cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Contractual exchange and the timing of payment

Abstract In this paper we stress the informal institutions that have evolved alongside formal contracts to mitigate agency costs. The timing of payment is a pervasive example of such an informal institution. The basic result of our analysis is that ex post payment is a rational institutional choice of buyers and sellers designed to control the significant transactions costs inherent in certain types of exchanges characterized by interpersonal differences in information. Moreover, the selection of a payment scheme allocates the roles of principal and agent, with the party having the greater likelihood of cheating becoming the agent.
Some tests of a discrimination net theory: Paired-associate learning as a function of stimulus similarity and number of responses

A paired-associate learning study was done to test predictions derived from a computer simulation model based on the EPAM discrimination net. A 2 × 2 design varying intralist stimulus similarity (high vs. low) and number of response alternatives (2 vs. 14 in a 14-pair list) tested four predictions: (a) low-similarity lists would be learned faster than high-similarity lists; (b) 14-response lists would be learned faster than 2-response lists; (c) precriterion stationarity would occur on both 2-response lists but not on 14-response lists; and (d) precriterion stationarity would not be accompanied by independence. All four predictions were confirmed. Numerical confidence ratings showed that S s in the 2-response conditions had difficulty discriminating precriterion correct responses from precriterion errors, while S s in the 14-response conditions did not.
Oleamide-induced Modulation of 5-Hydroxytryptamine Receptor-mediated Signalinga

We investigated the effects of oleamide, a fatty acid amide isolated from the cerebrospinal fluid of sleep-deprived cats, on serotonin receptor-mediated signaling in cultured mammalian cells. Oleamide demonstrated opposing effects on 5-HT2A and 5-HT7 receptors, in rat pituitary cells and transfected HeLa cells, respectively. Oleamide caused a potentiation of 5-HT-elicited inositol phosphate formation mediated by the 5-HT2A receptor, but inhibited the effects of 5-HT on cAMP production mediated by the 5-HT7 receptor. In addition, oleamide alone caused a significant increase in cAMP accumulation that was dependent on the presence of the 5-HT7 receptor, but was not blocked by clozapine. These results demonstrate that oleamide can have diverse effects on 5-HT-mediated signal transduction at different subtypes of mammalian 5-HT receptors. Additionally, our data suggest that oleamide may act at an allosteric site on the 5-HT7 receptor and can elicit functional responses via activation of this site.
The Dual-Mode Theory of affective responses to exercise in metatheoretical context: I. Initial impetus, basic postulates, and philosophical framework

The exercise psychology literature is replete with assertions that ‘exercise makes people feel better’. However, this appears to be inconsistent with the high prevalence of physical inactivity and drop-out rates. Recent empirical findings, based on a new methodological platform, have demonstrated that the exercise-affect relationship is complex, exhibiting both a dose-response pattern and substantial inter-individual variability. The Dual-Mode Theory was developed to (a) bridge mind-focused and body-focused approaches for explaining the exercise-affect relationship, (b) provide a fit to extant data by accounting for patterns of dose-response and inter-individual variability, and (c) be consistent with information from exercise physiology and emerging evidence on the neural basis of affect. Investigations based on the Dual-Mode Theory could inform the ongoing debate on the role of somatic influences in generating affective responses and guide interventions designed to improve the affective responses of exe...
Unusual Photophysical Properties of a Ruthenium(II) Complex Related to [Ru(bpy)2(dppz)]2+

A new ruthenium polypyridyl complex, [Ru(bpy)2(dpqp)]2+ (bpy = 2,2′-bipyridne; dpqp = pyrazino[2′,3′:5,6]pyrazino[2,3-f][1,10]phenanthroline), shows strong luminescence in water at room temperature, a behavior that is strikingly different from that of the nonemissive “DNA light-switch” prototype [Ru(bpy)2(dppz)]2+ (dppz = dipyrido[3,2-a:2′-3′-c]phenazine) under similar conditions. Variation of the absorption and emission spectra of [Ru(bpy)2(dpqp)]2+ as a function of the pH is consistent with the occurrence of two ground-state protonation steps associated with the dpqp ligand and an apparent pKa* of 2.1. Electrochemistry and theoretical calculations indicate that the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) of [Ru(bpy)2(dpqp)]2+ is localized on the distal portion of the dpqp ligand and lies at a lower energy than the dppz-based LUMO of [Ru(bpy)2(dppz)]2+. The combination of its strong DNA binding affinity and relatively long-lived triplet metal-to-ligand charge-transfer excited state in an aqueous solut...
Fluorinated cyclitols. An improved synthesis of 5-deoxy-5-fluoro-myo-inositol, its deuterium labeling, and synthesis of a 5,5-gem-difluoro analogue

