Showing papers by "Bar-Ilan University published in 2014"
Proceedings Article•
08 Dec 2014TL;DR: It is shown that using a sparse Shifted Positive PMI word-context matrix to represent words improves results on two word similarity tasks and one of two analogy tasks, and conjecture that this stems from the weighted nature of SGNS's factorization.
Abstract: We analyze skip-gram with negative-sampling (SGNS), a word embedding method introduced by Mikolov et al., and show that it is implicitly factorizing a word-context matrix, whose cells are the pointwise mutual information (PMI) of the respective word and context pairs, shifted by a global constant. We find that another embedding method, NCE, is implicitly factorizing a similar matrix, where each cell is the (shifted) log conditional probability of a word given its context. We show that using a sparse Shifted Positive PMI word-context matrix to represent words improves results on two word similarity tasks and one of two analogy tasks. When dense low-dimensional vectors are preferred, exact factorization with SVD can achieve solutions that are at least as good as SGNS's solutions for word similarity tasks. On analogy questions SGNS remains superior to SVD. We conjecture that this stems from the weighted nature of SGNS's factorization.
1,835 citations
TL;DR: This Perspective is intended as a guidebook for both experimentalists and theorists working on systems, which exhibit anomalous diffusion, and pays special attention to the ergodicity breaking parameters for the different anomalous stochastic processes.
Abstract: Modern microscopic techniques following the stochastic motion of labelled tracer particles have uncovered significant deviations from the laws of Brownian motion in a variety of animate and inanimate systems. Such anomalous diffusion can have different physical origins, which can be identified from careful data analysis. In particular, single particle tracking provides the entire trajectory of the traced particle, which allows one to evaluate different observables to quantify the dynamics of the system under observation. We here provide an extensive overview over different popular anomalous diffusion models and their properties. We pay special attention to their ergodic properties, highlighting the fact that in several of these models the long time averaged mean squared displacement shows a distinct disparity to the regular, ensemble averaged mean squared displacement. In these cases, data obtained from time averages cannot be interpreted by the standard theoretical results for the ensemble averages. Here we therefore provide a comparison of the main properties of the time averaged mean squared displacement and its statistical behaviour in terms of the scatter of the amplitudes between the time averages obtained from different trajectories. We especially demonstrate how anomalous dynamics may be identified for systems, which, on first sight, appear to be Brownian. Moreover, we discuss the ergodicity breaking parameters for the different anomalous stochastic processes and showcase the physical origins for the various behaviours. This Perspective is intended as a guidebook for both experimentalists and theorists working on systems, which exhibit anomalous diffusion.
1,390 citations
TL;DR: It is concluded that sampling high-reputation workers can ensure high-quality data without having to resort to using attention check questions (ACQs), which may lead to selection bias if participants who fail ACQs are excluded post-hoc.
Abstract: Data quality is one of the major concerns of using crowdsourcing websites such as Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) to recruit participants for online behavioral studies. We compared two methods for ensuring data quality on MTurk: attention check questions (ACQs) and restricting participation to MTurk workers with high reputation (above 95% approval ratings). In Experiment 1, we found that high-reputation workers rarely failed ACQs and provided higher-quality data than did low-reputation workers; ACQs improved data quality only for low-reputation workers, and only in some cases. Experiment 2 corroborated these findings and also showed that more productive high-reputation workers produce the highest-quality data. We concluded that sampling high-reputation workers can ensure high-quality data without having to resort to using ACQs, which may lead to selection bias if participants who fail ACQs are excluded post-hoc.
1,284 citations
01 Jun 2014
TL;DR: The skip-gram model with negative sampling introduced by Mikolov et al. is generalized to include arbitrary contexts, and experiments with dependency-based contexts are performed, showing that they produce markedly different embeddings.
Abstract: While continuous word embeddings are gaining popularity, current models are based solely on linear contexts. In this work, we generalize the skip-gram model with negative sampling introduced by Mikolov et al. to include arbitrary contexts. In particular, we perform experiments with dependency-based contexts, and show that they produce markedly different embeddings. The dependencybased embeddings are less topical and exhibit more functional similarity than the original skip-gram embeddings.
941 citations
01 Jun 2014
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that analogy recovery is not restricted to neural word embeddings, and that a similar amount of relational similarities can be recovered from traditional distributional word representations.
