cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Long-Term Results of Renal Transplantation in Children

During the past decade, as hemodialysis and renal transplantation have become more available, the outlook for children with irreversible renal insufficiency has changed dramatically. Prior to that time, no programs were devoted exclusively to the treatment of children with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), and a limited number of children received treatment in adult facilities. In light of very limited experience there were those who claimed1,2 that the rigors of the treatment program were so catastrophic for both child and family, and the outlook so dismal, that dialysis and transplantation should not be offered to children. Despite these warnings a program was initiated in 1967 at Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles (CHLA) to provide dialysis and transplantation for children with ESRD. The program was designed to include a component for long-term medical and psychosocial evaluation. Subsequently, other programs were developed in the United States, Canada, and western Europe. The latest report on Regular Dialysis and Transplantation of Children in Europe, 1975,3 of the European Dialysis and Transplant Association Registry included 1,111 children who were less than 15 years of age at the initiation of therapy, and the last report of the ACS/NIH Transplant Registry4 included data on 987 children, 0 to 15 years of age. In addition, numerous articles5-25 describing experience with transplantation in children attest to the increasing acceptance of this therapeutic modality for children. However, there are few reports of children surviving with a functioning graft for more than five years.13,14,21-23-25 Only the reports of DeShazo et al.21 and Weil et al.25 include data on the long-term results of renal transplantation in a large number of pediatric patients.
Multitask Efficiencies in the Decision Tree Model

In Direct Sum problems \cite{KRW}, one tries to show that for a given computational model, the complexity of computing a collection $F = \{f_1(x_1), \ldots f_l(x_l)\}$ of finite functions on independent inputs is approximately the sum of their individual complexities. In this paper, by contrast, we study the diversity of ways in which the joint computational complexity can behave when all the $f_i$ are evaluated on a \textit{common} input. We focus on the deterministic decision tree model, with depth as the complexity measure; in this model we prove a result to the effect that the `obvious' constraints on joint computational complexity are essentially the only ones. The proof uses an intriguing new type of cryptographic data structure called a `mystery bin' which we construct using a small polynomial separation between deterministic and unambiguous query complexity shown by Savick\'{y}. We also pose a variant of the Direct Sum Conjecture of \cite{KRW} which, if proved for a single family of functions, could yield an analogous result for models such as the communication model.
Cost and Scope Breakdown Structure for Functional Level Estimating of Consultant Fees

Estimating the cost of preconstruction services (PCSs) during the early phases of highway project development is an important task requiring an increased level of attention. Research has found a link between early investment in PC planning and design services and final project costs. The purpose of this paper is to assess current estimating practices and propose a cost and scope breakdown structure (CSBS) framework to structure functional level estimation of consultant fees. Such a framework is promoted to reduce the chance that underfunded PCSs may degrade postaward construction contract cost certainty. This study found that PCSs were generally viewed as a minor component of a project’s budget and were sometimes estimated without subsequent preconstruction cost control or accountability. Current practices for consultant fee estimating by state departments of transportation (DOTs) documented in this study show little standardization in estimating practices across and within transportation agencies. As a c...
Coordination of Inventions and Innovations Through Patent Markets with Prices

This article examines the coordination of inventor, trader, and innovator decisions through a market in contracts on patents with prices, focusing on the willingness to search (WTS) for new and uncertain patentable technology, using a controlled laboratory experiment. Typically an implicit hierarchical approach, i.e., coordinating inventor and innovator decisions in a single firm, is assumed or used in analyzing these relationships, in particular in Arrow (1962) where allocation of resources for invention is discussed under neoclassical conditions of perfect information and competitive commodity (not technology) markets. Schumpeter also assumes a hierarchy as coordinating mechanism, as entrepreneurial firms disrupt incumbents (1934) or intrapreneurs create disruptive product and service innovations within firms ( 1942) treating technology as an exogenous force. In this analysis, coordination takes place between specialized agents through a design market based on the principles and practices of real world patent systems. WTS is compared between three institutional designs with different demand side bidding language, in environments with “weak” and “strong” patents in a 3 × 2 design. Technology “tastes” is here a learning process through prices (“price signals”) and can be altered (discovered) by the inventor agent within a searchable area. The results indicate that WTS appears more sensitive to mechanisms (institutional design) than patent validity (environment) in this dynamic economic system. This main finding thus suggests that policy efforts ought to be placed on institutional mechanisms together with environment such as enforcement, where the mechanisms with richer demand-side bidding language appear to matter more than enforcement in explaining WTS, i.e., risk taking. Regarding economic performance, patent validity was (naturally) of major importance, but (surprisingly) no significant effect of institutions (at least long run). These results may provide elements to expand economic theory of the patent system when it comes to treatment of risk.
The comparison of high definition versus stereoscopic display on standardized fundamental laparoscopic skill procedures

