cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The state of the science of health literacy measurement

Advancing health literacy (HL) research requires high-quality HL measures. This chapter provides an overview of the state of the science of HL measurement: where the field started, currently is, and should be going. It is divided into eight key sections looking at (1) the history of HL measurement, (2) the relationship between HL definitions and measurement, (3) the HL conceptual domains most and least frequently measured, (4) the methods used to validate HL measures, (5) the characteristics of the participants in the measurement validation studies, (6) the practical considerations related to administering HL measures, (7) the advantages and disadvantages of using objective versus subjective HL measures, and (8) future directions for HL measurement. Based on the material presented in this chapter, the following conclusions can be drawn. First, there is an enormous proliferation of HL measures and this growth presents both opportunities and challenges for the field. Second, to move the field forward, there is an urgent need to better align HL measurement with definitions of HL. Third, some HL domains, such as numeracy, are measured more often than others, such as speaking and listening. Consequently, it is important to think about novel mechanisms to measure HL domains that are rarely measured. Fourth, HL measures are most often developed, validated, and refined using classical measurement approaches. However, strong empirical and practical rationales suggest making an assertive shift toward using modern measurement approaches. Fifth, most HL measures are not well validated for use in minority populations; consequently, future validation studies should be mindful of validation samples. Sixth, HL measures can be administered using multiple modes, most frequently via paper-and-pencil surveys. Identifying which mode of administration is most suitable requires reflecting on the underlying measurement purpose and the characteristics of the participants being measured. These considerations should also be made when deciding between a subjective versus objective HL measure. Cumulatively, this chapter provides tools to help readers select and use the most appropriate measures of HL for their needs. It also provides rationale and strategies for moving the science of HL measurement forward.
Topological Band Theory for Non-Hermitian Hamiltonians.

We develop the topological band theory for systems described by non-Hermitian Hamiltonians, whose energy spectra are generally complex. After generalizing the notion of gapped band structures to the non-Hermitian case, we classify ``gapped'' bands in one and two dimensions by explicitly finding their topological invariants. We find nontrivial generalizations of the Chern number in two dimensions, and a new classification in one dimension, whose topology is determined by the energy dispersion rather than the energy eigenstates. We then study the bulk-edge correspondence and the topological phase transition in two dimensions. Different from the Hermitian case, the transition generically involves an extended intermediate phase with complex-energy band degeneracies at isolated ``exceptional points'' in momentum space. We also systematically classify all types of band degeneracies.
Generalizing and extending Kubelka-Munk theory

Kubelka-Munk theory approximates the flow of power through a plane parallel slab of a scattering medium. We derive it from the radiative transfer equation and generalize it to three dimensions for general boundary sources and non-homogeneous terms.
Parkinson's disease biomarkers: Perspective from the NINDS Parkinson's Disease Biomarkers Program

Biomarkers for Parkinson's disease (PD) diagnosis, prognostication and clinical trial cohort selection are an urgent need. While many promising markers have been discovered through the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Parkinson's Disease Biomarker Program (PDBP) and other mechanisms, no single PD marker or set of markers are ready for clinical use. Here we discuss the current state of biomarker discovery for platforms relevant to PDBP. We discuss the role of the PDBP in PD biomarker identification and present guidelines to facilitate their development. These guidelines include: harmonizing procedures for biofluid acquisition and clinical assessments, replication of the most promising biomarkers, support and encouragement of publications that report negative findings, longitudinal follow-up of current cohorts including the PDBP, testing of wearable technologies to capture readouts between study visits and development of recently diagnosed (de novo) cohorts to foster identification of the earliest markers of disease onset.
Planned Preoperative Irradiation in the Management of Clinical Stage B2-C (T3) Bladder Carcinoma

Abstract In recent years the role of planned preoperative irradiation in the management of clinical Stage B2-C (T3) bladder cancer has been questioned by a number of investigators. Much of the confusion regarding the efficacy of combined therapy results from studies that compare the results of treatment of pathological Stage B2-C patients treated by cystectomy alone versus clinical Stage B2-C patients treated by preoperative irradiation plus cystectomy. Such comparisons are biased because of (1) the exclusion of a large number of Stage D patients from cystectomy-alone series and their inclusion in preoperative irradiation plus cystectomy series and (2) the inclusion in the cystectomy-alone series of patients whose clinical stages were ≤T2. The purpose of this paper is to compare the results of treatment in patients with clinical Stage B2-C bladder carcinoma following radical cystectomy alone versus preoperative irradiation plus cystectomy. This article reviews the rationale for administering preoperative irradiation, the effect of preoperative irradiation on the pathological specimen (including down-staging, the effect on regional lymph nodes, and radioresponsiveness according to tumor configuration, i.e., papillary vs. solid), the impact of preoperative irradiation on pelvic recurrence and 5-year survival, and the effect of preoperative irradiation on operative and postoperative complications. This paper cites all known literature on the subject in the English language. Data comparing 5-year survival results between radical cystectomy alone versus preoperative irradiation plus cystectomy are analyzed in three different ways: (a) retrospective comparisons of historical results, (b) review of the results of 6 randomized trials, and (c) comparison of concomitantly treated "modern-day" (1960–1980) series treated by either radical cystectomy alone versus preoperative irradiation plus cystectomy in 1185 patients. Preoperative results are also analyzed according to dose level (2000 rad versus 4000 rad versus 4500–5000 rad). The data presented indicate that the addition of preoperative irradiation to cystectomy for clinical Stage B2-C (T3) bladder cancer adds approximately 15 to 20 percentage points to the 5-year survival, leading to a survival figure that is approximately half-again that achieved by cystectomy alone.
The Pathophysiology of the Jejunal Conduit Syndrome and its Exacerbation by Parenteral Hyperalimentation

