of the solutions, we prove |${\mathcal O}(h^{1-1/q_0-\epsilon })$| convergence for the semidiscrete finite element solutions for some |$q_0>2$|⁠ , with |$q_0$| depending on the maximal interior angle at the corners and edges of the domain and |$\epsilon$| being a positive number that can be arbitrarily small. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diagnosability of a multiprocessor system is an important research topic. The system and an interconnection network have an underlying topology, which is usually presented by a graph. Under the Maeng and Malek's (MM) model, to diagnose the system, a node sends the same task to two of its neighbors, and then compares their responses. The MM |$^{*}$| is a special case of the MM model and each node must test all pairs of its adjacent nodes. In 2009, Chiang and Tan (Using node diagnosability to determine |$t$| -diagnosability under the comparison diagnosis (cd) model. IEEE Trans. Comput. , 58 , 251–259) proposed a new viewpoint for fault diagnosis of the system, namely, the node diagnosability. As a new topology structure of interconnection networks, the nest graph |$CK_{n}$| has many good properties. In this paper, we study the local diagnosability of |$CK_{n}$| and show it has the strong local diagnosability property even if there exist |$(\frac{n(n-1)}{2}-2)$| missing edges in it under the MM |$^{*}$| model, and the result is optimal with respect to the number of missing edges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For an integer |$\ell \geqslant 2$|⁠ , the |$\ell $| -component connectivity (resp. |$\ell $| -component edge connectivity) of a graph |$G$|⁠ , denoted by |$\kappa _{\ell }(G)$| (resp. |$\lambda _{\ell }(G)$|⁠), is the minimum number of vertices (resp. edges) whose removal from |$G$| results in a disconnected graph with at least |$\ell $| components. The two parameters naturally generalize the classical connectivity and edge connectivity of graphs defined in term of the minimum vertex-cut and the minimum edge-cut, respectively. The two kinds of connectivities can help us to measure the robustness of the graph corresponding to a network. In this paper, by exploring algebraic and combinatorial properties of |$n$| -dimensional balanced hypercubes |$BH_n$|⁠ , we obtain the |$\ell $| -component (edge) connectivity |$\kappa _{\ell }(BH_n)$| (⁠|$\lambda _{\ell }(BH_n)$|⁠). For |$\ell $| -component connectivity, we prove that |$\kappa _2(BH_n)=\kappa _3(BH_n)=2n$| for |$n\geq 2$|⁠ , |$\kappa _4(BH_n)=\kappa _5(BH_n)=4n-2$| for |$n\geq 4$|⁠ , |$\kappa _6(BH_n)=\kappa _7(BH_n)=6n-6$| for |$n\geq 5$|⁠. For |$\ell $| -component edge connectivity, we prove that |$\lambda _3(BH_n)=4n-1$|⁠ , |$\lambda _4(BH_n)=6n-2$| for |$n\geq 2$| and |$\lambda _5(BH_n)=8n-4$| for |$n\geq 3$|⁠. Moreover, we also prove |$\lambda _\ell (BH_n)\leq 2n(\ell -1)-2\ell +6$| for |$4\leq \ell \leq 2n+3$| and the upper bound of |$\lambda _\ell (BH_n)$| we obtained is tight for |$\ell =4,5$|⁠. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use cosmological simulations of isolated Milky Way (MW)-mass galaxies, as well as Local Group (LG) analogues, to define the 'edge' – a caustic manifested in a drop in density or radial velocity – of Galactic-sized haloes, both in dark matter and in stars. In the dark matter, we typically identify two caustics: the outermost caustic located at ∼1.4 r 200m, corresponding to the 'splashback' radius, and a second caustic located at ∼0.6 r 200m, which likely corresponds to the edge of the virialized material that has completed at least two pericentric passages. The splashback radius is ill defined in LG-type environments where the haloes of the two galaxies overlap. However, the second caustic is less affected by the presence of a companion, and is a more useful definition for the boundary of the MW halo. Curiously, the stellar distribution also has a clearly defined caustic, which, in most cases, coincides with the second caustic of the dark matter. This can be identified in both radial density and radial velocity profiles, and should be measurable in future observational programmes. Finally, we show that the second caustic can also be identified in the phase–space distribution of dwarf galaxies in the LG. Using the current dwarf galaxy population, we predict the edge of the MW halo to be 292 ± 61 kpc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is no general explanation for why species have restricted geographic distributions. One hypothesis posits that range expansion or increasing scarcity of suitable habitat results in accumulation of mutational load due to enhanced genetic drift, which constrains population performance toward range limits and further expansion. We tested this hypothesis in the North American plant, Arabidopsis lyrata. We experimentally assessed mutational load by crossing plants of 20 populations from across the entire species range and by raising the offspring of