cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
QoS-aware Wavelength Assignment with BER and Latency Guarantees for Crosstalk Limited Networks

Crosstalk originating from optical switching devices and demultiplexers can be the dominant physical impairment in large all-optical networks. When a centralized network controller must estimate the impact of crosstalk and other physical impairments on the quality of a lightpath, this can add significant latency. In this paper, QoS-aware wavelength assignment algorithms are proposed that consider both bit error rate and latency guarantees. A technique called wavelength ordering is presented to alleviate physical impairments and also decrease the processing delay due to bit-error-rate (BER) estimation. Simulations presented show that the wavelength ordering algorithm outperforms other wavelength assignments when both BER and response latency guarantees are enforced.
How Europe Impacts on Academic Research

Our study frames changes driven by the EU Framework Programmes (EUFPs) in an institutional perspective and exploits the concept of institutionalization to explain how these are translated into rules and practices by research units and researchers. Evidences support the idea that EUFPs lead, within academic institutions, to very diversified institutional responses by scientific fields rather than to undifferentiated ones. They strengthen leading research groups and Departments, already competitive at the EU level, enhancing existing international behaviours and practices, holding steady or tailing off competition opportunities for less experienced participants, without affecting new groups participation. Moreover, the absence of relevant organizational changes at the University level and the lack of incentives for the participation to EUFPs, seem to strengthen observed tendencies.
An eight-order accurate numerical method for the solution of 2D Helmholtz equation

This note is concerned with a numerical method for the solution of 2D Helmholtz equation in unit square. The method uses a finite difference approximation in one coordinate space. Similar to the method of line, the method treats the working equation as a system of ordinary differential equation in the remaining independent variable. The method uses a coordinate transformation to decouple the system of ODE. Using this procedure, it is possible to formulate numerical schemes with arbitrary orders of accuracy. Numerical results for an eight-order accurate are presented.
Disparity in Wealth Accumulation: A Financial Market Approach

In this paper we study the extent to which the financial market has contributed to wealth disparities. To that end we introduce a stochastic dynamic model of wealth accumulation with preferences, consumption and portfolio choice, which roughly replicates the long-term evolution of assets under management. Using an algorithm for solving nonlinear model predictive control, we run simulations with three classes of investors (conservative, moderate and aggressive) corresponding, roughly, to the social classes identified in Piketty (2013) for thinking about distributional matters, namely the lower class (bottom 50 percent), the middle class (middle 40 percent), and the upper class (upper 10 percent) respectively. We estimate the impact on the end wealth distribution of first, investor-level characteristics (calibrated for each investor class), which directly impact the saving rate; and second, higher expected returns for wealthier (aggressive) investors in the top decile through the availability of leverage. We find that differences in investor-level characteristics (and significantly the length of the optimization horizon) combined with access to leverage are sufficient to generate fat tails. Though results are obtained in a stochastic approach, the outcomes are less related to stochastic shocks than to some feedback and scale effects operating in favor of some investors in the financial market.
Beyond the Frontier: A Reconsideration of Cultural Interchange Between China and the Early Nomads

Archaeological finds of the last several decades in China, Mongolia, and South Siberia encourage a reconsideration of the nature and extent of cultural exchange between Zhou China and the early nomads. This paper considers a number of object types, artistic techniques, motifs, and stylistic characteristics that are frequently associated with a nomadic origin but that have not previously been carefully discussed. These include the use of inlay; the bronze standard top and the belt hook; certain pictorial elements such as the animal combat; and naturalism and the pictorial rendition of narrative. The conclusions emerging from this consideration indicate the necessity of rethinking terminology used in discussions of the nomad world and of its artistic traditions.
Strength and Reliability Estimation of a Low Temperature Co-Fired Ceramic (LTCC) With and Without Metallic Features

The use of Low Temperature Co-Fired Ceramics (LTCC) is a very attractive material option for advanced packaging. For applications, a variety of features are printed in the base material: thermal and electrical vias, resistors, solder pads to name a few. Most of these features have materials that are thermally and elastically mismatched from the LTCC, producing a localized residual stress. These stresses impact the strength and reliability of the LTCC package. Here we present results and analysis for the strength and reliability assessment of an LTCC (Dupont™ 951) with and without Au vias. The reliability of the ceramic material is assessed from the perspective of its susceptibility to sub-critical crack growth (SCG). Metallic vias can significantly lower the strength of the LTCC, however, their presence does not change the measured susceptibility of the material to SCG. Using our experimental data, and empirical descriptions of SCG laws, safe design life for LTCC packages under a particular stress state i...
Impact of lymph node evaluation on survival for small bowel adenocaricnoma: Analysis of the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database

4596 Background: Small bowel adenocarcinoma is a rare malignancy and is often associated with poor outcome. The impact that the number of positive and negative lymph nodes (LN) have upon survival f...
The relationship between Na+, K+-ATPase inhibition and cardiac glycoside-induced arrhythmia in dogs.