Abstract An improved synthesis of 5-deoxy-5-fluoro- myo -inositol is provided via the reaction of diethylaminosulfur trifluoride (DAST) with the versatile intermediate, 1,4,6-tri- O -benzyl-2,3- O -cyclohexylidene- neo -inositol (I), followed by appropriate deprotection reactions. Reaction of DAST with the 5- keto analogue of I gave the gem -difluoro compound, which upon deprotection afforded 5-deoxy-5,5-difluoro- myo -inositol. A 1 H-n.m.r. study of the deuteration of 5-deoxy-5-fluoro- myo -inositol with Raney nickel-deuterium oxide revealed that the equatorial H-2 proton was most rapidly exchanged, followed by the sterically identical H-1 and H-3 protons, which exchanged at a significantly slower rate.
Recovery of subglacial water extent from Greenland radar survey data

Subglacial water threatens the stability of a deep ice sheet. The Greenland ice sheet has been the subject of extensive radar surveys under NASA's PARCA program and others, yet the extent of basal water has not previously been explored in detail. This paper provides a method for recovering basal radar reflection characteristics that yield robust discrimination of subglacial water, using PARCA data, by narrowing the spread of measured echo intensities. Sources of validation are provided, and they support the procedure and its results. The method can be extended to the entire Greenland radar dataset. It is not dependent on details of radar characteristics but relies on sufficient penetration performance, high-fidelity data acquisition and appropriate treatment of signals and interface statistics.
Cytokine biomarkers and the promise of personalized therapy in rheumatoid arthritis

To rheumatologists, the term ‘‘cytokine’’ signifies more than its basic definition as an intercellular signaling molecule of the immune system. Cytokines represent an increasingly diverse family of small proteins that participate in the orchestration of immune-mediated processes by communicating signals among various cell types. As discussed elegantly by Gary Firestein, cytokine signaling, in various pathways of the innate and adaptive immune systems, and relating to the functions of synovial fibroblasts and osteoclasts, is fundamental to the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Yet, to rheumatologists, the term ‘‘cytokine’’ conveys a sense of optimism as this regards the success of several anti-cytokine therapies in revolutionizing the treatment of RA. The array of anti-cytokine therapies now includes the inhibitors of tumor necrosis factor (TNF), interleukin (IL)-1, and most recently, IL-6. Further, cytokines are often discussed optimistically in the context of the diligent search for new ‘‘biomarkers’’ of RA: molecules that correlate accurately with levels of disease activity and/or predict disease outcomes. But are biomarkers truly needed, and is there currently sufficient evidence to bring cytokine biomarkers to the clinic in order to personalize treatment for patients with RA?
Font identification using visual global context

An important part of many algorithms that convert digital images of machine-printed text into their ASCII equivalent is information about fonts. This paper presents an algorithm for identifying the font in which a document is printed. The algorithm matches word-level information gathered from the document image to fonts in an image database. This method is more robust in the presence of noise than font recognition algorithms that use character-level information. Clusters of frequent function words (such as the, of, and, a, and to) are constructed from an input document image. The clusters are then matched to a database of function words derived from document images, and the document that matches best provides the identification of the input font. This technique utilizes the context from many words in an input document to overcome noise. Experimental results are presented that show near-perfect recognition of fonts, even in noisy documents.© (1994) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Spin-Orbit Splittings in the Third-Row Transition Elements: Comparison of Effective Nuclear Charge and Full Breit-Pauli Calculations

The spin−orbit splittings of low-lying states in third-row transition elements were calculated using both an effective core potential (ECP) method within the one-electron (Zeff) approximation and all-electron (AE) methods using three different approaches. The wave functions were obtained using the multiconfiguration self consistent field (MCSCF) method followed by second-order configuration interaction (SOCI) calculations. All calculated results, except for the ones on atomic Ir, are in reasonable agreement with the corresponding experimental observations. The unsatisfactory results for atomic Ir are attributed to the poor theoretical prediction of the adiabatic energy gap between the lowest two 4F states. This gap has an incorrect sign in AE calculations without scalar relativistic corrections, but the gap can be reproduced qualitatively if these corrections are added using the newly developed RESC (relativistic elimination of small components) scheme. As a result, the AE calculations with the RESC appro...
The scaling of information to action in visually guided braking.

