cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Coalescence/Dispersion Model for Turbulent Flame Stability

Developpement du modele et application a la prediction des limites d'inflammation des flammes de premelange turbulentes de melanges pauvres
The Local Economic and Welfare Consequences of Hydraulic Fracturing

Exploiting geological variation and timing in the initiation of hydraulic fracturing, we find that fracking leads to sharp increases in oil and gas recovery and improvements in a wide set of economic indicators. There is also evidence of deterioration in local amenities, which may include increases in crime, noise, and traffic and declines in health. Using a Rosen-Roback-style spatial equilibrium model to infer the net welfare impacts, we estimate that willingness-to-pay (WTP) for allowing fracking equals about $2,500 per household annually (4.9 percent of household income), although WTP is heterogeneous, ranging from more than $10,000 to roughly 0 across 10 shale regions.
COC BEARINGS IN THE YOUNG PATIENT: A NEW STANDARD EMERGING – OPPOSES

Due to issues related to osteolysis which became increasingly evident in the 19909s, approaches to combat wear focused upon either improving ultra-high molecular grade polyethylene or to abandon it and employ alternative bearings: metal upon metal or ceramic upon ceramic (COC). Ceramics have played a role in hip bearings for decades with much of the experience coming from Europe. While there is consistent evidence of low wear rates in this bearing couple due to its surface hardness, wettability and resultant low friction, problems unique to this bearing couple were noted: a small but real incidence of fracture, surface damage due to metal transfer and stripe wear as well as the unique issue of squeaking. What we have learned is that these hard bearings (either COC or Metal on Metal) despite being able to use larger diameter heads, are exquisitely sensitive to component position and orientation. With the tremendous improvements in 2nd and now 3rd generation crosslinked polyethylenes demonstrating vastly reduced wear rates and having none of the issues of fracture, stripe wear, or squeaking, it remains unclear what role ceramic bearings have in modern use. Until the aforementioned issues are resolved, ceramic on ceramic bearings in the young patient should be used with caution. Ceramic-on-ceramic total hip arthroplasty: incidence of instability and noise.
The Exit Distribution for Smart Kinetic Walk with Symmetric and Asymmetric Transition Probability

It has been proved that the distribution of the point where the smart kinetic walk (SKW) exits a domain converges in distribution to harmonic measure on the hexagonal lattice. For other lattices, it is believed that this result still holds, and there is good numerical evidence to support this conjecture. Here we examine the effect of the symmetry and asymmetry of the transition probability on each step of the SKW on the square lattice and test if the exit distribution converges in distribution to harmonic measure as well. From our simulations, the limiting exit distribution of the SKW with a non-uniform but symmetric transition probability as the lattice spacing goes to zero is the harmonic measure. This result does not hold for asymmetric transition probability. We are also interested in the difference between the SKW with symmetric transition probability exit distribution and harmonic measure. Our simulations provide strong support for a explicit conjecture about this first order difference. The explicit formula for the conjecture will be given below.
Nonlinear Rolling Motion of Triform Finned Missiles

A theoretical investigation of the rolling motion of triform configurations at high angles of attack is presented. A nonlinear aerodynamic flow model, derived from strip and slender body theories, ...
Spectral root homomorphic deconvolution system

In this paper, we develop a new homomorphic deconvolution system that is useful when the signal to be deconvolved is a convolution of two components one of which is a train of pulses and about the other we have some a priori information on its approximate number of poles and zeros. The system that we develop is essentially the same as the logarithmic homomorphic deconvolution system (1,2,3) except that the logarithmic and exponential operations are replaced with ( )γand ( )1/γoperations. By theoretical and/or empirical results, we illustrate that under appropriate conditions, the new system with the proper choice of γ can potentially yield a better result than the logarithmic homomorphic deconvolution system and that the results obtained by the new system with the value of γ close to zero are essentially the same as those obtained by the logarithmic homomorphic deconvolution system.
The Flexible Few: Oligarchs and Wealth Defense in Developing Democracies:

Based on an original large-N dataset of individual Ukrainian oligarchs and qualitative evidence, this article tests competing perspectives on the political power of big capital. We find, surprising...
Central extensions of current groups in two dimensions

The paper is devoted to generalization of the theory of loop groups to the two-dimensional case. To every complex Riemann surface we assign a central extension of the group of smooth maps from this surface to a simple complex Lie group G by the Jacobian of this surface. This extension is topologically nontrivial, as in the loop group case. Orbits of coadjoint representation of this extension correspond to equivalence classes of holomorphic principalG-bundles over the surface. When the surface is the torus (elliptic curve), classification of coadjoint orbits is related to linear difference equations in one variable, and to classification of conjugacy classes in the loop group. We study integral orbits, for which the Kirillov-Kostant form is a curvature form for some principal torus bundle. The number of such orbits for a given level is finite, as in the loop group case; conjecturedly, they correspond to analogues of integrable modules occurring in conformal field theory.
Scalable Underapproximation for the Stochastic Reach-Avoid Problem for High-Dimensional LTI Systems Using Fourier Transforms

