cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Validity of self-reported history of Chlamydia trachomatis infection.

Background Chlamydia trachomatis infection is common and largely asymptomatic in women. If untreated, it can lead to sequelae such as pelvic inflammatory disease and infertility. It is unknown whether a patient's self-reported history of Chlamydia trachomatis infection is a valid marker of past infection. Objective Our objective was to evaluate the validity of women's self-reported history of Chlamydia trachomatis infection compared with Chlamydia trachomatis serology, a marker for previous infection. Study Design We analyzed data from the Fertility After Contraception Termination study. We compared participants' survey responses with the question, "Have you ever been told by a health care provider that you had Chlamydia?" to serological test results indicating the presence or absence of antibodies to Chlamydia trachomatis as assessed by a microimmunofluorescence assay. Prevalence of past infection, sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, and likelihood ratios were calculated. The Cohen's kappa statistic was computed to assess agreement between self-report and serology. Results Among 409 participants, 108 (26%) reported having a history of Chlamydia trachomatis infection, whereas 146 (36%) had positive serological test results. Relative to positive microimmunofluorescence assay, the sensitivity and specificity of self-reported history of Chlamydia trachomatis infection were 52.1% (95% confidence interval, 43.6–60.4%) and 87.8% (95% confidence interval, 83.3–91.5%), respectively. The positive predictive value of the self-report was 70.4% (95% confidence interval, 60.8–78.8%), and the negative predictive value was 76.7% (95% confidence interval, 71.6–81.4%). The likelihood ratio was found to be 4.28. Agreement between self-report and serology was found to be moderate (kappa = 0.42, P .001). Conclusion Self-reported history of Chlamydia trachomatis infection commonly yields false-negative and false-positive results. When definitive status of past Chlamydia trachomatis infection is needed, serology should be obtained.
Manipulation among the Arbiters of Collective Intelligence: How Wikipedia Administrators Mold Public Opinion

Our reliance on networked, collectively built information is a vulnerability when the quality or reliability of this information is poor. Wikipedia, one such collectively built information source, is often our first stop for information on all kinds of topics; its quality has stood up to many tests, and it prides itself on having a “neutral point of view.” Enforcement of neutrality is in the hands of comparatively few, powerful administrators. In this article, we document that a surprisingly large number of editors change their behavior and begin focusing more on a particular controversial topic once they are promoted to administrator status. The conscious and unconscious biases of these few, but powerful, administrators may be shaping the information on many of the most sensitive topics on Wikipedia; some may even be explicitly infiltrating the ranks of administrators in order to promote their own points of view. In addition, we ask whether administrators who change their behavior in this suspicious manner can be identified in advance. Neither prior history nor vote counts during an administrator’s election are useful in doing so, but we find that an alternative measure, which gives more weight to influential voters, can successfully reject these suspicious candidates. This second result has important implications for how we harness collective intelligence: even if wisdom exists in a collective opinion (like a vote), that signal can be lost unless we carefully distinguish the true expert voter from the noisy or manipulative voter.
The Effect of Reputation Shocks to Rating Agencies on Corporate Disclosures

ABSTRACT This paper explores the effect of a credit rating agency's (CRA) reputation on the voluntary disclosures of corporate bond issuers. Academics, practitioners, and regulators disagree on the...
Comparison of estimation algorithms in single-molecule localization

Different techniques have been advocated for estimating single molecule locations from microscopy images. The question arises as to which technique produces the most accurate results. Various factors, e.g. the stochastic nature of the photon emission/detection process, extraneous additive noise, pixelation, etc., result in the estimated single molecule location deviating from its true location. Here, we review the results presented by [Abraham et. al, Optics Express, 2009, 23352-23373], where the performance of the maximum likelihood and nonlinear least squares estimators for estimating single molecule locations are compared. Our results show that on average both estimators recover the true single molecule location in all scenarios. Comparing the standard deviations of the estimates, we find that in the absence of noise and modeling inaccuracies, the maximum likelihood estimator is more accurate than the non-linear least squares estimator, and attains the best achievable accuracy for the sets of experimental and imaging conditions tested. In the presence of noise and modeling inaccuracies, the maximum likelihood estimator produces results with consistent accuracy across various model mismatches and misspecifications. At high noise levels, neither estimator has an accuracy advantage over the other. We also present new results regarding the performance of the maximum likelihood estimator with respect to the objective function used to fit data containing both additive Gaussian and Poisson noise. Comparisons were also carried out between two localization accuracy measures derived previously. User-friendly software packages were developed for single molecule location estimation (EstimationTool) and localization accuracy calculations (FandPLimitTool).
Gunrock: GPU Graph Analytics

