cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Semiconductor Processing with Excimer Lasers: An Overview

The present level of development of excimer lasers, as it relates to semiconductor processing, and the advantages of these lasers for such processing, are reviewed. Extensive comparisons of the quality of annealing of ion-implanted Si obtained with XeCl and ruby lasers are presented. Major applications in the area of solar cell fabrication, silicon-on-sapphire technology, laser photochemical processing, and submicron optical lithography are outlined and discussed.
Investment and the Cross-Section of Equity Returns

We characterize the cross-sectional implications for equity returns in a neoclassical model of investment calibrated to match key moments of the investment rate’s distribution across public US firms over the period 1985-2010. Univariate portfolio sorts show that, consistent with the evidence, small firms earn higher returns than larger firms. However, we find that the model produces a value discount rather than a value premium unless some form of leverage is assumed. This occurs because in the ergodic distribution of the model value firms tend to have high idiosyncratic productivity and large capital stock. When operating leverage is such that the average book-to-market is close to 1, value stocks do earn a higher return than growth stocks. However, the magnitude of the value premium is substantially smaller than in the data. Doublesorting over the size and book-to-market dimensions shows that both variables survive as riskfactors, with a caveat. Conditional on high market size, value stocks earn lower returns than growth stocks.
Multiple source location-the signal subspace approach

The multiple source location problem is solved for a general array geometry using the principal of least-squares modeling. The incident wavefields may be a mixture of coherent and noncoherent sources that are broadband and/or narrowband. Furthermore, the wavefields may be plane waves and/or spherical waves. An effective algorithmic approach is developed for solving the multiple source location problem in the signal and covariance domains. In each domain, it is necessary to represent a set of vectors as a linear combination of array steering vectors. Using this property, a generic descent algorithmic approach is developed for estimating the wavefield directions of arrival. The success of such iterative approaches is critically dependent on the generation of good estimates to initialize the algorithm. An effective initialization procedure is developed for this purpose. Direction-of-arrival estimates which arise from the proposed procedure are empirically found to be unbiased and low variance. >
Reputation, Social Identity and Social Conflict

We interpret the social identity literature and examine its economic implications. We model a population of agents from two exogenous and well defined social groups. Agents are randomly matched to play a reduced form bargaining game. We show that this struggle for resources drives a conflict through the rational destruction of surplus. We assume that the population contains both unbiased and biased players. Biased players aggressively discriminate against members of the other social group. The existence and specification of the biased player is motivated by the social identity literature. For unbiased players, group membership has no payoff relevant consequences. We show that the unbiased players can contribute to the conflict by aggressively discriminating and that this behavior is consistent with existing empirical evidence.
Dynamic routing and wavelength assignment with optical bypass using ring embeddings

We consider routing and wavelength assignment in ring, torus, and tree topologies with the twin objectives of minimizing wavelength usage and maximizing optical bypass. The P-port dynamic traffic assumption is used, which allows each node to send and receive at most P calls. For rings we show that @?PN/[email protected]? wavelengths are necessary and sufficient, and provide a four-hub ring architecture that requires only half of these wavelengths to be locally processed. We extend this approach to develop RWA and bypass algorithms for both tori and trees by embedding virtual rings within these topologies and applying the ring algorithms. For an RxC torus, we embed R+C rings onto the torus and provide an approach to RWA and banding based on solving disjoint RWA/banding problems for each ring. Our RWA algorithm is more wavelength efficient than any currently known algorithm and uses the minimum number of wavelengths for R>=2C. Our subsequent banding algorithm allows half of these wavelengths to bypass all but 4R hub nodes. Finally, we give a RWA for trees that embeds a single virtual ring and uses the ring to obtain a RWA that requires no more than @?PN/[email protected]? total wavelengths; this figure is shown to be optimal for balanced binary trees. A banding algorithm follows that allows half these wavelengths to bypass all non-hub nodes.
N-Isopropylidene-N‘-2-nitrobenzenesulfonyl Hydrazine, a Reagent for Reduction of Alcohols via the Corresponding Monoalkyl Diazenes

The reagent N-isopropylidene-N'-2-nitrobenzenesulfonyl hydrazine (IPNBSH) is used in the reduction of alcohols via the loss of dinitrogen from transiently formed monoalkyl diazene intermediates accessed by sequential Mitsunobu displacement, hydrolysis, and fragmentation under mild reaction conditions.
Splitting Method for Speedy Simulation of Cascading Blackouts

Simulation of cascading blackouts poses many challenges, including fast simulation of long series of rare interactions in large grid models. The splitting method advances the simulation by stages, resampling from each stage to advance to the next stage. We apply the splitting method to the simulation of cascading blackouts to efficiently determine the probability distribution of blackout size. Testing on a blackout simulation shows that splitting can quickly compute large blackouts inaccessible to other methods.
Pd/P(i-BuNCH2CH2)3N: an efficient catalyst for Suzuki cross-coupling of aryl bromides and chlorides with arylboronic acids