We present a scalable underapproximation of the terminal hitting time stochastic reach-avoid probability at a given initial condition, for verification of high-dimensional stochastic LTI systems. While several approximation techniques have been proposed to alleviate the curse of dimensionality associated with dynamic programming, these techniques cannot handle larger, more realistic systems. We present a scalable method that uses Fourier transforms to compute an underapproximation of the reach-avoid probability for systems with disturbances with arbitrary probability densities. We characterize sufficient conditions for Borel-measurability of the value function. We exploit fixed control sequences parameterized by the initial condition (an open-loop control policy) to generate the underapproximation. For Gaussian disturbances, the underapproximation can be obtained using existing efficient algorithms by solving a convex optimization problem. Our approach produces non-trivial lower bounds and is demonstrated on a 40-D chain of integrators.
The Lefschetz-Hopf theorem and axioms for the Lefschetz number

The reduced Lefschetz number, that is, where denotes the Lefschetz number, is proved to be the unique integer-valued function on self-maps of compact polyhedra which is constant on homotopy classes such that (1) for and ; (2) if is a map of a cofiber sequence into itself, then ; (3) , where is a self-map of a wedge of circles, is the inclusion of a circle into the th summand, and is the projection onto the th summand. If is a self-map of a polyhedron and is the fixed point index of on all of , then we show that satisfies the above axioms. This gives a new proof of the normalization theorem: if is a self-map of a polyhedron, then equals the Lefschetz number of . This result is equivalent to the Lefschetz-Hopf theorem: if is a self-map of a finite simplicial complex with a finite number of fixed points, each lying in a maximal simplex, then the Lefschetz number of is the sum of the indices of all the fixed points of .
Oxygen and sulfur isotopes in sulfate in modern euxinic systems with implications for evaluating the extent of euxinia in ancient oceans.

Abstract Euxinic conditions, which are defined by the presence of sulfide in the water column, were common in ancient oceans. However, it is not clear how the presence of sulfide in the water column affects the balance between rates of sulfide oxidation and sulfate reduction, which plays a major role in regulating the net redox state of the ocean-atmosphere system. Euxinia could lead to higher rates of sulfide oxidation because sulfide may diffuse more rapidly into the oxic zone in solution than in sediment. Alternatively, sulfide oxidation could be inhibited by low overall availability of suitable oxidants in euxinic settings. Here, we constrain rates of sulfide oxidation versus sulfate reduction in four euxinic water columns in coastal ponds by modeling the evolution of the concentration and sulfur and oxygen isotope compositions of sulfate from post-hurricane, well-oxygenated conditions to modern, euxinic conditions. The results of the one-dimensional, depth-dependent models of water column sulfate geochemistry indicate that the fraction of sulfate reduced that is subsequently reoxidized is low (0.11–0.42) in euxinic systems relative to the modern well-oxygenated ocean (0.75–0.90). This implies that sulfide reoxidation rates are low in euxinic systems because of oxidant limitation and physical transport. Low fractional sulfide reoxidation in euxinic systems has important implications for exploring how oxygen levels in the ocean and atmosphere have changed through Earth history. We use a marine sulfate isotope box model to explore how low reoxidation rates in euxinic systems affect marine sulfate sulfur and oxygen isotope records. Model results indicate that marine sulfate sulfur and oxygen isotope compositions increase during the expansion of euxinia with patterns that are distinct from other isotopic changes to the marine sulfate reservoir. Thus, marine sulfate sulfur and oxygen isotope box models can be applied to ancient isotope records in order to evaluate the expansion of euxinia in ancient oceans because sulfide oxidation rates are low relative to sulfate reduction rates.
Simultaneous Feature and Body-Part Learning for real-time robot awareness of human behaviors

Robot awareness of human actions is an essential research problem in robotics with many important real-world applications, including human-robot collaboration and teaming. Over the past few years, depth sensors have become a standard device widely used by intelligent robots for 3D perception, which can also offer human skeletal data in 3D space. Several methods based on skeletal data were designed to enable robot awareness of human actions with satisfactory accuracy. However, previous methods treated all body parts and features equally important, without the capability to identify discriminative body parts and features. In this paper, we propose a novel simultaneous Feature And Body-part Learning (FABL) approach that simultaneously identifies discriminative body parts and features, and efficiently integrates all available information together to enable real-time robot awareness of human behaviors. We formulate FABL as a regression-like optimization problem with structured sparsity-inducing norms to model interrelationships of body parts and features. We also develop an optimization algorithm to solve the formulated problem, which possesses a theoretical guarantee to find the optimal solution. To evaluate FABL, three experiments were performed using public benchmark datasets, including the MSR Action3D and CAD-60 datasets, as well as a Baxter robot in practical assistive living applications. Experimental results show that our FABL approach obtains a high recognition accuracy with a processing speed of the order-of-magnitude of 101 Hz, which makes FABL a promising method to enable real-time robot awareness of human behaviors in practical robotics applications.
The speed of sequential asymptotic learning

