@article{913,
  abstract     = {Coordinated cell polarization in developing tissues is a recurrent theme in multicellular organisms. In plants, a directional distribution of the plant hormone auxin is at the core of many developmental programs. A feedback regulation of auxin on the polarized localization of PIN auxin transporters in individual cells has been proposed as a self-organizing mechanism for coordinated tissue polarization, but the molecular mechanisms linking auxin signalling to PIN-dependent auxin transport remain unknown. We performed a microarray-based approach to find regulators of the auxin-induced PIN relocation in the Arabidopsis thaliana root. We identified a subset of a family of phosphatidylinositol transfer proteins (PITP), the PATELLINs (PATL). Here, we show that PATLs are expressed in partially overlapping cells types in different tissues going through mitosis or initiating differentiation programs. PATLs are plasma membrane-associated proteins accumulated in Arabidopsis embryos, primary roots, lateral root primordia, and developing stomata. Higher order patl mutants display reduced PIN1 repolarization in response to auxin, shorter root apical meristem, and drastic defects in embryo and seedling development. This suggests PATLs redundantly play a crucial role in polarity and patterning in Arabidopsis.},
  author       = {Tejos, Ricardo and Rodríguez Furlán, Cecilia and Adamowski, Maciek and Sauer, Michael and Norambuena, Lorena and Friml, Jirí},
  issn         = {00219533},
  journal      = {Journal of Cell Science},
  number       = {2},
  publisher    = {Company of Biologists},
  title        = {{PATELLINS are regulators of auxin mediated PIN1 relocation and plant development in Arabidopsis thaliana}},
  doi          = {10.1242/jcs.204198},
  volume       = {131},
  year         = {2018},
}

@article{9134,
  abstract     = {Several studies have shown the existence of a critical latitude where the dissipation of internal tides is strongly enhanced. Internal tides are internal waves generated by barotropic tidal currents impinging rough topography at the seafloor. Their dissipation and concomitant diapycnal mixing are believed to be important for water masses and the large‐scale ocean circulation. The purpose of this study is to clarify the physical processes at the origin of this strong latitudinal dependence of tidal energy dissipation. We find that different mechanisms are involved equatorward and poleward of the critical latitude. Triadic resonant instabilities are responsible for the dissipation of internal tides equatorward of the critical latitude. In particular, a dominant triad involving the primary internal tide and near‐inertial waves is key. At the critical latitude, the peak of energy dissipation is explained by both increased instability growth rates, and smaller scales of secondary waves thus more prone to break and dissipate their energy. Surprisingly, poleward of the critical latitude, the generation of evanescent waves appears to be crucial. Triadic instabilities have been widely studied, but the transfer of energy to evanescent waves has received comparatively little attention. Our work suggests that the nonlinear transfer of energy from the internal tide to evanescent waves (corresponding to the 2f‐pump mechanism described by Young et al., 2008, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022112008001742) is an efficient mechanism to dissipate internal tide energy near and poleward of the critical latitude. The theoretical results are confirmed in idealized high‐resolution numerical simulations of a barotropic M2 tide impinging sinusoidal topography in a linearly stratified fluid.},
  author       = {Richet, O. and Chomaz, J.-M. and Muller, Caroline J},
  issn         = {2169-9275},
  journal      = {Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans},
  number       = {9},
  pages        = {6136--6155},
  publisher    = {American Geophysical Union},
  title        = {{Internal tide dissipation at topography: Triadic resonant instability equatorward and evanescent waves poleward of the critical latitude}},
  doi          = {10.1029/2017jc013591},
  volume       = {123},
  year         = {2018},
}

@article{9135,
  abstract     = {Idealized simulations of tropical moist convection have revealed that clouds can spontaneously clump together in a process called self-aggregation. This results in a state where a moist cloudy region with intense deep convection is surrounded by extremely dry subsiding air devoid of deep convection. Because of the idealized settings of the simulations where it was discovered, the relevance of self-aggregation to the real world is still debated. Here, we show that self-aggregation feedbacks play a leading-order role in the spontaneous genesis of tropical cyclones in cloud-resolving simulations. Those feedbacks accelerate the cyclogenesis process by a factor of 2, and the feedbacks contributing to the cyclone formation show qualitative and quantitative agreement with the self-aggregation process. Once the cyclone is formed, wind-induced surface heat exchange (WISHE) effects dominate, although we find that self-aggregation feedbacks have a small but nonnegligible contribution to the maintenance of the mature cyclone. Our results suggest that self-aggregation, and the framework developed for its study, can help shed more light into the physical processes leading to cyclogenesis and cyclone intensification. In particular, our results point out the importance of the longwave radiative cooling outside the cyclone.},
  author       = {Muller, Caroline J and Romps, David M.},
  issn         = {0027-8424},
  journal      = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences},
  keywords     = {Multidisciplinary},
  number       = {12},
  pages        = {2930--2935},
  publisher    = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences},
  title        = {{Acceleration of tropical cyclogenesis by self-aggregation feedbacks}},
  doi          = {10.1073/pnas.1719967115},
  volume       = {115},
  year         = {2018},
}

