cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Prostaglandins, oviducal function, and parturient behavior in nonmammalian vertebrates

Extensive data show that in mammals and birds, prostaglandins (PGs) are associated with ovulation, luteal function, oviposition, and parturition, and that also in mammals they are associated with birth-related behavior and sexual receptivity. In mammals and birds, the ability of PGs to stimulate oviducal contractions varies regionally along the oviduct (i.e., there is a functional cervix or uterovaginal region that acts to retain eggs or embryos in utero during shelling or embryonic development). Furthermore, at least in mammals, there is neural control over oviducal contractions. In reptiles, PGs stimulate oviducal contractions, and these contractions may be overridden by neural control. No data are available on whether PGs stimulate oviducal contractions in amphibians or whether there is a functional cervix in amphibians or reptiles. We suggest that in ancestral amphibians with oviparity and external fertilization, eggs moved rapidly through the oviduct after ovulation and that ovarian and oviducal PGF served as an endocrine hormone coordinating oviducal contractions and central nervous system-controlled oviposition behavior. Furthermore, we hypothesize that there was little or no neural control over oviducal contractions and no functional cervix. These conditions may still exist in present-day oviparous amphibians. In contrast, we suggest that modern-day oviparous reptiles have evolved a functional cervix and neural control over PG-induced uterine contractions, allowing egg passage to be blocked and thus the development of egg retention. These characteristics may be viewed as exaptations for the evolution of viviparity.
Cylindrical algebraic decomposition using local projections

We present an algorithm which computes a cylindrical algebraic decomposition of a semialgebraic set using projection sets computed for each cell separately. Such local projection sets can be significantly smaller than the global projection set used by the Cylindrical Algebraic Decomposition (CAD) algorithm. This leads to reduction in the number of cells the algorithm needs to construct. A restricted version of the algorithm was introduced in Strzebonski (2014). The full version presented here can be applied to quantified formulas and makes use of equational constraints. We give an empirical comparison of our algorithm and the classical CAD algorithm.
Osteoblast-Specific Overexpression of Human WNT16 Increases Both Cortical and Trabecular Bone Mass and Structure in Mice

Previous genome-wide association studies have identified common variants in genes associated with bone mineral density (BMD) and risk of fracture. Recently, we identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in Wingless-type mouse mammary tumor virus integration site (WNT)16 that were associated with peak BMD in premenopausal women. To further identify the role of Wnt16 in bone mass regulation, we created transgenic (TG) mice overexpressing human WNT16 in osteoblasts. We compared bone phenotypes, serum biochemistry, gene expression, and dynamic bone histomorphometry between TG and wild-type (WT) mice. Compared with WT mice, WNT16-TG mice exhibited significantly higher whole-body areal BMD and bone mineral content (BMC) at 6 and 12 weeks of age in both male and female. Microcomputer tomography analysis of trabecular bone at distal femur revealed 3-fold (male) and 14-fold (female) higher bone volume/tissue volume (BV/TV), and significantly higher trabecular number and trabecular thickness but lower trabecular separation in TG mice compared with WT littermates in both sexes. The cortical bone at femur midshaft also displayed significantly greater bone area/total area and cortical thickness in the TG mice in both sexes. Serum biochemistry analysis showed that male TG mice had higher serum alkaline phosphatase, osteocalcin, osteoprotegerin (OPG), OPG to receptor activator of NF-kB ligand (tumor necrosis family ligand superfamily, number 11; RANKL) ratio as compared with WT mice. Also, lower carboxy-terminal collagen cross-link (CTX) to tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase 5, isoform b (TRAPc5b) ratio was observed in TG mice compared with WT littermates in both male and female. Histomorphometry data demonstrated that both male and female TG mice had significantly higher cortical and trabecular mineralizing surface/bone surface and bone formation rate compared with sex-matched WT mice. Gene expression analysis demonstrated higher expression of Alp, OC, Opg, and Opg to Rankl ratio in bone tissue in the TG mice compared with WT littermates. Our data indicate that WNT16 is critical for positive regulation of both cortical and trabecular bone mass and structure and that this molecule might be targeted for therapeutic interventions to treat osteoporosis.
The Design and Implementation of a Log-structured file system

This paper presents a new technique for disk storage management called a log-structured file system. A log-structured file system writes all modifications to disk sequentially in a log-like structure, thereby speeding up both file writing and crash recovery. The log is the only structure on disk; it contains indexing information so that files can be read back from the log efficiently. In order to maintain large free areas on disk for fast writing, we divide the log into segments and use a segment cleaner to compress the live information from heavily fragmented segments. We present a series of simulations that demonstrate the efficiency of a simple cleaning policy based on cost and benefit. We have implemented a prototype log-structured file system called Sprite LFS; it outperforms current Unix file systems by an order of magnitude for small-file writes while matching or exceeding Unix performance for reads and large writes. Even when the overhead for cleaning is included, Sprite LFS can use 70% of the disk bandwidth for writing, whereas Unix file systems typically can use only 5--10%.
Adaptive intra-refresh for low-delay error-resilient video coding

