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Augmenting randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with external real-world data (RWD) has the potential to improve the finite sample efficiency of treatment effect estimators. We describe using adaptive targeted maximum likelihood estimation (A-TMLE) for estimating the average treatment effect (ATE) by decomposing the ATE estimand into two components: a pooled-ATE estimand that combines data from both the RCT and external sources, and a bias estimand that captures the conditional effect of RCT enrollment on the outcome. This approach views the RCT data as the reference and corrects for inconsistencies of any kind between the RCT and the external data source. Given the growing abundance of external RWD from modern electronic health records, determining the optimal strategy to select candidate external patients for data integration remains an open yet critical problem. In this work, we begin by analyzing the robustness property of the A-TMLE estimator and then propose a matching-based sampling strategy that improves the robustness of the estimator with respect to the target estimand. Our proposed strategy is outcome-blind and involves matching based on two one-dimensional scores: the trial enrollment score and the propensity score in the external data. We demonstrate in simulations that our sampling strategy improves the coverage and shortens the widths of confidence intervals produced by A-TMLE. We illustrate our method with a case study of augmenting the DEVOTE cardiovascular safety trial by using the Optum Clinformatics claims database.

We compute the double trumpet in sine dilaton gravity via WdW quantization. The wormhole size is discretized. The wormhole amplitude matches the spectral correlation of a finite-cut matrix integral, where matrices have large but finite dimensions. This strongly suggests an identification of the sine dilaton gravity theory with the q-deformed JT gravity matrix integral. At the very least, it captures all universal content of that matrix model. The disk decomposes into the physical (gauge invariant) solutions of the WdW equation, which are trumpets with discrete sizes. This decomposition modifies the usual no-boundary wavefunction to a normalizable one in sine dilaton gravity. We furthermore present an exact quantization of sine dilaton gravity with open and closed end of the world branes. These EOW branes correspond with FZZT branes for the two Liouville theories that make up sine dilaton gravity. The WdW equation implies redundancies in this space of branes, leaving a one parameter family of gauge invariant branes. One gauge choice corresponds with branes discussed by Okuyama in the context of chord diagrams and of DSSYK. Legendre transforming the EOW brane amplitude reproduces the trumpet, independent of the WdW quantization calculation. One could read our work as fleshing out the Hilbert space of closed universes in sine dilaton gravity., Comment: 35 pages + appendices

Background: The MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR , a modular array of isotopically enriched high-purity germanium (HPGe) detectors, was constructed to demonstrate backgrounds low enough to justify building a tonne-scale experiment to search for the neutrinoless double-beta decay ($\beta\beta(0\nu)$) of $^{76}\mathrm{Ge}$. Purpose: This paper presents a description of the instrument, its commissioning, and operations. It covers the electroforming, underground infrastructure, enrichment, detector fabrication, low-background and construction techniques, electronics, data acquisition, databases, and data processing of the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR. Method: The MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR operated inside an ultra-low radioactivity passive shield at the 4850-foot~level of the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) from 2015-2021. Results and Conclusions: The MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR achieved the best energy resolution and second-best background level of any $\beta\beta(0\nu)$ search. This enabled it to achieve an ultimate half-life limit on $\beta\beta(0\nu)$ in $^{76}\mathrm{Ge}$ of $8.3\times 10^{25}$~yr (90\% C.L.) and perform a rich set of searches for other physics beyond the Standard Model., Comment: 72 pages

Neutral hydrogen serves as a crucial probe for the Cosmic Dawn and the Epoch of Reionization (EoR). Actual observations of the 21-cm signal often encounter challenges such as thermal noise and various systematic effects. To overcome these challenges, we simulate SKA-Low-depth images and process them with a deep learning method. We utilized foreground residuals acquired by LOFAR during actual North Celestial Pole field observations, thermal and excess variances calculated via Gaussian process regression, and 21-cm signals generated with 21cmFAST for signal extraction tests. Our approach to overcome these foreground, thermal noise, and excess variance components employs a 3D U-Net neural network architecture for image analysis. When considering thermal noise corresponding to 1400 hours of integration, U-Net provides reliable 2D power spectrum predictions, and robustness tests ensure that we get realistic EoR signals. Adding foreground residuals, however, causes inconsistencies below the horizon delay-line. Lastly, evaluating both thermal and excess variance with observations up to 3700 and 14000 hours ensures reliable power spectrum estimations within the EoR window and across nearly all scales, respectively., Comment: 18 pages, 17 figures