The objective of this study was to determine whether or not a standard definition stereoscopic, 3D display could improve trainees' performance on a standard Fundamentals of Laparoscopy (FLS) task. Thirty-two procedurally naive volunteers were recruited for the study. Subjects were randomized to begin the trials on either the 3D or 2D display and performed 10 trials on a peg transfer task (SAGES). Subjects alternated between 3D and 2D displays for each trial. Time to completion of task, and the number of dropped objects were recorded for each trial, and a subjective evaluation of the subjects' preference in display monitor was collected. Mean time for peg transfer was significantly faster with the 3D monitor than the 2D monitor (114.22 s. versus 133.05 s.; SE: 3.82; P
A constant-factor approximation for multi-covering with disks

We consider variants of the following multi-covering problem with disks. We are given two point sets $Y$ (servers) and $X$ (clients) in the plane, a coverage function $\kappa :X \rightarrow \mathbb{N}$, and a constant $\alpha \geq 1$. Centered at each server is a single disk whose radius we are free to set. The requirement is that each client $x \in X$ be covered by at least $\kappa(x)$ of the server disks. The objective function we wish to minimize is the sum of the $\alpha$-th powers of the disk radii. We present a polynomial time algorithm for this problem achieving an $O(1)$ approximation.
J-Band Infrared Spectroscopy of a Sample of Brown Dwarfs Using NIRSPEC on Keck II.

Near-infrared spectroscopic observations of a sample of very cool, low-mass objects are presented with higher spectral resolution than in any previous studies. Six of the objects are L dwarfs, ranging in spectral class from L2 to L8/9, and the seventh is a methane or T dwarf. These new observations were obtained during commissioning of the near-infrared spectrometer (NIRSPEC), the first high-resolution near-infrared cryogenic spectrograph for the Keck II 10 m telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Spectra with a resolving power of R ≈ 2500 from 1.135 to 1.360 μm (approximately J band) are presented for each source. At this resolution, a rich spectral structure is revealed, much of which is due to blending of unresolved molecular transitions. Strong lines due to neutral potassium (K I) and bands due to iron hydride (FeH) and steam (H2O) change significantly throughout the L sequence. Iron hydride disappears between L5 and L8, the steam bands deepen, and the K I lines gradually become weaker but wider because of pressure broadening. An unidentified feature occurs at 1.22 μm that has a temperature dependence like FeH but has no counterpart in the available FeH opacity data. Because these objects are 3-6 mag brighter in the near-infrared compared with the I band, spectral classification is efficient. One of the objects studied (2MASSW J1523+3014) is the coolest L dwarf discovered so far by the 2 Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS), but its spectrum is still significantly different from the methane-dominated objects such as Gl 229B or SDSS 1624+0029.
RUMS - Realtime Visualization and Evaluation of Live, Virtual, Constructive Simulation Data

Live, Virtual, Constructive (LVC) environments are designed to integrate flight assets with simulated aircraft and airspace to support human in the loop simulation and flight test activities. NASA’s Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Integration into the National Airspace System (NAS) Project is developing an LVC environment to research the display, communication, and acceptability of detect and avoid concepts to the pilot. The simulations and flight tests are conducted over a nationwide network with components communicating via software gateways that translate the messages and provide a location to access and collect data. The data collected is not only archived for post-processing and analysis, but also processed in real-time by the Remote User Monitor Service (RUMS), which allows real time viewing of the information via a web browser. This real-time dynamic viewing of the data allows test conductors and researchers to monitor the health of the distributed system and the data being collected not only in situ where tests are conducted but also at remote locations. This paper discusses the design approach and general software architecture of the RUMS application.
Entangled light in moving frames

We calculate the entanglement between a pair of polarization-entangled photon beams as a function of the reference frame. We show that a Lorentz transformation on a momentum-helicity eigenstate produces a momentum-dependent phase. This phase leads to changes in the reduced polarization density matrix, such that entanglement is not Lorentz invariant.
Endothelial Dysfunction and Racial Disparities in Mortality and Adverse Cardiovascular Disease Outcomes

Background The contribution of arterial endothelial dysfunction (ED) to increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk among Blacks is not known. Hypothesis We investigated whether peripheral arterial ED explains racial disparity in CVD events. Methods Data from the Heart Strategies Concentrating on Risk Evaluation (Heart SCORE) study was used. Endothelial dysfunction was assessed by the Framingham reactive hyperemia index (fRHI), measured using pulse amplitude tonometry (PAT). Lower values of fRHI indicate more severe ED. The primary outcome of interest was combined CVD events and all-cause mortality. Results 1454 individuals (62% female, 40% Black, mean age 59 ± 8 years) had available data on fRHI (mean [SD]: 0.74 [0.46]). Over a mean follow-up period of 8.0 ± 2.4 years (11,186 person-years), 116 events were observed. Black race, male sex, smoking, diabetes, blood pressure, triglycerides, C-reactive protein, and interleukin-6 were inversely correlated with fRHI in univariate models. In an unadjusted Cox regression model, fRHI was associated with 20% lower risk of the primary outcome events (hazard ratio [HR] per 1-SD higher fRHI: 0.80, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.66-0.97). However, this association was no longer significant after adjustment for CVD risk factors (HR: 0.90, 95% CI: 0.74-1.11). In an age- and sex-adjusted model, Blacks had 1.68 (95% CI: 1.16-2.43) higher risk of primary outcome compared with Whites. This association was not significantly attenuated by addition of fRHI to the multivariable models. Conclusion Black race is associated with increased risk of CVD events and mortality independent of its associations with ED, as measured by PAT.
Mechanical and transport properties of layer-by-layer electrospun composite proton exchange membranes for fuel cell applications.