Abstract Pd(OAc)2 in combination with the commercially available ligand P(i-BuNCH2CH2)3N catalyzes the Suzuki cross-coupling reaction of a wide variety of aryl bromides and chlorides with arylboronic acids, affording the desired biaryls in excellent yields. It has also been shown that P(NMe2)3 can be employed as a ligand, though with significantly more limited success.
Platinum(II)/europium(III)-catalyzed intramolecular hydroalkylation of 4-pentenyl β-dicarbonyl compounds

Abstract Reaction of 5,5-dimethyl-8-nonene-2,4-dione with a catalytic mixture of [PtCl 2 (CH 2 CH 2 )] 2 ( 2 ) (1 mol %), and EuCl 3 (2 mol %) in dioxane that contained HCl (1.0 equiv) at 90 °C for 18 h led to the isolation of 2-acetyl-3,6,6-trimethyl-2-cyclohexanone in 85% yield. A number of 4-pentenyl β-dicarbonyl compounds underwent intramolecular hydroalkylation to form cyclohexanones in moderate to excellent yield.
Preparation and analysis of oligonucleotides containing the c4'-oxidized abasic site and related mechanistic probes.

The C4′-oxidized abasic site (C4-AP) is produced by a variety of DNA damaging agents. This alkali labile lesion can exist in up to four diastereomeric cyclic forms, in addition to the acyclic keto-aldehyde. Synthetic oligonucleotides containing the lesion were prepared from a stable photochemical precursor. Chemical integrity of the lesion containing oligonucleotides was probed using phosphodiesterase lability. Analysis of the 3′,5′-phosphate diester of the monomeric lesion released from single diastereomers of photolabile precursors by 1H NMR indicates that isomerization of the hemiacetal and/or hemiketal is rapid. The syntheses and characterization of oligonucleotides containing configurationally stable analogues of C4-AP, which serve as mechanistic probes for deciphering the structural basis of the biochemical and biological effects of the C4′-oxidized abasic lesion, are also described.
Toward an improved understanding of thruster dynamics for underwater vehicles

This paper proposes a novel approach to modeling the four quadrant dynamic response of thrusters as used for the motion control of ROV and AUV underwater vehicles. The significance is that these vehicles are small in size and respond quickly to commands. Precision in motion control will require further understanding of thruster performance than is currently available. The model includes a four quadrant mapping of the propeller blades lift and drag forces and is coupled with motor and fluid system dynamics. A series of experiments is described for both long and short period triangular, as well as square wave inputs. The model is compared favorably with experimental data for a variety of differing conditions and predicts that force overshoots are observed under conditions of rapid command changes. Use of the model will improve the control of dynamic thrust on these vehicles.
Improvements to an Electrical Engineering Skill Audit Exam to Improve Student Mastery of Core EE Concepts

The San Jose State University Electrical Engineering (EE) Department implemented a skill audit exam for graduating seniors in 1999 with the purpose of assessing the teaching and the students' mastery of core concepts in EE. However, consistent low scores for the first years in which the test was administered suggested that students had little incentive in reviewing for passing the test. To promote the concept that there is a set of basic skills every graduating senior should master, improvements were implemented that included creating an online exam used for review and requiring students to earn a 70% or higher score on an in-class exam that is a requirement for graduation. After the improvements were made, all students demonstrated at least 70% mastery of the core EE concepts as measured by the improved in-class skill audit exam. The details of these improvements are presented. Anonymous survey results of graduating seniors indicate that students feel that preparing for the skill audit exam was a good use of their time and that the exam should be made more rigorous for future students.
Ready access to 7,8-dihydro- and 1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-1,6-naphthyridine-5(6H) -ones from simple pyridine precursors

Short pathways are described for the synthesis of a representative example of each of the 7,8-dihydro-and 1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-1,6-naphthyridine-5(6H)-one ring systems from simple pyridine precursors. An attempted synthesis of the related 4,6-dihydro-1,6-naphthyridin-5(1H)-one ring system from a common intermediate was unsuccessful.
Predictors of Response to Intravitreal Anti–Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Treatment of Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Purpose To identify factors that influence visual and anatomic response to treatment with intravitreal anti–vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Design Observational cohort study. Methods Seventy-two patients were included in this study. Best-corrected Snellen visual acuity (VA) and central foveal thickness measured on optical coherence tomography (OCT) at time of treatment and post-treatment follow-up visits were recorded. Associations between demographic, behavioral, and genetic risk factors and the 2 outcomes were analyzed using mixed-effects linear regression models. Two loci in complement factor H ( CFH ) were included in a risk score to determine the association between CFH risk and improvement in VA and central foveal thickness. Results There was a small improvement in VA following anti-VEGF treatment (mean: 3.7 ± 3.0 letters), which was not statistically significant. Significant improvement in VA was observed for the nonrisk CFH Y402H genotype ( P CFH risk score ( P = .019). Regarding the outcome of change in central foveal thickness, improvement was noted in all genotype groups, but reduction after treatment was significantly higher in the low CFH risk score group ( P = .033). A significant improvement in mean VA was seen among smokers ( P Conclusion After anti-VEGF therapy, significant improvement in VA was observed for low-risk CFH genotypes and subjects with a low risk score. There was a statistically significant reduction in central foveal thickness overall, and subjects with a low CFH risk score improved more than the high-risk group.
Similarity Search Profiling Reveals Effects of Fingerprint Scaling in Virtual Screening