Braking to avoid a collision can be controlled by keeping the deceleration required to stop (i.e., ideal deceleration) in the "safe" region below maximum deceleration, but maximum deceleration is not optically specified and can vary as conditions change. When brake strength was manipulated between participants using a simulated braking task, the ratio of ideal to maximum deceleration at brake onset was invariant across groups, suggesting that calibration involves scaling information about ideal deceleration in intrinsic units of maximum deceleration. Evidence of rapid recalibration was found when brake strength was manipulated within participants, and the presence of external forces that affect brake dynamics resulted in biases in performance. Discussion focuses on the role of calibration, internal models, and affordance perception in visually guided action. Language: en
Environmental Impact of Construction and Repair Materials on Surface Water and Groundwater: Detailed Evaluation of Waste-Amended Highway Materials:

An evaluation methodology was developed to help transportation agencies make prudent decisions about the reuse of waste materials and by-products in highway construction. The primary objective of this evaluation process was to assess the potential impact on surface water and groundwater of constituents released from these materials. Test materials included coal fly ash, bottom ash, blast furnace slags, scrap tires, foundry sand, and recycled asphalt pavement. Test materials were screened for potential aquatic impact in their raw form. Then they were amended with either asphalt or aggregate for detailed assessment, including leaching (batch and flat plate or column tests) and environmental removal, reduction, and retardation (soil sorption, volatilization, photolysis, and biodegradation) tests. Short-term bioassays were used to measure directly the potential aquatic impact of derived leachates as a supplement to chemical analyses. For most materials, amendment with asphalt or aggregate largely reduced or eliminated any impact on the aquatic organisms. Among environmental factors, soil sorption appeared to be the most effective contaminant-removal mechanism. All waste-amended asphalts and aggregates exhibited no measurable impact on target organisms after soil sorption. However, for materials such as pressure-treated wood and deck sealer (used as is), environmental tests showed little or no effect in reducing their aquatic impact.
Human exposure to uranium in groundwater

Abstract High concentrations of uranium (mean=620 μg/L) were detected in water samples collected from private wells in a residential community. Based on isotopic analyses, the source of the uranium contamination appeared to be from naturally occurring geological deposits. In homes where well water concentrations of uranium exceeded the drinking water standard, the residents were advised to use an alternate water source for potable purposes. Several months after the residents had stopped drinking the water, urine samples were collected and tested for uranium. Elevated concentrations of uranium (mean=0.40 μg/g creatinine) were detected in urine samples, and 85 percent of the urine uranium concentrations exceeded the 95th percentile concentration of a national reference population. Urine uranium concentrations were positively correlated with water uranium concentrations, but not with the participants’ ages or how long they had been drinking the water. Six months later, a second urine sample was collected and tested for uranium. Urine uranium concentrations decreased in most (63 percent) of the people. In those people with the highest initial urine uranium concentrations, the urine levels decreased an average of 78 percent. However, urine uranium concentrations remained elevated (mean=0.27 μg/g), and 87 percent of the urine uranium concentrations exceeded the 95th percentile concentration of the reference population. The results of this investigation demonstrated that after long-term ingestion of uranium in drinking water, elevated concentrations of uranium in urine could be detected up to 10 months after exposure had stopped.
Nuclear explosion phenomena and their bearing on radio detection of the explosions

The characteristics of nuclear explosions are first discussed. It is shown that nuclear events can create radio noise signals, change the height distribution of existing ionospheric ionization, and produce fresh ionization; the last effect is the most important in radio detection. The influence of X-rays, γ-rays, neutrons, and radioactive debris in augmenting ionospheric ionization are considered in turn. The most significant increases are at altitudes of 60-100 km, and the consequent modifications to VLF propagation and to the absorption and phase of HF signals traversing the region of enhanced ionization are examined. The general level of the paper is elementary, approximate, and tutorial.
Differential cortical acetylcholine release in rats performing a sustained attention task versus behavioral control tasks that do not explicitly tax attention

The present study used microdialysis techniques to compare acetylcholine release in the frontoparietal cortex of rats performing in a task requiring sustained attention with that of rats performing in two control procedures. The two control procedures were a ¢xed-interval 9-s schedule of reinforcement assessing primarily the eiects of operant respond- ing and comparable reward rates, and an operant procedure designed to test the eiects of lever extension to prompt responding. These two control procedures involved comparable sensory-motor and motivational variables to those of the sustained attention task, but did not explicitly tax attentional processes. Performance of the sustained attention task was associated with a signi¢cant increase in cortical acetylcholine e¥ux, reaching a maximum of nearly 140%. Performance of the two control procedures was associated with signi¢cantly smaller (V50%) increases in cortical acetylcholine release. This robust dissociation between attentional and control performance-associated increases in cortical acetylcholine release resulted, in part, from the elimination of the pre-task transfer of the animals into the operant chambers and the associated increases in acetylcholine release observed in previous studies. The present results support the hypothesis that demands on attentional performance, as opposed to the frequency of lever pressing, reward delivery and other task- related variables, selectively activate the basal forebrain corticopetal cholinergic system. @ 2002 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
A COMPUTATIONAL STUDY OF THE STRUCTURES AND ELECTROSTATIC POTENTIALS OF SOME AZINES AND NITROAZINES

