cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Titanium-Substituted Polyoxotantalate Clusters Exhibiting Wide pH Stabilities: [Ti2Ta8O28]8− and [Ti12Ta6O44]10−

Two new substituted polyoxotantalate clusters, [Ti2 Ta8 O28 ](8-) and [Ti12 Ta6 O44 ](10-) , considerably expand the pH range where tantalates persist in aqueous solution. The structures of [Ti2 Ta8 O28 ](8-) and [Ti12 Ta6 O44 ](10-) are reported as tetramethylammonium salts after synthesis at hydrothermal conditions in aqueous solution. These Ti-substituted polyoxotantalate clusters have analogues among recently discovered niobates, but are slightly larger and more persistent in solution. Most importantly, they exhibit a much wider range of pH stability than the familiar hexatantalate cluster, which is the only other tantalate known to be stable at highly basic pH conditions. These molecules are kinetically stable to near-neutral pH, making them excellent synthons for further development into materials and catalysts, and an significant advance in adapting tantalates for use in aqueous solutions.
Geometric estimates from spanning surfaces

We derive bounds on the length of the meridian and the cusp volume of hyperbolic knots in terms of the topology of essential surfaces spanned by the knot. We provide an algorithmically checkable criterion that guarantees that the meridian length of a hyperbolic knot is below a given bound. As applications we find knot diagrammatic upper bounds on the meridian length and the cusp volume of hyperbolic adequate knots and we obtain new large families of knots with meridian lengths bounded above by four. We also discuss applications of our results to Dehn surgery.
Pulmonary Artery Acceleration Time Provides a Reliable Estimate of Invasive Pulmonary Hemodynamics in Children

Background Pulmonary artery acceleration time (PAAT) is a noninvasive method to assess pulmonary hemodynamics, but it lacks validity in children. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of Doppler echocardiography–derived PAAT in predicting right heart catheterization (RHC)–derived pulmonary artery pressure (PAP), pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR), and compliance in children. Methods Prospectively acquired and retrospectively measured Doppler echocardiography–derived PAAT and RHC-derived systolic PAP, mean PAP (mPAP), indexed PVR (PVRi), and compliance were compared using regression analysis in a derivation cohort of 75 children (median age, 5.3 years; interquartile range, 1.3–12.6 years) with wide ranges of pulmonary hemodynamics. To account for heart rate variability, PAAT was adjusted for right ventricular ejection time and corrected by the RR interval. Regression equations incorporating PAAT and PAAT/right ventricular ejection time from the derivation cohort were then evaluated for the accuracy of their predictive values for invasive pulmonary hemodynamics in a validation cohort of 50 age- and weight-matched children with elevated PAP and PVR. Results There were significant inverse correlations between PAAT and RHC-derived mPAP ( r = −0.82) and PVRi ( r = −0.78) and a direct correlation ( r = 0.78) between PAAT and pulmonary compliance in the derivation cohort. For detection of pulmonary hypertension (PRVi > 3 Wood units · m 2 and mPAP > 25 mm Hg), PAAT r = 0.88 and r = 0.83, respectively), small biases ( Conclusions PAAT inversely correlates with RHC-measured pulmonary hemodynamics and directly correlates with pulmonary arterial compliance in children. The study established PAAT-based regression equations in children to accurately predict RHC-derived PAP and PVR.
MESENCHYMAL STEM CELLS PROTECT AGAINST OBSTRUCTION-INDUCED RENAL FIBROSIS BY DECREASING STAT3 ACTIVATION AND STAT3-DEPENDENT MMP-9 PRODUCTION

STAT3 is a transcription factor implicated in renal fibrotic injury, but the role of STAT3 in mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-induced renoprotection during renal fibrosis remains unknown. We hypothesiz...
Heavy exotic molecules

We briefly review the formation of pion-mediated heavy-light exotic molecules with both charm and bottom, under the general structures of chiral and heavy quark symmetries. The charm isosinglet exotic molecules with JPC = 1++ binds, which we identify as the reported neutral X(3872). The bottom isotriplet exotic with JPC = 1+− binds, and is identified as a mixed state of the reported charged exotics Zb+(10610) and Zb+(10650). The bound bottom isosinglet molecule with JPC = 1++ is a possible neutral Xb(10532) to be observed.
Prevalence of sessile serrated adenoma/polyp in hyperplastic-appearing diminutive rectosigmoid polyps.

