cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
M-MAP: Multi-factor memory authentication for secure embedded processors

The challenges faced in securing embedded computing systems against multifaceted memory safety vulnerabilities have prompted great interest in the development of memory safety countermeasures. These countermeasures either provide protection only against their corresponding type of vulnerabilities, or incur substantial architectural modifications and overheads in order to provide complete safety, which makes them infeasible for embedded systems. In this paper, we propose M-MAP: a comprehensive system based on multi-factor memory authentication for complete memory safety. We examine certain crucial implications of composing memory integrity verification and bounds checking schemes in a comprehensive system. Based on these implications, we implement M-MAP with hardware based memory integrity verification and software based bounds checking to achieve a balance between hardware modifications and performance. We demonstrate that M-MAP implemented on top of a lightweight out-of-order processor delivers complete memory safety with only 32% performance overhead on average, while incurring minimal hardware modifications, and area overhead.
Cobalt-Catalyzed Benzylic Borylation: Enabling Polyborylation and Functionalization of Remote, Unactivated C(sp3)–H Bonds

Cobalt dialkyl and bis(carboxylate) complexes bearing α-diimine ligands have been synthesized and demonstrated as active for the C(sp3)-H borylation of a range of substituted alkyl arenes using B2Pin2 (Pin = pinacolate) as the boron source. At longer reaction times, rare examples of polyborylation were observed, and in the case of toluene, all three benzylic C-H positions were functionalized. Coupling benzylic C-H activation with alkyl isomerization enabled a base-metal-catalyzed method for the borylation of remote, unactivated C(sp3)-H bonds.
Efficient Indexing of Necklaces and Irreducible Polynomials over Finite Fields

We study the problem of indexing necklaces, and give the first polynomial time algorithm for this problem. Specifically, we give a poly(n, log|Σ|)-time computable bijection between \(\{1, \ldots, |\cal N|\}\) and the set \(\cal N\) of all necklaces of length n over a finite alphabet Σ.
Georgia Farmers’ Perceptions of Production Barrier in Organic Vegetable and Fruit Agriculture

Profit maximizing farm producers attempt to minimize risk in their business by utilizing available cost effective methods and information. This research attempts to identify production barriers to vegetable and fruit producers adopting organic methods of production and determine which of these barriers to organic production influence adoption most. The data for this study is from a 2014 state wide telephone survey of Georgia’s vegetable and fruit producers. Producers were segregated into five groups; those using 100 percent conventional methods, more conventional than organic, those using about 50 percent organic and 50 percent conventional, more organic than conventional, and 100 percent organic method. Results are based on logit analysis of producers’ perceptions of barriers, farm and socioeconomic characteristics. A number of factors including producers’ evaluation of production barriers are shown to influence adoption of organic production methods. Among perception factors and characteristics influencing adoption are organic certification costs, reluctance to adopt new production methods, lower organic yields, liability of organic producers is higher, labor costs, producer age, educational attainment, years of organic farming experience and farm size (measured as gross annual farm sales).
COMPANY LAW IMPLEMENTATION IN THE PRC: THE RULE OF LAW IN THE SHADOW OF THE STATE

China has enacted a number of company law statutes since the early 1990s. These demonstrate a commitment to the adoption of the corporate form as a vehicle for business activity. In the 1993 and 2005 Company Laws, and in numerous amendments to these laws, Chinese legislators have shown that they have been well attuned to modern corporate law ideas and concepts. Nevertheless, these company laws reflect some important Chinese characteristics, such as the dominant role of the Communist Party and of the impact of the state in Chinese companies. Chinese company law has clearly evolved in the shadow of a strong authoritarian state. This has influenced the ways in which these laws have been implemented. This article explores key issues regarding the implementation of company law in China since 1993 and suggests that the language of the law cannot be understood without an appreciation of various institutional constraints upon the effect of company law upon Chinese companies.
The Cambridge History of "Capitalism"

This review essay of the two-volume Cambridge History of Capitalism (2014), edited by Larry Neal and Jeffrey G. Williamson, is divided into three parts. First, I describe three chapters from the second volume that I recommend for all economists to add depth to their understanding of the world economy today. Robert C. Allen analyzes the world distribution of income; Randall Morck and Bernard Yeung discuss the history of business groups; and Peter Lindert surveys private and public programs to help the poor. In each case, they analyze historical backgrounds that illuminate current issues. Second, I criticize the definition of capitalism used in these volumes as too expansive to be useful. I argue that this definition mars the essays in first volume by stimulating a fruitless search for capitalism in the millennium before the Industrial Revolution. Third, I describe the essays in this reference work starting from the most recent and ending with those about antiquity.
Asymptotic properties of infinite directed unions of local quadratic transforms