Composite membranes composed of highly conductive and selective layer-by-layer (LbL) films and electrospun fiber mats were fabricated and characterized for mechanical strength and electrochemical selectivity. The LbL component consists of a proton-conducting, methanol-blocking poly(diallyl dimethyl ammonium chloride)/sulfonated poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) (PDAC/sPPO) thin film. The electrospun fiber component consists of poly(trimethyl hexamethylene terephthalamide) (PA 6(3)T) fibers in a nonwoven mat of 60–90% porosity. The bare mats were annealed to improve their mechanical properties, which improvements are shown to be retained in the composite membranes. Spray LbL assembly was used as a means for the rapid formation of proton-conducting films that fill the void space throughout the porous electrospun matrix and create a fuel-blocking layer. Coated mats as thin as 15 μm were fabricated, and viable composite membranes with methanol permeabilities 20 times lower than Nafion and through-plane p...
Quantitative imaging and measurement of cell-substrate surface deformation by digital holography

Quantitative phase microscopy by digital holography (DH-QPM) is introduced to study fibroblasts deforming collagen-coated polyacrylamide. Surface deformation has been quantitatively imaged and the traction force of fibroblasts has been measured from phase profiles by DH-QPM.
First-principles study of the oxygen evolution reaction of lithium peroxide in the lithium-air battery

The lithium-air chemistry is an interesting candidate for the next-generation batteries with high specific energy. However, this new battery technology is facing substantial challenges, such as a high overpotential upon charging, poor reversibility, and low power density. Using first-principles calculations, we study the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) on the low-index surfaces of lithium peroxide. The elementary reaction steps and the energy profile of the OER are identified on the low-index surfaces of lithium peroxide. We find that the OER processes are kinetically limited by the high energy barrier for the evolution of oxygen molecules and that the rate of the OER processes is highly dependent on the surface orientation.
Silver-Catalyzed Direct Thiolation of Quinones by Activation of Aryl Disulfides to Synthesize Quinonyl Aryl Thioethers

A silver-catalyzed coupling reaction of quinones with aryl disulfides for the synthesis of quinonyl aryl thioethers is described. In the presence of AgOAc (0.2 equiv)/dppp (0.24 equiv) as the catalyst, (NH4)2S2O8 (3.0 equiv) as the oxidant, and Bu4NBF4 (1.0 equiv) as the additive, the reaction is simple, provides high yield (up to 88% yield), and possesses a broad substrate scope. The reaction is believed to proceed via direct activation of disulfides evidenced by observation of a metathesis reaction between two different disulfides placed together under the reaction conditions and 13C NMR spectroscopy analysis.
Transport in Compounds Containing a Dispersed Second Phase.

Abstract The introduction of a dispersion of small (≤ 1 micron), insoluble particles in a matrix alters the transport properties of the matrix. Solid electrolytes exhibit marked enhancement in ionic conductivity without an increase in electronic conductivity. Recent data and available models are discussed for electronic conductors and for ionic conductors (solid electrolytes).
Stable explicit time marching in well-posed or ill-posed nonlinear parabolic equations

This paper analyses an effective technique for stabilizing pure explicit time differencing in the numerical computation of multidimensional nonlinear parabolic equations. The method uses easily synthesized linear smoothing operators at each time step to quench the instability. Smoothing operators based on positive real powers of the negative Laplacian are helpful, and can be realized efficiently in rectangular domains using FFT algorithms. The stabilized explicit scheme requires no Courant restriction on the time step , and is of great value in computing well-posed parabolic equations on fine meshes, by simply lagging the nonlinearity at the previous time step. Such stabilization leads to a distortion away from the true solution. However, that error is often small enough to allow useful results in many problems of interest. The stabilized explicit scheme is also stable when run backward in time. This allows for relatively easy and useful computation of a significant class of multidimensional nonlinear bac...
DOES RESTORATION OF JOINT LINE OBLIQUITY, TIBIAL VARUS, AND CORONAL ALIGNMENT IMPROVE EARLY CLINICAL OUTCOMES IN TKA?