@article{9136,
  abstract     = {In this study we investigate the scaling of precipitation extremes with temperature in the Mediterranean region by assessing against observations the present day and future regional climate simulations performed in the frame of the HyMeX and MED-CORDEX programs. Over the 1979–2008 period, despite differences in quantitative precipitation simulation across the various models, the change in precipitation extremes with respect to temperature is robust and consistent. The spatial variability of the temperature–precipitation extremes relationship displays a hook shape across the Mediterranean, with negative slope at high temperatures and a slope following Clausius–Clapeyron (CC)-scaling at low temperatures. The temperature at which the slope of the temperature–precipitation extreme relation sharply changes (or temperature break), ranges from about 20 °C in the western Mediterranean to <10 °C in Greece. In addition, this slope is always negative in the arid regions of the Mediterranean. The scaling of the simulated precipitation extremes is insensitive to ocean–atmosphere coupling, while it depends very weakly on the resolution at high temperatures for short precipitation accumulation times. In future climate scenario simulations covering the 2070–2100 period, the temperature break shifts to higher temperatures by a value which is on average the mean regional temperature change due to global warming. The slope of the simulated future temperature–precipitation extremes relationship is close to CC-scaling at temperatures below the temperature break, while at high temperatures, the negative slope is close, but somewhat flatter or steeper, than in the current climate depending on the model. Overall, models predict more intense precipitation extremes in the future. Adjusting the temperature–precipitation extremes relationship in the present climate using the CC law and the temperature shift in the future allows the recovery of the temperature–precipitation extremes relationship in the future climate. This implies negligible regional changes of relative humidity in the future despite the large warming and drying over the Mediterranean. This suggests that the Mediterranean Sea is the primary source of moisture which counteracts the drying and warming impacts on relative humidity in parts of the Mediterranean region.},
  author       = {Drobinski, Philippe and Silva, Nicolas Da and Panthou, Gérémy and Bastin, Sophie and Muller, Caroline J and Ahrens, Bodo and Borga, Marco and Conte, Dario and Fosser, Giorgia and Giorgi, Filippo and Güttler, Ivan and Kotroni, Vassiliki and Li, Laurent and Morin, Efrat and Önol, Bariş and Quintana-Segui, Pere and Romera, Raquel and Torma, Csaba Zsolt},
  issn         = {0930-7575},
  journal      = {Climate Dynamics},
  keywords     = {Atmospheric Science},
  number       = {3},
  pages        = {1237--1257},
  publisher    = {Springer Nature},
  title        = {{Scaling precipitation extremes with temperature in the Mediterranean: Past climate assessment and projection in anthropogenic scenarios}},
  doi          = {10.1007/s00382-016-3083-x},
  volume       = {51},
  year         = {2018},
}

@article{9229,
  author       = {Danzl, Johann G},
  issn         = {2500-2295},
  journal      = {Opera Medica et Physiologica},
  number       = {S1},
  pages        = {11},
  publisher    = {Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod},
  title        = {{Diffraction-unlimited optical imaging for synaptic physiology}},
  doi          = {10.20388/omp2018.00s1.001},
  volume       = {4},
  year         = {2018},
}

@article{691,
  abstract     = {Background: Transport protein particle (TRAPP) is a multisubunit complex that regulates membrane trafficking through the Golgi apparatus. The clinical phenotype associated with mutations in various TRAPP subunits has allowed elucidation of their functions in specific tissues. The role of some subunits in human disease, however, has not been fully established, and their functions remain uncertain.

Objective: We aimed to expand the range of neurodevelopmental disorders associated with mutations in TRAPP subunits by exome sequencing of consanguineous families.

