cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Imitation of Complex Strategies

Researchers examining loosely coupled systems, knowledge management, and complementary practices in organizations have proposed, informally, that the complexity of a successful business strategy can deter imitation of the strategy. This paper explores this proposition rigorously. A simple model is developed that parametrizes the two aspects of strategic complexity: the number of elements in a strategy and the interactions among those elements. The model excludes conventional resource-based and game-theoretic barriers to imitation altogether. The model is used to show that complexity makes the search for an optimal strategy intractable in the technical sense of the word provided by the theory of NP-completeness. Consequently, would-be copycats must rely on search heuristics or on learning, not on algorithmic "solutions," to match the performance of superior firms. However, complexity also undermines heuristics and learning. In the face of complexity, firms that follow simple hill-climbing heuristics are quickly snared on low "local peaks," and firms that try to learn and mimic a high performer's entire strategy suffer large penalties from small errors. The model helps to explain why some winning strategies remain unmatched even though they are open to public scrutiny; why certain bundles of organizational practices diffuse slowly even though they lead to superior performance; and why some strategies yield superior returns even after many of their critical ingredients are adopted by competitors. The analysis also suggests roles for management science and managerial choice in a world of complex strategies.
The transition matroid of a 4-regular graph

Given a 4-regular graph F , we introduce a binary matroid M ? ( F ) on the set of transitions of F . Parametrized versions of the Tutte polynomial of M ? ( F ) yield several well-known graph and knot polynomials, including the Martin polynomial, the homflypt polynomial, the Kauffman polynomial and the Bollobas-Riordan polynomial.
Synthetic Human Parathyroid Hormone Fragment Stimulates Prostaglandin E2 Synthesis by Chick Calvariae

Synthetic human PTH N-terminal 1-34 peptide [hPTH-(l-34)] stimulates prostaglandin (PG) production by chick calvariae in culture. PGE2 was the predominant PG found by both RIA and HPLC. Stimulation of PGE2 synthesis was significant at 50 ng/ml (1.2 × 10-8 M) hPTH-(l-34) and was dose dependent at concentrations up to 0.6 μg/ml (1.4 × 10-7 M). Continuous exposure of calvariae to hPTH-(l-34) showed that PGE2 production increased significantly by 1 h, reached a maximum at 24 h, and then persisted over 96 h. Indomethacin at concentrations above 5 × 10-7 M inhibited PGE2 synthesis by both control and hPTH-(l-34)-treated bones. PTH-(l-34) stimulated bone cells to convert arachidonic acid to PGE2, but did not activate the bone to release stored arachidonate. In summary, our results show that hPTH-(l-34) stimulates PGE2 synthesis by chick calvariae. This endogenous PGE2 may be involved in bone remodeling. (Endocrinology 120: 63–70,1987)
A case study involving the use of Z to aid requirements specification in the software engineering course

Students often have a great deal of difficulty specifying their requirements as part of their team project in the software engineering class. Omissions, errors, and vagueness all lead to students having a much harder time in design, code, and test when these problems surface. We wanted to know whether using Z, to help teams further refine their specifications, would produce better specifications. We performed a case study of three different types of student projects, to help determine the advantages/disadvantages of using Z for requirements specification. We found certain decided advantages for some types of projects, and some significant drawbacks for others.
Our expanding resposibilities

As a matter of editorial policy, there will be an increased demand on contributors to present their material well. "Unreadability" is not a measure of excellence; any article whose substance cannot be grasped after two readings by an interested reader reflects badly on its writer and on the depth of his understanding of his results and their general significance and place in the field. Writers must attempt to sell their contributions, and tell the general reader right in the Introduction why their results are important or why their articles are worth reading, and at whom the presentation is beamed.
SOLUTIONS OF THE YANG-BAXTER EQUATION AND QUANTUM $\mathfrak{sl} (2)$

We construct a quantum deformation of a family of the Yang-Baxter equation solutions naturally arising from a Lie algebra $\mathfrak{sl} (2, {\mathbb C})$.
The Relationship between Legal Status, Location, and Business Tax Preference: the Case of Kansas

The literature on business responses to state taxes traditionally holds businesses respond to tax differences through plant relocation and expansion planning. This literature is silent on the tradeoffs that businesses would make to a state’s tax policy, if they could adjust the taxes to suit their own preferences and legal status. This research addresses the question of what tradeoffs businesses would make in tax policy by utilizing the budgetary tradeoff methodology developed in the political science and political economy literature. As predicted by theory, firms responded to a survey by the Kansas Department of Commerce that they would minimize the taxes that they have to pay but differences exist among different types of businesses, particularly out of state businesses. Kansas is an interesting case given the state’s first-of-its-kind removal of taxes on pass through corporations. This case shows that the tax tradeoff theory is useful for analyzing the characteristics of firms’ tradeoff choices. Since the 1950s there have been attempts to develop a general theory of business tax preferences in terms of the firm’s location decision (Greenhut 1956). Using mostly historical data, these analyses demonstrated that firms do in fact respond to tax incentives (Bartik 1985; Carlton 1983). More recent discussions of tax competition tend to revolve around the distortionary effects of taxes such as the capital gains tax (Zodrow 2010). The discussions of the last fifty years give indications of likely effects to be expected from different taxes, but research on preferences for specific taxes by the business community is particularly rare in the academic literature. The practical problem of adjusting relative tax rates is one that confronts policy makers year in and year out. The desire to have a tax system that encourages business development is a practical reality for state executives and legislators but the specific tradeoffs to be made are elusive. Even more elusive is a discussion of what characteristics of businesses influence the
Are All Genes Equal

