cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Detection of Optic Disc Drusen in Children Using Ultrasound through the Lens and Avoiding the Lens-Point of Care Ultrasound Technique of Evaluation Revisited.

Aim: To assess whether the detection rate of optic disc drusen (ODD) in children with swollen optic discs varies if the ultrasound scan (USS) is performed through the lens or avoiding the lens. Methods: Retrospective review of the ultrasound machine database for all patients who underwent USS for swollen discs in the department of pediatric ophthalmology, UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. Only patients who had both fundus pictures and USS performed (through and avoiding the lens) were included in the study. Results: A total of 31 patients (62 eyes) were included in the study. USS detected ODD in 44% of eyes (27 of 62 eyes, 15 patients). In 82% of these eyes (22 of 27 eyes), the ODD were not detected initially when scanning was done through the lens but were only detected when scanning was performed avoiding the lens. Ten out of sixteen patients with no ODD on USS had another identifiable cause for disc elevation, including raised intracranial pressure and sleep apnea. Conclusion: Ultrasound is a sensitive diagnostic tool for detecting ODD. The rate of detection of ODD is increased when USS is done avoiding the lens in children where the ODD are usually buried and not as calcified as those found in adults. Under such circumstances, the reduced echogenicity is absorbed by the absorbent pediatric lens, thus limiting the detection rates when scanning through the lens.
Determinants of preterm infants' language environment in the neonatal intensive care unit

Purpose: Preterm birth affects a substantial proportion of our nation’s children and increases their risk for language delays and poor educational achievement. Research demonstrates that language exposure is essential for the maturation of brain regions responsible for language learning and strongly influences a child’s future literacy skills and academic trajectory. However, preterm infants often spend the first months of their life in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) where language exposure and parent-child interactions may be limited. As a result, preterm infants may experience language deprivation during a critical period …
Decision Uncertainty in a New Public Policy Paradigm

All policy decision making follows the Requisite Steps. However, simply following these steps does not ensure effective policy decision making. Conducting iteration through the Requisite Steps counters the otherwise reductionist practice of dividing the decision making process into those steps. Furthermore, an iterative process allows for the evaluation of Decision Uncertainty, which is the analytical component that is missing from other decision approaches. Decision Uncertainty includes not only the traditional, quantitative uncertainties associated with data and modeling-related information (scientific uncertainties) but also those uncertainties related to the clear articulation of the problem, or disagreements among experts, and lack of stakeholder understanding about their own and other stakeholders’ values (non-scientific uncertainties). Decision Uncertainty is the total uncertainty that influences the confidence of stakeholders in their decisions. Typically, the primary emphasis of science-focused analysts is to minimize scientific uncertainties. However, understanding Decision Uncertainty is necessary if stakeholders want to forge better policy agreements.
Adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma: moving toward targeted therapies

The evolving characterization of the biological basis of adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma (ACP) has provided insights critical for novel systemically delivered therapies. While current treatment strategies for ACP are associated with low mortality rates, patients experience severely lowered quality of life due to high recurrence rates and chronic sequelae, presenting a need for novel effective treatment regimens. The identification of various dysregulated pathways that play roles in the pathogenesis of ACP has prompted the investigation of novel treatment options. Aberrations in the CTNNB1 gene lead to the dysregulation of the Wnt pathway and the accumulation of nuclear β-catenin, which may play a role in tumor invasiveness. While Wnt pathway/β-catenin inhibition may be a promising treatment for ACP, potential off-target effects have limited its use in current intervention strategies. Promising evidence of the therapeutic potential of cystic proinflammatory mediators and immunosuppressants has been translated into clinical therapies, including interleukin 6 and IDO-1 inhibition. The dysregulation of the pathways of mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (MAPK/ERK), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), and programmed cell death protein 1 and its ligand (PD-1/PD-L1) has led to identification of various therapeutic targets that have shown promise as clinical strategies. The Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) pathway is upregulated in ACP and has been implicated in tumorigenesis and tumor growth; however, inhibition of SHH in murine models decreased survival, limiting its therapeutic application. While further preclinical and clinical data are needed, systemically delivered therapies could delay or replace the need for more aggressive definitive treatments. Ongoing preclinical investigations and clinical trials of these prospective pathways promise to advance treatment approaches aimed to increase patients' quality of life.
Effects of ultraviolet background and local stellar radiation on the H i column density distribution

