For large Reynolds number flows, it is typically necessary to perform simulations that are under-resolved with respect to the underlying flow physics. For nodal discontinuous spectral element approximations of these under-resolved flows, the collocation projection of the nonlinear flux can introduce aliasing errors which can result in numerical instabilities. In Dzanic and Witherden (J. Comput. Phys., 468, 2022), an entropy-based adaptive filtering approach was introduced as a robust, parameter-free shock-capturing method for discontinuous spectral element methods. This work explores the ability of entropy filtering for mitigating aliasing-driven instabilities in the simulation of under-resolved turbulent flows through high-order implicit large eddy simulations of a NACA0021 airfoil in deep stall at a Reynolds number of 270,000. It was observed that entropy filtering can adequately mitigate aliasing-driven instabilities without degrading the accuracy of the underlying high-order scheme on par with standard anti-aliasing methods such as over-integration, albeit with marginally worse performance at higher approximation orders.
We construct a bipartite generalization of Alon and Szegedy's nearly orthogonal vectors, thereby obtaining strong bounds for several extremal problems involving the Lov\'asz theta function, vector chromatic number, minimum semidefinite rank, nonnegative rank, and extension complexity of polytopes. In particular, we derive a couple of general lower bounds for the vector chromatic number which may be of independent interest.
The flexoelectric effect, coupling polarization and strain gradient as well as strain and electric field gradients, is universal to dielectrics, but, as compared to piezoelectricity, it is more difficult to harness as it requires field gradients and it is a small-scale effect. These drawbacks can be overcome by suitably designing metamaterials made of a non-piezoelectric base material but exhibiting apparent piezoelectricity. We develop a theoretical and computational framework to perform topology optimization of the representative volume element of such metamaterials by accurately modeling the governing equations of flexoelectricity using a Cartesian B-spline method, describing geometry with a level set, and resorting to genetic algorithms for optimization. We consider a multi-objective optimization problem where area fraction competes with four fundamental piezoelectric functionalities (stress/strain sensor/ actuator). We computationally obtain Pareto fronts, and discuss the different geometries depending on the apparent piezoelectric coefficient being optimized. In general, we find competitive estimations of apparent piezoelectricity as compared to reference materials such as quartz and PZT ceramics. This opens the possibility to design devices for sensing, actuation and energy harvesting from a much wider, cheaper and effective class of materials.
Augmented Reality (AR) has emerged as a significant advancement in surgical procedures, offering a solution to the challenges posed by traditional neuronavigation methods. These conventional techniques often necessitate surgeons to split their focus between the surgical site and a separate monitor that displays guiding images. Over the years, many systems have been developed to register and track the hologram at the targeted locations, each employed its own evaluation technique. On the other hand, hologram displacement measurement is not a straightforward task because of various factors such as occlusion, Vengence-Accomodation Conflict, and unstable holograms in space. In this study, we explore and classify different techniques for assessing an AR-assisted neurosurgery system and propose a new technique to systematize the assessment procedure. Moreover, we conduct a deeper investigation to assess surgeon error in the pre- and intra-operative phases of the surgery based on the respective feedback given. We found that although the system can undergo registration and tracking errors, physical feedback can significantly reduce the error caused by hologram displacement. However, the lack of visual feedback on the hologram does not have a significant effect on the user 3D perception.
The use of the non-parametric Restricted Mean Survival Time endpoint (RMST) has grown in popularity as trialists look to analyse time-to-event outcomes without the restrictions of the proportional hazards assumption. In this paper, we evaluate the power and type I error rate of the parametric and non-parametric RMST estimators when treatment effect is explained by multiple covariates, including an interaction term. Utilising the RMST estimator in this way allows the combined treatment effect to be summarised as a one-dimensional estimator, which is evaluated using a one-sided hypothesis Z-test. The estimators are either fully specified or misspecified, both in terms of unaccounted covariates or misspecified knot points (where trials exhibit crossing survival curves). A placebo-controlled trial of Gamma interferon is used as a motivating example to simulate associated survival times. When correctly specified, the parametric RMST estimator has the greatest power, regardless of the time of analysis. The misspecified RMST estimator generally performs similarly when covariates mirror those of the fitted case study dataset. However, as the magnitude of the unaccounted covariate increases, the associated power of the estimator decreases. In all cases, the non-parametric RMST estimator has the lowest power, and power remains very reliant on the time of analysis (with a later analysis time correlated with greater power).