Abstract: Recent work has shown that neuralembedded word representations capture many relational similarities, which can be recovered by means of vector arithmetic in the embedded space. We show that Mikolov et al.’s method of first adding and subtracting word vectors, and then searching for a word similar to the result, is equivalent to searching for a word that maximizes a linear combination of three pairwise word similarities. Based on this observation, we suggest an improved method of recovering relational similarities, improving the state-of-the-art results on two recent word-analogy datasets. Moreover, we demonstrate that analogy recovery is not restricted to neural word embeddings, and that a similar amount of relational similarities can be recovered from traditional distributional word representations.
712 citations
TL;DR: Research on batteries with an emphasis on Li-ion battery technology is reviewed, examining its suitability for EV applications and other battery systems that may be of importance for load-levelling applications, including rechargeable magnesium batteries.
485 citations
01 Jan 2014
TL;DR: It turns out that class WhatsApp groups are used for four main purposes: communicating with students; nurturing the social atmosphere; creating dialogue and encouraging sharing among students; and as a learning platform.
Abstract: WhatsApp is a Smartphone application for instant messaging. Lately the application's popularity has risen. One of the unique features of the application is its ability to enhance communication within a group. Classroom communication between teaching faculty and high school students using WhatsApp has not yet, to our knowledge, been researched thoroughly. Therefore, we have chosen to conduct an exploratory research project employing a qualitative method. Twelve halfstructured interviews were carried out with teachers who use the application in order to communicate with their pupils. It turns out that class WhatsApp groups are used for four main purposes: communicating with students; nurturing the social atmosphere; creating dialogue and encouraging sharing among students; and as a learning platform. The participants mentioned the technical advantages of WhatsApp, such as simple operation, low cost, availability, and immediacy. They also referred to educational advantages, such as the creation of a pleasant environment and an in-depth acquaintance with fellow students, which had a positive influence upon the manner of conversation. The participants also indicated academic advantages such as the accessibility of learning materials, teacher availability, and the continuation of learning beyond class hours. Nevertheless, there are also challenges and problems. Firstly, there is the technical difficulty that not all high school students possess a Smartphone. Secondly, teachers are apt to be annoyed by the flood of irrelevant and nonsensical messages. Also, educational difficulties may arise, such as incompatibility of language between students and the students' assumptions that their teachers should be available on a 24/7 basis.
471 citations
TL;DR: It is found that virtually all adenosines within Alu repeats that form double-stranded RNA undergo A-to-I editing, although most sites exhibit editing at only low levels, doubling the number of edited sites in the human genome.
Abstract: RNA molecules transmit the information encoded in the genome and generally reflect its content. Adenosine-to-inosine (A-to-I) RNA editing by ADAR proteins converts a genomically encoded adenosine into inosine. It is known that most RNA editing in human takes place in the primate-specific Alu sequences, but the extent of this phenomenon and its effect on transcriptome diversity are not yet clear. Here, we analyzed large-scale RNA-seq data and detected ∼1.6 million editing sites. As detection sensitivity increases with sequencing coverage, we performed ultradeep sequencing of selected Alu sequences and showed that the scope of editing is much larger than anticipated. We found that virtually all adenosines within Alu repeats that form double-stranded RNA undergo A-to-I editing, although most sites exhibit editing at only low levels (<1%). Moreover, using high coverage sequencing, we observed editing of transcripts resulting from residual antisense expression, doubling the number of edited sites in the human genome. Based on bioinformatic analyses and deep targeted sequencing, we estimate that there are over 100 million human Alu RNA editing sites, located in the majority of human genes. These findings set the stage for exploring how this primate-specific massive diversification of the transcriptome is utilized.
462 citations
TL;DR: Recent findings on the ROS and Ca(2+) waves in plants are summarized and a possible model for their integration is outlined.
441 citations
TL;DR: These findings are the first to demonstrate long-term effects of early touch-based intervention on children's physiologic organization and behavioral control and have salient implications for the care practices of premature infants.
415 citations
TL;DR: New evidence is provided that B cells traffic freely across the tissue barrier, with the majority of B cell maturation occurring outside of the CNS in the secondary lymphoid tissue.
