cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Synthesis of isomerically pure carboxylate- and sulfonate-substituted xanthene fluorophores

Xanthene-based fluorophores such as fluorescein and rhodamine are typically prepared by acid-catalyzed condensation of the appropriate resorcinol or 3-aminophenol with phthalic anhydride. Condensation of substituted phthalic anhydride species results in functionalized fluorophores that are formed as mixed isomers. Crystallization approaches to isomer separation have been reported elsewhere for symmetric fluorescein carboxylates. We describe crystallization-based separation of protected fluorescein sulfonates and coupling conditions to form sulfonamides, precursors for carboxylate-substituted rhodamines, and precursors for asymmetrically substituted fluoresceins and rhodafluors.
Fluorodesulfurization of aliphatic orthothioesters

In contrast with aromatic orthothio esters that undergo desulfurative fluorination to produce trifluoromethyl substituted aromatics, aliphatic orthothio esters react with BrF with replacement of only one or two methylthio groups by fluorine. An elimination step often follows the first sulfur replacement to produce novel unsaturated fluorinated systems. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Heteroatom Chem 10: 31–34, 1999
Establishment productivity convergence and the effect of foreign ownership at the frontier

Abstract Inward foreign direct investment (FDI) has the potential to be an important conduit for technology transfer to developing countries. However, a large body of empirical research has found that the realized benefit to domestic productivity is minimal. This apparent absence of productivity spillovers from FDI is particularly surprising in light of recent evidence that firms in developing countries exhibit positive productivity convergence, or catch-up, to their industry’s productivity frontier. In this paper, I use establishment level panel data from 21 distinct industries within India’s manufacturing sector from 2001–2015 to provide new evidence on this issue. I analyze establishment total factor productivity conditional convergence and examine if the presence of foreign owned establishments within each industry’s productivity frontier impacts this relationship. While I find statistically and quantitatively significant conditional convergence to the overall frontier, I show that convergence to the foreign owned component of the frontier is markedly slower. I corroborate this finding by exploring the impact of foreign ownership in the frontier on the dynamics of the within industry productivity distribution. This robust result suggests differences in the nature of technology transfer from highly productive domestic and foreign firms. I argue that my general econometric approach helps to reconcile the previously disconnected findings of negligible spillovers from FDI in developing countries with evidence of positive productivity convergence and the substantial presence of foreign firms in the productivity frontier.
Convergent Synthesis of Polyhalogenated Quinoline C-Nucleosides as Potential Antiviral Agents

2,5,6-Trichloro-1-(beta-d-ribofuranosyl)benzimidazole (TCRB) and 2-bromo-5,6-dichloro-1-(beta-d-ribofuranosyl)benzimidazole (BDCRB) are benzimidazole nucleosides that exhibit strong and selective anti-HCMV activity. We proposed to synthesize 2-halo-6,7-dichloro-4-(beta-d-ribofuranosyl)quinolines as 6 + 6 bicyclic analogues of TCRB. The synthesis used Wittig reactions in two key steps. The first Wittig reaction coupled a fully functionalized benzene with a ribofuranose derivative to provide (Z)-6-O-(tert-butyldimethylsilyl)-1-(4,5-dichloro-2-nitrophenyl)-1,2-dideoxy-3,4-O-isopropylidene-d-allo-1-enitol (5) as the basic skeleton for the target compounds. The following electrophile-mediated intramolecular cyclization of the cis-alkene (5) was found to afford (1S,2S)-2,5-anhydro-1-bromo-6-O-(tert-butyldimethylsilyl)-1-deoxy-1-(4,5-dichloro-2-nitrophenyl)-3,4-O-isopropylidene-d-allitol (8) as the major product. This alpha-stereoselectivity was contrary to the literature precedence. A double-bond isomerization was established to be the cause of the unexpected stereochemistry. The bromo group of 8 was displaced by a hydroxyl group. Oxidation of the hydroxy group and the reduction of a phenylnitro group provided (2S)-1-(2-amino-4,5-dichlorophenyl)-2,5-anhydro-6-O-(tert-butyldimethylsilyl)-3,4-O-isopropylidene-d-allose (11), which was subjected to the second Wittig reaction with a phosphacumulene to construct 4-[5-O-(tert-butyldimethylsilyl)-2,3-O-isopropylidene-alpha-d-ribofuranosyl]-6,7-dichloroquinolin-2-one (13). Halogenation followed by deprotection of 13 and led to the synthesis of 4-(alpha-d-ribofuranosyl)-2,6,7-trichloroquinoline (17) as the major product. The 2-aminophenone alpha-nucleoside (11) was successfully anomerized to the beta-anomer (19), which led to the synthesis of the targeted 2-chloro- and 2-bromo-6,7-dichloro-4-(beta-d-ribofuranosyl)quinolines (18and 21, respectively).
DYNAMIC NMR STUDY OF CYCLOPROPANECARBALDEHYDE. COMPARISON OF THE CONJUGATING ABILITIES OF THE CYCLOPROPYL AND PHENYL GROUPS

The NMR spectrum of cyclopropanecarbaldehyde (1) shows two chemical shifts for the aldehyde proton at −169.2 °C, separated by 1.71 ppm. The populations of the two conformations at this temperature are 0.012 and 0.988, corresponding to the aldehyde hydrogen cis (1a) or trans (1b) to the methine hydrogen, respectively. From the averaged chemical shift at room temperature, populations of 1a and 1b were estimated to be 0.27 and 0.73. Free-energy barriers of 5.03 kcal/mol (1a → 1b) and 5.95 kcal/mol (1b → 1a) were determined for the compound at −169.2 °C. Comparison of these barriers with the barrier for benzaldehyde indicates that the π-donating ability of the cyclopropyl group is lower than for phenyl.
Mixed-model association for biobank-scale datasets.