Introduction While implant designs and surgical techniques have improved in total knee arthroplasty (TKA), approximately 20% of patients remain dissatisfied. The purpose of this study was to determine if reproduction of anatomic preoperative measurements correlated to improved clinical outcomes in TKA. Methods We retrospectively reviewed95 patients (106 knees) who underwent a TKA between 2012 −2013 with a minimum of one year follow-up. All patients had a pre and post-operative SF-12 and WOMAC scores. Pre and 6 week post-operative radiographs were reviewed to compare restoration of coronal plane alignment, maintenance of joint line obliquity, and maintenance of tibial varus. Coronal alignment was defined as the angle formed between the mechanical axis of the femur and the the tibia. Joint line obliquity was defined as the angle between the mechanical axis of the limb and the line which best parallels the joint space at the knee. Tibial varus was compared between the preoperative proximal lateral tibial angle and the angle formed by the mechanical axis of the tibia and tibial component postoperatively. Results In 106 patients, postoperative coronal alignment, maintenance of tibia varus, or restoration of joint line obliquity did not correlate to improved outcomes. Patients with residual varus coronal alignment of more than 2° had increased pain and total WOMAC scores (p=0.013 and p = 0.036). Patients who had under-correction of the native tibial angle, had an increase in overall WOMAC score (p=0.007) with increased pain (p=0.012), stiffness (p=0.038), and function (p = 0.001). Furthermore, over-correction of tibial angle resulted in increased WOMAC functional scores (p=0.019), but was not significant to the overall WOMAC. Conclusions In this study, restoration of a patient9s native tibial varus correlated to improved WOMAC scores at 1 year postoperatively. Undercorrection of varus resulted in worse total WOMAC scores whereas overcorrection resulted in worse WOMAC functional scores.
When crowds hold privileges: Bayesian unsupervised representation learning with oracle constraints.

Representation learning systems typically rely on massive amounts of labeled data in order to be trained effectively. Recently, high-dimensional parametric models like convolutional neural networks have succeeded in building rich representations using either compressive, reconstructive or supervised criteria. However, the semantic structure inherent in observations is oftentimes lost in the process. Human perception excels at understanding semantics but cannot always be expressed in terms of labels. Human-in-the-loop systems like crowdsourcing are often employed to generate similarity constraints using an implicit similarity function encoded in human perception. We propose to combine generative unsupervised feature learning with learning from similarity orderings in order to learn models which take advantage of privileged information coming from the crowd. We use a fast variational algorithm to learn the model on standard datasets and demonstrate applicability to two image datasets, where classification is drastically improved. We show how triplet-samples of the crowd can supplement labels as a source of information to shape latent spaces with rich semantic information.
Entrepreneurship, search costs, and ecological rationality in an agent-based economy

Since Coase’s paper on the firm, transaction costs have occupied much attention as a field of economic inquiry. Yet, with few exceptions, neoclassical theory has failed to integrate transaction costs into its core. The dominant mode of theorizing depends upon Brouwer fixed points which cannot integrate transaction costs in more than a superficial manner. Agent-based modeling presents an opportunity for researchers to investigate the nature of transaction costs and integrate them into the core of economic theory. To the extent that transaction costs reduce economic efficiency, they provide opportunities for entrepreneurs to earn a profit by reducing these costs. We employ an extension of Epstein and Axtell’s (1996) Sugarscape to demonstrate this point one type of transaction costs: search costs. When agents do not face the cost of finding a trading partner, the system quickly reaches a steady state with tightly constrained prices regardless of agent production strategies. When search costs are present, entrepreneurs may use competing strategies for production and exchange that allow them to earn higher revenues than they would earn otherwise. These cost reducing innovations tend to promote concatenate coordination (Klein 2012). The agent’s production strategies represent technology in the form of mental models (Denzau and North 1994) that shape agent action with regard to the agent’s environment. The success of these are dependent on their ability to overcome search costs. The average profit, market rate of return, earned by each of these mental structures tends to equalize as a result of competition.
A Comparative Study on Exact Triangle Counting Algorithms on the GPU

We implement exact triangle counting in graphs on the GPU using three different methodologies: subgraph matching to a triangle pattern; programmable graph analytics, with a set-intersection approach; and a matrix formulation based on sparse matrix-matrix multiplies. All three deliver best-of-class performance over CPU implementations and over comparable GPU implementations, with the graph-analytic approach achieving the best performance due to its ability to exploit efficient filtering steps to remove unnecessary work and its high-performance set-intersection core.
Thermodynamics of stable nanocrystalline alloys: A Monte Carlo analysis

A Monte Carlo simulation method is used to study the energetics and configuration of binary alloys when grain boundary states are included as potential equilibrium features. For certain sets of alloy properties, a nanostructured grain assembly is found to be the most energetically favorable state, and is stabilized by grain boundary segregation of solute. The conditions for stability against grain coarsening and the ``grain boundary energy'' requirement are clarified, with emphasis on the closed system conditions that prevail in nanostructured alloys. Two thermodynamic parameters, the grain boundary area potential and the grain boundary formation energy, are quantitatively disentangled and shown to differently reflect grain stability and the energy state of interfaces. These discussions provide insights on how alloying can be used to actively manipulate nanocrystalline grain sizes.
Main Group Lewis Acid-Mediated Transformations of Transition-Metal Hydride Complexes

