cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Using Drell–Yan forward–backward asymmetry to reduce PDF uncertainties in the measurement of electroweak parameters

The uncertainties in parton distribution functions (PDFs) are the dominant source of the systematic uncertainty in precision measurements of electroweak parameters at hadron colliders (e.g. \(\sin ^2\theta _{eff}(M_Z)\), \(\sin ^2\theta _{W}=1-M_W^2/M_Z^2\) and the mass of the W boson). We show that measurements of the forward–backward charge asymmetry (\(A_{FB}(M,y)\)) of Drell–Yan dilepton events produced at hadron colliders provide a new powerful tool to reduce the PDF uncertainties in these measurements.
The Macroeconomic Impact of Financial and Uncertainty Shocks

The extraordinary events surrounding the Great Recession have cast a considerable doubt on the traditional sources of macroeconomic instability. In their place, economists have singled out financial and uncertainty shocks as potentially important drivers of economic fluctuations. Empirically distinguishing between these two types of shocks, however, is difficult because increases in economic uncertainty are strongly associated with a widening of credit spreads, an indication of a tightening in financial conditions. This paper uses the penalty function approach within the SVAR framework to examine the interaction between financial conditions and economic uncertainty and to trace out the impact of these two types of shocks on the economy. The results indicate that (1) financial shocks have a significant adverse effect on economic outcomes and that such shocks were an important source of cyclical fluctuations since the mid-1980s; (2) uncertainty shocks, especially those implied by uncertainty proxies that do not rely on financial asset prices, are also an important source of macroeconomic disturbances; and (3) uncertainty shocks have an especially negative economic impact in situations where they elicit a concomitant tightening of financial conditions. Evidence suggests that the Great Recession was likely an acute manifestation of the toxic interaction between uncertainty and financial shocks.
Tadpole-induced electroweak symmetry breaking and pNGB Higgs models

We investigate induced electroweak symmetry breaking (EWSB) in models in which the Higgs is a pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone boson (pNGB). In pNGB Higgs models, Higgs properties and precision electroweak measurements imply a hierarchy between the EWSB and global symmetry-breaking scales, v H ≪ f H . When the pNGB potential is generated radiatively, this hierarchy requires fine-tuning to a degree of at least ∼ v 2 /f 2 . We show that if Higgs EWSB is induced by a tadpole arising from an auxiliary sector at scale f Σ ≪ v H , this tuning is significantly ameliorated or can even be removed. We present explicit examples both in Composite Higgs models based on SO(5)/SO(4) and in Twin Higgs models. For the Twin case, the result is a fully natural model with f H ∼ 1 TeV and the lightest colored top partners at 2 TeV. These models also have an appealing mechanism to generate the scales of the auxiliary sector and Higgs EWSB directly from the scale f H , with a natural hierarchy f Σ ≪ v H ≪ f H ∼ TeV. The framework predicts modified Higgs coupling as well as new Higgs and vector states at LHC13.
Measuring the Early Adulthood Outcomes of Young Adults with Disabilities: Developing Constructs using NLTS2 Data

ABSTRACTSecondary data analysis was used to develop and examine disability-related differences in outcome constructs from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2. Findings suggest that outcome constructs could be created that represented key elements of quality of life domains including social relationships, financial independence, financial supports, employment, emotional well-being, postsecondary education, independent living, health status, access to services, and advocating for needs. The constructs could be measured equivalently across disability groups, but young adults with high incidence disabilities, generally, experienced more positive outcomes than those with more severe disabilities, despite the finding that those with more severe disabilities have greater access to services and financial supports. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.
Nationalism and Rationality

Recent years have witnessed a virtual epidemic of nationalist violence in the world. In 1994, for example, eighteen of the twenty-three wars being fought were based on nationalist or ethnic challenges to states. About three quarters of the worlds refugees were ?eeing from, or were displaced by, ethnic or nationalist con?icts. And eight of the thirteen United Nations peacekeeping operations were designed to separate the protagonists in ethnopolitical con?icts.
Generation of magnetic skyrmion bubbles by inhomogeneous spin Hall currents

Recent experiments have shown that magnetic skyrmion bubbles can be generated and injected at room temperature in thin films [W. Jiang et al., Science 349, 283 (2015)]. Here, we demonstrate, using micromagnetic modeling, that such skyrmions can be generated by an inhomogeneous spin Hall torque in the presence of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions (DMIs). In the experimental Ta/${\mathrm{Co}}_{20}{\mathrm{Fe}}_{60}{\mathrm{B}}_{20}$ thin films, the DMI is rather small; nevertheless, the skyrmion bubbles are stable, or at least metastable on observational time scales.
Ionic Crosslinking of Chlorosulfonated Polyethylenes