After years of public debate, the Supreme Court recently invalidated patents on human genes. The Court's opinion did not consider the patent-eligibility of biological products from other sources like bacteria and plants, or other non-genetic biological materials. Yet, given the unitary nature of the patent law, the ruling will have broad implications for the patentability of all biological products, human or non-human, genetic or non-genetic. But do these other biological products raise the same concern as human genes? This paper explores these questions and also seeks to examine their relevance through a survey. The survey indicates that people are more opposed to patents on human genes than to patents on genes from lower species. Likewise, the survey finds that people are more opposed to patents on human genes than to patents on human non-genetic materials. These distinctions have been largely ignored by courts and commentators. But the significance of these issues cannot be overstated. As the dust settles on the debate over the patenting of human genes, new questions about the patent-eligibility of other biological products are springing into life, and these considerations provide a richer context to these discussions.
Syllabus: First Year Management Communication

This note outlines Darden's innovative first-year management-communication curriculum. It provides a model for educators who are looking for a comprehensive introduction to essential communication topics and skills in the context of an MBA program. See also "Fall Outline: First-Year Management Communication" (UVA-BC-0161).
Machines Who Write [Think Piece]

In 1936, Alan Turing remarked that "computing is normally done by writing certain symbols on paper." Although computing was then the prerogative of human computers, Turing imagined that machines might calculate by writing as well. Turing intended for this notional machine to be analogous to human computers who calculated by writing and manipulating symbols, relying on paper to augment their memories. But to what extent is Turing's machine actually writing and reading like a human computer? Recent scholarship in the history of mathematics has argued that mathematical thinking and practice are inextricably entwined with the historical development of different cultures and systems of writing. Looking at computer writing as writing directs historical attention away from abstract formal representations of hardware and software and toward the materiality of data--how it is inscribed and configured within specific digital media.
Toward sufficient reduction of radio-impurities for 32 Si sediment age dating

This project is focused on developing a geochronology tool enabling age dating of coastal marine sediments in the 100–1000 year age range. The technique employs the 32Si/32P radio-chronometer with an ultra-low-background gas proportional beta detector with a background count rate approaching 10 counts per day (cpd), which will require significant decontamination of radiogenic nuclides present in the original sediment samples. This paper describes the multiple physical and chemical separation methods employed to maintain a high final chemical yield of P while reducing the radiogenic contributions. The final purified 32P samples had, on average 100 ± 7 % chemical yields with no quantifiable gamma emissions present.
QoS Routing for Mesh-Based Wireless LANs

Wireless LANs with their increased data rate become an attractive technology for connecting mobile users to the Internet. Efficient deployment of wireless LANs will require the ability to extend the wireless LANs coverage without the need to deploy a very large number of access points. Mesh-based wireless LANs are an attractive solution to this problem. These networks extend wireless LAN coverage by using each node in the network as a router, resulting in a multihop topology. In this paper we introduce a novel routing algorithm, wireless mesh routing (WMR), that provides quality-of-service (QoS) support and accounts for the characteristics of both infrastructure-based wireless LANs and ad hoc networks. The algorithm is validated using the OPNET modeler. The simulation results show that the mesh network using WMR protocol can provide QoS support and react dynamically to the network status changes with low control overheads. Using the proposed software architecture the proposed routing protocol can be implemented with any MAC protocol, resulting in easy implementation in existing wireless nodes.
A Statistical Note on the Trade Agreements Program