For large-scale graph analytics on the GPU, the irregularity of data access and control flow, and the complexity of programming GPUs, have presented two significant challenges to developing a programmable high-performance graph library. “Gunrock,” our graph-processing system designed specifically for the GPU, uses a high-level, bulk-synchronous, data-centric abstraction focused on operations on a vertex or edge frontier. Gunrock achieves a balance between performance and expressiveness by coupling high-performance GPU computing primitives and optimization strategies with a high-level programming model that allows programmers to quickly develop new graph primitives with small code size and minimal GPU programming knowledge. We characterize the performance of various optimization strategies and evaluate Gunrock’s overall performance on different GPU architectures on a wide range of graph primitives that span from traversal-based algorithms and ranking algorithms, to triangle counting and bipartite-graph-based algorithms. The results show that on a single GPU, Gunrock has on average at least an order of magnitude speedup over Boost and PowerGraph, comparable performance to the fastest GPU hardwired primitives and CPU shared-memory graph libraries, such as Ligra and Galois, and better performance than any other GPU high-level graph library.
Characterizing fluid and kinetic instabilities using field-particle correlations on single-point time series

A recently proposed technique correlating electric fields and particle velocity distributions is applied to single-point time series extracted from linearly unstable, electrostatic numerical simulations. The form of the correlation, which measures the transfer of phase-space energy density between the electric field and plasma distributions and that had previously been applied to damped electrostatic systems, is modified to include the effects of drifting equilibrium distributions of the type that drive counter-streaming and bump-on-tail instabilities. By using single-point time series, the correlation is ideal for diagnosing dynamics in systems where access to integrated quantities, such as energy, is observationally infeasible. The velocity-space structure of the field-particle correlation is shown to characterize the underlying physical mechanisms driving unstable systems. The use of this correlation in simple systems will assist in its eventual application to turbulent, magnetized plasmas, with the ul...
Discrimination and Distress among Afghan Refugees in Northern California: The Moderating Role of Pre- and Post-Migration Factors

This study investigates the effect of perceived discrimination on the mental health of Afghan refugees, and secondly, tests the distress moderating effects of pre-migration traumatic experiences and post-resettlement adjustment factors. In a cross-sectional design, 259 Afghans completed surveys assessing perceived discrimination and a number of other factors using scales developed through inductive techniques. Multivariable analyses consisted of a series of hierarchical regressions testing the effect of perceived discrimination on distress, followed by a sequential analysis of moderator variables. Perceived discrimination was significantly associated with higher distress, and this relationship was stronger among those with a strong intra-ethnic identity and high pre-resettlement traumatic experiences. The expected buffering effects of civic engagement, ethnic orientation (e.g. integration), and social support were not significant. Discrimination is a significant source of stress for Afghan refugees, which may exacerbate stresses associated with other pre- and post-migration stressors. Future research is needed to tailor interventions that can help mitigate the stress associated with discrimination among this highly vulnerable group.
Deep Memory Networks for Attitude Identification

We consider the task of identifying attitudes towards a given set of entities from text. Conventionally, this task is decomposed into two separate subtasks: target detection that identifies whether each entity is mentioned in the text, either explicitly or implicitly, and polarity classification that classifies the exact sentiment towards an identified entity (the target) into positive, negative, or neutral. Instead, we show that attitude identification can be solved with an end-to-end machine learning architecture, in which the two subtasks are interleaved by a deep memory network. In this way, signals produced in target detection provide clues for polarity classification, and reversely, the predicted polarity provides feedback to the identification of targets. Moreover, the treatments for the set of targets also influence each other -- the learned representations may share the same semantics for some targets but vary for others. The proposed deep memory network, the AttNet, outperforms methods that do not consider the interactions between the subtasks or those among the targets, including conventional machine learning methods and the state-of-the-art deep learning models.
Optofluidic chips with integrated waveguides and active microfluidics for single particle detection

Active microfluidics is directly integrated with optical detection waveguides on a single PDMS-chip. Particles are distributed via on-chip pumping and sent to an optical interrogation region with excitation and collection waveguides for single particle detection.
EXPOSURE OPTIONS: GETTING THERE SAFELY