Methods: Linkage and homozygosity mapping and candidate gene analysis were used to identify homozygous mutations in families. Patient fibroblasts were used to study splicing defect and zebrafish to model the disease.

Results: We identified six individuals from three unrelated families with a founder homozygous splice mutation in TRAPPC6B, encoding a core subunit of the complex TRAPP I. Patients manifested a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by microcephaly, epilepsy and autistic features, and showed splicing defect. Zebrafish trappc6b morphants replicated the human phenotype, displaying decreased head size and neuronal hyperexcitability, leading to a lower seizure threshold.

Conclusion: This study provides clinical and functional evidence of the role of TRAPPC6B in brain development and function.},
  author       = {Marin Valencia, Isaac and Novarino, Gaia and Johansen, Anide and Rosti, Başak and Issa, Mahmoud and Musaev, Damir and Bhat, Gifty and Scott, Eric and Silhavy, Jennifer and Stanley, Valentina and Rosti, Rasim and Gleeson, Jeremy and Imam, Farhad and Zaki, Maha and Gleeson, Joseph},
  issn         = {0022-2593},
  journal      = {Journal of Medical Genetics},
  number       = {1},
  pages        = {48 -- 54},
  publisher    = {BMJ Publishing Group},
  title        = {{A homozygous founder mutation in TRAPPC6B associates with a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by microcephaly epilepsy and autistic features}},
  doi          = {10.1136/jmedgenet-2017-104627},
  volume       = {55},
  year         = {2018},
}

@article{692,
  abstract     = {We consider families of confocal conics and two pencils of Apollonian circles having the same foci. We will show that these families of curves generate trivial 3-webs and find the exact formulas describing them.},
  author       = {Akopyan, Arseniy},
  journal      = {Geometriae Dedicata},
  number       = {1},
  pages        = {55 -- 64},
  publisher    = {Springer},
  title        = {{3-Webs generated by confocal conics and circles}},
  doi          = {10.1007/s10711-017-0265-6},
  volume       = {194},
  year         = {2018},
}

@inproceedings{6941,
  abstract     = {Bitcoin has become the most successful cryptocurrency ever deployed, and its most distinctive feature is that it is decentralized. Its underlying protocol (Nakamoto consensus) achieves this by using proof of work, which has the drawback that it causes the consumption of vast amounts of energy to maintain the ledger. Moreover, Bitcoin mining dynamics have become less distributed over time.

Towards addressing these issues, we propose SpaceMint, a cryptocurrency based on proofs of space instead of proofs of work. Miners in SpaceMint dedicate disk space rather than computation. We argue that SpaceMint’s design solves or alleviates several of Bitcoin’s issues: most notably, its large energy consumption. SpaceMint also rewards smaller miners fairly according to their contribution to the network, thus incentivizing more distributed participation.

This paper adapts proof of space to enable its use in cryptocurrency, studies the attacks that can arise against a Bitcoin-like blockchain that uses proof of space, and proposes a new blockchain format and transaction types to address these attacks. Our prototype shows that initializing 1 TB for mining takes about a day (a one-off setup cost), and miners spend on average just a fraction of a second per block mined. Finally, we provide a game-theoretic analysis modeling SpaceMint as an extensive game (the canonical game-theoretic notion for games that take place over time) and show that this stylized game satisfies a strong equilibrium notion, thereby arguing for SpaceMint ’s stability and consensus.},
  author       = {Park, Sunoo and Kwon, Albert and Fuchsbauer, Georg and Gazi, Peter and Alwen, Joel F and Pietrzak, Krzysztof Z},
  booktitle    = {22nd International Conference on Financial Cryptography and Data Security},
  isbn         = {9783662583869},
  issn         = {1611-3349},
  location     = {Nieuwpoort, Curacao},
  pages        = {480--499},
  publisher    = {Springer Nature},
  title        = {{SpaceMint: A cryptocurrency based on proofs of space}},
  doi          = {10.1007/978-3-662-58387-6_26},
  volume       = {10957},
  year         = {2018},
}