within‐ and between‐population crosses at five common garden sites within and beyond the range. Offspring performance was tracked over three growing seasons. The heterosis effect, depicting expressed mutational load, was increased in populations with heightened genomic estimates of load, longer expansion distance or long‐term isolation, and a selfing mating system. The decline in performance of within‐population crosses amounted to 80%. Mutation accumulation due to past range expansion and long‐term isolation of populations in the area of range margins is therefore a strong determinant of population‐mean performance, and the magnitude of effect may be sufficient to cause range limits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study graphs that are formed by independently positioned needles (i.e. line segments) in the unit square. To mathematically characterize the graph structure, we derive the probability that two line segments intersect and determine related quantities such as the distribution of intersections, given a certain number of line segments |$N$|⁠. We interpret intersections between line segments as nodes and connections between them as edges in a spatial network that we refer to as random-line graph (RLG). Using methods from the study of random-geometric graphs, we show that the probability of RLGs to be connected undergoes a sharp transition if the number of lines exceeds a threshold |$N^*$|⁠. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While many statistical models and methods are now available for network analysis, resampling of network data remains a challenging problem. Cross-validation is a useful general tool for model selection and parameter tuning, but it is not directly applicable to networks since splitting network nodes into groups requires deleting edges and destroys some of the network structure. In this paper we propose a new network resampling strategy, based on splitting node pairs rather than nodes, that is applicable to cross-validation for a wide range of network model selection tasks. We provide theoretical justification for our method in a general setting and examples of how the method can be used in specific network model selection and parameter tuning tasks. Numerical results on simulated networks and on a statisticians' citation network show that the proposed cross-validation approach works well for model selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gravitational-wave detections are now probing the black hole (BH) mass distribution, including the predicted pair-instability mass gap. These data require robust quantitative predictions, which are challenging to obtain. The most massive BH progenitors experience episodic mass ejections on time-scales shorter than the convective turnover time-scale. This invalidates the steady-state assumption on which the classic mixing length theory relies. We compare the final BH masses computed with two different versions of the stellar evolutionary code |$\tt{MESA}$|⁠ : (i) using the default implementation of Paxton et al. (2018) and (ii) solving an additional equation accounting for the time-scale for convective deceleration. In the second grid, where stronger convection develops during the pulses and carries part of the energy, we find weaker pulses. This leads to lower amounts of mass being ejected and thus higher final BH masses of up to ∼ |$5\, \mathrm{M}_\odot$|⁠. The differences are much smaller for the progenitors that determine the maximum mass of BHs below the gap. This prediction is robust at |$M_{\rm BH, max}\simeq 48\, \mathrm{M}_\odot$|⁠ , at least within the idealized context of this study. This is an encouraging indication that current models are robust enough for comparison with the present-day gravitational-wave detections. However, the large differences between individual models emphasize the importance of improving the treatment of convection in stellar models, especially in the light of the data anticipated from the third generation of gravitational-wave detectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cosmic Dawn (CD), when the first stars and proto-galaxies began to form, is commonly expected to be accompanied by an absorption signature at radio frequencies. This feature arises as Lyman α photons emitted by these first luminous objects couple the 21 cm excitation temperature of intergalactic hydrogen gas to its kinetic temperature, driving it into absorption relative to the cosmic microwave background. The detailed properties of this absorption profile encode powerful information about the physics of CD. Recently, Bowman et al. analysed data from the EDGES low-band radio antenna and found an unexpectedly deep absorption profile centred at 78 MHz, which could be a detection of this signature. Their specific analysis fit their measurements using a polynomial foreground model, a flattened Gaussian absorption profile, and a white noise