Minimal or Less Invasive Approaches Limited medial parapatellar incision – 2–3 inch medial incision; Best for unicompartmental implant; patellar visualization poor; Less invasive but limited visualization therefore overall joint inspection is compromised. MIS TKR approaches - Mini midvastus approach popularised by S.B. Haas - Ideal BMI 30 or less; Incision length 10cm; Vastus incision about 2–3cm; Vastus incision beyond 5–6cm places motor branch to VMO at risk; Coupled with downsized cutting blocks, allows predictable ability to perform TKR; Sliding window concept; Patella eversion not necessary. Mid Subvastus approach – 10cm skin incision; Sub vastus dissection up to septum (watch for bleeders!); VERY difficult in muscular males! Standard Incisions Standard medial parapatellar approach - Familiar to most surgeons; Medial arthrotomy facilitates exposure for almost all procedures; Can become more extensile by incising the quad tendon further proximal; Release of posteromedial capsule and semi-membraneosus allows exposure posteriorly. Quad snip - Used occasionally in the fixed varus, flexion contracted knee; More commonly used in revisions; Allows patella eversion without risk of distal avulsion; Motor strength appears to return to baseline level postoperatively. V-Y quadriceps turndown - Technique: initial medial parapatellar arthrotomy, an oblique tenotomy angled toward the tendinous portion of the vastus lateralis and then extended distally; The quadriceps segment is than retracted downward to expose the joint; Tenotomy is closed with robust non-absorbable sutures holding the knee in extension; Postoperative flexion is dictated by integrity of repair while flexing knee at time of closure. Disadvantages include extensor lag, as well as effecting ultimate ROM. Tibial tubercle osteotomy a la Whiteside - Medial arthrotomy; Tubercle segment is 6–8cm long, 2cm wide and 1–1.5cm thick; Segment is beveled distally so as to avoid stress riser; Leave lateral soft tissue intact; Closure with wires preferred although screws or cables have been used as well.
The Quantum Theory of Optical Coherence

The concept of coherence which has conventionally been used in optics is found to be inadequate to the needs of recently opened areas of experiment. To provide a fuller discussion of coherence, a succession of correlation functions for the complex field strengths is defined. The $n\mathrm{th}$ order function expresses the correlation of values of the fields at $2n$ different points of space and time. Certain values of these functions are measurable by means of $n$-fold delayed coincidence detection of photons. A fully coherent field is defined as one whose correlation functions satisfy an infinite succession of stated conditions. Various orders of incomplete coherence are distinguished, according to the number of coherence conditions actually satisfied. It is noted that the fields historically described as coherent in optics have only first-order coherence. On the other hand, the existence, in principle, of fields coherent to all orders is shown both in quantum theory and classical theory. The methods used in these discussions apply to fields of arbitrary time dependence. It is shown, as a result, that coherence does not require monochromaticity. Coherent fields can be generated with arbitrary spectra.
Predicting math performance using natural language processing tools

A number of studies have demonstrated links between linguistic knowledge and performance in math. Studies examining these links in first language speakers of English have traditionally relied on correlational analyses between linguistic knowledge tests and standardized math tests. For second language (L2) speakers, the majority of studies have compared math performance between proficient and non-proficient speakers of English. In this study, we take a novel approach and examine the linguistic features of student language while they are engaged in collaborative problem solving within an on-line math tutoring system. We transcribe the students' speech and use natural language processing tools to extract linguistic information related to text cohesion, lexical sophistication, and sentiment. Our criterion variables are individuals' pretest and posttest math performance scores. In addition to examining relations between linguistic features of student language production and math scores, we also control for a number of non-linguistic factors including gender, age, grade, school, and content focus (procedural versus conceptual). Linear mixed effect modeling indicates that non-linguistic factors are not predictive of math scores. However, linguistic features related to cohesion affect and lexical proficiency explained approximately 30% of the variance (R2 = .303) in the math scores.
The addition of adaptive comb filtering to sequential adaptive processing for fetal electrocardiograms (ECGs)

Previously published results demonstrated that a sequential combination of adaptive linear prediction (LPC), adaptive noise cancellation (ANC), and non-adaptive (fixed) IIR comb filtering (CF) can effectively remove maternal interference from noninvasive fetal ECGs. This paper presents results obtained by replacing the third stage fixed IIR comb filtering (CF) with adaptive comb filtering (ACF). In this work the fixed IIR comb filtering is replaced by an FIR adaptive comb filtering based on two distinct forms of the ACF adaptive algorithms. Experimental results illustrate that sequential LPC-ANC processing followed by the newly proposed adaptive comb filtering is an effective form of sequential processing.
Strict liability and consumer product innovation: results from a cross–industry pilot study

We report here the results of a pilot study on the impact of strict liability on consumer product innovation in US businesses. Our research takes advantage of a unique historical event: the introduction of strict liability in the European Union (EU) in 1985. The adoption of a strict liability doctrine in the EU allows us to observe directly whether corporate innovation practices are sensitive to liability influences. We surveyed two US consumer products industries as test cases for a more comprehensive study that is currently under way. Based on the findings from these two industries (lawn and garden equipment, and toys), it appears that strict liability does not have a negative impact on US business: liability did not appear to cause firms to exit the EU market, to create a barrier to entry in the EU market, reduce our firms' market share in the EU, or inhibit their innovativeness. Our findings reinforce the impression that liability does not intrinsically inhibit innovation or competitiveness, and in fact stimulates certain kinds of innovations.
Finite-beta and resonant-electron effects on trapped-electron instabilities