Fingerprint scaling is a method to increase the performance of similarity search calculations. It is based on the detection of bit patterns in keyed fingerprints that are signatures of specific compound classes. Application of scaling factors to consensus bits that are mostly set on emphasizes signature bit patterns during similarity searching and has been shown to improve search results for different fingerprints. Similarity search profiling has recently been introduced as a method to analyze similarity search calculations. Profiles separately monitor correctly identified hits and other detected database compounds as a function of similarity threshold values and make it possible to estimate whether virtual screening calculations can be successful or to evaluate why they fail. This similarity search profile technique has been applied here to study fingerprint scaling in detail and better understand effects that are responsible for its performance. In particular, we have focused on the qualitative and quan...
Multiresolution banded refinement to accelerate surface reconstruction from polygons

Abstract We propose a method for constructing a tiling between a pair of planar polygons. Our technique uses multiresolution: tilings of lower resolution polygons are used to construct a tiling for the full resolution polygons. The tilings are constructed using banded refinement , by restricted dynamic programming, in roughly linear time and space. By contrast, the optimal dynamic programming method requires quadratic time and space. In our empirical study of surface reconstruction of brain contours our algorithm exhibited significant speedup over the optimal dynamic program, yet nearly always found an optimal reconstruction. Our approach appears to be generalizable to other geometric problems solvable by dynamic programming, and flexible enough to be tuned for varying data set characteristics.
Strong Localization in Personalized PageRank Vectors

The personalized PageRank diffusion is a fundamental tool in network analysis tasks like community detection and link prediction. It models the spread of a quantity from a set of seed nodes, and it has been observed to stay localized near this seed set. We derive an upper-bound on the number of entries necessary to approximate a personalized PageRank vector in graphs with skewed degree sequences. This bound shows localization under mild assumptions on the maximum and minimum degrees. Experimental results on random graphs with these degree sequences show the bound is loose and support a conjectured bound.
Low-Level Acoustic Reflex Thresholds

The acoustic reflex threshold can be detected at lower than normal sound pressure levels by means of facilitation. This procedure entails simultaneous presentation of a high-frequency facilitating tone at a level just below reflex threshold and a second reflex-eliciting tone. The second tone is reduced in intensity until no further reflex activity is observed. When hearing was normal, less signal intensity was needed to elicit the acoustic reflex when facilitation was used. There was a greater amount of reflex threshold improvement when the facilitating and eliciting tones were presented monotically. Sensorineural hearing loss allowed small or no reflex threshold change with facilitation.
Theoretical improvements in algorithmic efficiency for network flow problems

This paper presents new algorithms for the maximum flow problem, the Hitchcock transportation problem and the general minimum-cost flow problem. Upper bounds on the number of steps in these algorithms are derived, and are shown to improve on the upper bounds of earlier algorithms.
Natural NMSSM with a light Singlet Higgs and Singlino LSP

Supersymmetry (SUSY) is an attractive extension of the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics which solves the SM hierarchy problem. Motivated by the theoretical $$\mu $$ -term problem of the Minimal Supersymmetric Model (MSSM), the Next-to MSSM (NMSSM) can also account for experimental deviations from the SM like the anomalous muon magnetic moment and the dark matter relic density. Natural SUSY, motivated by naturalness considerations, exhibits small fine tuning and a characteristic phenomenology with light higgsinos, stops, and gluinos. We describe a scan in NMSSM parameter space motivated by Natural SUSY and guided by the phenomenology of an NMSSM with a slightly broken Peccei–Quinn symmetry and a lightly coupled singlet. We identify a scenario which survives experimental constraints with a light singlet Higgs and a singlino lightest SUSY particle. We then discuss how the scenario is not presently excluded by searches at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and which channels are promising for discovery at the LHC and International Linear Collider.
Biomass Contracts for Ethanol Production: The Role of Farmer’s Risk Preferences

This study analyze what contracting terms provides sufficient incentives for farmer’s to enter into a contract to produce energy beets for biofeul production. A stated choice experiment was designed to elicit farmer’s preferences to grow energy beet under alternative contractual arrangements. A latent class rank-ordered logit [LCROL] model is used to empirically analyze the effects of contract attributes, farmer’s risk preferences, and farm characteristics on willingness to adopt energy beet. The results shows that the way the contract mechanism is designed significantly affects farmer’s preference to rank contract alternatives. Few risk perception factors extracted from farmer’s response play a role on the preference of contracts.
Psychometric examination and validation of the aggressive driving scale (ADS)