Biobank-based genome-wide association studies are enabling exciting insights in complex trait genetics, but much uncertainty remains over best practices for optimizing statistical power and computational efficiency in GWAS while controlling confounders. Here, we introduce a much faster version of our BOLT-LMM Bayesian mixed model association method—capable of running analyses of the full UK Biobank cohort in a few days on a single compute node—and show that it produces highly powered, robust test statistics when run on all 459K European samples (retaining related individuals). When used to conduct a GWAS for height in UK Biobank, BOLT-LMM achieved power equivalent to linear regression on 650K samples—a 93% increase in effective sample size versus the common practice of analyzing unrelated British samples using linear regression (UK Biobank documentation; Bycroft et al. bioRxiv). Across a broader set of 23 highly heritable traits, the total number of independent GWAS loci detected increased from 5,839 to 10,759, an 84% increase. We recommend the use of BOLT-LMM (retaining related individuals) for biobank-scale analyses, and we have publicly released BOLT-LMM summary association statistics for the 23 traits analyzed as a resource for all researchers.
Bromophenyl substituted dithiafulvenes and tetrathiafulvalene vinylogues: synthesis, structure, and electronic properties

Abstract Bis(bromophenyl) substituted tetrathiafulvalene vinylogues (TTFVs) were prepared via oxidative dimerization reactions of corresponding bromophenyl substituted dithiafulvene precursors. The synthesis of ortho-bromophenyl TTFVs led to the formation of an unexpected bis-spiro product, the structure of which was clearly elucidated by single crystal X-ray crystallography. Electronic and redox properties of the bromophenyl substituted dithiafulvenes, TTFV derivatives, and the related bis-spiro compound were investigated by UV–vis spectroscopic and cyclic voltammetric analyses. Detailed structure–property relationships have been discussed.
A catalytic enantioselective total synthesis of (-)-wodeshiol.

(−)-Wodeshiol of >99% ee has been synthesized from the α,β-enone shown using a number of noteworthy steps including a novel C−C coupling reaction.
Asymmetric Cation Coordination in Oxide Materials: Influence of Lone-Pair Cations on the Intra-octahedral Distortion in d0 Transition Metals

The oxides that contain both a d0 transition metal (Ti4+, Nb5+, W6+, etc.) and a lone-pair cation (Sn2+, Se4+, Te4+, etc.) are examined to investigate the influence of the lone-pair cation on the i...
Crystal growth and structure of three new neodymium containing silicates: Na0.50Nd4.50(SiO4)3O, Na0.63Nd4.37(SiO4)3O0.74F0.26 and Na4.74Nd4.26(O0.52F0.48)[SiO4]4

Abstract Single crystals of Na0.50Nd4.50(SiO4)3O, Na0.63Nd4.37(SiO4)3O0.74F0.26, and Na4.74Nd4.26(O0.52F0.48)[SiO4]4 were synthesized via flux growth using a NaF/KF eutectic flux and the crystal structure was determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction. Na0.50Nd4.50(SiO4)3O and Na0.63Nd4.37(SiO4)3O0.74F0.26 adopt the apatite structure and crystallize in the hexagonal space group P63/m, while Na4.74Nd4.26(O0.52F0.48)[SiO4]4 crystallizes in the tetragonal space group I-4 and exhibits rare-earth mixing on the sodium site. The unit cells of the crystals are a = 9.5400(3) A and c = 7.0331(5) A for Na0.50Nd4.50(SiO4)3O, a = 9.5533(3) A and c = 7.0510(4) A for Na0.63Nd4.37(SiO4)3O0.74F0.26, and a = 12.1255(3) A and c = 5.4656(2) A for Na4.74Nd4.26(O0.52F0.48)[SiO4]4. These three compounds exhibit three-dimensional crystal structures that are discussed in detail in this paper.
DEBrowser: interactive differential expression analysis and visualization tool for count data