Finite $beta$ (plasma pressure/magnetic pressure) and resonant electron effects on the dissipative trapped-electron instabilities are analyzed. These modifications are shown to have a strong stabilizing influence on the finite ion gyroradius and electron temperature gradient driven modes, respectively. For relevant tokamak parameters complete stabilization may be possible. Stability criteria for radially local and nonlocal cases are presented. (auth)
Consumers and Curators: Browsing and Voting Patterns on Reddit

As crowd-sourced curation of news and information become the norm, it is important to understand not only how individuals consume information through social news Web sites, but also how they contribute to their ranking systems. In this paper, we introduce and make available a new data set containing the activity logs that recorded all activity for 309 Reddit users for one year. Using this newly collected data, we present findings that highlight the browsing and voting behavior of the study’s participants. We find that most users do not read the article that they vote on, and that, in total, 73% of posts were rated (i.e., upvoted or downvoted) without first viewing the content. We also show the evidence of cognitive fatigue in the browsing sessions of users that are most likely to vote.
Newly Vulnerable Markets in an Age of Pure Information Products: An Analysis of Online Music and Online News

We describe the emerging competition between music companies and their star acts and the role of online distribution in this industry. We then contrast this with the lack of competition newspapers will face from their reporters, writers, and photographers, but identify other possible competitors for newspaper publishers. We examine what resources have previously enabled record companies to lock in their star acts and ways in which technology has altered artists' abilities to reach the market independently and thus their dependency upon record companies. We examine which resources have seen their value eroded in the newspaper industry and the remaining value that the newspaper company still creates, other than bundling stories, adding advertising, and printing and selling the papers. We consider what part of the newspaper business is vulnerable, if any, and where threats may arise. We combine the resource-based view of competitive advantage to examine which industry may have become newly easy to enter, and the theory of newly vulnerable markets to assess which industry may actually have become vulnerable as a result. Our analyses are then used to create a computer simulation model to make the implications more explicit under a range of assumptions.
Unitaries permuting two orthogonal projections

Let P and Q be two orthogonal projections on a separable Hilbert space, H. Wang, Du and Dou proved that there exists a unitary, U, with UPU^(−1) =Q, UQU^(−1) =P if and only if dim⁡(ker⁡P∩ker⁡(1−Q))=dim⁡(ker⁡Q∩ker⁡(1−P)) (both may be infinite). We provide a new proof using the supersymmetric machinery of Avron, Seiler and Simon.
A New Radio Frequency Interference Filter for Weather Radars

AbstractA new radio frequency interference (RFI) filter algorithm for weather radars is proposed in the two-dimensional (2D) range-time/sample-time domain. Its operation in 2D space allows RFI detection at lower interference-to-noise or interference-to-signal ratios compared to filters working only in the sample-time domain while maintaining very low false alarm rates. Simulations and real weather radar data with RFI are used to perform algorithm comparisons. Results are consistent with theoretical considerations and show the 2D RFI filter to be a promising addition to the signal processing arsenal against interference with weather radars. Increased computational burden is the only drawback relative to filters currently used by operational systems.
INEQUALITY AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE: THE ROLE OF SKILL-BIASED TECHNOLOGY AND SEARCH FRICTIONS

I embed a competitive search model of the labor market into a small open economy model with heterogeneous firms and workers. Search frictions generate equilibrium unemployment and income inequality between identical workers, in addition to income differences between skill groups. A quantitative evaluation of the U.S. trade experience suggests that the effect of the increase in goods trade since 1980 may have contributed to the increase in the college premium, but not to the increase in residual inequality.
The Effects of Auditor Tenure on Fraud and Its Detection

ABSTRACT We examine the strategic effects of auditor tenure on the auditor's testing strategy and the manager's inclination to commit fraud. Most empirical studies conclude that longer tenure impro...
Reducing Inequality Through Dynamic Complementarity: Evidence from Head Start and Public School Spending

We explore whether early childhood human-capital investments are complementary to those made later in life. Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we compare the adult outcomes of cohorts who were differentially exposed to policy-induced changes in pre-school (Head Start) spending and school-finance-reform-induced changes in public K12 school spending during childhood, depending on place and year of birth. Difference-in-difference instrumental variables and sibling- difference estimates indicate that, for poor children, increases in Head Start spending and increases in public K12 spending each individually increased educational attainment and earnings, and reduced the likelihood of both poverty and incarceration in adulthood. The benefits of Head Start spending were larger when followed by access to better-funded public K12 schools, and the increases in K12 spending were more efficacious for poor children who were exposed to higher levels of Head Start spending during their preschool years. The findings suggest that early investments in the skills of disadvantaged children that are followed by sustained educational investments over time can effectively break the cycle of poverty.
Revisiting speculative hyperinflations in monetary models.