Abstract An ab initio SCF computational approach is used to study six azines (azabenzenes) and their mononitro derivatives. Our primary interest is in determining how the reactive properties of the azines are affected by the introduction of the nitro group. All structures are optimized at the 3-21G level, and these are then used to compute the STO-5G molecular electrostatic potentials. Among the various isomers, those having two adjacent ring nitrogens are by far the least stable. The nitro derivatives are most stable when the substituent is β to a ring nitrogen and least when it is α. The dominant features of the electrostatic potentials of these molecules are the large and strong negative regions, centered in the molecular planes, that are associated with the ring nitrogens and are indicative of their basic characters. These negative potentials, and correspondingly the basicities, become weaker as the number of ring nitrogens increases and also with the substitution of the electron-withdrawing nitro group. The regions above and below the rings become increasingly positive in going from the mono- to the tetra-azine and with the introduction of the -NO2 group, suggesting enhanced susceptibility to nucleophilic attack.
Development and Evaluation of a New Packaging System for Fresh Produce: a Case Study on Fresh Cherries Under Global Supply Chain Conditions

A new packaging system to extend the shelf life of fresh produce in a cold chain with changing temperatures has been developed. This new packaging system allows rapid increase of the CO2 concentration (while reducing the O2 concentration) when stored at low temperature, and an immediate adjustment to temperature rises in the cold chain in order to maintain optimal gas compositions. The storage stability of fresh cherries, both stem-on and stem-free, was monitored under domestic (road transport) and international (ocean transport) supply chain conditions. The predominant retail package for fresh cherries, flexible, macroperforated polyethylene bags, was used as controls. Package headspace gas composition, fungal growth, weight loss, color, texture, pH, and titratable acidity were monitored for up to 17 and 27 days for domestic and international supply chain conditions, respectively. Consumer acceptance sensory tests were conducted after 14 and 27 days of storage (N > 70). The beneficial effects of the use of this new packaging system included the reduction of fungal growth (P ≤ 0.05) and the maintenance of firmness and red color (P ≤ 0.05). The specific package design also allowed minimization of weight loss due to transpiration. Consumers demonstrated a significant purchasing preference for the new package versus the control (P ≤ 0.05) and rated cherries stored in these packages significantly higher than those stored in the controls using a 9-point hedonic scale. Significantly higher consumer acceptance was found for appearance under simulated domestic supply chain conditions and aroma and flavor under simulated international supply chain conditions.
Measurement of Human Trust in a Hybrid Inspection for Varying Error Patterns

The emphasis of this research was on the effect of human trust in a hybrid inspection system with varying error patterns. Experiments were conducted using a hybrid inspection task involving four common types of error patterns, and subjects were requested to rate their trust in the system at different stages. Results showed that subjects' ratings of trust were based on how they perceived the behavior of the computer. However, this rating was not sensitive to the type of error pattern. A significant change in trust was found in all the systems considered for the study. In addition, the results reflect that there was a significant decrease in trust when subjects inspected the assigned experimental system after inspecting the perfect one. Finally, the components of trust that fit into the trust model at each stage of a particular system were determined using the stepwise regression model.
Field-theoretical derivation of the two-body potential

It is shown that the neglect of velocity-dependent terms in the derivation of the nonrelativistic nuclear potential (S. N. Gupta, Phys. Rev., 117: 1146(1960)) can be rigorously justified.
Fuzzy modeling control for robotic gait synthesis

This paper presents a biped locomotion learning scheme using a fuzzy modeling neural network. The learning scheme can generate walking gaits by providing a reference trajectory which defines the desired step width, height and period in several stages. This proposed scheme uses a fuzzy controller combined with a linearized inverse biped model. A multilayer fuzzy neural network is used as a controller; it provides the control signals in each stage of a walking gait. The algorithm used to train the network is the backpropagation through time. The linearized inverse biped model provides the error signals which can be used to back propagate through the controller in each stage. The simulation results are described for a five-link biped walking robot.
Home health care for children assisted by mechanical ventilation: the physician's perspective.