The framework of templicial vector spaces was put forth in arXiv:2302.02484v2 as a suitable generalization of simplicial sets in order to develop a theory of enriched quasi-categories, called quasi-categories in vector spaces. We construct a lift of Faonte's $A_{\infty}$-nerve arXiv:1312.2127v2 which lands in templicial vector spaces. Further, we show that when restricted to dg-categories, this nerve recovers the templicial dg-nerve of arXiv:2005.04778v4, and that the nerve of any $A_{\infty}$-category is a quasi-category in vector spaces., Comment: 26 pages; comments welcome

Artificial Neural Networks excel at identifying individual components in an image. However, out-of-the-box, they do not manage to correctly integrate and interpret these components as a whole. One way to alleviate this weakness is to expand the network with explicit knowledge and a separate reasoning component. In this paper, we evaluate an approach to this end, applied to the solving of the popular board game Rummikub. We demonstrate that, for this particular example, the added background knowledge is equally valuable as two-thirds of the data set, and allows to bring down the training time to half the original time., Comment: Submitted to ESANN2025

We study 2d dilaton gravity theories with a periodic potential, with special emphasis on sine dilaton gravity, which is holographically dual to double-scaled SYK. The periodicity of the potentials implies a symmetry under (discrete) shifts in the momentum conjugate to the length of geodesic slices. This results in divergences. The correct definition is to gauge this symmetry. This discretizes the geodesic lengths. Lengths below a certain threshold are null states. Because of these null states, the entropy deviates drastically from Bekenstein-Hawking and the Hilbert space becomes finite dimensional. The spacetimes have a periodic radial coordinate. These are toy models of 2d quantum cosmology with a normalizable wavefunction. We study two limiting dualities: one between flat space quantum gravity and the Heisenberg algebra, and one between topological gravity and the Gaussian matrix integral. We propose an exact density of states for certain classes of periodic dilaton gravity models., Comment: 40 pages + appendices

BabyIAXO is the intermediate stage of the International Axion Observatory (IAXO) to be hosted at DESY. Its primary goal is the detection of solar axions following the axion helioscope technique. Axions are converted into photons in a large magnet that is pointing to the sun. The resulting X-rays are focused by appropriate X-ray optics and detected by sensitive low-background detectors placed at the focal spot. The aim of this article is to provide an accurate quantitative description of the different components (such as the magnet, optics, and X-ray detectors) involved in the detection of axions. Our efforts have focused on developing robust and integrated software tools to model these helioscope components, enabling future assessments of modifications or upgrades to any part of the IAXO axion helioscope and evaluating the potential impact on the experiment's sensitivity. In this manuscript, we demonstrate the application of these tools by presenting a precise signal calculation and response analysis of BabyIAXO's sensitivity to the axion-photon coupling. Though focusing on the Primakoff solar flux component, our virtual helioscope model can be used to test different production mechanisms, allowing for direct comparisons within a unified framework., Comment: 36 pages, 18 figures, 4 tables, Submitted to JHEP

In missions constrained by finite resources, efficient data collection is critical. Informative path planning, driven by automated decision-making, optimizes exploration by reducing the costs associated with accurate characterization of a target in an environment. Previous implementations of active learning did not consider the action cost for regression problems or only considered the action cost for classification problems. This paper analyzes an AL algorithm for Gaussian Process regression while incorporating action cost. The algorithm's performance is compared on various regression problems to include terrain mapping on diverse simulated surfaces along metrics of root mean square error, samples and distance until convergence, and model variance upon convergence. The cost-dependent acquisition policy doesn't organically optimize information gain over distance. Instead, the traditional uncertainty metric with a distance constraint best minimizes root-mean-square error over trajectory distance. This studys impact is to provide insight into incorporating action cost with AL methods to optimize exploration under realistic mission constraints.