Abstract This paper revisits the debate on ruling out speculative hyperinflations in monetary models. Although apparently a narrow issue, studying these extreme economies turns out to be quite illuminating in understanding the fundamentals of price level determination. It is also relevant in evaluating the broader claims that advocates of the fiscal theory of the price level have made. In Obstfeld and Rogoff ( 1983 , 1986 ) we show that in pure fiat money models with rational expectations, where the government gives no backing whatsoever to currency, there is in fact no reasonable way to rule out speculative hyperinflations where the value of money goes to zero, even if the money supply itself is exogenous and constant. Such perverse equilibria are ruled out, however, if the government provides even a very small real backing to the currency – a fiscal mechanism, but one that comes into play only as a backstop. Indeed that backing does not have to be certain. Cochrane ( 2011 , 2019 ), however, argues that this result is wrong, and that fractional currency backing is a Maginot line that is insufficient to rule out hyperinflation. We show here why, in fact, his analysis involves a subtle change in model specification that adds a distinct monetary fragility to our model. Our baseline analysis uses a canonical money-in-the-utility-function setup due to Brock ( 1974 , 1975 ), but following Wallace (1981) , we show the same results go through in an overlapping-generations model of money.
Demand-Side Energy Management by Use of a Design-Then-Approximate Controller for Aggregated Thermostatic Loads

This brief presents a method to design a controller for a system of aggregated thermostatically controlled loads (TCLs) that are represented by two coupled partial differential equations—the Fokker-Planck equations. The design goal is to ensure that the cumulative power consumption of the system tracks the desired power. The control algorithm presented in this brief is a design-then-approximate (DTA) method, which helps ensure that the fundamental properties of the system such as stability and controllability are preserved during the controller design process, and not lost as a consequence of discretization. The effects of heterogeneities in the TCL parameters are also considered, and a robust model predictive controller is integrated within the DTA controller structure. This ensures robust tracking of a desired power trajectory even in the presence of heterogeneities in the TCL parameters while also guaranteeing output controllability of the system. The effectiveness of the controller is demonstrated using simulations incorporating actual demand power data.
Using particles to sample and control more complex implicit surfaces

In 1994, Witkin and Heckbert developed a method for interactively modeling implicit surfaces by simultaneously constaining a particle system to lie on an implicit surface and vice-versa. This interface was demonstrated to be effective and easy to use on example models containing a few blobby spheres and cylinders. This system becomes much more difficult to implement and operate on more complex implicit models. The derivatives needed for the particle system behavior can become laborious and error-prone when implemented for more complex models. We have developed, implemented and tested techniques for automatic and numerical differentiation of the implicit surface function. Complex models also require a large number of parameters, and the management and control of these parameters is often not intuitive. We have developed adapters, which are special shape-transformation operators that automatically adjust the underlying parameters to yield the same effect as the transformation. These new techniques allow constrained particle systems to sample and control more complex models than before possible.
Fundamental issues related to digital holographic data storage

In this paper we address fundamental tradeoff issues by computing the number of photons that are incident on a detector element in terms of the materials and systems parameters. This calculation lets us determine fundamental tradeoffs between data transfer rate and capacity for a holographic data storage system.
All-optical quantum switching

We will present progress in ultrafast all-optical quantum switching. χ(3)-based devices can route entangled photons without disturbing their quantum state, whereas χ(2)-based devices can, in principle, lead to dissipation-free quantum-optical Fredkin gates.
Scalable Multicast in Highly-Directional 60-GHz WLANs

The 60-GHz bands target multi-gigabit rate applications, such as high definition video streaming. Unfortunately, to provide multicast service, the strong directionality required at 60 GHz precludes serving all clients in a multicast group with a single transmission. Instead, a multicast transmission is comprised of a sequence of beam-formed transmissions (a beam group) that together cover all multicast group members. In this paper, we design, implement, and experimentally evaluate scalable directional multicast (SDM) as a technique to 1) train the access point with per-beam per-client RSSI measurements via partially traversing a codebook tree. The training balances the objectives of limiting overhead with collecting sufficient data to form efficient beam groups. 2) Using the available training information, we design a scalable beam grouping algorithm that approximates the minimum multicast group data transmission time. We implement the key components of SDM and evaluate with a combination of over-the-air experiments and trace-driven simulations. Our results show that the gains provided by SDM increase with group size and provide near-optimal group selection with significantly reduced training time, yielding up to 1.8 times throughput gains over exhaustive-search training and grouping.
Surgical Handicraft: Teaching and Learning Surgical Skills

