18693 research outputs found
Sort by
Molecular Quantum Particle Algorithm (MQPA): Hybrid Quantum-Classical Learning for Molecular Property Prediction
No full textClassical machine learning models and quantum kernel methods often struggle to capture quantum-coherent molecular features under the constraints of noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) hardware, limiting both predictive accuracy and scalability.
This paper introduces the Molecular Quantum Particle Algorithm (MQPA), a hybrid quantum–classical framework designed to achieve chemically accurate property prediction by integrating handcrafted molecular descriptors with parameterized quantum circuits. Molecular inputs, expressed as SMILES strings, are processed via RDKit and encoded through angle-based quantum gates with entangling layers in Qiskit [1]. Quantum parameters are optimized using simultaneous perturbation stochastic approximation (SPSA) [2], while classical regression layers leverage Adam [3] with Low-Rank Adaptation (LoRA) fine-tuning [4].
Across 38 systematically varied subsets of the QM9 benchmark [5,6], MQPA achieves a mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.03 kcal/mol, outperforming both deep learning and quantum kernel baselines by 41% and surpassing the chemical accuracy threshold of 0.1 kcal/mol [7–9]. Extensive cross-platform benchmarking—including IBM Quantum, Qiskit Aer, and NVIDIA H100 clusters—demonstrates strong reproducibility, with inter-backend MAE variance below 3%.
Positioned as a scalable and hardware-aware solution, MQPA offers practical advantages for quantum-enhanced molecular property prediction across applications in quantum chemistry, drug discovery, materials design, and environmental modeling
Hyper Modular & Seasonal Tavern Design
No full textMy thesis artifact is a tavern nestled within a mountainous forest, designed in the style of traditional Chinese architecture. The main goal of this project is to faithfully translate a 2D concept into a high-quality 3D game environment. The scene emphasizes the harmony between architecture and nature, while a dynamic system presents the changes of the four seasons. Spring is bright and full of vitality; autumn features falling leaves and a more subdued, melancholic tone; winter is covered in snow, creating a quiet and tranquil atmosphere.
For a 3D environment artist, concept design, modeling, and lighting are all essential skills. How to effectively integrate these elements and achieve the best possible visual results is a topic worth exploring. In this project, I based the architectural breakdown on the unique mortise-and-tenon structure found in traditional Chinese architecture. By applying the principles of hyper modularity, I was able to freely assemble and reconstruct components, greatly enhancing the flexibility and efficiency of the scene creation process.
In terms of seasonal changes, I aimed to express the passage of time and narrative qualities within the scene, making the environment visually more dynamic. To achieve this, lighting and post-processing are especially crucial, serving as key elements that require in-depth exploration and careful refinement.
Through the development of this project, I became familiar with the full workflow of environment concept design and modular construction. I also gained extensive hands-on experience in dynamic materials, blueprint logic, lighting optimization, and post-processing techniques
The Contractarian Joint Venture
No full textIn 2015, a group of entrepreneurs pooled their money together for the purpose of investing in other businesses. The entrepreneurs could have undertaken this activity through a traditional venture capital firm, but they wanted to cut out the middle-man, reduce fees, and retain more control over their capital, so they chose to undertake their investing on their own. The group of entrepreneurs chose not to form an entity. Instead, they attempted to limit their business and liability risk by conducting their activity entirely via software. Unfortunately, the software contained a bug, and an insider siphoned off millions of dollars belonging to the fund. When affected investors started wondering who they could sue, some pointed out that by choosing not to form an entity, the would-be venture capital fund probably defaulted to a general partnership. Meanwhile, the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission opined that the investment tool the entrepreneurs used to contribute funds to the venture via software were probably investment contracts and subject to securities laws.