Despite best efforts, various challenges remain in the creation and maintenance processes of digital twins (DTs). One of those primary challenges is the constant, continuous and omnipresent evolution of systems, their user's needs and their environment, demanding the adaptation of the developed DT systems. DTs are developed for a specific purpose, which generally entails the monitoring, analysis, simulation or optimization of a specific aspect of an actual system, referred to as the actual twin (AT). As such, when the twin system changes, that is either the AT itself changes, or the scope/purpose of a DT is modified, the DTs usually evolve in close synchronicity with the AT. As DTs are software systems, the best practices or methodologies for software evolution can be leveraged. This paper tackles the challenge of maintaining a (set of) DT(s) throughout the evolution of the user's requirements and priorities and tries to understand how this evolution takes place. In doing so, we provide two contributions: (i) we develop DarTwin, a visual notation form that enables reasoning on a twin system, its purposes, properties and implementation, and (ii) we introduce a set of architectural transformations that describe the evolution of DT systems. The development of these transformations is driven and illustrated by the evolution and transformations of a family home's DT, whose purpose is expanded, changed and re-prioritized throughout its ongoing lifecycle. Additionally, we evaluate the transformations on a lab-scale gantry crane's DT., Comment: Submitted to SoSyM - accepted in September 2024

The precision measurement of the tritium $\beta$-decay spectrum performed by the KATRIN experiment provides a unique way to search for general neutrino interactions (GNI). All theoretical allowed GNI terms involving neutrinos are incorporated into a low-energy effective field theory, and can be identified by specific signatures in the measured tritium $\beta$-spectrum. In this paper an effective description of the impact of GNI on the $\beta$-spectrum is formulated and the first constraints on the effective GNI parameters are derived based on the 4 million electrons collected in the second measurement campaign of KATRIN in 2019. In addition, constraints on selected types of interactions are investigated, thereby exploring the potential of KATRIN to search for more specific new physics cases, including a right-handed W boson, a charged Higgs or leptoquarks.

Models for quantum state reduction address the quantum measurement problem by suggesting weak modifications to Schr\"odinger's equation that have no observable effect at microscopic scales, but dominate the dynamics of macroscopic objects. Enforcing linearity of the master equation for such models ensures that modifications to Schr\"odinger's equation do not introduce a possibility for superluminal signalling. In large classes of quantum state reduction models, however, and in particular in all models employing correlated noise, formulating a master equation for the quantum state is prohibitively difficult or impossible. Here, we formulate a witness for superluminal signalling that is applicable to generic quantum state reduction models, including those involving correlated noise. We apply the witness to several relevant cases, and find that correlated-noise models in general allow for superluminal signalling. We suggest how specific models may be able to avoid it, and that the witness introduced here provides a stringent guide to constructing such models., Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures

Using the upGREAT instrument on SOFIA, we have imaged the [C II] 158 {\mu}m fine structure line emission in bright-rimmed pillars located at the southern edge of the IC1848 H II region, and carried out pointed observations of the [O I] 63 and 145 {\mu}m fine structure lines toward selected positions. The observations are used to characterize the morphology, velocity field, and the physical conditions in the G1 - G3 filaments. The velocity-resolved [C II] spectra show evidence of a velocity shift at the head of the brightest G1 filament, possibly caused by radiation pressure from the impinging UV photons or the rocket effect of the evaporating gas. Archival Herschel PACS and SPIRE data imply H2 column densities in the range 10^{21} - 10^{22} cm^{-2}, corresponding to maximum visual extinction AV = 10 mag, and average H2 volume density of about 4500 cm^{-3} in the filaments. The [C II] emission traces ~ 17% of the total H2 column density, as derived from dust SED fits. PDR models are unable to explain the observed line intensities of the two [O I] fine structure lines in IC1848, with the observed [O I] 145 {\mu}m line being too strong compared to the model predictions. The [O I] lines in IC1848 are overall weak and the signal-to-noise ratio is limited. However, our observations suggest that the [O I] 63/145 {\mu}m intensity ratio is a sensitive probe of the physical conditions in photon dominated regions such as IC1848. These lines are thus excellent targets for future high-altitude balloon instruments, less affected by telluric absorption., Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics

Sterile neutrinos are a minimal extension of the Standard Model of particle physics and a promising candidate for dark matter if their mass is in the keV-range. The Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino experiment (KATRIN), equipped with a novel multi-pixel silicon drift detector array, the TRISTAN detector, will be capable of searching for these keV-scale sterile neutrinos by investigating the kinematics of the tritium $\beta$-decay. This measurement will be performed after the completion of the neutrino mass measurement campaign. To detect a sterile neutrino signal with a high sensitivity, a profound understanding of the detector response is required. In this work, we report on the characterization of a 7-pixel TRISTAN prototype detector with a laser system. We present the experimental results obtained in high-resolution scans of the detector surface with a focused laser beam and demonstrate how the charge collection and the timing of the signals generated in the detector is related to the detector geometry. A comparison of the experimental data with simulations shows a good agreement., Comment: 23 pages, 12 figures

