cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
AIDS-associated plasmablastic lymphoma presenting as a poorly differentiated esophageal tumor: a diagnostic dilemma

Plasmablastic lymphoma (PBL) is a rare form of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma characterized by weak/absent expression of conventional B-cell markers and strong expression of plasma cell markers. It is strongly associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and Epstein Barr virus infection, and shows an unusual tropism to the oral cavity. Herein we describe a patient with AIDS who presented with weight loss and dysphagia owing to a large gastroesophageal mass. His radiographic and endoscopic findings and long history of cigarette consumption suggested carcinoma. Biopsy demonstrated a poorly differentiated tumor stained negatively to routine lymphoid markers including CD20. However, gene rearrangement studies confirmed a B-cell process and a more detailed immunohistochemical analysis revealed the cells stained positively for CD138 (plasma cell antigen). These findings were diagnostic of PBL. Our report reviews the wide differential diagnosis of PBL and underscores the importance of a broad array of viral and molecular studies needed to establish this diagnosis.
MARKET REACTION TO DIVIDEND‐DECREASE ANNOUNCEMENTS: PUBLIC UTILITIES VS. UNREGULATED INDUSTRIAL FIRMS

In this study I compare the common share price reaction to dividend-decrease announcements by public utilities with the share price reaction to dividend-decrease announcements by unregulated firms. Regressing cumulative prediction errors from an event study methodology on firm characteristics, the empirical evidence shows that dividend decreases by public utilities prompt stronger negative market reactions than similar announcements by unregulated firms, even when yield, yield change, firm size, and Tobin's Q differences are considered.
Recent developments in copper-catalyzed radical alkylations of electron-rich π-systems

Recently, a number of papers have emerged demonstrating copper-catalyzed alkylation reactions of electron-rich small molecules. The processes are generally thought to be related to long established atom-transfer radical reactions. However, unlike classical reactions, these new transformations lead to simple alkylation products. This short review will highlight recent advances in alkylations of nitronate anions, alkenes and alkynes, as well as discuss current mechanistic understanding of these novel reactions.
The basis of conventional lightning protection systems

The study of lightning protection system design encompasses nearly 300 years. Yet, many of the original sources for common design practices used today remain obscure. This paper traces the significant developments in lightning protection from the late 1700s to the modern day. Emphasis is placed on significant events in the history that have had direct consequences in the establishment of design practices for lightning protection. It is also demonstrated that many of the design practices used today were subject to significant scrutiny and empirical qualification. Our intent is to familiarize the student of lightning protection design with the original literature, testing, and other noteworthy contributions to the design of effective lightning protection systems.
Using QIIME to Analyze 16S rRNA Gene Sequences from Microbial Communities

QIIME (canonically pronounced "chime") is a software application that performs microbial community analysis. It is an acronym for Quantitative Insights Into Microbial Ecology, and has been used to analyze and interpret nucleic acid sequence data from fungal, viral, bacterial, and archaeal communities. The following protocols describe how to install QIIME on a single computer and use it to analyze microbial 16S sequence data from nine distinct microbial communities.
Structural Modifications of (1S,3S)-3-Amino-4-Difluoromethylenecyclopentanecarboxylic Acid, a Potent Irreversible Inhibitor of GABA Aminotransferase

Abstract Low brain levels of the inhibitory neurotransmitter γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) lead to convulsions. Inhibition of GABA aminotransferase increases the concentration of GABA and can terminate the convulsions. Earlier we reported the synthesis of (1 S ,3 S )-3-amino-4-difluoromethylenecyclopentanecarboxylic acid ( 2 ), which is 186 times more potent an inactivator of GABA aminotransferase than the epilepsy drug S -vigabatrin. The corresponding dichloromethylene analogue of 2 (compound 3 ) has been made, but it shows only weak reversible inhibition of GABA aminotransferase. However, the tetrazole isostere of 2 (compound 4 ) has been found to be a time-dependent inactivator of GABA aminotransferase. Although it is 20 times less potent than carboxylic acid 2 , it is 2.5 times more potent than S -vigabatrin. A calculation of the Clog P values indicates that 4 is the most lipophilic of the three, being 69 times more lipophilic than 2 and 55 times more lipophilic than S -vigabatrin, indicating potential for improved bioavailability.
Contraction of Areas vs. Topology of Mappings

We construct homotopically non-trivial maps from Sm to Sm−1 with arbitrarily small k-dilation for each k > (m + 1)/2. We prove that homotopically non-trivial maps from Sm to Sm−1 cannot have arbitrarily small k-dilation for k ≤ (m + 1)/2.
A generalized streamline method to predict reservoir flow

