Daily Papers

Sparse autoencoders (SAEs) have lately been used to uncover interpretable latent features in large language models. Here, we explore their potential for decomposing latent representations in complex and high-dimensional biological data, where the underlying variables are often unknown. On simulated data we show that generative hidden variables can be captured in learned representations in the form of superpositions. The degree to which they are learned depends on the completeness of the representations. Superpositions, however, are not identifiable if these generative variables are unknown. SAEs can to some extent recover these variables, yielding interpretable features. Applied to single-cell multi-omics data, we show that an SAE can uncover key biological processes such as carbon dioxide transport and ion homeostasis, which are crucial for red blood cell differentiation and immune function. Our findings highlight how SAEs can be used in advancing interpretability in biological and other scientific domains.

In living organisms, homeostasis is the natural regulation of internal states aimed at maintaining conditions compatible with life. Typical artificial systems are not equipped with comparable regulatory features. Here, we introduce an artificial neural network that incorporates homeostatic features. Its own computing substrate is placed in a needful and vulnerable relation to the very objects over which it computes. For example, artificial neurons performing classification of MNIST digits or Fashion-MNIST articles of clothing may receive excitatory or inhibitory effects, which alter their own learning rate as a direct result of perceiving and classifying the digits. In this scenario, accurate recognition is desirable to the agent itself because it guides decisions to regulate its vulnerable internal states and functionality. Counterintuitively, the addition of vulnerability to a learner does not necessarily impair its performance. On the contrary, self-regulation in response to vulnerability confers benefits under certain conditions. We show that homeostatic design confers increased adaptability under concept shift, in which the relationships between labels and data change over time, and that the greatest advantages are obtained under the highest rates of shift. This necessitates the rapid un-learning of past associations and the re-learning of new ones. We also demonstrate the superior abilities of homeostatic learners in environments with dynamically changing rates of concept shift. Our homeostatic design exposes the artificial neural network's thinking machinery to the consequences of its own "thoughts", illustrating the advantage of putting one's own "skin in the game" to improve fluid intelligence.

Polymer membranes are typically assumed to be inert and nonresponsive to the flux and density of the permeating particles in transport processes. Here, we study theoretically the consequences of membrane responsiveness and feedback on the steady-state force--flux relations and membrane permeability using a nonlinear-feedback solution-diffusion model of transport through a slab-like membrane. Therein, the solute concentration inside the membrane depends on the bulk concentration, c_0, the driving force, f, and the polymer volume fraction, phi. In our model, solute accumulation in the membrane causes a sigmoidal volume phase transition of the polymer, changing its permeability, which, in return, affects the membrane's solute uptake. This feedback leads to nonlinear force--flux relations, j(f), which we quantify in terms of the system's differential permeability, P_sys^{Delta}mathrm{dj}/{df}. We find that the membrane feedback can increase or decrease the solute flux by orders of magnitude, triggered by a small change in the driving force, and largely tunable by attractive versus repulsive solute--membrane interactions. Moreover, controlling the input, c_0 and f, can lead to steady-state bistability of phi and hysteresis in the force--flux relations. This work advocates that the fine-tuning of the membrane's chemo-responsiveness will enhance the nonlinear transport control features, providing great potential for future (self-)regulating membrane devices.

Astrochemical models of interstellar clouds, the sites of stars, and planet formation require information about spin-state chemistry to allow quantitative comparison with spectroscopic observations. In particular, it is important to know if full scrambling or H abstraction (also known as proton hopping) takes place in ion-neutral reactions. The reaction of Cl+ and HCl+ with H2 and isotopologues has been studied at cryogenic temperatures between 20 and 180 K using a 22 pole radio frequency ion trap. Isotopic exchange processes are used to probe the reaction mechanism of the HCl+ + H2 reaction. The results are compared with previous measurements and theoretical predictions. The rate coefficients for the Cl+ + H2 and HCl+ + H2 reactions are found to be constant in the range of temperatures studied, except for the DCl+ + D2 reaction, where a weak negative temperature dependence is observed, and reactions with D2 are found to be significantly slower than the Langevin rate. No isotopic exchange reactions are observed to occur for the H2Cl+ ion. The analysis of the products of the HCl+ + H2 isotopic system clearly indicates that the reaction proceeds via simple hydrogen atom abstraction.