In the classical herding literature, agents receive a private signal regarding a binary state of nature, and sequentially choose an action, after observing the actions of their predecessors. When the informativeness of private signals is unbounded, it is known that agents converge to the correct action and correct belief. We study how quickly convergence occurs, and show that it happens more slowly than it does when agents observe signals. However, we also show that the speed of learning from actions can be arbitrarily close to the speed of learning from signals. In particular, the expected time until the agents stop taking the wrong action can be either finite or infinite, depending on the private signal distribution. In the canonical case of Gaussian private signals we calculate the speed of convergence precisely, and show explicitly that, in this case, learning from actions is significantly slower than learning from signals.
The Environmental Impact of Sharing: Household and Urban Economies in CO2 Emissions

Abstract Studies find that per capita carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions decrease with household size and urban density. The demographic trends of declining household size and dense urbanization therefore produce countervailing effects with respect to emissions. We posit that both household and urban economies are driven by proximity and realized through sharing carbon-intensive goods. With detailed data from the United States Consumer Expenditure Survey, we construct a dataset of CO 2 emissions at the household level and leverage a unique measure of residential density to estimate household and urban economies. Our estimates show that dense urban areas have per capita emissions roughly 20% lower than rural areas, and that adding an additional member to a household reduces per capita emissions by about 6%. We also find that household economies are about twice as large in rural areas as in dense urban areas and develop an explanation for this phenomenon. In theory, the carbon benefits of dense urbanization have the potential to offset the effects of declining household size. However, using historical US Census data and extrapolating from our estimates, we find that lost household economies have outpaced increased urban economies over the past fifty years.
Strategies for Structural Transformation in Countries in South and South-West Asia

This paper approaches inclusive development in South and South-West Asia through the framework of structural transformation and productive capacities. It discusses the opportunities for these countries to build their productive capacities through product diversification and presents a list of potential new products and export markets that could be targeted by government and private sector for achieving higher long-term gains. The paper also discusses country-specific strategies that combine laissez-faire and strategic diversification approaches to facilitate the emergence of new economic activities that are more likely to increase the productive capacities in the country.
Quantitative uniqueness of solutions to second order elliptic equations with singular potentials in two dimensions

In this article, we study the vanishing order of solutions to second order elliptic equations with singular lower order terms in the plane. In particular, we derive lower bounds for solutions on arbitrarily small balls in terms of the Lebesgue norms of the lower order terms for all admissible exponents. Then we show that a scaling argument allows us to pass from these vanishing order estimates to estimates for the rate of decay of solutions at infinity. Our proofs rely on a new $$L^p - L^q$$ Carleman estimate for the Laplacian in $$\mathbb {R}^2$$ .
Edges and vertices in a unique signed circle in a signed graph

Abstract We examine the conditions under which a signed graph contains an edge or a vertex that is contained in a unique negative circle or a unique positive circle. For an edge in a unique signed circle, the positive and negative case require the same structure on the underlying graph, but the requirements on the signature are different. We characterize the structure of the underlying graph necessary to support such an edge in terms of bridges of a circle. We then use the results from the edge version of the problem to help solve the vertex version.
Stock and Industry Return Characteristics Around Price Shocks

ABSTRACTThe author investigates positive and negative price shocks in individual securities and the degree to which they affect related firms in the same industry. This price contagion effect is significant with initial price shocks leading to substantial long-term abnormal returns across firms in the same industry over time. Price shocks also have predictive value regarding future earnings and revenues for the firm in question and its industry overall. Positive (negative) price shocks that are continued over time are associated with higher (lower) Sharpe ratios suggesting that abnormal returns are not simply a form of compensation for greater expected future volatility.
THE HINGE: A SIMPLE SOLUTION FOR A COMPLEX PROBLEM

There are many challenges facing the revision knee surgeon. Bony defects, ligamentous imbalance, and difficult gap balancing scenarios are common and require practical management strategies. Typically, am implant with the least amount of constraint necessary to provide a well-aligned, well-balanced arc of motion is preferred. Constraint in implants increases the stresses on both the bearing surfaces and the bony interfaces and may result in earlier mechanical failure of the implant. Despite this fact, there are situations where one cannot rely on a simple larger polyethylene post (such as found in CCK type devices) to balance gaps. The author prefers to choose hinge type devices in situations that demonstrate massive gap imbalance (typically huge flexion gaps), situations with deficient extensor mechanisms that can result in recurvatum stresses, or in situations of global ligamentous instability. Techniques of supporting the bony interfaces with stems and sleeves may improve the longevity of these constructs. Complications are common, including extensor mechanism problems. Multiple studies have demonstrated reasonable results of hinged implants for these challenging revision scenarios, and the hinge should remain in the armamentarium of the revision surgeon.
The Relation Between Global and Specific Mindset With Reading Outcomes for Elementary School Students