We study the impact of ultraviolet background (UVB) radiation field and the local stellar radiation on the H I column density distribution f(N{sub H{sub I}}) of damped Ly{alpha} systems (DLAs) and sub-DLAs at z = 3 using cosmological smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations. We find that, in the previous simulations with an optically thin approximation, the UVB was sinking into the H I cloud too deeply, and therefore we underestimated the f(N{sub H{sub I}}) at 19 6 x 10{sup -3} cm{sup -3}, then we reproduce the observed f(N{sub H{sub I}}) at z = 3 very well. We also investigate the effect of local stellar radiation by postprocessing our simulation with a radiative transfer code and find that the local stellar radiation does not change the f(N{sub H{sub I}}) very much. Our results show that the shape of f(N{sub H{sub I}}) is determined primarily by the UVB with a much weaker effect by the local stellar radiation and that the optically thin approximation often used in cosmological simulation is inadequate to properly treat the ionization structure of neutral gasmore » in and out of DLAs. Our result also indicates that the DLA gas is closely related to the transition region from optically thick neutral gas to optically thin ionized gas within dark matter halos.« less
Stress and Cardiometabolic Disease Risk for Indigenous Populations throughout the Lifespan.

Background: Indigenous people experience the greatest cardiometabolic disease disparity in the Unites States, yet high cardiometabolic disease risk factors do not fully explain the extent of the cardiometabolic disease disparity for Indigenous people. Stress, trauma, and racism occur at high rates within Indigenous communities and have not been well explored as significant contributors to cardiometabolic disease disparities despite emerging literature, and therefore will be described here. Methods: This descriptive study explores the relationship between cardiometabolic disease risks and Indigenous-specific stressors (e.g., early childhood stress and trauma, adulthood stress and trauma, and historical and intergenerational trauma) using current literature. Indigenous-specific protective factors against cardiometabolic disease are also reviewed. Results. Increasing research indicates that there is a relationship between Indigenous-specific stressful and traumatic life experiences and increased cardiometabolic disease risk. Mental health and psychophysiology play an important role in this relationship. Effective interventions to reduce cardiometabolic disease risk in Indigenous communities focus on ameliorating the negative effects of these stressors through the use of culturally specific health behaviors and activities. Conclusions: There is increasing evidence that cultural connection and enculturation are protective factors for cardiometabolic disease, and may be galvanized through Indigenous-led training, research, and policy change.
Utility of HNF-1B and a panel of lineage-specific biomarkers to optimize the diagnosis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) represents one of the most common cancers with dismal prognosis. Definitive diagnosis of PDAC remains challenging due to the lack of specific biomarkers. A transcription factor essential for pancreatic development named HNF-1B can be a potential biomarker for PDAC. However, HNF-1B was not entirely specific for PDAC and can be expressed in cancers of Mullerian tract, kidney, lung, bladder and prostate. To solve this issue, we investigated the expression of a panel of well-established lineage-specific biomarkers for non-pancreatic origins, including TTF1 and Napsin A for lung, RCC for kidney, ER and PR for breast, NKX3.1 for prostate, PAX8 for Mullerian tract, GATA3 for breast and bladder, and keratin CK7 and CK20 in 149 PDACs, using immunohistochemistry and tissue microarray. A two-tier scoring system for HNF-1B expression in tumor cells was used. Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests were performed using SAS software version 9.4 to test the association between HNF-1B expression and tumor morphology and differentiation. The results showed that PAX8 was focally positive in 6 cases (4.0%). GATA3 was focally positive in 5 cases (3.4%). Napsin A was all negative except for 1 case with focal weak staining. All other lineage-specific markers such as TTF1, RCC, ER, PR and NKX3.1 were completely negative in all PDACs. Consistent with our previous result, the majority of PDACs (88.6%) was positive for HNF-1B, including 78 cases (59.1%) with "strong" and 54 cases (40.9%) with "weak" staining pattern. There was no significant association between HNF-1B expression and cytoplasmic clearing morphology. Addition of keratins may further aid the diagnosis of PDAC since the majority of PDACs (84.6%) was CK7+/CK20-, only a minority of PDACs (11.4%) was CK7+/CK20+, 2.7% were CK-/CK20-, and 1.3% were CK7-/CK20+. In conclusion, HNF-1B can serve as a useful biomarker to aid the diagnosis of PDAC when combined with other lineage-specific biomarkers to exclude the other origins.
Small bowel T-cell lymphoma: a MEITL-ing diagnosis

Monomorphic epitheliotropic intestinal T-cell lymphoma (MEITL), previously known as Type-II enteropathy-associated T-cell lymphoma (EATL), is a rare subset of relatively aggressive lymphoma with a poor prognosis. We present a case of a previously healthy 59-year-old male with a 2-week history of abdominal distention who was found to have a non-bleeding ulcerated segment in the proximal jejunum secondary to MEITL. This exceedingly rare type of lymphoma usually presents with non-specific symptoms and can be challenging to diagnose. Our case demonstrates the importance of understanding the endoscopic and histological findings to allow the prompt diagnosis and treatment of this aggressive disease.
African Americans With p16+ and p16- Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinomas Have Distinctly Poor Treatment Outcomes Independent of Medical Care Access.

