cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Measured and simulated dark J-V characteristics of a-Si:H single junction p-i-n solar cells irradiated with 40 keV electrons

The effect of 40 keV electron irradiation on a-Si:H p-i-n single-junction solar cells was investigated using measured and simulated dark J-V characteristics. EPRI-AMPS and PC-1D simulators were explored for use in the studies. The EPRI-AMPS simulator was employed and simulator parameters selected to produce agreement with measured J-V characteristics. Three current mechanisms were evident in the measured dark J-V characteristics after electron irradiation, namely, injection, shunting and a term of the form CV/sup m/. Using discrete energy states at the center of the band gap, good agreement was achieved between measured and simulated J-V characteristics in the forward-bias voltage region where the dark current density was dominated by injection. Some evidence of the CV/sup m/ term is present in device simulations with a higher density of states located at the center of the bandgap.
On the capacity of Abelian group codes over discrete memoryless channels

For most discrete memoryless channels, there does not exist a linear code which uses all of the channel's input symbols. Therefore, linearity of the code for such channels is a very restrictive condition and there should be a loosening of the algebraic structure of the code to a degree that the code can admit any channel input alphabet. For any channel input alphabet size, there always exists an Abelian group structure defined on the alphabet. We investigate the capacity of Abelian group codes over discrete memoryless channels and provide lower and upper bounds on the capacity.
An improved log-likelihood gradient for continuous-time stochastic systems with deterministic input

Using a covariance operator approach, we derive an explicit expression for the log-likelihood ratio gradient for system parameter estimation for continuous-time stochastic systems with deterministic inputs. The gradient formula includes the smoother estimates and derivatives of system matrices with no derivatives of estimates or covariance matrices. A deterministic input is also permitted, and the state noise covariance is not required to be nonsingular. Stable numerical techniques to calculate the gradient are also discussed.
Conflicts of Interest and the Future of Medicine: The United States, France, and Japan

Too little attention has been given to conflicts of interest, even as they overcome our most basic medical commitment: to care for those who need it. As they constitute a crisis of credibility for the medical profession, conflicts of interests can no longer be ignored. We cannot mask our failure to develop clearer thinking about conflicts of interest. Marc Rodwin, a professor of law at Suffolk University, provides us a huge book, Conflicts of Interest and the Future of Medicine, in which he examines the situation in France, the United States, and Japan. For each country, he presents a long history of the organization of medical practice – beginning in the Middle Ages for France. This precedes a description of the interplay among organized medicine, the market, and the state. The last chapter has two parts: a summary of strategies ‘to cope’ with conflicts of interest; and comments on the role of professionalism. Encyclopedic, but for this reader, the book was frustrating! Amazingly, Rodwin ignores the credibility crisis. Fewer and fewer patients, and even fewer physicians, trust today’s evidence-based medicine. Witness the epidemic of ‘alternative medicines’, an oxymoron. To me, the cause is clear: the pharmaceutical industry and too many doctors present benefits while masking risks. They resort to misleading sensationalism, rather than presenting the relevant information for a balanced picture. A high impact factor journal, for example, recently reported that consumption of fruit lowered by 22 per cent the risk of fatal ischemic heart disease. 1 What was not said was that to avoid one death, 500 people would have to eat eight portions (80g each) of fruits and vegetables daily for 8.4 years – more like a chimpanzee’s diet. Yet, in
Estimates on fractional higher derivatives of weak solutions for the Navier–Stokes equations

We study weak solutions of the 3D Navier-Stokes equations in whole space with L 2 initial data. It will be proved that r u is locally integrable in space-time for any real such that 1 < < 3, which says that almost third derivative is locally integrable. Up to now, only second derivativer 2 u has been known to be locally integrable by standard parabolic regularization. We also present sharp estimates of those quantities in weak-L 4=( +1) loc . These estimates depend only on the L 2 norm of initial data and integrating domains. Moreover, they are valid even for 3 as long as u is smooth. The proof uses a good approximation of Navier-Stokes and a blow-up technique, which let us to focusing on a local study. For the local study, we use De Giorgi method with a new pressure decomposition. To handle non-locality of the fractional Laplacian, we will adopt some properties of the Hardy space and Maximal functions.
Realizing "2001: A Space Odyssey": Piloted Spherical Torus Nuclear Fusion Propulsion

A conceptual vehicle design enabling fast, piloted outer solar system travel was created predicated on a small aspect ratio spherical torus nuclear fusion reactor. The initial requirements were satisfied by the vehicle concept, which could deliver a 172 mt crew payload from Earth to Jupiter rendezvous in 118 days, with an initial mass in low Earth orbit of 1,690 mt. Engineering conceptual design, analysis, and assessment was performed on all major systems including artificial gravity payload, central truss, nuclear fusion reactor, power conversion, magnetic nozzle, fast wave plasma heating, tankage, fuel pellet injector, startup/re-start fission reactor and battery bank, refrigeration, reaction control, communications, mission design, and space operations. Detailed fusion reactor design included analysis of plasma characteristics, power balance/utilization, first wall, toroidal field coils, heat transfer, and neutron/x-ray radiation. Technical comparisons are made between the vehicle concept and the interplanetary spacecraft depicted in the motion picture 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Can Reporting Norms Create a Safe Harbor? Jury Verdicts against Auditors under Precise and Imprecise Accounting Standards