Sequencing data has become a standard measure of diverse cellular activities. For example, gene expression is accurately measured by RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) libraries, protein-DNA interactions are captured by chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-Seq), protein-RNA interactions by crosslinking immunoprecipitation sequencing (CLIP-Seq) or RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP-Seq) sequencing, DNA accessibility by assay for transposase-accessible chromatin (ATAC-Seq), DNase or MNase sequencing libraries. The processing of these sequencing techniques involves library-specific approaches. However, in all cases, once the sequencing libraries are processed, the result is a count table specifying the estimated number of reads originating from each genomic locus. Differential analysis to determine which loci have different cellular activity under different conditions starts with the count table and iterates through a cycle of data assessment, preparation and analysis. Such complex analysis often relies on multiple programs and is therefore a challenge for those without programming skills. We developed DEBrowser as an R bioconductor project to interactively visualize every step of the differential analysis, without programming. The application provides a rich and interactive web based graphical user interface built on R’s shiny infrastructure. DEBrowser allows users to visualize data with various types of graphs that can be explored further by selecting and re-plotting any desired subset of data. Using the visualization approaches provided, users can determine and correct technical variations such as batch effects and sequencing depth that affect differential analysis. We show DEBrowser’s ease of use by reproducing the analysis of two previously published data sets. DEBrowser is a flexible, intuitive, web-based analysis platform that enables an iterative and interactive analysis of count data without any requirement of programming knowledge.
Dark period transcriptomic and metabolic profiling of two diverse Eutrema salsugineum accessions.

Eutrema salsugineum is a model species for the study of plant adaptation to abiotic stresses. Two accessions of E. salsugineum, Shandong (SH) and Yukon (YK), exhibit contrasting morphology and biotic and abiotic stress tolerance. Transcriptome profiling and metabolic profiling from tissue samples collected during the dark period were used to investigate the molecular and metabolic bases of these contrasting phenotypes. RNA sequencing identified 17,888 expressed genes, of which 157 were not in the published reference genome, and 65 of which were detected for the first time. Differential expression was detected for only 31 genes. The RNA sequencing data contained 14,808 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in transcripts, 3,925 of which are newly identified. Among the differentially expressed genes, there were no obvious candidates for the physiological or morphological differences between SH and YK. Metabolic profiling indicated that YK accumulates free fatty acids and long-chain fatty acid derivatives as compared to SH, whereas sugars are more abundant in SH. Metabolite levels suggest that carbohydrate and respiratory metabolism, including starch degradation, is more active during the first half of the dark period in SH. These metabolic differences may explain the greater biomass accumulation in YK over SH. The accumulation of 56% of the identified metabolites was lower in F1 hybrids than the mid-parent averages and the accumulation of 17% of the metabolites in F1 plants transgressed the level in both parents. Concentrations of several metabolites in F1 hybrids agree with previous studies and suggest a role for primary metabolism in heterosis. The improved annotation of the E. salsugineum genome and newly identified high-quality SNPs will permit accelerated studies using the standing variation in this species to elucidate the mechanisms of its diverse adaptations to the environment.
Palladium catalyzed reaction in aqueous DMF: synthesis of 3-alkynyl substituted flavones in the presence of prolinol

Abstract (S)-Prolinol facilitated the coupling reaction of terminal alkynes with 3-iodoflavone under palladium–copper catalysis in aqueous DMF affording a mild and convenient method for the synthesis of 3-alkynyl substituted flavones of potential biological interest.
Synthesis and applications of a highly fluorous alkoxy ethyl ether protective group

Abstract A readily recyclable, fluorous alkoxy ethyl ether protecting group has been developed that allows for simple purification of small to medium-sized organic molecules by liquid-liquid extraction with FC-72/organic/aqueous solvents. The precursor vinyl ether 3 can be prepared in large quantity in a straightforward two step reaction sequence. Primary, secondary, and tertiary alcohols are protected in good to excellent yields, and the fluorous label is removed by mild acid treatment. The N -protection of 2-fluoroaniline demonstrates the feasibility of using 3 with amines.
Synthesis of nine-membered carbocycles via sequential higher-order cycloaddition--pinacol rearrangement

Abstract Chromium(0)-promoted [6π+4π] cycloaddition followed by pinacol rearrangement and ring cleavage of the resultant bicyclo[4.3.2]undecane system affords functionalized nine-membered carbocycles.
Synthesis, alkali metal picrate extraction, and alkali metal cation binding selectivities of some new cage-annulated polyoxamacrocyclic crown ethers

Five new cage-annulated crown ethers, i.e., 4a, 4b, 6b, 11a, and 11b, have been synthesized and their respective alkali metal picrate extraction profiles along with that of a previously synthesized host molecule, 6a, have been obtained. These results are compared with the corresponding results obtained for electrospray ionization mass spectrometric (ESI-MS) measurements of relative binding selectivities displayed by the same hosts toward a series of alkali metal chlorides. Among the crown-5 hosts studied, 6a displays enhanced avidity toward complexation with K+ picrate in liquid-liquid extraction experiments. Among the three crown-6 hosts, 4b proved to be the best alkali metal picrate extractant and displayed significant levels of avidity toward complexation with the larger alkali metal cations (i.e., K+, Rb+, and Cs+). The trends in the picrate extraction and the ESI-MS results obtained herein show several notable similarities and some differences. The similarities generally stem from size-selective binding properties that are intrinsic to the different cavity sizes of the cage-annulated macrocycles, whereas the differences reflect the important influence of solvation effects on the binding properties of the macrocycles.
Non-mydriatic chorioretinal imaging in a transmission geometry and application to retinal oximetry