Supravesical urinary diversion using a jejunal conduit may be associated with hyponatremia, hypochloremic-acidosis, hyperkalemia, azotemia, and a clinical picture of nausea, vomiting, dehydration, muscular weakness, elevated temperature, and lethargy. This syndrome is secondary to the loss of sodium chloride into the urine passing through the conduit and absorption of potassium and urea from it. Treatment and prevention of this syndrome consist of adequate supplements of sodium chloride and hydration. Intravenous hyperalimentation as the precipitating factor of a severe form of this syndrome and its successful management are described. The pathophysiology of the jejunal conduit syndrome is also discussed. Great selectivity and extreme caution are recommended with respect to the use of intravenous hyperalimentation in patients with jejunal conduits.
Disability and Patterns of Leisure Participation across the Life Course

OBJECTIVES Patterns of healthy leisure are dependent upon age, but people with disabilities are particularly susceptible to passive and disengaged types of activities. This study evaluates how individuals with disabilities spend their time in passive, active, social, and isolated forms of leisure over the life course, and how these patterns vary by age. METHOD I analyze nationally representative data from 70,165 respondents ages 15 and older in the 2008, 2010, and 2012-2016 American Time Use Survey. Linear regression models estimate the association between disability and leisure time, net of self-rated health and sociodemographic controls. Interactions between age and disability are also evaluated, as well as the robustness of results by sensory, cognitive, physical, and multiple disability status. RESULTS People with disabilities report significantly more, and poorer quality, leisure than people without disabilities. This includes more than 2 hr more time in passive leisure as well as a disproportionate amount of isolated leisure spent at home, alone. These differences are not fully explained by health and sociodemographic controls. The isolated leisure time of people with disabilities is most different from people without disabilities in later life-whereas differences in total and passive leisure time, by disability status, are greatest in midlife. DISCUSSION People with disabilities spend less time in health-promoting forms of leisure at all ages, but these patterns are unique across midlife and older age.
Presumptive Identification of Staphylococcus Saprophyticus from Urine Specimens by Colony Appearance and Coagulase Testing: An Evaluation

Two hundred one urine specimens with pure or nearly pure cultures (greater than 5 X 10(4) CFU/mL) of coagulase-negative staphylococcus were identified in reviewing all significant urine isolates over a ten-month period. The majority of these were from young female adult outpatients with Staphylococcus saprophyticus constituting 88.9% of isolates determined with the API Staph-Ident System. For urine specimens, particularly for outpatients, coagulase-negative, nonhemolytic staphylococcal colonies with yellow pigmentation could be identified presumptively as S. saprophyticus with a sensitivity of 97.8% and a specificity of 98.3%, compared with novobiocin susceptibility testing with a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 96.9%.
A reverse directional distance function to reconcile between competing efficiency goals: an application to Indian manufacturing

In analysis of technical efficiency in production, either the maximum proportional increase in all outputs or a minimal proportional scaling down of all inputs is generally selected as the criterion. In the recent literature, the directional distance function combines the two objectives by increasing outputs and reducing inputs simultaneously to the extent possible. This paper introduces a reverse directional distance function as one possible approach to resolve the conflict between incompatible goals through a minimal adjustment applicable to both of the two objectives. In our empirical analysis we apply the proposed method to Indian manufacturing where increasing the output and conserving energy use are both highly important objectives. A comparison of the feasible targets obtained through the conventional and the reverse directional distance functions yields an estimated tradeoff between output increase and CO2 reduction (due to energy conservation) along the frontier.
Zwitterionic Alkali-Metal Silanides of Tripodal Ligand Geometry: Synthesis, Structure, and Lewis Acid-Base Chemistry.