Low-delay and error-resilient video coding is critical for real-time video communication over wireless networks. Intra-refresh coding, which embeds intra coded regions into inter frames can achieve a relatively smooth bit-rate and terminate the error propagation caused by the transmission loss. In this paper, we proposed a novel linear model for the intra-refresh cycle-size selection adapting to the network packet loss rates and the motions in the video content. We also analyze issues in designing the intra-refresh coding pattern and the refresh order, and propose a strategy which can adapt to different cycle-size and obtain better R-D performance compared with traditional random intra-refresh and vertical-partition intra-refresh. Experimental results show that the linear cycle-size selection model works effectively, where a 3dB improvement can be achieved compared with a fixed cycle-size. Also, with the proposed intra-refresh order, a 2.0% bitrate reduction is obtained in average compared with the vertical-partition intra-refresh.
On the existence of an MVU estimator for target localization with censored, noise-free binary detectors

The problem of target localization with censored, noise-free binary detectors is considered. In this setting only the detecting sensors report their locations to the fusion center. It is proven that if the radius of detection is unknown to the fusion center, a minimum variance unbiased (MVU) estimator does not exist. Also it is shown that when the radius is known the center of mass of the possible target region is the MVU estimator among estimators that are invariant under Euclidean motion. In addition, a sub-optimum estimator is introduced whose performance is close to the MVU estimator but is preferred computationally. Moreover, for the case when the radius of detection is unknown a sub-optimum estimator is proposed that performs close to the Clairvoyant estimator. Furthermore, minimal sufficient statistics have been provided, both when the detection radius is known and when it is not. Simulations confirmed that the derived MVU estimator outperforms several heuristic location estimators.
Critical import supply elasticities and the ‘imports-as-market-discipline’ hypothesis

Abstract This paper formally examines the factors underlying how responsive imports must be to domestic prices (the ‘import supply elasticity’) in order to thwart an anticompetitive domestic price increase stemming from a merger – an issue that frequently arises in many antitrust reviews. Domestic firms face a fringe comprised of foreign firms who import their products into the domestic market. In the eyes of domestic consumers, these imports are viewed as imperfect substitutes in demand to the output produced by the domestic firms. The model is solved in terms of the ‘critical’ import supply elasticity that can then be used evaluate the ability of imports to constrain an anticompetitive price increase post-merger. Numerical simulations are conducted to consider the magnitude of perturbations in the model's exogenous parameters. Potential empirical extensions of the model are also considered.
Large-magnitude Pelvic and Retroperitoneal Tissue Damage Predicts Organ Failure.

Background Pelvic and retroperitoneal trauma is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in multiply injured patients. The Injury Severity Score (ISS) has been criticized for underrepresenting and inaccurately defining mechanical injury. The influence of pelvic injury volume on organ dysfunction and multiple organ failure (MOF) has not been described. Through the use of CT, this investigation sought to precisely define volumes of mechanical tissue damage by anatomic region and examine its impact on organ failure.
Urban Population and Amenities: The Neoclassical Model of Location

We develop a neoclassical general-equilibrium model to explain cross-metro variation in population and density. We provide new methods to estimate traded and non-traded productivities, and elasticities of housing and land supply, using density and land area data. From wage and housing cost indices, the model explains half of U.S. density and population variation and finds that quality of life determines location choices more than trade productivity; productivity and factor substitution in housing matter most, but are weak in nicer areas. Relaxing land use regulations would increase population in the West, raising both quality of life and productivity experienced by residents.
On the Strong Chromatic Index of Sparse Graphs

The strong chromatic index of a graph $G$ , denoted $\chi'_s(G)$ , is the least number of colors needed to edge-color $G$ so that edges at distance at most two receive distinct colors. The strong list chromatic index, denoted $ \chi'_{s,\ell}(G) $ , is the least integer $k$ such that if arbitrary lists of size $k$ are assigned to each edge then $G$ can be edge- colored from those lists where edges at distance at most two receive distinct colors. We use the discharging method, the Combinatorial Nullstellensatz , and computation to show that if $G$ is a subcubic planar graph with ${\rm girth}(G) \geq 41$ then $\chi'_{s,\ell}(G) \leq 5$ , answering a question of Borodin and Ivanova [Precise upper bound for the strong edge chromatic number of sparse planar graphs, Discuss. Math . Graph Theory , 33(4), (2014) 759--770]. We further show that if $G$ is a subcubic planar graph and ${\rm girth}(G) \geq 30$ , then $\chi_s'(G) \leq 5$ , improving a bound from the same paper. Finally, if $G$ is a planar graph with maximum degree at most four and $ {\rm girth} (G) \geq 28$ , then $ \chi'_s(G)N \leq 7$ , improving a more general bound of Wang and Zhao from [Odd graphs and its applications to the strong edge coloring , Applied Mathematics and Computation, 325 (2018), 246-251 ] in this case.
Multiple metrics for quantifying the intensity of water consumption of energy production