used to distinguish between gasoline consumption in the city and in the rural or open highway areas. "City" as used in this report, means all built-up areas and their suburbs; "highway" means all other areas. It is true that the greater part of vacation traveling is done outside of built-up areas, but Dr. Kirkpatrick makes necessary deductions on this account later in his report by knocking out such items as travel less than a hundred miles, business travel and so on. To be accurate, he should have given the passenger car's proportion of all gasoline consumed by motor vehicles, which is 75 per cent rather than 35 per cent. Total passenger car consumption, then, is 14,707,296,000 gallons rather than 6,824,I85,344 gallons as Dr. Kirkpatrick would have it. Then, accepting all other premises in the Kirkpatrick formula, we find that total transportation costs when vacationing by automobile are $732,296,000 rather than $339,832,000 as he claims. With this adjustment, and with all other elements in the formula unchanged, the total vacation expenditures work out at $3,969,47I,000 instead of Kirkpatrick's $2,359,208,o0o. This one correction, then, brings him willy-nilly right up into the rarefied atmosphere of $4,ooo,ooo,ooo where the other estimators have been hovering so long. The method adopted by Dr. Kirkpatrick would place vacation expenditures by motoris s at only $I,393,311,000. It so happens that in I938 we were able to obtain estimates from seventeen states on the volume of expenditures by out-of-state vacationing motorists. The total of their replies was more than $,500,oo )o,0oo-substantially above the amount set by Dr. Kirkpatrick for all fortyei ht states and the District of Columbia. If it is true, as traffic counts and surveys indicate, that more than 5o,ooo,ooo people use passenger cars for annual vacation trips, the Doctor's figures would indicate that the average cost of the entire vacation of two weeks is less than $27.oo-or less than $2.00 a day for transportation, accommodation, food and incidentals.
eComment. Is atrial pacing after maze procedure the key to a successful outcome

We read with great interest the article by Wang et al. on the "effectiveness of biatrial pacing in reducing early postoperative atrial fibrillation after the maze procedure" [1]. The problem of postoperative atrial fibrillation (AF) after cardiac operations remains a major one, complicating up to 40% of patients [2,3]. Furthermore, our unpublished data show that AF after maze procedure can involve as many as 50% of the patients in the immediate postoperative period. Our personal experience has shown that it can take a few weeks or even months after the maze procedure to establish a sinus rhythm. It is our strong belief that every effort has to be made in order to avoid apostoperative AF in order to maintain haemodynamic stability and embolic events. Our routine protocol after a maze procedure is to pace the right atrium for 48h postoperatively, while starting aggressive beta-blocker therapy the morning after the operation regardless of the patient's vasopressor requirements. However, this study is a great example that bi-atrial pacing may be even more beneficial. We would like to see more similar studies that could finally lead to a change in current practice in order to reduce the number of patients with postoperative AF after a maze procedure. Conflict of interest: none declared.
Complex Denitrification in Lubricant by Joining Furfural and Additives

The study of complex de-nitride in lubricant by furfural and additives was researched for a second-tier base oil in Fushun No.1oil plant,according to single factor experiments,influences on removal rate of the basic nitrogen by temperature and oil/solvent ratio were obtained,finding a more suitable metal additive dosage of 0.50~1.33(mol zinc bromide/mol quinoline).Then through orthogonal test determining the effects on the complex extraction(removal rate of basic nitrogen),the most influential factor is the metal additive dosage,followed by the oil/solvent ratio,temperature minimum.The results show that adding a small amount of zinc bromide can greatly enhance the effect of furfural refining,its basic nitrogen removal rate increases,it greatly increases the effect of furfural extraction.
The Field Tests of Thyristor Valves in the 500 kV SVC Deicer Project

A Static Var Compensator(SVC) based transmission lines deicer was installed at the strategically important 500 kV Shuang-Long substation.Before the commercial application of the SVC deicer,a phase of extensive field tests and analysis was undertaken.The paper provides an overview of the thyristor valves employed in the SVC deicer.The process and results of the thyristor valves tests are described in detail.The principles of testing and experiences obtained from the project are presented,which could be beneficial to engineers working in the related fields.
A New Wireless Multicast Queuing Design Using Network Coding and Data-Flow Model

A queue stability analysis in a wireless multicast network with packet erasure channels is studied in this letter. In particular, a new queuing model consisting of several sub-queues is introduced, where each packet in a sub-queue is associated with an index set indicating its intended users. Our objective is to maximize the input rate under the queue stability constraints. We formulate it as a linear programming problem and propose a network coding-based packet scheduling scheme that finds the optimal solution. Finally, the simulation results corroborate our method.
Protective effects of polydatin, an active compound from polygonum cuspidatum, on cerebral ischemic damage in rats

A number of Chinese herbs have been indicated to have protective effects beforecerebral ischemic attacks in man. Polydatin, a glycoside isolated from the roots of Polygonum cuspidatum, is one of the major active ingredients of the Chinese herb. To investigate the effects of polydatin on free radicals in cerbral ischemia, a model of ischemia/reperfusion in rat brain was used. After polydatin administration, the contents of brain water and malondialdehyde (MDA) decreased, and the activities of superox-ide dismutase(SOD), catalase (CAT) and glu-tathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) were elevated to certain extent in cerebral cortex and hippocampus of the rats. Protective action of polydatin in ischemia/reperfusion induced brain injury has been suggested. The effect of polydatin was re-latd to the concentrations of the polydatin administered. The results showed that 12 mg ?kg-1 polydatin (iv) had the most significant effect on free radicals in ischemic brain injury. The results of this study may be useful in designing new drugs in the treatment of strokes and cerebral vascular diseases.
Multiple forms of lactoferrin in normal and leukemic human granulocytes

Multiple forms of lactoferrin (Lf) were detected in granulocytes isolated from normal individuals and patients with granulocytic leukemias. One class of Lfs bound iron; a second class did not bind iron but possessed potent ribonuclease activity. The different forms of Lf were similar, if not identical, in their physical, chemical, and antigenic properties. The multiple forms of Lf may relate to the various functions ascribed to the molecule.
Activation/inactivation of human factor V by plasmin.