To obtain the physician's perspective concerning their care of children at home who required prolonged life-supportive medical technology, we conducted a malled survey of 126 physicians caring for 25 children assisted by ventilators who had been discharged from 11 Illinois hospitals to their homes. The 51 (41%) physicians who responded included those practicing in many speclalties from a variety of hospital settings throughout illinois. The majority of respondents had less than 4 years' experience with ventilator-assisted children and were in their earlier years of practice. Most physicians surveyed had participated in discharge planning and maintained an active role with their patients at home after discharge. The majority believed that changes in ventilatory settings could be accomplished in the home and found hospitalization unnecessary for adjustments of the home care prescription. The physiclans thought that the roles and responsibilities should be defined for both the tertiary and community-based physician before hospital discharge, and that development and support of resources at the community level were essential for the success of home care.
Vehicle Surround Capture: Survey of Techniques and a Novel Omni-Video-Based Approach for Dynamic Panoramic Surround Maps

Awareness of what surrounds a vehicle directly affects the safe driving and maneuvering of an automobile. This paper focuses on the capture of vehicle surroundings using video inputs. Surround information or maps can help in studies of driver behavior as well as provide critical input in the development of effective driver assistance systems. A survey of literature related to surround analysis is presented, emphasizing detecting objects such as vehicles, pedestrians, and other obstacles. Omni cameras, which give a panoramic view of the surroundings, can be useful for visualizing and analyzing the nearby surroundings of the vehicle. The concept of Dynamic Panoramic Surround (DPS) map that shows the nearby surroundings of the vehicle and detects the objects of importance on the road is introduced. A novel approach for synthesizing the DPS using stereo and motion analysis of video images from a pair of omni cameras on the vehicle is developed. Successful generation of the DPS in experimental runs on an instrumented vehicle test bed is demonstrated. These experiments prove the basic feasibility and show promise of omni-camera-based DPS capture algorithm to provide useful semantic descriptors of the state of moving vehicles and obstacles in the vicinity of a vehicle
Teaching, Learning, and Leading: Preparing Teachers as Educational Policy Actors

Within the current federal, state, and local contexts of educational reform, teachers must be recognized as central actors in policy work, but rarely do we explicitly consider preparing teachers to become policy actors. Understanding these implications for teacher education, we investigate teacher candidates’ learning of the complexity and dynamism of educational policy through a field-based teacher preparation program. Situated across four unique school contexts in the diverse neighborhoods of Chicago, Illinois, we qualitatively study the cases of eight teacher candidates as they explore policy in practice. We found that candidates developed enduring understandings about policy as complex, situated, and multilayered, as well as the central role of the teacher. This learning was mediated by multiple facets of the field-based module, including readings, panels, and observations. Implications center on the use of field-based teacher education to support policy-related learning and development.
Guanfacine modulates the influence of emotional cues on prefrontal cortex activation for cognitive control

Rationale Functional interactions between limbic regions that process emotions and frontal networks that guide response functions provide a substrate for emotional cues to influence behavior. Stimulation of postsynaptic α2 adrenoceptors enhances the function of prefrontal regions in these networks. However, the impact of this stimulation on the emotional biasing of behavior has not been established.
A Model for the B→Z Transition of DNA Involving Solitary Excitations

Since the discovery of the left-handed Z-form deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in 1979 [1], much work has been done both experimentally [2–4] and theoretically [5–7] in trying to understand the detailed mechanism of the transition from the standard right-handed B form to this peculiar left-handed Z form. Among the questions being asked frequently is whether the hydrogen bonds connecting the two bases of a base pair are broken during the transition.
Sol-Gel Thin Film Electronic Properties

We have explored the effects of various processing parameters on the dielectric andelectronic integrity of sol-gel derived silicate thin films and have identified several factors that strongly affect the thin film electronic properties. We find that sol-gel dielectrics can exhibit excellent dielectric integrity: viz., low interface trap densities and fairly good insulating properties approaching those of a thermally grown SiO2 film on Si.
Robust Registration and Tracking Using Kernel Density Correlation

Challenges to accurate registration come from three factors -presence of background clutter, occlusion of the pattern being registered and changes in feature values across images. To address these concerns, we propose a robust probabilistic estimation approach predicated on representations of the object model and the target image using a kernel density estimate. These representations are then matched in the space of density functions using a correlation measure, termed the Kernel Density Correlation (KDC) measure. A popular metric which has been widely used by previous image registration approaches is the Mutual Information (MI) metric. We compare the proposed KDC metric with the MI metric to highlight its better robustness to occlusions and random background clutter-this is a consequence of the fact that the KDC measure forms a re-descending M-estimator. Another advantage of the proposed metric is that the registration problem can be efficiently solved using a variational optimization algorithm. We show that this algorithm is an iteratively reweighted least squares (IRLS) algorithm and prove its convergence properties. The efficacy of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated by its application on standard stereo registration data-sets and real tracking sequences.
Hydrogen Sensing and Sensitivity of Palladium-Decorated Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes with Defects

Individual single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) become sensitive to H2 gas when their surfaces are decorated with Pd metal, and previous reports measure typical chemoresistive increases to be approximately 2-fold. Here, thousand-fold increases in resistance are demonstrated in the specific case where a Pd cluster decorates a SWCNT sidewall defect site. Measurements on single SWCNTs, performed both before and after defect incorporation, prove that defects have extraordinary consequences on the chemoresistive response, especially in the case of SWCNTs with metallic band structure. Undecorated defects do not contribute to H2 chemosensitivity, indicating that this amplification is due to a specific but complex interdependence between a defect site’s electronic transmission and the chemistry of the defect−Pd−H2 system. Dosage experiments suggest a primary role is played by spillover of atomic H onto the defect site.
SOCIAL AND CULTURAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH IN ELDERLY CANCER PATIENTS