We present a generalized streamline method to model flow in porous media, including the effects of gravity and dispersion. We first describe the theory and discuss the approximations of the method, and then compare the predictions using the streamline technique against two-dimensional numerical simulations of incompressible miscible flow. In the cases we studied, the streamline method predicts recovery with an average error of at most 5%, where the principal flow directions are governed by the pattern of permeability, and for gravity numbers less than or equal to 1 and mobility ratios of 10 or less. The streamline method does not suffer from numerical dispersion and is more than 100 times faster than conventional simulation.
Substance Use and Facial Injury

The use of alcohol and illicit drugs is a common theme in patients presenting with traumatic injury to trauma centers. In addition to associated patient care issues, these common precipitants of clinician contact and costly hospitalizations present a particular fiscal challenge to our trauma care systems and compromise their ability to provide conventional medical services. Estimates compiled by the Institute of Medicine’s Committee on Injury Prevention and Control indicate that the costs of injury are higher than those of any other health problem, and are roughly equal to the costs associated with heart disease (second most costly) and cancer (third most costly) combined. Similar injury trends are increasingly manifest in children and adolescents; between 2002 and 2004, more than 13 million emergency department isits in the United States involved adolescents 10 to 19 years of age, with injury onstituting 42% of these visits. Given that alcohol and substance use are common antecedent risk factors for traumatic injury, a significant portion of facial injuries should be considered as preventable. The focus of this article is to: (1) detail the connection between substance use and orofacial injuries among adults and adolescents, (2) discuss the sequelae of substance-use–related orofacial injuries (ie, complications and reinjury), and (3) discuss the need for collaborative care across disciplines.
Category fluency in psychometric schizotypy: how altering emotional valence and cognitive load affects performance

Introduction. In clinical high-risk populations, category fluency deficits are associated with conversion to psychosis. However, their utility as clinical risk markers is unclear in psychometric schizotypy, a group experiencing schizophrenia-like traits that is at putative high risk for psychosis.Methods. We examined whether introducing affective or cognitive load, two important stress vulnerability markers, altered category fluency performance in schizotypy (n = 42) and non-schizotypy (n = 38) groups. To investigate this question, we developed an experimental paradigm where all participants were administered category fluency tests across baseline, pleasant valence, unpleasant valence, and cognitive load conditions.Results. Compared to the non-schizotypy group, those with schizotypy performed significantly worse in pleasant and unpleasant valence conditions, but not cognitive load or baseline fluency tests.Conclusions. This study demonstrated the role of affect – but not cognitive load – on category fluen...
Robust Facial Landmark Detection Under Significant Head Poses and Occlusion

There have been tremendous improvements for facial landmark detection on general "in-the-wild" images. However, it is still challenging to detect the facial landmarks on images with severe occlusion and images with large head poses (e.g. profile face). In fact, the existing algorithms usually can only handle one of them. In this work, we propose a unified robust cascade regression framework that can handle both images with severe occlusion and images with large head poses. Specifically, the method iteratively predicts the landmark occlusions and the landmark locations. For occlusion estimation, instead of directly predicting the binary occlusion vectors, we introduce a supervised regression method that gradually updates the landmark visibility probabilities in each iteration to achieve robustness. In addition, we explicitly add occlusion pattern as a constraint to improve the performance of occlusion prediction. For landmark detection, we combine the landmark visibility probabilities, the local appearances, and the local shapes to iteratively update their positions. The experimental results show that the proposed method is significantly better than state-of-the-art works on images with severe occlusion and images with large head poses. It is also comparable to other methods on general "in-the-wild" images.
Dynamic state-space partitioning in external-memory graph search

The scalability of optimal sequential planning can be improved by using external-memory graph search. State-of-the-art external-memory graph search algorithms rely on a state-space projection function, or hash function, that partitions the stored nodes of the state-space search graph into groups of nodes that are stored as separate files on disk. Search performance depends on properties of the partition; whether the number of unique nodes in a file always fits in RAM, the number of files into which the nodes of the state-space graph are partitioned, and how well the partition captures local structure in the graph. Previous work relies on a static partition of the state space, but it can be difficult for a static partition to simultaneously satisfy all of these criteria. We introduce a method for dynamic partitioning and show that it leads to improved search performance in solving STRIPS planning problems.
Chronic low back pain: evaluation and management

AbstractChronic low back pain is a common problem in primary care. A history and physical examination should place patients into one of several categories: (1) Non-specific low back pain, (2) Back pain associated with radiculopathy or spinal stenosis, (3) Back pain referred from a non-spinal source or (4) Back pain associated with another specific spinal cause.For patients who have back pain associated with radiculopathy, spinal stenosis, or another specific spinal cause, magnetic resonance imaging or computed tomography may establish the diagnosis and guide management. Because evidence of improved outcomes is lacking, lumbar spine radiography should be delayed for at least one to two months in patients with nonspecific pain. Acetaminophen and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are first-line medications for chronic low back pain. Tramadol, opioids, and other adjunctive medications may benefit some patients who do not respond to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Acupuncture, exercise therapy, mult...
International Variations in the Benefits of Feasible Diversification Strategies