The use of Gaussian Process Regression (GPR) for foregrounds mitigation in data collected by the LOw-Frequency ARray (LOFAR) to measure the high-redshift 21-cm signal power spectrum has been shown to have issues of signal loss when the 21-cm signal covariance is misestimated. To address this problem, we have recently introduced covariance kernels obtained by using a Machine Learning based Variational Auto-Encoder (VAE) algorithm in combination with simulations of the 21-cm signal. In this work, we apply this framework to 141 hours ($\approx 10$ nights) of LOFAR data at $z \approx 9.1$, and report revised upper limits of the 21-cm signal power spectrum. Overall, we agree with past results reporting a 2-$\sigma$ upper limit of $\Delta^2_{21} < (80)^2~\rm mK^2$ at $k = 0.075~h~\rm Mpc^{-1}$. Further, the VAE-based kernel has a smaller correlation with the systematic excess noise, and the overall GPR-based approach is shown to be a good model for the data. Assuming an accurate bias correction for the excess noise, we report a 2-$\sigma$ upper limit of $\Delta^2_{21} < (25)^2~\rm mK^2$ at $k = 0.075~h~\rm Mpc^{-1}$. However, we still caution to take the more conservative approach to jointly report the upper limits of the excess noise and the 21-cm signal components., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables. Accepted for publication in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS) Letters

We introduce necklicial nerve functors from enriched categories to simplicial sets, which include Cordier's homotopy coherent, Lurie's differential graded and Le Grignou's cubical nerves. It is shown that every necklicial nerve can be lifted to the templicial objects of arXiv:2302.02484v2. Building on the work of Dugger and Spivak, we give sufficient conditions under which the left-adjoint of a necklicial nerve can be described more explicitly. As an application, we obtain novel and simple expressions for the left-adjoints of the dg-nerve and cubical nerve., Comment: 49 pages, no figures, v2: updated acknowledgements

We present an algorithm to compute the domination polynomial of the $m \times n$ grid, cylinder, and torus graphs and the king graph. The time complexity of the algorithm is $O(m^2n^2 \lambda^{2m})$ for the torus and $O(m^3n^2\lambda^m)$ for the other graphs, where $\lambda = 1+\sqrt{2}$. The space complexity is $O(mn\lambda^m)$ for all of these graphs. We use this algorithm to compute domination polynomials for graphs up to size $24\times 24$ and the total number of dominating sets for even larger graphs. This allows us to give precise estimates of the asymptotic growth rates of the number of dominating sets. We also extend several sequences in the Online Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences., Comment: 29 pages, 7 figures, 12 tables

The projected sensitivity of the effective electron neutrino-mass measurement with the KATRIN experiment is below 0.3 eV (90 % CL) after five years of data acquisition. The sensitivity is affected by the increased rate of the background electrons from KATRIN's main spectrometer. A special shifted-analysing-plane (SAP) configuration was developed to reduce this background by a factor of two. The complex layout of electromagnetic fields in the SAP configuration requires a robust method of estimating these fields. We present in this paper a dedicated calibration measurement of the fields using conversion electrons of gaseous $^\mathrm{83m}$Kr, which enables the neutrino-mass measurements in the SAP configuration., Comment: 19 pages, 11 figures

The turbulent ionosphere causes phase shifts to incoming radio waves on a broad range of temporal and spatial scales. When an interferometer is not sufficiently calibrated for the direction-dependent ionospheric effects, the time-varying phase shifts can cause the signal to decorrelate. The ionosphere's influence over various spatiotemporal scales introduces a baseline-dependent effect on the interferometric array. We study the impact of baseline-dependent decorrelation on high-redshift observations with the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR). Datasets with a range of ionospheric corruptions are simulated using a thin-screen ionosphere model, and calibrated using the state-of-the-art LOFAR Epoch of Reionisation pipeline. For the first time ever, we show the ionospheric impact on various stages of the calibration process including an analysis of the transfer of gain errors from longer to shorter baselines using realistic end-to-end simulations. We find that direction-dependent calibration for source subtraction leaves excess power of up to two orders of magnitude above the thermal noise at the largest spectral scales in the cylindrically averaged auto-power spectrum under normal ionospheric conditions. However, we demonstrate that this excess power can be removed through Gaussian process regression, leaving no excess power above the ten per cent level for a $5~$km diffractive scale. We conclude that ionospheric errors, in the absence of interactions with other aggravating effects, do not constitute a dominant component in the excess power observed in LOFAR Epoch of Reionisation observations of the North Celestial Pole. Future work should therefore focus on less spectrally smooth effects, such as beam modelling errors., Comment: 22 pages, 20 figures. Accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS)