Abstract Surgeons choose their profession with a strong desire to excel at manual therapeutic skills. Although we mime our mentors, we have often received the torch of technique in the absence of a systematic program to optimally develop our manual dexterity. The operating room is the ultimate arena to refine one's technical ability, but a surgical skills laboratory should assume increasing importance in introducing the trainee to the many nuances of the fine manual motor skills necessary for optimal surgical technique. Surgical educators should address the science of surgical handicraft in a manner similar to the science of preoperative and postoperative surgical principles that have been espoused over the past 40 years. Although it has been euphemistically said that “you can teach a monkey to operate”, few of us have broken the process down into the basic elements to accomplish such a goal. In view of the increasing complexity of operations and equipment, the constraints on animal laboratories and teaching caseloads, and the mounting economic and medicolegal pressures, the development of optimal surgical skills should be a major objective of every surgical training program. By developing novel programs and scientifically evaluating the results of such endeavors, surgical faculties may find increased academic rewards for being a good teacher.
Concepts in the Use of Hypnosis for Pain Relief in Cancer

Hypnosis has no single place, but rather a broad range of application of technique and a long standing basis in the philosophy of patient care. We are not purists in any sense of the word. Our use of hypnosis in relief of pain in cases of cancer involves all formal medical procedures enhancing their potential through proper suggestions. We will endeavor to present some techniques of relaxation and pertinent case histories.
Energy Gap Structure in Bilayer Oxide Superconductors

We consider a model for bilayer superconductors where an interlayer pairing amplitude Δ ⊥ coexists with intralayer pairing Δ // of d x 2 - y 2 symmetry. This model is motivated by a recent photoemission experiment reporting the splitting of the nodes of the energy gap. In addition to offering a natural explanation of this observation, the model has a number of new experimental consequences. We find that the new state is accompanied by a spontaneous breaking of the tetragonal symmetry. We also find that the out-of-phase oscillation of Δ ⊥ and Δ // gives rise to a new Raman active mode. The phase of Δ ⊥ may also become imaginary, leading to a state which breaks time reversal symmetry, which may have important implications for tunnelling experiments.
From causal models to counterfactual structures

Galles & Pearl (l998) claimed that “for recursive models, the causal model framework does not add any restrictions to counterfactuals, beyond those imposed by Lewis’s [possible-worlds] framework.” This claim is examined carefully, with the goal of clarifying the exact relationship between causal models and Lewis’s framework. Recursive models are shown to correspond precisely to a subclass of (possible-world) counterfactual structures. On the other hand, a slight generalization of recursive models, models where all equations have unique solutions, is shown to be incomparable in expressive power to counterfactual structures, despite the fact that the Galles and Pearl arguments should apply to them as well. The problem with the Galles and Pearl argument is identified: an axiom that they viewed as irrelevant, because it involved disjunction (which was not in their language), is not irrelevant at all.
Networks of VTA neurons encode real-time information about uncertain numbers of actions executed to earn a reward

Multiple and unpredictable numbers of actions are often required to achieve a goal. In order to organize behavior and allocate effort so that optimal behavioral policies can be selected, it is necessary to continually monitor ongoing actions. Real-time processing of information related to actions and outcomes is typically assigned to the prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia, but also depends on midbrain regions, especially the ventral tegmental area (VTA). We were interested in how individual VTA neurons, as well as networks within the VTA, encode salient events when an unpredictable number of serial actions are required to obtain a reward. We recorded from ensembles of putative dopamine and non-dopamine neurons in the VTA as animals performed multiple cued trials in a recording session where, in each trial, serial actions were randomly rewarded. While averaging population activity did not reveal a response pattern, we observed that different neurons selectively tuned to low, medium, or high numbered actions in a trial. This preferential tuning of putative dopamine and non-dopamine VTA neurons to different subsets of actions in a trial allowed information about binned action number to be decoded from the ensemble activity. At the network level, tuning curve similarity was positively associated with action-evoked noise correlations, suggesting that action number selectivity reflects functional connectivity within these networks. Analysis of phasic responses to cue and reward revealed that the requirement to execute multiple and uncertain numbers of actions weakens both cue-evoked responses and cue-reward response correlation. The functional connectivity and ensemble coding scheme that we observe here may allow VTA neurons to cooperatively provide a real-time account of ongoing behavior. These computations may be critical to cognitive and motivational functions that have long been associated with VTA dopamine neurons.
FOUR-PART FRACTURE IN AN ACTIVE 70-YEAR-OLD: REVERSE IS OVERKILL – OPPOSES

Age is the most accurate surrogate for bone density and poor bone density is the reason for many fracture repairs to fail. Hemiarthroplasty has demonstrated consistently inconsistent results in terms for restoration of function. Most recently, with the evolution of reverse prostheses, prospective studies which are, in many cases, randomised and Level 2, have clearly shown reverse prostheses to be the most consistently reliable treatment in the patient noted above. It is with a high degree of certainty that we can inform such a patient that their function will be restored and their pain minimal with such treatment.
The Role of Executive Functions in Reading Comprehension.