This Review highlights stoichiometric reactions and elementary steps of catalytic reactions involving cooperative participation of transition-metal hydrides and main group Lewis acids. Included are reactions where the transition-metal hydride acts as a reactant as well as transformations that form the metal hydride as a product. This Review is divided by reaction type, illustrating the diverse roles that Lewis acids can play in mediating transformations involving transition-metal hydrides as either reactants or products. We begin with a discussion of reactions where metal hydrides form direct adducts with Lewis acids, elaborating the structure and dynamics of the products of these reactions. The bulk of this Review focuses on reactions where the transition metal and Lewis acid act in cooperation, and includes sections on carbonyl reduction, H2 activation, and hydride elimination reactions, all of which can be promoted by Lewis acids. Also included is a section on Lewis acid–base secondary coordination sph...
The response of autonomic receptors to castration and testosterone in the urinary bladder of the rabbit.

Abstract The effects of castration and testosterone on the autonomic receptor density and contractility in the urinary bladder smooth muscle of male rabbits were compared to untreated animals. Four groups of rabbits were studied over a similar time span with Group 1 animals serving as the untreated controls. Two groups (Groups 2 and 3) were castrated 28 days prior to sacrifice, Group 2 animals received corn oil for 14 days, and Group 3 animals received testosterone, 10 mg./day, for 14 days. The Group 4 animals were non-operated and received testosterone 10 mg./day for 14 days. Ligand saturation binding studies for alpha adrenoceptors in the bladder base and proximal urethra were performed with [ 3 H]dihydroergocryptine ([ 3 H]DHE). Muscarinic cholinergic receptors (MChR) were assayed with [ 3 H]quinuclidinyl benzilate ([ 3 H]QNB) and beta adrenoceptors with [ 125 I]iodo-cyanopindolol ([ 125 I]CYP) on the detrusor smooth muscle. Castrated Group 2 animals showed no significant change in receptor density with either [ 3 H]QNB or [ 125 I]CYP in detrusor muscle, but did exhibit a significant reduction (59%) of alpha adrenoceptors in the bladder base-urethra. The testosterone treated castrate and testosterone treated non-operated animals had significant increases in the MChR density, but no change in the alpha adrenergic, or beta adrenergic receptor density as compared to untreated controls. Cumulative dose response contractile studies were performed with carbachol on detrusor muscle strips and with phenylephrine on bladder base strips in isolated organ baths. The contractile studies on muscles from Groups 1, 2 and 3 showed no change in the ED50 or maximal contractile strength between control, castration or testosterone treated castrated animals. The ratio of wet bladder weight as compared to total body weight between each of the treatment groups showed a slight increase in both of the testosterone treatment groups. It was concluded that castration down regulates the alpha adrenergic receptors of the bladder base, while testosterone treatment increases the density of MChRs, and increases the ratio of the bladder to total body weight. Although no contractile changes were observed in the bladder base tissue it is conceivable that longer chronic testosterone deficits might ultimately affect the bladder outlet resistance in the male because of the reduced alpha adrenergic receptor density.
Joint Intermodal and Intramodal Label Transfers for Extremely Rare or Unseen Classes

In this paper, we present a label transfer model from texts to images for image classification tasks. The problem of image classification is often much more challenging than text classification. On one hand, labeled text data is more widely available than the labeled images for classification tasks. On the other hand, text data tends to have natural semantic interpretability, and they are often more directly related to class labels. On the contrary, the image features are not directly related to concepts inherent in class labels. One of our goals in this paper is to develop a model for revealing the functional relationships between text and image features as to directly transfer intermodal and intramodal labels to annotate the images. This is implemented by learning a transfer function as a bridge to propagate the labels between two multimodal spaces. However, the intermodal label transfers could be undermined by blindly transferring the labels of noisy texts to annotate images. To mitigate this problem, we present an intramodal label transfer process, which complements the intermodal label transfer by transferring the image labels instead when relevant text is absent from the source corpus. In addition, we generalize the inter-modal label transfer to zero-shot learning scenario where there are only text examples available to label unseen classes of images without any positive image examples. We evaluate our algorithm on an image classification task and show the effectiveness with respect to the other compared algorithms.
Achieving hedge fund alpha in China