The $m \times n$ king graph consists of all locations on an $m \times n$ chessboard, where edges are legal moves of a chess king. %where each vertex represents a square on a chessboard and each edge is a legal move. Let $P_{m \times n}(z)$ denote its domination polynomial, i.e., $\sum_{S \subseteq V} z^{|S|}$ where the sum is over all dominating sets $S$. We prove that $P_{m \times n}(-1) = (-1)^{\lceil m/2\rceil \lceil n/2\rceil}$. In particular, the number of dominating sets of even size and the number of odd size differs by $\pm 1$. %The numbers can not be equal because the total number of dominating sets is always odd. This property does not hold for king graphs on a cylinder or a torus, or for the grid graph. But it holds for $d$-dimensional kings, where $P_{n_1\times n_2\times\cdots\times n_d}(-1) = (-1)^{\lceil n_1/2\rceil \lceil n_2/2\rceil\cdots \lceil n_d/2\rceil}$., Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, 3 tables

Convolutional Neural Networks are particularly suited for image analysis tasks, such as Image Classification, Object Recognition or Image Segmentation. Like all Artificial Neural Networks, however, they are "black box" models, and suffer from poor explainability. This work is concerned with the specific downstream task of Emotion Recognition from images, and proposes a framework that combines CAM-based techniques with Object Detection on a corpus level to better understand on which image cues a particular model, in our case EmoNet, relies to assign a specific emotion to an image. We demonstrate that the model mostly focuses on human characteristics, but also explore the pronounced effect of specific image modifications., Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures

The out-of-equilibrium heterogeneous microstructure typical of AlSi10Mg processed by Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) is often modified by further heat treatment to improve its ductility. According to literature, extensive experimental investigations are generally required in order to optimize these heat treatments. In the present work, a phase-field approach is developed based on an extended Kim-Kim-Suzuki (KKS) model to guide and accelerate the post-treatment optimization. Combined with CALculation of PHAse Diagrams (CALPHAD) data, this extended KKS model predicts microstructural changes under anisothermal conditions. To ensure a more physical approach, it takes into account the enhanced diffusion by quenched-in excess vacancies as well as the elastic energy due to matrix/precipitate lattice mismatch. As the developed model includes the computation of the evolution of the thermo-physical properties, its results are validated through comparison with experimental DSC curves measured during the non-isothermal loading of as-built LPBF AlSi10Mg. The computed microstructure evolution reproduces the microstructural observation and successfully explains the peaks in the DSC heat flow curve. It thus elucidates the detailed microstructural evolution inside the eutectic silicon phase by considering the growth and coalescence of silicon precipitates and the matrix desaturation.

Current radio interferometers output multi-petabyte-scale volumes of data per year making the storage, transfer, and processing of this data a sizeable challenge. This challenge is expected to grow with the next-generation telescopes such as the Square Kilometre Array. Lossy compression of interferometric data post-correlation can abate this challenge. However, since high-redshift 21-cm studies impose strict precision requirements, the impact of such lossy data compression on the 21-cm signal power spectrum statistic should be understood. We apply Dysco visibility compression, a technique to normalize and quantize specifically designed for radio interferometric data. We establish the level of the compression noise in the power spectrum in comparison to the thermal noise as well as its coherency behavior. Finally, for optimal compression results, we compare the compression noise obtained from different compression settings to a nominal 21-cm signal power. From a single night of observation, we find that the noise introduced due to the compression is more than five orders of magnitude lower than the thermal noise level in the power spectrum. The noise does not affect calibration. The compression noise shows no correlation with the sky signal and has no measurable coherent component. The level of compression error in the power spectrum ultimately depends on the compression settings. Dysco visibility compression is found to be of insignificant concern for 21-cm power spectrum studies. Hence, data volumes can be safely reduced by factors of $\sim 4$ and with insignificant bias to the final power spectrum. Data from SKA-low will likely be compressible by the same factor as LOFAR, owing to the similarities of the two instruments. The same technique can be used to compress data from other telescopes, but a small adjustment of the compression parameters might be required., Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, and 3 tables; submitted to Astronomy and Astrophysics (A&A)