PURPOSE:Human papilloma virus–positive (HPV+) oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC), diagnosed with p16 immunohistochemistry, is associated with favorable prognosis; however, this connectio...
The Political Significance of the Wisconsin School of Contracts

The Wisconsin school of contracts is one of the most important scholarly contributions to the understanding of contracting practices and contract law from the second half of the twentieth century to the present. As part of the broader law and society movement in which Wisconsin scholars played a major part, it shifted focus from law-in-books to law-in-action and brought to light the importance of relationships and the limits of law as central elements of contract in society. In addition to its contributions to contract law scholarship, the Wisconsin school has political significance in shaping our understanding of contract law. “Political” is first used here to refer to the authoritative allocation of values in society—authoritative because it is accomplished through the mechanism of the state. Contract law is widely understood to be the principal way in which the state enables and regulates private transactions. Therefore, contract law determines, among other things, what distinguishes a promise from other forms of expression (the law of formation), which promises are worthy of enforcement (consideration and other validation mechanisms), and how much a promise is worth (by providing a remedy for its breach). These determinations are implicitly political, in this broad sense. In that sense of “political,” the Wisconsin school provides a critique of fundamental views about the structure and function of contract law. The Wisconsin school critiques of the structure and function of contract law are related in undermining the dominant understanding of contract law. In that understanding, contract law embodies a distinct set of principles and doctrines that regulates exchange transactions. Contract’s regulation is legitimate—a principled exercise of state power—because of two subsidiary claims. First, contract law is general. Contract law as we usually think of it—for example, the rules and principles embodied in the Restatement (Second) of Contracts or a contracts treatise—applies to almost any kind of private agreement. Second, contract law is functional. Contract law works; the rules and principles have purposes related to social behavior, and the operation of the rules through the courts and in the shadow of the law largely serve those purposes. The more familiar sense of the term “political” involves disputes over particular contract rules and cases and the relation of those disputes to electoral politics and broad political movements. In addition to its critique of the structure and function of contract law, the Wisconsin school provides a perspective on the recent political history of contract law and some insights about the reasons for success and failure in the political reform of contract law.
Development and evaluation of standardized pregnancy identification and trimester distribution algorithms in U.S. IBM MarketScan® Commercial and Medicaid data.

Objectives Creation of new algorithms to identify pregnancies in automated health care claims databases is of public health importance, as it allows us to learn more about medication use and safety in a vulnerable population. Previous algorithms were largely created using international classification of disease codes, but despite the U.S. code transition in 2015, few algorithms are available with the latest ICD-10-CM codes. Methods Using U.S. IBM MarketScan® Commercial Claims and Encounters and Multi-State Medicaid databases for women aged 10-64 years during 2014 and 2016, two pregnancy algorithms (ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM) were created using expert clinical review. The algorithms were evaluated by assessing the distribution of pregnancy outcomes (live birth and pregnancy losses) within each time-based cohort and the ability of the algorithms to identify select medication use during pregnancy. Medication exposure, demographics, comorbidities, and pregnancy outcomes were compared to published literature estimates for the two time periods. Results For the IBM MarketScan® Commercial database, the algorithms identified 687,228 pregnancies in 2014 and 444,293 in 2016. In the IBM MarketScan® Medicaid database, 389,132 pregnancies in 2014 and 406,418 in 2016 were identified. Percentages of most pregnancy outcomes identified using the algorithms were similar to national data sources; however, percentages of preterm births and pregnancy losses were not comparable. Most medication use estimates from the algorithms were similar to or higher than published estimates. Conclusions By incorporating the latest ICD-10-CM codes, the new algorithms provide more complete estimates of medication use during pregnancy than algorithms using the outdated codes.
Surgical management of giant acne keloidalis nuchae lesions

Acne keloidalis nuchae (AKN) is a progressive inflammatory condition that affects posterior neck and occiput. Treatment options include antibiotics, steroids, lasers, radiotherapy and surgery. We present three patients with advanced 'tumor-stage' AKN that underwent radical local excision followed by either immediate or delayed skin resurfacing, and briefly review existing literature.
Pain Management in Pediatric Trauma

Clinicians struggle to manage pain in pediatric patients, challenged by developmental constraints, nonlinear physiology, and uncertainty about pharmacological risks, all in the context of the decision pressure of trauma. This review describes means to mitigate these uncertainties. In the past 5 years, focus of investigations has been on pediatric burn patients and using new technologies, such as virtual reality, to provide distraction during painful procedures. Further evidence demonstrates that the setting in which trauma patients receive initial pain control is important, as many children do not receive adequate analgesia in the prehospital setting. Pain management in trauma can be approached as special instances of validated principles applied to adults but requires knowledge of adjunct therapeutic options and special consideration of both patient and caregiver anxiety.
Unsupervised Topic Modeling Approaches to Decision Summarization in Spoken Meetings