AbstractThe following sections are included:IntroductionChina's Economic GrowthEvolution of Mainland Chinese Financial MarketsThe Importance of State Owned Publicly Traded Companies in ChinaOverview of Chinese Stock MarketsMainland China Stock MarketsHong Kong Stock MarketTaiwan Stock MarketOverview of Chinese Bond MarketsMainland China Bond MarketHong Kong Bond MarketTaiwan Bond MarketOverview of Chinese Derivative MarketsMainland China Derivatives MarketsHong Kong Derivatives MarketsTaiwan Derivatives MarketsUnique Dynamics of the Chinese Financial MarketsChinese Corporations Trading the Stock of Other FirmsChinese Investor BehaviorHedge Fund Strategies in ChinaGlobal MacroLong / Short EquityEquity ArbitrageEvent DrivenMultistrategyHedge Fund Alpha Tear Sheet — Chapter 6End NotesReferences
Lifetime-Laffer Curves and the Eurozone Crisis

In a finite-horizon model of sovereign debt and default, I show that long-term debt and the lack of ability to commit to future debt issuance can give rise to a multiplicity of debt and spread trajectories despite the ability to commit to contemporaneous debt issuance in terminal periods. This multiplicity bears resemblance to recent events in the Peripheral Eurozone. In a simple calibrated exercise, I find that 380 basis points (84.6%) of the spread during the crisis may be imputable to such coordination failures; if the model is extended to include bank bailouts, it can also explain 46.63 percentage points (37.8%) of the debt-to-GDP build-up. Policy analysis reveals that both austerity measures and liquidity provision by the central bank can eliminate malignant debt trajectories, but that the latter is more likely to have resolved the crisis.
Gas Turbine Airflow Control for Optimum Heat Recovery

Gas turbines furnished with heat recovery equipment generally have maximum cycle efficiency when the gas turbine is operated at its ambient capability. At reduced gas turbine output the cycle performance can fall off rapidly as gas turbine exhaust temperature drops, which reduces the heat recovery equipment performance. This paper reviews the economic gains which can be realized through use of several control modes which are currently available to optimize the cycle efficiency at part load operation. These include variable inlet guide vane (VIGV) control for singleshaft units, and combined VIGV and variable high-pressure set (compressor) speed control for two-shaft units. In addition to the normal control optimization mode to maintain the maximum exhaust temperature, a new control mode is discussed which allows airflow to be modulated in response to a process signal while at constant part load. This control feature is desirable for gas turbines which supply preheated combustion air to fired process heaters.
Lipoprotein (a) as a Cardiovascular Risk Factor

Lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] is a class of lipoprotein particles having the lipid composition of plasma low-density lipoprotein (LDL), but with a distinct protein moiety comprised of two proteins linked together by a disulfide bridge. The two proteins are apoB100, the protein moiety of LDL, and apo(a), a heavily glycosylated protein that is specific for Lp(a). Apo(a) has a strong structural similarity to plasminogen and has a wide-size polymorphism that has a genetic origin and is partially responsible for the size and density heterogeneity of Lp(a). High plasma levels of Lp(a) are associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease that is related to the atherogenic and thrombogenic potentials of this lipoprotein enhanced by the presence of other risk factors, among which are high plasma levels of LDL or low levels of high-density lipoprotein. The factors determining the plasma levels of Lp(a) have not been clearly identified except for an association with different alleles of the apo(a) gene, which is located in the long arm of chromosome 6. Currently there are no generally accepted ways to normalize the plasma levels of Lp(a) by either dietary and/or pharmacologic means. Until further progress in this area is made, patients with high plasma levels of Lp(a) should be advised to correct modifiable risk factors in order to decrease the cardiovascular pathogenicity of this lipoprotein class.
Proper holomorphic maps from the unit disk to some unit ball

We study proper rational maps from the unit disk to balls in higher dimensions. After gathering some known results, we study the moduli space of unitary equivalence classes of polynomial proper maps from the disk to a ball, and we establish a normal form for these equivalence classes. We also prove that all rational proper maps from the disk to a ball are homotopic in target dimension at least $2$.
On the local well-posedness and a Prodi–Serrin-type regularity criterion of the three-dimensional MHD-Boussinesq system without thermal diffusion

Abstract We prove a Prodi–Serrin-type global regularity condition for the three-dimensional Magnetohydrodynamic-Boussinesq system (3D MHD-Boussinesq) without thermal diffusion, in terms of only two velocity and two magnetic components. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first Prodi–Serrin-type criterion for such a 3D hydrodynamic system which is not fully dissipative, and indicates that such an approach may be successful on other systems. In addition, we provide a constructive proof of the local well-posedness of solutions to the fully dissipative 3D MHD-Boussinesq system, and also the fully inviscid, irresistive, non-diffusive MHD-Boussinesq equations. We note that, as a special case, these results include the 3D non-diffusive Boussinesq system and the 3D MHD equations. Moreover, they can be extended without difficulty to include the case of a Coriolis rotational term.
Content of local cohomology, parameter ideals, and robust algebras