Abstract A new and simple technique for curing chlorosulfonated polyethylene elastomers has been found that offers an economical means of making white and light-colored vulcanizates that do not contain sulfur compounds. This kind of stock can therefore be used directly in contact with bare copper, as in wire coverings, or with lead, as in lead press cures of hose and cables. In applications where the presence of litharge is acceptable, excellent water resistance can be developed. Aging characteristics of vulcanizates are generally comparable to those employing other curing systems, although extensive data are not now available. Because crosslinking is achieved entirely through electrostatic bonding of ion pairs, compression set values of these compounds are high, and this should be recognized in considering the applicability of this technique.
Experimental Examination of the Statistical Theory of Rubber Elasticity. Low Extension Studies

An experimental study was made of the behavior of two rubbers, Butyl (GR‐I‐18) and Paracril‐35, in the low extension region (0 to 15 percent), at temperatures ranging from −40°C to +60°C. The results have been compared with the Guth‐James theory of rubber elasticity. In general, good agreement with theory was observed. Two effects predicted by the theory have been confirmed, namely, the nonlinear dependence of stress upon temperature at constant extended length, and the shift of the thermoelastic inversion extension to higher values with increasing temperature. Small deviations, which increased with increasing extension and with decreasing temperature, were observed.
Philosophy in Law? A Legal‐Philosophical Inquiry

Going beyond the debate between positivists and proponents of natural law, there is a controversy over whether there can or ought to be “philosophy in law” (i.e., whether anything within the subject-matter of philosophy can also become part of the subject-matter of law). According to Luhmann's autopoietic theory, law is a normatively closed system and accordingly remains completely independent from philosophy. Dworkin, on the other hand, asserts that constitutional law depends for its coherence and integrity on being encompassed within a particular political philosophy. This essay approaches “philosophy in law” from a functional rather than a legitimating perspective, and concludes against both Luhmann and Dworkin that the integration of philosophy in law is interstitial and limited. The consequence of this for law's validity and legitimacy is a likely increase in contestation and contestability. The essay concludes that by embracing pluralism as a philosophy, one can reduce and better manage contestability without ever becoming able to eliminate it.
Synthesis of Indolines via Pd(II)-Catalyzed Amination of C–H Bonds Using PhI(OAc)2 as the Bystanding Oxidant

The Pd(II)-catalyzed intramolecular C–H amination of 2-pyridinesulfonyl-protected phenethylamine derivatives has been achieved using PhI(OAc)2 as a bystanding oxidant, providing access to a variety of substituted indoline derivatives in good yields. The use of the 2-pyridinesulfonyl protecting group allows for facile deprotection following C–H functionalization.
Protecting Encryption Keys in Mobile Systems Against Memory Errors

Beyond its use to encrypt data, an encryption key can be used as a mean to control access to data on a mobile de- vice by leveraging a cloud service. This implies that a key is present in a mobile device only when it is on demand and authorized by the cloud, the key is evicted when it is not in use. CleanOS is an example system that is based on this concept. For security reasons, keys are stored only in DRAM memory during execution, which makes them susceptible to memory errors. In this paper, we identify scenarios where a memory error that damages a key can escalate to an unrecoverable data loss in a mobile system.
Effects of aging temperature and time on the corrosion protection provided by trivalent chromium process coatings on AA2024-T3.

The effects of aging temperature and time on the physical structure of and corrosion protection provided by trivalent chromium process (TCP) coatings on AA2024-T3 are reported. The TCP coating forms a partially blocking barrier layer on the alloy surface that consists of hydrated channels and or defects. It is through these channels and defects that ions and dissolved O2 can be transported to small areas of the underlying alloy. Reactions initiate at these sites, which can ultimately lead to undercutting of the coating and localized corrosion. We tested the hypothesis that collapsing the channels and or reducing the number of defects in the coating might be possible through post-deposition heat treatment, and that this would enhance the corrosion protection provided by the coating. This was tested by aging the TCP-coated AA2024 alloys in air overnight at room temperature (RT), 55, 100, or 150 °C. The TCP coating became dehydrated and thinner at the high temperatures (55 and 100 °C). This improved the corr...
Tunable, Chemoselective Amination via Silver Catalysis

Organic N-containing compounds, including amines, are essential components of many biologically and pharmaceutically important molecules. One strategy for introducing nitrogen into substrates with multiple reactive bonds is to insert a monovalent N fragment (nitrene or nitrenoid) into a C–H bond or add it directly to a C═C bond. However, it has been challenging to develop well-defined catalysts capable of promoting predictable and chemoselective aminations solely through reagent control. Herein, we report remarkable chemoselective aminations that employ a single metal (Ag) and a single ligand (phenanthroline) to promote either aziridination or C–H insertion by manipulating the coordination geometry of the active catalysts.
Hysteresis in a New Keynesian Model

This paper examines “hysteresis” in which persistent unemployment takes on structural characteristics over time. Hysteresis is modeled as deterioration in labor market matching efficiency as the average duration of unemployment increases. This is embedded in a simple New Keynesian macro model. A decline in labor market matching efficiency would be consistent with the observed rightward shift of the Beveridge curve since the 2007-09 recession. Hysteresis is shown to lead to larger and more persistent responses of the unemployment rate and unemployment duration to productivity, intertemporal preference and monetary shocks. Hysteresis also generates an increase in the natural rate of unemployment.
Fluids with competing interactions. II. Validating a free energy model for equilibrium cluster size