Infectious complications continue to be a major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). The pathogenesis of infections in these patients is multifactorial, related to inherent immune defects and therapy-related immunosuppression. Hypogammaglobulinemia is an important predisposing factor for infection in all patients. The use of the purine analogs as fludarabine, and monoclonal antibodies as rituximab and alemtuzumab, has introduced a new spectrum of infectious complications caused by pathogens as Pneumocystis, Listeria, mycobacteria, herpesviruses Candida, and Aspergillus, related to the cellular immune suppression induced by these agents. In this discussion, we will focus on the pathogenesis and risk factors for infections in patients with CLL, the spectrum of infectious complications, and preventive approaches to infection in these patients, utilizing antimicrobial and immunoglobulin prophylaxis and vaccination strategies. Disclosure of interest: None declared
Engineering domain-specific languages with formula 2.0

Domain-specific languages (DSLs) are useful for capturing and reusing engineering expertise. They can formalize industrial patterns and practices while increasing the scalability of verification, because input programs are written at a higher level of abstraction. However, engineering new DSLs with custom verification is a non-trivial task in its own right, and usually requires programming language, formal methods, and automated theorem proving expertise.In this tutorial we present FORMULA 2.0, which is formal framework for developing DSLs. FORMULA specifications are succinct descriptions of DSLs, and specifications can be immediately connected to state-of-the-art analysis engines without additional expertise. FORMULA provides: (1) succinct specifications of DSLs and compilers, (2) efficient compilation and execution of input programs, (3) program synthesis and compiler verification.We take a unique approach to provide these features: Specifications are written as strongly-typed open-world logic programs. These specifications are highly declarative and easily express rich synthesis / verification problems. Automated reasoning is enabled by efficient symbolic execution of logic programs into quantifier-free sub-problems, which are dispatched to the state-of-the-art SMT solver Z3. FORMULA has been applied within Microsoft to develop DSLs for verifiable device drivers and protocols. It has been used by the automotive / embedded systems industries for software / hardware co-design and design-space exploration under hard resource allocation constraints. It is being used to develop semantic specifications for complex cyber-physical systems.
Kohonen Networks and Clustering: Comparative Performance in Color Clustering

The problem of color clustering is defined and shown to be a problem of assigning a large number (hundreds of thousands) of 3-vectors to a small number (256) of clusters. Finding those clusters in such a way that they best represent a full color image using only 256 distinct colors is a burdensome computational problem. In this paper, the problem is solved using "classical" techniques -- k-means clustering, vector quantization (which turns out to be the same thing in this application), competitive learning, and Kohonen self-organizing feature maps. Quality of the result is judged subjectively by how much the pseudo-color result resembles the true color image, by RMS quantization error, and by run time. The Kohonen map provides the best solution.
Combined transistor sizing with buffer insertion for timing optimization

This paper presents strategies to insert buffers in a circuit, combined with gate sizing, to achieve better power-delay and area-delay tradeoffs. The delay model incorporates placement-based information and the effect of input slew rates on gate delays. The results obtained by using the new method are significantly better than the results given by merely using a TILOS-like transistor sizing algorithm alone.
Some nonlinear tax effects on asset values and investment decisions under uncertainty

Abstract Tax system nonlinearities are often ignored but with uncertainty may have important implications for the magnitude and direction of tax effects. This paper studies a particular nonlinear tax rule. The policy subsidizes asset values, but may discourage some investments and encourage earlier shutdown of some projects. The marginal effective tax rate varies with project risk. Furthermore, a corporate cash-flow tax can encourage investment due to interactions with the nonlinear policy. The paper also presents a general statement of the stochastic equilibrium valuation method which can be used to analyze other nonlinear taxes. Numerical examples demonstrate computational feasibility.
Substitution and Supplementation Between Co-Functional Policy Instruments: Evidence from State Budget Stabilization Practices

Governments often use multiple policy instruments for pursuing policy goals with mutually reinforcing effects. These effects include supplementation and substitution. This article examines both effects by studying two instruments of state budget stabilization policy: general fund balances and budget stabilization funds. States normally maintain budget surpluses in the general fund. In recent decades, many also created separate budget stabilization funds to guard against economic downturns. Empirical results show that substitution occurs between these instruments. In other words, the influence of the first instrument is partially offset by the second. The second instrument also produces some independent impacts—called supplementation—that increase the overall influence of both instruments. Such self-reinforcement decreases over time, suggesting that multiple policy instruments are most effective in the initial stage of application.
Supplication in the Greco-Roman Religious Field