This paper continues the investigation of quasilength, of content of local cohomology with respect to generators of the support ideal, and of robust algebras begun in joint work of Hochster and Huneke. We settle several questions raised by Hochster and Huneke. In particular, we give a family of examples of top local cohomology modules both in equal characteristic 0 and in positive prime characteristic that are nonzero but have content 0. We use the notion of a robust forcing algebra (the condition turns out to be strictly stronger than the notion of a solid forcing algebra in, for example, equal characteristic 0) to define a new closure operation on ideals. We prove that this new notion of closure coincides with tight closure for ideals in complete local domains of positive characteristic, which requires proving that forcing algebras for instances of tight closure are robust, and study several related problems. This gives, in effect, a new characterization of tight closure in complete local domains of positive characteristic. As a byproduct, we also answer a question of Lyubeznik in the negative.
Targeting the obesity-cancer link via adipose tissue inflammation

T rates of obesity are rapidly rising worldwide. Obesity is now a leading cause of cancer incidence and mortality. One in five female and one in seven male cancer deaths are attributable to obesity. My research program is focused on the development of precision medicine-driven interventions to prevent obesity-related cancers and improve outcomes. Our team was the first to demonstrate that inflammation of breast white adipose tissue (WAT) occurs in association with obesity and is detected by the presence of crown-like structures (CLS). Consisting of a dead or dying adipocyte surrounded by macrophages, CLS are associated with increased levels of proinflammatory mediators and locally enhanced estrogen signaling, which directly promotes tumorigenesis. Additionally, we have discovered WAT inflammation at other organ sites, including the tongue and prostate, suggesting that adipose inflammation and its systemic effects have a role in the development of several cancers. Alarmingly, we have also identified WAT inflammation and its associated metabolic alterations in one third of lean women. It is particularly important to develop tools that identify this cohort of at-risk individuals, given their healthy appearance. The identification of these biologic processes underlying the obesity-cancer link has allowed us to begin developing novel and exciting interventions to combat the ill effects of obesity. This new mechanism-based understanding of the ways by which obesity promotes cancer is poised to transform the way we prevent and treat cancer.
Higher commutator theory for congruence modular varieties

Abstract We develop the basic properties of the higher commutator for congruence modular varieties.
Leveraging Social Communities for Optimizing Cellular Device-to-Device Communications

Device-to-device (D2D) communications over the licensed wireless spectrum has been recently proposed as a promising technology to meet the capacity crunch of next generation cellular networks. However, due to the high mobility of cellular devices, establishing and ensuring the success of D2D transmission become a major challenge. To this end, in this paper, a novel framework is proposed to enable devices to form multi-hop D2D connections in an effort to maintain sustainable communication in the presence of device mobility. To solve the problem posed by device mobility, in contrast to existing works, which mostly focus on physical domain information, a durable community-based approach is introduced taking social encounters into context. It is shown that the proposed scheme can derive an optimal solution for time sensitive content transmission while also minimizing the cost that the base station pays in order to incentivize users to participate in D2D. Simulation results show that the proposed social community aware approach yields significant performance gain, in terms of the amount of traffic offloaded from the cellular network to the D2D tier, compared with the classical social-unaware methods.
Throughput Analysis of Decentralized Coded Content Caching in Cellular Networks

Decentralized coded content caching for next generation cellular networks is studied. The contents are linearly combined and cached in under-utilized caches of user terminals and its throughput capacity is compared with decentralized uncoded content caching. In both scenarios, we consider multihop device-to-device communications and the use of femtocaches in the network. It is shown that decentralized coded content caching can increase the network throughput capacity compared to decentralized uncoded caching by reducing the number of hops needed to deliver the desired content. Furthermore, the throughput capacity for Zipfian content request distribution is computed and it is shown that the decentralized coded content cache placement can increase the throughput capacity of cellular networks by a factor of $(\log (n))^{2}$ where $n$ is the number of nodes served by a femtocache.
Application of Kalman filtering to the calibration and alignment of inertial navigation systems

The development of Kalman filters for the calibration and alignment of complex inertial guidance systems is presented. The attitude error equation is augmented by gyro and accelerometer model parameters. The mechanization of the algorithm involves preprocessing the raw measurements to reduce the computational load. Results for simulated data show that preprocessing has very little effect on the performance of the filter. Other topics discussed include gyro and accelerometer models and a technique for generating parameter excitation trajectories. >
Detecting People in Cubist Art

Although the human visual system is surprisingly robust to extreme distortion when recognizing objects, most evaluations of computer object detection methods focus only on robustness to natural form deformations such as people’s pose changes. To determine whether algorithms truly mirror the flexibility of human vision, they must be compared against human vision at its limits. For example, in Cubist abstract art, painted objects are distorted by object fragmentation and part-reorganization, sometimes to the point that human vision often fails to recognize them. In this paper, we evaluate existing object detection methods on these abstract renditions of objects, comparing human annotators to four state-of-the-art object detectors on a corpus of Picasso paintings. Our results demonstrate that while human perception significantly outperforms current methods, human perception and part-based models exhibit a similarly graceful degradation in object detection performance as the objects become increasingly abstract and fragmented, corroborating the theory of part-based object representation in the brain.
Modeling of eddy current probe response for steam generator tubes