ABSTRACTAn emerging body of research has evaluated the role of growth mindset in educational achievement, yet little work has focused on the unique role of mindset to standardized reading outcomes. Our study presents 4 key outcomes in a sample of 195 fourth-grade students. First, we evaluated the dimensionality of general and reading-specific mindset and found that a global factor of growth mindset (GGM) existed along with specific factors of general and reading mindset. Second, GGM and reading mindset strongly predicted word reading and reading comprehension. Third, GGM and reading mindset uniquely predicted reading comprehension after controlling for basic word reading skills. Fourth, GGM was more strongly associated with reading comprehension for those individuals with weaker reading comprehension skills, whereas reading mindset was more strongly associated with reading comprehension for those with stronger reading comprehension skills. Our findings suggest the potential importance of assessing general...
Children as a Vulnerable Population

Children are not little adults. They have unique patterns of environmental exposure and developmentally determined susceptibilities that increase their risk of disease following toxic environmental...
Neonatal Genital Reconstruction

It is evident from studies of boys who suffered a surgical catastrophe at a young age and were then assigned a female sex role that cultural and environmental influences are a potent determinant of a child's gender identity. It is imperative that parents have their child's sex assignment firmly fixed in their minds as early as possible. Early surgical correction of a child with ambiguous genitalia to conform to the sex of assignment will serve greatly to reinforce appropriate behavior in the parent. Such surgical intervention for diagnostic and reconstructive purposes is both desirable and safe in the first weeks of life.
Characteristic-Based Benchmark Returns and Corporate Events

We propose that fitted values from market-wide regressions of firm returns on lagged firm characteristics provide useful benchmarks for assessing whether average returns to certain stocks are abnormal. To illustrate, we study eight documented events with abnormal returns, including credit rating and analyst recommendation downgrades, initial and seasoned public equity offerings, mergers and acquisitions, dividend initiations, share repurchases, and stock splits. We show that the apparently abnormal returns in the months after these events are substantially reduced or eliminated when compared to characteristic-based benchmarks. Characteristic-based benchmarks perform better in explaining post-event returns than do recent four- and five-factor models. Received September 19, 2016; editorial decision February 16, 2018 by Editor Andrew Karolyi. Authors have furnished an Internet Appendix, which is available on the Oxford University Press Web Site next to the link to the final published paper online.
Round Optimal Concurrent MPC via Strong Simulation

In this paper, we study the round complexity of concurrently secure multi-party computation (MPC) with super-polynomial simulation (SPS) in the plain model. In the plain model, there are known explicit attacks that show that concurrently secure MPC with polynomial simulation is impossible to achieve; SPS security is the most widely studied model for concurrently secure MPC in the plain model. We obtain the following results: Three-round concurrent MPC with SPS security against Byzantine adversaries, assuming sub-exponentially secure DDH and LWE. Two-round concurrent MPC with SPS security against Byzantine adversaries for input-less randomized functionalities, assuming sub-exponentially secure indistinguishability obfuscation and DDH. In particular, this class includes sampling functionalities that allow parties to jointly sample a secure common reference string for cryptographic applications.
Utilization of direct smears of thyroid fine-needle aspirates for ancillary molecular testing: A comparison of two proprietary testing platforms.

Background Ancillary molecular testing has been recommended for thyroid fine-needle aspirates (FNA) with indeterminate cytologic diagnoses. Rosetta Genomics and Interpace Diagnostics have developed assays that can utilize direct smears as the testing substrate. Methods A retrospective study of indeterminate thyroid FNAs with known histologic follow-up was performed. One Diff-Quik-stained smear and one Papanicolaou-stained smear with similar cellularity (at least 60-100 lesional cells) from each case were sent to Rosetta and Interpace, respectively, for analysis. The results were directly compared and correlated with the final histopathology. Neither company was aware of the follow-up histologic findings in these cases. Results A total of 10 thyroid FNAs were identified from our 2015 files. The cytologic diagnoses included follicular lesion of undetermined significance (FLUS, n = 5), follicular neoplasm/suspicious for follicular neoplasm (FN/SFN, n = 4), and suspicious for malignancy (SM, n = 1). Of the seven cases with benign histology, six smears were classified as benign by the RosettaGX microRNA classifier, and one case was designated as suspicious. Five cases were negative by both ThyGenX oncogene panel and ThyraMIR microRNA classifier. One case was negative by ThyGenX and positive on follow-up ThyraMIR, and one case was positive for KRAS mutation and positive on ThyraMIR. Both the RosettaGX and ThyGenX/ThyraMIR tests demonstrated positive results for the three histologically malignant cases. Conclusion This study demonstrates that two molecular testing platforms performed equally well using our stained direct smears. Both molecular tests revealed a 100% negative predictive rate. RosettaGX showed a 75% positive predictive value in comparison to 60% for ThyGenX/ThyraMIR.
What are you afraid of: Collective leadership and its learning implications

In this provocation, the author attempts to cite the advantages of collective leadership while acknowledging the objections and fears of challengers. Collective leadership is seen as remote because it defies the traditional view of leadership as an individualistic attractive quality that not only protects us but is efficient when applied. Nevertheless, the collective alternative may not only be advisable but required in a connected world featuring a networked economy. The contemporary socio-politico-economic environment requires the contribution of, creativity from, and collaboration among multiple agents providing a dynamic concentration of management and knowledge. If we are to accept and recognize the contribution of a collective leadership, its development would require an entirely different learning model. In particular, collective leadership development occurs as an acute immersion into the practices that are embedded within in situ material–discursive relations—in other words, among people, objects...
The Design of Advertising Experiments Using Statistical Decision Theory