We present a token-level decision summarization framework that utilizes the latent topic structures of utterances to identify "summary-worthy" words. Concretely, a series of unsupervised topic models is explored and experimental results show that fine-grained topic models, which discover topics at the utterance-level rather than the document-level, can better identify the gist of the decision-making process. Moreover, our proposed token-level summarization approach, which is able to remove redundancies within utterances, outperforms existing utterance ranking based summarization methods. Finally, context information is also investigated to add additional relevant information to the summary.
Industrial Energy Use, Status and Trends

Industry is a large energy user in nearly all countries. Approximately half of all industrial energy use is used in specific processes in the energy-intensive industries. On the other hand, various general energy conversion technologies and end uses can also be distinguished (e.g., steam production, motive power, lighting). Opportunities and potentials exist for energy savings through energy efficiency improvement in all sectors and countries. Technology development, as well as policies aimed at dissemination and implementation of these technologies, can help to realize the potential benefits. Technologies do not now, nor will they in the foreseeable future, provide a limitation on continuing energy efficiency improvements.
Reversibly expanded encapsulation complexes.

Synthetic receptors that surround their target molecules – self assembled capsules and deep cavitands – have emerged as the most realistic models of enzymes active sites. They were introduced to study the behaviour of molecules isolated in small spaces and it has become increasingly clear that the behavior of molecules in dilute aqueous solution does not reflect their behavior in confimed spaces. The synthetic receptors fold around their target guests, isolate them from the bulk solvent, provide a hydrophobic environment and present the guests with each other in a limited space. These features combine to show high binding selectivity, large rate from the ground up; they are designed, synthesized then tested. In recent years, we have found a short-cut to total synthesis; some capsules readily insert spacer elements in the presence of suitable guests that fill the enlarged spaces. This expands the repertoire of containers and the present review describes their structures, the nature of the spaces inside, the exchange dynamics, and the rules that govern their formation.
Graph-Induced Multilinear Maps from Lattices

Graded multilinear encodings have found extensive applications in cryptography ranging from non-interactive key exchange protocols, to broadcast and attribute-based encryption, and even to software obfuscation. Despite seemingly unlimited applicability, essentially only two candidate constructions are known (GGH and CLT). In this work, we describe a new graph-induced multilinear encoding scheme from lattices. In a graph-induced multilinear encoding scheme the arithmetic operations that are allowed are restricted through an explicitly defined directed graph (somewhat similar to the “asymmetric variant” of previous schemes). Our construction encodes Learning With Errors (LWE) samples in short square matrices of higher dimensions. Addition and multiplication of the encodings corresponds naturally to addition and multiplication of the LWE secrets. Security of the new scheme is not known to follow from LWE hardness (or any other “nice” assumption), at present it requires making new hardness assumptions.
Use of a Levy Distribution for Modeling Best Case Execution Time Variation

Minor variations in execution time can lead to out-sized effects on the behavior of an application as a whole. There are many sources of such variation within modern multi-core computer systems. For an otherwise deterministic application, we would expect the execution time variation to be non-existent (effectively zero). Unfortunately, this expectation is in error. For instance, variance in the realized execution time tends to increase as the number of processes per compute core increases. Recognizing that characterizing the exact variation or the maximal variation might be a futile task, we take a different approach, focusing instead on the best case variation. We propose a modified (truncated) Levy distribution to characterize this variation. Using empirical sampling we also derive a model to parametrize this distribution that doesn’t require expensive distribution fitting, relying only on known parameters of the system. The distributional assumptions and parametrization model are evaluated on multi-core systems with the common Linux completely fair scheduler.
Comparison of mechanical properties for equiaxed fine-grained and dendritic high-palladium alloys

Two Pd-Cu-Ga alloys and a Pd-Ga alloy were selected for study. Bars of each alloy were tested in tension for the as-cast and simulated porcelain-firing conditions, and values of mechanical properties were measured. Fracture surfaces and microstructures of axially sectioned fracture specimens were observed with the SEM. The two Pd-Cu-Ga alloys exhibited similar mechanical properties. The Pd-Ga alloy had lower strength and higher percentage elongation. Heat treatment simulating porcelain firing cycles decreased the strength of both Pd-Cu-Ga alloys and increased their ductility. However, this heat treatment did not significantly affect the mechanical properties of the Pd-Ga alloy. All three high-palladium alloys had the same modulus of elasticity. The amount of overall porosity was relatively minimal (< 1%) and not significantly different among the three alloys. However, porosity was a significant factor for UTS of one Pd-Cu-Ga alloy and the Pd-Ga alloy.
Reasoning about RoboCup soccer narratives