model; we argue that a more accurate model, that includes a detailed noise model and accounting for the effects of plausible calibration errors, is essential for describing the EDGES data set. We perform a Bayesian evidence-based comparison of models of the EDGES low-band data set and find that those incorporating these additional components are decisively preferred. The subset of the best-fitting models of the data that include a global signal favours an amplitude consistent with standard cosmological assumptions (A < 209 mK). However, there is not strong evidence to favour models of the data including a global 21 cm signal over those without one. Ultimately, we find that the derivation of robust constraints on astrophysics from the data is limited by the presence of systematics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marantaceae consist of species with asymmetric leaves of two types: those with either a wider left or right half; this asymmetry is related, respectively, to clockwise or counterclockwise convolute vernation. In this study, we analysed whether anatomical differences in the leaf edges, i.e. the anatomical asymmetry, were related to the orientation of the convolute vernation and to the asymmetry of leaf morphology, and whether these differences supported the organization of the clades in the family. Transverse sections of the mid third of the leaf buds expanded to the height of the right and left edges of the blades were prepared for 19 species belonging to 11 genera, using cyto-histological techniques. Anatomical analyses of the blade edges revealed that there is a relationship between morphological asymmetry and anatomical asymmetry that has never before been ascribed to the family. The anatomical data support differences between the arrangements in two of the three Neotropical informal groups. In the Calathea clade, Calathea showed much more similarity with Goeppertia than with Ischnosiphon and Monotagma , since they are the only genera that do not present with anatomical asymmetry. In the Maranta clade, Ctenanthe , Saranthe and Stromanthe appear to be related to one another, as they share strong anatomical asymmetry and fibrous edges. These characteristics, however, are not observed in Myrosma , which in turn is more anatomically similar to Maranta. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Random walks are a useful tool to describe and study various dynamical processes on networks. For some particular problems, it is more suitable to formulate them by biased random walks based on the properties of edges, for example, weight and importance. However, in some situations it is not easy to directly observe weight information of a network. In this paper, we show how to extract weight information of edges only from the topological knowledge of a binary network, based on which we develop a framework for biased random walks on the binary network. To this end, we first propose a centrality measure for edges based on line graph. We then present novel biased random walks on a binary network, called edge centrality based random walks (ECBRW), where the walker prefers to jump along edges with high centrality. Furthermore, we develop a series of techniques to derive analytical expressions for relevant quantities of ECBRW, including stationary distribution and hitting times. Finally, we study ECBRW on m -ary trees, Barabási–Albert networks and some real networks. We find that the behavior for stationary distribution and hitting times for ECBRW on these networks differs significantly from those for unbiased random walks on corresponding networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent English and Australian court decisions limit the scope of the operator's authority to incur and charge costs to the joint venture to costs incurred in activities approved by the operating committee. Surprisingly, JOAs do not routinely address the liability of the operator arising from unapproved activities, even though such activities are foreseeable and sometimes difficult to avoid. Losses and liabilities incurred by the operator, including harm to the interests of the non-operators in such circumstances, are left to law and are unlikely to be covered by joint venture insurance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a super-Earth orbiting close to the inner edge of the habitable zone of the cool dwarf star K2-286 (EPIC 249889081), detected with data from the K2 mission in its 15th campaign. The planet has radius of 2.1 ± 0.2 R⊕, near the 1.5–2.0 R⊕ gap in the radii distribution. The equilibrium temperature is |$347^{+21}_{-11}$| K, cooler than most of the small planets with well-measured masses, and the orbital period is 27.359 ± 0.005 d. K2-286, located at a distance of 76.3 ± 0.3 pc, is an M0V star with estimated effective temperature of 3926 ± 100 K, less active than other M dwarf stars hosting exoplanets. The expected radial velocity