@article{7,
  abstract     = {Animal social networks are shaped by multiple selection pressures, including the need to ensure efficient communication and functioning while simultaneously limiting disease transmission. Social animals could potentially further reduce epidemic risk by altering their social networks in the presence of pathogens, yet there is currently no evidence for such pathogen-triggered responses. We tested this hypothesis experimentally in the ant Lasius niger using a combination of automated tracking, controlled pathogen exposure, transmission quantification, and temporally explicit simulations. Pathogen exposure induced behavioral changes in both exposed ants and their nestmates, which helped contain the disease by reinforcing key transmission-inhibitory properties of the colony's contact network. This suggests that social network plasticity in response to pathogens is an effective strategy for mitigating the effects of disease in social groups.},
  author       = {Stroeymeyt, Nathalie and Grasse, Anna V and Crespi, Alessandro and Mersch, Danielle and Cremer, Sylvia and Keller, Laurent},
  issn         = {1095-9203},
  journal      = {Science},
  number       = {6417},
  pages        = {941 -- 945},
  publisher    = {AAAS},
  title        = {{Social network plasticity decreases disease transmission in a eusocial insect}},
  doi          = {10.1126/science.aat4793},
  volume       = {362},
  year         = {2018},
}

@article{70,
  abstract     = {We consider the totally asymmetric simple exclusion process in a critical scaling parametrized by a≥0, which creates a shock in the particle density of order aT−1/3, T the observation time. When starting from step initial data, we provide bounds on the limiting law which in particular imply that in the double limit lima→∞limT→∞ one recovers the product limit law and the degeneration of the correlation length observed at shocks of order 1. This result is shown to apply to a general last-passage percolation model. We also obtain bounds on the two-point functions of several airy processes.},
  author       = {Nejjar, Peter},
  issn         = {1980-0436},
  journal      = {Latin American Journal of Probability and Mathematical Statistics},
  number       = {2},
  pages        = {1311--1334},
  publisher    = {Instituto Nacional de Matematica Pura e Aplicada},
  title        = {{Transition to shocks in TASEP and decoupling of last passage times}},
  doi          = {10.30757/ALEA.v15-49},
  volume       = {15},
  year         = {2018},
}

@article{703,
  abstract     = {We consider the NP-hard problem of MAP-inference for undirected discrete graphical models. We propose a polynomial time and practically efficient algorithm for finding a part of its optimal solution. Specifically, our algorithm marks some labels of the considered graphical model either as (i) optimal, meaning that they belong to all optimal solutions of the inference problem; (ii) non-optimal if they provably do not belong to any solution. With access to an exact solver of a linear programming relaxation to the MAP-inference problem, our algorithm marks the maximal possible (in a specified sense) number of labels. We also present a version of the algorithm, which has access to a suboptimal dual solver only and still can ensure the (non-)optimality for the marked labels, although the overall number of the marked labels may decrease. We propose an efficient implementation, which runs in time comparable to a single run of a suboptimal dual solver. Our method is well-scalable and shows state-of-the-art results on computational benchmarks from machine learning and computer vision.},
  author       = {Shekhovtsov, Alexander and Swoboda, Paul and Savchynskyy, Bogdan},
  issn         = {01628828},
  journal      = {IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence},
  number       = {7},
  pages        = {1668--1682},
  publisher    = {IEEE},
  title        = {{Maximum persistency via iterative relaxed inference with graphical models}},
  doi          = {10.1109/TPAMI.2017.2730884},
  volume       = {40},
  year         = {2018},
}

@article{7058,
  abstract     = {We examine recent magnetic torque measurements in two compounds, γ−Li2IrO3 and RuCl3, which have been discussed as possible realizations of the Kitaev model. The analysis of the reported discontinuity in torque, as an external magnetic field is rotated across the c axis in both crystals, suggests that they have a translationally invariant chiral spin order of the form ⟨Si⋅(Sj×Sk)⟩≠0 in the ground state and persisting over a very wide range of magnetic field and temperature. An extraordinary |B|B2 dependence of the torque for small fields, beside the usual B2 part, is predicted by the chiral spin order. Data for small fields are available for γ−Li2IrO3 and are found to be consistent with the prediction upon further analysis. Other experiments such as inelastic scattering and thermal Hall effect and several questions raised by the discovery of chiral spin order, including its topological consequences, are discussed.},
  author       = {Modic, Kimberly A and Ramshaw, B. J. and Shekhter, A. and Varma, C. M.},
  issn         = {2469-9969},
  journal      = {Physical Review B},
  number       = {20},
  publisher    = {APS},
  title        = {{Chiral spin order in some purported Kitaev spin-liquid compounds}},
  doi          = {10.1103/physrevb.98.205110},
  volume       = {98},
  year         = {2018},
}

