cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Symmetric and nonsymmetric Koornwinder polynomials in the q → 0 limit

Koornwinder polynomials are a 6-parameter $$BC_{n}$$BCn-symmetric family of Laurent polynomials indexed by partitions, from which Macdonald polynomials can be recovered in suitable limits of the parameters. As in the Macdonald polynomial case, standard constructions via difference operators do not allow one to directly control these polynomials at $$q=0$$q=0. In the first part of this paper, we provide an explicit construction for these polynomials in this limit, using the defining properties of Koornwinder polynomials. Our formula is a first step in developing the analogy between Hall---Littlewood polynomials and Koornwinder polynomials at $$q=0$$q=0. In the second part of the paper, we provide a construction for the nonsymmetric Koornwinder polynomials in the same limiting case; this parallels work by Descouens---Lascoux in type $$A$$A. As an application, we prove an integral identity for Koornwinder polynomials at $$q=0$$q=0.
Density-constrained time-dependent Hartree-Fock calculation of 16 O + 208 Pb fusion cross-sections

We present a fully microscopic study of the 16O + 208Pb fusion using the density-constrained time-dependent Hartree-Fock theory. The calculated fusion cross-sections are in good agreement with the experimental data for the entire energy range indicating that the incorporation of dynamical effects is crucial in describing heavy-ion fusion.
Sports medicine concerns in dance and gymnastics.

This article examines the demands, the injuries, and the medical problems associated with ballet and gymnastics. Guidelines for preparticipation screening are presented followed by a discussion of the medical concerns in ballet and gymnastics. The author then discusses the specifics of elbow injuries, wrist capsulitis, knee problems, ankle problems, food problems, stress fractures, low back pain, and nutrition and menses problems, and offers guidelines for selecting a school well suited for dance and gymnastics.
Bayesian aggregation of two forecasts in the partial information framework

Abstract We generalize the results of Satopaa et al (in press, 2015) by showing how the Gaussian aggregator may be computed in a setting where parameter estimation is not required. We proceed to provide an explicit formula for a “one-shot” aggregation problem with two forecasters.
The equitable distribution of the benefits from decentralization: a challenge for power system designers

All power systems used centralized schemes for decision-making (planning and control). The restructuring movement has sought to change this condition by decentralizing the decision-making in selected parts of power systems, particularly, the generators. Power systems are well suited to decentralization. The author believes that locally optimal (decentralized) decisions can be made to come very close to, if not coincide with, globally optimal decisions (the best possible decisions from centralized processes). Current decentralization schemes do not realize this potential. To obtain the full benefits, the following are needed: (a) convenient and reliable testing and verification processes; and (b) symmetry in the decision-making freedom given to the agents in the system, and in particular, full customer participation.
Treatment with Tafamidis Slows Disease Progression in Early Stage Transthyretin Cardiomyopathy

Background: Transthyretin cardiomyopathy (TTR-CM) is a progressive, fatal disease caused by the accumulation of misfolded transthyretin (TTR) amyloid fibrils in the heart. Tafamidis is a kinetic stabilizer of TTR that inhibits misfolding and amyloid formation. Methods: In this post hoc analysis, data from an observational study (Transthyretin Amyloidosis Cardiac Study; n = 29) were compared with an open-label study of tafamidis in patients with TTR-CM (Fx1B-201; n = 35). To ensure comparable baseline disease severity, patients with New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional classification ≥III were excluded in this time-to-mortality analysis. Results: Patients with either wild-type or Val122Ile genotypes treated with tafamidis have a significantly longer time to death compared with untreated patients ( P = .0004). Similar results were obtained when limiting the analysis to wild-type patients only, without restricting NYHA functional classification ( P = .0262). Conclusions: These results support earlier conclusions suggesting that tafamidis slows disease progression compared with no treatment outside of standard of care and warrant further investigation. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT00694161.
High-energy gamma-ray observations of active galaxies

During the period from 1992 May to early 1992 November, the Energetic Gamma-Ray Experiment Telescope (EGRET) on board the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory obtained high-energy gamma-ray data for most of the sky. A total of 18 active galaxies have been seen with high certainty, and it is expected that more will be found in the data when a more thorough analysis is complete. All of those that have been seen are radio-loud quasars or BL Lacertae objects; most have already been identified as blazars. No Seyfert galaxies have been found thus far. If the spectra are represented as a power law in energy, spectral slopes ranging from approximately -1.7 to -2.4 are found. A wide range of z-values exits in the observed sample, eight having values in excess of 1.0. Time variations have been seen, with the timescale for a significant change being as short as days in at least one case. These results imply the existence of very large numbers of relativistic particles, probably close to the central object. Although a large extrapolation is required, their existence also suggests that these active galactic nuclei may be the source of the extragalactic cosmic rays.
The near-infrared spectrum of ethynyl radical