This paper presents an approach for learning to translate simple narratives, i.e., texts (sequences of sentences) describing dynamic systems, into coherent sequences of events without the need for labeled training data. Our approach incorporates domain knowledge in the form of preconditions and effects of events, and we show that it outperforms state-of-the-art supervised learning systems on the task of reconstructing RoboCup soccer games from their commentaries.
Surface Water Flooding in Urban Areas: Rights and Remedies under the Common-Enemy Doctrine

Urban flooding is an ever increasing problem as land development intensifies in expanding metropolitan areas. In urban flooding situations, rivers and streams pose obvious flood threats, but the damaged area is generally restricted to a definable flood plain. Surface water presents a more subtle and pervasive problem; with heavy rainfall or poor drainage, surface runoff can submerge land not ordinarily considered subject to flood damage, further increasing riparian problems as the concentrated runoff finds its way to streams and rivers. Although flood control measures may be instituted to reduce some of the problems, occasional flooding must be anticipated as a natural result of urbanization. In addition to municipal ordinances through which a city may enforce grading and drainage standards, the victim may take direct legal action against the offending landowner or developer. This comment will examine various common law remedies available to resolve surface water drainage problems as exemplified in three geological situations, typical of urban development. The scope of this article will be limited, however, to jurisdictions employing the modified common-enemy doctrine. The three geological situations are: 1. Landowner is on the lower end of a watershed and upper development causes increased velocity or volume of runoff. 2. Landowner occupies a depression and subsequent development causes standing or slow draining water. Two distinct types, the single lot depression and the larger urban depression, yield different legal results. 3. Landowner is recipient of collected artificial discharge from another landowner.
An Overview of the Gifted Education Portfolio for the John Templeton Foundation

The John Templeton Foundation supported a philanthropic portfolio concerning the development of human genius. The work was contoured to some of the big questions of human activity: the nature/nurture question, the question of how cultures value and institutionalize support of exceptional students, and the ‘continuum hypothesis’ for gifted education. The first strikes at the heart of what makes us human while the second relates questions about high intelligence to the great social issues.
The nature and extent of change in early childhood educators' language and literacy knowledge and beliefs

Abstract Professional development (PD) can enhance educators' knowledge and beliefs, but research has yet to determine the nature and extent of such change. This study examined the patterns and predictors of change in knowledge and beliefs for early childhood educators participating in state-implemented PD. Results from a longitudinal piecewise growth model indicated that educators improved their knowledge and beliefs to varying extents during the school year when PD was provided. Change then plateaued with educators neither improving nor regressing during the subsequent school year. Openness to change and self-efficacy significantly predicted knowledge and beliefs, respectively. Research and practice implications are provided.
Efficiency and Equity of a Marginal Tax Reform - Income, Quality, and Price Elasticities for Mexico

The author investigates the effects of a marginal tax reform on household welfare in Mexico. He estimates the extent to which Mexican households react to changes in prices, and uses the estimates to simulate changes in social welfare resulting from marginal tax reform. Results indicate that poorer households tend to have significantly larger income and price elasticities. Hence, to correctly evaluate the effects of economic policies on the poor, it is important to estimate elasticities that reflect the behavioral responses of the poor rather than of the entire population. The results from the micro simulation suggest that since poorer households rely mostly on maize, legumes, and vegetables to fulfill their caloric intake, any price reform that reduces the price of these products will have a larger effect on the welfare of poor households. In particular, reducing the taxes on maize, alcoholic beverages, and vegetables would be both more equitable and more efficient in terms of social welfare. Meanwhile, a reduction in the tax on legumes, sugar, and oils and fats, while inefficient, would contribute to reduce inequality. Finally, a decrease in the price of meat, wheat, and dairy products, while benefiting higher-income households, would have only a marginal impact on poorer households.
Infinite-message interactive function computation in collocated networks

An interactive function computation problem in a collocated network is studied in a distributed block source coding framework. With the goal of computing a desired function at the sink, the source nodes exchange messages through a sequence of error-free broadcasts. The infinite-message minimum sum-rate is viewed as a functional of the joint source pmf and is characterized as the least element in a partially ordered family of functionals having certain convex-geometric properties. This characterization leads to a family of lower bounds for the infinite-message minimum sum-rate and a simple optimality test for any achievable infinite-message sum-rate. An iterative algorithm for evaluating the infinite-message minimum sum-rate functional is proposed and is demonstrated through an example of computing the minimum function of three Bernoulli sources.
Optimality Conditions for Reduced-Order Modeling, Estimation and Control for Discrete-Time Linear Periodic Plants