Aggressive driving behavior is an important cause of traffic accidents. Based on the recent view that aggressive driving is one way that trait aggression manifests itself, a growing research area has focused on the development of scales to assess aggressive driving. The aggressive driving scale (ADS) analyzed in the present study consists of 24 items. A sample of 276 participants was analyzed to obtain the factor structure and reliability of the ADS and 67 of them participated in the behavioral experiment in order to examine the construct and predictive validity of the scale. Results indicated a 3-factor structure (interference with other drivers, violations/risk taking, and anger/aggression expression behavior) with high item loadings. The ADS had high internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Construct validity of the ADS was established as the ADS subscale scores correlated significantly with trait measures of anger and aggression. Predictive validity of the ADS was verified as most items were significantly correlated with behavioral measures derived from a driving simulator. The ADS was a significant predictor of behavioral measures both in the simulated environment (i.e., frequency of driving off the road, red light running behavior, frequency of colliding with a vehicle, frequency and distance of over speeding, frequency and distance of central crossing) and reported real world situations (i.e., annual moving violations and accidents). These results suggest that the ADS is a reliable and valid tool in evaluating aggressive driving behavior as the current study provides behavioral support for the effectiveness of the ADS in measuring aggressive driving behavior. Aggr. Behav. 42:313-323, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Positioning Rationality and Emotion: Rationality Is Up and Emotion Is Down

Emotion and rationality are fundamental elements of human life. They are abstract concepts, often difficult to define and grasp. Thus throughout the history of Western society, the head and the heart, concrete and identifiable elements, have been used as symbols of rationality and emotion. Drawing on the conceptual metaphor framework, we propose that people understand the abstract concepts of rationality and emotion using knowledge of a more concrete concept—the vertical difference between the head and heart. In six studies, we show a deep-seated conceptual metaphorical relationship linking rationality with “up” or “higher” and emotion with “down” or “lower.” We show that the association between verticality and rationality/emotion affects how consumers perceive information and thereby has downstream consequences on attitudes and preferences. We find the association to be most influential when consumers are unaware of it and when it applies to an unfamiliar stimulus. Because all visual formats—from the printed page to screens on a television, computer, or smartphone—entail a vertical placement, this association has important managerial implications. Our studies implement multiple methodologies and technologies and use manipulations of logos, websites, food advertisements, and political slogans.
Farm Market Patron Behavioral Response to Food Sampling

This study examines farm market patron responses to food sampling experiences and provides a baseline of regional differences of consumer interest in various products selling in the farmers market. Results show that the sampling strategy can highly engage consumers’ attention and easy to spread the product information. Food sampling showed a number of immediate product purchasing impacts, as well as other behaviors positively impacting vendor sales. The most important reason patrons identified that encouraged them to try a sample was friendliness of vendors. Sampling is a highly experiential merchandising strategy that fits in well with the farm market venue. More than half of the patrons indicated actually purchasing after sampling that were not planning to buy the product that day before the food sampling.
Oil capture from a water surface by a falling sphere

Abstract Motivated by contaminant remediation, we study the volume of oil (oleic acid) removed from a liquid lens by a falling particle. When a spherical particle is dropped from a fixed height into an oil lens that floats on top of a water surface, a portion of the oil adheres to the sphere. Once the sphere comes to rest at the subsurface, the oil forms an equilibrium pendant drop that remains attached to the sphere. We find in experiments with spheres of different sizes and materials, that the pendant drop volume is an increasing function of sphere mass for each material and a decreasing function of sphere density. By contrast, the normalized droplet volume in all of our experiments scales with sphere mass following V oil / V sphere ∼ M −0.544 . Thus, for a given size, lighter spheres capture more oil relative to their own volume than do heavier spheres and are more efficient at removing oil from a water surface in our experiments. Estimates for the upper bound of the normalized droplet volume, determined from the continuous family of solutions of the Young–Laplace equation, show the same qualitative dependence on the sphere mass.
Measuring Health Care Costs of Individuals with Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance in the U.S.: A Comparison of Survey and Claims Data