Abstract Let ( R , m ) be a regular local ring of dimension at least 2. For each valuation domain birationally dominating R, there is an associated sequence { R n } of local quadratic transforms of R. We consider the case where this sequence { R n } n ≥ 0 is infinite and examine properties of the integrally closed local domain S = ⋃ n ≥ 0 R n in the case where S is not a valuation domain. For this sequence, there is an associated boundary valuation ring V = ⋃ n ≥ 0 ⋂ i ≥ n V i , where V i is the order valuation ring of R i . There exists a unique minimal proper Noetherian overring T of S. T is the regular Noetherian UFD obtained by localizing outside the maximal ideal of S and S = V ∩ T . In the present paper, we define functions w and e, where w is the asymptotic limit of the order valuations and e is the limit of the orders of transforms of principal ideals. We describe V explicitly in terms of w and e and prove that V is either rank 1 or rank 2. We define an invariant τ associated to S that is either a positive real number or +∞. If τ is finite, then S is archimedean and T is not local. In this case, the function w defines the rank 1 valuation overring W of V and W dominates S. The rational dependence of τ over w ( T × ) determines whether S is completely integrally closed and whether V has rank 1. We give examples where S is completely integrally closed. If τ is infinite, then S is non-archimedean and T is local. In this case, the function e defines the rank 1 valuation overring E of V. The valuation ring E is a DVR and E dominates T, and in certain cases we prove that E is the order valuation ring of T.
History and Development of Coronal Mass Ejections as a Key Player in Solar Terrestrial Relationship

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are relatively a recently discovered phenomenon—in 1971, some 15 years into the Space Era. It took another two decades to realize that CMEs are the most important players in solar terrestrial relationship as the root cause of severe weather in Earth’s space environment. CMEs are now counted among the major natural hazards because they cause large solar energetic particle (SEP) events and major geomagnetic storms, both of which pose danger to humans and their technology in space and ground. Geomagnetic storms discovered in the 1700s, solar flares discovered in the 1800s, and SEP events discovered in the 1900s are all now found to be closely related to CMEs via various physical processes occurring at various locations in and around CMEs, when they interact with the ambient medium. This article identifies a number of key developments that preceded the discovery of white-light CMEs suggesting that CMEs were waiting to be discovered. The last two decades witnessed an explosion of CME research following the launch of the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory mission in 1995, resulting in the establishment of a full picture of CMEs.
The economic gains to accounting for fishery induced evolution

Ecologists warn that the rapid evolution occurring as a result of high-intensity commercial fishing could have significant economic and ecological effects. So far, fishery managers do not take this rapid evolution (called fisheries-induced evolution or FIE) into consideration when determining fishery policy. I model the interactions between the genetics, population structure, and economics of the fishery in order to determine how beneficial altering the fishery managers decision framework to include fisheries induced evolution would be to fishery profit and yield. My model is based on North-East Arctic Cod, which are long lived and for which an abundance of information exists, including proof of FIE. I compare the steady state reached by a `myopic' fishery manager who sets effort and mesh size policy while ignoring evolution, to the steady state reached by a fishery manager who dynamically optimizes his strategy with the knowledge of how evolution will respond. This paper shows that accounting for evolution can increase steady state profits by 29-34%, however this benefit decreases and is eventually eliminated as the discount rate increases from zero. An important auxiliary benefit to accounting for evolution is the effect optimal management has on fishery biomass, maturation rates, and yield.
The GATT/WTO Trade Effect 20 Years Later: A Critical Review and New Insights

The failed progress of the Doha Round of trade negotiations, and continued success and interest in establishing preferential trade agreements, have caused many to question the continued relevance of the GATT/WTO. This article offers a holistic and nuanced examination of magnitude and mechanisms through which this organization has potentially facilitated trade. Using a formal econometric model of bilateral trade flows decomposed into destination market and product diversification and specialization margins, we find that membership in the GATT/WTO operates almost exclusively through access to more being able to access more destination markets and shipping and more diversified product mix relative to non-members. This results also held in the case of agricultural trade although in this sector GATT/WTO membership encourages greater trade through the intensive margin but at a smaller level compared to the extensive margin. For RTAs this effect was reversed. This result suggests that while the GATT/WTO stimulates the development of new and expanding trade relationships, RTAs encourage greater specialization across existing product varieties. The coexistence of RTAs within the multilateral system suggests a complementary relationship exists between these trade facilitation structures.
EXPLORING THE EXISTENCE OF GRADER BIAS IN BEEF GRADING

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) beef grading system plays an important role in marketing and promoting beef. USDA graders inspect beef carcasses and determine a quality grade within a few seconds. Although the graders are well trained, the nature of this grading process may lead to grading errors. Significant differences in the USDA graders’ “called” and “camera-graded” quality grades were observed, as well as variations in quality grades across seasons and years. Under grid pricing, producers gained financially from grades called by USDA graders rather than grades measured by cameras.
Energy-Efficient Algorithms