The effect of human plasmin on human coagulation factor V was studied using isolated proteins. Incubation of factor V with plasmin resulted in a rapid increase in procoagulant activity, followed by a subsequent decline in the ability of factor V to serve as a cofactor in the prothrombinase complex. Identical results were obtained when these reactions were conducted in the presence of dansylarginine-N-(3-ethyl- 1,5-pentanediyl) amide (DAPA), indicating that the changes observed could not have occurred as a consequence of cleavage by alpha-thrombin. Analysis of the products of the reaction by sodium dodecyl sulfate- polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) revealed a temporal correlation between the rise and fall in factor V activity and the presence of several transient intermediates. These fragments are distinct from the subunits of alpha-thrombin-activated factor V (factor Va). The activation phase of the reaction was not significantly affected by the presence of phospholipid. In contrast, the rate of degradation of active fragments of factor V and the accompanying loss of activity were markedly enhanced in the presence of phospholipid vesicles. These data suggest that the action of plasmin upon factor V results in the transient formation of proteolytic fragments which express significant procoagulant activity.
Minimally Invasive Radio-Guided Parathyroidectomy

Abstract Introduction: Preoperative and intraoperative localization strategies have allowed the development of minimally invasive surgical techniques for the treatment of primary hyperparathyroidis...
SU-D-BRB-05: Quantum Learning for Knowledge-Based Response-Adaptive Radiotherapy

Purpose: There is tremendous excitement in radiotherapy about applying data-driven methods to develop personalized clinical decisions for real-time response-based adaptation. However, classical statistical learning methods lack in terms of efficiency and ability to predict outcomes under conditions of uncertainty and incomplete information. Therefore, we are investigating physics-inspired machine learning approaches by utilizing quantum principles for developing a robust framework to dynamically adapt treatments to individual patient's characteristics and optimize outcomes. Methods: We studied 88 liver SBRT patients with 35 on non-adaptive and 53 on adaptive protocols. Adaptation was based on liver function using a split-course of 3+2 fractions with a month break. The radiotherapy environment was modeled as a Markov decision process (MDP) of baseline and one month into treatment states. The patient environment was modeled by a 5-variable state represented by patient's clinical and dosimetric covariates. For comparison of classical and quantum learning methods, decision-making to adapt at one month was considered. The MDP objective was defined by the complication-free tumor control (P+=TCPx(1-NTCP)). A simple regression model represented state-action mapping. Single bit in classical MDP and a qubit of 2-superimposed states in quantum MDP represented the decision actions. Classical decision selection was done using reinforcement Q-learning and quantum searching was performed using Grover's algorithm, which applies uniform superposition over possible states and yields quadratic speed-up. Results: Classical/quantum MDPs suggested adaptation (probability amplitude ≥0.5) 79% of the time for splitcourses and 100% for continuous-courses. However, the classical MDP had an average adaptation probability of 0.5±0.22 while the quantum algorithm reached 0.76±0.28. In cases where adaptation failed, classical MDP yielded 0.31±0.26 average amplitude while the quantum approach averaged a more optimistic 0.57±0.4, but with high phase fluctuations. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that quantum machine learning approaches provide a feasible and promising framework for real-time and sequential clinical decision-making in adaptive radiotherapy.
Intertextualidade: uma leitura borgiana de Martín Fierro

A intertextualidade constitui um aspecto muito significativo para os estudos contemporâneos de literatura, na medida em que possibilita uma abordagem diferenciada do fenomeno literario, considerando as possibilidades de dialogo que sucedem entre diferentes obras. Pretende-se, neste estudo, examinar os contos de Borges “Biografia de Tadeu Isidoro Cruz” e “O fim”, numa abordagem intertextual com a obra de Hernandez, Martin Fierro, considerando, principalmente, os estudos de Bakhtin, Kristeva e Jenny. Intertextuality constitutes a very meaningful aspect for the contemporary studies of Literature, in as much as it makes a different approach of the literary phenomenon possible, taking into consideration the dialogue possibilities which take place among different works. In this study, the novels by Borges, “Biografia de Tadeu Isidoro Cruz” and “O fim” are analyzed via an intertextual approach alongside the work by Hernandez, Martin Fierro, taking into main consideration the studies of Bakhtin, Kristeva and Jenny.
Statistical Issues in Assessing the Aids Epidemic