A unique family of zwitterionic alkali-metal silanides of general formula [Si(SiMe2OR)3M] (M-3), where M = Li, Na, K and R = CH2CH3 (M-3b), CH(CH3)2 (M-3c), CH2CH(CH3)2 (M-3d), CH2CH2OSCH3 (M-3g), CH2CH2N(CH3)2 (M-3h), have been synthesized and their structures fully characterized. Compounds M-3 were prepared from reactions of the corresponding alkali-metal alkoxides, R′OM (R′ = But, Bui; M = Li, Na, K) with the silanes Si(SiMe2OR)4 (2a–h), where R = CH2CH3 (b), CH(CH3)2 (c), CH2CH(CH3)2 (d), CH2CH2OSCH3 (g), CH2CH2N(CH3)2 (h), via selective Si–Si bond cleavage. Analysis of the X-ray data of Li-3a–e,g, Li-h, Li-4, Na-3a–c,e,f,h, and K-3b,d,e,g revealed two major structural motifs in the solid state: infinite chain type and monomeric zwitterions. The reaction of Si(SiMe2OCH2CH3)3Li (Li-3b) with BPh3 in THF gave the zwitterionic Lewis acid–base complex Ph3BSi(SiMe2OCH2CH3)3Li·THF (Li-5b). Reactions of W(CO)6 with Li-3b–d and Na-3b,c resulted in the formation of the zwitterionic silyl tungstenate complexes (...
External Intervention, Identity, and Civil War:

We examine how external intervention interacts with ethnic polarization to induce rebellion and civil war. Previous literature views polarization as internally produced—the result of demographic ch...
Principles of Appropriate Antibiotic Use for Acute Rhinosinusitis in Adults: Background

This paper argues for a conservative approach to use of antibiotics in patients with sinusitis-like symptoms, consistent with efforts to reduce antibiotic use for respiratory infections in ambulato...
Transfer Learning from Markov Models Leads to Efficient Sampling of Related Systems

We recently showed that the time-structure-based independent component analysis method from Markov state model literature provided a set of variationally optimal slow collective variables for metadynamics (tICA-metadynamics). In this paper, we extend the methodology toward efficient sampling of related mutants by borrowing ideas from transfer learning methods in machine learning. Our method explicitly assumes that a similar set of slow modes and metastable states is found in both the wild type (baseline) and its mutants. Under this assumption, we describe a few simple techniques using sequence mapping for transferring the slow modes and structural information contained in the wild type simulation to a mutant model for performing enhanced sampling. The resulting simulations can then be reweighted onto the full-phase space using the multistate Bennett acceptance ratio, allowing for thermodynamic comparison against the wild type. We first benchmark our methodology by recapturing alanine dipeptide dynamics ac...
New evidence on managerial labor markets: An analysis of CEO retreads

Abstract We examine career outcomes of CEOs subsequent to turnover. CEOs often resurface after turnover, but they secure positions that are inferior to their prior posts. Success in the retread market is unrelated to prior employer performance and board composition. CEOs who were particularly attached to their prior employer tend to have the poorest subsequent job prospects. These results suggest a generally efficient CEO turnover process in which firms dismiss CEOs of low ability. As CEOs acquire specific human capital over time, their outside options and bargaining power appear to diminish, offering a potential explanation for the specialist CEO compensation discount.
Is There a Correlation Between Infection Control Performance and Other Hospital Quality Measures

Quality measures are increasingly reported by hospitals to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), yet there may be tradeoffs in performance between infection control (IC) and other quality measures. Hospitals that performed best on IC measures did not perform well on most CMS non-IC quality measures. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2017;38:736-739.
Was higher education a major channel through which the US became an economic superpower in the 20th century

AbstractThis paper offers a thesis for why the US overtook the UK and other European countries in the 20th century in both aggregate and per capita GDP as a case study of recent models of endogenous growth, where ‘human capital’ is the engine of growth. By human capital we mean an intangible asset, best thought of as a stock of embodied and disembodied knowledge comprising education, information, entrepreneurship, and productive and innovative skills, which is formed through investments in schooling, job training, and health as well as through research and development projects and informal knowledge transfers (cf. Ehrlich and Murphy 2007). The conjecture is that the ascendancy of the US as an economic superpower in the 20th century owes considerably to its faster human capital formation relative to that of the UK and ‘old Europe.’ This paper assesses whether the thesis has legs to stand on through both stylized facts and a supplementary quasi-experimental empirical analysis. The stylized facts indicate th...
How Important Is Price Variation Between Health Insurers

Abstract Prices negotiated between payers and providers affect a health insurance contract's value via enrollees’ cost-sharing and self-insured employers’ costs. However, price variation across payers is difficult to observe. We measure negotiated prices for hospital-payer pairs in Massachusetts and characterize price variation. Between-payer price variation is similar in magnitude to between-hospital price variation. Administrative-services-only contracts, in which insurers do not bear risk, have higher prices. We model negotiation incentives and show that contractual form and demand responsiveness to negotiated prices are important determinants of negotiated prices.
Gon4l regulates notochord boundary formation and cell polarity underlying axis extension by repressing adhesion genes.