Our goal in this paper is to understand the extent to which, and under what conditions, executive functions (EFs) play a role in reading comprehension processes. We begin with a brief review of core components of EF (inhibition, shifting, and updating) and reading comprehension. We then discuss the status of EFs in process models of reading comprehension. Next, we review and synthesize empirical evidence in the extant literature for the involvement of core components of EF in reading comprehension processes under different reading conditions and across different populations. In conclusion, we propose that EFs may help explain complex interactions between the reader, the text, and the discourse situation, and call for both existing and future models of reading comprehension to include EFs as explicit components.
Spillover effects of research and development activity on the economic growth and exports of the Group 20

The study examines the spillover effects of research and development (R&D) activity on the economic and export growth of the Group 20. It explores the magnitude of the strategic relationship between R&D activity and the economic performance of these countries. The sample is restricted to the period of time for which annual data are available and comparable, which is the period from 1988 to 2011, for 19 countries in the Group 20. A panel cointegration test and several types of panel data analytic models were employed. Although some differences were found in the magnitude of the effect, this study indicates that R&D activity must be viewed as a major strategic determinant for the economic performance of the countries, and thus as the creator of unique competitive advantages for them. It is also noteworthy that human capital and information technology are positively associated with the economic performance of the countries.
Transcriptome analysis of developing lens reveals abundance of novel transcripts and extensive splicing alterations.

Lens development involves a complex and highly orchestrated regulatory program. Here, we investigate the transcriptomic alterations and splicing events during mouse lens formation using RNA-seq data from multiple developmental stages, and construct a molecular portrait of known and novel transcripts. We show that the extent of novelty of expressed transcripts decreases significantly in post-natal lens compared to embryonic stages. Characterization of novel transcripts into partially novel transcripts (PNTs) and completely novel transcripts (CNTs) (novelty score ≥ 70%) revealed that the PNTs are both highly conserved across vertebrates and highly expressed across multiple stages. Functional analysis of PNTs revealed their widespread role in lens developmental processes while hundreds of CNTs were found to be widely expressed and predicted to encode for proteins. We verified the expression of four CNTs across stages. Examination of splice isoforms revealed skipped exon and retained intron to be the most abundant alternative splicing events during lens development. We validated by RT-PCR and Sanger sequencing, the predicted splice isoforms of several genes Banf1, Cdk4, Cryaa, Eif4g2, Pax6, and Rbm5. Finally, we present a splicing browser Eye Splicer ( http://www.iupui.edu/~sysbio/eye-splicer/ ), to facilitate exploration of developmentally altered splicing events and to improve understanding of post-transcriptional regulatory networks during mouse lens development.
Force, torque, linear momentum, and angular momentum in classical electrodynamics

The classical theory of electrodynamics is built upon Maxwell’s equations and the concepts of electromagnetic (EM) field, force, energy, and momentum, which are intimately tied together by Poynting’s theorem and by the Lorentz force law. Whereas Maxwell’s equations relate the fields to their material sources, Poynting’s theorem governs the flow of EM energy and its exchange between fields and material media, while the Lorentz law regulates the back-and-forth transfer of momentum between the media and the fields. An alternative force law, first proposed by Einstein and Laub, exists that is consistent with Maxwell’s equations and complies with the conservation laws as well as with the requirements of special relativity. While the Lorentz law requires the introduction of hidden energy and hidden momentum in situations where an electric field acts on a magnetized medium, the Einstein–Laub (E–L) formulation of EM force and torque does not invoke hidden entities under such circumstances. Moreover, total force/torque exerted by EM fields on any given object turns out to be independent of whether the density of force/torque is evaluated using the law of Lorentz or that of Einstein and Laub. Hidden entities aside, the two formulations differ only in their predicted force and torque distributions inside matter. Such differences in distribution are occasionally measurable, and could serve as a guide in deciding which formulation, if either, corresponds to physical reality.
Brachial plexopathy after stereotactic body radiation therapy for apical lung cancer: Dosimetric analysis and preliminary clinical outcomes.