Using computer simulations, we validate a simple free energy model that can be analytically solved to predict the equilibrium size of self-limiting clusters of particles in the fluid state governed by a combination of short-range attractive and long-range repulsive pair potentials. The model is a semi-empirical adaptation and extension of the canonical free energy-based result due to Groenewold and Kegel [J. Phys. Chem. B 105, 11702–11709 (2001)], where we use new computer simulation data to systematically improve the cluster-size scalings with respect to the strengths of the competing interactions driving aggregation. We find that one can adapt a classical nucleation like theory for small energetically frustrated aggregates provided one appropriately accounts for a size-dependent, microscopic energy penalty of interface formation, which requires new scaling arguments. This framework is verified in part by considering the extensive scaling of intracluster bonding, where we uncover a superlinear scaling regime distinct from (and located between) the known regimes for small and large aggregates. We validate our model based on comparisons against approximately 100 different simulated systems comprising compact spherical aggregates with characteristic (terminal) sizes between six and sixty monomers, which correspond to wide ranges in experimentally controllable parameters.
The Politics of International Law

Koskenniemi: A Critical Introduction by Emmanuelle Jouannet Part I: The Politics of International Law 1. Between Apology to Utopia: The Politics of International Law 2. The Politics of International Law - 20 Years Later Part II: The Law and Politics of Collective Security 3. The Place of Law in Collective Security 4. 'The Lady Doth Protest Too Much': Kosovo, and the Turn to Ethics in International Law Part III: The Politics of Human Rights 5. The Effect of Rights on Political Culture 6. Human Rights, Politics and Love Part IV: Limits and Possibilities of International Law 7. Between Impunity and Show Trials 8. Faith, Identity, and the Killing of the Innocent: International Lawyers and Nuclear Weapons 9. International Law and Hegemony: a Reconfiguration 10. What is International Law For? Part V: The Spirit of International Law 11. Between Commitment and Cynicism: Outline for a Theory of International Law as Practice 12. Style as Method: Letter to the Editors of the Symposium 13. Miserable Comforters: International Relations as New Natural Law 14. The Fate of Public International Law: Between Technique and Politics
Multilingual Subject Retrieval: Bibliotheca Alexandrina’s Subject Authority File and Linked Subject Data

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA) has been developing its own authority file since September 2006. The file includes subject headings, personal names, corporate bodies, series, and uniform titles. The BA authority file is unique in that it is constructed on the actual collection and it establishes subject headings in the language of the item described. The focus of this research is on the subject component of the BA authority file that includes subject headings in Latin and Arabic scripts. This study will describe the workflow involved in creating the subject heading authority file and the linking data process involved in linking subject terms in Arabic, English, and French.
Market Structure, Scale Economies and Industry Performance

We provide an extensive and general investigation of the effecst on industry performance - profits, social welfare and price-cost margins - of exogenously changing the number of firms in Cournot markets. This includes an in-depth exploration of the well-known trade-off between competition and production efficiency. Most conventional beliefs actually require some qualifications to be valid. Under scale economies, welfare is maximized by a finite number of firms. Our results shed light on several policy debates in industrial organization, including the relationship between the Herfindahl index and social welfare, destructive competition and natural monopoly. Our analytical approach combines simplicity with generality.
Percutaneous Intervention of Acutely Occluded Saphenous Vein Grafts: Contemporary Techniques and Outcomes

OBJECTIVES To examine the contemporary acute and long-term outcomes after percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) of acutely occluded saphenous vein grafts (SVGs). BACKGROUND PCI of acutely thrombosed SVGs carries low success rates. It is unknown whether outcomes have improved with contemporary PCI techniques. METHODS We reviewed the acute and long-term outcomes of 34 consecutive patients who underwent PCI of 36 acutely occluded SVGs at our institution between 2003 and 2009. RESULTS Mean patient age was 70 +/- 10 years and 39% had stent thrombosis. Mean SVG age was 14 +/- 6 years. SVG PCI was successful in 81%. In 3 patients, PCI of the target vessel native chronic total occlusion (CTO) was attempted after SVG PCI failed and was successful in 2, increasing the overall target myocardial territory revascularization success rate to 86%. Adjunctive PCI techniques were used as follows: mechanical thrombectomy (69%), rheolytic thrombectomy (39%), embolic protection devices (25%) and laser (14%). Stents (61% drug-eluting) were implanted in 78% of the treated lesions. Mean follow up was 2.3 +/- 1.9 years. At 1 and 3 years, mortality was 8% and 42%, an acute coronary syndrome occurred in 15% and 41% and repeat coronary revascularization was required in 28% and 38%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS In this particular population of thrombosed SVG PCIs, a high incidence of stent thrombosis was observed and procedural success rate was 81% with an additional 5% undergoing successful native coronary artery CTO PCI. Patients presenting with thrombosed SVGs were at high risk for recurrent events.
Metric extension operators, vertex sparsifiers and Lipschitz extendability