In prediction settings where data are collected over time, it is often of interest to understand both the importance of variables for predicting the response at each time point and the importance summarized over the time series. Building on recent advances in estimation and inference for variable importance measures, we define summaries of variable importance trajectories. These measures can be estimated and the same approaches for inference can be applied regardless of the choice of the algorithm(s) used to estimate the prediction function. We propose a nonparametric efficient estimation and inference procedure as well as a null hypothesis testing procedure that are valid even when complex machine learning tools are used for prediction. Through simulations, we demonstrate that our proposed procedures have good operating characteristics, and we illustrate their use by investigating the longitudinal importance of risk factors for suicide attempt.
A comprehensive mathematical model of the multiphysics flow of blood and Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) in the brain can be expressed as the coupling of a poromechanics system and Stokes' equations: the first describes fluids filtration through the cerebral tissue and the tissue's elastic response, while the latter models the flow of the CSF in the brain ventricles. This model describes the functioning of the brain's waste clearance mechanism, which has been recently discovered to play an essential role in the progress of neurodegenerative diseases. To model the interactions between different scales in the porous medium, we propose a physically consistent coupling between Multi-compartment Poroelasticity (MPE) equations and Stokes' equations. In this work, we introduce a numerical scheme for the discretization of such coupled MPE-Stokes system, employing a high-order discontinuous Galerkin method on polytopal grids to efficiently account for the geometric complexity of the domain. We analyze the stability and convergence of the space semidiscretized formulation, we prove a-priori error estimates, and we present a temporal discretization based on a combination of Newmark's $\beta$-method for the elastic wave equation and the $\theta$-method for the other equations of the model. Numerical simulations carried out on test cases with manufactured solutions validate the theoretical error estimates. We also present numerical results on a two-dimensional slice of a patient-specific brain geometry reconstructed from diagnostic images, to test in practice the advantages of the proposed approach.
We consider the estimation of the cumulative hazard function, and equivalently the distribution function, with censored data under a setup that preserves the privacy of the survival database. This is done through a $\alpha$-locally differentially private mechanism for the failure indicators and by proposing a non-parametric kernel estimator for the cumulative hazard function that remains consistent under the privatization. Under mild conditions, we also prove lowers bounds for the minimax rates of convergence and show that estimator is minimax optimal under a well-chosen bandwidth.
In this work, we present new proofs of convergence for Plug-and-Play (PnP) algorithms. PnP methods are efficient iterative algorithms for solving image inverse problems where regularization is performed by plugging a pre-trained denoiser in a proximal algorithm, such as Proximal Gradient Descent (PGD) or Douglas-Rachford Splitting (DRS). Recent research has explored convergence by incorporating a denoiser that writes exactly as a proximal operator. However, the corresponding PnP algorithm has then to be run with stepsize equal to $1$. The stepsize condition for nonconvex convergence of the proximal algorithm in use then translates to restrictive conditions on the regularization parameter of the inverse problem. This can severely degrade the restoration capacity of the algorithm. In this paper, we present two remedies for this limitation. First, we provide a novel convergence proof for PnP-DRS that does not impose any restrictions on the regularization parameter. Second, we examine a relaxed version of the PGD algorithm that converges across a broader range of regularization parameters. Our experimental study, conducted on deblurring and super-resolution experiments, demonstrate that both of these solutions enhance the accuracy of image restoration.
We show a deterministic constant-time local algorithm for constructing an approximately maximum flow and minimum fractional cut in multisource-multitarget networks with bounded degrees and bounded edge capacities. Locality means that the decision we make about each edge only depends on its constant radius neighborhood. We show two applications of the algorithms: one is related to the Aldous-Lyons Conjecture, and the other is about approximating the neighborhood distribution of graphs by bounded-size graphs. The scope of our results can be extended to unimodular random graphs and networks. As a corollary, we generalize the Maximum Flow Minimum Cut Theorem to unimodular random flow networks.
Gaussian processes (GPs) are widely-used tools in spatial statistics and machine learning and the formulae for the mean function and covariance kernel of a GP $T u$ that is the image of another GP $u$ under a linear transformation $T$ acting on the sample paths of $u$ are well known, almost to the point of being folklore. However, these formulae are often used without rigorous attention to technical details, particularly when $T$ is an unbounded operator such as a differential operator, which is common in many modern applications. This note provides a self-contained proof of the claimed formulae for the case of a closed, densely-defined operator $T$ acting on the sample paths of a square-integrable (not necessarily Gaussian) stochastic process. Our proof technique relies upon Hille's theorem for the Bochner integral of a Banach-valued random variable.