In order to determine if there is a relationship between Na+, K+-ATPase inhibition and cardiac glycoside-induced arrhythmia, the time course of the onset and offset of the arrhythmia induced by the semi-synthetic glycoside, actodigin, and the enzyme activity during arrhythmia and following reversion to normal sinus rhythm was studied in the intact, anesthetized dog. An infusion of actodigin (AY 22,241) at the rate of 0.1 μmol/kg/min for 30 min induced a severe and persistent arrhythmia within 13.1±1.2 min in 9 dogs. Upon termination of the actodigin infusion, the arrhythmia spontaneously converted to sinus rhythm within 17.5±2.3 min. Left ventricular tissue was taken from dogs sacrificed at the peak of the actodigin-induced arrhythmic periods or from the dogs that were allowed to recover from the actodigin-induced arrhythmia. These samples were homogenized and the membrane-containing fraction was passed through a Millipore filter. The membrane fraction trapped in the filter was the assayed for Na++K+ stimulate, Mg2+ dependent ATPase activity. The results showed that, in comparison to the time matched control dogs, the cardiac microsomes prepared from the arrhythmic dogs had a markedly reduced Na+, K+-ATPase activity. On the other hand, actodigin-treated dogs that were allowed to recover from the arrhythmic episode had Na+, K+-ATPase activity that was not significantly different from the control values.
Does Religion Still Matter? Religion and Public Attitudes toward Integration in Europe

Recent years have seen a proliferation of studies on the determinants of support for the European Union among national publics. Scholars have analyzed economic, political, informational, and identity factors as influences, but there has been less exploration of cultural factors, most notably religion. This article replicates our earlier studies exploring the impact of confessional culture and religious commitment on support for the European Union, expanding the purview from early member states to more recent accessions and candidates for membership. Using Eurobarometer 65.2 (Papacostas 2006), we demonstrate that religion still shapes attitudes toward European integration, but in varying ways and to different extents in several parts of the Union. In early member states, Catholics — especially committed ones — are more supportive of the European Union than Protestants, confirming earlier findings. In more recent accessions, however, religion's impact is weaker and assumes different configurations. Finally, we present evidence that even in the early member states religion is losing its influence over Europeanist sentiment and suggest that this development presents obstacles to further political integration.
Organizational Characteristics and Volunteering in Age-Friendly Supportive Service Initiatives:

We examined organizational characteristics as predictors of volunteering in two age-friendly supportive service initiatives—Villages and Naturally Occurring Retirement Community (NORC) Supportive Service Programs. NORC programs and Villages are similar in their aim to promote aging in place, as well as in their emphasis on engaging older adults as both recipients of support and contributors to the initiatives. Guided by a conceptual framework on barriers and facilitators to volunteering, our analysis considered both organizational “nature” factors, which are relatively stable over time and difficult to change (e.g., budget size), as well as organizational “nurture” factors, which are more open to managerial influence (e.g., staff receptivity to volunteers). Based on data from a 2012 national organizational survey, results indicated that organizational characteristics in terms of resources and capacity, as well as value placed on volunteers, were associated with volunteering in Villages and NORC programs. ...
TU-AB-BRC-02: Accuracy Evaluation of GPU-Based OpenCL Carbon Monte Carlo Package (goCMC) in Biological Dose and Microdosimetry in Comparison to FLUKA Simulations

Purpose: One of the most accurate methods for radiation transport is Monte Carlo (MC) simulation. Long computation time prevents its wide applications in clinic. We have recently developed a fast MC code for carbon ion therapy called GPU-based OpenCL Carbon Monte Carlo (goCMC) and its accuracy in physical dose has been established. Since radiobiology is an indispensible aspect of carbon ion therapy, this study evaluates accuracy of goCMC in biological dose and microdosimetry by benchmarking it with FLUKA. Methods: We performed simulations of a carbon pencil beam with 150, 300 and 450 MeV/u in a homogeneous water phantom using goCMC and FLUKA. Dose and energy spectra for primary and secondary ions on the central beam axis were recorded. Repair-misrepair-fixation model was employed to calculate Relative Biological Effectiveness (RBE). Monte Carlo Damage Simulation (MCDS) tool was used to calculate microdosimetry parameters. Results: Physical dose differences on the central axis were <1.6% of the maximum value. Before the Bragg peak, differences in RBE and RBE-weighted dose were <2% and <1%. At the Bragg peak, the differences were 12.5% caused by small range discrepancy and sensitivity of RBE to beam spectra. Consequently, RBE-weighted dose difference was 11%. Beyond the peak, RBE differences were <20% and primarily caused by differences in the Helium-4 spectrum. However, the RBE-weighted dose agreed within 1% due to the low physical dose. Differences in microdosimetric quantities were small except at the Bragg peak. The simulation time per source particle with FLUKA was 0.08 sec, while goCMC was approximately 1000 times faster. Conclusion: Physical doses computed by FLUKA and goCMC were in good agreement. Although relatively large RBE differences were observed at and beyond the Bragg peak, the RBE-weighted dose differences were considered to be acceptable.
Immersogeometric cardiovascular fluid–structure interaction analysis with divergence-conforming B-splines