Background and Aims The American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy recommends that distal colon hyperplastic lesions can be left in place without resection if adenomatous histology can be excluded with >90% negative predictive value. However, some lesions could be sessile serrated adenomas/polyps (SSA/Ps), which is also precancerous. The aim of this study was to describe the prevalence of SSA/Ps in hyperplastic-appearing diminutive rectosigmoid polyps. Methods We prospectively placed 513 consecutive diminutive rectosigmoid polyps that appeared hyperplastic to an expert endoscopist in individual bottles for pathologic. Each polyp was examined by 3 expert GI pathologists. Results The prevalence of SSA/P in the study polyps ranged from .6% to 2.1%. The lowest negative predictive value found by the endoscopist for the combination of adenomas plus SSA/Ps was 96.7%. Conclusions The prevalence of SSA/Ps in diminutive rectosigmoid hyperplastic-appearing polyps is very low. These results support the safety and feasibility of a "do not resect" policy for diminutive hyperplastic-appearing rectosigmoid polyps.
Multi-component dark matter through a radiative Higgs portal

We study a multi-component dark matter model where interactions with the Standard Model are primarily via the Higgs boson. The model contains vector-like fermions charged under SU(2) W × U(1) Y and under the dark gauge group, U(1)′. This results in two dark matter candidates. A spin-1 and a spin- $$ \frac{1}{2} $$ candidate, which have loop and tree-level couplings to the Higgs, respectively. We explore the resulting effect on the dark matter relic abundance, while also evaluating constraints on the Higgs invisible width and from direct detection experiments. Generally, we find that this model is highly constrained when the fermionic candidate is the predominant fraction of the dark matter relic abundance.
The computational complexity of ball permutations

We define several models of computation based on permuting distinguishable particles (which we call balls) and characterize their computational complexity. In the quantum setting, we use the representation theory of the symmetric group to find variants of this model which are intermediate between BPP and DQC1 (the class of problems solvable with one clean qubit) and between DQC1 and BQP. Furthermore, we consider a restricted version of this model based on an exactly solvable scattering problem of particles moving on a line. Despite the simplicity of this model from the perspective of mathematical physics, we show that if we allow intermediate destructive measurements and specific input states, then the model cannot be efficiently simulated classically up to multiplicative error unless the polynomial hierarchy collapses. Finally, we define a classical version of this model in which one can probabilistically permute balls. We find this yields a complexity class which is intermediate between L and BPP, and that a nondeterministic version of this model is NP-complete.
MOBILE COMPRESSION: THE DVT ANTICOAGULANT ALTERNATIVE FOR MOST PATIENTS

In his classic monograph entitled Low Friction Arthroplasty of the Hip, which was published in 1979, John Charnley dedicated a chapter to thromboembolic complications. The overall incidence of pulmonary embolism (PE) was approximately 8% and the incidence of death from PE approximately 1%. Surveys of orthopaedic surgeons who undertake total joint replacement conducted by The American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons (AAHKS), 30 years later, showed that there was still no consensus as to the best form of prophylaxis with a wide variation of methods being used. In the past 3 years, for the first time there is uniformity in the recommendations of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) and the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP). Both groups have reached an agreement that the rate of DVT formation is not the ideal endpoint to use when assessing the efficacy of thromboprophylaxis after joint replacement, as had been done in previous drug trials. Most of these DVTs are asymptomatic and of questionable clinical significance. At least one recent study brings into question the association between the rate of DVT formation and that of subsequent symptomatic events. Both groups also focus on minimizing iatrogenic bleeding complications, which can lead to compromised clinical results, including limited movement and pain in the case of knee replacement and increased risk of infection in both knee and hip replacement. To further complete the uniformity of approach in the United States, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which administers the Surgical Care Improvement Program (SCIP) that monitors hospital compliance with VTE prophylaxis of hospitalised patients, has also changed their policy. Beginning January 2014, either aspirin or a compression device has been considered as acceptable measures for THR, TKR and hip fracture. The remarkable success reported from many centers with the use of aspirin and/or the use of a mobile compression device in patients without major risk factors, such as a prior history of symptomatic VTE, clearly indicate that aggressive pharmacoprophylaxis is not necessary for the vast majority of patients who undergo joint replacement.
Is good news for Donald Trump bad news for the Peso

ABSTRACTWe study the relationship between Mr. Trump’s election prospects and the US dollar-peso exchange rate, controlling for other factors that determine overall exchange rates. Increases in Mr. Trump’s probability of winning generate short-run, but statistically significant economically meaningful, disturbances in the US dollar-peso exchange rate. We also provide evidence on Mr. Trump’s effects on Mexican equity markets, premia for Mexican sovereign default risks, exchange rate volatility.
Extremal mechanisms for local differential privacy