Anteroposterior (AP) axis extension during gastrulation requires embryonic patterning and morphogenesis to be spatiotemporally coordinated, but the underlying genetic mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here we define a role for the conserved chromatin factor Gon4l, encoded by ugly duckling (udu), in coordinating tissue patterning and axis extension during zebrafish gastrulation through direct positive and negative regulation of gene expression. Although identified as a recessive enhancer of impaired axis extension in planar cell polarity (PCP) mutants, udu functions in a genetically independent, partially overlapping fashion with PCP signaling to regulate mediolateral cell polarity underlying axis extension in part by promoting notochord boundary formation. Gon4l limits expression of the cell–cell and cell–matrix adhesion molecules EpCAM and Integrinα3b, excesses of which perturb the notochord boundary via tension-dependent and -independent mechanisms, respectively. By promoting formation of this AP-aligned boundary and associated cell polarity, Gon4l cooperates with PCP signaling to coordinate morphogenesis along the AP embryonic axis.
On the Relationship Between Scintillation Anisotropy and Crystal Structure in Pure Crystalline Organic Scintillator Materials

The scintillation anisotropy effect for proton recoil events has been investigated in five pure organic crystalline materials: anthracene, trans -stilbene, p-terphenyl, bibenzyl, and diphenylacetylene (DPAC). These measurements include the characterization of the scintillation response for one hemisphere of proton recoil directions in each crystal. In addition to standard measurements of the total light output and pulse shape at each angle, the prompt and delayed light anisotropies are analyzed, allowing for the investigation of the singlet and triplet molecular excitation behaviors independently. This paper provides new quantitative and qualitative observations that make progress toward understanding the physical mechanisms behind the scintillation anisotropy. These measurements show that the relationship between the prompt and delayed light anisotropies is correlated with a crystal structure, as it changes between the pi-stacked crystal structure materials (anthracene and p-terphenyl) and the herringbone crystal structure materials (stilbene, bibenzyl, and DPAC). The observations are consistent with a model in which there are preferred directions of kinetic processes for the molecular excitations. These processes and the impact of their directional dependences on the scintillation anisotropy are discussed.
Environmental Federalism and the Trump Presidency: A Preliminary Assessment

President Trump has embarked on an ambitious and far-reaching attempt to reshape American environmental policy. In regard to climate change, water quality, and other areas, his administration’s actions constitute an attempt to roll back existing environmental protections and to recalibrate American environmental federalism. These actions largely represent a continuation of the practice of presidential reliance on the tools of the administrative presidency that has shaped U.S. environmental policy over the past forty years, although the Trump Administration has employed these tools in an especially aggressive fashion. Because changing public policy through administrative means is a time-consuming process that invites legal challenge, the full implications of these efforts will not be known for several years.
Conservation of the separase regulatory domain.

We report a protein sequence analysis of the cell cycle regulatory protease, separase. The sequence and structural conservation of the C-terminal protease domain has long been recognized, whereas the N-terminal regulatory domain of separase was reported to lack detectable sequence similarity. Here we reveal significant sequence conservation of the separase regulatory domain and report a discovery of a cysteine motif (CxCxxC) conserved in major lineages of Metazoa including nematodes and vertebrates. This motif is found in a solvent exposed linker region connecting two TPR-like helical motifs. Mutation of this motif in Caenorhabditis elegans separase leads to a temperature sensitive hypomorphic protein. Conservation of this motif in organisms ranging from C. elegans to humans suggests its functional importance. This article was reviewed by Lakshminarayan Iyer and Michael Galperin.
Choice of Adaptive Sampling Strategy Impacts State Discovery, Transition Probabilities, and the Apparent Mechanism of Conformational Changes.

Interest in atomically detailed simulations has grown significantly with recent advances in computational hardware and Markov state modeling (MSM) methods, yet outstanding questions remain that hinder their widespread adoption. Namely, how do alternative sampling strategies explore conformational space and how might this influence predictions generated from the data? Here, we seek to answer these questions for four commonly used sampling methods: (1) a single long simulation, (2) many short simulations run in parallel, (3) adaptive sampling, and (4) our recently developed goal-oriented sampling algorithm, FAST. We first develop a theoretical framework for analytically calculating the probability of discovering select states on simple landscapes, where we uncover the drastic effects of varying the number and length of simulations. We then use kinetic Monte Carlo simulations on a variety of physically inspired landscapes to characterize the probability of discovering particular states and transition pathway...
Pancreas transplantation using compatible but non-identical ABO blood group donors.