This paper uses a divergence-conforming B-spline fluid discretization to address the long-standing issue of poor mass conservation in immersed methods for computational fluid–structure interaction (FSI) that represent the influence of the structure as a forcing term in the fluid subproblem. We focus, in particular, on the immersogeometric method developed in our earlier work, analyze its convergence for linear model problems, then apply it to FSI analysis of heart valves, using divergence-conforming B-splines to discretize the fluid subproblem. Poor mass conservation can manifest as effective leakage of fluid through thin solid barriers. This leakage disrupts the qualitative behavior of FSI systems such as heart valves, which exist specifically to block flow. Divergence-conforming discretizations can enforce mass conservation exactly, avoiding this problem. To demonstrate the practical utility of immersogeometric FSI analysis with divergence-conforming B-splines, we use the methods described in this paper to construct and evaluate a computational model of an in vitro experiment that pumps water through an artificial valve.
Mobility, Technology, and Archaic Lithic Procurement Strategies in the Tucson Basin

This paper examines the procurement and use of raw materials by upland Archaic groups in the Tucson Basin of southern Arizona and the influence of group mobility, raw material availability, and tit...
Nonholonomic virtual constraints and gait optimization for robust walking control

A key challenge in robotic bipedal locomotion is the design of feedback controllers that function well in the presence of uncertainty, in both the robot and its environment. This paper addresses th...
Noninvasive Material Thickness Detection by Aerosol Jet Printed Sensors Enhanced Through Metallic Carbon Nanotube Ink

Demand for cheaper and more functional sensors continues to rise in an era when data can be used to improve health, safety, and efficiency in daily lives. In this paper, we present a fully printed sensor capable of noninvasive material thickness detection. By applying an oscillating signal between two millimeter-scale electrodes, the fringing electric field is measurably perturbed by a material placed directly on top of the electrodes, leading to a linearly varying capacitance with change in the material’s thickness. We simulate this electric field perturbation and experimentally demonstrate the linear correlation between capacitance and overlying material thickness. Various parameters, from sensor size and structure to substrate and ink materials, are studied to optimize the performance of the printed sensors. Sensors made of metallic carbon nano-tube ink yield the best sensitivity, exhibiting a capacitance change of 26 fF per mm thickness of rubber—ten times more sensitive than devices composed of silver nanoparticle ink. Finally, we demonstrate an effective application of the sensors in automobile tires. By applying the sensors directly beneath the tread (within the tire), mm changes in the tread depth are able to be detected in a 99% confidence interval. These findings provide a straightforward, low-cost approach for monitoring mm changes in material thickness using noninvasive, printed sensors applicable to innumerable Internet-of-Things (IoT) applications.
Contrast-enhanced MR angiography

Magnetic resonance (MR) angiography, although still in its infancy, is recognized as a valuable diagnostic tool. Investigation of the utility of contrast media as applied to MR angiography is, to no surprise, preliminary. In restricted instances, with present techniques, contrast media-enhanced MR angiography can provide additional valuable diagnostic information. Inspection of two-dimensional images (as opposed to three-dimensional projections) and comparison of MR images before and after administration of contrast agent are particularly important. Improved visualization of intracranial aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations, venous anomalies, and arterial occlusions has been demonstrated on three-dimensional time-of-flight MR angiograms after intravenous administration of a gadolinium chelate, relative to studies performed before administration of the contrast agent.
Maternal SSRI treatment during offspring development results in long-term behavioral, cellular, and neuroimaging disruptions

Serotonergic dysregulation is implicated in psychiatric disorders, including autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Epidemiological studies suggest selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) treatment during pregnancy may increase ASD risk in offspring, however it is unclear from these studies whether ASD susceptibility is related to the maternal diagnosis or if treatment poses additional risk. Here, we exposed mouse dams to fluoxetine and characterized the offspring to isolate possible effects of SSRI exposure on ASD-relevant behaviors. We demonstrate social communication and interaction deficits and repetitive behaviors, with corresponding dendritic morphology changes in pertinent brain regions. Also, using a novel application of optical intrinsic signal imaging, we show altered stimulus-evoked cortical response and region-specific decreases in functional connectivity. These findings indicate drug exposure alone is sufficient to induce long-term behavioral, cellular, and hemodynamic-response disruptions in offspring, thus contributing to our understanding of ASD pathogenesis, risk and mechanism, as well as the developmental role of serotonin.
The shale technical revolution – cheer or fear? Impact analysis on efficiency in the global oilfield service market

Abstract The shale technical revolution has reshaped the oil and gas industry dramatically but also controversially as it affects existing energy policies as well. Many related policies, such as the fracking tax in the U.S. and the shale subsidies policy in China, depend heavily on whether or not the innovation is commercially successful. This paper develops a two-step approach to evaluate the effect of the revolution on efficiency in the global oilfield service (OFS) market, which can be divided into five segments. In the first step, a new semiparametric model is introduced to evaluate firm-level technical efficiencies assuming segment-specific production functions for each of the five segments. In the second step, this study tests if companies acquiring directional drilling (DD) and/or hydraulic fracturing (HF) techniques can maintain efficiency. The empirical results show that practicing just one of the techniques will decrease efficiency. However, combining the two can produce significant spillover effects and improve efficiency. Therefore, innovation and integration are both crucial for the OFS market. Some policy implications are also discussed.
A survey of governmental accounting education studies