Abstract: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (CNS) characterized by autoimmune-mediated demyelination and neurodegeneration. The CNS of patients with MS harbors expanded clones of antigen-experienced B cells that reside in distinct compartments including the meninges, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and parenchyma. It is not understood whether this immune infiltrate initiates its development in the CNS or in peripheral tissues. B cells in the CSF can exchange with those in peripheral blood, implying that CNS B cells may have access to lymphoid tissue that may be the specific compartment(s) in which CNS-resident B cells encounter antigen and experience affinity maturation. Paired tissues were used to determine whether the B cells that populate the CNS mature in the draining cervical lymph nodes (CLNs). High-throughput sequencing of the antibody repertoire demonstrated that clonally expanded B cells were present in both compartments. Founding members of clones were more often found in the draining CLNs. More mature clonal members derived from these founders were observed in the draining CLNs and also in the CNS, including lesions. These data provide new evidence that B cells traffic freely across the tissue barrier, with the majority of B cell maturation occurring outside of the CNS in the secondary lymphoid tissue. Our study may aid in further defining the mechanisms of immunomodulatory therapies that either deplete circulating B cells or affect the intrathecal B cell compartment by inhibiting lymphocyte transmigration into the CNS.
TL;DR: The first inorganic magnesium salt solution capable of highly reversible magnesium electrodeposition is presented, Synthesized by acid-base reaction of MgCl2 and Lewis acidic compounds such as AlCl3.
TL;DR: It is shown that DNA origami can be used to fabricate nanoscale robots that are capable of dynamically interacting with each other in a living animal and used to create architectures that emulate various logic gates.
Abstract: Biological systems are collections of discrete molecular objects that move around and collide with each other. Cells carry out elaborate processes by precisely controlling these collisions, but developing artificial machines that can interface with and control such interactions remains a significant challenge. DNA is a natural substrate for computing and has been used to implement a diverse set of mathematical problems, logic circuits and robotics. The molecule also interfaces naturally with living systems, and different forms of DNA-based biocomputing have already been demonstrated. Here, we show that DNA origami can be used to fabricate nanoscale robots that are capable of dynamically interacting with each other in a living animal. The interactions generate logical outputs, which are relayed to switch molecular payloads on or off. As a proof of principle, we use the system to create architectures that emulate various logic gates (AND, OR, XOR, NAND, NOT, CNOT and a half adder). Following an ex vivo prototyping phase, we successfully used the DNA origami robots in living cockroaches (Blaberus discoidalis) to control a molecule that targets their cells.
TL;DR: It is proposed that under working conditions a modified, photostable, perovskite structure is formed, depending on the bias and illumination parameters, which seems to clarify the origin of the well-known hysteresis in perovSKite solar cells.
Abstract: Photoconductivity measurements of CH3NH3PbI3 deposited between two dielectric-protected Au electrodes show extremely slow response. The CH3NH3PbI3, bridging a gap of ∼2000 nm, was subjected to a DC bias and cycles of 5 min illumination and varying dark duration. The approach to steady -state photocurrent lasted tens of seconds with a strong dependence on the dark duration preceding the illumination. On the basis of DFT calculations, we propose that under light + bias the methylammonium ions are freed to rotate and align along the electric field, thus modifying the structure of the inorganic scaffold. While ions alignment is expected to be fast, the adjustment of the inorganic scaffold seems to last seconds as reflected in the extremely slow photoconductivity response. We propose that under working conditions a modified, photostable, perovskite structure is formed, depending on the bias and illumination parameters. Our findings seem to clarify the origin of the well-known hysteresis in perovskite solar cells.
TL;DR: In this article, a model for network failure recovery reveals spontaneous phase flipping between high-activity and low-activity modes, in analogy with first-order phase transitions near a critical point.
Abstract: Networks that fail can sometimes recover spontaneously—think of traffic jams suddenly easing or people waking from a coma. A model for such recoveries reveals spontaneous ‘phase flipping’ between high-activity and low-activity modes, in analogy with first-order phase transitions near a critical point.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors review the efforts and success in the development of several families of electrolyte solutions for secondary Mg batteries, in which Mg anodes behave fully reversibly, but also exhibit the necessary wide electrochemical window.