Transient diode laser absorption spectroscopy has been used to measure three strong vibronic bands in the near infrared spectrum of the C2H, ethynyl, radical not previously observed in the gas phase. The radical was produced by ultraviolet excimer laser photolysis of either acetylene or (1,1,1)-trifluoropropyne in a slowly flowing sample of the precursor diluted in inert gas, and the spectral resolution was Doppler-limited. The character of the upper states was determined from the rotational and fine structure in the observed spectra and assigned by measurement of ground state rotational combination differences. The upper states include a (2)Σ(+) state at 6696 cm(-1), a second (2)Σ(+) state at 7088 cm(-1), and a (2)Π state at 7110 cm(-1). By comparison with published calculations [R. Tarroni and S. Carter, J. Chem. Phys 119, 12878 (2003); Mol. Phys. 102, 2167 (2004)], the vibronic character of these levels was also assigned. The observed states contain both X(2)Σ(+) and A(2)Π electronic characters. Several local rotational level perturbations were observed in the excited states. Kinetic measurements of the time-evolution of the ground state populations following collisional relaxation and reactive loss of the radicals formed in a hot, non-thermal, population distribution were made using some of the strong rotational lines observed. The case of C2H may be a good place to investigate the behavior at intermediate pressures of inert colliders, where the competition between relaxation and reaction can be tuned and observed to compare with master equation models, rather than deliberately suppressed to measure thermal rate constants.
The design of a delay-insensitive microprocessor: an example of circuit synthesis by program transformation

We have designed the first delay-insensitive microprocessor. It is a 16-bit, RISC-like architecture. The version implemented in 1.6 micron SCMOS runs at 18 MIPS. The chips were found functional on “first silicon.”
Laplacian Pyramid Reconstruction and Refinement for Semantic Segmentation

CNN architectures have terrific recognition performance but rely on spatial pooling which makes it difficult to adapt them to tasks that require dense, pixel-accurate labeling. This paper makes two contributions: (1) We demonstrate that while the apparent spatial resolution of convolutional feature maps is low, the high-dimensional feature representation contains significant sub-pixel localization information. (2) We describe a multi-resolution reconstruction architecture based on a Laplacian pyramid that uses skip connections from higher resolution feature maps and multiplicative gating to successively refine segment boundaries reconstructed from lower-resolution maps. This approach yields state-of-the-art semantic segmentation results on the PASCAL VOC and Cityscapes segmentation benchmarks without resorting to more complex random-field inference or instance detection driven architectures.
Securing private data sharing in multi-party analytics

A general class of problems arises when datasets containing private information belong to multiple parties or owners and they collectively want to perform analytic studies on the entire set while respecting the privacy and security concerns of each individual party. We describe a solution to this problem in the form of a secure procedure for data mapping and/or linkage, which allows to identify the correspondence between entities in a distributed dataset. In contrast to existing methods this solution does not require either a trusted or semi-trusted third party, while being simple, efficient and scalable for both large datasets and number of parties.
Sequential Action Control: Closed-Form Optimal Control for Nonlinear and Nonsmooth Systems

This paper presents a new model-based algorithm that computes predictive optimal controls online and in a closed loop for traditionally challenging nonlinear systems. Examples demonstrate the same algorithm controlling hybrid impulsive, underactuated, and constrained systems using only high-level models and trajectory goals. Rather than iteratively optimizing finite horizon control sequences to minimize an objective, this paper derives a closed-form expression for individual control actions, i.e., control values that can be applied for short duration, that optimally improve a tracking objective over a long time horizon. Under mild assumptions, actions become linear feedback laws near equilibria that permit stability analysis and performance-based parameter selection. Globally, optimal actions are guaranteed existence and uniqueness. By sequencing these actions online, in receding horizon fashion, the proposed controller provides a min–max constrained response to a state that avoids the overhead typically required to impose control constraints. Benchmark examples show that the approach can avoid local minima and outperform nonlinear optimal controllers and recent case-specific methods in terms of tracking performance and at speeds that are orders of magnitude faster than traditionally achievable ones.
Loop Shaping of a Wide-Area Damping Controller Using HVDC