This paper provides an overview of several studies on governmental accounting education. These studies have focused on the lack of attention devoted to the coverage of governmental and nonprofit accounting (GNP) topics in business school programs at U. S. colleges and universities. Despite numerous calls for action from a wide array of stakeholders, the research has found only marginal progress in broadening the coverage of governmental accounting at most institutions.
#Indigenous: A Technical and Decolonial Analysis of Activist Uses of Hashtags Across Social Movements

A mixed methods network analysis of the content, circulation, and amount of data Native American activists circulated through Twitter during the 2016 US presidential election reveals contours of the technical challenges and social and political boundaries shaping Native American political life. A comparison of the results with a mainstream American dataset reveals how tweets propagated by Native American rights activists are characteristically more likely to focus on life-and-death issues. Analysis of the findings from an Indigenous perspective opens possibilities for considering activist, scientific, experiential, technical, governmental, political, and metaphysical aspects of Indigenous Internet research.
Characterization of Range Sidelobe Modulation Arising from Radar-Embedded Communications

When information sequences are embedded into radar waveforms by means of coding diversity, the resulting radar emissions then change on a pulse-to-pulse basis during a coherent processing interval (CPI). As such, pulse compression of these different waveforms leads to different sidelobe structures, giving rise to range sidelobe modulation (RSM) of the clutter. The presence of RSM induces a partial loss of coherency after Doppler processing, resulting in residual clutter after cancellation, and hence reduced target visibility. Here the RSM effect is mathematically characterized within a phase-modulated radar-embedded communication framework. A closed-form expression for the expected value of the residual clutter power, referred to as the RSM power, is derived. The RSM power is found to not be dependent on the Doppler frequency or time-bandwidth product, but is a decreasing function of the number of pulses in the CPI and an increasing function of the modulation index. The latter controls the amount of phase shift within the radar pulse due to each communication symbol.
Relationships Between Geostrophic Winds, Ice Strain Rates and the Piecewise Rigid Motions of Pack Ice

We examine sea ice deformation in the Beaufort Sea as computed by the Geophysical Processor System from sequential SAR images, together with coincident estimates of the geostrophic wind and its gradients from the International Arctic Buoy Program. Grid cells of deforming ice at the 5 km scale tend to align in linear features of 100 km or more, separating regions of rigid body motion. We relate the principal axis of shear in the ice to the angle between the linear deformation feature and the ice velocity difference across the feature. We also find a strong relation between the principal axes of shear in the ice and in the wind.
Context-dependent variation of house finch song syntax

We explored the role of social context in the syntactical variation of house finch, Haemorhous mexicanus, songs using both traditional song measures and network analysis. In comparison to solo bouts, the bouts of countersinging males had increased syntax diversity, with higher numbers of simple paths and transition types (but not syllable types) in comparison to solo song, which had high sequence consistency. Both the proportion of introductory syllables and the degree (number of transitions to and from those syllables) increased in countersinging bouts and were an important source of syntactic variability. In contrast, courtship bouts included longer songs and longer syllables than both solo and countersinging bouts, but were similar to solo songs in sequence consistency. The longest courtship songs often included concatenated sequences that formed ‘compound songs’, or repeating strings of main song syllables, which slightly increased the degree of those syllables. Our results suggest that interactions between males are associated with increased syntactic variability in song delivery while female choice favours signals that maintain species-typical syntax and demonstrate fitness in terms of a male's capacity to sing extended songs.
Racial and Ethnic Differences in Mortality Associated with Serum Potassium in Incident Peritoneal Dialysis Patients.

Author(s): Eriguchi, Rieko; Obi, Yoshitsugu; Soohoo, Melissa; Rhee, Connie M; Kovesdy, Csaba P; Kalantar-Zadeh, Kamyar; Streja, Elani | Abstract: BackgroundAbnormalities in serum potassium are risk factors for sudden cardiac death and arrhythmias among dialysis patients. Although a previous study in hemodialysis patients has shown that race/ethnicity may impact the relationship between serum potassium and mortality, the relationship remains unclear among peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients where the dynamics of serum potassium is more stable.MethodsAmong 17,664 patients who started PD between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2011 in a large US dialysis organization, we evaluated the association of serum potassium levels with all-cause and arrhythmia-related deaths across race/ethnicity using time-dependent Cox models with adjustments for demographics. We also used restricted cubic spline functions for serum potassium levels to explore non-linear associations.ResultsBaseline serum potassium levels were the highest among Hispanics (4.2 ± 0.7 mEq/L) and lowest among non-Hispanic blacks (4.0 ± 0.7 mEq/L). Among 2,949 deaths during the follow-up of median 2.2 (interquartile ranges 1.3-3.2) years, 683 (23%) were arrhythmia-related deaths. Overall, both hyperkalemia and hypokalemia (i.e., serum potassium levels g5.0 and l3.5 mEq/L, respectively) were associated with higher all-cause and arrhythmia-related mortality. In a stratified analysis according to race/ethnicity, the association of hypokalemia with all-cause and arrhythmia-related mortality was consistent with an attenuation for arrhythmia-related mortality in non-Hispanic blacks. Hyperkalemia was associated with all-cause and arrhythmia-related mortality in non-Hispanic whites and non-Hispanic blacks, but no association was observed in Hispanics.ConclusionAmong incident PD patients, hypokalemia was consistently associated with all-cause and arrhythmia-related deaths irrespective of race/ethnicity. However, while hyperkalemia was associated with both death outcomes in non-Hispanic blacks and whites, it was not associated with either death outcome in Hispanic patients. Further studies are needed to demonstrate whether different strategies should be followed for the management of serum potassium levels according to race/ethnicity.
Dimethyl fumarate mitigates optic neuritis.