We study vertex cut and flow sparsifiers that were recently introduced by Moitra (2009), and Leighton and Moitra (2010). We improve and generalize their results. We give a new polynomial-time algorithm for constructing O(log k/ log log k) cut and flow sparsifiers, matching the best known existential upper bound on the quality of a sparsifier, and improving the previous algorithmic upper bound of O(log2 k/ log log k). We show that flow sparsifiers can be obtained from linear operators approximating minimum metric extensions. We introduce the notion of (linear) metric extension operators, prove that they exist, and give an exact polynomialtime algorithm for finding optimal operators. We then establish a direct connection between flow and cut sparsifiers and Lipschitz extendability of maps in Banach spaces, a notion studied in functional analysis since 1930s. Using this connection, we obtain a lower bound of $$\Omega \left( {\sqrt {\log k/\log \log k} } \right)$$ for flow sparsifiers and a lower bound of $$\Omega \left( {\sqrt {\log k} /\log \log k} \right)$$ for cut sparsifiers. We show that if a certain open question posed by Ball in 1992 has a positive answer, then there exist $$\tilde O\left( {\sqrt {\log k} } \right)$$ cut sparsifiers. On the other hand, any lower bound on cut sparsifiers better than $$\tilde \Omega \left( {\sqrt {\log k} } \right)$$ would imply a negative answer to this question.
Institutionalized autocracies, policy interdependence, and labor rights

ABSTRACTThis article examines how varieties of autocracies cope with the downward international policy interdependence in labor rights. It argues that institutionalized autocracies are more resistant to this downward pressure. Workers are empowered to elicit more policy concessions in institutionalized autocracies with parties and legislatures than in noninstitutionalized autocracies in which such institutions are absent. Parties and legislatures allow workers to organize and negotiate with states regarding their rights in a regularized and peaceful manner, thereby preventing complete collusion between states and firms. Heterogeneity in autocracies' responses to downward policy pressure is thus expected. Using a conditional spatial econometric technique, this article analyzes a newly collected dataset on labor rights for the period 1994–2009 for all autocracies. The empirical results offer support to the proposed theory. The findings also show that this institutionalization only matters for labor rights l...
Occupational Choice, Retirement, and the Effects of Disability Insurance

There is much variation in the physical requirements across occupations, giving rise to great dierences in later-life productivity, disability risk, and the value of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). In this paper, I look at how such dif- ferences across occupations aect initial career choice as well as the extent to which SSDI, which insures shocks to productivity due to disability, prompts more people to choose physically intense occupations. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and the Current Population Survey (CPS), I estimate a dynamic model of occupational choice and retirement with heterogeneous agents and equilibrium ef- fects on earnings across occupations. I document the dierences between blue-collar
What can parents do? Examining the role of parental support on the negative relationship between racial discrimination, depression, and drug use among African American youth

African American youth who experience racial discrimination are at heightened risk to use drugs as a coping response to distress. Based on the buffer-stress hypothesis, we proposed that parental support would attenuate this effect. Participants were 1,521 African American youth between 4th and 12th grade. As hypothesized, a mediation pathway was observed among racial discrimination, depression symptoms, and drug use. This effect was observed for both genders, although the pathway was partially mediated for males. In addition, as hypothesized, parental support buffered the negative effect of depression symptomatology on drug use as a consequence of discrimination. Our findings highlight the impact racial discrimination has on health outcomes for African American youth and the importance of managing youths’ emotional responses to discrimination. Moreover, findings illuminate the protective role of supportive parenting within the risk model and should thus be considered as an important component within preve...
First-principles dynamics of electrons and phonons*

First-principles calculations combining density functional theory and many-body perturbation theory can provide microscopic insight into the dynamics of electrons and phonons in materials. We review this theoretical and computational framework, focusing on perturbative treatments of scattering, dynamics, and transport of electrons and phonons. Application of these first-principles calculations in electronics, lighting, spectroscopy, and renewable energy are discussed.
INTERNATIONAL DIFFUSION OF FOOD SAFETY STANDARDS: THE ROLE OF DOMESTIC CERTIFIERS AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE

We examined the cross-national adoption of six major private food safety standards, focusing on the role of certifiers and international trade. Results show that the number of certification bodies existing in the domestic country, food exports, and the proportion of food exports to North America had positive effects on a country's adoption of food safety standards. Distance leads to product differentiation for the standards and therefore disadvantages developing countries in Africa and Asia for adopting the standards, which are all based in the United States or Europe. Providing these countries with better access to certifiers can alleviate this geographic disadvantage.
Help from Hoarders: How Storage Can Dampen Perturbations in Critical Markets