The human retina is typically imaged in a reflection geometry, where light is delivered through the pupil and images are formed from the light reflected back from the retina. In this configuration, artifacts caused by retinal surface reflex are often encountered, which complicate quantitative interpretation of the reflection images. We present an alternative illumination method, which avoids these artifacts. The method uses deeply penetrating near-infrared (NIR) light delivered transcranially from the side of the head, and exploits multiple scattering to redirect a portion of the light towards the posterior eye. This unique transmission geometry simplifies absorption measurements and enables flash-free, non-mydriatic imaging as deep as the choroid. Images taken with this new transillumination approach are applied to retinal oximetry.
Differences in Sodium Channel Densities in the Apical Dendrites of Pyramidal Cells of the Electrosensory Lateral Line Lobe

Heterogeneity of neural properties within a given neural class is ubiquitous in the nervous system and permits different sub-classes of neurons to specialize for specific purposes. This principle has been thoroughly investigated in the hindbrain of the weakly electric fish A. leptorhynchus in the primary electrosensory area, the Electrosensory Lateral Line lobe (ELL). The pyramidal cells (PCs) that receive inputs from tuberous electroreceptors are organized in three maps in distinct segments of the ELL. The properties of these cells vary greatly across maps due to differences in connectivity, receptor expression, and ion channel composition. These cells are a seminal example of bursting neurons and their bursting dynamic relies on the presence of voltage-gated Na+ channels in the extensive apical dendrites of the superficial PCs. Other ion channels can affect burst generation and their expression varies across ELL neurons and segments. For example, SK channels cause hyperpolarizing after-potentials decreasing the likelihood of bursting, yet bursting propensity is similar across segments. We question whether the depolarizing mechanism that generates the bursts presents quantitative differences across segments that could counterbalance other differences having the opposite effect. Although their presence and role are established, the distribution and density of the apical dendrites' Na+ channels have not been quantified and compared across ELL maps. Therefore, we test the hypothesis that Na+ channel density varies across segment by quantifying their distribution in the apical dendrites of immunolabeled ELL sections. We found the Na+ channels to be two-fold denser in the lateral segment (LS) than in the centro-medial segment (CMS), the centro-lateral segment (CLS) being intermediate. Our results imply that this differential expression of voltage-gated Na+ channels could counterbalance or interact with other aspects of neuronal physiology that vary across segments (e.g., SK channels). We argue that burst coding of sensory signals, and the way the network regulates bursting, should be influenced by these variations in Na+ channel density.
Radical reactions of enones with electrophilic allylstannanes

Abstract Reactions of allyltributylstannanes with enones were studied. Although the parent allylstannane would not react with enones, an electrophilic variation was successful. The reaction provides perhaps one of the only non-basic and non-nucleophilic alternatives to the classic conjugate additions.
Homeostasis of protein and mRNA concentrations in growing cells

Many experiments show that the numbers of mRNA and protein are proportional to the cell volume in growing cells. However, models of stochastic gene expression often assume constant transcription rate per gene and constant translation rate per mRNA, which are incompatible with these experiments. Here, we construct a minimal gene expression model to fill this gap. Assuming ribosomes and RNA polymerases are limiting in gene expression, we show that the numbers of proteins and mRNAs both grow exponentially during the cell cycle and that the concentrations of all mRNAs and proteins achieve cellular homeostasis; the competition between genes for the RNA polymerases makes the transcription rate independent of the genome number. Furthermore, by extending the model to situations in which DNA (mRNA) can be saturated by RNA polymerases (ribosomes) and becomes limiting, we predict a transition from exponential to linear growth of cell volume as the protein-to-DNA ratio increases.
Scaling read aligners to hundreds of threads on general-purpose processors.

Motivation General-purpose processors can now contain many dozens of processor cores and support hundreds of simultaneous threads of execution. To make best use of these threads, genomics software must contend with new and subtle computer architecture issues. We discuss some of these and propose methods for improving thread scaling in tools that analyze each read independently, such as read aligners. Results We implement these methods in new versions of Bowtie, Bowtie 2 and HISAT. We greatly improve thread scaling in many scenarios, including on the recent Intel Xeon Phi architecture. We also highlight how bottlenecks are exacerbated by variable-record-length file formats like FASTQ and suggest changes that enable superior scaling. Availability and implementation Experiments for this study: https://github.com/BenLangmead/bowtie-scaling. Bowtie http://bowtie-bio.sourceforge.net. Bowtie 2 http://bowtie-bio.sourceforge.net/bowtie2. Hisat http://www.ccb.jhu.edu/software/hisat. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Silica Supported Catalysis: A Practical use of an Iron Lewis Acid

Abstract The silica-supported iron Lewis acid [(η5-C5H5)Fe(CO)2(THF)]+ [BF4]+ (1), was found to catalyze the formation of an enol ester, cyclopropane, or aziridine from a diazo compound and an aldehyde, olefin, or imine, respectively. Unlike the non silica-supported iron Lewis acid, the catalyst is recoverable and reusable.
Electrochemical Synthesis of [NEt4]2[enH]2[Ge2Se6] and [NEt4]4[Sn4Se10]

