Full reconstruction of simplicial complexes from binary time-series data

Previous efforts on data-based reconstruction focused on complex networks with pairwise or two-body interactions. There is a growing interest in networks with high-order or many-body interactions, raising the need to reconstruct such networks based on observational data. We develop a general framework combining statistical inference and expectation maximization to fully reconstruct 2-simplicial complexes with two- and three-body interactions based on binary time-series data from social contagion dynamics. We further articulate a two-step scheme to improve the reconstruction accuracy while significantly reducing the computational load. Through synthetic and real-world 2-simplicial complexes, we validate the framework by showing that all the connections can be faithfully identified and the full topology of the 2-simplicial complexes can be inferred. The effects of noisy data or stochastic disturbance are studied, demonstrating the robustness of the proposed framework.

Alfonso X, Pero da Ponte, paro-vos sinal (B487/V70). Note ecdotiche

Despite having been subject of several critical editions, Alfonso X’s cantiga “Pero da Ponte, paro-vos sinal” (B487/V70) continues to raise up a few questions among the specialists. On one hand, some philological issues regarding the full reconstruction and understanding of the text. On the other, a complex problem of its interpretation. This paper aims to stress out certain philological issues related to the edition of this cantiga. The main issues belong to the first stanza and especially affect the lesson of the first line, the general interpretation of both vv. 1-2 and 3-4 and the meter structure of the first line of the refrain (vv. 5, 11 and 17). There are also other minor problems concerning the meter structure of vv. 8, 9, and 15, along with the interpretation of v. 19. Finally, this paper argues upon the problems of a new critical edition of the cantiga, based on the archive research I made directly of both manuscripts, with the intention of showing more clearly these difficulties.

The Mw5.4 Zagreb (Croatia) earthquake of March 22, 2020: impacts and response

This paper highlights the principal features of the Mw5.4 Zagreb earthquake. Located within the city limits at a depth of 10 km, the earthquake generated a peak ground acceleration of more than 0.2 g and a maximum spectral acceleration of about 0.6 g at 0.1 s in the historic downtown area. The situation was particularly challenging since the event occurred amid a partial Covid-19 lockdown at temperatures close to 0 °C, emphasizing the extensive and complex vulnerability of the local communities and individuals. 27 people were reported severely injured, one of which later died. The surprisingly high economic costs, needed to achieve a full reconstruction of damaged buildings and infrastructure in the affected area, are currently evaluated at more than 10B euros. Description of the organization of the emergency response in the first days and the observed damage to buildings is given with typical examples. The focus is on the performance of older masonry residential and cultural heritage buildings in the historic downtown, their inspection and evaluation of damage to structural and non-structural components. This information provides the basis for understanding of the negative impacts and clarifies the overall context identifying the enablers and barriers to the still ongoing recovery process. It also helps to increase the awareness of the seismic vulnerability of European cities with similar construction practices.

Signal-Processing Framework for Ultrasound Compressed Sensing Data: Envelope Detection and Spectral Analysis

Acquisition times and storage requirements have become increasingly important in signal-processing applications, as the sizes of datasets have increased. Hence, compressed sensing (CS) has emerged as an alternative processing technique, as original signals can be reconstructed using fewer data samples collected at frequencies below the Nyquist sampling rate. However, further analysis of CS data in both time and frequency domains requires the reconstruction of the original form of the time-domain data, as traditional signal-processing techniques are designed for uncompressed data. In this paper, we propose a signal-processing framework that extracts spectral properties for frequency-domain analysis directly from under-sampled ultrasound CS data, using an appropriate basis matrix, and efficiently converts this into the envelope of a time-domain signal, avoiding full reconstruction. The technique generates more accurate results than the traditional framework in both time- and frequency-domain analyses, and is simpler and faster in execution than full reconstruction, without any loss of information. Hence, the proposed framework offers a new standard for signal processing using ultrasound CS data, especially for small and portable systems handling large datasets.