We initiate the systematic study of the energy complexity of algorithms (in addition to time and space complexity) based on Landauer's Principle in physics, which gives a lower bound on the amount of energy a system must dissipate if it destroys information. We propose energy-aware variations of three standard models of computation: circuit RAM, word RAM, and transdichotomous RAM. On top of these models, we build familiar high-level primitives such as control logic, memory allocation, and garbage collection with zero energy complexity and only constant-factor overheads in space and time complexity, enabling simple expression of energy-efficient algorithms. We analyze several classic algorithms in our models and develop low-energy variations: comparison sort, insertion sort, counting sort, breadth-first search, Bellman-Ford, Floyd-Warshall, matrix all-pairs shortest paths, AVL trees, binary heaps, and dynamic arrays. We explore the time/space/energy trade-off and develop several general techniques for analyzing algorithms and reducing their energy complexity. These results lay a theoretical foundation for a new field of semi-reversible computing and provide a new framework for the investigation of algorithms.
Foundation Precompression with Vertical Sand Drains

Foundation precompression through use of preload fills combined with vertical sand drains to accelerate consolidation is described with reference to uses, design procedures, and possible effects of alternative methods for installing vertical sand drains. Vertical sand drains to accelerate consolidation are probably not required where soils contain continuous intermediate sand layers within the compressible stratum, but pressure-relief wells may be required to reduce excess pore-water pressures in the sand layers. The pressure-relief wells can be sand drains, free-flowing wellpoints, or conventional wells. Also, vertical sand drains will probably serve no purpose where design loadings will not exceed preconsolidation stresses. Field tests may be required in some stratified materials to evaluate the efficacy of thin pervious soils as drainage layers. The importance of designing for secondary compression effects is emphasized.
The Raman Spectra of Polybutadiene Rubbers

Abstract The Raman spectra of cis-1,4-, trans-1,4-, and 1,2-polybutadiene are presented. Analysis of the spectra of these model compounds, and the normal coordinate results, enable the Raman frequencies to be classified by configurational structure type. The Raman carbon—carbon double bond stretching vibrations can be used to describe uniquely the structure content in polybutadienes.
Temperature Dependence of Ion Mixing Of Markers in Zr

Ion mixing of thin markers in Zr was investigated by irradiating with 660 keV Kr++ ions at temperatures between 300 to 423 K. Very thin films of vacuum evaporated Ti, Cr, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu+ Hf, W, and Au served as markers. The samples were analyzed by 2 MeV He backscattering spectrometry. The marker elements that are likely to dissolve interstitially in Zr have higher mixing efficiencies at elevated irradiation temperature than the markers that are likely to dissolve substitutionally. The results are explained by radiation-enhanced diffusion theory.
Foam-PVDF smart skin for aircraft interior sound control

The development and testing of foam-PVDF smart skin designed for aircraft interior noise control are discussed. The smart skin is designed to reduce sound by the action of the passive absorption of the foam (which is effective at higher frequencies) and the active input of a PVDF element driven by an oscillating electrical input (which is effective at lower frequencies). The device consists of cylindrically curved PVDF piezoelectric film embedded in partially reticulated polyurethane acoustic foam. For performance testing, the foam-PVDF smart skin is mounted in the cockpit of a Cessna Citation III fuselage. Each smart foam element controls the effective acoustic source of individual fuselage panels. The fuselage crown panels are excited with a speaker located on the outside of the cockpit. A MIMO feedforward LMS controller is implemented to minimize the error sensor signals provided by microphones in the close proximity of the active elements under band-limited random excitation. The use of two different reference signals, i.e. the voltage sent to the speaker (disturbance) and the signal from an accelerometer directly mounted on the fuselage (more realistic in practice), are compared in terms of the interior noise attenuation achieved. The potential of the smart foam-PVDF skin for reducing interior noise is demonstrated. [work supported by DARPA-ARO].
Controlling Catalytic Selectivity via Adsorbate Orientation on the Surface: From Furfural Deoxygenation to Reactions of Epoxides

Specificity to desired reaction products is the key challenge in designing solid catalysts for reactions involving addition or removal of oxygen to/from organic reactants. This challenge is especially acute for reactions involving multifunctional compounds such as biomass-derived aromatic molecules (e.g., furfural) and functional epoxides (e.g., 1-epoxy-3-butene). Recent surface-level studies have shown that there is a relationship between adsorbate surface orientation and reaction selectivity in the hydrogenation pathways of aromatic oxygenates and the ring-opening or ring-closing pathways of epoxides. Control of the orientation of reaction intermediates on catalytic surfaces by modifying the surface or near-surface environment has been shown to be a promising method of affecting catalytic selectivity for reactions of multifunctional molecules. In this Perspective, we review recent model studies aimed at understanding the surface chemistry for these reactions and studies that utilize this insight to rati...
Understanding Online Teacher Best Practices: A Thematic Analysis to Improve Learning.