AsthecorehealthexpendituresurveyintheUnitedStates,theMedicalExpenditurePanelSurvey(MEPS)isincreasingly being used by statistical agencies to track expenditures by disease. However, while MEPS provides a wealth of data, its sample size precludes examination of spending on all but the most prevalent health conditions. To overcome this issue, statistical agencies have turned to other public data sources, such as Medicare and Medicaid claims data, when available. No comparable publicly available data exist for those with employer-sponsored insurance. While large proprietary claims databases may be an option, the data are convenience samples and the extent to which the data are representative for employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) enrollees is not known. This study compared MEPS and MarketScan estimates of annual per person health care spending on individuals with employer-sponsored insurance coverage. Both total spending and the distribution of annual per person spending differed across the two data sources, withMEPS estimates 10 percent lower on average than estimates from MarketScan. These differences appeared to be a function of both underrepresentation of high expenditure cases and underreporting across the remaining distribution of spending.
Discourses of Mourning and Rebirth in Post- Holocaust Israeli Literature: Leah Goldberg's Lady Of The Castle and Shulamith Hareven's "The Witness"*

Both Godberg’s play and Hareven’s short story illustrate the failure of the Israeli to come to terms with the Holocaust catastrophe. In Goldberg’s play the characterization of the protagonist runs against the popular myth of the Holocaust victim gratefully embracing the hope of a new future embodied in the heroically idealistic Israeli. Hareven’s story rules out the possibility of a mutually accepted coexistence between the Israeli and the Holocaust survivor. Both works present the treatment of the outsider as a reflection of the emotional insecurity of the majority group, since the arrival of the survivor undermines the Zionist ideological tenets of the "negation of the Diaspora" and the creation of the "new" Jew in Eretz Israel.
The REIT Vehicle: Its Value Today and in the Future

The real estate investment trust (REIT) structure has come under increasing scrutiny given the problems the structure poses for firms wishing to retain earnings in depressed real estate equity and ...
Gauge-preheating and the end of axion inflation

We study the onset of the reheating epoch at the end of axion-driven inflation where the axion is coupled to an Abelian, U(1), gauge field via a Chern-Simons interaction term. We focus primarily on m22 inflation and explore the possibility that preheating can occur for a range of coupling values consistent with recent observations and bounds on the overproduction of primordial black holes. We find that for a wide range of parameters preheating is efficient. In certain cases the inflaton transfers all of its energy to the gauge fields within a few oscillations. In most cases, we find that the gauge fields on sub-horizon scales end preheating in an unpolarized state due to the existence of strong rescattering between the inflaton and gauge-field modes. We also present a preliminary study of an axion monodromy model coupled to U(1) gauge fields, seeing a similarly efficient preheating behavior as well as indications that the coupling strength has an effect on the creation of oscillons.
Comparative risk of severe hypoglycemia among concomitant users of thiazolidinedione antidiabetic agents and antihyperlipidemics.

a b s t r a c t We conducted high-dimensional propensity score-adjusted cohort studies to examine whether thiazolidinedione use with a statin or fibrate was associated with an increased risk of severe hypoglycemia. We found that concomitant therapy with a thiazolidinedione + fibrate was associated with a generally delayed increased risk of severe hypoglycemia.
A Computational Model of Inhibition of HIV-1 by Interferon-Alpha

Type 1 interferons such as interferon-alpha (IFNα) inhibit replication of Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) by upregulating the expression of genes that interfere with specific steps in the viral life cycle. This pathway thus represents a potential target for immune-based therapies that can alter the dynamics of host-virus interactions to benefit the host. To obtain a deeper mechanistic understanding of how IFNα impacts spreading HIV-1 infection, we modeled the interaction of HIV-1 with CD4 T cells and IFNα as a dynamical system. This model was then tested using experimental data from a cell culture model of spreading HIV-1 infection. We found that a model in which IFNα induces reversible cellular states that block both early and late stages of HIV-1 infection, combined with a saturating rate of conversion to these states, was able to successfully fit the experimental dataset. Sensitivity analysis showed that the potency of inhibition by IFNα was particularly dependent on specific network parameters and rate constants. This model will be useful for designing new therapies targeting the IFNα network in HIV-1-infected individuals, as well as potentially serving as a template for understanding the interaction of IFNα with other viruses.
Factor Endowments, Democracy, and Trade Policy Divergence

We develop a stochastic model of electoral competition in order to study the economic and political determinants of trade policy. We model a small open economy with two tradable goods, each of which is produced using a sectorspecific factor (e.g., land and capital) and another factor that is mobile between these tradable sectors (labor); one nontradable good, which is also produced using a specific factor (skilled labor), and an elected government with the mandate to tax trade flows. The tax revenue is used to provide local public goods that increase the economic agents’ utility. We use this general equilibrium model to explicitly derive the ideal policies of the different socioeconomic
Measuring the Maturity of Robotic Planetary Mission Concepts

Robotic space missions are conceived, planned, promoted, and developed through a series of design and resource estimation activities. Each successive level of activity requires greater levels of effort and fidelity, from the “cocktail napkin” stage to the Critical Design Review (CDR). As a mission concept increases in maturity, the uncertainties in the estimated performance, cost, and risk of the mission are reduced. For a given concept it is important to measure and describe its level of maturity, and to have a common language for that description, in order to establish reasonable expectations today for a mission in the future and to avoid premature commitments to a highly uncertain value proposition. Furthermore, such a language can be used to define a set of guidelines for the content of a robotic space mission concept as it progresses, so that some dimensions of the concept do not inadvertently lag behind other dimensions in maturity. This paper describes a set of nine Concept Maturity Levels (CML 1 to 9) and the associated concept content at those levels.
Bismuth trichloride–mediated cleavage of phenolic methoxymethyl ethers