Discussion of the environmental implications of worldwide energy demand is currently dominated by the effects of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions on global climate. At the regional scale, however, water resource challenges associated with energy systems are a growing concern. This paper, based on an inventory of national energy portfolios, posits an indicator-based framework for characterizing regional energy portfolios’ relative water intensity. These calculations extend upon a previous paper that established a method for calculating the national water consumption of energy production (WCEP) at the global level. Intensity indicators are based on normalizing the WCEP results with a set of additional indicators (including population, gross domestic product, total energy production, and regional water availability). The results show great variability in water consumption across nations, as well as across the various water intensity measures that were applied. Therefore, it is best to apply this full suite of indicators to each country to develop an integrated understanding of the intensity of water use for energy across countries. S Online supplementary data available from stacks.iop.org/ERL/9/105003/mmedia
MR Imaging of Intracranial Carotid Occlusion

The MR scans of seven patients with intracranial carotid occlusion (five proved, two presumed) were reviewed to evaluate the MR signal characteristics seen in this disorder. Five patients had clinical signs of cerebral infarction. Of the remaining two patients, one was asymptomatic and the other had a long-standing occlusion and headaches. We correlated the MR findings with cerebral angiography in five patients and with CT scans in six patients. All occluded vessels demonstrated MR signal predominantly isointense to brain on proton-density- T1- and T2-weighted images. Since there is an absence of flow, the MR signal is based on the intrinsic properties of the arterial thrombus and possibly on the chronicity of the occlusion. The pathogenesis and histopathology of intravascular thrombus differ significantly from extravascular hematoma, which accounts for the differences in their MR signal characteristics. The demonstration of occluded intracranial vessels may solidify the diagnosis of stroke in cases in which clinical and/or CT findings are equivocal. In patients presenting with infarction, an occluded carotid artery by MR may obviate the need for angiography; however, the demonstration of a patent carotid in conjunction with infarction suggests the possibility of an embolus, which may require angiography. We believe that MR is a valuable adjunct to CT in evaluating patients with cerebrovascular infarction.
Harmonic Fractals in the Music of the Lamellaphone

(2012). Harmonic Fractals in the Music of the Lamellaphone. Critical Interventions: Vol. 6, Fractals in Global Africa, Guest Editors: Ron Eglash and Audrey Bennett, pp. 84-105.
The Impact of Charitable Subsidies on Religious Giving and Attendance: Evidence from Panel Data

The literature documents that charitable giving is responsive to tax subsidies but often ignores the spillover effects of such policies. This paper investigates the spillover effects of charitable subsidies on religious participation using individual-level panel data. The results show that religious giving and participation are complements. The implied cross-price elasticity of religious participation with respect to the after-tax price of giving is −0.27. Furthermore, a 1% increase in the amount of religious contributions is associated with a 0.4% increase in religious attendance. These results are robust under several different specifications and highlight the positive externalities created by charitable subsidies.
The Political Market

This paper explores the economics of electoral democracy, an almost entirely neglected subject. Running for office necessitates resources. But students of democracy have had almost nothing to say about how much money should be spent by candidates or where that money should come from. As a result, there is a gaping void in the theory of democracy. Joseph A. Schumpeter used a market analogy in his discussion of the electoral process, but even he did not discuss how electoral campaigns are to be paid for. In fact, the few citizens who largely fund campaigns for office in the United States purchase non-rivalrous influence. They obtain the ability to shape the policies that affect all citizens. In this way, political equality is undermined. The paper concludes that achieving a more representative political system can best be attained by treating political campaigns as a public good.
Coalescing-Branching Random Walks on Graphs

We study a distributed randomized information propagation mechanism in networks we call the coalescing-branching random walk (cobra walk, for short). A cobra walk is a generalization of the well-studied “standard” random walk, and is useful in modeling and understanding the Susceptible-Infected- Susceptible (SIS)-type of epidemic processes in networks. It can also be helpful in performing light-weight information dissemination in resource-constrained networks. A cobra walk is parameterized by a branching factor k. The process starts from an arbitrary vertex, which is labeled active for step 1. In each step of a cobra walk, each active vertex chooses k random neighbors to become active for the next step (“branching”). A vertex is active for step t + 1 only if it is chosen by an active vertex in step t (“coalescing”). This results in a stochastic process in the underlying network with properties that are quite different from both the standard random walk (which is equivalent to the cobra walk with branching factor 1) as well as other gossip-based rumor spreading mechanisms. We focus on the cover time of the cobra walk, which is the number of steps for the walk to reach all the vertices, and derive almost-tight bounds for various graph classes. We show an O(log 2n) high probability bound for the cover time of cobra walks on expanders, if either the expansion factor or the branching factor is sufficiently large; we also obtain an O(log n) high probability bound for the partial cover time, which is the number of steps needed for the walk to reach at least a constant fraction of the vertices. We also show that the cover time of the cobra walk is, with high probability, O(nlog n) on any n-vertex tree for k ≥ 2, O(n1/d) on a d-dimensional grid for k ≥ 2, and O(log n) on the complete graph.
Secret Sharing and Statistical Zero Knowledge