AbstractThe author explains how decision theory can be applied to the design and evaluation of advertising experiments and discusses its application to marketing problems.
Oncogene-triggered suppression of DNA repair leads to DNA instability in cancer

// Julia A. Yaglom 1 , Christopher McFarland 2 , Leonid Mirny 3 and Michael Y. Sherman 1 1 Department Biochemistry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 2 Harvard Graduate Program in Biophysics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 3 Institute for Medical Engineering and Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA Correspondence: Michael Y. Sherman, email: // Keywords : senescence, oncogenes, DNA Damage Response, Her2 Received : July 08, 2014 Accepted : July 24, 2014 Published : July 25, 2014 Abstract DNA instability is an important contributor to cancer development. Previously, defects in the chromosome segregation and excessive DNA double strand breaks due to the replication or oxidative stresses were implicated in DNA instability in cancer. Here, we demonstrate that DNA instability can directly result from the oncogene-induced senescence signaling. Expression of the activated form of Her2 oncogene, NeuT, in immortalized breast epithelial cells led to downregulation of the major DNA repair factor histone H2AX and a number of other components of the HR and NHEJ double strand DNA breaks repair pathways. H2AX expression was regulated at the transcriptional level via a senescence pathway involving p21-mediated regulation of CDK and Rb1. The p21-dependent downregulation of H2AX was seen both in cell culture and the MMTV-neu mouse model of Her2-positive breast cancer. Importantly, downregulation of H2AX upon Her2/NeuT expression impaired repair of double strand DNA breaks. This impairment resulted in both increased DNA instability in the form of somatic copy number alterations, and in increased sensitivity to the chemotherapeutic drug doxorubicin. Overall, these findings indicate that the Her2/NeuT oncogene signaling directly potentiates DNA instability and increases sensitivity to DNA damaging treatments.
Optimal Preventive Law Enforcement and Stopping Standards

Preventive law enforcement increases social welfare by hindering the infliction of criminal harm, but produces inconvenience costs to the general public, because it requires interfering with the acts of innocents as well as attempters. The optimal amount of investment in preventive enforcement is greater than that which maximizes deterrence, but, smaller than that which minimizes criminal harm. Thus, ignoring preventive benefits and/or inconvenience costs results in an inefficient investment portfolio over enforcement methods, and in a predictable manner. Stopping standards, which determine the threshold suspicion required to trigger a stop, are tools that can be used to optimally trade-off the costs and benefits associated with preventive enforcement. The optimal stopping standard is weaker than its analogs in the trial context, namely standards of proof, which generally require preponderance of the evidence in civil trials and proof beyond a reasonable doubt in criminal trials. Finally, suspicionless stops can be optimal in a variety of circumstances, and are more likely optimal when enforcers perform poorly in forming suspicions; inconvenience costs are small; the population is unresponsive to deterrence measures; and the attempt rate is high.
Waveguide quantum electrodynamics in squeezed vacuum

We study the dynamics of a general multiemitter system coupled to the squeezed vacuum reservoir and derive a master equation for this system based on the Weisskopf-Wigner approximation. In this theory, we include the effect of positions of the squeezing sources which is usually neglected in the previous studies. We apply this theory to a quasi-one-dimensional waveguide case where the squeezing in one dimension is experimentally achievable. We show that while dipole-dipole interaction induced by ordinary vacuum depends on the emitter separation, the two-photon process due to the squeezed vacuum depends on the positions of the emitters with respect to the squeezing sources. The dephasing rate, decay rate, and the resonance fluorescence of the waveguide-QED in the squeezed vacuum are controllable by changing the positions of emitters. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the stationary maximum entangled NOON state for identical emitters can be reached with arbitrary initial state when the center-of-mass position of the emitters satisfies certain conditions.
Ranges of Deposition Temperatures Applicable for Metalorganic Vapor Phase Epitaxy of Gan Films Via the Technique of Pendeo-Epitaxy

Pendeo-epitaxy is a type of selective growth of thin films from the sidewalls of etched forms. The resulting films are suspended from the sidewalls and do not interface with the substrate. This process route has advantages over conventional lateral epitaxial overgrowth (LEO) techniques. In this research, pendeo-epitaxial growth of GaN films has been achieved on elongated GaN seed columns. The seed columns were etched from GaN grown on 6H-SiC (0001) substrates via metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE). Silicon nitride mask layers atop the GaN seed columns forced growth from the sidewalls. Pendeo-epitaxial growth of GaN was investigated using several growth temperatures. Higher growth temperatures resulted in improved coalescence due to greater lateral to vertical growth ratios.
An ordered pattern of Ana2 phosphorylation by Plk4 is required for centriole assembly