[NEt4]2[enH]2[Ge2Se6] and [NEt4]4[Sn4Se10] have been synthesized electrochemically by the reduction of metal chalcogen alloys in an electrolyte solution of NEt4Br in ethylenediamine. The structures...
Linking structure and activity in nonlinear spiking networks

Recent experimental advances are producing an avalanche of data on both neural connectivity and neural activity. To take full advantage of these two emerging datasets we need a framework that links them, revealing how collective neural activity arises from the structure of neural connectivity and intrinsic neural dynamics. This problem of structure-driven activity has drawn major interest in computational neuroscience. Existing methods for relating activity and architecture in spiking networks rely on linearizing activity around a central operating point and thus fail to capture the nonlinear responses of individual neurons that are the hallmark of neural information processing. Here, we overcome this limitation and present a new relationship between connectivity and activity in networks of nonlinear spiking neurons by developing a diagrammatic fluctuation expansion based on statistical field theory. We explicitly show how recurrent network structure produces pairwise and higher-order correlated activity, and how nonlinearities impact the networks’ spiking activity. Our findings open new avenues to investigating how single-neuron nonlinearities—including those of different cell types—combine with connectivity to shape population activity and function.
An efficient method for the synthesis of 2′-O-modified nucleosides via double alkylation using cyclic sulfates

Abstract The alkylation of N -3-benzyloxymethyl-5-methyluridine with 1,3,2-dioxathiolane 2,2-dioxide or 1,3,2-dioxathiane 2,2-dioxide resulted in a 2′- O versus 3′- O selectivity of 3:1, respectively. The resulting product has a built-in sulfate leaving group at the terminal end of an ethyl or propyl carbon chain, which can be displaced with sulfur and nitrogen nucleophiles to produce modifications at the 2′- O or 3′- O positions.
Synthesis of chiral allenes from ynamides through a highly stereoselective Saucy–Marbet rearrangement

Abstract A highly stereoselective Saucy–Marbet rearrangement using chiral ynamides and propargyl alcohols is described here. This rearrangement can be catalyzed by para-nitrobenzenesulfonic acid and leads to high diastereoselectivities for a range of different chiral propargyl alcohols and ynamides in a stereochemically intriguing matched, mismatched or indifferent manner. The stereoselective Saucy–Marbet rearrangement of ynamides provides an excellent entry to highly substituted chiral homo allenyl alcohols.
Synthesis and biological evaluation of analogues of the antibiotic pantocin B.

Strains of the bacteria Erwinia herbicola produce antibiotics that effectively control E. amylovora, the bacterial pathogen responsible for the plant disease fire blight. Pantocin B was the first of these antibiotics to be characterized, and a flexible synthesis of various analogues is reported. Embedded in the “pseudo-tripeptide” backbone of pantocin B are a methylenediamine and a methyl sulfone, both unusual structural features in natural products. The peptidic nature of pantocin B facilitated a series of structure−activity relationship studies that probed the roles of these functional groups in determining the biological activity of pantocin B. A clear demarcation of the roles between the N- and C-terminal portions of the antibiotic was determined as a result of the structure−activity relationship studies. The N-terminal l-alanyl group is needed for cellular import but not for interaction with the intracellular target, the arginine biosynthetic enzyme N-acetylornithine aminotransferase. The methylenedi...
n-Pentenyl furanosides: synthesis and glycosidation reactions of some galacto derivatives

Abstract Synthetic routes to n-pentenyl galactofuranosides and glycosidation reactions of some derived donors with alcohol and saccharide acceptors using NIS/TESOTf as the promoter are described.
An unusual regioselectivity in the Pd-catalyzed cross coupling of alkynes. A correction

Abstract Palladium catalyzed additions of terminal alkynes to alkynoates can lead from preferential to exclusive CC bond formation at the α-carbon and, in the case of ethyl 3-dimethylphenylsilylpropiolate, complete selectivity for α-attack, an unprecedented regioselectivity that requires revision of the earlier assignment of regioselectivity.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Symptom Interference in Advanced Lung Cancer and Caregiver Distress: A Pilot Randomized Trial.

Abstract Context Advanced lung cancer patients typically have a poor prognosis and many symptoms that interfere with functioning, contributing to high rates of emotional distress in both patients and family caregivers. There remains a need for evidence-based interventions to improve functional outcomes and distress in this population. Objectives This pilot trial examined the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of telephone-based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for symptomatic, advanced lung cancer patients and their distressed family caregivers. Primary outcomes were patient symptom interference with functioning and patient and caregiver distress. Methods Symptomatic, advanced lung cancer patients and distressed caregivers (n = 50 dyads) were randomly assigned to six sessions of ACT or an education/support condition. Patients completed measures of symptom interference and measures assessing the severity of fatigue, pain, sleep disturbance, and breathlessness. Patients and caregivers completed measures of distress and illness acceptance and struggle. Results The eligibility screening rate (51%) and retention rate (76% at six weeks postintervention) demonstrated feasibility. No group differences were found with respect to patient and caregiver outcomes. Both groups showed a small, significant decrease in struggle with the illness over the study period, but did not show meaningful change in other outcomes. Conclusion Findings suggest that telephone-based ACT is feasible for many advanced lung cancer patients and caregivers, but may not substantially reduce symptom interference and distress. Low baseline levels of certain symptoms may have contributed to null findings. Next steps include applying ACT to specific, clinically meaningful symptom interference and varying intervention dose and modality.
There are No Easy Counterexamples to Legal Anti-positivism