We show a general connection between various types of statistical zero-knowledge (SZK) proof systems and (unconditionally secure) secret sharing schemes. Viewed through the SZK lens, we obtain several new results on secret-sharing: Characterizations: We obtain an almost-characterization of access structures for which there are secret-sharing schemes with an efficient sharing algorithm (but not necessarily efficient reconstruction). In particular, we show that for every language \(L \in {{\mathbf {SZK}}_{\mathbf {L}}}\) (the class of languages that have statistical zero knowledge proofs with log-space verifiers and simulators), a (monotonized) access structure associated with L has such a secret-sharing scheme. Conversely, we show that such secret-sharing schemes can only exist for languages in \({\mathbf {SZK}}\). Constructions: We show new constructions of secret-sharing schemes with both efficient sharing and efficient reconstruction for access structures associated with languages that are in \({\mathbf {P}}\), but are not known to be in \({\mathbf {NC}}\), namely Bounded-Degree Graph Isomorphism and constant-dimensional lattice problems. In particular, this gives us the first combinatorial access structure that is conjectured to be outside \({\mathbf {NC}}\) but has an efficient secret-sharing scheme. Previous such constructions (Beimel and Ishai; CCC 2001) were algebraic and number-theoretic in nature. Limitations: We also show that universally-efficient secret-sharing schemes, where the complexity of computing the shares is a polynomial independent of the complexity of deciding the access structure, cannot exist for all (monotone languages in) \(\mathbf {P}\), unless there is a polynomial q such that \({\mathbf {P}} \subseteq {\mathbf {DSPACE}}(q(n))\).
Incentivizing high quality crowdwork

We study the causal effects of financial incentives on the quality of crowdwork. We focus on performance-based payments (PBPs), bonus payments awarded to workers for producing high quality work. We design and run randomized behavioral experiments on the popular crowdsourcing platform Amazon Mechanical Turk with the goal of understanding when, where, and why PBPs help, identifying properties of the payment, payment structure, and the task itself that make them most effective. We provide examples of tasks for which PBPs do improve quality. For such tasks, the effectiveness of PBPs is not too sensitive to the threshold for quality required to receive the bonus, while the magnitude of the bonus must be large enough to make the reward salient. We also present examples of tasks for which PBPs do not improve quality. Our results suggest that for PBPs to improve quality, the task must be effort-responsive: the task must allow workers to produce higher quality work by exerting more effort. We also give a simple method to determine if a task is effort-responsive a priori. Furthermore, our experiments suggest that all payments on Mechanical Turk are, to some degree, implicitly performance-based in that workers believe their work may be rejected if their performance is sufficiently poor. In the full version of this paper, we propose a new model of worker behavior that extends the standard principal-agent model from economics to include a worker's subjective beliefs about his likelihood of being paid, and show that the predictions of this model are in line with our experimental findings. This model may be useful as a foundation for theoretical studies of incentives in crowdsourcing markets.
"Como es uso y costumbre": el retrato autorial en Mateo Alemán y Cervantes

En el prologo de las Novelas ejemplares (1613), Miguel de Cervantes senalaba que hubiera preferido colocar su retrato en la primera pagina de su libro antes que escribir dicho prologo, ya que esta practica editorial era “uso y costumbre” en su epoca. Este articulo analiza el dialogo intertextual entre la practica de la ecfrasis o “retrato hablado” que ejecuta Cervantes en el prologo mencionado y el retrato grabado que coloca Mateo Aleman en cada una de las dos partes del Guzman de Alfarache (1599 y 1604). Se busca de esa forma iluminar la relacion establecida entre un aspecto de la manufactura del libro y el texto mismo, asi como su caracter de estrategia discursiva para ambos narradores auriseculares. --- In the prologue of his Novelas ejemplares (1613), Miguel de Cervantes says that he would have preferred to place his portrait on the opening page of the book, rather than writing its prologue, since the former editorial practice was “uso y costumbre” in his age. This article analyses the intertextual dialogue between the “spoken portrait” written by Cervantes in his prologue and the engraved portrait of Aleman in both parts of Guzman de Alfarache (1599 and 1604). I intend to study the relationship between the process of book manufacturing and the text itself, as well as the discursive devices underlying this operation.
Real Estate Prices During the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression

∗∗∗ Using new data on market-based transactions we construct real estate price indexes for Manhattan between 1920 and 1939. During the 1920s prices reached their highest level in the third quarter of 1929 before falling by 67% at the end of 1932 and hovering around that value for most of the Great Depression. The value of high-end properties strongly co-moved with the stock market between 1929 and 1932. A typical property bought in 1920 would have retained only 56% of its initial value in nominal terms two decades later. An investment in the stock market index (including dividends) would have outperformed an investment in a typical property (including net rental income) by a factor of 5.2 over our time period. It is often assumed that the Great Depression was associated with both stock market and real estate shocks (e.g., Shiller 2006, Piazzesi, Schneider and Tuzel 2007), especially in light of the recent sub-prime financial crisis where parallels with the past are frequently drawn (Reinhart and Rogoff 2009). Yet empirical evidence on movements in real estate prices is limited for this time period. We construct the first high-frequency real estate quarterly index using transaction prices for Manhattan, a major market in the United States. We use the new data to examine stock market and real estate cycles during one of the most significant crises in U.S. economic and financial history. We show that the real estate market suffered a sudden and severe downturn in 1929, from which it still had not recovered in 1939. Although Manhattan represents a small geographic area, in 1930 it contained approximately 4% of all United States real estate wealth despite having 1.5% of the population. 1 Moreover, Long Jr. (1936) writes that between 1919 and 1933, the total value of building plans for Manhattan was “only slightly less than 10% of the total
Physical and Chemical Stress Relaxation of Elastomers

Abstract In this paper we have developed a method whereby physical and chemical relaxation processes can be distinguished, using stress relaxation experiments as a function of temperature. We assumed that there exists some temperature range above the glass transition temperature over which the chemical effects can be neglected for the time scale of the experiments. The data in this low temperature range were then used to determine the WLF constants and other physical relaxation parameters. The physical component of the stress relaxation could then be subtracted from high temperature experiments in order to extract chemical kinetic information. Based on certain reasonable assumptions, an equation was developed for the relaxation modulus of a chemically reacting system. This equation could be used to determine the time dependence of the crosslink density, or conversely could be used to predict the long-term relaxation modulus from an assumed kinetic mechanism. These calculations were demonstrated for ethyle...
Health physics practices and experience at Duke Power Company

The history and development of the health physics and as-low-as-reasonably-achievable (ALARA) program at Duke Power Company's Oconee Nuclear Station is described as are the fundamental elements of the program and how the program works. The benefits of this health physics/ALARA program have been determined to be (a) improved quality of manpower planning and scheduling, (b) increased efficiency of shutdown activities, (c) reduced cost of shutdown, (d) immediate awareness of adverse job exposure trends, (e) better management information on exposure-related problems, (f) improved accuracy of personnel and job dose records, and (g) in general, improved outage performance and subsequent plant operation. Experience with the health physics/ALARA program is discussed in terms of (a) savings of critical path time, (b) maintaining ALARA personnel doses, and (c) record capacity factors.
Some Potential Human Problems of the Project Form of Organization

One criticism of the functional form of organization is that it induces human problems. This article explores the possibility that there may be some unique human problems associated with the projec...
A Two-Photon E1-M1 Optical Clock

Neutral mercury is proposed to be an ideal atomic system for an optical clock based on two-photon $E$1-$M$1 transitions.
Modulated heat pulse propagation and partial transport barriers in chaotic magnetic fields

Direct numerical simulations of the time dependent parallel heat transportequation modeling heat pulses driven by power modulation in three-dimensional chaotic magnetic fields are presented. The numerical method is based on the Fourier formulation of a Lagrangian-Green's function method that provides an accurate and efficient technique for the solution of the parallel heat transportequation in the presence of harmonic power modulation. The numerical results presented provide conclusive evidence that even in the absence of magnetic flux surfaces, chaotic magnetic field configurations with intermediate levels of stochasticity exhibit transport barriers to modulated heat pulse propagation. In particular, high-order islands and remnants of destroyed flux surfaces (Cantori) act as partial barriers that slow down or even stop the propagation of heat waves at places where the magnetic field connection length exhibits a strong gradient. Results on modulated heat pulse propagation in fully stochastic fields and across magnetic islands are also presented. In qualitative agreement with recent experiments in large helical device and DIII-D, it is shown that the elliptic (O) and hyperbolic (X) points of magnetic islands have a direct impact on the spatio-temporal dependence of the amplitude of modulated heat pulses.
Directed, Regiocontrolled Hydroamination of Unactivated Alkenes via Protodepalladation

A directed, regiocontrolled hydroamination of unactivated terminal and internal alkenes is reported. The reaction is catalyzed by palladium(II) acetate and is compatible with a variety of nitrogen nucleophiles. A removable bidentate directing group is used to control the regiochemistry, prevent β-hydride elimination, and stabilize the nucleopalladated intermediate, facilitating a protodepalladation event. This method affords highly functionalized γ-amino acids in good yields with high regioselectivity.
1,3,2-Diazaphospholidine (N-Heterocyclic Phosphine)-Mediated Carbon-Phosphorus Bond-Forming, One-Pot Tandem Reaction: A Route to α-Amino Phosphonates.