This essay attempts to apply Bourdieu's notion of the field to the study of Greco-Roman religion (a move that Bourdieu himself seemingly ruled out). It traces some changes in the Greco-Roman religious field by tracking the meaning and fortunes of the practice of supplication, first in the context of the struggle between Roman administration and Greek autonomy and then in the context of the struggle between pagans and Christians to define charity to the poor as a strategy of legitimation.
Design of MMSE multiuser detectors using random matrix techniques

Reduced-rank MMSE receivers using asymptotic weights reduce receiver complexity while maintaining good performance in long-sequence DS-CDMA systems. In this paper, we analyze such receivers in multipath fading channels and extend their design to multicarrier CDMA (both uplink and downlink). An explicit expression is obtained for the asymptotic eigenvalue moments of the interference autocorrelation matrix and for the asymptotic weights derived there from and used in the reduced-rank receiver. The full-rank MMSE receiver is also considered for multicarrier CDMA and a fixed point of equation of the asymptotic maximum output SINR is derived, which particularizes to the Tse-Hanly fixed point equation for the special case of DS-CDMA. An explicit expression of the MMSE spectral efficiency is proposed for multicarrier CDMA.
Prospective memory: Are preparatory attentional processes necessary for a single focal cue?

The preparatory attentional and memory processes theory of prospective memory (PM) assumes that PM retrieval requires resource-demanding preparatory attentional processes, whereas the multiprocess theory assumes that retrieval can also occur spontaneously. On the basis of showing slowing on an ongoing task (i.e., task interference) —even when the PM cue was highly salient (i.e., the participant’s own name) —Smith, Hunt, McVay, and McConnell (2007) concluded that preparatory attentional processes are always necessary for PM retrieval. We argue that the presence of preparatory attentional processes cannot be used to rule out the existence of spontaneous retrieval processes, and the goal of the present research was to examine whether PM retrieval can occur in the absence of preparatory attentional processes. We varied whether we emphasized the importance of the PM task or the ongoing task, and we assessed task interference across quarters of the ongoing task. Our results showed no evidence of task interference and, hence, no evidence of preparatory attentional processes in the periods proximal to the target event, and yet participants showed high PM performance. Thus, the results suggest the existence of spontaneous retrieval processes and support the multiprocess theory.
An automated approach to create, store, and analyze large-scale experimental data in clouds

The flexibility and scalability of computing clouds make them an attractive application migration target; yet, the cloud remains a black-box for the most part. In particular, their opacity impedes the efficient but necessary testing and tuning prior to moving new applications into the cloud. A natural and presumably unbiased approach to reveal the cloud's complexity is to collect significant performance data by conducting more experimental studies. However, conducting large-scale system experiments is particularly challenging because of the practical difficulties that arise during experimental deployment, configuration, execution and data processing. In this paper we address some of these challenges through Expertus - a flexible automation framework we have developed to create, store and analyze large-scale experimental measurement data. We create performance data by automating the measurement processes for large-scale experimentation, including: the application deployment, configuration, workload execution and data collection processes. We have automated the processing of heterogeneous data as well as the storage of it in a data warehouse, which we have specifically designed for housing measurement data. Finally, we have developed a rich Web portal to navigate, statistically analyze and visualize the collected data. Expertus combines template-driven code generation techniques with aspect-oriented programming concepts to generate the necessary resources to fully automate the experiment measurement process. In Expertus, a researcher provides only the high-level description about the experiment, and the framework does everything else. At the end, the researcher can graphically navigate and process the data in the Web portal.
Policy Measures and Reimbursement for Emergency Medical Imaging in the Era of Payment Reform: Proceedings From a Panel Discussion of the 2015 Academic Emergency Medicine Consensus Conference.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010 is expanding the use of quality measurement and promulgating new payment models that place downward pressure on health care utilization and costs. As emergency department (ED) computed tomography utilization has tripled in the past decade, stakeholders have identified advanced imaging as an area where quality and efficiency measures should expand. On May 12, 2015, Academic Emergency Medicine convened a consensus conference titled "Diagnostic Imaging in the Emergency Department: A Research Agenda to Optimize Utilization." As part of the conference, a panel of health care policy leaders and emergency physicians discussed the effect of the ACA and other quality programs on ED diagnostic imaging, specifically the way that quality metrics may affect ED care and how ED diagnostic imaging fits in the broader strategy of the U.S. government. This article discusses the content of the panel's presentations.
Reminiscences of Walter