Understanding the spread of AIDS and the virus that causes it is much more difficult than is generally recognized. The hope of predicting even the size of the epidemic over the next fifteen years, let alone the population groups that will be affected, is limited by lack of information about the natural history of AIDS and the infectivity of HIV, and by our sketchy knowledge of sexual and needle-sharing behavior.
BNCT for the Prevention of Restenosis Following Angioplasty

The potential of Boron Neutron Capture Therapy for the prevention of restenosis following balloon angioplasty is under investigation at MIT’s Laboratory for Accelerator Beam Applications (LABA). Angioplasty is a treatment for atherosclerosis, a progressive vascular disease characterized by ‘plaque’ within the intima of large and medium sized arteries.1 Plaque is a result of (i) smooth muscle cell proliferation, (ii) extensive connective tissue including collagen and elastic fibers, and (iii) accumulation of lipid in the form of cholesterol. Plaque build-up results in occlusion of the artery and reduced oxygen delivery to the heart muscle. If untreated, this will be followed by reduced ejection fraction, muscle atrophy and eventual myocardial infarction.
Would Publishing in Some of Today’s Freewheeling Open Access Journals Represent the Best Manuscript Placement Strategy for Food Safety Scientists Facing an OA Mandate?

ABSTRACTFor eighty years, food safety scientists have analyzed and validated each other’s work on microbiological contamination, spoilage, and poisonings using subscription-based journals well known for their scientific integrity. Now, however, more and more funders encourage researchers to publish in open access (OA) journals and allow paying Article Processing Charges (APCs) from grants. This article determined the degree to which purely OA publishers have gained in market share of scholarly food safety papers since the 1999–2000 foundings of the highly reputable BMC (BioMed Central) and PLOS (Public Library of Science) families of journals and the rise of many other OA publishers in the interim, including some that are controversial. Even now only 10 percent of papers on the most important foodborne pathogens appear in OA sources. Food safety scientists who might eventually be required to publish on an OA basis would best reach their target audience and minimize reputational risk by exercising any avai...
Research Contributing to Improvements in Controlling Florida's Mosquitoes and Mosquito-borne Diseases.

Research on mosquitoes and mosquito-borne diseases has contributed to improvements in providing effective, efficient, and environmentally proper mosquito control. Florida has benefitted from several research accomplishments that have increased the state’s mosquito control capabilities. Research with Florida’s mosquitoes has resulted in the development of ecologically sound management of mosquito impoundments on Florida’s east coast. This strategy, called Rotational Impoundment Management (RIM), has improved the ability to target the delivery of pesticides and has helped to reduce non-target effects and environmental damage. Research has led to the development of an arbovirus surveillance system which includes sentinel chicken surveillance, real time use of environmental contributing factors like meteorology and hydrology to target mosquito control, as well as public health efforts to mitigate disease outbreaks to areas with risk of disease. These research driven improvements have provided substantial benefits to all of Florida. More research is needed to meet the future challenges to reduce emerging pathogens like Zika virus and the consequences of environmental changes like global climate change that are likely to influence the effects of mosquito-borne pathogens on human health and well-being.
Value‐Based Physician Payment in Oncology: Public and Private Insurer Initiatives

Policy Points: Public and private insurers are implementing payment mechanisms to improve coordination and reduce the cost of drug, hospital, and ancillary services for cancer patients. Some target unnecessary hospitalization, while others create incentives for prescribing lower-cost chemotherapies and biologics. Physician payment methods in oncology require a balance between incentives for cost control and incentives for patient access to expensive specialty drugs. None of the initiatives adopt bundled methods out of concern for shifting excessive financial risk onto physicians in the context of rapid pharmaceutical innovation. Context High-value oncology requires physicians to monitor and coordinate all aspects of care, educate and engage their patients, and adopt cost-effective drug treatments. However, oncology practices in the United States traditionally have been reimbursed based on the number of office visits performed and through cost-plus margins from prescription of expensive drugs. Public and private payers now are experimenting with methods of payment that include monthly care management fees, annual bonuses, and incentives for conservative choice among alternative drug regimens. Methods This paper uses case study methods to examine oncology payment initiatives at Medicare, Anthem, Aetna, and UnitedHealthcare, the nation's largest public and private health insurance plans. Findings The 4 insurers supplement traditional fee-for-service payment with payment methods designed to promote coordination of care and conservative use of health care resources. Medicare, Aetna, and UnitedHealthcare reward oncology practices that reduce per-patient spending, targeting unnecessary patient visits to emergency departments and hospitals. Anthem offers monthly payments to practices that adhere to lower-cost drug treatment pathways; Aetna increases the percentage markup on low-cost generic chemotherapies but not on high-cost biologics; and UnitedHealthcare removes the linkage between physician payment and spending on office-infused drugs. As a condition for receiving the new payments, each of the initiatives requires participating practices to report and, in some cases, improve performance on quality metrics. None of the initiatives bundles payment for oncology drugs together with payment for other oncology services, out of concern for shifting financial risk onto physicians and creating access barriers for patients. Conclusions The emerging “value-based” methods of oncology payment supplement fee-for-service and cost-based reimbursements with per-month and per-episode payments, but none of the payers bundle spending on cancer drugs with payments for other services. Payers recognize that bundled payment could create access barriers for patients and undermine innovation in effective but expensive new pharmaceuticals.
Observables in the decays of B to two vector mesons