We examine the international variations in portfolio diversification benefits from an angle of global wealth management. We directly model the impact of widely observed phenomenon, home bias and no short-sales, on international investments with the aim to establish feasible diversification strategies and to identify which countries and/or regions are target markets for wealth management. Our results indicate that investors in less developed countries, particularly in East Asia and South Asia, reap greater benefits from international diversification than investors in the rest of the world. These benefits are particularly noticeable in volatility reduction. Our results reveal important insights for global wealth management.
Preparation of α-bromo-β-hydroxy esters using MgBr2·OEt2

Abstract The aldol condensation of aldehydes and α-bromo esters to prepare α-bromo-β-hydroxy esters is described. The presented procedure is simple and direct, and works with a range of aromatic aldehydes.
Real-Time Forecasting With a Mixed-Frequency VAR

This article develops a vector autoregression (VAR) for time series which are observed at mixed frequencies—quarterly and monthly. The model is cast in state-space form and estimated with Bayesian methods under a Minnesota-style prior. We show how to evaluate the marginal data density to implement a data-driven hyperparameter selection. Using a real-time dataset, we evaluate forecasts from the mixed-frequency VAR and compare them to standard quarterly frequency VAR and to forecasts from MIDAS regressions. We document the extent to which information that becomes available within the quarter improves the forecasts in real time. This article has online supplementary materials.
Do Holding Period Tax Incentives Affect Earnings Release Period Selling Activity of Individual Investors

This study examines the effect of tax‐rate‐based holding period incentives on individual investors' earnings release period selling decisions using selling activity proxies computed from intra‐day transaction data. We find evidence that earnings release period selling activity, for a given level of past stock price appreciation (depreciation), is lower (higher) when the magnitude of the tax‐rate incentive to hold long term is larger. The results are, however, sensitive to the time period used to compute the past stock price change variable. Although we report results consistent with income tax considerations influencing individual investors' selling decisions, the results cannot be definitively attributed to holding period incentives.
The Federal Reserve: The Weakest Lender of Last Resort Among Its Peers

This article for the first time compares the Federal Reserve’ sp owers as lender of last resort (‘LLR’) and its ability to fight contagion, with its three major peers, the Bank of England (the ‘BOE’), the European Central Bank (the ‘ECB’) and the Bank of Japan (the ‘BOJ’). It concludes that the Federal Reserve (the ‘Fed’) is currently the weakest of the four, largely due to a hostile political environment for LLR powers, which are equated with bailouts, and restrictions placed by the 2010 Dodd–Frank Act on the Fed’s ability to loan to non-banks, whose role in the financial system is ever-increasing. This is a concern for the global as well as the US financial system, given the economic importance of the United States and the use of the dollar as a reserve currency. I. Background: The Fed and Dodd–Frank
The Information Matrix Test for the Linear Model

We derive the information matrix test, suggested by White, for the normal fixed regressor linear model, and show that the statistic decomposes asymptotically into the sum of three independent quadratic forms. One of these is White's general test for heteroscedasticity and the remaining two components are quadratic forms in the third and fourth powers of the residuals respectively. Our results show that the test will fail to detect serial correlation and never be asymptotically optimal against heteroscedasticity, skewness and non-normal kurtosis.
Spent fuel heatup following loss of water during storage

This study addresses the type of spent fuel storage accident that has been hypothesized to be the most severe, i.e., one that leads to a complete drainage of the water from the pool. The objective is to analyze the thermal-hydraulics phenomena involved when the storage racks and their contents become exposed to air, and to determine the conditions that could lead to cladding failure due to overheating. 19 refs.
A Public Health Analysis of Two Proposed Marijuana Legalization Initiatives for the 2016 California Ballot: Creating the New Tobacco Industry

A Public Health Analysis of Two Proposed Marijuana Legalization Initiatives for the 2016 California Ballot: Creating the New Tobacco Industry Rachel A. Barry, MA Stanton A. Glantz, PhD Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies School of Medicine University of California, San Francisco San Francisco, CA 94143-1390 February 2016
Accounting rules, equity valuation, and growth options

In a model with irreversible capacity investments, we show that financial statements prepared under replacement cost accounting provide investors with sufficient information for equity valuation purposes. Under alternative accounting rules, including historical cost and value in use accounting, investors will generally not be able to value precisely a firm’s growth options and therefore its equity. For these accounting rules, we describe the range of valuations that is consistent with the firm’s financial statements. We further show that replacement cost accounting preserves all value-relevant information if the firm’s investments are reversible. However, the directional relation between the value of the firm’s equity and the replacement cost of its assets is different from that in the setting with irreversible investments.
Theory and Techniques for Integrated Area Planning