I was not quite 21 when I arrived at UCSD for graduate school, determined to sign on with the most eminent physicist in the department. That turned out to be a real problem — seemingly every professor there was a superstar. The scuttlebutt among the students (there were just 300 of us on the 3-year-old campus, all male, I might add) was that of all the theoretical luminaries, Walter worked his advisees the longest and hardest, which scared off all but the bravest. I had seen Turandot. I was no Calaf.
Quantum Optics of Strongly Driven Two-Level Atoms

Introduction. Strong driving fields can add a new richness to the quantum optical behavior of atoms. This follows from the fact that in driven systems the relevant energy levels become those of the coupled atom-field system rather than those of the atom alone. Also, since the energies of the coupled atom-field states depend on the intensity of the driving field(s), one gains an additional control parameter over the quantum optics of the system. We briefly touch on two different situations in which driven atoms display unique quantum optical properties. First, we consider modifications in driven-atom dynamics consequent to coloring of the electromagnetic vacuum. These modifications follow from the reservoir-dependent nature of spontaneous emission — the primary relaxation mechanism in the systems considered. Second, we discuss the use of driven two-level atoms as one- and two-photon gain media.
Learning Teams in the Mba for Executives Program

Learning teams are an integral part of the Darden experience and are featured in all the schools programs--full-time MBA, MBA for Executives, and Executive Education. Learning teams play an important role in developing subject matter knowledge and an ability to work collaboratively. Indeed, the learning team experience is so fundamental that over the years Darden full-time MBA alumni give it equal standing as a core course in the MBA curriculum. This note will help students understand why we use learning teams and to examine their own expectations and beliefs about learning and working in teams.
Abstract P1-01-22: The utility of axillary ultrasound and sentinel lymph node biopsy in the management of metaplastic breast carcinoma

Background: Metaplastic breast carcinoma (MBC) accounts for Methods: With IRB approval, we retrospectively identified patients diagnosed with MBC from 2001–2011 from the surgical pathology database. Histopathology and imaging were reviewed. Demographic, treatment and outcome data were obtained by clinical chart review. Data were analyzed using JMP 9.0 software. Results: We identified 41 women with MBC. Median age was 60 years (range 33–90). Histologic subtypes were spindle cell (46%), mixed adenocarcinoma and mesenchymal elements (20%), squamous cell (17%) chondroid/osseous (10%) and adenosquamous (7%). Tumor stage was T1 (24%), T2 (44%), T3 (12%) and T4 (20%). 26 patients (63%) were treated by mastectomy and 15 (37%) by wide excision. Of the 38 patients who underwent LN surgery (6 low-grade MBC, 32 intermediate/high-grade MBC), 10 (26%) were LN positive. All low-grade MBC patients were LN negative while 10 of 32 intermediate/high-grade MBC patients (31%) had LN metastasis. 22 patients had a preoperative axillary US. 14 patients had a negative axillary US and none had LN metastasis. 4 of 8 patients with suspicious axillary US findings had a preoperative axillary LN fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) and 3 were positive for cancer. These patients proceeded directly to axillary LN dissection (ALND). 24 patients had a SLNB of whom one was SLN positive and underwent completion ALND. LN metastasis was associated with larger tumor size (p = 0.003), higher tumor grade (p = 0.04), angioinvasion (p = 0.07) and abnormal axillary US (p = 0.003). Surviving patients were followed for a mean (median) of 41 (30) months during which 13 (32%) recurred at a median of 6 months (IQR 3–17 months) and 11 (27%) subsequently died of disease. One SLN negative patient developed an axillary recurrence at 8 months, was successfully treated by ALND and is disease-free at 38 months. There were no axillary LN relapses after ALND. Conclusions: For clinically node-negative MBC patients, our contemporary data series suggests the incidence of occult LN metastasis is sufficiently high to warrant LN staging especially for patients with intermediate and high-grade tumors. This can be accomplished in a minimally invasive fashion with reasonable accuracy (∼97%) with axillary US, FNAB of sonographically suspicious LNs, and SLNB for patients with negative axillary US or FNAB. Axillary LND should be performed for patients with clinically and/or FNAB-positive LN for enhanced disease control. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2012;72(24 Suppl):Abstract nr P1-01-22.
Designing the alarming system of creepage fire disaster and its application

The alarming system of creepage fire disaster plays an important role in protecting grounded trouble fire disaster of electric arc. The paper associated with problems existed in real engineering design and its application,and has proposed the countermeasures of improving current status from such aspects as its setup necessity, working principle, system component setup, and etc.
Liposuction and the law.

Although law suits in liposuction are rare, it is important for physicians who perform this surgery to be aware of potential areas of exposure. The physician who performs liposuction in an office operating room shoulders additional legal responsibilities. The physician must also be aware of potential exposure for nursing personnel. To avoid malpractice, a good physician should be competent, careful, candid, and concerned.