ABSTRACT: We conduct an experiment with 749 mock jurors to examine whether juries evaluate auditors differently under precise versus imprecise standards when the client reporting is held constant. We find that the impact of standard precision on jury verdicts depends on the aggressiveness of the audit client's financial reports and on the industry reporting norm. When the client's reporting is more aggressive and violates the precise standard, juries return fewer verdicts against auditors under the imprecise standard, especially when the reporting complies with the industry norm. When the client's reporting is less aggressive and complies with the precise standard, juries return more verdicts against auditors under the imprecise standard, but only when the client's reporting is more aggressive than the industry norm. Compliance with industry reporting norms appears to provide auditors with safe harbor protection from negligence verdicts when accounting standards are imprecise.
A Unified Strategy for the Total Synthesis of the Angucycline Antibiotics SF 2315A, Urdamycinone B, and the Shunt Metabolite 104–2

Total syntheses of the angucycline antibiotics SF 2315A (2), urdamycinone B (4), and the shunt metabolite 104–2 (5) are described, as well as an approach toward the synthesis of SF 2315B (3). All four syntheses feature a Diels–Alder cycloaddition between a bromojuglone derivative and an optically active diene (25a), the latter derived from (–)-quinic acid. Subsequent key transformations include (i) stereocontrolled introduction of ring fusion oxygen functionality featured in SF 2315A (2) and SF 2315 B (3), (ii) preparation of C-glycosyl juglone 53, and (iii) NMO mediated oxidative aromatization of 60.
Electromagnetic Inverse Scattering Algorithm and Experiment Using Absolute Source Characterization

We present the results of a free-space microwave inverse scattering algorithm and experiment. The inversion algorithm is based on the Born iterative method but with a new integral equation operator that directly links the material contrasts we wish to image to S-parameter measurements of a vector network analyzer. This is done with a full-wave antenna model based on the source-scattering matrix formulation. This model allows us to absolutely calibrate an inverse scattering setup without the need for calibration targets. We describe the new operator and how it modifies the inversion algorithm, and explain how to make the algorithm and experiment consistent. We then give the results of imaging several dielectric objects and show the limits of the algorithm in experiment.
Scale-free aggregation in sensor networks

Sensor networks are distributed data collection systems, frequently used for monitoring environments in which "nearby" data have a high degree of correlation. This induces opportunities for data aggregation, that are crucial given the severe energy constraints of the sensors. Thus, it is very desirable to take advantage of data correlations in order to avoid transmitting redundancy. In our model, we formalize a notion of correlation, that can vary according to a parameter k. Then we relate the expected collision time of "nearby" walks on the grid to the optimum cost of scale-free aggregation.We also propose a very simple randomized algorithm for routing information on a grid of sensors that satisfies the appropriate collision time condition. Thus, we prove that this simple scheme is a constant factor approximation (in expectation) to the optimum aggregation tree simultaneously for all correlation parameters k. The key contribution in our randomized analysis is to bound the average expected collision time of non-homogeneous random walks on the grid, i.e. the next hop probability depends on the current position.
Ion transit pathways and gating in ClC chloride channels.

ClC chloride channels possess a homodimeric structure in which each monomer contains an independent chloride ion pathway. ClC channel gating is regulated by chloride ion concentration, pH and voltage. Based on struc- tural and physiological evidence, it has been pro- posed that a glutamate residue on the extracellu- lar end of the selectivity filter acts as a fast gate. We utilized a new search algorithm that incorpo- rates electrostatic information to explore the ion transit pathways through wild-type and mutant bacterial ClC channels. Examination of the chlo- ride ion permeation pathways supports the impor- tance of the glutamate residue in gating. An exter- nal chloride binding site previously postulated in physiological experiments is located near a con- served basic residue adjacent to the gate. In addi- tion, access pathways are found for proton migra- tion to the gate, enabling pH control at hyperpolarized membrane potentials. A chloride ion in the selectivity filter is required for the pH-dependent gating mechanism. Proteins 2004;
Limit point buckling of a finite beam on a nonlinear foundation

In this paper, we consider an imperfect finite beam lying on a nonlinear foundation, whose dimensionless stiffness is reduced from 1 to k as the beam deflection increases. Periodic equilibrium solutions are found analytically and are in good agreement with a numerical resolution, suggesting that localized buckling does not appear for a finite beam. The equilibrium paths may exhibit a limit point whose existence is related to the imperfection size and the stiffness parameter k through an explicit condition. The limit point decreases with the imperfection size while it increases with the stiffness parameter. We show that the decay/growth rate is sensitive to the restoring force model. The analytical results on the limit load may be of particular interest for engineers in structural mechanics.
Vacuum system design of the MIT-Bates South Hall Ring