ECONOMIC problems present themselves sometimes as problems of individual firms and households, sometimes as problems of national concern. At levels which are intermediate with respect to geographical bounds, a unique set of economic problems arise. These are the problems of communities, areas, and regions. The theory used to explain the economic behavior of firms and households is tailored to meet the needs of firm managers and household heads. Techniques such as budgeting, functional analysis, and linear programming relate the theory to data available through descriptive profit statements and balance sheets. The theory of the firm provides a manager with information on which to base decisions about instrumental variables
Selecting the proper LED light fixture to enhance safety in harsh & hazardous environments

Light Emitting Diode (LED) luminaires provide compelling benefits such as long-term cost savings, safety advantages through longer life and durability, inherently lower maintenance costs, and instant restrike capability when compared to legacy lamp types. Proven lower total cost of ownership and increased safety for LEDs have been a driving force in the trend of LED luminaires replacing traditional light sources in process industries. As with any new technology, challenges exist in designing and maintaining an optimal system to withstand the intended application and environmental conditions. Common challenges and considerations include luminaire placement, the intensity/ dispersion/quality of light, thermal management, material selection and redundant safety and operating systems. The authors will examine best practices and common misconceptions in the selection and application of LED luminaires focusing on harsh and hazardous locations. The probability of success in maximizing reliability, safety & efficiency of LED technology in such applications is enhanced by utilizing proven design principles & methods. The selection methods and design principles will be explained using actual application examples and case studies.
Ring-Closing Metathesis Reactions of Acyloxysulfones: Synthesis of γ-Alkylidene Butenolides

An acyloxysulfone ring-closing metathesis/sulfone elimination sequence has been developed for the preparation of various γ-alkylidene butenolides. The elimination is proposed to proceed via an E1cb mechanism leading to (Z)-γ-alkylidene butenolides as the major products.
An Efficient Algorithm For Weak Hierarchical Lasso

Linear regression is a widely used tool in data mining and machine learning. In many applications, fitting a regression model with only linear effects may not be sufficient for predictive or explanatory purposes. One strategy that has recently received increasing attention in statistics is to include feature interactions to capture the nonlinearity in the regression model. Such model has been applied successfully in many biomedical applications. One major challenge in the use of such model is that the data dimensionality is significantly higher than the original data, resulting in the small sample size large dimension problem. Recently, weak hierarchical Lasso, a sparse interaction regression model, is proposed that produces a sparse and hierarchical structured estimator by exploiting the Lasso penalty and a set of hierarchical constraints. However, the hierarchical constraints make it a non-convex problem and the existing method finds the solution to its convex relaxation, which needs additional conditions to guarantee the hierarchical structure. In this article, we propose to directly solve the non-convex weak hierarchical Lasso by making use of the General Iterative Shrinkage and Thresholding (GIST) optimization framework, which has been shown to be efficient for solving non-convex sparse formulations. The key step in GIST is to compute a sequence of proximal operators. One of our key technical contributions is to show that the proximal operator associated with the non-convex weak hierarchical Lasso admits a closed-form solution. However, a naive approach for solving each subproblem of the proximal operator leads to a quadratic time complexity, which is not desirable for large-size problems. We have conducted extensive experiments on both synthetic and real datasets. Results show that our proposed algorithm is much more efficient and effective than its convex relaxation. To this end, we further develop an efficient algorithm for computing the subproblems with a linearithmic time complexity. In addition, we extend the technique to perform the optimization-based hierarchical testing of pairwise interactions for binary classification problems, which is essentially the proximal operator associated with weak hierarchical Lasso. Simulation studies show that the non-convex hierarchical testing framework outperforms the convex relaxation when a hierarchical structure exists between main effects and interactions.
High-speed modulator with interleaved junctions in zero-change CMOS photonics

A microring depletion modulator is demonstrated with T-shaped lateral p-n junctions used to realize efficient modulation while maximizing the RC limited bandwidth. The device having a 3 dB bandwidth of 13 GHz has been fabricated in a standard 45 nm microelectronics CMOS process. The cavity has a linewidth of 17 GHz and an average wavelength-shift of 9 pm/V in reverse-bias conditions.
The Effects of Time-Varying Temperature on Delays in Genetic Networks

Delays in gene networks result from the sequential nature of protein assembly. However, it is unclear how models of gene networks that use delays should be modified when considering time-dependent changes in temperature. This is important, as delay is often used in models of genetic oscillators that can be entrained by periodic fluctuations in temperature. Here, we analytically derive the time dependence of delay distributions in response to time-varying temperature changes. We find that the resulting time-varying delay is nonlinearly dependent on parameters of the time-varying temperature such as amplitude and frequency, therefore, applying an Arrhenius scaling may result in erroneous conclusions. We use these results to examine a model of a synthetic gene oscillator with temperature compensation. We show that temperature entrainment follows from the same mechanism that results in temperature compensation. Under a common Arrhenius scaling alone, the frequency of the oscillator is sensitive to changes in the mean temperature but robust to changes in the frequency of a periodically time-varying temperature. When a mechanism for temperature compensation is included in the model, however, we show that the oscillator is entrained by periodically varying temperature even when maintaining insensitivity to the mean temperature.
Readability assessment of internet-based patient education materials related to acoustic neuromas