For linear time-invariant systems it has been shown that the solutions to the optimal reduced-order modeling, estimation, and control problems can be characterized using optimal projection equations, sets of Riecati and Lyapunov equations coupled by terms containing a projection matrix. These equations provide a strong theoretical connection between standard full-order results such as linear-quadratic Gaussian theory and have also proved useful in the comparison of suboptimal reduction methods with optimal reduced-order methods. In addition, the optimal projection equations have been used as the basis for novel homotopy algorithms for reduced-order design. This paper considers linear periodic plants and develops necessary conditions for the reduced-order modeing, estimation, and control problems. It is shown that the optimal reduced-order model, estimator, and compensator is characterized by means of periodically time-varying systems of equations consisting of coupled Lyapunov and Riccati equations.
The X-Ray Properties of z > 4 Quasars

We report on a search for X-ray emission from quasars with redshifts greater than 4 using the ROSAT public database. Our search has doubled the number of z > 4 quasars detected in X-rays from six to 12. Most of those known prior to this work were radio-loud and X-ray–selected sources; our study increases the number of X-ray–detected, optically selected z > 4 quasars from one to seven. We present their basic X-ray properties and compare these with those of lower redshift quasars. We do not find any evidence for strong broadband spectral differences between optically selected z > 4 quasars and those at lower redshifts.
Drawing a Roadmap for Oil Pricing Reform

In 2011, the median oil imports rose to 5 percent of gross domestic product for net importers. In the past several years, many governments have not passed through the world oil price increases to consumers fully. As a sign of divergent pricing policies, the retail prices of gasoline, diesel, and cooking gas in January 2013 varied by a factor of 190, 250, and 70, respectively, across developing countries. Policies to keep oil product prices low to benefit the economy and protect the poor have had a number of unintended negative consequences, including flourishing corruption in the oil sector and entrenchment of monopoly operators or inefficient firms through which subsidies are channeled, stifling competition and raising costs. The path to market-based pricing depends on the starting conditions: the gap between current and market-based price levels, the level of public awareness about the extent of departure from market prices, the degree of market concentration and competition in downstream oil, the subsidy delivery mechanism where subsidies are provided, the robustness of social service delivery, and the perceived credibility of the government. The evidence presented in this paper suggests that pricing reform often does not have a clear end and should instead be viewed as a continuous process of adjustment and search for mechanisms that take into account the country's institutions and political system, and the oil sector's market structure, infrastructure, and history.
Distributed Channel Monitoring for Wireless Bandwidth Aggregation

Aggregating low-speed WAN links into a higher-speed logical link promises to improve data-transfer rates to collaborating communities of wireless mobile multi-homed devices. Such bandwidth aggregation systems must adapt to link dynamics as the number of links and the channel conditions vary with time due to mobility, power dissipation, and channel interference. A monitoring architecture that accurately measures the link dynamics and promptly feeds this information to the system is vital to realize significant bandwidth aggregation performance gains. We present various architectural design alternatives for such a monitoring system, and evaluate them using simulation. We show that a properly-designed monitoring system can accurately measure and quickly respond to changes in communication link performance while minimizing the control overhead.
A Convenient Synthesis of N-Methoxy-N-Methylamides from Carboxylic Acids

Abstract Carboxylic acids can be converted to their corresponding N-methoxy-N-methylamides in high yields using 2-chloro-1-methylpyridinium iodide as the coupling agent. The reaction proceeds without racemization when chiral carboxylic acids are used as the starting material.
Does Conflict of Interest Lead to Biased Coverage? Evidence from Movie Reviews

Media outlets are increasingly owned by conglomerates, inducing a conflict of interest: a media outlet can bias its coverage to benefit companies in the same group. We test for bias by examining movie reviews in media outlets owned by News Corp, such as the Wall Street Journal, and Time Warner, such as Time. We find higher ratings for 20th Century Fox movies in News Corp. outlets compared to movies by other studios. To disentangle bias from correlation of taste, we introduce and validate a novel matching procedure using individual movie ratings from online platforms. Using this procedure, we find no evidence of bias in News Corp. nor Time Warner outlets. We reject even small effects, such as bias of one extra star (out of four) every thirteen movies. We test for differential bias when the return to bias is plausibly higher, examine bias by media outlet and by journalist, as well as editorial bias. We also consider bias by omission—whether media outlets are more likely to review highly-rated movies by affiliated studios—and conflict of interest within a movie aggregator. In none of these dimensions do we find evidence of bias. We relate to previous work and discuss three explanations for the lack of bias in our setting: high values of media reputation, organizational features in a conglomerate, and low returns to bias.
Fermion Bags and A New Origin for a Fermion Mass