Insufficiently damped inter-area oscillatory behavior in large power systems may be mitigated by the application of a feedback control system. Thorough investigation of the resonant features unique to the western North American power system suggests that the modulation of active power using high-voltage dc has great impact on retaining system stability when actuation is provided by the geographically expansive pacific dc intertie transmission line. The controller is limited in bandwidth by the influences of time delay, sensor and actuator dynamics, and specific plant characteristics. While proportional feedback of the scaled difference of two disparate bus frequencies has shown to be a valid method for controlling this particular system in previous work, the authors submit that a shaped loop transmission function provides performance and noise response improvement with guaranteed stability in saturation. Results of simulations using a high fidelity model of the system show the efficacy of the approach.
Q-Learning for robust satisfaction of signal temporal logic specifications

This paper addresses the problem of learning optimal policies for satisfying signal temporal logic (STL) specifications by agents with unknown stochastic dynamics. The system is modeled as a Markov decision process, in which the states represent partitions of a continuous space and the transition probabilities are unknown. We formulate two synthesis problems where the desired STL specification is enforced by maximizing the probability of satisfaction, and the expected robustness degree, that is, a measure quantifying the quality of satisfaction. We discuss that Q-learning is not directly applicable to these problems because, based on the quantitative semantics of STL, the probability of satisfaction and expected robustness degree are not in the standard objective form of Q-learning. To resolve this issue, we propose an approximation of STL synthesis problems that can be solved via Q-learning, and we derive some performance bounds for the policies obtained by the approximate approach. The performance of the proposed method is demonstrated via simulations.
Micro-Magellan: open-source, sample-adaptive, acquisition software for optical microscopy

We demonstrate the capabilities of μMagellan: a flexible, open source microscopy software for reproducible high throughput imaging of biological samples across heterogeneous scales of space and time. μMagellan provides a simple user interface for exploration and automated imaging of non-cuboidal regions. By utilizing the hardware abstraction layer of μManager, μMagellan provides a powerful and extensible platform for imaging heterogeneous biological samples on a wide range of existing microscopes.
Comparing human-centric and robot-centric sampling for robot deep learning from demonstrations

Motivated by recent advances in Deep Learning for robot control, this paper considers two learning algorithms in terms of how they acquire demonstrations from fallible human supervisors. Human-Centric (HC) sampling is a standard supervised learning algorithm, where a human supervisor demonstrates the task by teleoperating the robot to provide trajectories consisting of state-control pairs. Robot-Centric (RC) sampling is an increasingly popular alternative used in algorithms such as DAgger, where a human supervisor observes the robot execute a learned policy and provides corrective control labels for each state visited. We suggest RC sampling can be challenging for human supervisors and prone to mislabeling. RC sampling can also induce error in policy performance because it repeatedly visits areas of the state space that are harder to learn. Although policies learned with RC sampling can be superior to HC sampling for standard learning models such as linear SVMs, policies learned with HC sampling may be comparable to RC when applied to expressive learning models such as deep learning and hyper-parametric decision trees, which can achieve very low training error provided there is enough data. We compare HC and RC using a grid world environment and a physical robot singulation task. In the latter the input is a binary image of objects on a planar worksurface and the policy generates a motion in the gripper to separate one object from the rest. We observe in simulation that for linear SVMs, policies learned with RC outperformed those learned with HC but that using deep models this advantage disappears. We also find that with RC, the corrective control labels provided by humans can be highly inconsistent. We prove there exists a class of examples in which at the limit, HC is guaranteed to converge to an optimal policy while RC may fail to converge. These results suggest a form of HC sampling may be preferable for highly-expressive learning models and human supervisors.
THE DOWN SYNDROME PATIENT: NOT A DOWNER

Significant hip osteoarthritis has been reported in 8–28% of patients with Down Syndrome. The prolonged life expectancy of these patients has allowed many of them to become disabled by their hip arthritis with the need for hip replacement. We have been able to perform a multi-center study evaluating total hip replacement in patients with Down Syndrome. Twenty patients (25 hips) with Down Syndrome underwent primary THA at a mean age of 35 years old with a mean 105 month follow-up. Cementless acetabular fixation with screws were used in all cases and all but one femoral component was cementless. Constrained liners were used in 8 cases to enhance stability. Five hips required revision surgery: two femoral components (one for periprosthetic fracture and one for aseptic loosening), two acetabular components (one for recurrent dislocation and one for wear with metallosis), and one hip required a two-stage revision for infection. Other than the hip revised for loosening, no other hip had radiographic evidence of loosening. The mean Harris Hip score improved from 42 points preoperatively to 83 points at final follow-up. THA is a reliable surgical intervention in patients with Down Syndrome and symptomatic coxarthrosis. These patients and their families have been tremendously satisfied with this procedure.
PHOTOLITHOGRAPHY-FREE LASER-PATTERNED HF ACID-RESISTANT CHROMIUM-POLYIMIDE MASK FOR RAPID FABRICATION OF MICROFLUIDIC SYSTEMS IN GLASS.