In general there are nine observables in the decay of a B meson to two vector mesons defined in terms of polarization correlations of these mesons. Only six of these can be detected via the subsequent decay angular distributions because of parity conservation in those decays. The remaining three require the measurement of the spin polarization of one of the decay products. (c) 2000 The American Physical Society.
Vitamin D, Calcium, and Cancer: Approaching Daylight?

Vitamin D and calcium, long recognized as important for bone health, have attracted clinical interest in recent years for their potential nonskeletal benefits, including cancer prevention. Despite this enthusiasm, however, few completed randomized clinical trials of supplemental vitamin D administered with or without calcium have examined cancer end points, and no previously completed trial has reported cancer as a primary prespecified outcome. Moreover, few randomized trials have tested high doses of vitamin D (ie, at least twice as high as the current recommended dietary allowance of 600-800 IU/d for bone health1) for effects on nonskeletal outcomes.
Elemental analysis and characterization of electrical tape backings by LA-ICP-MS

Abstract Adhesive tapes are commonly found as physical evidence in cases involving violent crimes and national security threats. This research evaluated the utility of Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) for the characterization of chemical signatures of electrical tapes for forensic comparison and provenance purposes. The backings of 90 black electrical tapes, previously characterized by microscopical examination, Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Pyrolysis–Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry (Py–GC–MS), were analyzed by LA-ICP-MS to evaluate the ability of the technique to discriminate samples originating from different sources and to associate pieces of tapes originating from the same roll. The results showed that LA-ICP-MS is a useful tool that complements current protocols for the organic and inorganic characterization and comparison of electrical tapes and results in improved discrimination and superior characterization. The developed LA-ICP-MS method alone provided 94% correct discrimination of the tapes known to originate from different rolls and 100% correct association of the tapes known to originate from the same roll. Moreover, LA-ICP-MS captured a large amount of compositional information, as the use of elemental profiles alone provide similar discrimination and classification capabilities as all the conventional methods together. The analytical sensitivity of LA-ICP-MS provides a means for the classification of tapes to support investigations as well as the potential for database searching capabilities in the future.
The Incidence of Tax Credits for Hybrid Vehicles

A variety of state and federal tax incentives have been used to subsidize gas-electric hybrid vehicles. In this paper, I estimate the incidence of these tax incentives using microdata on sales of the Toyota Prius, in order to determine who benets from these policies. I focus on three sharp changes in federal subsidies stemming from the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and assemble several pieces of evidence which indicate that consumers captured nearly all of the benet. First, subsidy exclusive transaction prices do not jump in the anticipated direction in response to large changes in federal tax incentives. Second, estimates that account for consumer heterogeneity indicate that consumers captured the majority of the gains. Third, a state panel regression on state tax incentives shows that state tax incentives have little or no eect on transaction prices, which is consistent with the federal result. The conclusion that consumers captured the subsidy poses a challenge to standard models of tax incidence. Toyota faced a binding capacity constraint when the credit was introduced. Given a xed supply, standard models predict that Toyota would capture the subsidy. I argue that consumers gained instead because Toyota believed that raising prices to clear the market would lower future demand for hybrids. I outline a stylized model in which current prices inuence future demand and show that a capacity constraint can generate the tax incidence observed in the data. I then discuss factors that could give rise to such a demand system, drawing on the theory of search among alternatives and the behavioral literature on fairness. Finally, I draw lessons for the study of tax incidence in other markets.
Imaging Strategies for Suspected Acute Cranial Shunt Failure: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis

OBJECTIVES: We compared cost-effectiveness of cranial computed tomography (CT), fast sequence magnetic resonance imaging (fsMRI), and ultrasonography measurement of optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) for suspected acute shunt failure from the perspective of a health care organization. METHODS: We modeled 4 diagnostic imaging strategies: (1) CT scan, (2) fsMRI, (3) screening ONSD by using point of care ultrasound (POCUS) first, combined with CT, and (4) screening ONSD by using POCUS first, combined with fsMRI. All patients received an initial plain radiographic shunt series (SS). Short- and long-term costs of radiation-induced cancer were assessed with a Markov model. Effectiveness was measured as quality-adjusted life-years. Utilities and inputs for clinical variables were obtained from published literature. Sensitivity analyses were performed to evaluate the effects of parameter uncertainty. RESULTS: At a previous probability of shunt failure of 30%, a screening POCUS in patients with a normal SS was the most cost-effective. For children with abnormal SS or ONSD measurement, fsMRI was the preferred option over CT. Performing fsMRI on all patients would cost $269 770 to gain 1 additional quality-adjusted life-year compared with POCUS. An imaging pathway that involves CT alone was dominated by ONSD and fsMRI because it was more expensive and less effective. CONCLUSIONS: In children with low pretest probability of cranial shunt failure, an ultrasonographic measurement of ONSD is the preferred initial screening test. fsMRI is the more cost-effective, definitive imaging test when compared with cranial CT.
Issue Advertising and Legislative Voting on the Affordable Care Act