Purpose Dimethyl fumarate (DMF) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), a demyelinating autoimmune disease characterized by acute episodes of motor, sensory, and cognitive symptoms. Optic neuritis is an episodic sequela experienced by some patients with RRMS that typically presents as acute, monocular vision loss. Episodes of optic neuritis damage and kill retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), and can culminate in permanent vision loss. The purpose of these studies was to evaluate the capacity of DMF to mitigate optic neuritis. The work presented combines studies of a mouse model of MS and a retrospective chart analysis of files of patients with RRMS treated at the MS Center of Excellence within the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.
Janus: A Python Package for Agent-Based Modeling of Land Use and Land Cover Change

Janus is an open source Python package for agent-based modeling (ABM) of land use and land cover change (LULCC). Many ABMs of LULCC have been created across platforms, some of which are not ideal for large scale, high resolution scenarios. This model provides a simple object-oriented framework for creating ABMs specific to LULCC. The organizational philosophy of the modeling framework is to create software objects (agents) that are associated with specific and contextual attributes which are isolated from where those agents exist in the spatial setting of the model, and still provide clear linkages between the agent, their environment, and other agents in the simulation. In this way, the framework allows for assembly of LULCC ABMs with low (programmatic) overhead, making the models extensible and providing clear mechanisms for integrating them with process-oriented biophysical models. Provided with Janus is a suite of geospatial data preprocessing tools that can use arbitrary land cover products as an input. Crop choice decisions are based on potential crop prices, these can be created synthetically, or drawn from integrated human-Earth systems models such as the Global Change Assessment Model. Janus is publicly accessible through GitHub and provides an example dataset for testing.
Vitreous protein binding with nanopore dialysis membrane device

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the leading causes of blindness in the industrialized world, affecting over 8 million patients in the United State alone. While the wet (exudative) form of the disease is treated with intraocular injections, there are currently no approved therapies available for the dry (non-exudative) form of the disease which often affects both eyes in patients with AMD. Current research has focused on developing drugs that can be injected into the eye, but the treatment burden associated with monthly injections limits the effectiveness of this approach. Hence, there is a pressing need for a long-term therapeutic solution for patients suffering from this blinding disease. We detail a novel implantable intraocular device, which adsorbs and traps complement factors associated with AMD. In this study, we tested a novel approach by dialyzing proteins from the vitreous using biocompatible implants composed of a nanopore polyacrylonitrile polymer membrane. Preliminary in vitro and in vivo studies demonstrate a high affinity and capacity for complement protein absorption. After a three-month implantation in New Zealand White Cross rabbits, the implant demonstrated good biocompatibility with no inflammation and normal retinal physiology and histology. These studies demonstrate that prolonged CF suppression intraocularly may be accomplished with a nanopore polymer membrane.
Truncated Linear Regression in High Dimensions

As in standard linear regression, in truncated linear regression, we are given access to observations $(A_i, y_i)_i$ whose dependent variable equals $y_i= A_i^{\rm T} \cdot x^* + \eta_i$, where $x^*$ is some fixed unknown vector of interest and $\eta_i$ is independent noise; except we are only given an observation if its dependent variable $y_i$ lies in some "truncation set" $S \subset \mathbb{R}$. The goal is to recover $x^*$ under some favorable conditions on the $A_i$'s and the noise distribution. We prove that there exists a computationally and statistically efficient method for recovering $k$-sparse $n$-dimensional vectors $x^*$ from $m$ truncated samples, which attains an optimal $\ell_2$ reconstruction error of $O(\sqrt{(k \log n)/m})$. As a corollary, our guarantees imply a computationally efficient and information-theoretically optimal algorithm for compressed sensing with truncation, which may arise from measurement saturation effects. Our result follows from a statistical and computational analysis of the Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD) algorithm for solving a natural adaptation of the LASSO optimization problem that accommodates truncation. This generalizes the works of both: (1) [Daskalakis et al. 2018], where no regularization is needed due to the low-dimensionality of the data, and (2) [Wainright 2009], where the objective function is simple due to the absence of truncation. In order to deal with both truncation and high-dimensionality at the same time, we develop new techniques that not only generalize the existing ones but we believe are of independent interest.
Impression Formation in the Human Infant Brain.