The entrepreneurs called the venture capital fund “The DAO” because they intended it to be a model for decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) that others would later create. Although it spectacularly imploded before it could ever make a single investment, The DAO does stand as a model of the liability and regulatory risks faced by nearly every DAO since: how to form an entity that limits personal owner liability but avoids triggering securities regulation. In an attempt to avoid classification of DAO-related tokens as a security and triggering the costly securities regulation regime, many DAOs end up creating general partnerships. The general partnership—the most ancient form of business entity—features several traps for the unwary: unintentional formation, personal liability for owners, and default fiduciary duty standards. Because of the liability risks posed by these partnership features, general partnership law generally adheres to a key premise: with this magnitude of risks looming, trust is paramount, and a person gets to choose their partners.
Occasionally, however, courts see disputes in scenarios that look a lot like a partnership and analogize to partnership law. Two emerging areas of business have recently ignited a debate as to when contracting parties act sufficiently like partners to analogize to partnership law, and whether, indeed, analogy is ever warranted at all: joint ventures and DAOs. This Article is the first to connect the two discussions, arguing that recent legal developments in Delaware joint venture law provides a new risk mitigation tool for DAOs facing liability and regulatory uncertainty. Specifically, this Article uncovers recent case law that enables the development of purely common law of contract joint venture entities. Such contractarian joint ventures, beholden to no state entity statute, can create a separate governance regime without statutorily imposed limitations.
Ultimately, this Article argues that under certain circumstances recognizing a purely contractarian joint venture may better uphold the policy aims that underly business entity statutes than general partnership law. Indeed, this Article aims to open a dialogue as to whether a purely contractarian joint venture might advance other important policy objectives as well. In particular, using open-source software development communities in the cryptocurrency space as a case study, this Article uncovers the far reaching and important impacts that recognition of a purely contractual joint venture could have for technology policy and innovation, suggests areas for legal reform, and unveils a new tool for the business lawyer toolbox
The Development of Advanced Statistical Methods for Complex Big Data
No full textThis dissertation consists of three chapters: 1) Comparative Analysis of Dimension Reduction Methods for Cytometry by Time-of-Flight Data, 2) Integrative Single-Cell Analysis Using Regularized Multitasking Graphical Attention Model with CySCI, and 3) BiGER for Bayesian Rank Aggregation in Genomics with Extended Ranking Schemes.While experimental and informatic techniques around single cell sequencing (scRNA-seq) are advanced, research around mass cytometry (CyTOF) data analysis has severely lagged behind. This calls for the evaluation and development of computational methods specific for CyTOF data. We first benchmarked dimension reduction methods for CyTOF in Chapter 1. Then, we developed an integrative method for multimodal single-cell data with applications in CyTOF and scRNA. In chapter 3, we tackled a downstream task with the rank aggregation of gene lists using a Bayesian model
‘Alpha’ as a Tool of Evangelism for Creating Christian Community in the Horizon Texas Conference of The United Methodist Church among South Asian Indians Living in Coppell, Texas: Challenges and Recommendations
No full textAlpha is a tool of evangelism that has been popular in its current form in the West, especially in the United Kingdom where it originated and moreover in the United States, after its global launch in 1993. It has been used by churches of various traditions and denominations over several decades to reach the ‘unchurched,’ has been translated into different languages, and over time the content has been repackaged for a modern and postmodern generation. However, it is found that Alpha is not an effective tool of evangelism to invite those of faith backgrounds and worldviews other than Christian to explore the Christian faith and be discipled into belonging to a Christian community, particularly the South Asian Indian community in the United States who mostly adhere to the Hindu faith tradition. This dissertation aims at exploring the basis of evangelism and then evaluating the effectiveness of Alpha as a tool of evangelism to communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ by analyzing its journey from its beginnings to the present and considering its strengths and its criticisms, along with exploring the religious and cultural identity of South Asian Indians living in the United States, especially in Coppell, Texas. For achieving this, qualitative data was examined to study about the Ministry of Evangelism from a biblical, theological, and historical perspective; about Alpha as a tool of evangelism from a historical and theological perspective; about the religious