The purpose of this study was to examine brick-and-mortar and online teacher best practice themes using thematic analysis and a newly developed theory-based analytic process entitled Synthesized Thematic Analysis Criteria (STAC). The STAC was developed to facilitate the meaningful thematic analysis of research based best practices of K-12 education delivery options. In the study, data for the thematic analysis consisted of published research about best practices in both brick-and-mortar and online education. The use of both brick-and-mortar as well as online teacher best practices provided an opportunity to identify commonalities among these modes of delivery. Based on these commonalities, the thematic analysis detected emergent themes, which could be used as a foundation upon which online teachers might build specialized practice. As well, research-validated teacher best practice themes generated from this study may be considered a starting point for defining teacher best practices in online education an...
Comparison of 2 transvaginal surgical approaches and perioperative behavioral therapy for apical vaginal prolapse: The OPTIMAL randomized trial

Author(s): Barber, Matthew D; Brubaker, Linda; Burgio, Kathryn L; Richter, Holly E; Nygaard, Ingrid; Weidner, Alison C; Menefee, Shawn A; Lukacz, Emily S; Norton, Peggy; Schaffer, Joseph; Nguyen, John N; Borello-France, Diane; Goode, Patricia S; Jakus-Waldman, Sharon; Spino, Cathie; Warren, Lauren Klein; Gantz, Marie G; Meikle, Susan F
Comparative Morphogenic and toxicity Studies on the Effect of Pesticides on Honeybee Brood

SummaryToxicological and morphogenic studies were carried out to determine the potential hazard to honeybee (Apis mellifera) brood of pesticides which have contaminated the food in the hive. Pesticides were added to the food in individual brood cells using a microsyringe. Precise qualitative and quantitative monitoring of the pesticide effect throughout the brood cycle and into the adult stage was possible. Each pesticide was tested at three or more dosages, on worker larvae 1–2, 3–4 and 5–6 days old, for effects on mortality and on amorphogenic changes. Linear regressions were used to construct dosage-mortality curves. Results indicated that mortality may occur at any stage of larval, prepupal or pupal development and to emerging or newly emerged adults. Some adults that survived were light in colour, and of light weight, and often had deformed wings or no wings; they were weak and died soon after eclosion. Of the 31 pesticides tested by the morphogenic technique, six were eventually non-toxic, 19 were s...
Silica-Immobilized Chiral Dirhodium(II) Catalyst for Enantioselective Carbenoid Reactions

A silica-supported dirhodium(II) tetraprolinate catalyst was synthesized in four steps from l-proline and used in a range of enantioselective transformations of donor/acceptor carbenoids. These include cyclopropenation, cyclopropanation, tandem ylide formation/[2,3] sigmatropic rearrangement, and a variety of combined C–H functionalization/Cope rearrangement reactions. The products of these transformations were obtained in yields and levels of enantioselectivity comparable to those obtained with its homogeneous counterpart, Rh2(S-DOSP)4. The silica-supported Rh2(S-DOSP)4 derivative was successfully recycled over five reactions.
Defining “Term” Pregnancy: Recommendations From the Defining “Term” Pregnancy Workgroup

AbstractThe definition of “term” gestation is often confusing because of the emphasis on reducing preterm birth and the increase in scheduled deliveries. Because preterm is defined as delivery at less than 37 weeks and postterm as more than 42 weeks, “term” has been defined as delivery at 37 to 42 w
An experimental investigation of the turbulent mixing transition in the Richtmyer–Meshkov instability

The Richtmyer–Meshkov instability (RMI) is experimentally investigated in a vertical shock tube using a broadband initial condition imposed on an interface between a helium–acetone mixture and argon ( ). The interface is created without the use of a membrane by first setting up a flat, gravitationally stable stagnation plane, where the gases are injected from the ends of the shock tube and exit through horizontal slots at the interface location. Following this, the interface is perturbed by injecting gas within the plane of the interface. Perturbations form in the lower portion of this layer due to the shear between this injected stream and the surrounding gas. This shear layer serves as a statistically repeatable broadband initial condition to the RMI. The interface is accelerated by either a or planar shock wave, and the development of the ensuing mixing layer is investigated using planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF). The PLIF images are processed to reveal the light-gas mole fraction by accounting for laser absorption and laser-steering effects. The images suggest a transition to turbulent mixing occurring during the experiment. An analysis of the mole-fraction distribution confirms this transition, showing the gases begin to homogenize at later times. The scalar variance energy spectra exhibits a near inertial range, providing further evidence for turbulent mixing. Measurements of the Batchelor and Taylor microscales are made from the mole-fraction images, giving and 4 mm, respectively, by the latest times. The ratio of these scales implies an outer-scale Reynolds number of .
The integrated dayside merging rate is controlled primarily by the solar wind

An argument is presented to support the view that the rate of merging between the geomagnetic field and the interplanetary magnetic field across the dayside magnetosphere is controlled primarily by the solar wind parameters. The controlling parameters are the solar wind electric field in the Earth's frame of reference and the solar wind magnetosonic fast mode Mach number. These factors control to first order the total amount of magnetic flux that is carried by the magnetosheath flow to the dayside merging region. We argue that the global dayside merging rate is governed by the amount of flux that is delivered to the dayside merging line by the magnetosheath flow. The ionospheric conductance also plays an important role by modulating the shape of the magnetospheric obstacle around which the magnetosheath flow is deflected. The local conditions at the magnetopause, especially changes in magnetospheric plasma density will affect the local reconnection rate, but not the global dayside merging rate because to change the global merging rate the entire pattern of magnetosheath flow must be changed. The conceptual model presented here can explain how dayside merging depends on solar wind values, including both linear and nonlinear dependencies, through the application of a single, unifying perspective, without the need for ad hoc mechanisms that limit the dayside merging rate.
[(11)C]PiB PET in Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker disease.

Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker Disease (GSS) is a familial neurodegenerative disorder characterized clinically by ataxia, parkinsonism, and dementia, and neuropathologically by deposition of diffuse and amyloid plaques composed of prion protein (PrP). The purpose of this study was to evaluate if [(11)C]Pittsburgh Compound B (PiB) positron emission tomography (PET) is capable of detecting PrP-amyloid in PRNP gene carriers. Six individuals at risk for GSS and eight controls underwent [(11)C]PiB PET scans using standard methods. Approximately one year after the initial scan, each of the three asymptomatic carriers (two with PRNP P102L mutation, one with PRNP F198S mutation) underwent a second [(11)C]PiB PET scan. Three P102L carriers, one F198S carrier, and one non-carrier of the F198S mutation were cognitively normal, while one F198S carrier was cognitively impaired during the course of this study. No [(11)C]PiB uptake was observed in any subject at baseline or at follow-up. Neuropathologic study of the symptomatic individual revealed PrP-immunopositive plaques and tau-immunopositive neurofibrillary tangles in cerebral cortex, subcortical nuclei, and brainstem. PrP deposits were also numerous in the cerebellar cortex. This is the first study to investigate the ability of [(11)C]PiB PET to bind to PrP-amyloid in GSS F198S subjects. This finding suggests that [(11)C]PiB PET is not suitable for in vivo assessment of PrP-amyloid plaques in patients with GSS.
The Anatomic Basis of Vertebrogenic Pain and the Autonomic Syndrome Associated with Lumbar Disk Extrusion

Extruded lumbar intervertebral disks traditionally have been classified as posterior or central in location. A retrospective review of 250 MR imaging examinations of the lumbar spine that used mid- and high-field imagers revealed 145 positive studies, which included a significant number of extrusions extending anteriorly. With the lateral margin of the neural foramen/pedicle as the boundary, 29.2% of peripheral disk extrusions were anterior and 56.4% were posterior. In addition, a prevalence of 14.4% was found for central disk extrusions, in which there was a rupture of disk material into or through the vertebral body itself. The clinical state of neurogenic spinal radiculopathy accompanying posterior disk extrusion has been well defined; however, uncomplicated anterior and central disk extrusions also may be associated with a definite clinical syndrome. The vertebrogenic symptom complex includes (1) local and referred pain and (2) autonomic reflex dysfunction within the lumbosacral zones of Head. Generalized alterations in viscerosomatic tone potentially may also be observed. The anatomic basis for the mediation of clinical signs and symptoms generated within the disk and paradiskal structures rests with afferent sensory fibers from two primary sources: (1) posterolateral neural branches emanating from the ventral ramus of the somatic spinal root and (2) neural rami projecting directly to the paravertebral autonomic neural plexus. Thus, conscious perception and unconscious effects originating in the vertebral column, although complex, have definite pathways represented in this dual peripheral innervation associated with intimately related and/or parallel central ramifications. It is further proposed that the specific clinical manifestations of the autonomic syndrome are mediated predominantly, if not entirely, within the sympathetic nervous system. The directional differentiation of lumbar disk extrusions by MR, together with a clarification and appreciation of the accompanying clinical somatic and autonomic syndromes, should contribute both to understanding the specific causes as well as to establishing the appropriate treatment of acute and chronic signs and symptoms engendered by many nonspecific disease processes involving the spinal column.
Nuclear response theory for spin-isospin excitations in a relativistic quasiparticle-phonon coupling framework

A new theoretical approach to spin-isospin excitations in open-shell nuclei is presented. The developed method is based on the relativistic meson-exchange nuclear Lagrangian of Quantum Hadrodynamics and extends the response theory for superfluid nuclear systems beyond relativistic quasiparticle random phase approximation in the proton-neutron channel (pn-RQRPA). The coupling between quasiparticle degrees of freedom and collective vibrations (phonons) introduces a time-dependent effective interaction, in addition to the exchange of pion and \( \rho\) -meson taken into account without retardation. The time-dependent contributions are treated in the resonant time-blocking approximation, in analogy to the previously developed relativistic quasiparticle time-blocking approximation (RQTBA) in the neutral (non-isospin-flip) channel. The new method is called proton-neutron RQTBA (pn-RQTBA) and is applied to the Gamow-Teller resonance in a chain of neutron-rich nickel isotopes 68-78Ni . A strong fragmentation of the resonance along with quenching of the strength, as compared to pn-RQRPA, is obtained. Based on the calculated strength distribution, beta-decay half-lives of the considered isotopes are computed and compared to pn-RQRPA half-lives and to experimental data. It is shown that a considerable improvement of the half-life description is obtained in pn-RQTBA because of the spreading effects, which bring the lifetimes to a very good quantitative agreement with data.
Palladium-Catalyzed Alkoxycarbonylation of Unactivated Secondary Alkyl Bromides at Low Pressure