Forming an impression of another person is an essential aspect of human social cognition linked to medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) function in adults. The current study examined the neurodevelopmental origins of impression formation by testing the hypothesis that infants rely on processes localized in mPFC when forming impressions about individuals who appear friendly or threatening. Infants' brain responses were measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy while watching 4 different face identities displaying either smiles or frowns directed toward or away from them (N = 77). This was followed by a looking preference test for these face identities (now displaying a neutral expression) using eyetracking. Our results show that infants' mPFC responses distinguish between smiling and frowning faces when directed at them and that these responses predicted their subsequent person preferences. This suggests that the mPFC is involved in impression formation in human infants, attesting to the early ontogenetic emergence of brain systems supporting person perception and adaptive behavior.
THE EVOLUTION OF DUST MASS IN THE EJECTA OF SN 1987A

We present a new analysis of the infrared (IR) emission from the ejecta of SN 1987A covering days 615, 775, 1144, 8515, and 9090 after the explosion. We show that the observations are consistent with the rapid formation of about 0.4 of dust, consisting of mostly silicates (MgSiO3), near day 615, and evolving to about 0.45 of composite dust grains consisting of ∼0.4 of silicates and ∼0.05 of amorphous carbon after day ∼8500. The proposed scenario challenges previous claims that dust in supernova (SN) ejecta is predominantly carbon, and that it grew from an initial mass of ∼10−3 , to over 0.5 by cold accretion. It alleviates several problems with previous interpretations of the data: (1) it reconciles the abundances of silicon, magnesium, and carbon with the upper limits imposed by nucleosynthesis calculations, (2) it eliminates the requirement that most of the dust observed around day 9000 grew by cold accretion onto the ∼10−3 of dust previously inferred for days 615 and 775 after the explosion, and (3) establishes the dominance of silicate over carbon dust in the SN ejecta. At early epochs, the IR luminosity of the dust is powered by the radioactive decay of 56Co, and at late times by at least (1.3–1.6) × 10−4 of 44Ti.
Tyrosine phosphorylation regulates hnRNPA2 granule protein partitioning and reduces neurodegeneration.

mRNA transport in neurons requires formation of transport granules containing many protein components, and subsequent alterations in phosphorylation status can release transcripts for translation. Further, mutations in a structurally disordered domain of the transport granule protein hnRNPA2 increase its aggregation and cause hereditary proteinopathy of neurons, myocytes, and bone. We examine in vitro hnRNPA2 granule component phase separation, partitioning specificity, assembly/disassembly, and the link to neurodegeneration. Transport granule components hnRNPF and ch-TOG interact weakly with hnRNPA2 yet partition specifically into liquid phase droplets with the low complexity domain (LC) of hnRNPA2, but not FUS LC. In vitro hnRNPA2 tyrosine phosphorylation reduces hnRNPA2 phase separation, prevents partitioning of hnRNPF and ch-TOG into hnRNPA2 LC droplets, and decreases aggregation of hnRNPA2 disease variants. The expression of chimeric hnRNPA2 D290V in Caenorhabditis elegans results in stress-induced glutamatergic neurodegeneration; this neurodegeneration is rescued by loss of tdp-1, suggesting gain-of-function toxicity. The expression of Fyn, a tyrosine kinase that phosphorylates hnRNPA2, reduces neurodegeneration associated with chimeric hnRNPA2 D290V. These data suggest a model where phosphorylation alters LC interaction specificity, aggregation, and toxicity.
Line-defect orientation- and length-dependent strength and toughness in hBN

Applying classical molecular dynamics simulations, we report the effects of length ( λ) and orientation ( θ) of a line-defect on strength and toughness in defective 2D hexagonal boron nitride. Results reveal the existence of a “transition angle,” θ t = 2.47 °, at which both toughness and strength are insensitive to the finite length of the defect in an infinite domain. For θ θ t, they show the opposite behavior. Examination of the stress-fields shows that θ-dependent variation in stress-localization at the edges of the line-defect and symmetry-breaking of the stress-fields with respect to the defect-axis govern the disparate θ-dependent behavior. For θ θ t, the stress-intensity at the edges is strongly localized at the opposite sides of the line-defect. The stress-intensity increases asymptotically with the increasing defect-length and reduces the strength and toughness of the defective lattice. The stress-localization, however, saturates at a “saturation angle” of around 60 ° for strength and 30 ° for toughness. Additionally, there exists a critical defect-length λ c = 60 A, below which there is a strong θ-dependent variation in elastic interactions between the edges, affecting strength and toughness substantially. For λ > λ c, the elastic interactions saturate and make both strength and toughness insensitive to the change in the length of the defect.
Low-dimensional Milnor–Witt stems over ℝ