semi-amplitude induced by the planet on the star is |$1.9^{+1.3}_{-1.2}$| m s−1, and the amplitude of signals in transit transmission spectroscopy is estimated at 5.0 ± 3.0 ppm. Follow-up observations for mass measurements and transit spectroscopy should be desirable for this relatively bright target (m V = 12.76, m Ks = 9.32) hosting a transiting super-Earth within the inner edge of the habitable zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Invasive species represent a unique opportunity to study the evolutionary mechanisms driving range expansions. Although range expansion is expected to be associated with increased reproduction and dispersal at the range edge, Xenopus laevis seems to decrease its reproductive investment and to enhance dispersal at the range edge. Evidence of increased dispersal at the edge of expanding populations occurring simultaneously with a faster growth rate has been reported for other organisms. Here, we focused on the growth rate and age structure at the range edge vs. the range core in an expanding population of X. laevis. We used skeletochronology to characterize the age of 250 individuals captured at the range core and edge of this expanding population. Using the Von Bertalanffy equation, we then compared individual growth rates between locations. We found no significant changes in growth rate or age structure between edge and core samples. This result suggests that the reduced investment in reproduction recorded in another study at the range edge might compensate for the increased dispersal without impacting growth in this population. This implies that the resource allocation in an expanding population might thus be more diverse than commonly assumed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyhedral Kähler surfaces are a class of complex surfaces, which are flat everywhere except on a two-dimensional skeleton. They are defined as a generalization of the 'gluing a polygon side by side' construction of flat Riemann surfaces. In this article, we introduce two classes of polyhedral Kähler surfaces with trivial holonomy: products of polyhedral Kähler curves with zero holonomy and ramified coverings of tori, and prove that none of these classes is contained in the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Weakly interacting cold dark matter (CDM) particles, which are otherwise extremely successful in explaining various cosmological observations, exhibit a number of problems on small scales. One possible way of solving these problems is to invoke (so-called) warm dark matter (WDM) particles with masses mx ∼ keV. Since the formation of structure is delayed in such WDM models, it is natural to expect that they can be constrained using observations related to the first stars, e.g. the 21 cm signal from cosmic dawn. In this work, we use a detailed galaxy formation model, Delphi , to calculate the 21 cm signal at high redshifts and compare this to the recent EDGES observations. We find that while CDM and 5 keV WDM models can obtain a 21 cm signal within the observed redshift range, reproducing the amplitude of the observations requires the introduction of an excess radio background. On the other hand, WDM models with |$m_x \lower.5ex\hbox{$\,\, \buildrel\lt \over \sim \,\,$}3$| keV can be ruled out since they are unable to match either the redshift range or the amplitude of the EDGES signal, irrespective of the parameters used. Comparable to values obtained from the low-redshift Lyman Alpha forest, our results extend constraints on the WDM particle to an era inaccessible by any other means; additional forthcoming 21 cm data from the era of cosmic dawn will be crucial in refining such constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights from the article: Tree species recruitment in an Atlantic Forest fragment. Tion of alien plant species in forest sites. Forest edges for weedy plant species invasion. Plant invasion, competition, forest edge, plant recruitment, Tradescantia zebrina, inch plant, removal treatment.

Mammals rely on habitat resources for survival and reproduction. We studied microhabitats used by plateau pikas (Ochotona curzoniae) of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Microhabitat features used by pikas include sedge meadows that provide forage, burrows that provide safety from predators and cover for nests, degraded open-dirt patches, and edges between sedge meadow and open dirt patches that often have a "lip" between those microhabitats. We investigated the extent to which these edges might serve as a preferred pika microhabitat. GIS techniques were used to overlay individual pika home ranges, determined by focal and scan sampling, on a digitized map containing microhabitat features. Regions that contained multiple coinciding individual home ranges, referred to as overlap polygons, were categorized numerically based on the number of individual home ranges that overlapped each