Critical resource supply chains are vulnerable to manipulation because of the un-substitutability of their goods. When a monopoly controls all or part of a market, it has the ability to profit from a reduction in supply of a critical resource. We model this complex adaptive system (CAS) using an agent-based model (ABM) and investigate a strategy to mitigate the potential for exploitation of a market by a monopoly. We find that when entities increase their input resource buffer, they decrease the reactivity of resource prices to supply disruptions, which limits the amount by which monopolies benefit from price fixing. This storage strategy also reduces total system losses due to a perturbation.
Maximal Noise in Interactive Communication Over Erasure Channels and Channels With Feedback

We provide tight upper and lower bounds on the noise resilience of interactive communication over noisy channels with feedback. In this setting, we show that the maximal fraction of noise that any nonadaptive protocol can withstand is 1/3. In addition, we provide a simple and efficient nonadaptive coding scheme that succeeds as long as the fraction of noise is at most $1/3-\varepsilon $ . Surprisingly, both bounds hold regardless of whether the parties send bits or symbols from an arbitrarily large alphabet. We also consider interactive communication over erasure channels. We provide a coding scheme that withstands the optimal tolerable erasure rate of $1/2-\varepsilon $ [Franklin et al. , IEEE Trans. Info. Theory , 2015], but operates in a much simpler and more efficient way than the previous schemes. Our coding scheme works with an alphabet of size 4, in contrast to prior schemes in which the alphabet size grows as $\varepsilon \to 0$ . Building on the above algorithm with a fixed alphabet size, we are able to devise a protocol for binary erasure channels that tolerates erasure rates of up to $1/3-\varepsilon $ .
Early Work on Defect Driven Phase Transitions

This article summarizes the early history of the theory of phase transitions driven by topological defects, such as vortices in superfluid helium films or dislocations and disclinations in two-dimensional solids. We start with a review of our two earliest papers, pointing out their errors and omissions as well as their insights. We then describe the work, partly done by Kosterlitz but mostly done by other people, which corrected these oversights, and applied these ideas to experimental systems, and to numerical and experimental simulations.
Glucose-independent Acetate Metabolism Promotes Melanoma Cell Survival and Tumor Growth

Tumors rely on multiple nutrients to meet cellular bioenergetics and macromolecular synthesis demands of rapidly dividing cells. Although the role of glucose and glutamine in cancer metabolism is well understood, the relative contribution of acetate metabolism remains to be clarified. We show that glutamine supplementation is not sufficient to prevent loss of cell viability in a subset of glucose-deprived melanoma cells, but synergizes with acetate to support cell survival. Glucose-deprived melanoma cells depend on both oxidative phosphorylation and acetate metabolism for cell survival. Acetate supplementation significantly contributed to maintenance of ATP levels in glucose-starved cells. Unlike acetate, short chain fatty acids such as butyrate and propionate failed to prevent loss of cell viability from glucose deprivation. In vivo studies revealed that in addition to nucleo-cytoplasmic acetate assimilating enzyme ACSS2, mitochondrial ACSS1 was critical for melanoma tumor growth in mice. Our data indicate that acetate metabolism may be a potential therapeutic target for BRAF mutant melanoma.
Into the Evening: Complex Interactions in the Arabidopsis circadian clock

In Arabidopsis thaliana an assembly of proteins named the evening complex (EC) has been established as an essential component of the circadian clock with conserved functions in regulating plant growth and development. Recent studies identifying EC-regulated genes and EC-interacting proteins have expanded our understanding of EC function. In this review we focus on new progress uncovering how the EC contributes to the circadian network through the integration of environmental inputs and the direct regulation of key clock genes. We also summarize new findings of how the EC directly regulates clock outputs, such as photoperiodic and thermoresponsive growth, and provide new perspectives on future experiments to address unsolved questions related to the EC.
Optically enhanced production of metastable xenon

Metastable states of noble gas atoms are typically produced by electrical discharge techniques or “all-optical” excitation methods. Here we combine electrical discharges with optical pumping to demonstrate “optically enhanced” production of metastable xenon (Xe*). We experimentally measure large increases in Xe* density with relatively small optical control field powers. This technique may have applications in systems where large metastable state densities are desirable.
Can Reform Waves Turn the Tide? Some Case Studies using the Synthetic Control Method

A number of advanced economies carried out a sequence of extensive reforms of their labor and product markets in the 1990s and early 2000s. Using the Synthetic Control Method (SCM), this paper implements six case studies of well-known waves of reforms, those of New Zealand, Australia, Denmark, Ireland and Netherlands in the 1990s, and the labor market reforms in Germany in the early 2000s. In four of the six cases, GDP per capita was higher than in the control group as a result of the reforms. No difference between the treated country and its synthetic counterpart could be found in the cases of Denmark and New Zealand, which in the latter case may have partly reflected the implementation of reforms under particularly weak macroeconomic conditions. Overall, also factoring in the limitations of the SCM in this context, the results are suggestive of a positive but heterogenous effect of reform waves on GDP per capita.
Painting factor H onto mesenchymal stem cells protects the cells from complement- and neutrophil-mediated damage