@article{7059,
  abstract     = {Unusual behavior in quantum materials commonly arises from their effective low-dimensional physics, reflecting the underlying anisotropy in the spin and charge degrees of freedom. Here we introduce the magnetotropic coefficient k = ∂2F/∂θ2, the second derivative of the free energy F with respect to the magnetic field orientation θ in the crystal. We show that the magnetotropic coefficient can be quantitatively determined from a shift in the resonant frequency of a commercially available atomic force microscopy cantilever under magnetic field. This detection method enables part per 100 million sensitivity and the ability to measure magnetic anisotropy in nanogram-scale samples, as demonstrated on the Weyl semimetal NbP. Measurement of the magnetotropic coefficient in the spin-liquid candidate RuCl3 highlights its sensitivity to anisotropic phase transitions and allows a quantitative comparison to other thermodynamic coefficients via the Ehrenfest relations.},
  author       = {Modic, Kimberly A and Bachmann, Maja D. and Ramshaw, B. J. and Arnold, F. and Shirer, K. R. and Estry, Amelia and Betts, J. B. and Ghimire, Nirmal J. and Bauer, E. D. and Schmidt, Marcus and Baenitz, Michael and Svanidze, E. and McDonald, Ross D. and Shekhter, Arkady and Moll, Philip J. W.},
  issn         = {2041-1723},
  journal      = {Nature Communications},
  number       = {1},
  pages        = {3975},
  publisher    = {Springer Nature},
  title        = {{Resonant torsion magnetometry in anisotropic quantum materials}},
  doi          = {10.1038/s41467-018-06412-w},
  volume       = {9},
  year         = {2018},
}

@article{7062,
  abstract     = {Weyl fermions are a recently discovered ingredient for correlated states of electronic matter. A key difficulty has been that real materials also contain non-Weyl quasiparticles, and disentangling the experimental signatures has proven challenging. Here we use magnetic fields up to 95 T to drive the Weyl semimetal TaAs far into its quantum limit, where only the purely chiral 0th Landau levels of the Weyl fermions are occupied. We find the electrical resistivity to be nearly independent of magnetic field up to 50 T: unusual for conventional metals but consistent with the chiral anomaly for Weyl fermions. Above 50 T we observe a two-order-of-magnitude increase in resistivity, indicating that a gap opens in the chiral Landau levels. Above 80 T we observe strong ultrasonic attenuation below 2 K, suggesting a mesoscopically textured state of matter. These results point the way to inducing new correlated states of matter in the quantum limit of Weyl semimetals.},
  author       = {Ramshaw, B. J. and Modic, Kimberly A and Shekhter, Arkady and Zhang, Yi and Kim, Eun-Ah and Moll, Philip J. W. and Bachmann, Maja D. and Chan, M. K. and Betts, J. B. and Balakirev, F. and Migliori, A. and Ghimire, N. J. and Bauer, E. D. and Ronning, F. and McDonald, R. D.},
  issn         = {2041-1723},
  journal      = {Nature Communications},
  number       = {1},
  publisher    = {Springer Nature},
  title        = {{Quantum limit transport and destruction of the Weyl nodes in TaAs}},
  doi          = {10.1038/s41467-018-04542-9},
  volume       = {9},
  year         = {2018},
}

@article{7063,
  abstract     = {The high-pressure synthesis and incommensurately modulated structure are reported for the new compound Sr2Pt8−xAs, with x = 0.715 (5). The structure consists of Sr2Pt3As layers alternating with Pt-only corrugated grids. Ab initio calculations predict a metallic character with a dominant role of the Pt d electrons. The electrical resistivity (ρ) and Seebeck coefficient confirm the metallic character, but surprisingly, ρ showed a near-flat temperature dependence. This observation fits the description of the Mooij correlation for electrical resistivity in disordered metals, originally developed for statistically distributed point defects. The discussed material has a long-range crystallographic order, but the high concentration of Pt vacancies, incommensurately ordered, strongly influences the electronic conduction properties. This result extends the range of validity of the Mooij correlation to long-range ordered incommensurately modulated vacancies. Motivated by the layered structure, the resistivity anisotropy was measured in a focused-ion-beam micro-fabricated well oriented single crystal. A low resistivity anisotropy indicates that the layers are electrically coupled and conduction channels along different directions are intermixed.},
  author       = {Martino, Edoardo and Arakcheeva, Alla and Autès, Gabriel and Pisoni, Andrea and Bachmann, Maja D. and Modic, Kimberly A and Helm, Toni and Yazyev, Oleg V. and Moll, Philip J. W. and Forró, László and Katrych, Sergiy},
  issn         = {2052-2525},
  journal      = {IUCrJ},
  number       = {4},
  pages        = {470--477},
  publisher    = {International Union of Crystallography (IUCr)},
  title        = {{Sr2Pt8−xAs: A layered incommensurately modulated metal with saturated resistivity}},
  doi          = {10.1107/s2052252518007303},
  volume       = {5},
  year         = {2018},
}