The MIT-Bates Linear Accelerator Center is now in the commissioning stage for the new South Hall Ring (SHR). The SHR is a 1 GeV electron storage/stretcher ring with a 190 meter circumference and is designed for circulating beams of 80 mA. The SHR vacuum system was completed in January 1993 with commissioning starting in February. This paper describes the design of the vacuum system, hardware developed and operational performance during commissioning. >
Aggregate output, capital, and labor in the post-war U.S. economy

Abstract New estimates of an aggregate long-term production function for the post-war U.S. economy are reported. The results indicate that this long-term aggregate production function exhibits a slight but statistically significant increasing returns to scale. Since virtually all econometric growth studies assume constant returns to scale, my finding raises serious doubts about the validity of this common practice. I also find that since the war real output has become more sensitive to changes in capital and less sensitive to changes in labor. In particular, I show that the long-run capital and labor elasticities of real output are both in the range of 0.44–0.55. Similar estimates for the capital and labor elasticities of output from earlier studies covering pre-war and the inter-war periods are 0.25 and 0.75, respectively.
Synthesis, structure and physicochemical characterization of a noncentrosymmetric, quaternary thiostannate: EuCu2SnS4

EuCu{sub 2}SnS{sub 4} was prepared by a stoichiometric combination of the elements heated to 700 deg. C for 125 h. The structure was determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction methods. The compound crystallizes in the noncentrosymmetric, orthorhombic space group Ama2 with a=10.4793(1) A, b=10.3610(2) A, c=6.4015(1) A, Z=4, R1=0.99% and wR2=2.37%. The structure type is that of SrCu{sub 2}GeSe{sub 4}. The structure can be described as a three-dimensional network built from near perfect SnS{sub 4} and distorted CuS{sub 4} tetrahedra together with EuS{sub 8} square antiprisms. The dark red compound is a semiconductor with an optical bandgap of 1.85 eV. - Graphical Abstract: EuCu{sub 2}SnS{sub 4} crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group Ama2 and adopts the SrCu{sub 2}GeSe{sub 4} structure-type. The structure can be described as a three-dimensional network built from near perfect SnS{sub 4} and distorted CuS{sub 4} tetrahedra together with EuS{sub 8} square antiprisms.
Recent advances in the total synthesis of agelastatins

Agelastatins represent an important family of marine alkaloids in terms of both exceptional biological activity and intriguing chemical structure. In this article, the isolation and biological activity of agelastatins are reviewed, and proposed biosynthetic pathways are summarized. The main focus is given to comparative evaluation of recent total syntheses, mainly of agelastatin A. To date, this has been accomplished by 11 research groups. Their synthetic routes are analyzed and summarized, with a view to furnishing the reader with insight into different strategic design approaches to assembly of a densely functionalized and compact structure.
Normal faulting on Europa: implications for ice shell properties

We identify two likely normal faults on Europa, of lengths z30 and 11 km. A simple flexural model of fault-related topography gives effective elastic thicknesses of 1.2 and 0.15 km, respectively, and the resulting inferred fault strength is of order 1 MPa. The maximum fault displacement: length ratio for each fault is z0.02, comparable with values on silicate planets. We combine this observation with a modified linear elastic fracture mechanics model to conclude that the shear modulus of the Europan surface must be significantly less than that for unfractured ice. The low value of the modulus is probably due to near-surface fracturing or porosity, which will affect the material’s radar properties and seismic velocities. For a likely reduction in shear modulus of an order of magnitude, the driving stresses inferred are about 6e8 MPa, much higher than present-day diurnal tidal stresses. However, stresses approaching these values can be generated by non-synchronous rotation or polar wander, while stresses exceeding these values arise during ice shell freezing. If the entire larger fault breaks, it will generate an event of seismic magnitude Msz5.3. 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Estimating Divergence Functionals and the Likelihood Ratio by Convex Risk Minimization

We develop and analyze M-estimation methods for divergence functionals and the likelihood ratios of two probability distributions. Our method is based on a nonasymptotic variational characterization of f -divergences, which allows the problem of estimating divergences to be tackled via convex empirical risk optimization. The resulting estimators are simple to implement, requiring only the solution of standard convex programs. We present an analysis of consistency and convergence for these estimators. Given conditions only on the ratios of densities, we show that our estimators can achieve optimal minimax rates for the likelihood ratio and the divergence functionals in certain regimes. We derive an efficient optimization algorithm for computing our estimates, and illustrate their convergence behavior and practical viability by simulations.
A Novel Synthesis of tert‐ Alkyl Sulfides

tert- Alkyl sulfides are conveniently prepared from α-(1H-benzotriazol-1-yl)alkyl sulfides by displacement of the 1H-benzotriazol-1-yl group with Grignard reagents. The 1-[α-(alkylthio)alkyl]- and 1-[α-(arylthio)alkyl]-1H-benzotriazole intermediates are easily available by several routes: (i) displacement of the halogen from appropriate halides by sodium salts of thiols, (ii) condensation of 1H-benzotriazole and thiols with carbonyl compounds, or (iii) lithiation of N-substituted 1H-benzotriazoles and subsequent treatment with electrophiles.
An intrinsic homotopy for intersecting algebraic varieties