Application of the complex algorithm for rehabilitation of patients needing a full reconstruction of dentition (clinical case)

Introduction. Aim of the study is testing the algorithm of complex clinical, functional and instrumental analysis in the treatment of patients with the need for total restoration of the dentition with manifestations of myofascial pain syndrome. Material and methods. A system for the rehabilitation of patients with adentia is proposed, in which, when planning occlusion correction, objective examination data for patients obtained using a set of diagnostic methods should be taken into account. Particular attention is paid to assessing the function of the temporomandibular joint and the presence of pathological signs of disorders of maxillofacial muscles. Results. A clinical case is described a patient who has been diagnosed with a set of indicators of clinical, functional and instrumental analysis obtained using methods of condylography and cephalometry. The results of treatment and rehabilitation measures allowed achieving the optimal distribution of loads on the dentition, while reducing the risk of ceramic chipping and improving oral hygiene. The approach used allowed timely correction of functional and aesthetic disorders. Conclusions. The algorithm for working with patients who need total restoration of the dentition should include a thorough history taking, clinical functional analysis using condylography methods, model analysis to register and evaluate the static and dynamic ratios of the dentition. As well as performing cephalometric analysis and other manipulations, in accordance with standard criteria for clinical examination. The developed algorithm is anatomically and pathogenetically justified, since it takes into account the entirety of changes and interconnections of the structures of the dentofacial system and other body systems that underlie the clinical manifestations in this category of patients.

No Association Between Structural Properties of Corpus Callosum and Handedness: Evidence from the Constrained Spherical Deconvolution Approach

Handedness is the most prominent trait of functional asymmetry in humans, associated with lateralized cognitive functions and considered in relation to mental disorders. However, the neuroanatomical correlates of handedness are still unclear. It has been hypothesized that the structural properties of sub-regions of the corpus callosum (CC) are linked to handedness. Nevertheless, tractography studies of the relation between directly measured structural properties of CC subregions and handedness are lacking. The Constrained Spherical Deconvolution (CSD) approach enables full reconstruction of the sub-regions of the CC. The current study aimed to investigate the relation between the structural properties of the CC, such as volume and the CSD metric, referred to as hindrance modulated orientational anisotropy (HMOA), and handedness. Handedness was considered in two dimensions: direction (right-handed, ambidextrous, left-handed) and degree (the absolute values of Handedness quotient). We found no association between 1) volume or HMOA as a proxy of microstructural properties, namely the axonal diameter and fiber dispersion, of each sub-region and 2) either the direction or the degree of handedness. These findings suggest the absence of a direct relation between sub-regions of the CC and handedness, demonstrating the necessity of future tractography studies.

La educación artística a través de las ciudades de Gerhard Richter: materialidad, agencia y memoria tras la II Guerra Mundial

El presente trabajo aborda la obra de Gerhard Richter desde su relación con la representación de la ciudad. Richter trae al frente un tipo de pintura basado en la interpretación de algunas urbes europeas desde la abstracción que traen al frente la presentación en planta, de vistas cenitales, que configuran sus espacios. Esta desfiguración de lo característico de un lugar, conecta la tradición figurativa con los nuevos lenguajes gestuales en la segunda mitaddel siglo XX. Las revisiones de la ciudad a partir de la abstracción e sus planos enlazan con la memoria enterrada bajo sus ruinas, proveniente de los conflictos bélicos de la II Guerra Mundial y se relacionan, a su vez, con lo fragmentario, lo anónimo y lo indiferente que en ellas habita. Forzando una reflexión en términos icónicos en plena reconstrucción de la memoria histórica alemana, sirviendo como una metodología activa para la educación artística de los individuos a favor de una emancipación del alumnado en términos visuales. The present work approaches the work of Gerhard Richter from his relation with the representation of the city. Richter brings to the front a type of painting based on the interpretation of some European cities from the abstraction presented by the plants that make up their spaces. This disfigurement of the characteristic of a place connects the figurative tradition with the new gestural languages in the second half of the 20th century. The revisions of the city from the abstraction of its planes link with the memory of its ruins from the war conflicts of World War II and are related, in turn, to the fragmentary, the anonymous and the indifferent in them live. Forcing a reflection in iconic terms in full reconstruction of German historical memory, serving as an active methodology for the artistic education of individuals, favoring of emancipation of students in visual terms.