One of the main obstacles preventing the detection of the redshifted 21-cm signal from neutral hydrogen in the early Universe is the astrophysical foreground emission, which is several orders of magnitude brighter than the signal. The foregrounds, due to their smooth spectra, are expected to predominantly occupy a region in the cylindrical power spectrum known as the foreground wedge. However, the conventional equations describing the extent of the foreground wedge are derived under a flat-sky approximation. This assumption breaks down for tracking wide-field instruments, thus rendering these equations inapplicable in these situations. In this paper, we derive equations for the full sky foreground wedge and show that the foregrounds can potentially extend far beyond what the conventional equations suggest. We also derive the equations that describe a specific bright source in the cylindrical power spectrum space. The validity of both sets of equations is tested against numerical simulations. Many current and upcoming interferometers (e.g., LOFAR, NenuFAR, MWA, SKA) are wide-field phase-tracking instruments. These equations give us new insights into the nature of foreground contamination in the cylindrical power spectra estimated using wide-field instruments. Additionally, they allow us to accurately associate features in the power spectrum to foregrounds or instrumental effects. The equations are also important for correctly selecting the "EoR window" for foreground avoidance analyses, and for planning 21-cm observations. In future analyses, it is recommended to use these updated horizon lines to indicate the foreground wedge in the cylindrical power spectrum accurately. The new equations for generating the updated wedge lines are made available in a Python library, pslines., Comment: 20 pages, 13 figures, and 2 tables; accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics (A&A)

The fact that neutrinos carry a non-vanishing rest mass is evidence of physics beyond the Standard Model of elementary particles. Their absolute mass bears important relevance from particle physics to cosmology. In this work, we report on the search for the effective electron antineutrino mass with the KATRIN experiment. KATRIN performs precision spectroscopy of the tritium $\beta$-decay close to the kinematic endpoint. Based on the first five neutrino-mass measurement campaigns, we derive a best-fit value of $m_\nu^{2} = {-0.14^{+0.13}_{-0.15}}~\mathrm{eV^2}$, resulting in an upper limit of $m_\nu < {0.45}~\mathrm{eV}$ at 90 % confidence level. With six times the statistics of previous data sets, amounting to 36 million electrons collected in 259 measurement days, a substantial reduction of the background level and improved systematic uncertainties, this result tightens KATRIN's previous bound by a factor of almost two., Comment: 61 pages, 20 figures, 2 tables

The ethical integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare necessitates addressing fairness-a concept that is highly context-specific across medical fields. Extensive studies have been conducted to expand the technical components of AI fairness, while tremendous calls for AI fairness have been raised from healthcare. Despite this, a significant disconnect persists between technical advancements and their practical clinical applications, resulting in a lack of contextualized discussion of AI fairness in clinical settings. Through a detailed evidence gap analysis, our review systematically pinpoints several deficiencies concerning both healthcare data and the provided AI fairness solutions. We highlight the scarcity of research on AI fairness in many medical domains where AI technology is increasingly utilized. Additionally, our analysis highlights a substantial reliance on group fairness, aiming to ensure equality among demographic groups from a macro healthcare system perspective; in contrast, individual fairness, focusing on equity at a more granular level, is frequently overlooked. To bridge these gaps, our review advances actionable strategies for both the healthcare and AI research communities. Beyond applying existing AI fairness methods in healthcare, we further emphasize the importance of involving healthcare professionals to refine AI fairness concepts and methods to ensure contextually relevant and ethically sound AI applications in healthcare.

Sterile neutrinos are hypothetical particles in the minimal extension of the Standard Model of Particle Physics. They could be viable dark matter candidates if they have a mass in the keV range. The Karlsruhe tritium neutrino (KATRIN) experiment, extended with a silicon drift detector focal plane array (TRISTAN), has the potential to search for keV-scale sterile neutrinos by measuring the kinematics of the tritium $\beta$-decay. The collaboration targets a sensitivity of $10^{-6}$ on the mixing amplitude $\sin^2{\Theta}$. For this challenging target, a precise understanding of the detector response is necessary. In this work, we report on the characterization of electron backscattering from the detector surface, which is one of the main effects that influence the shape of the observed energy spectrum. Measurements were performed with a tandem silicon drift detector system and a custom-designed electron source. The measured detector response and backscattering probability are in good agreement with dedicated backscattering simulations using the Geant4 simulation toolkit.