A novel 1,3,2-diazaphospholidine (N-heterocyclic phosphine)–thiourea-mediated phospha-Mannich/intramolecular nucleophilic substitution reaction has been developed for the construction of an N–C–P bond unit. This transformation enabled a rapid access to cyclic tertiary α-amino phosphonates in one-pot procedure under additive-free mild reaction conditions. This study revealed the critical role of thiourea moiety of the N-heterocyclic phosphine–thiourea in the sequential intramolecular nucleophilic substitution reaction of the phosphonylation.
Smallpox: clinical and epidemiologic features.

Clinical and Epidemiologic Characteristics of Smallpox Smallpox is a viral disease unique to humans. To sustain itself, the virus must pass from person to person in a continuing chain of infection and is spread by inhalation of air droplets or aerosols. Twelve to 14 days after infection, the patient typically becomes febrile and has severe aching pains and prostration. Some 2 to 3 days later, a papular rash develops over the face and spreads to the extremities (Figure 1). The rash soon becomes vesicular and later, pustular (Figure 2). The patient remains febrile throughout the evolution of the rash and customarily experiences considerable pain as the pustules grow and expand. Gradually, scabs form, which eventually separate, leaving pitted scars. Death usually occurs during the second week. The disease most commonly confused with smallpox is chickenpox, and during the first 2 to 3 days of rash, it may be all but impossible to distinguish between the two. However, all smallpox lesions develop at the same pace and, on any part of the body, appear identical. Chickenpox lesions are much more superficial and develop in crops. With chickenpox, scabs, vesicles, and pustules may be seen simultaneously on adjacent areas of skin. Moreover, the rash in chickenpox is more dense over the trunk (the reverse of smallpox), and chickenpox lesions are almost never found on the palms or soles. In 5% to 10% of smallpox patients, more rapidly progressive, malignant disease develops, which is almost always fatal within 5 to 7 days. In such patients, the lesions are so densely confluent that the skin looks like crepe rubber; Smallpox: Clinical and Epidemiologic Features
Reduced water intake but normal response to acute water deprivation in elderly rhesus monkeys.

The ability to compensate for acute water deprivation was studied in young adult (YA, 7–9 years), middle aged (MA, 13–17 years), and older adult (OA, 20–36 years) rhesus monkeys of both sexes (N=6/group). Water intake and urine volume were measured during three 7-day trials: 3 days of baseline measurement, 1 day of deprivation and 3 days of compensation. OA drank less during baseline (380±63 mL/day) than MA (679±92 mL/day, p<0.05) or YA (750±128 mL/day, p<0.01). All groups drank more following deprivation than at baseline and the OA drank significantly less than the younger groups (both p<0.01), but the increase above baseline did not differ among groups when expressed as a cumulative percentage of baseline (89% for OA; 77% for MA; 83% for YA). Urine volume of all groups decreased by similar percentages on the day of deprivation (56% overall) and this reduction represented a similar proportion (58% overall) of baseline water intake. Urine concentration increased significantly during deprivation (p<0.05) and returned to baseline values during compensation with no differences among age groups. OA water balance appears to have been maintained at lower levels of intake and excretion. In conclusion, responses to acute hydrational challenges in the elderly should be interpreted in the context of customary fluid intake.
Catalytic Reductive ortho-C–H Silylation of Phenols with Traceless, Versatile Acetal Directing Groups and Synthetic Applications of Dioxasilines

A new, highly selective, bond functionalization strategy, achieved via relay of two transition metal catalysts and the use of traceless acetal directing groups, has been employed to provide facile formation of C–Si bonds and concomitant functionalization of a silicon group in a single vessel. Specifically, this approach involves the relay of Ir-catalyzed hydrosilylation of inexpensive and readily available phenyl acetates, exploiting disubstituted silyl synthons to afford silyl acetals and Rh-catalyzed ortho-C–H silylation to provide dioxasilines. A subsequent nucleophilic addition to silicon removes the acetal directing groups and directly provides unmasked phenol products and, thus, useful functional groups at silicon achieved in a single vessel. This traceless acetal directing group strategy for catalytic ortho-C–H silylation of phenols was also successfully applied to preparation of multisubstituted arenes. Remarkably, a new formal α-chloroacetyl directing group has been developed that allows catalyti...
A Framework for Identifying Genotypic Information from Clinical Records: Exploiting Integrated Ontology Structures to Transfer Annotations between ICD Codes and Gene Ontologies

Although some methods are proposed for automatic ontology generation, none of them address the issue of integrating large-scale heterogeneous biomedical ontologies. We propose a novel approach for integrating various types of ontologies efficiently and apply it to integrate International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD9CM), and Gene Ontologies. This approach is one of the early attempts to quantify the associations among clinical terms (e.g., ICD9 codes) based on their corresponding genomic relationships. We reconstructed a merged tree for a partial set of GO and ICD9 codes and measured the performance of this tree in terms of associations’ relevance by comparing them with two well-known disease-gene datasets (i.e., MalaCards and Disease Ontology). Furthermore, we compared the genomic-based ICD9 associations to temporal relationships between them from electronic health records. Our analysis shows promising associations supported by both comparisons suggesting a high reliability. We also manually analyzed several significant associations and found promising support from literature.
Synthesis of Aryl Ketoamides via Aryne Insertion into Imides

An insertion of arenes into both imides and anhydrides via reactive aryne intermediates is presented. The reaction is performed under exceptionally mild conditions, and the corresponding ketoamide products are amenable to derivatization to deliver a variety of synthetically useful motifs such as quinolones, indoles, and ketoanilines.
Management strategies for the difficult pediatric airway.