Excellent chemical and physical properties of glass, over a range of operating conditions, make it a preferred material for chemical detection systems in analytical chemistry, biology, and the environmental sciences. However, it is often compromised with SU8, PDMS, or Parylene materials due to the sophisticated mask preparation requirements for wet etching of glass. Here, we report our efforts toward developing a photolithography-free laser-patterned hydrofluoric acid-resistant chromium-polyimide tape mask for rapid prototyping of microfluidic systems in glass. The patterns are defined in masking layer with a diode-pumped solid-state laser. Minimum feature size is limited to the diameter of the laser beam, 30 µm; minimum spacing between features is limited by the thermal shrinkage and adhesive contact of the polyimide tape to 40 µm. The patterned glass substrates are etched in 49% hydrofluoric acid at ambient temperature with soft agitation (in time increments, up to 60 min duration). In spite of the simplicity, our method demonstrates comparable results to the other current more sophisticated masking methods in terms of the etched depth (up to 300 µm in borosilicate glass), feature under etch ratio in isotropic etch (~1.36), and low mask hole density. The method demonstrates high yield and reliability. To our knowledge, this method is the first proposed technique for rapid prototyping of microfluidic systems in glass with such high performance parameters. The proposed method of fabrication can potentially be implemented in research institutions without access to a standard clean-room facility.
Asymptotics of the number of standard Young tableaux of skew shape

Abstract We give new bounds and asymptotic estimates on the number of standard Young tableaux of skew shape in a variety of special cases. Our approach is based on Naruse’s hook-length formula. We also compare our bounds with the existing bounds on the numbers of linear extensions of the corresponding posets.
On a World Climate Assembly and the Social Cost of Carbon

This paper argues that a uniform global tax-like price on carbon emissions, whose revenues each country retains, can provide a focal point for a reciprocal common climate commitment, whereas quantity targets, which do not nearly so readily present such a single focal point, tend to rely ultimately on individual quantity commitments. The paper postulates the conceptually useful allegory of a futuristic ‘World Climate Assembly’ (WCA) that votes for a single worldwide price on carbon emissions via the basic democratic principle of one person, one vote majority rule. A WCA-like uniform price-tax counters self-interest by incentivizing countries or agents to internalize the externality because each WCA agent's higher abatement cost from a higher emissions price is counterbalanced by that agent's extra benefit from inducing all other WCA agents to simultaneously lower their emissions in response to the higher price. The paper derives fresh insights and new simple formulae that relate each emitter's most-preferred world price of carbon to the world ‘social cost of carbon’ (SCC), and further relates the WCA-voted world price of carbon to the world SCC. Some implications are discussed. The overall methodology of the paper is a mixture of mostly classical with some behavioural economics.
Neutrino Signatures From Young Neutron Stars

After a successful core collapse supernova (CCSN) explosion, a hot dense proto-neutron star (PNS) is left as a remnant. Over a time of 20 or so seconds, this PNS emits the majority of the neutrinos that come from the CCSN, contracts, and loses most of its lepton number. This is the process by which all neutron stars in our galaxy are likely born. The emitted neutrinos were detected from supernova (SN) 1987A, and they will be detected in much greater numbers from any future galactic CCSN. These detections can provide a direct window into the properties of the dense matter encountered inside neutron stars, and they can affect nucleosynthesis in the material ejected during the CCSN. In this chapter, we review the basic physics of PNS cooling, including the basic equations of PNS structure and neutrino diffusion in dense matter. We then discuss how the nuclear equation of state, neutrino opacities in dense matter, and convection can shape the temporal behavior of the neutrino signal. We also discuss what was learned from the late-time SN 1987A neutrinos, the prospects for detection of these neutrinos from future galactic CCSNe, and the effects these neutrinos can have on nucleosynthesis.
Analysis and approximation of a fractional Laplacian-based closure model for turbulent flows and its connection to Richardson pair dispersion☆