Abstract Purpose The treatment of apical lung tumors with stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) is challenging due to the proximity of the brachial plexus and the concern for nerve damage. Methods and materials Between June 2009 and February 2017, a total of 75 consecutive patients underwent SBRT for T1-T3N0 non-small cell lung cancer involving the upper lobe of the lung. All patients were treated with 4-dimensional computed tomography (CT)-based image guided SBRT to a dose of 40 to 60 Gy in 3 to 5 fractions. For dosimetric analysis, only apical tumors as defined by the location of the tumor epicenter superior to the aortic arch were included. The anatomical brachial plexus was delineated using the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group atlas. Results Thirty-one patients with 31 apical lung tumors satisfied the anatomical criteria for inclusion. The median age was 73 years (range, 58-89). The median planning target volume was 26.5 cc (range, 8.2-81.4 cc). The median brachial plexus, brachial plexus maximum dose (Dmax), Dmax per fraction, V22 (cc, 3-4 fractions), V30 (cc, 5 fractions), and biologically effective dose 3 Gy were 15.8 Gy (range, 1.7-66.5 Gy), 3.4 Gy (range, 0.6-14.7 Gy), 0.0 cc (range, 0-0.9 cc), 0.06 cc (range, 0-2.5 cc), and 31.5 Gy (range, 3.3-133.1 Gy), respectively. At a median follow-up of 17 months, the observed incidence of brachial plexopathy was 0%. Conclusions There is significant variation in dose to the brachial plexus for patients treated with SBRT for apical lung tumors. Although the incidence of neuropathic symptoms in this series was zero, further attention should be focused on the clinical implications of these findings.
Role of advanced materials in electrical machines

There has been a revived and growing role for electrical machines and drives across a wide range of applications. Such applications include, hybrid/electrical traction applications, aerospace applications, and renewable energy. All these applications present different set of requirements and challenges. The common trend is that there is a need for higher-performance electrical machines in terms of higher power/torque density, and higher efficiency while keeping cost under control. There has been a lot of work done around coming up with novel machine topologies, optimizing more conventional topologies as well as improved thermal management schemes. Like many other areas of engineering/research, advanced materials can play a key role in opening up the design space for electrical machines leading to a step improvement in their performance. This paper will present an overview of some of the key advanced materials that are either recently developed or are currently under development and their potential impact on electrical machines.
Jefferson Lab: Experimental facilities, upgrade plans and potential for research related to neutrino nucleus interactions

The electron accelerator at Jefferson Lab (JLab) presently produces 100% duty factor beams at energies up to 6 GeV for use in 3 endstations with a variety of detectors. Plans are presently being made for an energy upgrade to 12 GeV along with new and upgraded experimental equipment. Possibilities of using Jlab facilities to make measurements of relevance to neutrino-nucleus interactions are discussed.
FastViromeExplorer: a pipeline for virus and phage identification and abundance profiling in metagenomics data

With the increase in the availability of metagenomic data generated by next generation sequencing, there is an urgent need for fast and accurate tools for identifying viruses in host-associated and environmental samples. In this paper, we developed a stand-alone pipeline called FastViromeExplorer for the detection and abundance quantification of viruses and phages in large metagenomic datasets by performing rapid searches of virus and phage sequence databases. Both simulated and real data from human microbiome and ocean environmental samples are used to validate FastViromeExplorer as a reliable tool to quickly and accurately identify viruses and their abundances in large datasets.
Proxy Benchmarks for Emerging Big-Data Workloads

Early design-space evaluation of computer-systems is usually performed using performance models such as detailed simulators, RTL-based models etc. Unfortunately, it is very challenging (often impossible) to run many emerging applications on detailed performance models owing to their complex application software-stacks, significantly long run times, system dependencies and the limited speed/potential of early performance models. To overcome these challenges in benchmarking complex, long-running database applications, we propose a fast and efficient proxy generation methodology, PerfProx that can generate miniature proxy benchmarks, which are representative of the performance of real-world database applications and yet, converge to results quickly and do not need any complex software-stack support. Past research on proxy generation utilizes detailed micro-architecture independent metrics derived from detailed functional simulators, which are often difficult to generate for many emerging applications. PerfProx enables fast and efficient proxy generation using performance metrics derived primarily from hardware performance counters. We evaluate the proposed proxy generation approach on three modern, real-world SQL and NoSQL databases, Cassandra, MongoDB and MySQL running both the data-serving and data-analytics class of applications on different hardware platforms and cache/TLB configurations. The proxy benchmarks mimic the performance (IPC) of the original database applications with ∼94.2% (avg) accuracy. We further demonstrate that the proxies mimic original application performance across several other key metrics, while significantly reducing the instruction counts.