BACKGROUND There are limited data on the outcomes of pancreas transplants using ABO non-identical but compatible (NIC) donors. METHODS A review of all pancreas transplants from a single institution from 01/2003 to 07/2016 (n = 606) revealed 41 recipients of a NIC donor pancreas which were matched for age, race, gender, year, and type of transplant with 41 ABO identical cases. Groups were compared for allograft survival, incidence of acute cellular rejection (ACR), length of hospital stay, 3-month readmissions and transfusion requirements. Serum haptoglobin and lactate dehydrogenase were used to identify hemolysis in patients requiring repeated transfusions without overt blood loss. RESULTS The 1-year graft survival was 100% and 88% in the study and control groups. In the study group, 6/41(14%) developed hemolysis, all of which were ABO O into A. All responded to donor blood type specific transfusions. DISCUSSION There are limited data on outcomes of solid organ transplant using NIC donors with almost none specifically addressing pancreas transplantation. In this study, graft survival was similar but 14% developed hemolysis, which was transient and treated with transfusion of donor blood type specific blood. CONCLUSION Non-identical but compatible pancreas transplants have similar graft survival compared to ABO identical. Hemolysis may occur so some caution is required.
How reliable are satellite precipitation estimates for driving hydrological models: A verification study over the Mediterranean area

Abstract Satellite-based rainfall products (SRPs) are nowadays available at ever increasing accuracy and higher spatial and temporal resolution with respect to the past. Despite this, they are scarcely used in hydrological modeling. The main reasons may be related to: 1) the large bias characterizing satellite precipitation estimates, which is dependent on rainfall intensity and the season, 2) the relatively large spatial/temporal resolution with respect to the applications, 3) the timeliness, which is often insufficient for operational purposes, and 4) a general (often not justified) skepticism of the hydrological community in the use of satellite products for land applications. The objective of this study is to explore the feasibility of using SRPs to force a lumped hydrologic model – MISDc – over 15 basins in the Mediterranean area with different sizes and physiographic characteristics. Specifically, TMPA 3B42-RT, CMORPH, PERSIANN and a new soil moisture-derived rainfall datasets, SM2RAINCCI, obtained through the application of SM2RAIN algorithm ( Brocca et al., 2014 ) to ESA CCI soil moisture product are used in the analysis. The performances obtained with the selected SRPs are compared with those obtained from a ground-based rainfall product (E-OBS). In addition, the performance obtained by an integration of the SRPs is investigated to see whether merged rainfall observations are able to improve flood simulations. The results highlight that SRPs provide relatively low performances when used to force MISDc model with respect to the case where ground observations are used. Worst results are obtained in smaller basins (
What individual and organizational competencies facilitate effective collaboration? Findings from a collaborative governance simulation

ABSTRACTThis study seeks to elicit insights on the individual and organizational competencies associated with effective collaboration. Specifically, the authors gathered grounded insights on collab...
Shedding Light on Keeping People in the Dark

We want to keep hackers in the dark about our passwords and our credit card numbers. We want to keep potential eavesdroppers in the dark about our private communications with friends and business associates. This need for secrecy raises important questions in epistemology (how do we do it?) and in ethics (should we do it?). In order to answer these questions, it would be useful to have a good understanding of the concept of keeping someone in the dark. Several philosophers (e.g., Bok, 1983; Carson, 2010; Mahon, 2009; Scheppele, 1988) have analyzed this concept (or, equivalently, the concept of keeping secrets) in terms of concealing and/or withholding information. However, their analyses incorrectly exclude clear instances of keeping someone in the dark. And more important, they incorrectly focus on possible means of keeping someone in the dark rather than on what it is to keep someone in the dark. In this paper, I argue that you keep X in the dark about a proposition P if and only if you intentionally cause X not to have a true belief that P. In addition, I show how this analysis of keeping someone in the dark can be extended from a categorical belief model of epistemic states to a credence (or degree of belief) model.
The Promise and Pitfalls of Differences-in-Differences: Reflections on 16 and Pregnant and Other Applications

We use the exchange between Kearney/Levine and Jaeger/Joyce/Kaestner on 16 and Pregnant to reexamine the use of DiD as a response to the failure of nature to properly design an experiment for us. W...
NetScatter: Enabling Large-Scale Backscatter Networks

We present the first wireless protocol that scales to hundreds of concurrent transmissions from backscatter devices. Our key innovation is a distributed coding mechanism that works below the noise floor, operates on backscatter devices and can decode all the concurrent transmissions at the receiver using a single FFT operation. Our design addresses practical issues such as timing and frequency synchronization as well as the near-far problem. We deploy our design using a testbed of backscatter hardware and show that our protocol scales to concurrent transmissions from 256 devices using a bandwidth of only 500 kHz. Our results show throughput and latency improvements of 14--62x and 15--67x over existing approaches and 1--2 orders of magnitude higher transmission concurrency.
Housing Price, Credit, and Output Cycles: How Domestic and External Shocks Impact Lithuania's Credit