The fermion bag is a powerful idea that helps to solve fermion lattice field theories using Monte Carlo methods. Some sign problems that had remained unsolved earlier can be solved within this framework. In this work we argue that the fermion bag also gives insight into a new mechanism of fermion mass generation, especially at strong couplings where fermion masses are related to the fermion bag size. On the other hand, chiral condensates arise due to zero modes in the Dirac operator within a fermion bag. Although in traditional four-f ermion models the two quantities seem to be related, we show that they can be decoupled. While fermion bags become small at strong couplings, the ability of zero modes of the Dirac operator within fermion bags to produce a chiral condensate, can be suppressed by the presence of additional zero modes from other fermions. Thus, fermions can become massive even without a chiral condensate. This new mechanism of mass generation was discovered long ago in lattice field theo ry, but has remained unappreciated. Recent work suggests that it may be of interest even in continuum quantum field theory.
Bayesian Economist ... Bayesian Agents I: An Alternative Approach to Optimal Learning

We generalize the results on Bayesian learning based on the martingale convergence theorem to the sequential framework. We show that the variability in the sequential framework is sufficient under mild conditions to circumvent the incomplete learning results that characterize the optimal learning literature. We then give an alternative approach whereby the economist is Bayesian with a prior on the space of agent priors. We illustrate the usefulness of our approach by applying it to two popular economic examples: a monopolist who does not know the demand curve he faces, and the stochastic single-sector growth model with an unknown production function.
Shelter strategies for the urban poor : idiosyncratic and successful, but hardly mysterious

In 1986 the World Bank prepared a strategy for low-income housing in developing countries. This work grew out of the Bank's efforts to support the urban poor through an extensive housing assistance program that was launched by Bank President McNamara's speech on urban poverty. By that time, the Bank had provided more than $4 billion of such assistance, and had undertaken an extensive research effort to design support for that lending. Much has changed since that time, not only in the way the Bank provides shelter assistance, more than doubling its support since that review, but also in the changing consensus as to what shelter strategy should be. The authors review the emerging consensus. They examine three new research areas: the empirical analysis of the effects policy has on housing supply; the richer understanding of the effects that land market regulations have on specific projects and on the functioning of urban areas; and the alleged mysterious effects that de Soto, for example, claims that effective property rights have not only for shelter policy but for development more generally. The authors also examine the emergence of both a new financial innovation, micro-enterprise finance, and the increased emphasis given to project design based on community participation, showing how these approaches more fully reconcile the incentives faced by beneficiaries and donors. In sum, the authors argue that the evolving consensus on shelter strategy is not nearly as mysterious as some would claim. Housing markets in most developing countries remain highly idiosyncratic and constrained. Nevertheless, the evolving consensus on shelter strategy appears to recognize these idiosyncrasies and policy constraints as evidenced by the strong and improving performance of the Bank's shelter lending.
The Privatization of the Russian Coal Industry : Policies and Processes in the Transformation of a Major Industry

This paper provides an overview of the privatization of the Russian coal industry. It reviews the salient aspects of the Government's privatization policy as it evolved over the years, and looks at the reasons for the successes and the pitfalls encountered along the way. Specific procedures and methods of sale are described in detail. A profile of the new owners of the industry is given, with a look at the implications for competition in the industry and at first performance indicators. As the World Bank has been closely involved in the support of the Government's coal sector restructuring program through provision of financing and policy advice, throughout the paper aspects of World Bank advice are considered.
Dissecting the EUV Spectrum of Capella

Extreme ultraviolet spectra of Capella, obtained at various orbital phases over the past two years by the EUVE satellite, show strong emission lines from a continuous distribution of temperatures (∼ 105 - 107.3 K). In addition to the strong He II A303.8, the spectra are dominated by emission lines of highly ionized iron. Strong lines of Fe IX, XV, XVI, and XVIII-XXIV are used to construct emission measure distributions for the individual pointings, which show several striking features, including a minimum near 106 K and a local maximum at 106.8 K. Furthermore, intensities of the highest temperature lines (T e > 107 K) show variations (factors of 2–3) at different orbital phases, while the lower temperature Fe lines show variations of about 30% or less. The low variability of most of the strong low temperature features motivates a detailed analysis of the summed spectrum. With ∼ 280 ks of total exposure time, we have measured over 200 emission features with S/N ≥ 3.0 in the summed spectrum. We report here initial results from the analysis of this spectrum. We can now identify lines of Fe VIII and X-XIV, as well as a number of electron density and abundance diagnostic lines.
Evaluation of the accuracy of on-site multi-analyte drug testing devices in the determination of the prevalence of illicit drugs in drivers