Local differential privacy has recently surfaced as a strong measure of privacy in contexts where personal information remains private even from data analysts. Working in a setting where both the data providers and data analysts want to maximize the utility of statistical analyses performed on the released data, we study the fundamental trade-off between local differential privacy and utility. This trade-off is formulated as a constrained optimization problem: maximize utility subject to local differential privacy constraints. We introduce a combinatorial family of extremal privatization mechanisms, which we call staircase mechanisms, and show that it contains the optimal privatization mechanisms for a broad class of information theoretic utilities such as mutual information and f-divergences. We further prove that for any utility function and any privacy level, solving the privacy-utility maximization problem is equivalent to solving a finite-dimensional linear program, the outcome of which is the optimal staircase mechanism. However, solving this linear program can be computationally expensive since it has a number of variables that is exponential in the size of the alphabet the data lives in. To account for this, we show that two simple privatization mechanisms, the binary and randomized response mechanisms, are universally optimal in the low and high privacy regimes, and well approximate the intermediate regime.
Scheduling Parallel Jobs Online with Convex and Concave Parallelizability

Online scheduling of parallelizable jobs has received a significant amount of attention recently. Scalable algorithms are known—that is, algorithms that are (1 + e)-speed O(1)-competitive for any fixed e>0. Previous research has focused on the case where each job’s parallelizability can be expressed as a concave speedup curve. However, there are cases where a job’s speedup curve can be convex. Considering convex speedup curves has received attention in the offline setting, but, to date, there are no positive results in the online model. In this work, we consider scheduling jobs with convex or concave speedup curves for the first time in the online setting. We give a new algorithm that is (1 + e)-speed O(1)-competitive. There are strong lower bounds on the competitive ratio if the algorithm is not given resource augmentation over the adversary, and thus this is essentially the best positive result one can show for this setting.
Pricing Mechanisms for Crowd-Sensed Spatial-Statistics-Based Radio Mapping

Networking on white spaces (i.e., locally unused spectrum) relies on active monitoring of spectrum usage. Spectrum databases based on empirical radio propagation models are widely adopted but shown to be error-prone, since they do not account for built environments (e.g., trees and man-made buildings). As an alternative, crowd-sensed radio mapping by mobile clients who acquire local spectrum data and transmit it to a central aggregator (platform) for processing, results in more accurate radio maps. Success of such crowd-sensing systems presumes some incentive mechanisms to attract user participation. In this paper, we assume that the platform who constructs radio environment maps makes one-time offers (the incentive for participation) to users, and collects data from those who accept the offers. We design pricing mechanisms based on expected utility (EU) maximization, where EU captures the tradeoff between radio mapping performance (location and data quality), crowd-sensing cost, and uncertainty in offer outcomes (i.e., possible expiration and rejection). Specifically, we consider both sequential offering , where one best price offer is sent to the best user in each round, and batched offering , where a batch of offers is made in each round. For the later, we show that EU is submodular in the discrete domain, and propose a mechanism that first fixes the pricing rule, and selects users based on unconstrained submodular maximization (USM); it then compares different pricing rules to find the best batch of offers in each round. We show that USM-based user selection has provable performance guarantee. Proposed mechanisms are evaluated and compared against utility-maximization-based baseline mechanisms.
Monitoring Early Age Properties of Cementitious Material Using Ultrasonic Guided Waves in Embedded Rebar

The evaluation of early age properties of concrete is critical for ensuring construction quality. This paper presents a sensing method to use ultrasonic guided waves in a rebar for monitoring the early age properties of cementitious material. An EMAT sensor was used to excite the longitudinal mode L(0,1) wave in a rebar embedded in cement/mortar, and an ultrasonic transducer was used for receiving the echo signals. Guided wave dispersion curves were developed to select appropriate frequency range. The leakage attenuations of the L(0,1) mode wave from the rebar to the surrounding cement materials were continuously monitored for the first 10 h. The evolution of the shear wave velocity was also monitored simultaneously. The leakage attenuation from experimental measurements was compared with the theory-predicted attenuation in both time and frequency domains, and showed good agreement. Experiments were performed on three cement paste samples and three mortar samples. The results indicated that attenuation is nearly linearly related to the shear wave velocity, and shear wave velocity is linearly related to the penetration resistance (ASTM C403) in logarithmic scale. These results suggest that mechanical properties and hardening process of cement materials can be monitored by using the ultrasonic guided waves in a rebar.
The first 40 million years of circumstellar disk evolution: The signature of terrestrial planet formation

National Aeronautics and Space Administration; Caltech/JPL [1255094, 1256424]; NASA [NNX10AD38G]; National Science Foundation
Electron resists for microcircuit fabrication

The edge resolution of electron exposed resists was investigated in order to determine the suitability of these resists for microcircuit fabrication. Both negative and positive resists have been evaluated including KTFR (Kodak Thin Film Resist), Shipley AZ-1350 and polymethyl methacrylate. Of these, KTFR in layer thicknesses of 5000A has been found to require a charge density of approximately 3 \times 10^{-5} coul/cm2at 10-15 kv, for optimum exposure. Edge resolutions were investigated by exposing lines and observing cross sections in the scanning electron microscope. It was found that a 10 micron wide line of KTFR exposed at 10 kv, shows a smoothly sloping edge af about 2 microns on either side after development. For this reason KTFR was considered unsuitable for submicron device fabrication.
Ceramics for catalysis