During the congressional fight over the Affordable Care Act (ACA), interest groups spent record sums on television issue advertising in targeted efforts to influence members of Congress, but did th...
Optimal estimation and scheduling in aquifer management using the rapid feedback control method

Abstract Management of water resources systems often involves a large number of parameters, as in the case of large, spatially heterogeneous aquifers, and a large number of “noisy” observations, as in the case of pressure observation in wells. Optimizing the operation of such systems requires both searching among many possible solutions and utilizing new information as it becomes available. However, the computational cost of this task increases rapidly with the size of the problem to the extent that textbook optimization methods are practically impossible to apply. In this paper, we present a new computationally efficient technique as a practical alternative for optimally operating large-scale dynamical systems. The proposed method, which we term Rapid Feedback Controller (RFC), provides a practical approach for combined monitoring, parameter estimation, uncertainty quantification, and optimal control for linear and nonlinear systems with a quadratic cost function. For illustration, we consider the case of a weakly nonlinear uncertain dynamical system with a quadratic objective function, specifically a two-dimensional heterogeneous aquifer management problem. To validate our method, we compare our results with the linear quadratic Gaussian (LQG) method, which is the basic approach for feedback control. We show that the computational cost of the RFC scales only linearly with the number of unknowns, a great improvement compared to the basic LQG control with a computational cost that scales quadratically. We demonstrate that the RFC method can obtain the optimal control values at a greatly reduced computational cost compared to the conventional LQG algorithm with small and controllable losses in the accuracy of the state and parameter estimation.
Engagement, Scholarship, and Faculty Work: Trends and Implications for Public Affairs Education

AbstractBuilding on the assumption that public administration and public affairs education has a role to play in helping students and communities bridge theory and practice, the author provides an overview of the “civic engagement movement” that is informing how higher education institutions, particularly their faculty, carry out their work. Ernest Boyer’s effort to “reconsider scholarship” is reviewed in light of current practices shaping contemporary public affairs education. The author explores the current trends affecting faculty work load and performance appraisal. Suggestions for further research and dialogue around the issues raised in this article are provided.
Clinical Applications of Low Dose Rate and Medium Dose Rate Brachytherapy

C. A. Perez, MD Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, Washington University Medical Center, 4511 Forest Park Boulevard, Suite 200, St. Louis, MO 63108, USA R. D. Zwicker, PhD Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Kentucky Medical Center, 800 Rose Street, Lexington, KY 40536, USA Z. Li, DSc Associate Professor, Division of Radiation Physics, Washington University Medical Center, 4921 Parkview Place, Campus Box 8224, Saint Louis, MO 63110, USA This chapter is an update of a similar chapter published in Principles and Practice of Radiation Oncology, 4th edn., Lippincott Williams Wilkins (Perez et al. 2004). CONTENTS
Finding ζ(2p) From a Product of Sines

1. K. P. S. Bhaskara Rao, The Theory of Generalized Inverses over Commutative Rings, Taylor and Francis, London, 2002. 2. D. Carlson, C. R. Johnson, D. C. Lay, and A. D. Porter, Linear Algebra Gems. Assets for Undergraduate Mathematics, Mathematical Association of America, Washington, D.C., 2002. 3. D. A. Harville, Matrix Algebra from a Statistician's Perspective, Springer-Verlag, New York, 1997 4. M. Machover, Matrices which take a given vector into a given vector, this MONTHLY 74 (1967) 851-852. 5. C. R. Rao and S. K. Mitra, Generalized Inverse of Matrices and its Applications, Wiley, New York, 1971.
Initiation of V(D)J Recombination in a Cell-Free System by RAG1 and RAG2 Proteins

Mature T cell receptor (TCR) and immunoglobulin (Ig) genes are assembled from separate gene segments, which are flanked by recombination signal sequences (RSS), consisting of conserved heptamer and nonamer motifs separated by a spacer region of 12 or 23 base pairs (bp). V(D)J recombination results in a precise head-to-head ligation of two signal sequences in a signal joint, and the imprecise joining of two coding segments in a coding joint, which may contain additions or deletions of a few bp. The imprecise nature of coding joints led to the hypothesis that double strand breaks (DSB) might be intermediates in the recombination pathway These DSB can then be processed by an exonuclease and/or by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) before formation of a coding joint.
Half the base or half the height?: Exploring a student's justification of ½ × base × height