Recently we developed a diagonal homotopy method to compute a numerical representation of all positive dimensional components in the intersection of two irreducible algebraic sets. In this paper, we rewrite this diagonal homotopy in intrinsic coordinates, which reduces the number of variables, typically in half. This has the potential to save a significant amount of computation, especially in the iterative solving portion of the homotopy path tracker. Three numerical experiments all show a speedup of about a factor two.
Aging in a Cultural Context: Cross-national Differences in Disability and the Moderating Role of Personal Control among Older Adults in the United States and England

Objectives. We investigate cross-national differences in late-life health outcomes and focus on an intriguing difference in beliefs about personal control found between older adult populations in the U.K. and United States. We examine the moderating role of control beliefs in the relationship between physical function and self-reported difficulty with daily activities.
Reductions of Carboxylic Acids and Esters with NaBH4 in Diglyme at 162°C

Abstract Aromatic esters, including the extremely sterically hindered ester: t-amyl 2-chlorobenzoate, are readily reduced to the corresponding benzyl alcohols in high yield with NaBH4 in refluxing diglyme (162°C). In sharp contrast, aliphatic esters usually gave only low yields of alcohols. Instead, diglyme fragmentation products are formed which undergo transesterification reactions, producing complex product mixtures including products such as RCOOCH2CH2OCH3. The mechanism of this process involves sodium borohydride-induced SN2 cleavage of diglyme (hydride attack) at high temperatures. However, when the extremely electron rich, 3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoic acid is treated with NaBH4/diglyme at 162°C (with or without an equivalent of LiCl), no 3,4,5-trimethyoxybenzyl alcohol is formed. The electron rich and hindered ester, t-amyl-3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoate, also does not reduce under these conditions (with or without LiCl). However, both methyl and isopropyl 3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoate esters were converted into 3...
Changes in Body Temperature and Basal Metabolic Rate of the Ama

Oral temperatures of Korean diving women (ama) were measured before and after diving work in four seasons of the year. Their basal metabolic rate, measured in four seasons, was compared to that of ...
Naphthoquinones of Drosera spathulata from in vitro cultures

Abstract From Drosera spathulata obtained by in vitro culture the known 1,4-naphthoquinones—7-methyljuglone, artefactual 2- and 3-methoxy-7-methyljuglone, together with 7-methyl-1,4,5-trihydroxynaphthalene 4-O-glucoside (rossoliside) were isolated. The structure of the last-named compound, was substantiated by NMR correlation techniques. It was also shown that 7-methyljuglone can be very easily released from rossoliside.
Correlated Equilibrium via Hierarchies of Beliefs

We study a model of correlated equilibrium where every player takes actions based on his hierarchies of beliefs (belief on what other players will do, on what other players believe about others will do, etc.) intrinsic to the game. Our model does away with messages from outside mediator that are usually assumed in the interpretation of correlated equilibrium. We characterize in every finite, complete information game the exact sets of correlated equilibria (both subjective and objective) that can be obtained conditioning on hierarchies of beliefs; the characterizations rely on a novel iterated deletion procedure. If the procedure ends after k rounds of deletion for a correlated equilibrium obtained from hierarchies of beliefs, then players in the equilibrium need to reason to at most k-th order beliefs. Further conceptual and geometric properties of the characterizations are studied.
Combinatorial design of key distribution mechanisms for wireless sensor networks

Secure communications in wireless sensor networks operating under adversarial conditions require providing pairwise (symmetric) keys to sensor nodes. In large scale deployment scenarios, there is no priory knowledge of post deployment network configuration since nodes may be randomly scattered over a hostile territory. Thus, shared keys must be distributed before deployment to provide each node a key-chain. For large sensor networks it is infeasible to store a unique key for all other nodes in the key-chain of a sensor node. Consequently, for secure communication either two nodes have a key in common in their key-chains and they have a wireless link between them, or there is a path, called key-path, among these two nodes where each pair of neighboring nodes on this path have a key in common. Length of the key-path is the key factor for efficiency of the design. This paper presents novel deterministic and hybrid approaches based on Combinatorial Design for deciding how many and which keys to assign to each key-chain before the sensor network deployment. In particular, Balanced Incomplete Block Designs (BIBD) and Generalized Quadrangles (GQ) are mapped to obtain efficient key distribution schemes. Performance and security properties of the proposed schemes are studied both analytically and computationally. Comparison to related work shows that the combinatorial approach produces better connectivity with smaller key-chain sizes.
Multi-component one-pot synthesis of the tumor-associated carbohydrate antigen Globo-H based on preactivation of thioglycosyl donors.