polygon. These overlap polygons were used as relative measures of pika activity. We tested the spatial relationship between pika activity and the microhabitat features of edges, burrows, and proportional area of sedge. There was a significant relationship between the number of pikas in an overlap polygon and the number of pikas in an adjacent polygon. This pattern was controlled statistically to test whether activity was influenced by the presence of potentially favorable microhabitat features. Most of the variation in number of pikas that overlapped a habitat polygon was associated with the relative amount of "edge microhabitat" between sedge meadow and degraded open dirt patches (Cohen's effect size, f 2 = 0.91). Neither burrow openings nor sedge had a strong influence on the number of pika home ranges that overlapped. The importance of microhabitat edges appeared high for plateau pikas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fabric fault detection scheme is implemented in this work using frame harmonizing-based approach. Many recent research works deliver the fabric defect detection techniques. But in the textiles industry, the fast process of fabric cutting and sewing, lots of auxiliary imperfections have emerged. Particularly these defects cannot be identified easily by experts as well as an automated system. In our system, a novel frame extraction technique is used to find the defects in the fabric production pipeline. The input fabric image frame is pre-processed by transformation and filtering techniques. In this work,a novel multi-directional and multi-scale outline extraction method is proposed to extract the edge map. Contour-based features are extracted and classified by K-nearest neighbor classifier. The experimentation with real-time dataset produced the outstanding performance results when compared with state of the art methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the discovery of three transiting planets from the WASP survey, two hot-Jupiters: WASP-177 b (∼0.5 MJup, ∼1.6 RJup) in a 3.07-d orbit of a V  = 12.6 K2 star, WASP-183 b (∼0.5 MJup, ∼1.5 RJup) in a 4.11-d orbit of a V  = 12.8 G9/K0 star; and one hot-Saturn planet WASP-181 b (∼0.3 MJup, ∼1.2 RJup) in a 4.52-d orbit of a V  = 12.9 G2 star. Each planet is close to the upper bound of mass–radius space and has a scaled semimajor axis, a / R *, between 9.6 and 12.1. These lie in the transition between systems that tend to be in orbits that are well aligned with their host-star's spin and those that show a higher dispersion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prediction of edge signs in social and biological networks is a major goal of graph-based machine learning and has important implication in recommendation systems. Most current edge sign prediction methods rely on information propagation from neighbouring edges either directly by assuming sign similarity in neighbouring edges or using more complex theories based on combination of edge signs in neighbours. Such methods rely on a high network sampling fraction, and fail at low sampling level. We, here, show that edges with similar network topology, as defined by a combination of network measures have similar signs. The surprising correlation between network topology and edge sign can be used for prediction. Indeed, machine learning algorithm based on this topology can produce a higher accuracy than state of the art methods in standard datasets, even when a very small fraction of the edge signs are known, with an accuracy of up to 93%. We further show that different datasets differ in the importance of different features. A combination of features is always required to obtain a high area under the curve. When the vertices represent people, the sign is mainly affected by the edge target. When the network represents opinions, the signs are mainly affected by the edge source. The proposed method can be applied to directed and undirected, weighted and unweighted networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We develop a theory of minors for alternating dimaps--orientably embedded digraphs where, at each vertex, the incident edges (taken in the order given by the embedding) are directed alternately into, and out of, the vertex. We show that they are related by the triality relation of Tutte. They do not commute in general, though do in many circumstances, and we characterize the situations where they do. We give a characterization of alternating dimaps of at most a given genus, using a finite set of excluded minors. We also use the minor operations to define simple Tutte invariants for alternating dimaps and characterize them. We establish a connection with the Tutte polynomial, and pose the problem of characterizing universal Tutte-like invariants for alternating dimaps based on these minor operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the problem of computing drawings of planar graphs in