Catalytic carbonylations of organohalides are important C-C bond formations in chemical synthesis. Carbonylations of unactivated alkyl halides remain a challenge and currently require the use of alkyl iodides under harsh conditions and high pressures of CO. Herein we report a palladium-catalyzed alkoxycarbonylation of secondary alkyl bromides that proceeds at low pressure (2 atm CO) under mild conditions. Preliminary mechanistic studies are consistent with a hybrid organometallic-radical process. These reactions efficiently deliver esters from unactivated alkyl bromides across a diverse range of substrates and represent the first catalytic carbonylations of alkyl bromides with carbon monoxide.
Financing climate policies through climate bonds – A three stage model and empirics

Abstract The funding of climate mitigation and adaptation policies has become an essential issue in climate negotiations. Emissions trading schemes (ETS) and carbon tax policies are widely discussed as viable mitigation strategies, the revenue from which might then be used for adaptation efforts. In most current models, the burden of enacting mitigation and adaptation policies falls on current generations. This paper expands on a recent article by Sachs (2014) that proposes intertemporal burden sharing, suggesting that implementation of climate policies would represent a Pareto improving strategy for both current and future generations. In particular, this paper proposes that green bonds (also referred to as climate bonds) represent an immediately implementable opportunity to initiate Sachs’ plan; the issuance of green bonds could fund immediate investment in climate mitigation such that the debt might be repaid by the future generations, those who benefit most from reduced environmental damages. The Sachs model is a discrete time overlapping generations model which we generalize and turn into a continuous time version exhibiting three major stages. We solve this three phase model by using a new numerical procedure called NMPC that allows for finite horizon solutions and phase changes. We show that the issued bonds can be repaid and the debt is sustainable within a finite time horizon. We also study econometrically whether the current macroeconomic environment is conducive to successfully phasing in such climate bonds.
Dynamic Changes in High-Sensitivity Cardiac Troponin I Are Associated with Dynamic Changes in Sum Absolute QRST Integral on Surface Electrocardiogram in Acute Decompensated Heart Failure.

Background A three-dimensional electrocardiographic (ECG) metric, the sum absolute QRST integral (SAI QRST), predicts ventricular arrhythmias in heart failure (HF) patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillator and mechanical response to cardiac resynchronization therapy. We hypothesized that there is an association between patient-specific changes in SAI QRST and myocardial injury as measured by high-sensitivity troponin I (hsTnI). Methods Sum absolute integral QRST on resting 12-lead ECG and hsTnI were measured simultaneously, every 3 hours, and during 12-hour observation period in a prospective cohort of emergency department patients (n = 398; mean age 57.8 ± 13.2 years; 54% female, 64% black), diagnosed with acute coronary syndrome (ACS, n = 28), acutely decompensated HF (acute decompensated heart failure, n = 35), cardiac non-ACS (n = 19), or noncardiac condition (n = 316). Random-effects linear regression analysis assessed the association of SAI QRST and myocardial injury, with adjustment for demographics (age, sex, race), prevalent cardiovascular disease (myocardial infarction, history of revascularization, stroke, and HF), risk factors (diabetes, smoking, hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, and cocaine use), and left bundle branch block. Results Within the entire cohort, SAI QRST decreased by 3 (95%CI −5 to −1) mV*ms every 3 hours. A 10-fold increase in hsTnI was associated with a 7.7 (0.6–14.9) mV*ms increase in SAI QRST. In the subgroup of acutely decompensated HF patients (n = 35), a 10-fold increase in hsTnI was associated with a 61.0 (5.9–116.1) mV*ms increase in SAI QRST. Conclusion Patient-specific time-varying changes in the surface ECG scalar measure of global electrical heterogeneity, as measured by SAI QRST, and in myocardial injury as measured by hsTnI, are independently and directly associated with each other, likely reflecting a common underlying mechanism.
Metal-free functionalization of N,N-dialkylanilines via temporary oxidation to N,N-dialkylaniline N-oxides and group transfer

A simple set of protocols for the controlled elaboration of anilines is reported allowing access to a diverse array of aminophenols, aminoarylsulfonates, alkylated anilines, and aminoanilines in 29–95% yield in a single laboratory operation from easily isolable, bench-stable N,N-dialkylaniline N-oxides. The introduction of new C–O, C–C, and C–N bonds on the aromatic ring is made possible by a temporary increase in oxidation level and excision of a weak N–O bond.
Activation of a Hydroamination Gold Catalyst by Oxidation of a Redox-Noninnocent Chlorostibine Z-Ligand.