Abstract We study a turbulence closure model in which the fractional Laplacian ( − Δ ) α of the velocity field represents the turbulence diffusivity. We investigate the energy spectrum of the model by applying Pao’s energy transfer theory. For the case α = 1 ∕ 3 , the corresponding power law of the energy spectrum in the inertial range has a correction exponent on the regular Kolmogorov − 5 ∕ 3 scaling exponent. For this case, this model represents Richardson’s particle pair-distance superdiffusion of a fully developed homogeneous turbulent flow as well as Levy jumps that lead to the superdiffusion. For other values of α , the power law of the energy spectrum is consistent with the regular Kolmogorov − 5 ∕ 3 scaling exponent. We also propose and study a modular time-stepping algorithm in semi-discretized form. The algorithm is minimally intrusive to a given legacy code for solving Navier–Stokes equations by decoupling the local part and nonlocal part of the equations for the unknowns. We prove the algorithm is first-order accurate and unconditionally stable. We also derive error estimates for full discretizations of the model which, in addition to the time stepping algorithm, involves a finite element spatial discretization and a domain truncation approximation to the range of the fractional Laplacian.
The effect of retail competition on relationship-specific investments: evidence from new car advertising

Abstract Longstanding state regulations restrict car manufacturers from terminating relationships with dealers, creating differences in retail competition across brands and markets. I use this variation to identify the causal effect of dealer competition on dealer and manufacturer local market advertising. I find that greater intra-brand dealer competition is associated with lower dealer advertising. US brand manufacturers decrease advertising with an additional same-brand dealer, but there is zero average effect for non-US brand manufacturers. The results are evidence that manufacturers can encourage retail relationship-specific investments by providing downstream market power. I discuss theories of oligopoly and vertical relationships that may explain the results and the relevance of the findings to the effects of state automobile franchise regulation and the recent financial troubles of US car manufacturers.
Inertial Hegselmann-Krause Systems

We derive an energy bound for inertial Hegselmann-Krause (HK) systems , which are a variant of the classic HK model that allows agents to change weights as they please at each step. We use the bound to prove the convergence of HK systems with static agents, which settles a widely believed conjecture. This paper also introduces anchored HK systems and show their equivalence to the symmetric heterogeneous model.
A counterexample to the easy direction of the geometric Gersten conjecture.

For finitely generated groups H and G, equipped with word metrics, a translation-like action of H on G is a free action such that each element of H acts by a map which has finite distance from the identity map in the uniform metric. For example, if H is a subgroup of G, then right translation by elements of H yields a translation-like action of H on G. Whyte asked whether a group with no translation-like action by a Baumslag-Solitar group must be hyperbolic, where the free abelian group of rank 2 is understood to be a Baumslag-Solitar group. We show that the converse of this conjecture is false, and in particular the fundamental group of a closed hyperbolic 3-manifold admits a translation-like action by the free abelian group of rank 2.
On Endogenous Random Consensus and Averaging Dynamics

Motivated by various random variations of Hegselmann-Krause model for opinion dynamics and gossip algorithm in an endogenously changing environment, we propose a general framework for the study of endogenously varying random averaging dynamics, i.e.\ an averaging dynamics whose evolution suffers from history dependent sources of randomness. We show that under general assumptions on the averaging dynamics, such dynamics is convergent almost surely. We also determine the limiting behavior of such dynamics and show such dynamics admit infinitely many time-varying Lyapunov functions.
Cash transfers and labor supply: Evidence from a large-scale program in Iran

Abstract This paper examines the impact of a national cash transfer program on labor supply in Iran. In 2011, Iran started monthly deposits of cash into individual accounts covering more than 70 million people and amounting to 28% of the median per capita household income. The payments were compensation for the sudden removal of hefty energy subsidies. The program has been heavily criticized for its disincentive for work, especially for the poor. We use panel data to study the causal effect of the transfers on labor supply using exogenous variation in the time households first started receiving transfers and in the intensity of treatment, which we define as the share of net transfers from the program in total per capita household expenditures. We find no evidence that cash transfers reduced labor supply, in terms of hours worked or labor force participation. To the contrary, we find positive effects on the labor supply of women and self-employed men.
Effects of broken bars/end-ring connectors and airgap eccentricities on ohmic and core losses of induction motors in ASDs using a coupled finite element-state space method

In this paper, effects of rotor abnormalities such as broken squirrel-cage bars, broken cage connectors and airgap eccentricity on ohmic and core losses of induction motors are presented. In this investigation, a comprehensive time-stepping coupled finite element-state space (TSCFE-SS) model was fully utilized to compute the time-domain elemental flux density waveforms and various time-domain waveforms of motor winding currents useful for core loss and ohmic loss computations. Such investigation is feasible by use of the TSCFE-SS model due to its intrinsic nature and characteristics. The results obtained from the simulations of an example 1.2-hp induction motor clearly indicate that faults due to broken squirrel-cage bars/end-connectors can increase motor core losses in comparison to the healthy case. The results also give the effect of saturation on the core loss distributions within the cross-section of the motor, and indicate the potential for possible excessive loss concentrations and consequent hot spots near zones of bar and connector breakages in the rotor.
A supersymmetric SYK-like tensor model