Two efficient routes for the rapid assembly of the tumor-associated carbohydrate antigen Globo-H hexasaccharide 2 by a preactivation based iterative one-pot strategy are reported. The first method involves the sequential coupling of four glycosyl building blocks, leading to the desired hexasaccharide in 47% overall yield in one-pot synthesis. Although model studies on constructing the challenging Gal-α-(1−4)-Gal linkage in Gb3 trisaccharide yielded the desired α linkage almost exclusively, a similar approach to assemble the hexasaccharide led to the formation of a significant amount of β anomer. As an alternative, the second synthesis utilized three components in one pot with the Gal-α-(1−4)-Gal linkage preformed, producing the desired hexasaccharide in a similar overall yield as the four component approach. Both methods demonstrate that oligosaccharides containing α and β linkages within the same molecule can be constructed in one pot via a preactivation based approach with higher glyco-assembly efficien...
Facet engineering for SiGe/Si stressors in advanced CMOS technology

Abstract A two-layer SiGe stressor was introduced for our CMOS technology containing a bottom layer with high Ge content to induce more stress to the channel and a top layer with lower Ge content for better nickel silicidation. However, even with the top lower Ge layer, defects were found after silicidation causing contact punch through. Since it is well known that the silicidation improves for Si, the SiGe top layer was replaced by a Si layer (Si-cap). Evaluation on 750 °C and 850 °C grown Si-cap was done. Different temperature grown Si-caps showed different growth behavior with morphology of the Si-cap grown at 850 °C completely different than that of the Si cap grown at 750 °C. There was a clear {3 1 1} facet formation for the higher temperature Si-cap resulting in a pinning effect to the spacer edge similar to that observed for the SiGe-cap. The faceted Si-cap improved silicidation and device parameters enabling the extension of this integration approach for SiGe/Si stressors to the more advanced technology nodes.
Employee Choice Of Voice: A New Workplace Dynamic

Employee voicean emerging strand of contemporary organizational communicationis quickly becoming one of the most important workplace phenomena of our time thanks, in large part, to increases and improvements in the depth and breadth of technology. Technological breakthroughs have inspired new ways for employees to voice their satisfaction and dissatisfaction in the employment place in ways that were not possible only a decade ago. Social media such as Facebook, Myspace and LinkedIn as well other chat-rooms and blogs can now reach vast national and international audiences with messages that may or may not be organizationally desirable or sanctioned. The article traces the emergence of employee voice mechanisms and types, especially as the latter relates to these technology-inspired social media. The articles central contribution is to be found on many levels including, but not limited to: helping the reader to understand how an employees choice for a voice mechanism is no longer the exclusive preserve of the organization they work for; reviewing the contextual organizational parameters that determine how and what a propensity of employees are likely to choose as their voice mechanisms; and recommending a strategy for developing and managing employee voice to enhance and sustain an organizations competitive advantage.
Real Assets and Inflation: Which Real Assets Hedge Inflation

Abstract Inflation is considered as a leading macroeconomic indicator, which might create substantial distortions in financial statements, future earnings, and overall performance of securities in the financial market. An inflation-hedging ability of an asset offers protection against inflation, which eliminates or at least reduces the uncertainty about the future real returns. Real assets like real estate, timberland, and farmland have been regarded as good inflation hedges, whereas financial assets like common stocks and bonds are considered as perverse hedges against inflation. Using the generalized Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) to account for inflation, this study evaluates the inflation-hedging ability of several real assets. Consistent with the findings of previous studies, this study concludes that private-equity assets offer hedges against inflation to some extent, but stocks are found to be inferior hedges against inflation. JEL classification: G11 (Keywords: Real Assets, Inflation, CAPM, Private-equity assets, Public-equity assets)
Why Concepts Creep to the Left

Last year I cowrote an essay with Greg Lukianoff titled “The Coddling of the American Mind” (Lukianoff & Haidt, 2015). Lukianoff and I analyzed several new concepts that have been spreading rapidly...
Sign Learning Kink-based (SiLK) Quantum Monte Carlo for molecular systems

The Sign Learning Kink (SiLK) based Quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) method is used to calculate the ab initio ground state energies for multiple geometries of the H2O, N2, and F2 molecules. The method is based on Feynman’s path integral formulation of quantum mechanics and has two stages. The first stage is called the learning stage and reduces the well-known QMC minus sign problem by optimizing the linear combinations of Slater determinants which are used in the second stage, a conventional QMC simulation. The method is tested using different vector spaces and compared to the results of other quantum chemical methods and to exact diagonalization. Our findings demonstrate that the SiLK method is accurate and reduces or eliminates the minus sign problem.
BEAD: Best effort autonomous deletion in content-centric networking

