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We introduce a novel sufficient dimension-reduction (SDR) method which is robust against outliers using α-distance covariance (dCov)in dimension-reduction problems. Under very mild conditions on the predictors, the central subspace is effectively estimated and model-free without estimating link function based on the projection on the Stiefel manifold. We establish the convergence property of the pro-posed estimation under some regularity conditions. We compare the performance of our method with existing SDR methods by simulation and real data analysis and show that our algorithm improves the computational efficiency and effectiveness. 

While matrix-covariate regression models have been studied in many existing works, classical statistical and computational methods for the analysis of the regression coefficient estimation are highly affected by high dimensional matrix-valued covariates. To address these issues, this paper proposes a framework of matrix-covariate regression models based on a low-rank constraint and an additional regularization term for structured signals, with considerations of models of both continuous and binary responses. We propose an efficient Riemannian-steepest-descent algorithm for regression coefficient estimation. We prove that the consistency of the proposed estimator is in the order of O(sqrt{r(q+m)+p}/sqrt{n}), where r is the rank, p x m is the dimension of the coefficient matrix and p is the dimension of the coefficient vector. When the rank r is small, this rate improves over O(sqrt{qm+p}/sqrt{n}), the consistency of the existing work (Li et al. in Electron J Stat 15:1909-1950, 2021) that does not apply a rank constraint. In addition, we prove that all accumulation points of the iterates have similar estimation errors asymptotically and substantially attaining the minimax rate. We validate the proposed method through a simulated dataset on two-dimensional shape images and two real datasets of brain signals and microscopic leucorrhea images. 

Abstract The realization of low thermal conductivity at high temperatures (0.11 W m⁻¹K⁻¹800 °C) in ambient air in a porous solid thermal insulation material, using stable packed nanoparticles of high‐entropy spinel oxide with 8 cations (HESO‐8 NPs) with a relatively high packing density of ≈50%, is reported. The high‐density HESO‐8 NP pellets possess around 1000‐fold lower thermal diffusivity than that of air, resulting in much slower heat propagation when subjected to a transient heat flux. The low thermal conductivity and diffusivity are realized by suppressing all three modes of heat transfer, namely solid conduction, gas conduction, and thermal radiation, via stable nanoconstriction and infrared‐absorbing nature of the HESO‐8 NPs, which are enabled by remarkable microstructural stability against coarsening at high temperatures due to the high entropy. This work can elucidate the design of the next‐generation high‐temperature thermal insulation materials using high‐entropy ceramic nanostructures. 

Abstract Previous findings show that large-scale atmospheric circulation plays an important role in driving Arctic sea ice variability from synoptic to seasonal time scales. While some circulation patterns responsible for Barents–Kara sea ice changes have been identified in previous works, the most important patterns and the role of their persistence remain unclear. Our study uses self-organizing maps to identify nine high-latitude circulation patterns responsible for day-to-day Barents–Kara sea ice changes. Circulation patterns with a high pressure center over the Urals (Scandinavia) and a low pressure center over Iceland (Greenland) are found to be the most important for Barents–Kara sea ice loss. Their opposite-phase counterparts are found to be the most important for sea ice growth. The persistence of these circulation patterns helps explain sea ice variability from synoptic to seasonal time scales. We further use sea ice models forced by observed atmospheric fields (including the surface circulation and temperature) to reproduce observed sea ice variability and diagnose the role of atmosphere-driven thermodynamic and dynamic processes. Results show that thermodynamic and dynamic processes similarly contribute to Barents–Kara sea ice concentration changes on synoptic time scales via circulation. On seasonal time scales, thermodynamic processes seem to play a stronger role than dynamic processes. Overall, our study highlights the importance of large-scale atmospheric circulation, its persistence, and varying physical processes in shaping sea ice variability across multiple time scales, which has implications for seasonal sea ice prediction. Significance StatementUnderstanding what processes lead to Arctic sea ice changes is important due to their significant impacts on the ecosystem, weather, and shipping, and hence our society. A well-known process that causes sea ice changes is atmospheric circulation variability. We further pin down what circulation patterns and underlying mechanisms matter. We identify multiple circulation patterns responsible for sea ice loss and growth to different extents. We find that the circulation can cause sea ice loss by mechanically pushing sea ice northward and bringing warm and moist air to melt sea ice. The two processes are similarly important. Our study advances understanding of the Arctic sea ice variability with important implications for Arctic sea ice prediction. 

Abstract Maximizing the discovery potential of increasingly precise neutrino experiments will require an improved theoretical understanding of neutrino-nucleus cross sections over a wide range of energies. Low-energy interactions are needed to reconstruct the energies of astrophysical neutrinos from supernovae bursts and search for new physics using increasingly precise measurement of coherent elastic neutrino scattering. Higher-energy interactions involve a variety of reaction mechanisms including quasi-elastic scattering, resonance production, and deep inelastic scattering that must all be included to reliably predict cross sections for energies relevant to DUNE and other accelerator neutrino experiments. Refined nuclear interaction models in these energy regimes will also be valuable for other applications, such as measurements of reactor, solar, and atmospheric neutrinos. This manuscript discusses the theoretical status, challenges, required resources, and path forward for achieving precise predictions of neutrino-nucleus scattering and emphasizes the need for a coordinated theoretical effort involved lattice QCD, nuclear effective theories, phenomenological models of the transition region, and event generators. 

Abstract Intrinsically disordered proteins and protein regions (IDPs) are prevalent in all proteomes and are essential to cellular function. Unlike folded proteins, IDPs exist in an ensemble of dissimilar conformations. Despite this structural plasticity, intramolecular interactions create sequence-specific structural biases that determine an IDP ensemble’s three-dimensional shape. Such structural biases can be key to IDP function and are often measured in vitro, but whether those biases are preserved inside the cell is unclear. Here we show that structural biases in IDP ensembles found in vitro are recapitulated inside human-derived cells. We further reveal that structural biases can change in a sequence-dependent manner due to changes in the intracellular milieu, subcellular localization, and intramolecular interactions with tethered well-folded domains. We propose that the structural sensitivity of IDP ensembles can be leveraged for biological function, can be the underlying cause of IDP-driven pathology or can be used to design disorder-based biosensors and actuators.