Legal anti-positivism is widely believed to be a general theory of law that generates far too many false negatives. If anti-positivism is true, certain rules bearing all the hallmarks of legality are not in fact legal. This impression, fostered by both positivists and anti-positivists, stems from an overly narrow conception of the kinds of moral facts that ground legal facts: roughly, facts about what is morally optimific—morally best or morally justified or morally obligatory given our social practices. A less restrictive view of the kinds of moral properties that ground legality results in a form of anti-positivism that can accommodate any legal rule consistent with positivism, including the alleged counter-examples. This form of “inclusive” anti-positivism is not just invulnerable to extensional challenges from the positivist. It is the only account that withstands extensional objections, while incorporating, on purely conceptual grounds, a large part of the content of morality into law.
Nonlinear diversification rates of linguistic phylogenies over the Holocene.

The expansion of the human species out of Africa in the Pleistocene, and the subsequent development of agriculture in the Holocene, resulted in waves of linguistic diversification and replacement across the planet. Analogous to the growth of populations or the speciation of biological organisms, languages diversify over time to form phylogenies of language families. However, the dynamics of this diversification process are unclear. Bayesian methods applied to lexical and phonetic data have created dated linguistic phylogenies for 18 language families encompassing ~3,000 of the world’s ~7,000 extant languages. In this paper we use these phylogenies to quantify how fast languages expand and diversify through time both within and across language families. The overall diversification rate of languages in our sample is ~0.001 yr-1 (or a doubling time of ~700 yr) over the last 6,000 years with evidence for nonlinear dynamics in language diversification rates over time, where both within and across language families, diversity initially increases rapidly and then slows. The expansion, evolution, and diversification of languages as they spread around the planet was a non-constant process.
Interference Coordination for Aerial and Terrestrial Nodes in Three-Tier LTE-Advanced HetNet

Integrating unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as user equipment (UE) and base-stations (BSs) into an existing LTE-Advanced heterogeneous network (HetNet) can further enhance wireless connectivity and support emerging services. However, this would require effective configuration of system-level design parameters for interference management. This paper provides system-level insights into a three-tier LTE-Advanced air/ground HetNet, wherein the UAVs are deployed both as BSs and UEs, and co-exist with existing terrestrial nodes. Moreover, this HetNet leverages on cell range expansion (CRE), intercell interference coordination (ICIC), 3D beamforming, and enhanced support for UAVs. Through Monte-Carlo simulations, we compare system-wide fifth percentile spectral efficiency (5pSE) and coverage probability for different ICIC techniques, while jointly optimizing the ICIC and CRE parameters. Our results show that reduced power subframes defined in 3GPP Rel-11 can provide considerably better 5pSE and coverage probability than the 3GPP Re1–10 with almost blank subframes.
Trade-off between communication and cooperation in the Interference Channel

We consider the problem of coding over the multiuser Interference Channel (IC). It is well-known that aligning the interfering signals results in improved achievable rates in certain setups involving more than two users. We argue that in the general interference problem, senders face a tradeoff between communicating their message to their corresponding decoder or cooperating with other users by aligning their signals. Traditionally, interference alignment is carried out using structured codes such as linear codes and group codes. We show through an example that the usual structured coding schemes used for interference neutralization lack the necessary flexibility to optimize this tradeoff. Based on this intuition, we propose a new class of codes for this problem. We use the example to show that the application of these codes gives strict improvements in terms of achievable rates. Finally, we derive a new achievable region for the three user IC which strictly improves upon the previously known inner bounds for this problem.
Intelligent Perioperative System: Towards Real-Time Big Data Analytics in Surgery Risk Assessment

Surgery risk assessment is an effective tool for physicians to manage the treatment of patients, but most current research projects fall short in providing a comprehensive platform to evaluate the patients' surgery risk in terms of different complications. The recent evolution of big data analysis techniques makes it possible to develop a real-time platform to dynamically analyze the surgery risk from large-scale patients information. In this paper, we propose the Intelligent Perioperative System (IPS), a real-time system that assesses the risk of postoperative complications (PC) and dynamically interacts with physicians to improve the predictive results. In order to process large volume patients data in real-time, we design the system by integrating several big data computing and storage frameworks with the high through-output streaming data processing components. We also implement a system prototype along with the visualization results to show the feasibility of system design.
Towards Effective Exploration/Exploitation in Sequential Music Recommendation.