We compute some motivic stable homotopy groups over ℝ. For 0 ≤ p − q ≤ 3, we describe the motivic stable homotopy groups πp,q of a completion of the motivic sphere spectrum. These are the first four Milnor–Witt stems. We start with the known Ext groups over ℂ and apply the ρ-Bockstein spectral sequence to obtain Ext groups over ℝ. This is the input to an Adams spectral sequence, which collapses in our low-dimensional range.
Implementation of a Real-Time Integrated Control System in a Freeway/Arterial Corridor

Abstract This paper presents the status of the California Advanced Research Testbed (CART) research implementation program. The discussion first describes the establishment of data communication links between the University of California, Irvine (UCI) Advanced Testbed Laboratories and the Testbed field implementation sites including the City of Irvine and Caltrans District 12 Traffic Management Centers. This is followed by a review of the Irvine federal FOT implementation technologies including MIST, OPAC, SWARM, and the Caltrans D12 ATMS occurring simultaneously with testbed research implementation. The final section discusses the Testbed Real-time Integrated Control and Evaluation Prototype System (TRICEPS) which is designed for use with the real-world data to be received from the data links to the traffic networks on in the Testbed area.
Surgical pathology of small ovarian cysts

Abstract 1. 1. A study is presented of 203 ovarian cysts other than endometriosis and less than 5 cm. in diameter removed over a two-year period at an open-staff general hospital. 2. 2. The incidence of neoplastic cysts in the series was 13, or 6.4 per cent. 3. 3. All of the cysts found in postmenopausal women were neoplastic. 4. 4. The incidence of neoplastic cysts in 198 premenopausal patients was 8, or 4 per cent. The incidence of neoplastic cysts in the 33 premenopausal patients operated upon primarily for ovarian cyst was 3, or 9.1 per cent. In the 165 cases, in which the ovarian cyst was found incidentally, 5, or 3.1 per cent, were neoplastic. 5. 5. No malignant neoplastic cysts were present in this series. 6. 6. Rapid increase in size of a cyst to approximately 5 cm. when observed over a period of three months or more, and fixation of the cyst, were observed in 2 of the 3 neoplastic cysts in patients in whom ovarian cyst was the primary indication for operation. 7. 7. Functional cysts constituted 93.6 per cent of the entire series and 96 per cent in the premenopausal group but were not found at all in the postmenopausal group.
Guided-Wave Optical Parametric Amplification in Gases: A Novel Phase-Matching Technique for Ultrafast Pulses

Despite much recent progress in developing ultrafast laser systems with pulse duration less than 25 fs in the near-infrared1, many applications in solid state physics, surface science, biophysics, and chemistry2 require ultrafast pulses with energies >μJ in the ultraviolet (UV). In the past, third harmonic generation (THG) by sum-frequency mixingin nonlinear crystals has been used to generate light in the deep ultraviolet3. While this technique can result in conversion efficiencies of several percent, it suffers from pulse broadening due to group velocity walkoff in the medium. The resulting pulse duration of 200 fs is too long to monitor reaction dynamics in many cases, particularly in small molecules and organic species. THG by focusing high-intensity infrared pulses in a gas4,5 does not suffer from severe temporal walkoff, and thus can be used to generate very short-duration pulses. In previous work4 we demonstrated that by focusing 20 fs pulses in air or noble gases, third-harmonic light at 270 nm with 14 fs pulse duration can be generated. However, in this case, the conversion efficiency (~ 0.1%) is relatively low due to the short interaction length and poor phase matching.
Dual-Antiplatelet Therapy for Diabetic Patients After Stent Implantation: Lessons From an Observational Study.

The goal of dual-antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) is to prevent local thrombotic complications related to stent implantation and to reduce systemic atherothrombotic events. After implantation of bare-metal stents, DAPT reduces stent thrombosis by 85% (relative risk: 0.15; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.
A literature review of randomized clinical trials of intravenous acetaminophen (paracetamol) for acute postoperative pain.

Introduction: This study's objective was to systematically review the literature to assess analgesic outcomes of intravenous (IV) acetaminophen for acute postoperative pain in adults. Methods: We searched Medline and the Cochrane library (January 1, 2000 to January 17, 2010, date of last search) for prospective, randomized, controlled trials (RCTs) of IV acetaminophen vs. either an active comparator or placebo. Results: Sixteen articles from 9 countries published between 2005 and 2010 met inclusion criteria and had a total of 1,464 patients. Median sample size = 54 patients (range 25 to 165) and median follow-up = 1 day (range 1 hour to 7 days). Four of the 16 articles had 3 arms in the study. One article had 4 arms. As a result, 22 study comparisons were analyzed: IV acetaminophen to an active comparator (n = 8 studies) and IV acetaminophen to placebo (n = 14 studies). The RCTs were of high methodological quality with Jadad median score = 5. In 7 of 8 active comparator studies (IV parecoxib [n = 3 studies], IV metamizol [n = 4], oral ibuprofen [n = 1]), IV acetaminophen had similar analgesic outcomes as the active comparator. Twelve of the 14 placebo studies found that IV acetaminophen patients had improved analgesia. Ten of those 14 studies reported less opioid consumption, a lower percentage of patients rescuing, or a longer time to first rescue with IV acetaminophen. Formal meta-analysis pooling was not performed because the studies had different primary end points, and the IV acetaminophen dosing regimens varied in dose, and duration and timing. Conclusion: In aggregate, these data indicate that IV acetaminophen is an effective analgesic across a variety of surgical procedures.
A complex response element in intron 1 of the androgen-regulated 20-kDa protein gene displays cell type-dependent androgen receptor specificity