A core feature of Content-Centric Networking (CCN) is opportunistic content caching in routers. It enables routers to satisfy content requests with in-network cached copies, thereby reducing bandwidth utilization, decreasing congestion, and improving overall content retrieval latency. One major drawback of in-network caching is that content producers have no knowledge about where their content is stored. This is problematic if a producer wishes to delete its content. In this paper, we show how to address this problem with a protocol called BEAD (Best-Effort Autonomous Deletion). It performs content deletion via small and secure packets that resemble current CCN messages. We discuss several methods of routing BEAD packets from producers to caching routers with varying levels of network overhead and efficacy. We assess BEAD's performance via simulations and provide a detailed analysis of its properties.
The Hungarian method for the assignment problem

This paper has always been one of my favorite “children,” combining as it does elements of the duality of linear programming and combinatorial tools from graph theory. It may be of some interest to tell the story of its origin.
GM-CSF based cancer vaccines

Vaccination with irradiated tumor cells engineered to secrete granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) generates potent, specific, and long-lasting anti-tumor immunity in murine models through improved tumor antigen presentation by mature CD11b+ dendritic cells and macrophages. The coordinated activities of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, CD1d-restricted invariant NKT cells, and antibodies accomplish protective immunity. Two Phase I clinical trials evaluating this immunization scheme in patients with disseminated melanoma revealed the consistent elicitation in distant metastases of dense T- and B-cell infiltrates that effectuated substantial tumor necrosis and fibrosis. In a pilot study of previously vaccinated patients, the subsequent administration of a humanized blocking antibody against cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) stimulated additional tumor destruction with lymphocyte and granulocyte infiltrates, albeit with the development of T-cell reactivity to normal melanocytes. Studies to date established that patients responding to vaccination developed high titer IgG antibodies that were reactive with cell surface and intracellular melanoma determinants as demonstrated by immunoblotting and flow cytometry. Lymphocytes harvested from infiltrated metastases displayed potent cytotoxicity and broad cytokine production towards autologous melanoma cells. Through a combination of antibody-based expression cloning and T-cell epitope characterization, the ATP6S1 subunit of the vacuolar-ATPase complex, the putative opioid growth factor receptor OGFr, and the melanoma inhibitor of apoptosis protein (ML-IAP) were identified as target antigens for antibodies or T cells in some long-term responding patients. Unexpectedly, humoral reactions to ATP6S1 and OGFr were associated with tumor destruction in patients with diverse cancers. Moreover, the delineation of ML-IAP as a target revealed that antigen-loss variants could mediate immune evasion within the context of whole tumor cell vaccines. Additional detailed analysis of blood and tumor samples from responding and resistant patients in these clinical trials should help elucidate the mechanisms and targets of immune-mediated tumor destruction. This abstract was published in Cancer Immunity, a Cancer Research Institute journal that ceased publication in 2013 and is now provided online in association with Cancer Immunology Research.
Community structure in introductory physics course networks

Student-to-student interactions are foundational to many active learning environments, but are most often studied using qualitative methods. Network analysis tools provide a quantitative complement to this picture, allowing researchers to describe the social interactions of whole classrooms as systems. Past results from introductory physics courses have suggested a sharp division in the formation of social structure between large lecture sections and small studio classroom environments. Extending those results, this study focuses on calculus-based introductory physics courses at a large public university with a heavily commuter and nontraditional student population. Community detection network methods are used to characterize pre- and post-course collaborative structure in several sections, and differences are considered between small and large classes. These results are compared with expectations from earlier findings, and comment on implications for instruction and further study.
Can Small Incentives Have Large Effects?: The Impact of Taxes versus Bonuses on Disposable Bag Use

Financial incentives are an important policy tool for encouraging prosocial behavior. However, evidence on the effect of very small financial incentives is mixed. Drawing on an original data set, I investigate the effect of a five-cent shopping bag tax imposed in the Washington Metropolitan Area. Despite the small size of the incentive, I found that the tax decreased the fraction of customers using a disposable bag by a substantial amount. In contrast, a similar policy that offered customers a five-cent bonus for reusable bag use generated virtually no effect on behavior. This pattern is consistent with a model of loss aversion and underscores the importance of the form a financial incentive takes - a tax versus a bonus - when designing policies aimed at shaping consumer behavior.
General Copper-Catalyzed Coupling of Alkyl-, Aryl-, and Alkynylaluminum Reagents with Organohalides

We report the first example of a very general Cu-catalyzed cross-coupling of organoaluminum reagents with organohalides. The reactions proceed for the couplings of alkyl-, aryl-, and alkynylaluminum reagents with aryl and heteroaryl halides and vinyl bromides, affording the cross-coupled products in good to excellent yields. Both primary and secondary alkylaluminum reagents can be utilized as organometallic coupling partners. These reactions are not complicated by β-hydride elimination, and as a result rearranged products are not observed with secondary alkylaluminum reagents even for couplings with heteroaryl halides under “ligand-free” conditions. Radical clock experiment with a radical probe and relative reactivity study of Ph3Al with two haloarenes, 1-bromonaphthalene and 4-chlorobenzonitrile, having two different redox potentials indicates that the reaction does not involve free aryl radicals and radical anions as intermediates. These results combined with the result of the Hammett plot obtained by r...
Sparse estimation of Cox proportional hazards models via approximated information criteria.