Abstract: The high specific capacity, reactivity, and abundance of magnesium in the earth’s crust and the relatively good safety features of Mg metal, despite its being a reactive metal, drive intensive efforts to develop rechargeable Mg batteries as a follow-up to the success of Li-ion battery technology. However, Mg anodes cannot function in usual non-aqueous electrolyte solutions. Consequently, it is important to develop unique, complex solutions for reversible Mg metal anodes. Also, finding relevant cathode materials that can reversibly insert bivalent Mg ions is a great challenge. In this article, we review the efforts and success in the development of several families of electrolyte solutions for secondary Mg batteries, in which Mg anodes behave fully reversibly, but also exhibit the necessary wide electrochemical window. We also review attempts to develop positive electrodes for rechargeable Mg batteries. The first generation of secondary Mg batteries has already been demonstrated, but their specific energy density remains relatively low. The challenge now is to develop novel Mg battery prototypes that possess high energy density.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: The pRESTO toolkit supports multiplexed primer pools, single- or paired-end reads and emerging technologies that use single-molecule identifiers, and has a built-in capacity to parallelize the work between available processors and is able to efficiently process millions of sequences generated by typical high-throughput projects.
Abstract: Summary: Driven by dramatic technological improvements, large-scale characterization of lymphocyte receptor repertoires via high-throughput sequencing is now feasible. Although promising, the high germline and somatic diversity, especially of B-cell immunoglobulin repertoires, presents challenges for analysis requiring the development of specialized computational pipelines. We developed the REpertoire Sequencing TOolkit (pRESTO) for processing reads from high-throughput lymphocyte receptor studies. pRESTO processes raw sequences to produce error-corrected, sorted and annotated sequence sets, along with a wealth of metrics at each step. The toolkit supports multiplexed primer pools, single- or paired-end reads, and emerging technologies that employ single-molecule barcodes. pRESTO has been tested on data generated from Roche and Illumina platforms. It has a built in capacity to parallelize the work between available processors, and is able to efficiently process millions of sequences generated by typical high-throughput projects. As part of ongoing collaborations, pRESTO has been applied to multiple B-cell repertoire studies, employing both Roche 454 and Illumina MiSeq sequencing technologies. Availability: pRESTO is freely available for academic use. The software package and detailed tutorials may be downloaded from http://clip.med.yale.edu/pRESTO.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the degree to which construction superintendents are aware of hazards and how well they perceive the associated risks, 61 subjects were asked to identify the hazards in a typical construction project, to assess their risk level, and to estimate the probability and the severity of possible accidents.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors proposed a modified Donnan model to describe the electrical double layer in microporous carbon electrodes, suitable for incorporation in porous electrode theory, by postulating an attractive excess chemical potential for each ion in the micropores that is inversely proportional to the total ion concentration.
Abstract: The recently developed modified Donnan (mD) model provides a simple and useful description of the electrical double layer in microporous carbon electrodes, suitable for incorporation in porous electrode theory. By postulating an attractive excess chemical potential for each ion in the micropores that is inversely proportional to the total ion concentration, we show that experimental data for capacitive deionization (CDI) can be accurately predicted over a wide range of applied voltages and salt concentrations. Since the ion spacing and Bjerrum length are each comparable to the micropore size (few nanometers), we postulate that the attraction results from fluctuating bare Coulomb interactions between individual ions and the metallic pore surfaces (image forces) that are not captured by mean-field theories, such as the Poisson-Boltzmann-Stern model or its mathematical limit for overlapping double layers, the Donnan model. Using reasonable estimates of the micropore permittivity and mean size (and no other fitting parameters), we propose a simple theory that predicts the attractive chemical potential inferred from experiments. As additional evidence for attractive forces, we present data for salt adsorption in uncharged microporous carbons, also predicted by the theory.
TL;DR: The core notion of the method is that concepts in the network are related to each other by their association correlations—overlap of similar associative responses (“association clouds”).