The purpose of this work was to explore how elementary pre-service teachers responded to a novel strategy for justifying the triangle area formula. We conducted interviews with 24 pre-service teach...
Investigating systematic bias in brain age estimation with application to post‐traumatic stress disorders

Brain age prediction using machine-learning techniques has recently attracted growing attention, as it has the potential to serve as a biomarker for characterizing the typical brain development and neuropsychiatric disorders. Yet one long-standing problem is that the predicted brain age is overestimated in younger subjects and underestimated in older. There is a plethora of claims as to the bias origins, both methodologically and in data itself. With a large neuroanatomical dataset (N = 2,026; 6-89 years of age) from multiple shared datasets, we show this bias is neither data-dependent nor specific to particular method including deep neural network. We present an alternative account that offers a statistical explanation for the bias and describe a simple, yet efficient, method using general linear model to adjust the bias. We demonstrate the effectiveness of bias adjustment with a large multi-modal neuroimaging data (N = 804; 8-21 years of age) for both healthy controls and post-traumatic stress disorders patients obtained from the Philadelphia Neurodevelopmental Cohort.
Patient portal utilization: before and after stage 2 electronic health record meaningful use

OBJECTIVE Patient portal functionalities, such as patient-physician e-communication, can benefit patients by improving clinical outcomes. Utilization has historically been low but may have increased in recent years due to the implementation of Stage 2 Meaningful Use for electronic health records. This study has 2 objectives: 1) to compare patient portal utilization rates before Stage 2 (2011-2013) and after Stage 2 (2014-2017), and 2) to examine whether disparities in patient portal utilization attenuate after Stage 2. MATERIALS AND METHODS We conducted an observational study using a pooled cross-sectional analysis of 2011-2017 National Health Interview Survey data (n = 254 183). RESULTS The mean percent use of patient portals significantly increased from the pre-Stage 2 to the post-Stage 2 period (6.9%, 95% CI, 6.2-7.5; P < .001). Non-Hispanic Black individuals (OR 0.81, 95% CI, 0.76-0.86; P < .0001) and Hispanic individuals (OR 0.79, 95% CI, 0.74-0.84; P < .0001) have lower odds of using patient portals compared to non-Hispanic White individuals. Although we found independent effects of race/ethnicity, we did not find a statistically significant interaction between race/ethnicity and time. We found a similar level of increase in patient portal utilization from the pre- to postperiod across racial and ethnic groups. DISCUSSION Health care policies such as Stage 2 Meaningful Use are likely contributing to increased patient portal utilization across all patients and helping to attenuate disparities in utilization between subgroups of patients. CONCLUSION Further research is needed to explore which patient portal functionalities are perceived as most beneficial to patients and whether patients have access to those functionalities.
Predictors of work outcomes following supported employment in veterans with a history of traumatic brain injury.

BACKGROUND The effects of traumatic brain injury (TBI) on return to work have been the focus of many clinical studies in recent years. Veterans with a history of TBI may be at increased risk of unemployment. OBJECTIVE We sought to understand predictors of work outcomes for Veterans with a history of TBI who received evidence-based supported employment. METHODS Fifty unemployed Veterans with a history of mild-to-moderate TBI and current neuropsychological impairment participated in a 12-month supported employment intervention. Demographic data and baseline assessments of neuropsychological impairment, functional capacity, and psychiatric and post-concussive symptom severity were investigated as predictors of work outcomes (job attainment, weeks worked, and wages earned). RESULTS Bivariate analyses showed that lower disability ratings, more recent work history, more months worked in the past 5 years, lower PTSD symptom severity, worse verbal memory, and better cognitive flexibility were all associated with better work outcomes. In multivariate regression analyses, better cognitive flexibility and worse verbal memory performance predicted better work outcomes. CONCLUSIONS Further research is needed to determine how treatment of cognitive impairments and psychiatric symptoms is related to return to work in Veterans with a history of TBI.
Spectral Modification of Graphs for Improved Spectral Clustering

Spectral clustering algorithms provide approximate solutions to hard optimization problems that formulate graph partitioning in terms of the graph conductance. It is well understood that the quality of these approximate solutions is negatively affected by a possibly significant gap between the conductance and the second eigenvalue of the graph. In this paper we show that for \textbf{any} graph $G$, there exists a `spectral maximizer' graph $H$ which is cut-similar to $G$, but has eigenvalues that are near the theoretical limit implied by the cut structure of $G$. Applying then spectral clustering on $H$ has the potential to produce improved cuts that also exist in $G$ due to the cut similarity. This leads to the second contribution of this work: we describe a practical spectral modification algorithm that raises the eigenvalues of the input graph, while preserving its cuts. Combined with spectral clustering on the modified graph, this yields demonstrably improved cuts.