Lithuania’s current credit cycle highlights the strong link between housing prices and credit. We explore this relationship in more detail by analyzing the main features of credit, housing price, and output cycles in Baltic and Nordic countries during1995-2017. We find a high degree of synchronization between Lithuania’s credit and housing price cycles. Panel regressions show a strong correlation between a credit upturn and housing price upturn. Moreover, panel VAR suggests that shocks in housing prices, credit, and output within and outside Lithuania strongly impact Lithuania’s credit.
3D Shape Perception from Monocular Vision, Touch, and Shape Priors

Perceiving accurate 3D object shape is important for robots to interact with the physical world. Current research along this direction has been primarily relying on visual observations. Vision, however useful, has inherent limitations due to occlusions and the 2D-3D ambiguities, especially for perception with a monocular camera. In contrast, touch gets precise local shape information, though its efficiency for reconstructing the entire shape could be low. In this paper, we propose a novel paradigm that efficiently perceives accurate 3D object shape by incorporating visual and tactile observations, as well as prior knowledge of common object shapes learned from large-scale shape repositories. We use vision first, applying neural networks with learned shape priors to predict an object's 3D shape from a single-view color image. We then use tactile sensing to refine the shape; the robot actively touches the object regions where the visual prediction has high uncertainty. Our method efficiently builds the 3D shape of common objects from a color image and a small number of tactile explorations (around 10). Our setup is easy to apply and has potentials to help robots better perform grasping or manipulation tasks on real-world objects.
Seeing permeability from images: fast prediction with convolutional neural networks

Fast prediction of permeability directly from images enabled by image recognition neural networks is a novel pore-scale modeling method that has a great potential. This article presents a framework that includes (1) generation of porous media samples, (2) computation of permeability via fluid dynamics simulations, (3) training of convolutional neural networks (CNN) with simulated data, and (4) validations against simulations. Comparison of machine learning results and the ground truths suggests excellent predictive performance across a wide range of porosities and pore geometries, especially for those with dilated pores. Owning to such heterogeneity, the permeability cannot be estimated using the conventional Kozeny-Carman approach. Computational time was reduced by several orders of magnitude compared to fluid dynamic simulations. We found that, by including physical parameters that are known to affect permeability into the neural network, the physics-informed CNN generated better results than regular CNN. However, improvements vary with implemented heterogeneity.
Safe Intersection Management for Mixed Transportation Systems with Human-Driven and Autonomous Vehicles

Most recent studies on establishing intersection safety focus on the situation where all vehicles are fully autonomous. However, currently most vehicles are human-driven and so we will need to transition through regimes featuring a varying proportion of human-driven vehicles ranging from 100% to 0% before realizing such a fully autonomous future – if ever. We will, therefore, need to address the safety of hybrid systems featuring an arbitrary mixture of human-driven and autonomous vehicles. In fact, recent incidents involving autonomous vehicles have already highlighted the need to study the safety of autonomous vehicles co-existing with human-driven vehicles. Motivated by this we address the design of provably safe intersection management for mixed traffic consisting of a mix of human-driven vehicles (HVs) as well as autonomous vehicles (AVs). To analyze such mixed traffic, we model HVs as near-sighted and with relatively loose constraints, permitting worst-case behavior while AVs are considered capable of following much tighter constraints. HVs are allowed freedom to change their speed at any time while AVs are only allowed to change their speed at the beginning of a time slot through a Model Predictive Controller (MPC). AVs are assumed to possess a shorter response time and stronger braking capability than HVs in collision avoidance. Moreover, AVs obtain the permissions of passing through the intersection through vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication, while HVs achieve the same objective by following traffic lights. Taking the above differences into consideration, we propose a provably safe intersection management for mixed traffic comprised of an MPC-based protocol for AVs, a permission assignment policy for AVs along with a coordination protocol for traffic lights. In order to respect the distinctiveness of HVs, the proposed protocol ensures that the traffic lights, as well as the semantic meanings of their colors, are consistent with current practice. A formal proof of safety of the system under the proposed combined protocol is provided.
The Prosodic Characteristics of Non-referential Co-speech Gestures in a Sample of Academic-Lecture-Style Speech.