Strategies for managing the difficult pediatric airway can be divided into two broad categories: the anticipated difficult airway and the unexpected difficult airway. The unexpected difficult airway can be subdivided into the nonemergency (can ventilate/cannot intubate) and emergency pathways (cannot ventilate/cannot intubate). These classifications, however, are not static. Either the anticipated difficult airway or the nonemergency pathway of the unexpected difficult airway can degrade during the course of management into the emergency pathway. The best strategies are designed to avoid this scenario but still provide a contingency plan should this occur. The suggested management strategies are based on the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) practice guidelines,’ clinical case reports of management of the pediatric patient with the difficult airway, and clinical experience; the lists provide an overview. A detailed discussion of options and techniques is provided in the text. Although broad, this is not an all-inclusive discussion, and other approaches may be appropriate. The division of the tasks into categories is an organizational tool for presentation and a guide in developing a reasonable approach to the pediatric patient with a difficult airway. Some tasks have overlapping concerns and some may be undertaken simultaneously.
Location choice in early adulthood: Millennials versus Baby Boomers*

This paper contributes to the literature on the effect of individual-level characteristics on urban location choice by examining whether young people aged 25–34 with a bachelor's degree or higher are more likely to live in central cities in 2011 than in 1990. When I control for individual-level characteristics I find that the effect of education on the probability of living in a central city remains similar across generations. This is evidence that to the extent education plays a role in the larger population of high human capital 25–34 year olds in cities in 2011 it is due to a composition effect rather than cities becoming more attractive to educated people at the margin.
29Si MAS-NMR Study of the Short-Range Order in Potassium Borosilicate Glasses

Potassium borosilicate glasses were prepared in families having the general formula of RK2O·B2O3·NSiO2, where R is the ratio of potassium oxide to boron oxide and N is the ratio of silicon dioxide to boron oxide. The glasses were prepared for values of R ranging from 0 to 7.0 in the families N= 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, and 4.0. 29Si MAS-NMR measurements were performed on these glasses to determine the short-range order around the silicon atom. A model of proportional sharing of the added potassium oxide between the silicate and the borate groups was suggested. This model was tested against other suggested models where proportional sharing begins after a minimum amount of potassium oxide, R0, and was observed to provide a better fit to the 29Si chemical shifts obtained. As was observed in the 29Si MAS-NMR studies of the RLi2O·B2O3·NSiO2 glasses, the proportional sharing model with R0= 0 is in stark disagreement with that proposed by the 11B NMR studies of the alkali borosilicate glasses. This problem is as yet not understood. Since K2CO3 was used as the starting material for K2O, it was observed that at large R values, R > RCO2, where RCO2= 2.3 for N= 1, RCO2= 4.0 for N= 2, and RCO2= 5.0 for N= 4, CO2 was retained in the melt in the fashion similar to that observed for other high-alkali borate and silicate glasses. The N= 0.5 family did not exhibit retention at the compositions studied. 29Si MAS-NMR could be used to determine where CO2 retention began in composition and the proportion of K2O/K2CO3 in the melt (glass).
Who Really Benefits from Agricultural Subsidies? Evidence from Field-level Data

If agricultural subsidies are largely capitalized into farmland values then expanding support for agriculture may not benefit farmers who rent the land they farm. Suddenly reducing subsidies may be problematic to the extent that land values already embody expectations about future subsidies. Existing evidence on the incidence of subsidies on land values is mixed. Identification is obscured by unobserved or imprecisely measured factors that tend to be correlated with subsidies, especially land quality and time-varying factors like commodity prices and adverse weather events. A problem that has received less attention is the fact that subsides and land quality on rented land may differ from owned land. Since most farms possess both rented and owned acreage, farm-level measures of subsidies, land values and rental rates may bias estimated incidence. Using a new, field-level data set that, for the first time, precisely links subsidies to land parcels, we show that this bias is considerable: Where farm-level estimates suggest an incidence of 20 to 79 cents of the marginal subsidy dollar, field-level estimates from the same farms indicate that landlords capture just 10â25 cents. The size of the farm and the duration of the rental arrangement have substantial effects. Incidence falls by 5â15 cents per acre when doubling total operated acres, and the incidence falls by 0.1â1.2 cents with each additional year of the rental arrangement. Low incidence of subsides on rents combined with the farm-size and duration effects suggest that farmers renting land have monopsony power.
Forward genetic screen of human transposase genomic rearrangements

Numerous human genes encode potentially active DNA transposases or recombinases, but our understanding of their functions remains limited due to shortage of methods to profile their activities on endogenous genomic substrates. To enable functional analysis of human transposase-derived genes, we combined forward chemical genetic hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase 1 (HPRT1) screening with massively parallel paired-end DNA sequencing and structural variant genome assembly and analysis. Here, we report the HPRT1 mutational spectrum induced by the human transposase PGBD5, including PGBD5-specific signal sequences (PSS) that serve as potential genomic rearrangement substrates. The discovered PSS motifs and high-throughput forward chemical genomic screening approach should prove useful for the elucidation of endogenous genome remodeling activities of PGBD5 and other domesticated human DNA transposases and recombinases.
VIS capstone address: Architectures Physical and Digital.