Abstract Sample calculations were performed with a three-dimensional (3D) finite-element model to describe the response of an eddy current (EC) probe to defects in steam generator (SG) tubing. Such calculations could be very helpful in understanding and interpreting EC probe response to complex tube/defect geometries associated with the inservice inspection (ISI) of SG tubes. The governing field equations are in terms of coupled magnetic vector and electric scalar potentials in conducting media and of total or reduced scalar potentials in nonconducting regions. To establish the validity of the model, comparisons of the theoretical and experimental responses of an absolute bobbin probe are given for two types of calibration standard defects. Simulation results are also presented on the effect of ligament size in axial cracks on bobbin probe response.
SMT-based model checking for recursive programs

We present an SMT-based symbolic model checking algorithm for safety verification of recursive programs. The algorithm is modular and analyzes procedures individually. Unlike other SMT-based approaches, it maintains both over- and under-approximations of procedure summaries. Under-approximations are used to analyze procedure calls without inlining. Over-approximations are used to block infeasible counterexamples and detect convergence to a proof. We show that for programs and properties over a decidable theory, the algorithm is guaranteed to find a counterexample, if one exists. However, efficiency depends on an oracle for quantifier elimination (QE). For Boolean programs, the algorithm is a polynomial decision procedure, matching the worst-case bounds of the best BDD-based algorithms. For Linear Arithmetic (integers and rationals), we give an efficient instantiation of the algorithm by applying QE lazily. We use existing interpolation techniques to over-approximate QE and introduce Model Based Projection to under-approximate QE. Empirical evaluation on SV-COMP benchmarks shows that our algorithm improves significantly on the state-of-the-art.
Scalable Spectrum Allocation and User Association in Networks With Many Small Cells

A scalable framework is developed to allocate radio resources across a large number of densely deployed small cells with given traffic statistics on a slow timescale. Joint user association and spectrum allocation is first formulated as a convex optimization problem by dividing the spectrum among all possible transmission patterns of active access points (APs). To improve scalability with the number of APs, the problem is reformulated using local patterns of interfering APs. To maintain global consistency among local patterns, inter-cluster interaction is characterized as hyper-edges in a hyper-graph with nodes corresponding to subcarriers allocated to APs. A scalable solution is obtained by iteratively solving a convex optimization problem for bandwidth allocation with reduced complexity and followed by a global spectrum allocation using hyper-graph coloring. Numerical results demonstrate the proposed solution for a network with 100 APs and several hundred user equipment. For a given quality of service, the proposed scheme can often increase the network capacity severalfold compared with assigning each user to the strongest AP with full-spectrum reuse.
Efficiently computing piecewise flat embeddings for data clustering and image segmentation

Image segmentation is a popular area of research in computer vision that has many applications in automated image processing. A recent technique called piecewise flat embeddings (PFE) has been proposed for use in image segmentation; PFE transforms image pixel data into a lower dimensional representation where similar pixels are pulled close together and dissimilar pixels are pushed apart. This technique has shown promising results, but its original formulation is not computationally feasible for large images. We propose two improvements to the algorithm for computing PFE: first, we reformulate portions of the algorithm to enable various linear algebra operations to be performed in parallel; second, we propose utilizing an iterative linear solver (preconditioned conjugate gradient) to quickly solve a linear least-squares problem that occurs in the inner loop of a nested iteration. With these two computational improvements, we show on a publicly available image database that PFE can be sped up by an order of magnitude without sacrificing segmentation performance. Our results make this technique more practical for use on large data sets, not only for image segmentation, but for general data clustering problems.
Analysis of a remarkable singularity in a nonlinear DDE

We investigate the dynamics of the nonlinear DDE (delay-differential equation) $$\frac{\hbox {d}^2x}{\hbox {d}t^2}(t)+x(t-T)+x(t)^3=0$$ , where T is the delay. For $$T=0$$ , this system is conservative and exhibits no limit cycles. For $$T>0$$ , no matter how small T is, an infinite number of limit cycles exist, their amplitudes going to infinity in the limit as T approaches zero. We investigate this situation in three ways: (1) harmonic balance, (2) Melnikov’s integral, and (3) adding damping to regularize the singularity.
Minimum-variance and maximum-likelihood recursive waveshaping

In this paper, we develop optimal recursive waveshaping filters in the framework of estimation theory and state-variable models. We develop a linear minimum-variance waveshaper and a nonlinear maximum-likelihood waveshaper. Both waveshapers consist of two components: 1) stochastic inversion and 2) waveshaping. The former is performed by means of minimum-variance deconvolution. Simulations are given which illustrate results that can be obtained by both waveshapers. In retrospect, we view the minimum-variance results of this paper as the recursive counterparts to those presented by Treitel and Robinson [14], which are for finite-impulse response waveshaping.