OBJECTIVE The objectives of this study were to assess the readability of Internet-based patient education materials related to acoustic neuromas (AN-IPEMs) by 4 widely validated readability indices, to evaluate scores against the existing sixth grade recommended reading level, and to compare the readability scores of patient education materials (PEMs) produced by professional organizations, clinical practices, hospitals, and miscellaneous sources. MATERIALS AND METHODS AN-IPEMs from 67 web sites (6 professional societies, 33 clinical practices, 19 hospitals, and 9 miscellaneous) were assessed using Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES), Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL), Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG), and Gunning Frequency of Gobbledygook (Gunning FOG). Scores were then evaluated against national recommendations by 1-tailed t tests and against each other using 1-way ANOVAs. RESULTS The average FKGL, SMOG, and Gunning FOG scores were all significantly higher than the recommended sixth grade reading level suggested by the USDHHS (p < 0.0001, single sample 1-tailed t test). Zero articles, by all indices, had a reading level equal to or below the sixth grade reading level. The FKGLs also varied between the various sources at a significant level (p = 0.01 one-way ANOVA independent samples). The average FKGLs of clinical practice and professional society AN-IPEMs were significantly higher than the average FKGLs of hospital AN-IPEMs (both p ≤ 0.05 one-tailed t-tests assuming unequal variances). CONCLUSION AN-IPEMs are written at a level significantly higher than that suggested by national recommendations. Current AN-IPEMs may need to be revised in order to enhance patient comprehension.
Functionalization of Silyldienol Ethers at the γ-Position via 2-Silyloxypentadienyl Cations

This report describes Bronsted acid catalyzed de novo synthesis of silyldienol ethers bearing tetrasubstituted double bonds via an intermediacy of 2-silyloxypentadienyl cations. The reactivity of these novel cationic intermediates could be modulated and harnessed toward direct nucleophilic additions regioselectively at the γ-position to produce highly functionalized silyldienol ethers with tunable control of the resulting double bond geometry.
Nickel-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling of Chromene Acetals and Boronic Acids

A modular and highly efficient protocol for the synthesis of 2-aryl- and heteroaryl-2H-chromenes is described. Under base-free conditions, readily accessible 2-ethoxy-2H-chromenes undergo Csp3–O activation and Csp3–C bond formation in the presence of an inexpensive nickel catalyst and boronic acids. This new strategy enables broad access to 2-substituted-2H-chromenes and has been applied to the late-stage incorporation of complex molecules, including the pharmaceuticals loratidine and indomethacin methyl ester.
State High Courts, State Constitutions, and Individual Rights Litigation Since 1980: A Judicial Survey

In 1985, state courts of last resort issued more decisions than in any year since 1950 in which they extended rights protections to individuals beyond those recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court by basing rights protections solely or independently upon state constitutional grounds. A survey of state high court judges and justices reported here indicates that there has been a nationwide increase in the number of individual rights cases litigated under state constitutions since 1980. Significant-to-moderate increases, however, were more likely to be reported by justices from the Northeast and West, from states having a moralistic political culture, andfrom courts whose members are appointed by the governor and/or legislature. State constitutional rights claims are more likely to be raised in criminal than noncriminal cases, though in both types of cases and in most states, state constitutional rights claims are raised less frequently than federal constitutional rights claims. Majorities of judges and justices favor the ideas of teaching state constitutional law in law schools and of testing for knowledge of state constitutional law on bar examinations.
Optical Fiber Loop-Sensors for Structural Health Monitoring of Composites

In the present work a fiber-optic loop-sensor is designed and tested for possible applications in structural health monitoring of composite materials. It is known that bending an optical fiber beyond a critical curvature leads to loss of optical power through the curved region. The optical power loss depends on the radius of curvature of the loop. The optical power can be measured by a photodetector and a change in the power due a change to the curvature can be measured. In the present research optical fiber-optic loop-sensors are developed that can exploit this concept. Single-mode optical fiber sensors having different loop radii, from 6-10 mm, are fabricated and calibrated for applied strain on the loop. The calibration is carried out using a 0.098 N load cell and a computer controlled translation stage having 50 nm step resolution. Results show that the sensors provide highly repeatable curves for loading and unloading cycles. Smaller loop radii lead to higher optical power losses, resulting in higher sensitivity. Calibration results show that such sensors can be used in structural health monitoring applications. In this approach the coating and cladding of optical fibers are maintained intact; therefore, the sensors are robust and can withstand several composites fabrication processes.
Synthesis of ortho-haloaminoarenes by aryne insertion of nitrogen-halide bonds.