How do computer architectures and physical architectures inform each other? This talk will explore the interconnection of data and visualization through an architectural and computational lens over the last 50 years, including the work of Steven Coons, Christopher Alexander, Richard Saul Wurman and others.
Leith diffusion model for homogeneous anisotropic turbulence

Abstract A new spectral closure model for homogeneous anisotropic turbulence is proposed. The systematic development begins by closing the third-order correlation describing nonlinear interactions by an anisotropic generalization of the Leith diffusion model for isotropic turbulence. The correlation tensor is then decomposed into a tensorially isotropic part, or directional anisotropy, and a trace-free remainder, or polarization anisotropy. The directional and polarization components are then decomposed using irreducible representations of the SO(3) symmetry group. Under the ansatz that the decomposition is truncated at quadratic order, evolution equations are derived for the directional and polarization pieces of the correlation tensor. Numerical simulation of the model equations for a freely decaying anisotropic flow illustrate the non-trivial effects of spectral dependencies on the different return-to-isotropy rates of the directional and polarization contributions.
Comparing Series Elasticity and Admittance Control for Haptic Rendering

While feedback control can be used to cause a motorized device to render the dynamic behavior of a virtual environment, this capacity inevitably breaks down at high frequencies where the rendered impedance reverts to the impedance of the device hardware. This situation amounts to a disadvantage for admittance display, for which hardware impedance is high. Series elastic actuators offer an attractive alternative with lower impedance at high frequencies, though stability considerations impose limits on the stiffest virtual environment that may be rendered. In this paper we explore the tradeoffs between admittance control and series elastic actuation with the use of analytical comparisons in the frequency domain backed up by experiments and complemented with a passivity analysis that accounts for an excess of passivity contributed by human biomechanics.
Small Molecules in Development for the Treatment of Spinal Muscular Atrophy

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disease resulting from pathologically low levels of survival motor neuron (SMN) protein. The majority of mRNA from the SMN2 allele undergoes alternative splicing and excludes critical codons, causing an SMN protein deficiency. While there is currently no FDA-approved treatment for SMA, early therapeutic efforts have focused on testing repurposed drugs such as phenylbutyrate (2), valproic acid (3), riluzole (6), hydroxyurea (7), and albuterol (9), none of which has demonstrated clinical effectiveness. More recently, clinical trials have focused on novel small-molecule compounds identified from high-throughput screening and medicinal chemistry optimization such as olesoxime (11), CK-2127107, RG7800, LMI070, and RG3039 (17). In this paper, we review both repurposed drugs and small-molecule compounds discovered following medicinal chemistry optimization for the potential treatment of SMA.
Religion and ratio analysis: Towards an Islamic corporate liquidity measure

Abstract This paper contributes to the emerging literature on the effect of religion on corporate decision making and financial reporting. Financial statement analytical tools could violate several commands of Islamic law. Specifically, traditional liquidity ratios imply undervaluation, uncertainty, and interest bearing aspects that are strictly prohibited in Islamic law. We propose an Islamic-compliant measure of corporate liquidity. In order to validate our proposed ratio as a measure of corporate liquidity, we incorporate it in the traditional corporate bankruptcy prediction models. Our measure significantly improves the accuracy of the corporate bankruptcy prediction models of Altman (1968) Z -score and Ohlson (1980).
Genome privacy: challenges, technical approaches to mitigate risk, and ethical considerations in the United States

Accessing and integrating human genomic data with phenotypes are important for biomedical research. Making genomic data accessible for research purposes, however, must be handled carefully to avoid leakage of sensitive individual information to unauthorized parties and improper use of data. In this article, we focus on data sharing within the scope of data accessibility for research. Current common practices to gain biomedical data access are strictly rule based, without a clear and quantitative measurement of the risk of privacy breaches. In addition, several types of studies require privacy-preserving linkage of genotype and phenotype information across different locations (e.g., genotypes stored in a sequencing facility and phenotypes stored in an electronic health record) to accelerate discoveries. The computer science community has developed a spectrum of techniques for data privacy and confidentiality protection, many of which have yet to be tested on real-world problems. In this article, we discuss clinical, technical, and ethical aspects of genome data privacy and confidentiality in the United States, as well as potential solutions for privacy-preserving genotype-phenotype linkage in biomedical research.