ABSTRACTA simple and efficient method for removal of phenolic methoxymethyl ethers in the presence of 30 mol% of bismuth trichloride in acetonitrile/water is described. Notable features of the cleavage protocol entail use of an ecofriendly bismuth reagent, ease of handling, low cost, operational simplicity, and good functional group compatibility. A number of structurally varied phenolic methoxymethyl ethers were cleaved in good to excellent yields.
A General Correlation of the Flammability of Natural and Synthetic Polymers

The concept that flammability is fundamentally related to the potential thermal energy available per unit of volume of material emerged from attempts to correlate the effect of composition variables on the flammability of neoprene vulcanizates as measured by the oxygen index (O.I.) test. The origins of this test clearly show that it is a highly specific measure of flammability—the tendency of a composition to continue to burn once ignited—and that it is thermodynamically related to the heat of combustion of materials. This relationship is developed to a linear correlation which includes a wide variety of synthetic and natural materials and permits reasonable prediction of O.I. values from elemental analysis. Polymeric materials containing carbon and oxygen in atom ratios of less than 6 to 1 are more flammable than predicted. The effect of atmospheric temperature on O.I. can be predicted in relation to the O.I. value at normal temperature. This effect is shown to be independent of the composition of the material being tested. These two correlations permit the construction of a simple general map of flammability against which experimental data can be compared and judgments made with respect to the significant variables involved. There appears to be a significant relation between O.I. data, as viewed from these correlations, and the data of other flammability tests.
Stigma resistance is positively associated with psychiatric and psychosocial outcomes: A meta-analysis

To better understand how stigma resistance impacts functioning-related domains, we examined mean effect sizes between stigma resistance and: 1) symptoms (overall, positive, negative, and mood symptoms); 2) self-stigma; 3) self-efficacy; 4) quality of life; 5) recovery; 6) hope; 7) insight, and 8) overall outcomes (the average effect size across the constructs examined in each study). The mean effect size between stigma resistance and overall outcomes was significant and positive (r=0.46, p<0.001, k=48). A large, negative effect size was found between stigma resistance and self-stigma (r=-0.57, p<0.001, k=40). Large, positive effect sizes were found with self-efficacy (r=0.60, p<0.001, k=25), quality of life (r=0.51, p<0.001, k=17), hope (r=0.54, p<0.001, k=8), and recovery (r=0.60, p<0.001, k=7). Stigma resistance had a significant medium and small relationship with insight and symptoms, respectively. Race significantly moderated overall outcomes, self-stigma, mood symptoms, functioning, and hope associations. Education significantly moderated symptoms, functioning, and mood symptoms associations, and age significantly moderated self-stigma and negative symptom associations. Stigma resistance may be a key requirement for recovery. Individual characteristics influence resisting stigma and future work should prioritize cultural factors surrounding stigma resistance.
THE HAPTIC ROBOT: THE HAND THAT GUIDES YOU

1.Role of enabling technologies in THA: Setting the stage a.Impact of component position in THA 1.Wear/lysis Effect of edge loading, impingement 2.Instability Together, the most common cause for revision hip arthroplasty b.Ideal component position: 1.Work of Lewinneck: the “safe zone” for stability c.Can we achieve this? 1.HSS study 2.Mass General Study: 2000 THR9s, only 50% within desired range d.Need for assistance? Maybe? 2.Types of Guidance: a.Navigation: use of mechano or optical tracking system that after some registration acquisition, facilitate spatial placement. The systems can either be image based (pre-operative CT scan) or imageless where multiple points are acquired and a “best fit” is matched to a library of pelvic geometries. b.Robotics: combines the spatial application of navigation with the precision bone preparation afforded by robotic milling. Robotic use can either be active whereby the robotic preparation is performed by the computer driven system (ie ROBODOC™). Alternatives include surgeon controlled but robot guided (haptic) type systems. 3.Perceived Advantages: a.Robotic assisted: Bone preparation: spherical shape of socket consistently “rounder” than manually controlled reamingImplant insertion: by establishing boundaries of insertion, final implant position achieves desired position 4.Unknowns: a.Cost effectiveness b.Do we really know where the socket is best located for an individual patient?While we rely on the safe zone of Lewinneck for our desired implant position, the impact of lumbosacral disease deformity could/should impact where the socket is placed.
Leaving Some Stones Unturned: Dynamic Feature Prioritization for Activity Detection in Streaming Video