Abstract: According to Mednick’s (1962) theory of individual differences in creativity, creative individuals appear to have a richer and more flexible associative network than less creative individuals. Thus, creative individuals are characterized by “flat” (broader associations) instead of “steep” (few, common associations) associational hierarchies. To study these differences, we implement a novel computational approach to the study of semantic networks, through the analysis of free associations. The core notion of our method is that concepts in the network are related to each other by their association correlations - overlap of similar associative responses (“association clouds”). We began by collecting a large sample of participants who underwent several creativity measurements and used a decision tree approach to divide the sample into low and high creative groups. Next, each group underwent a free association generation paradigm which allowed us to construct and analyze the semantic networks of both groups. Comparison of the semantic memory networks of persons with low creative ability and persons with high creative ability revealed differences between the two networks. The semantic memory network of persons with low creative ability seems to be more rigid, compared to the network of persons with high creative ability, in the sense that it is more spread out and breaks apart into more sub-parts. We discuss how our findings are in accord and extend Mednick’s (1962) theory and the feasibility of using network science paradigms to investigate high level cognition.
TL;DR: It is shown that AID targets are not randomly distributed across the genome but are predominantly grouped within super-enhancers and regulatory clusters, and 3D-linked targets cooperate to recruit AID-mediated breaks.
TL;DR: It is suggested that blog citations can be used as an alternative metric source, blog posts aggregated at ResearchBlogging.org, which discuss peer‐reviewed articles and provide full bibliographic references, and receive “blog citations.”
Abstract: Journal-based citations are an important source of data for impact indices. However, the impact of journal articles extends beyond formal scholarly discourse. Measuring online scholarly impact calls for new indices, complementary to the older ones. This article examines a possible alternative metric source, blog posts aggregated at ResearchBlogging.org, which discuss peer-reviewed articles and provide full bibliographic references. Articles reviewed in these blogs therefore receive “blog citations.” We hypothesized that articles receiving blog citations close to their publication time receive more journal citations later than the articles in the same journal published in the same year that did not receive such blog citations. Statistically significant evidence for articles published in 2009 and 2010 support this hypothesis for seven of 12 journals (58%) in 2009 and 13 of 19 journals (68%) in 2010. We suggest, based on these results, that blog citations can be used as an alternative metric source.
TL;DR: Results revealed that parenting implemented a global “parental caregiving” neural network, mainly consistent across parents, which integrated functioning of two systems: the emotional processing network including subcortical and paralimbic structures associated with vigilance, salience, reward, and motivation, and mentalizing network involving frontopolar-medial-prefrontal and temporo-parietal circuits implicated in social understanding and cognitive empathy.
Abstract: Although contemporary socio-cultural changes dramatically increased fathers' involvement in childrearing, little is known about the brain basis of human fatherhood, its comparability with the maternal brain, and its sensitivity to caregiving experiences. We measured parental brain response to infant stimuli using functional MRI, oxytocin, and parenting behavior in three groups of parents (n = 89) raising their firstborn infant: heterosexual primary-caregiving mothers (PC-Mothers), heterosexual secondary-caregiving fathers (SC-Fathers), and primary-caregiving homosexual fathers (PC-Fathers) rearing infants without maternal involvement. Results revealed that parenting implemented a global "parental caregiving" neural network, mainly consistent across parents, which integrated functioning of two systems: the emotional processing network including subcortical and paralimbic structures associated with vigilance, salience, reward, and motivation, and mentalizing network involving frontopolar-medial-prefrontal and temporo-parietal circuits implicated in social understanding and cognitive empathy. These networks work in concert to imbue infant care with emotional salience, attune with the infant state, and plan adequate parenting. PC-Mothers showed greater activation in emotion processing structures, correlated with oxytocin and parent-infant synchrony, whereas SC-Fathers displayed greater activation in cortical circuits, associated with oxytocin and parenting. PC-Fathers exhibited high amygdala activation similar to PC-Mothers, alongside high activation of superior temporal sulcus (STS) comparable to SC-Fathers, and functional connectivity between amygdala and STS. Among all fathers, time spent in direct childcare was linked with the degree of amygdala-STS connectivity. Findings underscore the common neural basis of maternal and paternal care, chart brain-hormone-behavior pathways that support parenthood, and specify mechanisms of brain malleability with caregiving experiences in human fathers.
TL;DR: The cohabitation of healthy and diseased fish demonstrated that the disease is contagious and that mortalities occur within a few days, suggesting the mounting of a protective immune response.