@inproceedings{7116,
  abstract     = {Training deep learning models has received tremendous research interest recently. In particular, there has been intensive research on reducing the communication cost of training when using multiple computational devices, through reducing the precision of the underlying data representation. Naturally, such methods induce system trade-offs—lowering communication precision could de-crease communication overheads and improve scalability; but, on the other hand, it can also reduce the accuracy of training. In this paper, we study this trade-off space, and ask:Can low-precision communication consistently improve the end-to-end performance of training modern neural networks, with no accuracy loss?From the performance point of view, the answer to this question may appear deceptively easy: compressing communication through low precision should help when the ratio between communication and computation is high. However, this answer is less straightforward when we try to generalize this principle across various neural network architectures (e.g., AlexNet vs. ResNet),number of GPUs (e.g., 2 vs. 8 GPUs), machine configurations(e.g., EC2 instances vs. NVIDIA DGX-1), communication primitives (e.g., MPI vs. NCCL), and even different GPU architectures(e.g., Kepler vs. Pascal). Currently, it is not clear how a realistic realization of all these factors maps to the speed up provided by low-precision communication. In this paper, we conduct an empirical study to answer this question and report the insights.},
  author       = {Grubic, Demjan and Tam, Leo and Alistarh, Dan-Adrian and Zhang, Ce},
  booktitle    = {Proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Extending Database Technology},
  isbn         = {9783893180783},
  issn         = {2367-2005},
  location     = {Vienna, Austria},
  pages        = {145--156},
  publisher    = {OpenProceedings},
  title        = {{Synchronous multi-GPU training for deep learning with low-precision communications: An empirical study}},
  doi          = {10.5441/002/EDBT.2018.14},
  year         = {2018},
}

@inproceedings{7123,
  abstract     = {Population protocols are a popular model of distributed computing, in which n agents with limited local state interact randomly, and cooperate to collectively compute global predicates. Inspired by recent developments in DNA programming, an extensive series of papers, across different communities, has examined the computability and complexity characteristics of this model. Majority, or consensus, is a central task in this model, in which agents need to collectively reach a decision as to which one of two states A or B had a higher initial count. Two metrics are important: the time that a protocol requires to stabilize to an output decision, and the state space size that each agent requires to do so. It is known that majority requires Ω(log log n) states per agent to allow for fast (poly-logarithmic time) stabilization, and that O(log2 n) states are sufficient. Thus, there is an exponential gap between the space upper and lower bounds for this problem. This paper addresses this question.

On the negative side, we provide a new lower bound of Ω(log n) states for any protocol which stabilizes in O(n1–c) expected time, for any constant c > 0. This result is conditional on monotonicity and output assumptions, satisfied by all known protocols. Technically, it represents a departure from previous lower bounds, in that it does not rely on the existence of dense configurations. Instead, we introduce a new generalized surgery technique to prove the existence of incorrect executions for any algorithm which would contradict the lower bound. Subsequently, our lower bound also applies to general initial configurations, including ones with a leader. On the positive side, we give a new algorithm for majority which uses O(log n) states, and stabilizes in O(log2 n) expected time. Central to the algorithm is a new leaderless phase clock technique, which allows agents to synchronize in phases of Θ(n log n) consecutive interactions using O(log n) states per agent, exploiting a new connection between population protocols and power-of-two-choices load balancing mechanisms. We also employ our phase clock to build a leader election algorithm with a state space of size O(log n), which stabilizes in O(log2 n) expected time.},
  author       = {Alistarh, Dan-Adrian and Aspnes, James and Gelashvili, Rati},
  booktitle    = {Proceedings of the 29th Annual ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms},
  isbn         = {9781611975031},
  location     = {New Orleans, LA, United States},
  pages        = {2221--2239},
  publisher    = {ACM},
  title        = {{Space-optimal majority in population protocols}},
  doi          = {10.1137/1.9781611975031.144},
  year         = {2018},
}