A rapid and general access to ortho-haloaminoarenes has been developed by aryne insertion into N-chloramine, N-bromoamine, and N-iodoamine bonds via two complementary protocols harnessing fluoride-promoted 1,2-elimination of ortho-trimethylsilyl aryltriflates. Typically, electron-deficient N-chloramines effectively react with aryne intermediates generated at elevated temperature with CsF, while less stable N-haloamines are found more efficient under milder, TBAF-mediated aryne formation at room temperature. Both protocols demonstrate a good level of regioselectivity and functional group tolerance. Efforts to elucidate the mechanism of N–X insertion are also discussed. The practical value of this transformation is highlighted by rapid synthesis of novel analogues of the antipsychotic cariprazine.
Parametric Study on the Effect of Partial Charge on Water Infiltration Behavior in MFI Zeolites

This work analyzes the infiltration behavior of water into sub-nanometer MFI zeolite pores using molecular dynamics simulations. Infiltration simulations are run for a range of partial charge values on the zeolite atoms. Infiltration behavior is compared to partial charges to verify dependence and determine critical charge above which infiltration becomes severely inhibited even at high pressures. Attraction energy is calculated and correlated to the observed infiltration behavior. The critical partial charge of Si∼1.8 occurs when the water-zeolite interaction energy becomes stronger than water-water attraction due to which water molecules get stuck and infiltration is significantly reduced.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Sensitivity Analysis Methods for Uncertainty Budgeting in System Design

Quantification and management of uncertainty are critical in the design of engineering systems, especially in the early stages of conceptual design. This paper presents an approach to defining budgets on the acceptable levels of uncertainty in design quantities of interest, such as the allowable risk in not meeting a critical design constraint and the allowable deviation in a system performance metric. A sensitivity-based method analyzes the effects of design decisions on satisfying those budgets, and a multi-objective optimization formulation permits the designer to explore the tradespace of uncertainty reduction activities while also accounting for a cost budget. For models that are computationally costly to evaluate, a surrogate modeling approach based on high-dimensional model representation achieves efficient computation of the sensitivities. An example problem in aircraft conceptual design illustrates the approach.
Direct Asymmetric Amination of α-Branched Cyclic Ketones Catalyzed by a Chiral Phosphoric Acid

Here we report the direct asymmetric amination of α-substituted cyclic ketones catalyzed by a chiral phosphoric acid, yielding products with a N-containing quaternary stereocenter in high yields and excellent enantioselectivities. Kinetic resolution of the starting ketone was also found to occur on some of the substrates under milder conditions, providing enantioenriched α-branched ketones, another important building block in organic synthesis. The utility of this methodology was demonstrated in the short synthesis of (S)-ketamine, the more active enantiomer of this versatile pharmaceutical.
The Effects of Political and Fiscal Incentives on Local Government Behavior: An Analysis of Fiscal Slack in China

ABSTRACTThis study examines the determinants of fiscal slack from the perspective of Chinese local government officials. Given China's rapid economic growth over the past 30-plus years, Chinese local governments reportedly hold huge slack resources that attract public scrutiny. In an effort to improve their fiscal performance, some localities recently established budget stabilization funds, following a top-down initiative. However, it remains unclear to what extent fiscal slack has accumulated and which factors affect slack resource levels of Chinese local governments. By employing a panel dataset (249 prefecture-level cities, 1999–2009), this study finds that political and fiscal factors exert significant influence over local officials’ decisions about slack resource levels. The findings of the study bear implications for establishing fiscal rules and improving the performance of sub-national governments in China and other countries.
Economic Analysis of Sorghum Silage Potential for Dairy Industry in the Texas High Plains

The objective is to evaluate the economic feasibility and potential water savings to a dairy of replacing corn silage with BMR sorghum silage; and to estimate the potential economic benefits and water savings (current & future) to the region from adoption of this practice. Economic analysis was conducted for different scenarios to estimate irrigated sorghum silage potential in the Texas High Plains to meet the feed requirements of ever growing dairy industry. Sensitivity analysis was also conducted to know the effects of yield on the amount of water that will be saved, feed requirement, acreage to cultivate and cost of production. The cost of production for corn silage is higher than the cost for sorghum silage. More acreage, irrigation water and feed requirement will be needed if sorghum silage is used to replace 100% of the corn silage needed to feed the dairy cow inventory unless there is an increment in yield per acre of sorghum silage between 24 -26 tons per acre. More water can also be saved if the yield per acre of dryland sorghum silage can be increased substantially so that the effect of cost of production can be reduced in relation to the high number of dryland sorghum acreage needed to meet the feed requirement through irrigated sorghum-dryland combination.
Kinesin-8 effects on mitotic microtubule dynamics contribute to spindle function in fission yeast