The use of ceramics as heterogeneous catalysts represents an extension of “non-traditional” ceramics applications and is now a burgeoning topic of research. In this Review, the principles of heterogeneous catalysis are presented and discussed in terms of surface reactivity and catalyst structure in general. Catalytic selectivity, rate enhancement and catalyst deactivation are addressed. The critical (bulk and surface) structural features that impact on catalyst performance are identified along with a survey of catalyst characterization techniques. Ceramics applications in catalysis are divided into (i) direct use as catalysts and (ii) use as support materials (substrates) to anchor and disperse a variety of active metals. Practical ceramic catalysts are typically complex metal oxides containing at least two different cations which offer enormous compositional flexibility, as is discussed in the case of perovskite oxides. Taking a broad definition of ceramics as “any inorganic nonmetallic material,” there is a wide array of catalysts that can be termed ceramics with disparate end uses. For the purposes of illustration, three established systems are discussed that each illustrates the role of ceramic materials in practical heterogeneous catalysis: (i) catalysis using zeolites; (ii) catalytic converters; (iii) solid oxide fuel cells.
THE POSTERIOR STABILISED KNEE: NO POST REQUIRED – OPPOSES

Whether to preserve the posterior cruciate ligament in total knee arthroplasty remains a topic of debate. Long term studies out to 20 or more years have shown both posterior-stabilised (PS) as well as cruciate-retaining (CR) total knees to perform well. Studies supporting both sides are abundant, and there are even studies supporting one being superior to the other, and vice versa. In closer examination of this issue through a recent meta-analysis, the following conclusions can be drawn: Flexion: mean difference of 2.24, favoring PS designs (p = 0.009) Range of Motion: mean difference of 3.33, favoring PS designs (p = 0.0009) Complications: no statistical difference between PS vs CR Proprioception Swanik et al. – PS knee patients were more accurate at reproducing joint position My bias: PS knees can be utilised in all patients with all deformities Patellar crepitance with PS designs can be minimised with design alternations and techniques for patella preparation Any issues with post impingement can be minimised using PS rotating platform designs The debate of PS vs CR total knees remains unresolved. There is not a 100% clear advantage. Surgeons should make their choice based on their own clinical outcomes, objectively monitored over the long term. For me personally, the choice is PS.
Modular wireless inertial trackers for biomedical applications

In the past few years, semiconductor based wireless positioning and tracking devices have successfully integrated into consumer electronics devices. The sensors track the movement and the orientation of the device to provide a positioning feedback to the program. However, the accuracy of these trackers is typically not acceptable for biomedical application which demands high accuracy. Previous study was performed to access the feasibility of using semiconductor based inertial measurement units (IMU) for human motion tracking. After evaluating the strength and weakness in the previous IMU modules, several modifications and improvement were made. A modular IMU was designed with high resolution ADC. A statistical based approach for orientation tracking is currently being developed and preliminary data were presented and compared with other tracking algorithms.
Controller Placement in Wireless Networks With Delayed CSI

We consider the impact of delayed state information on the performance of centralized wireless scheduling algorithms. Since state updates must be collected from throughout the network, they are inevitably delayed, and this delay is proportional to the distance of each respective node to the controller. In this paper, we analyze the optimal controller placement resulting from this delayed state information. We propose a dynamic controller placement framework, in which the controller is relocated using delayed queue length information at each node, and transmissions are scheduled based on channel and queue length information. We characterize the throughput region under such policies, and find a policy that stabilizes the system for all arrival rates within the throughput region.
p190-B RhoGAP and intracellular cytokine signals balance hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell self-renewal and differentiation

The mechanisms regulating hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell (HSPC) fate choices remain ill-defined. Here, we show that a signalling network of p190-B RhoGAP-ROS-TGF-β-p38MAPK balances HSPC self-renewal and differentiation. Upon transplantation, HSPCs express high amounts of bioactive TGF-β1 protein, which is associated with high levels of p38MAPK activity and loss of HSC self-renewal in vivo. Elevated levels of bioactive TGF-β1 are associated with asymmetric fate choice in vitro in single HSPCs via p38MAPK activity and this is correlated with the asymmetric distribution of activated p38MAPK. In contrast, loss of p190-B, a RhoGTPase inhibitor, normalizes TGF-β levels and p38MAPK activity in HSPCs and is correlated with increased HSC self-renewal in vivo. Loss of p190-B also promotes symmetric retention of multi-lineage capacity in single HSPC myeloid cell cultures, further suggesting a link between p190-B-RhoGAP and non-canonical TGF-β signalling in HSPC differentiation. Thus, intracellular cytokine signalling may serve as 'fate determinants' used by HSPCs to modulate their activity.
Writing evaluation: rater and task effects on the reliability of writing scores for children in Grades 3 and 4