We consider a supersymmetric SYK-like model without quenched disorder that is built by coupling two kinds of fermionic $$ \mathcal{N}=1 $$ tensor-valued superfields, “quarks” and “mesons”. We prove that the model has a well-defined large-N limit in which the (s)quark 2-point functions are dominated by mesonic “melon” diagrams. We sum these diagrams to obtain the Schwinger-Dyson equations and show that in the IR, the solution agrees with that of the supersymmetric SYK model.
Family Involvement in Treatment Among Youth in Residential Facilities Association With Discharge to Family-Like Setting and Follow-Up Treatment

Youth treated in a residential treatment center (RTC) receive an array of services to address their mental health and behavioral issues, including psychotherapy and medication. Prior studies have shown that youth continue to receive a considerable number of services after discharge from a RTC. This study describes the characteristics of children and youth served in Florida's Medicaid-funded residential treatment facilities, examines whether family involvement in treatment is associated with discharge to a family-like setting, and assesses continuity of treatment after discharge. Data for this study were obtained from the SIPP Provider Monthly Report Database from January 2005 through December 2011. These data contain information on family involvement during treatment. Post-discharge data were from Medicaid enrollment/claims files and Prepaid Mental Health Plan encounters. Results of this study suggest that family contacts for interventions and treatment planning are associated with a greater likelihood of discharge to a family-like setting. Among youth discharged to a family-like setting, family involvement during treatment was associated with receiving follow-up outpatient care. Results support the continued emphasis on including family members in the treatment of youth with mental health needs to ensure better outcomes and continuity of treatment.
Theory and Methods of Lightfield Photography.

Lightfield photography is based on capturing discrete representations of all light rays in a volume of 3D space. Compared to conventional photography, which captures 2D images, lightfield photography captures 4D data. To multiplex this 4D radiance onto conventional 2D sensors, lightfield photography demands sophisticated optics and imaging technology. The final image rendering is based on creating 2D projections of the 4D radiance. This course presents lightfield analysis in a rigorous mathematical way, which often leads to surprisingly direct solutions. The goal is simplicity. The course emphasizes underlying fundamental ideas. The mathematical foundations are used to develop computational methods for lightfield processing and image rendering, including refocusing and perspective viewing. While emphasizing theoretical understanding, the course also demonstrates practical approaches and engineering solutions for the discussed problems. The course includes a hands-on demonstration of several working lightfield cameras that implement different methods for radiance capture, including the micro-lens approach of Lippmann and the plenoptic camera, the mask- enhanced "heterodyning" camera, the lens-prism camera, multispectral and polarization capture, and the plenoptic 2.0 camera. Various computational techniques for processing captured data are demonstrated, including Ng's Fourier slice algorithm, the heterodyned light-field approach for computational refocusing, rendering, glare reduction, and others.
14 – Real Evidence

Publisher Summary Real evidence is evidence that is directly addressed to the senses, such as by sight, hearing, or taste, and it is without the intervention of witnesses. This type of evidence has a physical and tangible existence as compared to oral testimony alone. Real evidence has often been referred to by the terms “demonstrative” or “physical” evidence. Some authorities distinguish between demonstrative and real evidence by defining real evidence as that which involves the introduction of an object that had a direct part in the incident such as the exhibition of injured parts of the body, an actual gun, or knife used in a crime. With the use of real evidence, care must be taken to offer probative evidence that does not pose a risk of unfair prejudice. This may be a special concern when using demonstrative real evidence. To avoid unfair prejudice, certain rules have been established, and they must be followed if such evidence is to be admitted. With the use of demonstrative real evidence, it is possible for witnesses to more effectively explain the events that occurred by using guns, knives, diagrams, maps, charts, and models. When references are made to such a diagram, map, or model, a witness must testify that it is a correct portrayal of the situation or thing represented.
CRISPR, Surrogate Licensing, and Scientific Discovery

Several institutions are embroiled in a legal dispute over the foundational patent rights to CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology, and it may take years for their competing claims to be resolved ( 1 – 4 ). But even before ownership of the patents is finalized, the institutions behind CRISPR have wasted no time capitalizing on the huge market for this groundbreaking technology by entering into a series of license agreements with commercial enterprises (see the figure). With respect to the potentially lucrative market for human therapeutics and treatments, each of the key CRISPR patent holders has granted exclusive rights to a spinoff or “surrogate” company formed by the institution and one of its principal researchers ( 5 , 6 ). Although this model, in which a university effectively outsources the licensing and commercialization of a valuable patent portfolio to a private company, is not uncommon in the world of university technology transfer, we suggest it could rapidly bottleneck the use of CRISPR technology to discover and develop useful human therapeutics.
Epicardial adipose tissue removal potentiates outward remodeling and arrests coronary atherogenesis