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are undergoing intensive testing in clinical trials as a promising new therapy for many inflammatory diseases and for regenerative medicine, but further optimization of current MSC-based therapies is required. In this study, we found that in addition to direct complement-mediated attack through the assembly of membrane attack complexes (MACs) that we and others have recently reported, of the released complement activation products, C5a, but not C3a, activates neutrophils in the blood to further damage MSCs through oxidative burst. In addition, we have developed a simple method for painting factor H, a native complement inhibitor, onto MSCs to locally inhibit complement activation on MSCs. MSCs painted with factor H are protected from both MAC- and neutrophil-mediated attack and are significantly more effective in inhibiting antigen-specific T cell responses than the mock-painted MSCs both in vitro and in vivo.
The Impact of Address Changes and Host Diversity on the Effectiveness of Moving Target Defense Strategy

Moving Target Defense (MTD) is one of the game changing ideas introduced to strengthen defenders and weaken adversaries in a networked environment. One of the well-known strategies is to change randomly and more frequently the network IP addresses of critical clients so that the network locations of the clients are less recognizable. The goal is therefore to minimize the time that the location of a host computer is exposed to attackers. Several moving target defense mechanisms have been introduced to demonstrate the effectiveness of IP address-based MTD strategies. To the best of our knowledge, however, there is no study with its focus on investigating the impact of both the IP address change rate and the host diversity on the success of the defense and in turn the failure of attacks. We present the results of an analysis performed on simulating a simplified attack scenario against hosts on a network. The paper investigates the influence of host IP address change rate and host complexity on the success rate of attacks. The results show that both the host IP address change rate and the attack crafting time have significant impact on making attacks unsuccessful.
Changes in weight and glucose can protect against progression in early diabetes independent of improvements in β-cell function

Context: Evidence-based strategies to prevent progression of dysglycemia in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes are needed. Objective: To undertake a secondary analysis of the Early Diabetes Intervention Program (EDIP) in order to understand the features that were protective against worsening glycemia. Design: EDIP was a randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Setting: Two university diabetes centers. Patients: A total of 219 overweight individuals with fasting glucose 11.1 mmol/L. Interventions: Acarbose versus placebo, on a background of dietary recommendations, with quarterly visits to assess glycemia and intervention adherence for up to 5 years. Main Outcome Measures: Progression of fasting glucose ≥ 7.8 mmol/L on two consecutive quarterly visits. Cox proportional hazards modeling and ANOVA were performed to evaluate determinants of progression. Results: Progression-free status was associated with reductions in weight, fasting glucose, 2-h...
Many-body theory of trion absorption features in two-dimensional semiconductors

Monolayer two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDCs) exhibit exceptionally strong spin-orbit and electron-electron interaction effects and have provided a rich new playground for the exploration of exciton physics. Recent experiments have demonstrated that in the presence of excess charge carriers the prominent excitonic features in optical absorption split into two separate peaks. The appearance of the additional peak is usually attributed to the presence of trions, charged fermionic quasiparticles formed by binding two electrons to one hole or two holes to one electron. The authors here argue that in the density range for which amplitudes of two peaks are comparable three-particle physics is of importance, and the appropriate picture is one of excitons interacting with the Fermi sea formed by additional charge carriers. These interactions result in the dressing of excitons into exciton-polarons. The exciton spectrum splits into a lower energy attractive exciton-polaron branch, normally identified as a trion branch, and a higher energy repulsive exciton-polaron branch, normally identified as an exciton branch. The authors provide a complete theory of absorption, which incorporates both static and dynamic effects of Fermi sea, and analyze frequency and doping dependence of optical conductivity in detail. The calculated density dependence of peak splitting and their amplitudes and widths are in agreement with recent experiments.
Emerging patterns of microbial resistance

Microbial resistance arises by mutation or by inheritance. The latter is plasmid-mediated and transferable and may erode multidrug resistance to s-lactams, aminoglycosides, tetracyclines, macrolides, lincosamides, sulfonamides, and trimethoprim. Resistance genes may transfer from one plasmid to another or from a plasmid to the chromosome or to a bacteriophage, thereby allowing rapid dissemination of resistance among bacteria. Mutational or chromosomal resistance is not readily transferable between different bacterial species or genera but is nonetheless medically important for resistance to isoniazid, methicillin, nalidixic acid, rifampin, and expanded spectrum cephalosporins.
A FEMORAL WINDOW FOR CEMENT REMOVAL: ANOTHER CLUB IN YOUR BAG