Many studies have documented a close timing relationship between speech prosody and co-speech gesture, but some studies have not, and it is unclear whether these differences in speech-gesture alignment are due to different speaking tasks, different target gesture types, different prosodic elements, different definitions of alignment, or even different languages/speakers. This study contributes to the ongoing effort to elucidate the precise nature of the gesture-speech timing relationship by examining an understudied variety of American English, i.e. academic-lecture-style speech, with a focus on an understudied type of gesture: Non-Referential gestures, which make up the majority of this corpus. Results for the 1334 stroke-defined gestures in this 20-minute sample suggest that the stroke phase of a non-referential gesture tends to align with a pitch-accented syllable, just as reported in studies of other gesture types (e.g. deictic gestures) and in other speaking styles (such as narration). Preliminary results are presented suggesting that trajectory shapes of these Non-Referential gestures are consistent across a higher-level prosodic grouping, supporting earlier proposals for kinematic constancy across spoken prosodic constituents (Kendon 1972, 1980, 2004). Analysis also raises the possibility that the category of Non-Referential gestures is not solely made up of ‘beats’, defined as simple bi-phasic flick-like movements that beat out the rhythm of the speech, but includes gestures with multiple phases, a range of trajectory shapes and various types of rhythmicity. Taken together, the results of this analysis suggest 1) a wide variety of gesture configurations within the undifferentiated category of Non-Referential gestures or ‘beats’, which requires further investigation, and 2) a close coordination between co-speech gestures and the prosodic structure of spoken utterances across speaking styles and gesture referentiality, which has profound implications for modelling the process of planning an utterance. Keywords: co-speech gesture, speech prosody, speech production planning, prosodic prominence, prosodic constituents
Quarterly Data on the Categories and Causes of Bank Distress During the Great Depression

During the contraction from 1929 through 1933, the Federal Reserve System tracked changes in the status of all banks operating in the United States and determined the cause of each bank suspension. This essay introduces quarterly series derived from that hitherto dormant data and presents aggregate series constructed from it. The new data series will supplement, and in some cases, supplant the data currently used to study banking panics of the Great Depression, which was published by the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in 1937.
Relational program synthesis

This paper proposes relational program synthesis, a new problem that concerns synthesizing one or more programs that collectively satisfy a relational specification. As a dual of relational program verification, relational program synthesis is an important problem that has many practical applications, such as automated program inversion and automatic generation of comparators. However, this relational synthesis problem introduces new challenges over its non-relational counterpart due to the combinatorially larger search space. As a first step towards solving this problem, this paper presents a synthesis technique that combines the counterexample-guided inductive synthesis framework with a novel inductive synthesis algorithm that is based on relational version space learning. We have implemented the proposed technique in a framework called Relish, which can be instantiated to different application domains by providing a suitable domain-specific language and the relevant relational specification. We have used the Relish framework to build relational synthesizers to automatically generate string encoders/decoders as well as comparators, and we evaluate our tool on several benchmarks taken from prior work and online forums. Our experimental results show that the proposed technique can solve almost all of these benchmarks and that it significantly outperforms EUSolver, a generic synthesis framework that won the general track of the most recent SyGuS competition.
Optimal Noise-Adding Mechanism in Additive Differential Privacy

We derive the optimal $(0, \delta)$-differentially private query-output independent noise-adding mechanism for single real-valued query function under a general cost-minimization framework. Under a mild technical condition, we show that the optimal noise probability distribution is a uniform distribution with a probability mass at the origin. We explicitly derive the optimal noise distribution for general $\ell^p$ cost functions, including $\ell^1$ (for noise magnitude) and $\ell^2$ (for noise power) cost functions, and show that the probability concentration on the origin occurs when $\delta > \frac{p}{p+1}$. Our result demonstrates an improvement over the existing Gaussian mechanisms by a factor of two and three for $(0,\delta)$-differential privacy in the high privacy regime in the context of minimizing the noise magnitude and noise power, and the gain is more pronounced in the low privacy regime. Our result is consistent with the existing result for $(0,\delta)$-differential privacy in the discrete setting, and identifies a probability concentration phenomenon in the continuous setting.
Structure-From-Motion and RGBD Depth Fusion

This article describes a technique to augment a typical RGBD sensor by integrating depth estimates obtained via Structure-from-Motion (SfM) with sensor depth measurements. Limitations in the RGBD depth sensing technology prevent capturing depth measurements in four important contexts: (1) distant surfaces $(> 5\mathrm{m})$ , (2) dark surfaces, (3) brightly lit indoor scenes and (4) sunlit outdoor scenes. SfM technology computes depth via multi-view reconstruction from the RGB image sequence alone. As such, SfM depth estimates do not suffer the same limitations and may be computed in all four of the previously listed circumstances. This work describes a novel fusion of RGBD depth data and SfM-estimated depths to generate an improved depth stream that may be processed by one of many important downstream applications such as robotic localization and mapping, as well as object recognition and tracking.
Disparities in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma based on geographical region are decreasing.