Background Pericoronary epicardial adipose tissue (cEAT) serves as a metabolic and paracrine organ that contributes to inflammation and is associated with macrovascular coronary artery disease (CAD) development. Although there is a strong correlation in humans between cEAT volume and CAD severity, there remains a paucity of experimental data demonstrating a causal link of cEAT to CAD. The current study tested the hypothesis that surgical resection of cEAT attenuates inflammation and CAD progression. Methods Female Ossabaw miniature swine (n = 12) were fed an atherogenic diet for 8 months and randomly allocated into sham (n = 5) or adipectomy (n = 7) groups. Both groups underwent a thoracotomy, opening of the pericardial sac, and placement of radioopaque clips to mark the proximal left anterior descending artery. Adipectomy swine underwent removal of 1 to 1.5 cm 2 of cEAT from the proximal artery. After sham or adipectomy, CAD severity was assessed with intravascular ultrasonography. Swine recovered for an additional 3 months on an atherogenic diet, and CAD was assessed immediately before euthanasia. Artery sections were processed for histologic and immunohistochemical analysis. Results Severity of CAD as assessed by percent stenosis was reduced in the adipectomy cohort compared with shams; however, plaque size remained unaltered, whereas larger plaque sizes developed in sham-operated swine. Adipectomy resulted in an expanded arterial diameter, similar to the Glagov phenomenon of positive outward remodeling. No differences in inflammatory marker expression were observed. Conclusions These data indicate that cEAT resection did not alter inflammatory marker expression, but arrested CAD progression through increased positive outward remodeling and arrest of atherogenesis.
Call to (In)Action: The Effects of Racial Priming on Grassroots Mobilization

Previous work on the effects of race on the political behaviors of white Americans is beset with two problems. First, much of the work on the effect of race has looked primarily at attitudes as opposed to political action around a policy. Second, studies of the relationship between race and policy have revolved around issues for which it is inherently difficult to separate the effects of racial prejudice from conservative ideology. To address these problems, we examine the willingness of individuals to write their member of Congress in support of a non-racial political cause, which we experimentally treat with racial cues. We also experimentally present a comparison with a non-racial but similar ‘specialized’ group, which allows us to distinguish concerns about race from concerns about specialized benefits objectionable to conservatives. We show that whites with higher levels of racial resentment are less likely to act politically in support of a policy perceived as benefiting ethnic and racial minorities.
How Many Solar Neutrino Experiments Are Wrong

Ten recently-published solar models give 7 Be neutrino fluxes that lie within a range of ±10% of the average value, a convergence that is independent of uncertainties in the measured laboratory rate of the 7 Be ( p, γ ) 8 B reaction. If nothing happens to solar neutrinos after they are created ( a la standard electroweak theory) and the operating solar neutrino experiments are correct, then the 7 Be solar neutrino flux must be less than 50% of the solar model value. At least three of the four existing solar neutrino experiments must be wrong if : (1) standard electroweak theory is correct, and (2) the true 7 Be neutrino flux lies within the range predicted by standard solar models.
Construction of Directed 2K Graphs

We study the problem of generating synthetic graphs that resemble real-world directed graphs in terms of their degree correlations. In order to capture degree correlation specifically for directed graphs, we define directed 2K (D2K) as those graphs with a given directed degree sequence (DDS) and a given target joint degree and attribute matrix (JDAM). We provide necessary and sufficient conditions for a target D2K to be realizable and we design an efficient algorithm that generates graph realizations with exactly the target D2K. We apply our algorithm to generate synthetic graphs that target real-world directed graphs (such as Twitter), and we demonstrate its benefits compared to state-of-the-art construction algorithms.
Mortgage characteristics and the racial incidence of default

Abstract Previous research has shown that relative to White borrowers, Black and Hispanic borrowers taking out mortgages at the height of the early-2000s housing boom experienced significantly higher delinquency rates. In this paper we attempt to gain a better understanding of the factors that gave rise to these racial differences in mortgage delinquency. Using a database of nearly 3 million mortgages originated between 2005 and 2009, we find that minority borrowers were significantly more likely to have mortgages with high-risk contract characteristics, such as prepayment penalties, payment resets, and terms that limit principal paydown. While much of the racial variation in the prevalence of these characteristics can be explained by common measures of borrower creditworthiness, we also provide evidence that even after conditioning on a rich set of borrower controls, minority borrowers were more likely to have several high-risk mortgage characteristics. Results from mortgage default models and a decomposition exercise show that the concentration of minority borrowers in such loans elevated default rates for Black and Hispanic borrowers by 2 and 4 percentage points, respectively, relative to the default rate for White borrowers. The totality of our results suggest that exotic loan characteristics acted as mortgage default accelerants for many minority homeowners that experienced significant income and equity shocks during the Great Recession.
Argument Mining with Structured SVMs and RNNs