We examined how raters and tasks influence measurement error in writing evaluation and how many raters and tasks are needed to reach a desirable level of .90 and .80 reliabilities for children in Grades 3 and 4. A total of 211 children (102 boys) were administered three tasks in narrative and expository genres, respectively, and their written compositions were evaluated in widely used evaluation methods for developing writers: holistic scoring, productivity, and curriculum-based writing scores. Results showed that 54% and 52% of variance in narrative and expository compositions were attributable to true individual differences in writing. Students' scores varied largely by tasks (30.44% and 28.61% of variance), but not by raters. To reach the reliability of .90, multiple tasks and raters were needed, and for the reliability of .80, a single rater and multiple tasks were needed. These findings offer important implications about reliably evaluating children's writing skills, given that writing is typically evaluated by a single task and a single rater in classrooms and even in state accountability systems.
Governing the Informal: Housing Policies Over Informal Settlements in China, India, and Brazil

AbstractInformal settlements in cities in the global South have been increasingly targeted for redevelopment led by public–private coalitions, especially if they are in central locations. Previous scholarship often characterizes housing policies targeting informal settlements as examples of entrepreneurial governance geared toward recapturing land value by private and public elites. This understanding, however, glosses over the disparate policy choices that local governments use to address informal settlements. This article proposes an analytical framework to explain the variations in policy responses to informal settlements, and it argues that the various policy initiatives are largely shaped by four factors—intergovernmental relations, electoral politics, municipal finance, and the capacity of the civil society. With examples from China, India, and Brazil, this study comparatively examines how these forces have produced distinct informal housing policies, such as urban village removal in Guangzhou, slum...
Wired by Weber - The story of the first searcher and searches for gravitational waves

Joseph Weber started thinking about possibilities for detecting gravitational waves or radiation in about 1955. He designed, built, and operated the first detectors, from 1965 until his death in 2000. This paper includes discussions of his life, earlier work on chemical kinetics and what is now called quantum electronics, his published papers, pioneering work on gravitational waves, and its aftermath, both scientific and personal.
Elliptic boundary problems on manifolds with polycylindrical ends

Abstract We investigate general Shapiro–Lopatinsky elliptic boundary value problems on manifolds with polycylindrical ends. This is accomplished by compactifying such a manifold to a manifold with corners of in general higher codimension, and we then deal with boundary value problems for cusp differential operators. We introduce an adapted Boutet de Monvel's calculus of pseudodifferential boundary value problems, and construct parametrices for elliptic cusp operators within this calculus. Fredholm solvability and elliptic regularity up to the boundary and up to infinity for boundary value problems on manifolds with polycylindrical ends follows.
Living and Dying: Synthesizing the Literature on Firm Survival and Failure across Stages of Development

Understanding why some firms survive while others fail is a central question of strategic management research. Indeed, many consider survival the quintessential indicator of firm performance. As su...
The spectrum of Yang-Mills theory in 2+1 dimensions, analytically

We review our recent work on the glueball spectrum of pure Yang–Mills theory in 2 + 1 dimensions. The calculations make use of Karabali–Nair corner variables in the Hamiltonian formalism, and invol...
Stochastic Lotka–Volterra food chains

We study the persistence and extinction of species in a simple food chain that is modelled by a Lotka–Volterra system with environmental stochasticity. There exist sharp results for deterministic Lotka–Volterra systems in the literature but few for their stochastic counterparts. The food chain we analyze consists of one prey and $$n-1$$ predators. The jth predator eats the $$j-1$$ th species and is eaten by the $$j+1$$ th predator; this way each species only interacts with at most two other species—the ones that are immediately above or below it in the trophic chain. We show that one can classify, based on an explicit quantity depending on the interaction coefficients of the system, which species go extinct and which converge to their unique invariant probability measure. Our work can be seen as a natural extension of the deterministic results of Gard and Hallam ’79 to a stochastic setting. As one consequence we show that environmental stochasticity makes species more likely to go extinct. However, if the environmental fluctuations are small, persistence in the deterministic setting is preserved in the stochastic system. Our analysis also shows that the addition of a new apex predator makes, as expected, the different species more prone to extinction. Another novelty of our analysis is the fact that we can describe the behavior of the system when the noise is degenerate. This is relevant because of the possibility of strong correlations between the effects of the environment on the different species.
Robust stability assessment in the presence of load dynamics uncertainty

Dynamic response of loads has a significant effect on system stability and directly determines the stability margin of the operating point. Inherent uncertainty and natural variability of load models make the stability assessment especially difficult and may compromise the security of the system. We propose a novel mathematical “robust stability” criterion for the assessment of small-signal stability of operating points. Whenever the criterion is satisfied for a given operating point, it provides mathematical guarantees that the operating point will be stable with respect to small disturbances for any dynamic response of the loads. The criterion can be naturally used for identification of operating regions secure from the occurrence of Hopf bifurcation. Several possible applications of the criterion are discussed, most importantly the concept of robust stability assessment (RSA), that could be integrated in dynamic security assessment packages and used in contingency screening and other planning and operational studies.
ELMs and the H-mode pedestal in NSTX