The androgen-regulated 20-kDa protein gene consists of four exons that code for a major secretory protein of rat ventral prostate. Analysis of its potential cis-acting transcriptional regulatory elements revealed that a large intron 1 region (In-1) had stronger androgen response element (ARE) activity than did the 5'-flanking DNA. In cotransfected CV1 cells, In-1 and its most active subfragment In-1c functioned as AREs but not glucocorticoid response elements (GRE). Nevertheless several ARE/GRE-like partial palindromic sequences are present in In-1c, and it bound both androgen receptors and glucocorticoid receptors in mobility shift assays. A cluster of three ARE/GRE-like sequences contained within a 39-base pair sequence of In-1c had both ARE and GRE activities when analyzed as an isolated oligonucleotide, suggesting that other elements within In-1c determined its ARE specificity. In addition to ARE/GRE-like sequences, In-1c contains putative response elements for the transcription factors AP1, CREB, AP2, OCT-1, C/EBP, and a number of inverted and direct repeats. The ARE specificity of In-1c observed in CV1 cells was diminished in PC3 and HeLa cells transiently cotransfected with an androgen receptor or glucocorticoid receptor expression vector together with an In-1c reporter vector; however, the ARE activity of In-1c was greater than its GRE activity in these cell lines. Interestingly, a 131-base pair subfragment of In-1c retained ARE specificity in all three cell lines.
METABOLISM OF FREE FATTY ACIDS DURING PERINATAL LIFE OF LAMBS.

Abstract 1.1. Studies of the mechanisms responsible for the rapid rise in the concentration of free fatty acids (FFA) in blood plasma after birth were done in newborn lambs. 2.2. From changes in the specific radioactivity of free fatty acids of plasma during constant intravenous infusion of palmitate 1-C 14 it was shown that the increase in plasma concentration of FFA after birth is the result of augmented mobilization of free fatty acids into the blood. This mobilization was reversed by blocking transmission at autonomic ganglia with hexamethonium. 3.3. Intravenous injection of approximately 50 μg norepinephrine per kilogram body weight was required to increase FFA in blood plasma of newborn lambs; 2 μg per kilogram body weight was effective in ewes. 4.4. Sensitivity to the effect of norepinephrine was not increased by fasting newborn lambs up to 40 hours, and increased sensitivity could not be demonstrated until the lambs were 8 weeks old. 5.5. The results are compatible with the concept that increased activity of sympathetic nerves innervating adipose tissue is an important factor in the rapid mobilization of FFA into the blood after birth, and suggest that secretion of norepinephrine from the adrenal medulla is not involved.
Asymmetric RF tags for ingestible medication compliance capsules

In the paper we present an RF tagging device that can be attached to the outer surface of a standard sized capsule as a cost-effective method of validating medication compliance via electronic detection of an ingested pill inside the digestive tract. We propose two asymmetric RF tagging architectures that circumvent problems associated with signal attenuation inside the human body and poor radiation efficiency of electrically small antennas. The proposed devices are powered by low frequency AC signals to create externally detectable RF bursts in the 915MHz ISM band. Prototype test RFICs were fabricated in 130nm CMOS technology and experimentally validated inside phantom solution to mimic signal propagation inside the human torso.
On the Correctness of a Distributed Memory Gröbner basis Algorithm

We present an asynchronous MIMD algorithm for Grobner basis computation. The algorithm is based on the well-known sequential algorithm of Buchberger. Two factors make the correctness of our algorithm nontrivial: the nondeterminism that is inherent with asynchronous parallelism, and the distribution of data structures which leads to inconsistent views of the global state of the system. We demonstrate that by describing the algorithm as a nondeterministic sequential algorithm, and presenting the optimized parallel algorithm through a series of refinements to that algorithm, the algorithm is easier to understand and the correctness proof becomes manageable. The proof does, however, rely on algebraic properties of the polynomials in the computation, and does not follow directly from the proof of Buchberger's algorithm.
Design of a compiler construction project

This is a description of a compiler project: a compiler for Mini-P, a substantial subset of Pascal. My goal was that the students implement a compiler that generates code executable under the Linux operating system, not a simulated processor. The project introduced the students to a number of standard programming and development tools. Generating code for a real instruction set rather than an idealized simulated processor is complex. In this paper, I describe how I structured a project that provided a reasonable challenge to the students. My primary goal was that the project introduces the students to translation techniques, but avoids swamping the students with unnecessary details. While no student implemented all of the features of Mini-P, each student was able to a substantial number of features.