Removal of a long cement mantle that is well fixed distally during total hip revision can be a technically demanding procedure with many potential complications. The extended femoral slot offers a technique that allows direct visualisation during cement removal while maintaining an intact femoral tube. The proximal end of the femur is exposed taking care to remove all soft tissue that might prevent removal of the loose femoral component. The loose femoral component is removed using thin osteotomes and a femoral extraction device as needed. The proximal cement mantle is removed under direct vision to the level of the flare of the greater trochanter. The outside of the femoral shaft below the flare of the greater trochanter is exposed by splitting the vastus lateralis. Pre-operative measurements are imperative to determine the distal level of the cement mantle. An extended rectangular slot approximately 1.5cm wide is made in the anterolateral aspect of the femur starting just below the flare of the greater trochanter and continuing to the level of the distal aspect of the cement mantle. This can be done using a pencil-tipped burr on the Midas Rex or an oscillating saw. The rectangular strip of bone is removed and saved to be replaced and secured with cerclage technique during closure. The entire cement mantle is removed under direct vision using osteotomes and other cement removing instruments as needed. The opened femoral canal is then reamed to accept a new revision femoral component. The extended femoral slot is a safe and effective technique for cement removal during revision hip arthroplasty in selected cases. It is not used when there is varus deformity of the proximal femur but in selected cases is an alternative to the extended greater trochanteric osteotomy and preserves the circumference of the femoral tube.
The Mathematics of Learning: Dealing With Data

Abstract Learning is key to developing systems tailored to a broad range of data analysis and information extraction tasks. We outline the mathematical foundations of learning theory and describe a key algorithm of it.
Response to low-dose ketoconazole and subsequent dose escalation to high-dose ketoconazole in patients with androgen-independent prostate cancer

4646 Background: High dose ketoconazole (HDK) in combination with steroids has been recognized as an effective secondary hormonal therapy in androgen independent prostate cancer (AIPC). However, HD...
PEP-II hardware reliability

Hardware reliability takes on special importance in large accelerator facilities intended to work as factories; i.e., when they are expected to deliver design performance for extended periods of time. The PEP-II "B-Factory" at SLAC is such a facility. In this paper, we summarize PEP-II reliability statistics from the first four years of production running. The four running periods extended from January 12 through October 31, 2000, from February 4, 2001 through June 30, 2002, from November 15, 2002 through June 30, 2003, and from September 9, 2003 through July 31, 2004. These four periods are designated Runs 1, 2, 3, and 4 in the discussion and tables presented in the paper. The first four runs encompassed 30,359 hours. During this time, PEP-II was delivering luminosity to the BaBar detector 57.9 percent of the time. In addition, 5.3 percent of the time was used for scheduled dedicated machine development work, and 4.5 percent was scheduled off for maintenance, installations, or safety checks. Injection and tuning accounted for 19.9 percent. The remaining 12.4 percent was lost due to malfunctions. During this time period, a total of 9701 malfunctions were reported, but most did not interrupt the running program. The unscheduled down time, a total of 3883 hours, was attributed to 1724 of these malfunctions. Mean time to fail (MTTF) and mean time to repair (MTTR) are presented for each of the major subsystems, and long-term availability trends are discussed.
Power control for packet streaming with head-of-line deadlines

We consider a mathematical model for streaming media packets (as the motivating key example) from a transmitter buffer to a receiver over a wireless link while controlling the transmitter power (hence, the packet/job processing rate). When each packet comes to the head-of-line (HOL) in the buffer, it is given a deadline D which is the maximum number of times the transmitter can attempt retransmission in order to successfully transmit the packet. If this number of transmission attempts is exhausted, the packet is ejected from the buffer and the next packet comes to the HOL. Costs are incurred in each time slot for holding packets in the buffer, expending transmitter power, and ejecting packets which exceed their deadlines. We investigate how transmission power should be chosen so as to minimize the total cost of transmitting the items in the buffer. We formulate the optimal power control problem in a dynamic programming framework and then hone in on the special case of fixed interference. For this special case, we are able to provide a precise analytic characterization of how the power control should vary with the backlog and how the power control should react to approaching deadlines. In particular, we show monotonicity results for how the transmitter should adapt power levels to the backlog and approaching deadlines. We leverage these analytic results from the special case to build a power control scheme for the general case. Monte Carlo simulations are used to evaluate the performance of the resulting power control scheme as compared to the optimal scheme. The resulting power control scheme is sub-optimal but it provides a low-complexity approximation of the optimal power control. Simulations show that our proposed schemes outperform benchmark algorithms. We also discuss applications of the model to other practical operational scenarios.
Strategic Aspects of Urban Flood Plain Occupance

The paradox of continuing flood control and rising flood losses is explained in part by elements entering into decisions to change urban flood-plain occupance, 1936-1957. Curbing the mountaing toll calls for public action to broaden the range of choice open to managers of flood-plain properties in adjusting to flood hazard.
Forecasting Americans’ long-term adoption of connected and autonomous vehicle technologies