Abstract We report on the behavior of ELMs in NBI-heated H-mode plasmas in NSTX. It is observed that the size of Type I ELMs, characterized by the change in plasma energy, decreases with increasing line-average density, as observed at conventional aspect ratio. It is also observed that the Type I ELM size decreases as the plasma equilibrium is shifted from a symmetric double-null toward a lower single-null configuration. Type II/III ELMs have also been observed in NSTX, as well as a high-performance regime with small ELMs which we designate Type V. The Type V ELMs are characterized by an intermittent n = 1 magnetic pre-cursor oscillation rotating counter to the plasma current; the mode vanishes between Type V ELMs crashes. Without active pumping, the density rises continuously through the Type V phase, albeit at a slower rate than ELM-free discharges.
Learning to navigate cloth using haptics

We present a controller that allows an armlike manipulator to navigate deformable cloth garments in simulation through the use of haptic information. The main challenge of such a controller is to avoid getting tangled in, tearing or punching through the deforming cloth. Our controller aggregates force information from a number of haptic-sensing spheres all along the manipulator for guidance. Based on haptic forces, each individual sphere updates its target location, and the conflicts that arise between this set of desired positions is resolved by solving an inverse kinematic problem with constraints. Reinforcement learning is used to train the controller for a single haptic-sensing sphere, where a training run is terminated (and thus penalized) when large forces are detected due to contact between the sphere and a simplified model of the cloth. In simulation, we demonstrate successful navigation of a robotic arm through a variety of garments, including an isolated sleeve, a jacket, a shirt, and shorts. Our controller out-performs two baseline controllers: one without haptics and another that was trained based on large forces between the sphere and cloth, but without early termination.
Opinion Mining on Non-English Short Text

As the type and the number of such venues increase, automated analysis of sentiment on textual resources has become an essential data mining task. In this paper, we investigate the problem of mining opinions on the collection of informal short texts. Both positive and negative sentiment strength of texts are detected. We focus on a non-English language that has few resources for text mining. This approach would help enhance the sentiment analysis in languages where a list of opinionated words does not exist. We present a new method to automatically construct a list of words with their sentiment strengths. Then, we propose a new method projects the text into dense and low dimensional feature vectors according to the sentiment strength of the words. We detect the mixture of positive and negative sentiments on a multi-variant scale. Empirical evaluation of the proposed framework on Turkish tweets shows that our approach gets good results for opinion mining.
Improving the Accuracy of the CogniLearn System for Cognitive Behavior Assessment

HTKS [9] is a game-like cognitive assessment method, designed for children between four and eight years of age. During the HTKS assessment, a child responds to a sequence of requests, such as "touch your head" or "touch your toes". The cognitive challenge stems from the fact that the children are instructed to interpret these requests not literally, but by touching a different body part than the one stated. In prior work, we have developed the CogniLearn system, that captures data from subjects performing the HTKS game, and analyzes the motion of the subjects. In this paper we propose some specific improvements that make the motion analysis module more accurate. As a result of these improvements, the accuracy in recognizing cases where subjects touch their toes has gone from 76.46% in our previous work to 97.19% in this paper.
Economics, Sexuality, and Male Sex Work

Male sex work generates sales in excess of one billion dollars annually in the United States. Recent sex scandals involving prominent leaders and government shutdowns of escort websites have focused attention on this business, but despite the attention that comes when these scandals break, we know very little about how the market works. Economics, Sexuality, and Male Sex Work is the first economic analysis of male sex work. Competition, the role of information, pricing strategies and other economic features of male sex work are analyzed using the most comprehensive data available. Sex work is also social behavior, however, and this book shows how the social aspects of gay sexuality influence the economic properties of the market. Concepts like desire, masculinity and sexual stereotypes affect how sex workers compete for clients, who practices safer sex, and how sex workers present themselves to clients to differentiate them from the competition.
Characterization of hidden modes in networks of superconducting qubits

We present a method for detecting electromagnetic (EM) modes that couple to a superconducting qubit in a circuit quantum electrodynamics architecture. Based on measurement-induced dephasing, this technique allows the measurement of modes that have a high quality factor (Q) and may be difficult to detect through standard transmission and reflection measurements at the device ports. In this scheme, the qubit itself acts as a sensitive phase meter, revealing modes that couple to it through measurements of its coherence time. Such modes are indistinguishable from EM modes that do not couple to the qubit using a vector network analyzer. Moreover, this technique provides useful characterization parameters including the quality factor and the coupling strength of the unwanted resonances. We demonstrate the method for detecting both high-Q coupling resonators in planar devices as well as spurious modes produced by a 3D cavity.
A hybrid framework for multi-vehicle collision avoidance