A principal goal of this research was to conduct a field evaluation of "on-site" multi-analyte drug testing devices to determine the most accurate, efficient, and cost-effective device available for the purpose of rapidly detecting drivers under the influence of drugs. Four on-site kits were selected and evaluated for accuracy and efficiency for the detection of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the cocaine metabolites (COC), and opiates (OPI). From 16 December 1995 to 17 March 1996, 303 voluntary urine specimens were collected by law enforcement officers from persons arrested for driving-under-the-influence (DUI). These specimens were tested using the four selected kits and aliquots of the specimens were sent to a DHHS certified lab for "gold standard" comparison testing by immunoassay and Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry. On-site kit sensitivity ranged from 82.9% to 100% for THC, 82.5% to 100% for COC, and all were at 100% for OPI. Specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were also determined. Accuracy ranged from 94.0% to 98.3% for THC, 97.4% to 98.0% for COC, and 99.7% to 100% for OPI. All four kits were in very close agreement on prevalence: 15.5% to 15.8% for THC, all were at 13.2% for COC, and all were at 0.7% for OPI. For law enforcement purposes, sensitivity may be the most important indicator in these kits.
Analyzing and modeling special offer campaigns in location based social networks

The proliferation of mobile handheld devices in combination with the technological advancements in mobile computing has led to a number of innovative services that make use of the location information available on such devices. Traditional yellow pages websites have now moved to mobile platforms, giving the opportunity to local businesses and potential, near-by, customers to connect. These platforms can offer an affordable advertisement channel to local businesses. One of the mechanisms offered by location-based social networks (LBSNs) allows businesses to provide special offers to their customers that connect through the platform. We collect a large time-series dataset from approximately 14 million venues on Foursquare and analyze the performance of such campaigns using randomization techniques and (non-parametric) hypothesis testing with statistical bootstrapping. Our main finding indicates that this type of promotions are not as effective as anecdote success stories might suggest. Finally, we design classifiers by extracting three different types of features that are able to provide an educated decision on whether a special offer campaign for a local business will succeed or not both in short and long term.
Fast approximations to structured sparse coding and applications to object classification

We describe a method for fast approximation of sparse coding. A given input vector is passed through a binary tree. Each leaf of the tree contains a subset of dictionary elements. The coefficients corresponding to these dictionary elements are allowed to be nonzero and their values are calculated quickly by multiplication with a precomputed pseudoinverse. The tree parameters, the dictionary, and the subsets of the dictionary corresponding to each leaf are learned. In the process of describing this algorithm, we discuss the more general problem of learning the groups in group structured sparse modeling. We show that our method creates good sparse representations by using it in the object recognition framework of [1,2]. Implementing our own fast version of the SIFT descriptor the whole system runs at 20 frames per second on 321 ×481 sized images on a laptop with a quad-core cpu, while sacrificing very little accuracy on the Caltech 101, Caltech 256, and 15 scenes benchmarks.
The Search Efficiency of Theorem Proving Strategies

We analyze the search efficiency of a number of common refutational theorem proving strategies for first-order logic. We show that most of them produce search spaces of exponential size even on simple sets of clauses, or else are not sensitive to the goal. We also discuss clause linking, a new procedure that uses a reduction to propositional calculus, and show that it, together with methods that cache subgoals, have behavior that is more favorable in some respects.
Non-Linear Normal Modes, Invariance, and Modal Dynamics Approximations of Non-Linear Systems

Non-linear systems are here tackled in a manner directly inherited from linear ones, that is, by using proper normal modes of motion. These are defined in terms of invariant manifolds in the system's phase space, on which the uncoupled system dynamics can be studied. Two different methodologies which were previously developed to derive the non-linear normal modes of continuous systems — one based on a purely continuous approach, and one based on a discretized approach to which the theory developed for discrete systems can be applied-are simultaneously applied to the same study case-an Euler-Bernoulli beam constrained by a non-linear spring-and compared as regards accuracy and reliability. Numerical simulations of pure non-linear modal motions are performed using these approaches, and compared to simulations of equations obtained by a classical projection onto the linear modes. The invariance properties of the non-linear normal modes are demonstrated, and it is also found that, for a pure non-linear modal motion, the invariant manifold approach achieves the same accuracy as that obtained using several linear normal modes, but with significantly reduced computational cost. This is mainly due to the possibility of obtaining high-order accuracy in the dynamics by solving only one non-linear ordinary differential equation.
New Search Heuristics for Max-CSP

This paper evaluates the power of a new scheme that generates search heuristics mechanically. This approach was presented and evaluated first in the context of optimization in belief networks. In this paper we extend this work to Max-CSP. The approach involves extracting heuristics from a parameterized approximation scheme called Mini-Bucket elimination that allows controlled trade-off between computation and accuracy. The heuristics are used to guide Branch-and-Bound and Best-First search, whose performance are compared on a number of constraint problems. Our results demonstrate that both search schemes exploit the heuristics effectively, permitting controlled trade-off between preprocessing (for heuristic generation) and search. These algorithms are compared with a state of the art complete algorithm as well as with the stochastic local search anytime approach, demonstrating superiority in some problem cases.