We propose a new sparse estimation method for Cox (1972) proportional hazards models by optimizing an approximated information criterion. The main idea involves approximation of the l0 norm with a continuous or smooth unit dent function. The proposed method bridges the best subset selection and regularization by borrowing strength from both. It mimics the best subset selection using a penalized likelihood approach yet with no need of a tuning parameter. We further reformulate the problem with a reparameterization step so that it reduces to one unconstrained nonconvex yet smooth programming problem, which can be solved efficiently as in computing the maximum partial likelihood estimator (MPLE). Furthermore, the reparameterization tactic yields an additional advantage in terms of circumventing postselection inference. The oracle property of the proposed method is established. Both simulated experiments and empirical examples are provided for assessment and illustration.
Gold-Catalyzed Ammonium Acetate Assisted Cascade Cyclization of 2-Alkynylarylketones.

An ammonium acetate assisted gold-catalyzed cascade cyclization reaction of 2-alkynylarylketones is described. Under the reported conditions, a gold-catalyzed intramolecular cyclization of 2-alkynylarylketones takes place through two competing reaction mechanisms—a 5-exo-dig or a 6-endo-dig cyclization—leading to two regioisomeric intermediates: isobenzofuranium or isobenzopyrylium. In the presence of ammonium acetate, the two intermediate compounds undergo further rearrangement to 2,3-disubstituted indenones and 1,3-disubstituted isoquinolines, respectively. While both reaction pathways proceed via a cyclization–rearrangement cascade, the gold-mediated 5-exo-dig process is especially notable, as it provides a novel cyclization protocol of 2-alkynylarylketones.
Universal few-body physics in resonantly interacting spinor condensates

Optical trapping techniques allow for the formation of bosonic condensates with internal degrees of freedom, so-called spinor condensates. Mean-field models of spinor condensates highlight the sensitivity of the quantum phases of the system to the relative strength of the two-body interaction in the different spin-channels. Such a description captures the regime where these interactions are weak. In the opposite and largely unexplored regime of strongly correlated spinor condensates, three-body interactions can play an important role through the Efimov effect, producing possible novel phases. Here, we study the three-body spinor problem using the hyperspherical adiabatic representation for spin-1, -2 and -3 condensates in the stronglycorrelated regime. We characterize the Efimov physics for such systems and the relevant threebody mean-field parameters. We find that the Efimov effect can strongly affect the spin dynamics and three-body mean-field contributions to the possible quantum phases of the condensate through universal contributions to scattering observables.
Properties of infrared extrapolations in a harmonic oscillator basis

The success and utility of effective field theory (EFT) in explaining the structure and reactions of few-nucleon systems has prompted the initiation of EFT-inspired extrapolations to larger model spaces in ab initio methods such as the no-core shell model (NCSM). In this contribution, we review and continue our studies of infrared (ir) and ultraviolet (uv) regulators of NCSM calculations in which the input is phenomenological NN and NNN interactions fitted to data. We extend our previous findings that an extrapolation in the ir cutoff with the uv cutoff above the intrinsic uv scale of the interaction is quite successful, not only for the eigenstates of the Hamiltonian but also for expectation values of operators, such as r2, considered long range. The latter results are obtained with Hamiltonians transformed by the similarity renormalization group (SRG) evolution. On the other hand, a possible extrapolation of ground state energies in the uv cutoff when the ir cutoff is below the intrinsic ir scale is not robust and does not agree with the ir extrapolation of the same data or with independent calculations using other methods.
Assessing the efficacy of benchmarks for automatic speech accent recognition

Speech accents can possess valuable information about the speaker that can be used in intelligent multimedia-based human-computer interfaces. The performance of algorithms for automatic classification of accents is often evaluated using audio datasets that include recording samples of different people, representing different accents. Here we describe a method that can detect bias in accent datasets, and apply the method to two accent identification datasets to reveal the existence of dataset bias, meaning that the datasets can be classified with accuracy higher than random even if the tested algorithm has no ability to analyze speech accent. We used the datasets by separating one second of silence from the beginning of each audio sample, such that the one-second sample did not contain voice, and therefore no information about the accent. An audio classification method was then applied to the datasets of silent audio samples, and provided classification accuracy significantly higher than random. These results indicate that the performance of accent classification algorithms measured using some accent classification benchmarks can be biased, and can be driven by differences in the background noise rather than the auditory features of the accents.
Yield, Quality, and Spectral Reflectance Responses of Cotton under Subsurface Drip Irrigation