and cultural identity and worldview of South Asian Indians living in the United States, especially in and around Coppell, Texas, from a historical and sociological perspective; and about the plausible unsuitability of Alpha, in its current form, as a tool of evangelism to reach the South Asian Indian community in the United States from a sociological and theological, particularly missiological, perspective. The kind of evidence that was examined included biblical and theological arguments from the viewpoint of mission and evangelism, historical records of events, and socio-narrative accounts. The results of this research showed that Alpha is more suitable as a tool for revival of Christian faith and iv practice for those coming from Christian backgrounds rather than for evangelism to lead those from other faiths to Christianity because Alpha originated and developed in the West where most people have some level of exposure to Christian faith and practice because of its Christian roots. Moreover, before its global launch, Alpha was a course for discipleship for new Christians from the time it first started in 1977 and was later repositioned in 1991 as a tool for evangelism and therefore its content generally presupposes some background or exposure to Christian faith from those who attend its sessions. The results also suggest that unless Alpha is modified and adapted to take into consideration the religious and cultural identity and worldview of those from faith backgrounds other than Christian, it will be an ineffective and unsuitable tool of evangelism for them and will continue to face the challenge of contextualization. As I have attempted to make a few recommendations for modification and adaptation of Alpha for it to be an effective tool of evangelism for South Asian Indians in the United States who mostly have a Hindu faith background, I believe and hope that it will provide useful insight to those in the field of Missiology in understanding and effectively using Western tools of evangelism by contextualizing them for reaching people who adhere to non-Christian faiths, particularly Hinduism, and hold to non-western worldviews
Search for Higgs Boson Pair Production in the Two Light Leptons and One Tau Final State Using Proton-Proton Collision Data With TeV at the LHC From the ATLAS Detector
No full textIn this thesis, a search is presented for the pair production of Higgs bosons in a final state containing two same-charge light leptons (e/) and one opposite-charge hadronically decaying tau lepton (). The search is based on a data sample of proton-proton (pp) collisions at a center-of-mass energy = 13 TeV, collected by the ATLAS detector during Run 2 (2015-2018) of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb. The Standard Model predicts that the Higgs potential has a non-zero expectation value leading to the spontaneous breaking of electroweak symmetry and when some fundamental particles (for example leptons, W and Z bosons) interact with the Higgs field they gain mass. The measurement of the Higgs boson self-interaction directly enables the study of Higgs potential. Furthermore, any deviation from the predicted Standard Model value will suggest the existence of new physics. The pair production of the Higgs boson is sensitive to the Higgs boson self-coupling, thus its study is critical for our understanding of particle physics
Statistical Methods for Joint Outcome Modeling and Dynamic Assessment of Recurrent Events
No full textRecurrent event data frequently arise in clinical studies where individuals experience repeated, possibly related, events over time. These data are often accompanied by sparse and irregular longitudinal measurements, creating challenges for traditional joint modeling approaches that struggle to account for time-dependent associations and within-subject correlations. We propose FRAILTY (Functional Regression with AutoRegressIve fraiLTY), a novel two-step framework that integrates functional principal component analysis (PACE) with a dynamic frailty model featuring autoregressive structure. FRAILTY accommodates both scalar and functional predictors and captures within-subject dependence across recurrent events. To further extend its utility, we develop a multivariate joint modeling framework that simultaneously characterizes multiple types of recurrent events along with a terminal event, leveraging a shared structured frailty component. This extension enables more flexible modeling of interdependencies between different recurrent processes and the risk of terminal events, particularly in the presence of time-varying covariate effects derived from longitudinal trajectories. Estimation is carried out via an EM algorithm combined with Gaussian quadrature for efficient likelihood maximization under informative censoring. Simulation studies demonstrate that FRAILTY and its multivariate extension outperform existing methods in estimation accuracy, robustness under data sparsity, and predictive performance. Applications to the SPRINT and MSTONE studies illustrate its capacity to uncover clinically relevant patterns in complex event histories. To assess predictive performance, we also develop a weighted concordance index for recurrent event data subject to induced dependent censoring. Using inverse censoring probability weighting, our estimator reduces bias and mean squared error compared to existing C-index estimators. Application to the MSTONE dataset illustrates its utility in real-world predictive evaluation