Kinesin-8 motor proteins destabilize microtubules. Their absence during cell division is associated with disorganized mitotic chromosome movements and chromosome loss. Despite recent work studying effects of kinesin-8s on microtubule dynamics, it remains unclear whether the kinesin-8 mitotic phenotypes are consequences of their effect on microtubule dynamics, their well-established motor activity, or additional, unknown functions. To better understand the role of kinesin-8 proteins in mitosis, we studied the effects of deletion of the fission yeast kinesin-8 proteins Klp5 and Klp6 on chromosome movements and spindle length dynamics. Aberrant microtubule-driven kinetochore pushing movements and tripolar mitotic spindles occurred in cells lacking Klp5 but not Klp6. Kinesin-8-deletion strains showed large fluctuations in metaphase spindle length, suggesting a disruption of spindle length stabilization. Comparison of our results from light microscopy with a mathematical model suggests that kinesin-8-induced effects on microtubule dynamics, kinetochore attachment stability, and sliding force in the spindle can explain the aberrant chromosome movements and spindle length fluctuations seen.
Adjoint eigenfunctions of temporally recurrent single-spiral solutions in a simple model of atrial fibrillation

This paper introduces a numerical method for computing the spectrum of adjoint (left) eigenfunctions of spiral wave solutions to reaction-diffusion systems in arbitrary geometries. The method is illustrated by computing over a hundred eigenfunctions associated with an unstable time-periodic single-spiral solution of the Karma model on a square domain. We show that all leading adjoint eigenfunctions are exponentially localized in the vicinity of the spiral tip, although the marginal modes (response functions) demonstrate the strongest localization. We also discuss the implications of the localization for the dynamics and control of unstable spiral waves. In particular, the interaction with no-flux boundaries leads to a drift of spiral waves which can be understood with the help of the response functions.
Characteristic features of MR truncation artifacts

Truncation artifacts occur in MR imaging because Fourier transforms are used to process MR signal data. These artifacts may alter the intensity, shape, and anatomic detail of structures in the spine. Ring artifacts (Gibb phenomenon) occurring near highly contrasting interfaces represent but one manifestation of truncation artifacts visible on MR images. We review truncation phenomena by providing graphic and phantom models. Ways in which truncation artifacts alter the MR appearance of the spine are discussed. We found that truncation phenomena are reduced most effectively by using a 256 × 256 matrix whenever feasible.
SURVIVORSHIP AND COMPLICATIONS OF REVISION TOTAL HIP ARTHROPLASTY WITH A MID-MODULAR FEMORAL STEM

We retrospectively reviewed 161 revision THAs with diaphyseal fitting, mid- modular femoral components performed by ten surgeons at two academic medical centers. The average follow-up was 6.1 years. At final follow-up, 4 patients required re-revision for failure of the femoral component; 3 (2%) for aseptic loosening and 1 for mechanical failure of stem in setting of periprosthetic fracture. There were a total of 24 (14.9%) revisions for any reason, with the most common reason being septic failure (10 of 24). To our knowledge, this is the largest reported series of mid-term survivorship and complications of revision THA with mid-modular femoral components. Our results show that these stems have a low rate of aseptic loosening, subsidence, and mechanical failure.
Regioselective Substitution in Aromatic Six-Membered Nitrogen Heterocycles

Publisher Summary The reactivity of various six-membered heteroaromatic compounds has been previously reviewed through 1982. This chapter describes the nucleophilic, electrophilic, and free-radical substitution reactions on the ring carbon atoms of pyridines, pyridazines, pyrimidines, pyrazines, triazines, and tetrazines. Fused-ring derivatives of these heterocycles are not covered. Multistep substitutions involving dihydro intermediates are included. The primary chemical literature between 1982 and June 1987 is also surveyed.
Fetoscopy in Prenatal Diagnosis

This article details the developing consensus concerning the techniques, indications, and safety of fetoscopy.
High resolution neural connectivity from incomplete tracing data using nonnegative spline regression

Whole-brain neural connectivity data are now available from viral tracing experiments, which reveal the connections between a source injection site and elsewhere in the brain. These hold the promise of revealing spatial patterns of connectivity throughout the mammalian brain. To achieve this goal, we seek to fit a weighted, nonnegative adjacency matrix among 100 μm brain “voxels” using viral tracer data. Despite a multi-year experimental effort, injections provide incomplete coverage, and the number of voxels in our data is orders of magnitude larger than the number of injections, making the problem severely underdetermined. Furthermore, projection data are missing within the injection site because local connections there are not separable from the injection signal. We use a novel machine-learning algorithm to meet these challenges and develop a spatially explicit, voxel-scale connectivity map of the mouse visual system. Our method combines three features: a matrix completion loss for missing data, a smoothing spline penalty to regularize the problem, and (optionally) a low rank factorization. We demonstrate the consistency of our estimator using synthetic data and then apply it to newly available Allen Mouse Brain Connectivity Atlas data for the visual system. Our algorithm is significantly more predictive than current state of the art approaches which assume regions to be homogeneous. We demonstrate the efficacy of a low rank version on visual cortex data and discuss the possibility of extending this to a whole-brain connectivity matrix at the voxel scale.
Online algorithms for factorization-based structure from motion