Current approaches for activity recognition often ignore constraints on computational resources: (1) they rely on extensive feature computation to obtain rich descriptors on all frames, and (2) they assume batch-mode access to the entire test video at once. We propose a new active approach to activity recognition that prioritizes “what to compute when” in order to make timely predictions. The main idea is to learn a policy that dynamically schedules the sequence of features to compute on selected frames of a given test video. In contrast to traditional static feature selection, our approach continually re-prioritizes computation based on the accumulated history of observations and accounts for the transience of those observations in ongoing video. We develop variants to handle both the batch and streaming settings. On two challenging datasets, our method provides significantly better accuracy than alternative techniques for a wide range of computational budgets.
Concise Review: Plasma and Nuclear Membranes Convey Mechanical Information to Regulate Mesenchymal Stem Cell Lineage

Numerous factors including chemical, hormonal, spatial, and physical cues determine stem cell fate. While the regulation of stem cell differentiation by soluble factors is well-characterized, the role of mechanical force in the determination of lineage fate is just beginning to be understood. Investigation of the role of force on cell function has largely focused on "outside-in" signaling, initiated at the plasma membrane. When interfaced with the extracellular matrix, the cell uses integral membrane proteins, such as those found in focal adhesion complexes to translate force into biochemical signals. Akin to these outside-in connections, the internal cytoskeleton is physically linked to the nucleus, via proteins that span the nuclear membrane. Although structurally and biochemically distinct, these two forms of mechanical coupling influence stem cell lineage fate and, when disrupted, often lead to disease. Here we provide an overview of how mechanical coupling occurs at the plasma and nuclear membranes. We also discuss the role of force on stem cell differentiation, with focus on the biochemical signals generated at the cell membrane and the nucleus, and how those signals influence various diseases. While the interaction of stem cells with their physical environment and how they respond to force is complex, an understanding of the mechanical regulation of these cells is critical in the design of novel therapeutics to combat diseases associated with aging, cancer, and osteoporosis. Stem Cells 2016;34:1455-1463.
Molecular Modeling and Mechanics of Acrylic Adhesives on a Graphene Substrate with Roughness

Understanding the mechanics of amorphous polymeric adhesives on a solid substrate at the fundamental scale level is critical for designing and optimizing the mechanics of composite materials. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we investigate the interfacial strength between graphene and polyacrylic and discuss how the surface roughness of graphene affects the interfacial strength in different loading directions. Our results show that a single angstrom increase in graphene roughness can lead to almost eight times higher shear strength, and that such result is insensitive to compression. We have also revealed that the graphene roughness has modest effect on tensile strength of the interface. Our simulations elucidate the molecular mechanism of these different effects in different loading conditions and provide insights for composite designs.
Acute otitis media in children.

The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians recently released an evidence-based practice guideline to help physicians provide the most up-to-date care for children with AOM. The subcommittee that developed the guideline included primary care physicians, pediatricians, and experts in the fields of infectious disease, epidemiology, and otolaryngology.
The Implications on Price Relationships when Quality Adjusting Commodity Prices

Commodity markets work well in the U.S. because they standardize the products being sold. Using hedonic pricing models, this paper investigates the quality attributes that make soybeans differentiated across the U.S. and the possible implications that quality adjusted prices may have in today’s markets. A hedonic model was tested using soybean prices from 2004 to 2013 to adjust for quality. A test was then conducted to show the price change over time due to quality changes in soybeans. Results show that quality-adjusted pricing may affect forecasting and hedging with stronger correlations computed between futures prices and quality adjusted prices than futures prices and observed prices.
PHYSIOLOGICAL MATCHING TKA WITH PATIENT-SPECIFIC TECHNOLOGY

Total knee arthroplasty has been shown to provide relief of pain and improved function; however studies have shown that younger active patients still note limitations in performing higher level activities such as dancing, golfing, skiing and gardening. Journey II BCS is designed to have physiological matching which more accurately reproduces the normal knee anatomy and kinematics. By providing more anatomic restoration of the articular geometry and substituting for both cruciate ligaments, Physiological Matching TKA has been shown, with in-vivo kinematic studies, to better reproduce the normal bending, rollback and rotational motions of knees. Patient matched instruments are patient specific custom designed cutting blocks. These instruments utilise pre-operative MRI and full leg x-rays to design guides that will position the knee in the desired mechanical alignment. The purpose of these instruments is to increase efficiency and accuracy, and possibly reduce cost. Efficiency occurs through the elimination of multiple steps compared to the standard operative technique. A single patient matched femoral guide is easily placed and can align the valgus angle with the mechanical axis, and determine the level of resection, rotation, size, and AP position of the implant. A single tibial instrument can determine tibial alignment, depth of resection, slope and rotation. Efficiency also results by eliminating the need for many standard instruments and trays. Implant size is determination pre-operatively so fewer implant trials are necessary. In summary, this Physiological Matching TKA surgery combines Journey II BCS with patient specific instruments to optimise kinematics, fit and efficiency in order to improve outcomes and patient satisfaction.
Two Centuries of Price-Return Momentum