Abstract: Tilapines are important for the sustainability of ecological systems and serve as the second most important group of farmed fish worldwide. Significant mortality of wild and cultured tilapia has been observed recently in Israel. The etiological agent of this disease, a novel RNA virus, is described here, and procedures allowing its isolation and detection are revealed. The virus, denominated tilapia lake virus (TiLV), was propagated in primary tilapia brain cells or in an E-11 cell line, and it induced a cytopathic effect at 5 to 10 days postinfection. Electron microscopy revealed enveloped icosahedral particles of 55 to 75 nm. Low-passage TiLV, injected intraperitoneally in tilapia, induced a disease resembling the natural disease, which typically presents with lethargy, ocular alterations, and skin erosions, with >80% mortality. Histological changes included congestion of the internal organs (kidneys and brain) with foci of gliosis and perivascular cuffing of lymphocytes in the brain cortex; ocular inflammation included endophthalmitis and cataractous changes of the lens. The cohabitation of healthy and diseased fish demonstrated that the disease is contagious and that mortalities (80 to 100%) occur within a few days. Fish surviving the initial mortality were immune to further TiLV infections, suggesting the mounting of a protective immune response. Screening cDNA libraries identified a TiLV-specific sequence, allowing the design of a PCR-based diagnostic test. This test enables the specific identification of TiLV in tilapines and should help control the spread of this virus worldwide.
TL;DR: It is believed that lithium ion batteries are unlikely to replace combustion engines in fully electric vehicles, however, high fidelity and safe Li ion batteries can be used in full EVs plus range extenders.
Abstract: Secondary lithium ion battery technology has made deliberate, incremental improvements over the past four decades, providing sufficient energy densities to sustain a significant mobile electronic device industry Because current battery systems provide ∼100-150 km of driving distance per charge, ∼5-fold improvements are required to fully compete with internal combustion engines that provide >500 km range per tank Despite expected improvements, the authors believe that lithium ion batteries are unlikely to replace combustion engines in fully electric vehicles However, high fidelity and safe Li ion batteries can be used in full EVs plus range extenders (eg, metal air batteries, generators with ICE or gas turbines) This perspective article describes advanced materials and directions that can take this technology further in terms of energy density, and aims at delineating realistic horizons for the next generations of Li ion batteries This article concentrates on Li intercalation and Li alloying electrodes, relevant to the term Li ion batteries
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the use and coverage of social media environments amongst a sample of bibliometricians examining both their own use of online platforms and the use of their papers on social reference managers.
Abstract: Altmetrics, indices based on social media platforms and tools, have recently emerged as alternative means of measuring scholarly impact. Such indices assume that scholars in fact populate online social environments, and interact with scholarly products in the social web. We tested this assumption by examining the use and coverage of social media environments amongst a sample of bibliometricians examining both their own use of online platforms and the use of their papers on social reference managers. As expected, coverage varied: 82 % of articles published by sampled bibliometricians were included in Mendeley libraries, while only 28 % were included in CiteULike. Mendeley bookmarking was moderately correlated (.45) with Scopus citation counts. We conducted a survey among the participants of the STI2012 participants. Over half of respondents asserted that social media tools were affecting their professional lives, although uptake of online tools varied widely. 68 % of those surveyed had LinkedIn accounts, while Academia.edu, Mendeley, and ResearchGate each claimed a fifth of respondents. Nearly half of those responding had Twitter accounts, which they used both personally and professionally. Surveyed bibliometricians had mixed opinions on altmetrics' potential; 72 % valued download counts, while a third saw potential in tracking articles' influence in blogs, Wikipedia, reference managers, and social media. Altogether, these findings suggest that some online tools are seeing substantial use by bibliometricians, and that they present a potentially valuable source of impact data.
01 Feb 2014
TL;DR: This paper presents a system that enables alleviation of the difficulties in the design process of general automated negotiators termed Genius, a General Environment for Negotiation with Intelligent multi‐purpose Usage Simulation.