We determine explicit expressions for the continuous two-sided gravitational wavefunctions in supersymmetric versions of JT gravity, focusing mainly on $\mathcal{N}=2$ JT supergravity. Our approach is based on representation theory of the associated supergroup, for which we determine the relevant mixed parabolic matrix elements that implement asymptotic AdS boundary conditions at the quantum level. We match our expressions with those found by solving the energy-eigenvalue equation of arXiv:2207.00408. We discuss gravitational applications by computing several amplitudes of interest, and address how our framework can be generalized further., Comment: 54 pages, v2: matches published version

Purpose: To develop and evaluate a deep learning model for multi-organ segmentation of MRI scans. Materials and Methods: The model was trained on 1,200 manually annotated 3D axial MRI scans from the UK Biobank, 221 in-house MRI scans, and 1228 CT scans from the TotalSegmentator dataset. A human-in-the-loop annotation workflow was employed, leveraging cross-modality transfer learning from an existing CT segmentation model to segment 40 anatomical structures. The annotation process began with a model based on transfer learning between CT and MR, which was iteratively refined based on manual corrections to predicted segmentations. The model's performance was evaluated on MRI examinations obtained from the German National Cohort (NAKO) study (n=900) from the AMOS22 dataset (n=60) and from the TotalSegmentator-MRI test data (n=29). The Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC) and Hausdorff Distance (HD) were used to assess segmentation quality, stratified by organ and scan type. The model and its weights will be open-sourced. Results: MRSegmentator demonstrated high accuracy for well-defined organs (lungs: DSC 0.96, heart: DSC 0.94) and organs with anatomic variability (liver: DSC 0.96, kidneys: DSC 0.95). Smaller structures showed lower accuracy (portal/splenic veins: DSC 0.64, adrenal glands: DSC 0.69). On external validation using NAKO data, mean DSC ranged from 0.85 $\pm$ 0.08 for T2-HASTE to 0.91 $\pm$ 0.05 for in-phase sequences. The model generalized well to CT, achieving mean DSC of 0.84 $\pm$ 0.11 on AMOS CT data. Conclusion: MRSegmentator accurately segments 40 anatomical structures in MRI across diverse datasets and imaging protocols, with additional generalizability to CT images. This open-source model will provide a valuable tool for automated multi-organ segmentation in medical imaging research. It can be downloaded from https://github.com/hhaentze/MRSegmentator., Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures; updated data; completed co-author info

Context. Recent studies of the optical depth comparing [12CII] and [13CII] line profiles in Galactic star-forming regions revealed strong self-absorption in [12CII] by low excitation foreground material, implying a large column density of C+ corresponding to an equivalent AV of a few, up to about 10 mag. Aims. As the nature and origin of such a large column of cold C+ foreground gas are difficult to explain, it is essential to constrain the physical conditions of this material. Methods. We conducted high-resolution observations of [OI] 63 um and [OI] 145 um lines in M17 SW and Mon R2. The [OI] 145 um transition traces warm PDR-material, while the [OI] 63 um line traces foreground material as manifested by absorption dips. Results. Comparison of both [OI] line profiles with [CII] isotopic lines confirms warm PDR-origin background emission and a significant column of cold foreground material causing self-absorption visible in [12CII] and [OI] 63 um profiles. In M17 SW, the C+ and O column densities are comparable for both layers. Mon R2 exhibits larger O columns compared to C+, indicating additional material where the carbon is neutral or in molecular form. Small-scale spatial variation of the foreground absorption profiles and the large column density (around 1E18 cm-2 ) of the foreground material suggest emission from high-density regions associated with the cloud complex, not a uniform diffuse foreground cloud. Conclusions. The analysis confirms that the previously detected intense [CII] foreground absorption is attributable to a large column of low excitation dense atomic material, where carbon is ionized, and oxygen is in neutral atomic form., Comment: 30 pages, 24 figures

We follow the work of Aguiar on internal categories and introduce simplicial objects internal to a monoidal category as certain colax monoidal functors. Then we compare three approaches to equipping them with a discrete set of vertices. We introduce based colax monoidal functors and show that under suitable conditions they are equivalent to the templicial objects defined in arXiv:2302.02484v2. We also compare templicial objects to the enriched Segal precategories appearing in the work of Lurie, Simpson and Bacard, and show that they are equivalent for cartesian monoidal categories, but not in general., Comment: 15 pages, no figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2005.04778