Having created a monthly dataset of US security prices between 1801 and 1926, we conduct out-of-sample tests of price-return momentum strategies that have been implemented in the post-1925 datasets. The additional time-series data strengthen the evidence that price momentum is dynamically exposed to market risk, conditional on the sign and duration of the trailing market state. On average, in the beginning of positive market states, momentum’s equity beta is opposite to the new market direction, which generates a negative contribution to momentum profits around market turning points. A dynamically hedged momentum strategy significantly outperforms the unhedged strategy.
Spectral methods meet EM: a provably optimal algorithm for crowdsourcing

Crowdsourcing is a popular paradigm for effectively collecting labels at low cost. The Dawid-Skene estimator has been widely used for inferring the true labels from the noisy labels provided by non-expert crowdsourcing workers. However, since the estimator maximizes a non-convex log-likelihood function, it is hard to theoretically justify its performance. In this paper, we propose a two-stage efficient algorithm for multi-class crowd labeling problems. The first stage uses the spectral method to obtain an initial estimate of parameters. Then the second stage refines the estimation by optimizing the objective function of the Dawid-Skene estimator via the EM algorithm. We show that our algorithm achieves the optimal convergence rate up to a logarithmic factor. We conduct extensive experiments on synthetic and real datasets. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm is comparable to the most accurate empirical approach, while outperforming several other recently proposed methods.
AINTEGUMENTA-LIKE6 can functionally replace AINTEGUMENTA but alters Arabidopsis flower development when misexpressed at high levels

Expression differences underlie the functional differences between two related transcription factors: AINTEGUMENTA and AINTEGUMENTA-LIKE6. Ectopic expression of AINTEGUMENTA-LIKE6 at high levels alters floral organ initiation, growth and identity specification. AINTEGUMENTA (ANT) and AINTEGUMENTA-LIKE6 (AIL6) encode related transcription factors with partially overlapping roles in floral organ development in Arabidopsis thaliana. To investigate whether the functional differences between ANT and AIL6 are a consequence of differences in gene expression and/or protein activity, we made transgenic plants in which a genomic copy of AIL6 was expressed under the control of the ANT promoter. ANT:gAIL6 can rescue the floral organ size defects of ant mutants when AIL6 is expressed at similar levels as ANT in wild type. Thus, the functional differences between ANT and AIL6 result primarily from gene expression differences. However, lines that express AIL6 at higher levels display additional phenotypes that include reduced numbers of floral organs and the production of mosaic floral organs. These phenotypes were also observed in two different inducible AIL6 transgenic lines but not in 35S:ANT, suggesting that AIL6 protein may have activities distinct from ANT, although the in vivo relevance of such differences is not clear. Similar to 35S:ANT plants, overexpression of AIL6 in the inducible lines also results in the production of larger flowers. The distinct phenotypes resulting from AIL6 misexpression in the transgenic lines described here and those previously characterized appear to result from different levels and patterns of AIL6 expression.
Sexual Abuse of Children

Defining sexual contact between adults and children as child abuse has been a relatively recent phenomenon. Historically, such acts have been seen as sins (when defined by the churches of the world), criminal acts (when defined by legal-judicial systems), and sexual deviance (when defined by mental health professionals whose primary focus has been on the adult perpetrators of the acts). To conceptualize adult-child sexual contact as different from, and as more than a sin, a crime, and a sexual deviance requires a reframing of the problem. The impetus for this change, that is, viewing adult-child sexual contact as child abuse, has come from three areas of clinical study: physical child abuse, rape of adult women, and the field of victimology. The leading pediatricians working with battered children were slow to recognize the seriousness and scope of child sexual abuse. This is understandable because usually there are no physical findings of trauma following sexual assault of children. Had it not been for the women’s movement and the establishment of clinics for victims of rape, the recognition of child sexual abuse might have been slower in developing. Even so, it was not until the mid-to-late 1970s that there was significant awareness in the United States of this social problem.
SMAP observes flooding from land to sea: the Texas event of 2015

Floods can have damaging impacts on both land and sea, yet studies of flooding events tend to focus on only one side of the land/sea continuum. Here we present the first two-sided analysis, focusing on the May 2015 severe flooding in Texas. Our investigation benefits from simultaneous measurements of land-surface soil moisture and sea surface salinity from NASA's recent Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission as well as ancillary data. We report the comprehensive chronology of the flooding: above average rainfall preceding the flood caused soils to saturate; record rainfall then generated record river discharge; subsequently, an unusual freshwater plume associated with anomalous ocean currents formed in the north-central Gulf of Mexico. Together with the Mississippi River plume, a rare "horseshoe" pattern was created that may have significant biogeochemical implications. Such integrated land/sea analysis of flood evolution can improve impact assessments of future extreme flooding events.