With the recent surge of interest in UAVs for civilian services, the importance of developing tractable multiagent analysis techniques that provide safety and performance guarantees has drastically increased. Hamilton-Jacobi (HJ) reachability has successfully provided these guarantees to small-scale systems and is flexible in terms of system dynamics. However, the exponential complexity scaling of HJ reachability with respect to system dimension prevents its direct application to larger-scale problems where the number of vehicles is greater than two. In this paper, we propose a collision avoidance algorithm using a hybrid framework for N + 1 vehicles through higher-level control logic given any N-vehicle collision avoidance algorithm. Our algorithm conservatively approximates a guaranteed-safe region in the joint state space of the N + 1 vehicles and produces a safety-preserving controller. In addition, our algorithm does not incur significant additional computation cost. We demonstrate our method in simulation.
Weak BLD mappings and Hausdorff measure

Abstract We prove that if Φ : X → Y is a mapping of weak bounded length distortion from a quasiconvex and complete metric space X to any metric space Y , then for any Lipschitz mapping f : R k ⊃ E → X we have that Hausdorff measure H k ( f ( E ) ) = 0 equals zero in X if and only if H k ( Φ ( f ( E ) ) ) = 0 in Y . This generalizes an earlier result of Hajlasz and Malekzadeh where the target space Y was a Euclidean space Y = R N .
Constructing disjoint paths on expander graphs

In a typical parallel or distributed computation model processors are connected by a spars interconnection network. To establish open-line communication between pairs of processors that wish to communicate interactively, a set of disjoint paths has to be constructed on the network. Since communication needs vary in time, paths have to be dynamically constructed and destroyed. We study the complexity of constructing disjoint paths between given pairs of vertices on expander interconnection graphs. These graphs have been shown before to possess desirable properties for other communication tasks. We present a sufficient condition for the existence ofK≦n Q edge-disjoint paths connecting any set ofK pairs of vertices on an expander graph, wheren is the number of vertices andϱ<1 is some constant. We then show that the computational problem of constructing these paths lies in the classes Deterministic-P and Random-P C. Furthermore, we show that the set of paths can be constructed in probabilistic polylog time in the parallel-distributed model of computation, in which then participating processors reside in the nodes of the communication graph and all communication is done through edges of the graph. Thus, the disjoint paths are constructed in the very computation model that uses them. Finally, we show how to apply variants of our parallel algorithms to find sets ofvertex-disjoint paths when certain conditions are satisfied.
Frozen Accident Pushing 50: Stereochemistry, Expansion, and Chance in the Evolution of the Genetic Code.

Nearly 50 years ago, Francis Crick propounded the frozen accident scenario for the evolution of the genetic code along with the hypothesis that the early translation system consisted primarily of RNA. Under the frozen accident perspective, the code is universal among modern life forms because any change in codon assignment would be highly deleterious. The frozen accident can be considered the default theory of code evolution because it does not imply any specific interactions between amino acids and the cognate codons or anticodons, or any particular properties of the code. The subsequent 49 years of code studies have elucidated notable features of the standard code, such as high robustness to errors, but failed to develop a compelling explanation for codon assignments. In particular, stereochemical affinity between amino acids and the cognate codons or anticodons does not seem to account for the origin and evolution of the code. Here, I expand Crick’s hypothesis on RNA-only translation system by presenting evidence that this early translation already attained high fidelity that allowed protein evolution. I outline an experimentally testable scenario for the evolution of the code that combines a distinct version of the stereochemical hypothesis, in which amino acids are recognized via unique sites in the tertiary structure of proto-tRNAs, rather than by anticodons, expansion of the code via proto-tRNA duplication, and the frozen accident.
Nonlinear Feedback SC Control of a Power System

Abstract The effectiveness of nonlinear parametric feedback control by means of a series capacitor is studied here. Series-capacitor control is first developed from the maximum principle for a quadratic-state performance index. Stability is verified by the Lyapuncv direct method and by computer simulation. Another nonlinear series-capacitor feedback policy is derived according to a variable-structure, sliding-mode design. Both controllers are very effective in correcting large fault disturbances, but preliminary study indicates that the latter is more robust relative to model order
Network-based genome wide study of hippocampal imaging phenotype in Alzheimer's Disease to identify functional interaction modules

Identification of functional modules from biological network is a promising approach to enhance the statistical power of genome-wide association study (GWAS) and improve biological interpretation for complex diseases. The precise functions of genes are highly relevant to tissue context, while a majority of module identification studies are based on tissuefree biological networks that lacks phenotypic specificity. In this study, we propose a module identification method that maps the GWAS results of an imaging phenotype onto the corresponding tissue-specific functional interaction network by applying a machine learning framework. Ridge regression and support vector machine (SVM) models are constructed to re-prioritize GWAS results, followed by exploring hippocampus-relevant modules based on top predictions using GWAS top findings. We also propose a GWAS top-neighbor-based module identification approach and compare it with Ridge and SVM based approaches. Modules conserving both tissue specificity and GWAS discoveries are identified, showing the promise of the proposal method for providing insight into the mechanism of complex diseases.
Transitions From Skilled Nursing Facility to Home: The Relationship of Early Outpatient Care to Hospital Readmission.