An Empirical Examination of the Dependability of the Self-Report and Informant Forms of the BFI, PID-5-SF, and PiCD
No full textDependability is critical for the reliability and validity of trait(-like) measures. Therefore, a detailed understanding of the dependability of self-report and informant measures of non-pathological and pathological personality traits is critical to determine how transient error may influence our knowledgebase of personality. The present study examined the dependability of the self-report and informant BFI, PID-5-SF, and PiCD. Furthermore, it tested if the self-report and informant forms are differentially dependable. 385 MTurkers completed self-report and informant-report BFI, PID-5-SF, and PiCD measures twice over a 1-week retest. Self-report measures frequently demonstrated higher dependability than informant report measures. Notably, this pattern predominantly emerged for traits comprising the positive and negative affect continua, suggesting content may influence susceptibility to error. Benchmark comparisons indicated the self-report and informant PID-5-SF and PiCD are modestly less dependable than the self-report BFI, suggesting suboptimal dependability. Lastly, included personality measures were generally less dependable than physical and demographic characteristics, with the exception of race. Overall, the dependability of the self-report and informant BFI, PID-5-SF, and PiCD may be acceptable; however, they demonstrate important cross-method and cross-measure differences in dependability, which must be carefully considered when interpreting research using these measures
The Hidden Costs of Financial Services: Consumer Complaints and Financial Restitution
No full textFinancial disputes are a widespread but understudied feature of consumer financial markets. Using confidential data from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), we analyze nearly two million consumer complaints filed since 2014, which have led to an average payout of $1,470 per successful complaint. The volume of complaints and total restitution have increased substantially over time, suggesting significant scope for additional compensation. When understanding who secures restitution–and why–we find little evidence that differences across firms systematically drive restitution outcomes. Instead, product complexity and consumer engagement play key roles–consumers with higher income and education (high-SES) are more likely to explicitly request refunds, claim fraud, and submit supporting documentation, making firms more responsive. Leveraging previously unexamined CFPB monitoring reviews, where the agency systematically screens company responses and issues confidential reports highlighting deficiencies, we show that regulatory scrutiny increases restitution but disproportionately benefits high-SES consumers, reinforcing individual-specific mechanisms. Our results highlight the complementary nature of regulatory interventions and suggest that financial sophistication and self-advocacy are critical determinants of consumer redress.
Declaration of Interest
Heimer was previously an unpaid contract employee of the CFPB and the opinions of this article do not reflect the opinions of the CFPB or any governmental entity. Any errors or omissions are the authors’ responsibility
Oxytocin\u27s Role in Feelings of Social Connection and Loneliness
No full textThis study investigated the role of oxytocin (OT) in feelings of social connectedness. Healthy male and female participants (N=138) were exposed to a task designed to elicit feelings of social connectedness to close others (i.e., the Social Connection Task); participants’ salivary OT levels were measured in response to this task. Using ecological momentary assessment (EMA), data were collected on participants’ feelings of social connectedness in daily life. Results from the current study showed that, among male participants, OT levels decreased in response to the Social Connection Task, while no change in OT was observed among female participants. OT reactivity to the task (indexed as the area under the curve with respect to increase; AUCi) was not significantly associated with levels of trait loneliness. EMA data, however, revealed a significant association between OT reactivity and feelings of social connectedness in daily life – specifically among male participants. Overall, participants reported feeling more socially connected when they were around others compared to when they were alone. For male participants, however, OT reactivity played a significant role in the strength of this effect. Those with higher levels of OT reactivity experienced a more pronounced increase in social connectedness when around others, compared to when they were alone. In other words, the impact of being with others (versus being alone) was stronger for male participants with higher levels of OT reactivity. For female participants, on the other hand, OT reactivity did not significantly impact feelings of social connectedness when around others (versus when alone). These results provide preliminary evidence for theoretical models implicating the OT system in individuals’ social sensitivity to social experiences