Polo-like kinase 4 (Plk4) initiates an early step in centriole assembly by phosphorylating Ana2/STIL, a structural component of the procentriole. Here, we show that Plk4 binding to the central coiled-coil (CC) of Ana2 is a conserved event involving Polo-box 3 and a previously unidentified putative CC located adjacent to the kinase domain. Ana2 is then phosphorylated along its length. Previous studies showed that Plk4 phosphorylates the C-terminal STil/ANa2 (STAN) domain of Ana2/STIL, triggering binding and recruitment of the cartwheel protein Sas6 to the procentriole assembly site. However, the physiological relevance of N-terminal phosphorylation was unknown. We found that Plk4 first phosphorylates the extreme N terminus of Ana2, which is critical for subsequent STAN domain modification. Phosphorylation of the central region then breaks the Plk4–Ana2 interaction. This phosphorylation pattern is important for centriole assembly and integrity because replacement of endogenous Ana2 with phospho-Ana2 mutants disrupts distinct steps in Ana2 function and inhibits centriole duplication.
Deep Neural Networks for Ultrasound Beamforming

We investigate the use of deep neural networks (DNNs) for suppressing off-axis scattering in ultrasound channel data. Our implementation operates in the frequency domain via the short-time Fourier transform. The inputs to the DNN consisted of the separated real and imaginary components (i.e. in-phase and quadrature components) observed across the aperture of the array, at a single frequency and for a single depth. Different networks were trained for different frequencies. The output had the same structure as the input and the real and imaginary components were combined as complex data before an inverse short-time Fourier transform was used to reconstruct channel data. Using simulation, physical phantom experiment, and in vivo scans from a human liver, we compared this DNN approach to standard delay-and-sum (DAS) beamforming and an adaptive imaging technique that uses the coherence factor. For a simulated point target, the side lobes when using the DNN approach were about 60 dB below those of standard DAS. For a simulated anechoic cyst, the DNN approach improved contrast ratio (CR) and contrast-to-noise (CNR) ratio by 8.8 dB and 0.3 dB, respectively, compared with DAS. For an anechoic cyst in a physical phantom, the DNN approach improved CR and CNR by 17.1 dB and 0.7 dB, respectively. For two in vivo scans, the DNN approach improved CR and CNR by 13.8 dB and 9.7 dB, respectively. We also explored methods for examining how the networks in this paper function.
Education and propaganda: Tradeoffs to public education provision in nondemocracies

Abstract Nondemocratic regimes face a tradeoff when investing in public education. Education promotes human capital acquisition, expanding the tax base. Yet it also enhances political sophistication and participation, at a cost to nondemocratic regimes. To relax this tradeoff, a regime can disseminate propaganda through its education system. I show that even Bayesian citizens can be influenced by propaganda. By deterring political opposition, propaganda can induce nondemocracies to invest in education when they otherwise would not, improving social welfare. When propaganda is too strong, however, it can generate a backlash. Using cross-country and survey data, I find evidence consistent with the predictions.
The CMS ECAL Laser Monitoring System

The high precision lead tungstate electromagnetic calorimeter of the CMS detector has started to operate in 2008. To ensure the stability of the calorimetric response at a level of a few per mille, every channel of the detector is monitored with a laser monitoring system. This system allows to measure fluctuations in the detector response with high precision, in particular the expected radiation induced changes of the crystal transparency which are on the level of several per cent at nominal luminosity. We briefly review the layout of the system and give an overview of test beam results obtained during the design and construction phase of the CMS ECAL. To allow continuous monitoring of all the crystals the interplay between the CMS DAQ, the ECAL DAQ as well as the laser source has to be carefully tuned. The implementation and experience with this system during the 2008 commissioning and operation of CMS is described.
Uncertainties in Calibration

This paper presents some methods for making comparisons between standards and items undergoing calibration. These methods may be used in a variety of measurements. The purpose is to accumulate data that provide objective estimates of the precision and that are also useful in detecting sources of systematic errors. This purpose is achieved in using some standard statistical designs in the scheduling of the work program. The problems of stating the uncertainty and of combining the uncertainties in a chain of calibrations are discussed.
Self-Reported Environmental Tobacco Smoke Exposure and Avoidance Compared with Cotinine Confirmed Tobacco Smoke Exposure among Pregnant Women and Their Infants.

Background: Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) presents substantial health risks for pregnant women and newborn infants. Measurements of ETS include invasive and expensive biochemical tests, as well as less invasive and lower-cost, self-reported exposure and avoidance measures. Better understanding of self-report measures will help to select ETS assessments for evaluation. Methods: This analysis was conducted within the context of a tailored video intervention to reduce tobacco smoking and ETS exposure during pregnancy and after delivery in the control group sample of 147 nonsmoking women. Measurements of salivary cotinine concentration, self-reported ETS exposure, and avoidance behaviors were captured at 32 weeks’ gestation and 6 months postpartum. Results: Salivary cotinine concentration was significantly related to ETS avoidance among pregnant nonsmokers at 32 weeks’ gestation, but not ETS exposure. At 6 months postpartum, both the reported ETS exposure of the infant and maternal avoidance behaviors to reduce her infant’s exposure were associated with the infant’s salivary cotinine concentration. At 32 weeks’ gestation and 6 months postpartum, avoidance behaviors decreased as exposure increased. Discussion: This study suggests that for nonsmoking women during pregnancy, reports of tobacco smoke avoidance are more valid than reports of exposure. After delivery, self-reported ETS exposure or avoidance are associated with each other and the biochemical measurement of salivary cotinine. These results provide researchers and clinicians with evidence to support the inclusion of avoidance behaviors in the selection of ETS measures.
Radial Dependence of DNA Translocation Velocity in a Solid-State Nanopore