Music streaming companies collectively serve billions of songs per day. Radio-based music services may intersperse audio advertisements among the songs as a means to generate revenue, much like traditional FM radio. Regardless of the monetization approach, the recommender system should decide when to play content that the listener is known to enjoy (exploit) and content that is novel to the listener (explore). Recommender systems that rely on this explore/exploit type framework have been deployed in a wide variety of applications such as movies, books, music, shopping and more. In this work, we investigate the impact of different ad/song sequences on listener behavior. In particular, we focus on the impact of exploring new song content for the listener given the previous sequence of ads and songs in the listener's session. Our results show that the prior sequence matters when considering song exploration and that this prior sequence has an impact on the listener's tendency to interrupt their current session.
Memory Matching Networks for Genomic Sequence Classification

When analyzing the genome, researchers have discovered that proteins bind to DNA based on certain patterns of the DNA sequence known as "motifs". However, it is difficult to manually construct motifs due to their complexity. Recently, externally learned memory models have proven to be effective methods for reasoning over inputs and supporting sets. In this work, we present memory matching networks (MMN) for classifying DNA sequences as protein binding sites. Our model learns a memory bank of encoded motifs, which are dynamic memory modules, and then matches a new test sequence to each of the motifs to classify the sequence as a binding or nonbinding site.
Closures in varieties of representations and irreducible components

For any truncated path algebra Λ of a quiver, we classify, by way of representation-theoretic invariants, the irreducible components of the parametrizing varieties Repd(Λ) of the Λ-modules with fixed dimension vector d. In this situation, the components of Repd(Λ) are always among the closures RepS¯, where S traces the semisimple sequences with dimension vector d, and hence the key to the classification problem lies in a characterization of these closures. Our first result concerning closures actually addresses arbitrary basic finite-dimensional algebras over an algebraically closed field. In the general case, it corners the closures RepS¯ by means of module filtrations “governed by S”; when Λ is truncated, it pins down the RepS¯ completely. The analysis of the varieties RepS¯ leads to a novel upper semicontinuous module invariant which provides an effective tool towards the detection of components of Repd(Λ) in general. It detects all components when Λ is truncated.
On some extensions of Bernstein’s inequality for self-adjoint operators

Abstract We present some extensions of Bernstein’s concentration inequality for random matrices. This inequality has become a useful and powerful tool for many problems in statistics, signal processing and theoretical computer science. The main feature of our bounds is that, unlike the majority of previous related results, they do not depend on the dimension d of the ambient space. Instead, the dimension factor is replaced by the “effective rank” associated with the underlying distribution that is bounded from above by d . In particular, this makes an extension to the infinite-dimensional setting possible. Our inequalities refine earlier results in this direction obtained by Hsu et al. (2012).
Fields of Moduli of Hyperelliptic Curves

Let $X$ be a hyperelliptic curve defined over a field $K$ of characteristic not equal to $2$. Let $\iota$ be the hyperelliptic involution of $X$. We show that $X$ can be defined over its field of moduli if $\Aut(X)/\langle \iota\rangle$ is not cyclic. We construct explicit examples of hyperelliptic curves not definable over their field of moduli when $\Aut(X)/\langle \iota\rangle$ is cyclic.
On a Foliation-Covariant Elliptic Operator on Null Hypersurfaces

We introduce a new elliptic operator on null hypersurfaces of four-dimensional Lorentzian manifolds. This operator depends on the first and second fundamental forms of the sections of a foliation of the null hypersurface and its novelty originates from its covariant transformation under change of foliation. It thus provides at any point an elliptic structure intimately connected with the geometry of the null hypersurface, independent of the choice of a specific section through that point. No analytic or algebraic symmetries or other conditions are imposed on the metric. The spectral properties of this elliptic operator are relevant to the evolution of the wave equation, and in particular, the existence of conservation laws along null hypersurfaces.
CAD2RL: Real Single-Image Flight without a Single Real Image

Deep reinforcement learning has emerged as a promising and powerful technique for automatically acquiring control policies that can process raw sensory inputs, such as images, and perform complex behaviors. However, extending deep RL to real-world robotic tasks has proven challenging, particularly in safety-critical domains such as autonomous flight, where a trial-and-error learning process is often impractical. In this paper, we explore the following question: can we train vision-based navigation policies entirely in simulation, and then transfer them into the real world to achieve real-world flight without a single real training image? We propose a learning method that we call CAD$^2$RL, which can be used to perform collision-free indoor flight in the real world while being trained entirely on 3D CAD models. Our method uses single RGB images from a monocular camera, without needing to explicitly reconstruct the 3D geometry of the environment or perform explicit motion planning. Our learned collision avoidance policy is represented by a deep convolutional neural network that directly processes raw monocular images and outputs velocity commands. This policy is trained entirely on simulated images, with a Monte Carlo policy evaluation algorithm that directly optimizes the network's ability to produce collision-free flight. By highly randomizing the rendering settings for our simulated training set, we show that we can train a policy that generalizes to the real world, without requiring the simulator to be particularly realistic or high-fidelity. We evaluate our method by flying a real quadrotor through indoor environments, and further evaluate the design choices in our simulator through a series of ablation studies on depth prediction. For supplementary video see: this https URL
Arm Events in Two-Dimensional Invasion Percolation