Abstract: The design of automated negotiators has been the focus of abundant research in recent years. However, due to difficulties involved in creating generalized agents that can negotiate in several domains and against human counterparts, many automated negotiators are domain specific and their behavior cannot be generalized for other domains. Some of these difficulties arise from the differences inherent within the domains, the need to understand and learn negotiators' diverse preferences concerning issues of the domain, and the different strategies negotiators can undertake. In this paper we present a system that enables alleviation of the difficulties in the design process of general automated negotiators termed Genius, a General Environment for Negotiation with Intelligent multi-purpose Usage Simulation. With the constant introduction of new domains, e-commerce and other applications, which require automated negotiations, generic automated negotiators encompass many benefits and advantages over agents that are designed for a specific domain. Based on experiments conducted with automated agents designed by human subjects using Genius we provide both quantitative and qualitative results to illustrate its efficacy. Finally, we also analyze a recent automated bilateral negotiators competition that was based on Genius. Our results show the advantages and underlying benefits of using Genius and how it can facilitate the design of general automated negotiators.
TL;DR: It is shown that hypomethylated genes are often overexpressed, and that there is an inverse correlation between gene expression and DNA methylation within the individuals, which suggests a possible role for epigenetic processes in the etiology of ASD.
Abstract: Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a group of neurodevelopmental conditions characterized by dysfunction in social interaction, communication and stereotypic behavior. Genetic and environmental factors have been implicated in the development of ASD, but the molecular mechanisms underlying their interaction are not clear. Epigenetic modifications have been suggested as molecular mechanism that can mediate the interaction between the environment and the genome to produce adaptive or maladaptive behaviors. Here, using the Illumina 450 K methylation array we have determined the existence of many dysregulated CpGs in two cortical regions, Brodmann area 10 (BA10) and Brodmann area 24 (BA24), of individuals who had ASD. In BA10 we found a very significant enrichment for genomic areas responsible for immune functions among the hypomethylated CpGs, whereas genes related to synaptic membrane were enriched among hypermethylated CpGs. By comparing our methylome data with previously published transcriptome data, and by performing real-time PCR on selected genes that were dysregulated in our study, we show that hypomethylated genes are often overexpressed, and that there is an inverse correlation between gene expression and DNA methylation within the individuals. Among these genes there were C1Q, C3, ITGB2 (C3R), TNF-α, IRF8 and SPI1, which have recently been implicated in synaptic pruning and microglial cell specification. Finally, we determined the epigenetic dysregulation of the gene HDAC4, and we confirm that the locus encompassing C11orf21/TSPAN32 has multiple hypomethylated CpGs in the autistic brain, as previously demonstrated. Our data suggest a possible role for epigenetic processes in the etiology of ASD.
TL;DR: In this concept, the addition of redox mediators as additives to the standard electrolyte solution allows us to recover most of Li2S theoretical capacity in the activation cycle at potentials as low as 2.9 VLi, substantially lower than the typical potentials >4 VLi needed with standard electrolytes.
Abstract: The development of Li2S electrodes is a crucial step toward industrial manufacturing of Li-S batteries, a promising alternative to Li-ion batteries due to their projected two times higher specific capacity. However, the high voltages needed to activate Li2S electrodes, and the consequent electrolyte solution degradation, represent the main challenge. We present a novel concept that could make feasible the widespread application of Li2S electrodes for Li-S cell assembly. In this concept, the addition of redox mediators as additives to the standard electrolyte solution allows us to recover most of Li2S theoretical capacity in the activation cycle at potentials as low as 2.9 VLi, substantially lower than the typical potentials >4 VLi needed with standard electrolyte solution. Those novel additives permit us to preserve the electrolyte solution from being degraded, allowing us to achieve capacity as high as 500 mAhg(-1)Li2S after 150 cycles with no major structural optimization of the electrodes.
20 Nov 2014
TL;DR: A new multichannel room impulse responses database is described, accompanied with software utilities to easily access and manipulate the data and its use in spatial source separation task is demonstrated.
Abstract: In this paper we describe a new multichannel room impulse responses database. The impulse responses are measured in a room with configurable reverberation level resulting in three different acoustic scenarios with reverberation times RT 60 equals to 160 ms, 360 ms and 610 ms. The measurements were carried out in recording sessions of several source positions on a spatial grid (angle range of −90° to 90° in 15° steps with 1 m and 2 m distance from the microphone array). The signals in all sessions were captured by three microphone array configurations. The database is accompanied with software utilities to easily access and manipulate the data. Besides the description of the database we demonstrate its use in spatial source separation task.