The redshifted 21-cm signal from the epoch of reionization (EoR) directly probes the ionization and thermal states of the intergalactic medium during that period. In particular, the distribution of the ionized regions around the radiating sources during EoR introduces scale-dependent features in the spherically-averaged EoR 21-cm signal power spectrum. The goal is to study these scale-dependent features at different stages of reionization using numerical simulations and build a source model-independent framework to probe the properties of the intergalactic medium using EoR 21-cm signal power spectrum measurements. Under the assumption of high spin temperature, we modelled the redshift evolution of the ratio of EoR 21-cm brightness temperature power spectrum and the corresponding density power spectrum using an ansatz consisting of a set of redshift and scale-independent parameters. This set of eight parameters probes the redshift evolution of the average ionization fraction and the quantities related to the morphology of the ionized regions. We have tested this ansatz on different reionization scenarios generated using different simulation algorithms and found that it is able to recover the redshift evolution of the average neutral fraction within an absolute deviation $\lesssim 0.1$. Our framework allows us to interpret 21-cm signal power spectra in terms of parameters related to the state of the IGM. This source model-independent framework can efficiently constrain reionization scenarios using multi-redshift power spectrum measurements with ongoing and future radio telescopes such as LOFAR, MWA, HERA, and SKA. This will add independent information regarding the EoR IGM properties., Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures, 2 tables, Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics

We work out a precise holographic duality between sine dilaton gravity, and DSSYK. More precisely, canonical quantization of sine dilaton gravity reproduces q-Schwarzian quantum mechanics, which is the auxiliary system that arises from the chord diagrams of DSSYK. The role of the chord number in DSSYK is played by the (Weyl rescaled) geodesic length in the bulk. The most puzzling aspect of reconciling DSSYK with a simple gravitational dual at the classical level is the distinction between temperature and "fake temperature". At the q-Schwarzian level, we clarify how this arises from the constraint that the chord number is positive. The on-shell q-Schwarzian action with the constraint reproduces the thermodynamics of DSSYK. Semi-classically, in sine dilaton gravity this translates to the insertion of a defect, from which we deduce that fake temperature is the Hawking temperature of a smooth Lorentzian black hole. We comment on several relations with dS space. One remarkable feature is that in sine dilaton gravity quantization discretizes spacetime, therefore the Hilbert space is discrete., Comment: 44 pages

The TRISTAN detector is a new detector for electron spectroscopy at the Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino (KATRIN) experiment. The semiconductor detector utilizes the silicon drift detector technology and will enable the precise measurement of the entire tritium beta decay electron spectrum. Thus, a significant fraction of the parameter space of potential neutrino mass eigenstates in the keV-mass regime can be probed. We developed a custom electron gun based on the effect of thermionic emission to characterize the TRISTAN detector modules with mono-energetic electrons before installation into the KATRIN beamline. The electron gun provides an electron beam with up to 25 keV kinetic energy and an electron rate in the order of 1E5 electrons per second. This manuscript gives an overview of the design and commissioning of the electron gun. In addition, we will shortly discuss a first measurement with the electron gun to characterize the electron response of the TRISTAN detector.

Non-trivial spatial topology of the Universe may give rise to potentially measurable signatures in the cosmic microwave background. We explore different machine learning approaches to classify harmonic-space realizations of the microwave background in the test case of Euclidean $E_1$ topology (the 3-torus) with a cubic fundamental domain of a size scale significantly smaller than the diameter of the last scattering surface. This is the first step toward developing a machine learning approach to classification of cosmic topology and likelihood-free inference of topological parameters. Different machine learning approaches are capable of classifying the harmonic-space realizations with accuracy greater than 99% if the topology scale is half of the diameter of the last-scattering surface and orientation of the topology is known. For distinguishing random rotations of these sky realizations from realizations of the covering space, the extreme gradient boosting classifier algorithm performs best with an accuracy of 88%. Slightly lower accuracies of 83% to 87% are obtained with the random forest classifier along with one- and two-dimensional convolutional neural networks. The techniques presented here can also accurately classify non-rotated cubic $E_1$ topology realizations with a topology scale slightly larger than the diameter of the last-scattering surface, if enough training data are provided. While information compressing methods like most machine learning approaches cannot exceed the statistical power of a likelihood-based approach that captures all available information, they potentially offer a computationally cheaper alternative. A principle challenge appears to be accounting for arbitrary orientations of a given topology, although this is also a significant hurdle for likelihood-based approaches., Comment: 34 pages, 12 figures, 4 tables