In search of new platforms that support redox-controlled catalysis, we have investigated the noninnocent behavior of chlorostibine ligands coordinated to gold. The gold chlorostibine complex ((o-(Ph2P)C6H4)2SbCl)AuCl (1-Cl) undergoes a clean oxidation reaction on treatment with PhICl2. This oxidation reaction affords the corresponding trichlorostiborane complex ((o-(Ph2P)C6H4)2SbCl3)AuCl (2-Cl), which can be converted into the more tractable trifluoride analogue ((o-(Ph2P)C6H4)2SbF3)AuCl (3-Cl) by treatment with a fluoride source. As supported by experimental and computational results, these complexes possess a Au→Sb donor–acceptor interaction which is distinctly stronger in the oxidized complexes 2-Cl and 3-Cl. Both 1-Cl and 3-Cl undergo a clean chloride abstraction reaction to afford the corresponding cationic gold species [((o-(Ph2P)C6H4)2SbCl)Au]+ ([1]+) and [((o-(Ph2P)C6H4)2SbF3)Au]+ ([3]+), which have been isolated as SbF6– salts. As a result of a stronger Au→Sb interaction, cation [3]+ features a m...
Moral Hazard Analysis: Illuminating the Moral Contribution of Important Stakeholders

The article “Moral Hazard in Pediatrics” by Brunnquell and Michaelson (2016) offers an important perspective to consider when facing decisions for pediatric patients when the possibility of success...
Vector-based similarity measurements for historical figures

Historical interpretation benefits from identifying analogies among famous people: Who are the Lincolns, Einsteins, Hitlers, and Mozarts? As a knowledge source that benefits many applications in language processing and knowledge representation, Wikipedia provides the information we need to make such comparisons. We investigate several approaches to convert the Wikipedia pages of approximately 600,000 historical figures into vector representations to quantify similarity.On the other hand, Wikipedia pages are assigned to different categories according to their contents as human-annotated labels. A rough similarity estimation could just count the number of shared Wikipedia categories. However, such counting can neither make good similarity quantification (i.e. Is there a difference between those with same number of shared categories?) nor make distinguishable comments on different categories (i.e. Is US Presidents more important than state lawyer when defining similarity?). We use the counting as an indicator to demonstrate high-level agreements of our similarity detection algorithms.In particular, we investigate four different unsupervised approaches to representing the semantic associations of individuals: (1) TF-IDF, (2) Weighted average of distributed word embedding, (3) LDA Topic analysis and (4) Deepwalk graph embedding from page links. All proved effective, but the Deepwalk embedding yielded an overall accuracy of 88.23% in our evaluation. Combining LDA and Deepwalk yielded even higher performance.Finally, we demonstrate that our similarity measurements can also be used to recognize the most descriptive Wikipedia categories for historical figures.We rank the descriptive level of Wikipedia categories according to their categorical coherence, and our ranking yield an overall agreement of 88.27% compared with human crowdsourced data. HighlightsWe use labeled features from Wikipedia to generated effective evaluation standards.The best approach using Deepwalk, utilized graph structure of words.We provide an interactive demo at http://peoplesimilarity.appspot.com/.We identify the best distance function for each single model.We tried model combination to balance graph structures and semantics.We identify the most salient categories associated with Wikipedia entities.We collect human responses from Crowdflower for verification.We also have fashioned an iOS game app (FameMatch, available on iTunes) for testing.Our ranking of Wikipedia categories agree with 88.27% of human judgment.
A STUDY INTO THE APPLICATION OF NEAR INFRA-RED SPECTROMETRY (NIRS) IN SUPRACONDYLAR HUMERAL FRACTURES IN CHILDREN

Aim Vascular compromise following supracondylar fractures is frequently described. Near Infra-red Spectrometry (NIRS) is a technique through which real-time data can be gathered non-invasively on the oxygenation status of tissues. The drive now is to gain knowledge on how NIRS data can be interpreted and to validate its use in the clinical setting. Methods This ethically approved prospective study looks at volar forearm compartment oxygen saturation (StO2) in 20 patients with supracondylar fractures requiring operative intervention. Both the injured limb and the contra-lateral, uninjured limb were monitored. 20 patients from a cohort of 29 had full data sets and are thus presented. Results 12 patients were neurovascularly intact. Eight patients showed some neurovascular compromise. There was no difference (P=0.3475) between the StO2 of the injured and non-injured arms of the neurovascularly intact patients. Of the eight arms with an altered neurovascular status, four were pink and pulseless. We encountered no compartment syndromes in this series. Comparing the StO2 from the neurovascularly altered limbs (mean 66.84% range 45.43–89.53% SD 15.90) and the neurovascularly intact limbs (mean 81.62% range 64.21–98.89% SD 9.523) there was a significant difference (P=0.039). There was quick return to normal values after operation in those that were operated upon to release neurovascular compression. An improvement of 13.44% ± 8.769 Conclusion NIRS data is shown to be valid in this model. Further studies are needed to delineate the normal values for StO2 and further investigate the indications for intervention. NIRS measurements of muscle tissue oxygenation can identify patients with clinical neurovascular compromise, and can identify the return of adequate perfusion following operative correction of supracondylar fractures. NIRS based tissue oxygenation monitoring may be a useful adjunct to clinical assessment, particularly in paediatric patients and those with altered consciousness.
Modeling Context in Referring Expressions