Published in Agron. J. 107:1355–1364 (2015) doi:10.2134/agronj14.0502 Copyright © 2015 by the American Society of Agronomy, 5585 Guilford Road, Madison, WI 53711. All rights reserved. No part of this periodical may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. ABSTRACT In the semiarid Texas Rolling Plains, the growth and yield of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is driven by the amount of water available to the crop through irrigation and precipitation. A field study was conducted in 2012 and 2013 at Chillicothe, TX, to investigate the growth, yield, water use efficiency (WUE), and spectral reflectance responses of cotton. A split-split plot design with three replications was used with irrigation as the main plot (three irrigation levels and dryland), tillage (no tillage and conventional tillage) as the subplot, and cultivars (PHY499, DP1044, PHY375, and FM9170) as the sub-subplot treatments. Plant height, lint yield, WUE, and fiber quality were significantly affected by irrigation and irrigation × cultivar interaction. Increasing irrigation level resulted in a linear increase in lint yield and WUE. The irrigation × cultivar interaction showed that the 90% evapotranspiration (ET) replacement treatment with PHY375 produced the greatest lint yield and WUE. Tillage did not significantly affect lint yield, WUE, or fiber quality. Increasing irrigation resulted in a linear increase in fiber length and strength, and a linear decrease in fiber micronaire. Two vegetation indices, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and normalized difference water index (NDWI) were calculated using spectral reflectance measurements in this study. The NDWI increased steadily for all irrigation treatments during the measurement period. However, NDVI exhibited little change during the peak growth period between 79 and 89 d after planting. We suggest further investigation on using NDWI for irrigation management for cotton in the Texas Rolling Plains.
Engaging parents in Family Court: Lessons from an observational study of child protection cases

SummaryThis study explores the courtroom interactions between judges, attorneys, and parents charged with child abuse or neglect. Drawing on ethnographic observations of court cases in a Family Court located in the northeastern United States, this study seeks to understand how judges encourage or inhibit parents’ participation and the strategies and tactics used to influence parental behaviors and obtain cooperation with court orders.FindingsOn one end of the spectrum are judges who engage little, or not at all with parents, preferring to speak only to the professional court actors. On the other end of the spectrum is a more participatory approach, with judges weaving parents into court room exchanges and engaging them in informational and decision-making dialogs. A similar divergence appears when soliciting cooperation from parents, with some judges relying on shaming rituals and others using a softer approach that incorporates praise and support.ApplicationsStrategic interventions are identified that wi...
Two Similarity Metrics for Medical Subject Headings(MeSH):: An Aid to Biomedical Text Mining and Author Name Disambiguation

In the present paper, we have created and characterized several similarity metrics for relating any two Medical Subject Headings (MeSH terms) to each other. The article-based metric measures the tendency of two MeSH terms to appear in the MEDLINE record of the same article. The author-based metric measures the tendency of two MeSH terms to appear in the body of articles written by the same individual (using the 2009 Author-ity author name disambiguation dataset as a gold standard). The two metrics are only modestly correlated with each other (r = 0.50), indicating that they capture different aspects of term usage. The article-based metric provides a measure of semantic relatedness, and MeSH term pairs that co-occur more often than expected by chance may reflect relations between the two terms. In contrast, the author metric is indicative of how individuals practice science, and may have value for author name disambiguation and studies of scientific discovery. We have calculated article metrics for all MeSH terms appearing in at least 25 articles in MEDLINE (as of 2014) and author metrics for MeSH terms published as of 2009. The dataset is freely available for download and can be queried at http://arrowsmith.psych.uic.edu/arrowsmith_uic/mesh_pair_metrics.html . Handling editor: Elizabeth Workman, MLIS, PhD.
Speciation by Symbiosis: the Microbiome and Behavior

Species are fundamental units of comparison in biology. The newly discovered importance and ubiquity of host-associated microorganisms are now stimulating work on the roles that microbes can play in animal speciation. We previously synthesized the literature and advanced concepts of speciation by symbiosis with notable attention to hybrid sterility and lethality. Here, we review recent studies and relevant data on microbes as players in host behavior and behavioral isolation, emphasizing the patterns seen in these analyses and highlighting areas worthy of additional exploration. We conclude that the role of microbial symbionts in behavior and speciation is gaining exciting traction and that the holobiont and hologenome concepts afford an evolving intellectual framework to promote research and intellectual exchange between disciplines such as behavior, microbiology, genetics, symbiosis, and speciation. Given the increasing centrality of microbiology in macroscopic life, microbial symbiosis is arguably the most neglected aspect of animal and plant speciation, and studying it should yield a better understanding of the origin of species.
Cancellation of nonlinear impairments in fiber optic transmission systems

We discuss recent progress in mitigation of nonlinear impairment in transmission. We emphasize importance of frequency reference in transmission systems, which has for the first time allowed for true cancellation of deterministic nonlinear interaction in propagation, thus opening the path towards transmission systems with previously inconceivable reach and capacities.