All-Atom Simulation of the HET-s Prion Replication

Prions are self-replicative protein particles lacking nucleic acids. Originally discovered for causing infectious neurodegenerative disorders, they have also been found to play several physiological roles in a variety of species. Functional and pathogenic prions share a common mechanism of replication, characterized by the ability of an amyloid conformer to propagate by inducing the conversion of its physiological, soluble counterpart. In this work, we focus on the propagation of the prion forming domain of HET-s, a physiological fungal prion for which high-resolution structural data are available. Since time-resolved biophysical experiments cannot yield a full reconstruction of prion replication, we resort to computational methods. To overcome the computational limitations of plain Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations, we adopt a special type of biased dynamics called ratchet-and-pawl MD (rMD). The accuracy of this enhanced path sampling protocol strongly depends on the choice of the collective variable (CV) used to define the biasing force. Since for prion propagation a reliable reaction coordinate (RC) is not yet available, we resort to the recently developed Self-Consistent Path Sampling (SCPS). Indeed, in such an approach the CV where the biasing force is applied is not heuristically postulated but is calculated through an iterative refinement procedure. Our atomistic reconstruction of the HET-s replication shows remarkable similarities with a previously reported mechanism of mammalian PrPSc propagation obtained with a different computational protocol. Together, these results indicate that the propagation of prions generated by evolutionary distant proteins shares common features. In particular, in both these cases, prions propagate their conformation through a very similar templating mechanism.

Full reconstruction of a vector field from restricted Doppler and first integral moment transforms in ℝn

We show that a vector field in {\mathbb{R}^{n}} can be reconstructed uniquely from the knowledge of restricted Doppler and first integral moment transforms. The line complex we consider consists of all lines passing through a fixed curve {\gamma\subset\mathbb{R}^{n}}. The question of reconstruction of a symmetric m-tensor field from the knowledge of the first {m+1} integral moments was posed by Sharafutdinov [Integral Geometry of Tensor Fields, Inverse Ill-posed Probl. Ser. 1, De Gruyter, Berlin, 1994, p. 78]. In this work, we provide an answer to Sharafutdinov’s question for the case of vector fields from restricted data comprising of the first two integral moment transforms.

Peripheral bronchial luminal conspicuity on dynamic-ventilation computed tomography: association with radiation doses and temporal resolution by using an ex vivo porcine lung phantom

Background It is still unclear which image reconstruction algorithm is appropriate for peripheral bronchial luminal conspicuity (PBLC) on dynamic-ventilation computed tomography (DVCT). Purpose To assess the influence of radiation doses and temporal resolution (TR) on the association between movement velocity (MV) and PBLC on DVCT. Material and Methods An ex vivo porcine lung phantom with simulated respiratory movement was scanned by 320-row CT at 240 mA and 10 mA. Peak and dip CT density and luminal area adjusted by values at end-inspiration (CTDpeak and CTDdip, luminal area ratio [LAR]) for PBLC and MVs were measured and visual scores (VS) were obtained at 12 measurement points on 13 frame images obtained at half and full reconstructions (TR 340 and 190 ms) during expiration. Size-specific dose estimate (SSDE) was applied to presume radiation dose. VS, CTDpeak, CTDdip, LAR, and their cross-correlation coefficients with MV (CCC) were compared among four methods with combinations of two reconstruction algorithms and two doses. Results The dose at 10 mA was presumed as 26 mA by SSDE for standard proportion adults. VS, CTDdip, CTDpeak, and LAR with half reconstruction at 10 mA (2.52 ± 0.59, 1.016 ± 0.221, 0.948 ± 0.103, and 0.990 ± 0.527) were similar to those at 240 mA except for VS, and different from those with full reconstruction at both doses (2.24 ± 0.85, 0.830 ± 0.209, 0.986 ± 0.065, and 1.012 ± 0.438 at 240 mA) ( P < 0.05). CCC for CTDdip with half reconstruction (–0.024 ± 0.552) at 10 mA was higher compared with full reconstruction (–0.503 ± 0.291) ( P < 0.05). Conclusion PBLC with half reconstruction at 10 mA was comparable to that at 240 mA and better than those with full reconstruction on DVCT.