We present a family of algorithms for factorization-based structure-from-motion.Our algorithms operate online and are orders of magnitude faster than others.A robust version of our algorithm is able to handle sparse outliers.We demonstrate a real-time implementation using a laptop and a webcam. We present a family of online algorithms for real-time factorization-based structure from motion, leveraging a relationship between the incremental singular value decomposition and recently proposed methods for online matrix completion. Our methods are orders of magnitude faster than previous state of the art, can handle missing data and a variable number of feature points, and are robust to noise and sparse outliers. We demonstrate our methods on both real and synthetic sequences and show that they perform well in both online and batch settings. We also provide an implementation that is able to produce 3D models in real time using a laptop with a webcam.
Leukemia and lymphoma.

This is a hard cover publication of two single issues of journal initially published in soft cover as "Seminars in Hematology" in July 1969 and in October 1969. It does not deal comprehensively or completely with the subjects indicated by the title. Since these articles are already available in medical libraries and have already been adequately indexed, I can see little justification for republication with a hard cover. There is a brief introduction by Holland to each of the two segments. There follow eight review manuscripts which deal with genetics, epidemiology, cyto-chemistry, and treatment of acute leukemia. Chronic myelocytic leukemia, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, radiotherapy for lymphoma, and overall lymphoma therapy make up the last four papers. While the individual papers in this collection may be of great value to certain individuals as a collective publication, I feel that it has little to recommend it.
Women's employment and domestic violence: A review of the literature

A steady and accessible financial outlet is central to living an abuse free life for women who experience domestic violence. In this systematic review of the literature, the relationship between domestic violence and employment instability as a result of workplace disruptions used by abusive men to sabotage their partner's employment efforts is explored. A total of 20 quantitative studies of adult women were selected that measured employment and domestic violence. A quarter of the studies included measured mental health problems, revealing correlations and mediation effects between domestic violence and employment stability. Every study selected found workplace disruptions among women experiencing domestic violence. On-the-job harassment was found in four of the studies reviewed with two studies finding corresponding decline in productivity and performance. Losing paid work time is also a serious cause of employment instability as workplace time reductions workplace time reductions were found in approximately half of the studies reviewed. Job loss or unemployment as a result of domestic violence was found in seven of the studies reviewed. To prevent employment instability, employers can restructure policy and procedures of Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) and policymakers can further support and expand Family Violence Options for welfare-recipients experiencing domestic violence. Language: en
Early Childhood Behavior Problems and the Gender Gap in Educational Attainment in the United States

Why do men in the United States today complete less schooling than women? One reason may be gender differences in early self-regulation and prosocial behaviors. Scholars have found that boys’ early behavioral disadvantage predicts their lower average academic achievement during elementary school. In this study, I examine longer-term effects: Do these early behavioral differences predict boys’ lower rates of high school graduation, college enrollment and graduation, and fewer years of schooling completed in adulthood? If so, through what pathways are they linked? I leverage a nationally representative sample of children born in the 1980s to women in their early to mid-20s and followed into adulthood. I use decomposition and path analytic tools to show that boys’ higher average levels of behavior problems at age 4 to 5 years help explain the current gender gap in schooling by age 26 to 29, controlling for other observed early childhood factors. In addition, I find that early behavior problems predict outcom...
Picosecond electrical sampling using a scanning force microscope

A scanning force microscope probe for measuring ultrafast voltage signals is demonstrated. The new technique is based on mixing due to the square-law force interaction present between the microscope tip and sample. Correlation of 100 ps pulses and mixing up to 20 GHz have been achieved.
Making On-Demand Routing Efficient with Route-Request Aggregation

In theory, on-demand routing is very attractive for mobile ad hoc networks (MANET), because it induces signaling only for those destinations for which there is data traffic. However, in practice, the signaling overhead of existing on-demand routing protocols becomes excessive as the rate of topology changes increases due to mobility or other causes. We introduce the first on-demand routing approach that eliminates the main limitation of on-demand routing by aggregating route requests (RREQ) for the same destinations. The approach can be applied to any existing on-demand routing protocol, and we introduce the Ad-hoc Demand-Aggregated Routing with Adaptation (ADARA) as an example of how RREQ aggregation can be used. ADARA is compared to AODV and OLSR using discrete-event simulations, and the results show that aggregating RREQs can make on-demand routing more efficient than existing proactive or on-demand routing protocols.