@article{7126,
  abstract     = {In the Minimum Description Length (MDL) principle, learning from the data is equivalent to an optimal coding problem. We show that the codes that achieve optimal compression in MDL are critical in a very precise sense. First, when they are taken as generative models of samples, they generate samples with broad empirical distributions and with a high value of the relevance, defined as the entropy of the empirical frequencies. These results are derived for different statistical models (Dirichlet model, independent and pairwise dependent spin models, and restricted Boltzmann machines). Second, MDL codes sit precisely at a second order phase transition point where the symmetry between the sampled outcomes is spontaneously broken. The order parameter controlling the phase transition is the coding cost of the samples. The phase transition is a manifestation of the optimality of MDL codes, and it arises because codes that achieve a higher compression do not exist. These results suggest a clear interpretation of the widespread occurrence of statistical criticality as a characterization of samples which are maximally informative on the underlying generative process.},
  author       = {Cubero, Ryan J and Marsili, Matteo and Roudi, Yasser},
  issn         = {1099-4300},
  journal      = {Entropy},
  keywords     = {Minimum Description Length, normalized maximum likelihood, statistical criticality, phase transitions, large deviations},
  number       = {10},
  publisher    = {MDPI},
  title        = {{Minimum description length codes are critical}},
  doi          = {10.3390/e20100755},
  volume       = {20},
  year         = {2018},
}

@article{723,
  abstract     = {Escaping local optima is one of the major obstacles to function optimisation. Using the metaphor of a fitness landscape, local optima correspond to hills separated by fitness valleys that have to be overcome. We define a class of fitness valleys of tunable difficulty by considering their length, representing the Hamming path between the two optima and their depth, the drop in fitness. For this function class we present a runtime comparison between stochastic search algorithms using different search strategies. The (1+1) EA is a simple and well-studied evolutionary algorithm that has to jump across the valley to a point of higher fitness because it does not accept worsening moves (elitism). In contrast, the Metropolis algorithm and the Strong Selection Weak Mutation (SSWM) algorithm, a famous process in population genetics, are both able to cross the fitness valley by accepting worsening moves. We show that the runtime of the (1+1) EA depends critically on the length of the valley while the runtimes of the non-elitist algorithms depend crucially on the depth of the valley. Moreover, we show that both SSWM and Metropolis can also efficiently optimise a rugged function consisting of consecutive valleys.},
  author       = {Oliveto, Pietro and Paixao, Tiago and Pérez Heredia, Jorge and Sudholt, Dirk and Trubenova, Barbora},
  journal      = {Algorithmica},
  number       = {5},
  pages        = {1604 -- 1633},
  publisher    = {Springer},
  title        = {{How to escape local optima in black box optimisation when non elitism outperforms elitism}},
  doi          = {10.1007/s00453-017-0369-2},
  volume       = {80},
  year         = {2018},
}

@article{7277,
  abstract     = {Solid alkali metal carbonates are universal passivation layer components of intercalation battery materials and common side products in metal‐O2 batteries, and are believed to form and decompose reversibly in metal‐O2/CO2 cells. In these cathodes, Li2CO3 decomposes to CO2 when exposed to potentials above 3.8 V vs. Li/Li+. However, O2 evolution, as would be expected according to the decomposition reaction 2 Li2CO3→4 Li++4 e−+2 CO2+O2, is not detected. O atoms are thus unaccounted for, which was previously ascribed to unidentified parasitic reactions. Here, we show that highly reactive singlet oxygen (1O2) forms upon oxidizing Li2CO3 in an aprotic electrolyte and therefore does not evolve as O2. These results have substantial implications for the long‐term cyclability of batteries: they underpin the importance of avoiding 1O2 in metal‐O2 batteries, question the possibility of a reversible metal‐O2/CO2 battery based on a carbonate discharge product, and help explain the interfacial reactivity of transition‐metal cathodes with residual Li2CO3.},
  author       = {Mahne, Nika and Renfrew, Sara E. and McCloskey, Bryan D. and Freunberger, Stefan Alexander},
  issn         = {1433-7851},
  journal      = {Angewandte Chemie International Edition},
  number       = {19},
  pages        = {5529--5533},
  publisher    = {Wiley},
  title        = {{Electrochemical oxidation of Lithium Carbonate generates singlet oxygen}},
  doi          = {10.1002/anie.201802277},
  volume       = {57},
  year         = {2018},
}