Humans refer to objects in their environments all the time, especially in dialogue with other people. We explore generating and comprehending natural language referring expressions for objects in images. In particular, we focus on incorporating better measures of visual context into referring expression models and find that visual comparison to other objects within an image helps improve performance significantly. We also develop methods to tie the language generation process together, so that we generate expressions for all objects of a particular category jointly. Evaluation on three recent datasets - RefCOCO, RefCOCO+, and RefCOCOg (Datasets and toolbox can be downloaded from https://github.com/lichengunc/refer), shows the advantages of our methods for both referring expression generation and comprehension.
Grand challenges in electric power engineering: extreme system reliability

Classical studies have focused on the calculation of power system reliability, for example as the loss of load probability, or the expected time of load unserved; and classical studies also describe how to use parallel circuits, increased generation margin, and component redundancy to improve reliability. However, contemporary thoughts on this topic are quite differently focused: modem power system reliability relates more to the following items than the classical subjects listed above: electric power quality; extreme bus voltage reliability, for example 'five nines' (i.e., 0.99999 availability), or six nines or even higher; utilization of new transmission and distribution technologies for improvement of reliability; utilization of distributed energy sources (DERs) to improve reliability; working with manufacturers of information technology equipment to reduce load vulnerability; distributed rather than concentrated loads; and loop circuits for distribution systems. The author discusses these issues.
Integrative approach for inference of gene regulatory networks using lasso-based random featuring and application to psychiatric disorders

Inferring gene regulatory networks is one of the most interesting research areas in the systems biology. Many inference methods have been developed by using a variety of computational models and approaches. However, there are two issues to solve. First, depending on the structural or computational model of inference method, the results tend to be inconsistent due to innately different advantages and limitations of the methods. Therefore the combination of dissimilar approaches is demanded as an alternative way in order to overcome the limitations of standalone methods through complementary integration. Second, sparse linear regression that is penalized by the regularization parameter (lasso) and bootstrapping-based sparse linear regression methods were suggested in state of the art methods for network inference but they are not effective for a small sample size data and also a true regulator could be missed if the target gene is strongly affected by an indirect regulator with high correlation or another true regulator. We present two novel network inference methods based on the integration of three different criteria, (i) z-score to measure the variation of gene expression from knockout data, (ii) mutual information for the dependency between two genes, and (iii) linear regression-based feature selection. Based on these criterion, we propose a lasso-based random feature selection algorithm (LARF) to achieve better performance overcoming the limitations of bootstrapping as mentioned above. In this work, there are three main contributions. First, our z score-based method to measure gene expression variations from knockout data is more effective than similar criteria of related works. Second, we confirmed that the true regulator selection can be effectively improved by LARF. Lastly, we verified that an integrative approach can clearly outperform a single method when two different methods are effectively jointed. In the experiments, our methods were validated by outperforming the state of the art methods on DREAM challenge data, and then LARF was applied to inferences of gene regulatory network associated with psychiatric disorders.
On proximal subgradient splitting method for minimizing the sum of two nonsmooth convex functions

In this paper we present a variant of the proximal forward-backward splitting iteration for solving nonsmooth optimization problems in Hilbert spaces, when the objective function is the sum of two nondifferentiable convex functions. The proposed iteration, which will be called Proximal Subgradient Splitting Method, extends the classical subgradient iteration for important classes of problems, exploiting the additive structure of the objective function. The weak convergence of the generated sequence was established using different stepsizes and under suitable assumptions. Moreover, we analyze the complexity of the iterates.
Unbalance and voltage fluctuation study on AC traction system

This paper presents the purpose of determining the effects caused by the railway traction load on the Electrical Grid System. One of the major issue in AC traction system is, traction loads are connected to single phase supply which results in voltage unbalance at point of common coupling (PCC) with the utility three-phase system. Unbalanced voltages can result in adverse effects on equipment and on the power system. This is aggravated by the fact that a small unbalance in the phase voltages can cause a disproportionately larger unbalance in the phase currents. Under unbalanced conditions, the power system will suffer more losses and heating effects and be less stable. Another major problem in the traction system is the voltage fluctuation caused by sudden shifts of the traction loads. A switch of traction load from one supply section to the adjacent section connected to a different substation gives rise to a step change in voltage which again gives cause to fluctuations in the voltage of the public grid and affects the operation and performance of connected voltage sensitive loads. The above impacts are analyzed for the Eastern Denmark Railway System which shall undergo a major change and renewal in near future due to the electrification of several existing lines. The Rail network under this study has total track length of 482 km with 65 railway stations, supplied by 15 traction substation (132/25kV). This paper presents the challenges involved in simulating the traction system using DigSilent software. Various challenges while modeling the traction network and calculation of power consumption by traction loads are discussed in this paper with the help of hand calculation and simulation results in time domain plots.