BACKGROUND AND AIM Geographic differences have existed in the management of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and efforts to reduce regional disparities have been initiated. The aim of this study is to use the Nationwide Inpatient Sample to determine if regional disparities in the treatment of HCC continue to exist. METHOD A retrospective database analysis using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample was performed that included patients with a primary diagnosis of HCC. Logistic regression models were utilized to determine geographic disparities in liver decompensation, treatment, inpatient mortality, and metastatic disease. RESULTS This study's locational reach of 62 604 patients included 22 769 patients from the South (36%), 14 554 in the Northeast (23%), 14 041 in the West (22%), and 11 240 in the Midwest (18%). Patients who received treatment in the West were more likely to have inpatient mortality (OR 1.28, 95% CI 1.03, 1.53) than patients who received treatment in the Midwest. No significant differences were observed between rates of resection, ablation, and transarterial chemoembolization when comparing by region. Rates of liver transplantation were lower in the West compared with the Midwest (OR 0.51, 95% CI 0.29, 0.87). There was no significant difference between other regions. CONCLUSION Geographic disparities in the treatment of HCC are improving.
Asynchronous Local Construction of Bounded-Degree Network Topologies Using Only Neighborhood Information

We consider the ad-hoc networks consisting of $n$ wireless nodes that are located on the plane. Any two given nodes are called neighbors if they are located within a certain distance (communication range) from one another. A given node can be directly connected to any one of its neighbors, and picks its connections according to a unique topology control algorithm that is available at every node. Given that each node knows only the indices (unique identification numbers) of its one and two-hop neighbors, we identify an algorithm that preserves connectivity and can operate without the need of any synchronization among nodes. Moreover, the algorithm results in a sparse graph with at most $5n$ edges and a maximum node degree of 10. Existing algorithms with the same promises further require neighbor distance and/or direction information at each node. We also evaluate the performance of our algorithm for random networks. In this case, our algorithm provides an asymptotically connected network with $n(1+o(1))$ edges with a degree less than or equal to 6 for $1-o(1)$ fraction of the nodes. We also introduce another asynchronous connectivity-preserving algorithm that can provide an upper bound as well as a lower bound on node degrees.
Social isolation in chronic kidney disease and the role of mobility limitation.

Background Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with multiple comorbidities, hospitalizations and mortality. In older adults, social isolation and poor mobility contribute to these outcomes. We tested the hypothesis that a glomerular filtration rate (GFR) 45 mL/min/1.73 m2). The outcomes tested were mobility limitation assessed by self-report and social contact and participation measures assessed by the Psychosocial Life Questionnaire. The associations among kidney function, mobility and social isolation were examined with logistic and ordinary least squares regression, adjusted for covariates and testing for interaction with gender. Results Participants with CKD Stages 3b-5 (N = 999) compared with non-CKD Stages 3b-5 were older (74.9 versus 68.2 years, P < 0.001) and fewer were female (15% versus 58%, P < 0.001). CKD Stages 3b-5 were associated with higher odds of difficulty walking several blocks [odds ratio 1.44 (95% confidence interval 1.16-1.78)]. Participants with CKD Stages 3b-5 had reduced social contact and social participation (B = -0.23, P < 0.05; B = -0.62, P < 0.05, respectively). Women with CKD Stages 3b-5 were 2.7 times more likely to report difficulty walking several blocks than men with CKD Stages 3b-5, but social isolation in CKD Stages 3b-5 did not vary by gender. In CKD Stages 3b-5 patients, mobility limitation was a risk factor for reduced social contact and participation but did not explain the poor social contact and participation. Conclusion CKD Stages 3b-5 was associated with both mobility limitation and social isolation in a population-based study of older adults. In contrast to older adults without CKD Stages 3b-5, mobility limitation did not explain the lack of social contact and poor social participation, suggesting other factors are more important.
Learning by Doing and the Demand for Advanced Products

Consumer learning by doing builds general and product-specific human capital, shaping their adoption patterns for advanced products.
The Future of Supercomputing

For over two decades, supercomputing evolved in a relatively straightforward manner: Supercomputers were assembled out of commodity microprocessors and leveraged their exponential increase in performance, due to Moore's Law. This simple model has been under stress since clock speed stopped growing a decade ago: Increased performance has required a commensurate increase in the number of concurrent threads. The evolution of device technology is likely to be even less favorable in the coming decade: The growth in CMOS performance is nearing its end, and no alternative technology is ready to replace CMOS. The continued shrinking of device size requires increasingly expensive technologies, and may not lead to improvements in cost/performance ratio; at which point, it ceases to make sense for commodity technology. These obstacles need not imply stagnation in supercomputer performance. In the long run, new computing models will come to the rescue. In the short run, more exotic, non-commodity device technologies can provide two or more orders of magnitude improvements in performance. Finally, better hardware and software architectures can significantly increase the efficiency of scientific computing platforms. While continued progress is possible, it will require a significant international research effort and major investments in future large-scale "computational instruments".