The transport of dsDNA molecules through nanopores has been extensively studied in the hope to enable low-cost and high-throughput DNA sequencing. However, the experimentally measured velocities of dsDNA translocation have a wide distribution, and this potentially can compromise the accuracy of sequencing. In order to better understand the origin of the wide distribution, I have carried out molecular dynamics simulations to study the radial dependence of the translocation velocity. Simulation results suggest a stick-slip type of motion of the dsDNA near the pore surface and a smooth translocation of the dsDNA near the pore center. When DNA is not close to the surface, the nearly constant velocity of DNA is theoretically proportional to the difference between DNA's and pore's zeta-potentials. Thus, the smooth dsDNA translocation (with a constant velocity) can be tuned by modifying the zeta-potential of a pore surface (e.g. adjusting the pH value and/or the ion concentration of an electrolyte). Therefore, by minimizing the dsDNA's interaction with the pore (e.g. chemical modification of pore's surface) as well as adjusting the zeta potential of the pore surface, the smooth transport of dsDNA with a controllable velocity can be achieved.
Restoration of short chain fatty acid and bile acid metabolism following fecal microbiota transplantation in patients with recurrent Clostridium difficile infection.

A significant proportion of individuals develop recurrent Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) following initial disease. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), a highly effective treatment method for recurrent CDI, has been demonstrated to induce microbiota recovery. One of the proposed functions associated with restoration of colonization resistance against C. difficile has been recovery of bile acid metabolism. In this study, we aimed to assess recovery of short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in addition to bile acids alongside microbial community structure in six patients with recurrent CDI following treatment with FMT over time. Using 16S rRNA gene-based sequencing, we observed marked similarity of the microbiota between recipients following FMT (n = 6, sampling up to 6 months post-FMT) and their respective donors. Sustained increases in the levels of the SCFAs butyrate, acetate, and propionate were observed post-FMT, and variable recovery over time was observed in the secondary bile acids deoxycholate and lithocholate. To correlate these changes with specific microbial taxa at an individual level, we applied a generalized estimating equation approach to model metabolite concentrations with the presence of specific members of the microbiota. Metabolites that increased following FMT were associated with bacteria classified within the Lachnospiraceae, Ruminococcaceae, and unclassified Clostridiales families. In contrast, members of these taxa were inversely associated with primary bile acids. The longitudinal aspect of this study allowed us to characterize individualized patterns of recovery, revealing variability between and within patients following FMT.
Øzone: Efficient execution with zero timing leakage for modern microarchitectures

Time variation during program execution can leak sensitive information. Time variations due to program control flow and hardware resource contention have been used to steal encryption keys in cipher implementations such as AES and RSA. A number of approaches to mitigate timing-based side-channel attacks have been proposed including cache partitioning, control-flow obfuscation and injecting timing noise into the outputs of code. While these techniques make timing-based side-channel attacks more difficult, they do not eliminate the risks. Prior techniques are either too specific or too expensive, and all leave remnants of the original timing side channel for later attackers to attempt to exploit. In this work, we show that the state-of-the-art techniques in timing side-channel protection, which limit timing leakage but do not eliminate it, still have significant vulnerabilities to timing-based side-channel attacks. To provide a means for total protection from timing-based side-channel attacks, we develop Ozone, the first zero timing leakage execution resource for a modern microarchitecture. Code in Ozone executes under a special hardware thread that gains exclusive access to a single core's resources for a fixed (and limited) number of cycles during which it cannot be interrupted. Memory access under Ozone thread execution is limited to pre-allocated cache lines that can not be evicted, and all Ozone threads begin execution with a known fixed microarchitectural state. We evaluate Ozone using a number of security sensitive kernels that have previously been targets of timing side-channel attacks, and show that Ozone eliminates timing leakage with minimal performance overhead.
The local Langlands conjecture for GSp(4)

We prove the local Langlands conjecture for GSp4(F ) where F is a nonarchimedean local eld of characteristic zero.
Synthesis of carbon-11-labeled CK1 inhibitors as new potential PET radiotracers for imaging of Alzheimer's disease.