sub-quadratic area, by allowing edge crossings. We first prove that sub-quadratic area cannot be achieved if only a constant number of crossings per edge is allowed. More precisely, we show that the same area lower bounds as in the crossing-free case hold for straight-line and poly-line drawings of planar graphs and seriesparallel graphs. Motivated by this result, we study straight-line drawings of planar graphs where the number of crossings per edge is not bounded by a constant. In this case, we prove that every planar graph admits a straight-line drawing with sub-quadratic area and sub-linear thickness (the thickness of a drawing is the minimum number of colors that can be assigned to the edges so that each color class induces a planar drawing). We also prove that every partial 2-tree (and hence every series-parallel graph) admits a linear-area straight-line drawing with thickness at most 10. It is worth remarking that a drawing with thickness h - 1 is h-quasi planar, i.e. it does not contain h-mutually crossing edges. The main ingredient to prove our results is (c, t)-track layouts, a combinatorial tool that can be represented as a drawing where: (i) each vertex is assigned to one of t horizontal layers (tracks), (ii) no two adjacent vertices are on the same track, (iii) each edge receives one of c colors, so that no two edges of the same color (u, v) and (w, z) cross if u, w are on the same track, and v, z are on the same track. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Currently, most genome assembly projects focus on contigs and scaffolds rather than assembly graphs that provide a more comprehensive representation of an assembly. Since interactive visualization of large assembly graphs remains an open problem, we developed an Assembly Graph Browser (AGB) tool that visualizes large assembly graphs, extending the functionality of previously developed visualization approaches. Assembly Graph Browser includes a number of novel functions including repeat analysis, construction of the contracted assembly graphs (i.e. the graphs obtained by collapsing a selected set of edges) and a new approach to visualizing large assembly graphs. Availability and implementation http://www.github.com/almiheenko/AGB. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Richard Mort is a Director at Edge Testing Solutions and an ex-contractor. He explores the issues of IR35 for contractors and discusses the pros and cons of leaving contracting behind for a permanent role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethics, aircraft, aviation, death, government, guilt, love, marriage, life event, metals, military personnel, mothers, mental recall, schools, medical, shame, spouse, strikes, employee, terminally ill, memory, skin, clinical practice guideline, protective helmet, depressed mood, intern, self esteem, pilots, play behavior, filters, emotional vulnerability, primary care provider, army, navy, air force, tincture, daughter, script, united states department of defense, courage, psychologists. [Extracted from the article]

Road edges in the temperate zone often negatively affect reproductive success, post-fledging survival, and dispersal of forest birds through processes associated with edge habitats. This pattern is less clear in the tropics due to a lack of studies using natural nests and radio-tagged fledglings as well as an almost complete absence of information on nest and fledgling predators. We investigated the influence of road edge on nest success, post-fledging survival, and dispersal of White-rumped Shama (Copsychus malabaricus) in a dry evergreen forest in northeastern Thailand. One hundred nest boxes were placed in forest interior (≥1,000 m from edge of a 5-lane highway) and 100 near forest edge (≤200 m) to assess nesting success. We radio-tracked 50 fledglings from these boxes, 25 each for edge and interior, for 7 weeks after fledging. Nest success and post-fledging survival were 11.6% and 23.6% higher at the edge versus the interior. Predation had the strongest influence on survival, accounting for 100% of nest and 94% of fledgling mortality. Fledglings used locations with denser understory vegetation cover relative to the available habitat, probably to reduce predation risk. Green cat snake (Boiga cyanea) and northern pig-tailed macaque (Macaca leonina), which likely prefer forest interiors over edges, were the primary predators of nests and fledglings in this landscape. There were no significant differences in timing of dispersal and dispersal distance or dispersal direction in relation to proximity to edge. Our results suggest that the impacts of edge effects on the reproductive success of birds appear to be strongly dependent on the habitat preferences of locally dominant predators. Further research will be needed to identify key predators and broadly assess their foraging behaviors in individual landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]