Abstract Automobile manufacturers, transportation researchers, and policymakers are interested in knowing the future of connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs). To this end, this study proposes a new simulation-based fleet evolution framework to forecast Americans’ long-term (year 2015–2045) adoption levels of CAV technologies under eight different scenarios based on 5% and 10% annual drops in technology prices; 0%, 5%, and 10% annual increments in Americans’ willingness to pay (WTP); and changes in government regulations (e.g., mandatory adoption of connectivity on new vehicles). This simulation was calibrated with data obtained from a survey of 2167 Americans, regarding their preferences for CAV technologies (e.g., WTP) and their household’s annual vehicle transaction decisions. Long-term fleet evolution suggests that the privately held light-duty-vehicle fleet will have 24.8% Level 4 AV penetration by 2045 if one assumes an annual 5% price drop and constant WTP values (from 2015 forward). This share jumps to 87.2% if one uses a 10% annual rate of decline in prices and a 10% annual rise in WTP values. Overall, simulations suggest that, without a rise in most people’s WTP, or policies that promote or require technologies, or unusually rapid reductions in technology costs, it is unlikely that the U.S. light-duty vehicle fleet’s technology mix will be anywhere near homogeneous by the year 2045.
Mixing fair-value and historical-cost accounting: predictable other-comprehensive-income and mispricing of bank stocks

Other comprehensive income (OCI) items are often considered to be transitory (Chambers et al. 2007; IASB 2013; CFA2014). In this paper, we show that a significant portion of OCI, namely unrealized gains and losses (UGL) from available-for-sale (AFS) debt securities, is non-transitory: a negative correlation between accumulated unrealized gains and losses in the current period and next period UGL is predicted, and we show that this correlation is economically and statistically significant. This correlation is due to a mix of accounting methods of measurement of income from fixed-income securities: UGL are recognized based on fair values, whereas interest income is measured based on historical cost. We document that (1) this negative correlation helps explain a previously unexplained negative correlation in other comprehensive income (OCI), and (2) investors seem to price total UGL disregarding (or not understanding) the predictable, accounting-driven component of UGL.
Seasonal cosmic-ray effects at sea level

By sending a Neher self-recording electroscope in a 10-cm lead shield repeatedly on a slow Norwegian steamer over the route Vancouver-Los Angeles, around South America and return to Los Angeles and Vancouver we find: (1) As heretofore, an equatorial dip, measured from Los Angeles, of 7 percent on the western side of South America, 8 percent on the eastern side; (2) no seasonal sea-level effect at Los Angeles or at any point south of there down to the Straits of Magellan that is of sufficient magnitude to stand out above the fluctuations -- as much as 0.6 percent-observable at the different localities traversed in these voyages; (3) as heretofore on the voyage between Los Angeles and Vancouver, constancy in cosmic-ray intensity in summer and fall, within the limits of uncertainty imposed by the fluctuations, estimated here as certainly not over 1 percent; (4) in winter and spring, however, a definite increase in different voyages of 2 percent or 3 percent in going from Los Angeles to Vancouver.
Radio occultations of the Io plasma torus by Juno are feasible

The flow of material from Io's volcanoes into the Io plasma torus, out into the magnetosphere, and along field lines into Jupiter's upper atmosphere is not adequately understood. The lack of observations of spatial and temporal variations in the Io plasma torus impedes attempts to understand the system as a whole. Here we propose that radio occultations of the Io plasma torus by the Juno spacecraft can measure plasma densities in the Io plasma torus. We find that the line-of-sight column density of plasma in each of the three regions of the Io plasma torus (cold torus, ribbon, and warm torus) can be measured with uncertainties of 10%. We also find that scale heights describing the spatial variation in plasma density in each of these three regions can be measured with similar uncertainties. Such observations will be sufficiently accurate to support system-scale studies of the flow of plasma through the magnetosphere of Jupiter.
Constant-switching-frequency AC-DC converter using second-harmonic-injected PWM

This paper describes the operation of an AC-DC converter employing second-harmonic-injected PWM. The boost converter operating on the rectified output uses a constant switching frequency PWM and a discontinuous current mode to reduce the total harmonic distortion in the input current. The implementation and the characteristics of the converter are presented.
Practical Considerations in Cloud Utilization for the Science Gateway nanoHUB.org

nanoHUB.org is arguably the largest online nanotechnology user facility in the world. Just between July 2010 and June 2011 it served 177,823 users. 10,477 users ran 393,648 simulation jobs on a variety of computational resources ranging from HUB zero-based virtual execution hosts for rapid, interactive runs as well as grid-based resources for computationally-intense runs. We believe that as such our users experience a fully operational scientific "cloud"-based infrastructure even though it is not using "standard" computational cloud infrastructures such as EC2. In this paper we explore the use of standard computational cloud-based resources to determine whether they can deliver satisfactory outcomes for our users without requiring high personnel costs for configuration. In a science gateway environment, the assignment of jobs to the appropriate computational resource is not trivial. Resource availability, wait time, time to completion, and likelihood of job success must all be considered in order to transparently deliver an acceptable level of service to our users. In this paper, we present preliminary results examining the benefits and drawbacks of utilizing standard computational cloud resources as one potential venue for nano HUB computational runs. In summary we find that cloud resources performed competitively with other grid resources in terms of wait time, CPU usage, and success in a multiple job submission strategy.