Abstract The reference standards methyl 3-((2,2-difluoro-5 H -[1,3]dioxolo[4′,5′:4,5]benzo[1,2- d ]imidazol-6-yl)carbamoyl)benzoate ( 5a ) and N -(2,2-difluoro-5 H -[1,3]dioxolo[4′,5′:4,5]benzo[1,2- d ]imidazol-6-yl)-3-methoxybenzamide ( 5c ), and their corresponding desmethylated precursors 3-((2,2-difluoro-5 H -[1,3]dioxolo[4′,5′:4,5]benzo[1,2- d ]imidazol-6-yl)carbamoyl)benzoic acid ( 6a ) and N -(2,2-difluoro-5 H -[1,3]dioxolo[4′,5′:4,5]benzo[1,2- d ]imidazol-6-yl)-3-hydroxybenzamide ( 6b ), were synthesized from 5-amino-2,2-difluoro-1,3-benzodioxole and 3-substituted benzoic acids in 5 and 6 steps with 33% and 11%, 30% and 7% overall chemical yield, respectively. Carbon-11-labeled casein kinase 1 (CK1) inhibitors, [ 11 C]methyl 3-((2,2-difluoro-5 H -[1,3]dioxolo[4′,5′:4,5]benzo[1,2- d ]imidazol-6-yl)carbamoyl)benzoate ([ 11 C] 5a ) and N -(2,2-difluoro-5 H -[1,3]dioxolo[4′,5′:4,5]benzo[1,2- d ]imidazol-6-yl)-3-[ 11 C]methoxybenzamide ([ 11 C] 5c ), were prepared from their O- desmethylated precursor 6a or 6b with [ 11 C]CH 3 OTf through O -[ 11 C]methylation and isolated by HPLC combined with SPE in 40–45% radiochemical yield, based on [ 11 C]CO 2 and decay corrected to end of bombardment (EOB). The radiochemical purity was >99%, and the molar activity (MA) at EOB was 370–740 GBq/μmol with a total synthesis time of ∼40-min from EOB.
Plug flow in the Earth's asthenosphere

Abstract Recent seismic observations, focused on mantle flow below the Pacific plate, indicate the presence of two shear layers in the Earth's asthenosphere. This is difficult to explain under the classic assumption of asthenosphere flow driven by plate shear from above. We present numerical mantle convection experiments that show how a power law rheology, together with dynamic pressure gradients, can generate an asthenosphere flow profile with a near constant velocity central region bounded above and below by concentrated shear layers (a configuration referred to as plug flow). The experiments show that as the power law dependence of asthenosphere viscosity is increased from 1 to 3, maximum asthenosphere velocities can surpass lithosphere velocity. The wavelength of mantle convection increases and asthenosphere flow transitions from a linear profile (Couette flow) to a plug flow configuration. Experiments in a 3D spherical domain also show a rotation of velocity vectors from the lithosphere to the asthenosphere, consistent with seismic observations. Global mantle flow remains of whole mantle convection type with plate and asthenosphere flow away from a mid-ocean ridge balanced by broader return flow in the lower mantle. Our results are in line with theoretical scalings that mapped the conditions under which asthenosphere flow can provide an added plate driving force as opposed to the more classic assumption that asthenosphere flow is associated with a plate resisting force.
Intake of methyl-related nutrients and risk of pancreatic cancer in a population-based case-control study in Minnesota.

Folate, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, and methionine are involved in DNA synthesis and methylation and thus may modulate pancreatic cancer risk. We investigated these associations in a population-based case-control study conducted in 1994–1998. Cases (n = 150) were identified from all hospitals in the metropolitan areas of the Twin Cities and the Mayo Clinic, Minnesota. Controls (n = 459) were selected randomly from the general population and were frequency matched to cases by age, sex, and race. Logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for risk of pancreatic cancer in relation to intake of nutrients considered. Dietary intake of folate was associated with a reduced pancreatic cancer risk [OR (95% CI) for quartile (Q) 4 vs. Q1: 0.31 (0.12–0.78)]. A composite score (range from 2 to 8), reflecting combined dietary intake of folate and vitamin B6, was also inversely associated with pancreatic cancer risk [OR (95% CI) for Q4 vs. Q1: 0.24 (0.08–0.70)]. Null associations were found for intake of vitamin B12 and methionine. Dietary folate intake was associated with a reduced pancreatic cancer risk, and this association became stronger when dietary intake of folate and vitamin B6 was combined in analysis.
A renormalization approach to the Riemann zeta function at — 1, 1 + 2 + 3 + …~ — 1/12.

A scaling and renormalization approach to the Riemann zetafunction, $\zeta$, evaluated at $-1$ is presented in two ways. In the first,one takes the difference between $U_{n}:=\sum_{q=1}^{n}q$ and$4U_{\left\lfloor \frac{n}{2}\right\rfloor }$ where $\left\lfloor \frac{n}%{2}\right\rfloor $ \ is the greatest integer function. Using the Cesaro meantwice, i.e., $\left( C,2\right) $, yields convergence to the appropriatevalue. For values of $z$ for which the zeta function is represented by a\textit{convergent} infinite sum, the double Cesaro mean also yields$\zeta\left( z\right) ,$ suggesting that this could be used as analternative method for extension from the convergent region of $z.$ In thesecond approach, the difference $U_{n}-k^{2}\bar{U}_{n/k}$ between $U_{n}$ anda particular average, $\bar{U}_{n/k}$, involving terms up to $k<n$ and scaledby $k^{2}$ is shown to equal exactly $-\frac{1}{12}\left( 1-k^{2}\right) $for all $k<n$. This leads to another perspective for interpreting$\zeta\left( -1\right) $.