We compare the probabilities of “arm events” in two-dimensional invasion percolation to those in critical percolation. Arm events are defined by the existence of a prescribed “color sequence” of invaded and non-invaded connections from the origin to distance n. We find that, for sequences of a particular form, arm probabilities in invasion percolation and critical percolation are comparable, uniformly in n, while they differ by a power of n for all others. A corollary of our results is the existence, on the triangular lattice, of arm exponents for invasion percolation, for any color sequence with at least two open (invaded) entries.
Stability Analysis of Optimal Adaptive Control Using Value Iteration With Approximation Errors

Effects of the presence of approximation errors are analyzed on the stability of adaptive optimal control using value iteration, initiated from a stabilizing control policy. This analysis includes the system operated using any single/constant resulting control policy and also using an evolving/time-varying control policy. Sufficient conditions on the ‘per iteration’ approximation errors are obtained for guaranteeing the stability. A feature of the presented results is providing estimations of the region of attraction , under the approximation errors, so that if the initial condition is within this region, the whole trajectory will remain inside the training region, and hence, the function approximation results remain reliable.
Finite factor representations of Higman–Thompson groups

We prove that the only finite factor-representations of the HigmanThompson groups {Fn,r}, {Gn,r} are the regular representations and scalar representations arising from group abelianizations. As a corollary, we obtain that any measure-preserving ergodic action of a simple Higman-Thompson group must be essentially free. Finite factor representations of other classes of groups are also discussed.
Baric Structures on Triangulated Categories and Coherent Sheaves

We introduce the notion of a "baric structure" on a triangulated category, as an abstraction of S. Morel's weight truncation formalism for mixed l-adic sheaves. We study these structures on the derived category D_G(X) of G-equivariant coherent sheaves on a G-scheme X. Our main result shows how to endow this derived category with a family of nontrivial baric structures when G acts on X with finitely many orbits. We also describe a general construction for producing a new t-structure on a triangulated category equipped with given t- and baric structures, and we prove that the staggered t-structures on D_G(X) introduced by the first author arise in this way.
Mean Value Theorems for Riemannian Manifolds Via the Obstacle Problem

We develop some of the basic theory for the obstacle problem on Riemannian manifolds, and we use it to establish a mean value theorem. Our mean value theorem works for a very wide class of Riemannian manifolds and has no weights at all within the integral.
STOCHASTIC SETUP-COST INVENTORY MODEL WITH BACKORDERS AND QUASICONVEX COST FUNCTIONS

This paper studies a periodic-review single-commodity setup-cost inventory model with backorders and holding/backlog costs satisfying quasiconvexity assumptions. We show that the Markov decision process for this inventory model satisfies the assumptions that lead to the validity of optimality equations for discounted and average-cost problems and to the existence of optimal (s, S) policies. In particular, we prove the equicontinuity of the family of discounted value functions and the convergence of optimal discounted lower thresholds to the optimal average-cost lower threshold for some sequence of discount factors converging to 1. If an arbitrary nonnegative amount of inventory can be ordered, we establish stronger convergence properties: (i) the optimal discounted lower thresholds converge to optimal average-cost lower threshold; and (ii) the discounted relative value functions converge to average-cost relative value function. These convergence results previously were known only for subsequences of discount factors even for problems with convex holding/backlog costs. The results of this paper also hold for problems with fixed lead times.
Evolutionary Spectra Based on the Multitaper Method with Application To Stationarity Test

In this work, we propose a new inference procedure for understanding non-stationary processes, under the framework of evolutionary spectra developed by Priestley. Among various frameworks of modeling non-stationary processes, the distinguishing feature of the evolutionary spectra is its focus on the physical meaning of frequency. The classical estimate of the evolutionary spectral density is based on a double-window technique consisting of a short-Fourier transform and a smoothing. However, smoothing is known to suffer from the so-called bias leakage problem. By incorporating Thomson's multitaper method that was originally designed for stationary processes, we propose an improved estimate of the evolutionary spectral density, and analyze its bias/variance/resolution tradeoff. As an application of the new estimate, we further propose a non-parametric rank-based stationarity test, and provide various experimental studies.
A one parameter fit for glassy dynamics as a quantum corollary of the liquid to solid transition

We apply microcanonical ensemble considerations to suggest that, whenever it may thermalise, a general disorder-free many-body Hamiltonian of a typical atomic system has solid-like eigenstates at low energies and fluid-type (and gaseous, plasma) eigenstates associated with energy densities exceeding those present in the melting (and, respectively, higher energy) transition(s). In particular, the lowest energy density at which the eigenstates of such a clean many body atomic system undergo a non-analytic change is that of the melting (or freezing) transition. We invoke this observation to analyse the evolution of a liquid upon supercooling (i.e. cooling rapidly enough to avoid solidification below the freezing temperature). Expanding the wavefunction of a supercooled liquid in the complete eigenbasis of the many-body Hamiltonian, only the higher energy liquid-type eigenstates contribute significantly to measurable hydrodynamic relaxations (e.g. those probed by viscosity) while static thermodynamic observab...