Abstract Background Many adults are discharged to skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) prior to returning home from the hospital. Patient characteristics and factors that can help to prevent postdischarge adverse outcomes are poorly understood. Objective To identify whether early post–SNF discharge care reduces likelihood of 30-day hospital readmissions. Design Secondary data analysis using the Electronic Medical Record, Medicare, Medicaid and the Minimum Data Set. Participants/setting Older (age > 65 years), community-dwelling adults admitted to a safety net hospital in the Midwest for 3 or more nights and discharged home after an SNF stay (n = 1543). Measurements The primary outcome was hospital readmission within 30 days of SNF discharge. The primary independent variables were either a home health visit or an outpatient provider visit within a week of SNF discharge. Results Out of 8754 community-dwelling, hospitalized older adults, 3025 (34.6%) were discharged to an SNF, of whom 1543 (51.0%) returned home. Among the SNF to home group, a home health visit within a week of SNF discharge was associated with reduced hazard of 30-day hospital readmission [adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 0.61, P P = .821). Conclusion For patients discharged from an SNF to home, the finding that a home health visit within a week of discharge is associated with reduced hazard of 30-day hospital readmissions suggests a potential avenue for intervention.
Weak Asymptotic Stability for Discrete Linear Distributed Systems

Abstract Equivalent conditions for weak convergence of power operator sequences are established and, in particular, the special case of weak asymptotic stability for discrete time-invariant free linear systems in Hilbert space is considered. Necessary spectral conditions are provided, and the relationship between weak asymptotic stability and similarity to contraction is investigated.
An approach for proving lower bounds: Solution of Gilbert-Pollak's conjecture on Steiner ratio

A family of finitely many continuous functions on a polytope X, namely (g/sub i/(x))/sub i in I/, is considered, and the problem of minimizing the function f(x)=max/sub i in I/g/sub i/(x) on X is treated. It is shown that if every g/sub i/(x) is a concave function, then the minimum value of f(x) is achieved at finitely many special points in X. As an application, a long-standing problem about Steiner minimum trees and minimum spanning trees is solved. In particular, if P is a set of n points on the Euclidean plane and L/sub s/(P) and L/sub m/(P) denote the lengths of a Steiner minimum tree and a minimum spanning tree on P, respectively, it is proved that, for any P, L/sub S/(P)>or= square root 3L/sub m/(P)/2, as conjectured by E.N. Gilbert and H.O. Pollak (1968). >
Specific Binding Proteins for Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin in a Patient With Trophoblastic Disease

Human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) is present in high concentration in patients with trophoblastic disease. The hCG concentration parallels tumor activity. The first known case of an endogenous binder for hCG in the serum of a patient with trophoblastic disease is reported. The patient’s hCG concentration was not detectable when analyzed by a radioimmunoassay using a double antibody method; however, it was positive by a radioimmunoassay using polyethylene glycol precipitation. A high serum blank was also observed in this patient. This led the authors to suspect the presence of anendogenous binder for hCG. Scatchard analysis of the patient’s serum revealed a high affinity binder for hCG with Ka = 2 × 1011 M–1, concentration of binding site = 7 × 10–12 M, and a lower affinity binder with Ka = 1 × 1010 M–1, concentration of binding site = 2 × 10–11 M. This investigation strongly suggested a specific binder(s) for hCG in the serum of this patient.
Was Galileo Right

An important scientific debate took place regarding falling bodies hundreds of years ago, and it still warrants close examination. Galileo argued that in a vacuum all bodies fall at the same rate relative to the earth, independent of their mass. As we shall see, the problem is more subtle than meets the eye ‐ even in vacuum. In principle the results of a free fall experiment depend on whether falling masses are sequential or concurrent, whether they fall side by side or diametrically opposed. In the current paper we will present both the classical mechanics treatment and the general relativity one. In the case of classical mechanics, we start from the basic equations of motion. On the other hand, the determination of particle equations of motion in gravitational fields in general relativity is done routinely via the use of covariant derivatives. Since the geodesic equations based on covariant derivatives are derived from the Euler-Lagrange equations and since the Euler-Lagrange formalism is very intuitive, easy to derive with no mistakes, there is every reason to use them even for the most complicated situations and this is exactly what we do in the second part of the current paper.