We propose a novel factor graph model for argument mining, designed for settings in which the argumentative relations in a document do not necessarily form a tree structure. (This is the case in over 20% of the web comments dataset we release.) Our model jointly learns elementary unit type classification and argumentative relation prediction. Moreover, our model supports SVM and RNN parametrizations, can enforce structure constraints (e.g., transitivity), and can express dependencies between adjacent relations and propositions. Our approaches outperform unstructured baselines in both web comments and argumentative essay datasets.
The economic impact of city–county consolidations: a synthetic control approach

Although more rapid development is a primary motivation behind city–county consolidations, few empirical studies explore the impact of consolidation on economic development. No studies look at government consolidation in the United States using modern causal inference methods. We use the synthetic control method to examine the long-term impact of city–county consolidations on per capita income, population, and employment. The results from the three cases explored indicate that consolidation does not guarantee development and actually can have negative effects. Additionally, consolidation can deepen the urban-rural divide by accelerating the decline of rural populations relative to those of urban areas. The effects vary based upon the county, time horizon and development measure. The results are robust to placebo test simulations and counterfactuals constructed only from counties with earlier failed consolidation attempts. Our results highlight how public choice considerations surrounding the implementation of governmental consolidations are crucial to outcomes and can help inform any subsequent city–county consolidation attempts.
PATHOLOGIC FRACTURES: IN A CLASS OF THEIR OWN

Ten to 15% of the pelvic girdle tumors are primary malignant bone tumors, while about 80% are osseous metastases. Due to improved function, enhanced quality of life, and acceptable local recurrence rates, limb salvage surgery has replaced external hemipelvectomies in many cases of primary malignancies. However, large segmental bony defects and poor bone quality due to the disease process itself and subsequent treatment (i.e. chemotherapy and radiation) can make stable implant fixation difficult when performing a total hip arthroplasty (THA) for oncologic periacetabular lesions with concurrent fractures. Various methods are available to reconstruct the hemipelvis, and include large structural allografts, allograft-prosthetic composites (APCs), custom-made endoprostheses, modular saddle prostheses, and modular hemipelvis endoprostheses. However, short- and mid-term results from our institution indicate that tantalum reconstructions with adjuvant screw fixation and supplemental reinforcement cages provide reasonable improvement in clinical outcomes and stable fixation in situations with massive bone loss and compromised bone quality. On the femoral side, cemented fixation remains a viable option (including proximal femoral replacements), but uncemented distal fixation with extensively-porous coated cylindrical stems or modular fluted tapered stems can be considered if the disease process (or subsequent treatment) primarily affects the proximal femur. In addition to long-term fixation, post-operative dislocations remain a significant concern given the often compromised abductor mechanism.
Fair Public Decision Making

We generalize the classic problem of fairly allocating indivisible goods to the problem of fair public decision making, in which a decision must be made on several social issues simultaneously, and, unlike the classic setting, a decision can provide positive utility to multiple players. We extend the popular fairness notion of proportionality (which is not guaranteeable) to our more general setting, and introduce three novel relaxations --- proportionality up to one issue, round robin share, and pessimistic proportional share --- that are also interesting in the classic goods allocation setting. We show that the Maximum Nash Welfare solution, which is known to satisfy appealing fairness properties in the classic setting, satisfies or approximates all three relaxations in our framework. We also provide polynomial time algorithms and hardness results for finding allocations satisfying these axioms, with or without insisting on Pareto optimality.
Are outside director trades informative? Evidence from acquiring firms

I show that nonroutine trades by acquirer outside directors premerger contain a significant amount of private information and these directors trade opportunistically on the information. I find that outside directors sell shares before less valuable deals and purchase shares before more value enhancing deals. Mergers with selling (buying) beforehand are associated with 22% lower (41% higher) announcement returns. Their trades provide more information than other insiders' trades, appear concentrated in harder‐to‐value firms, and intensify when more directors trade. Further, more outside directors appear to trade opportunistically in firms where the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) has significant power, suggesting agency problems may exist.
Rehabilitation, Education, and the Integration of Individuals with Severe Brain Injury into Civil Society: Towards an Expanded Rights Agenda in Response to New Insights from Translational Neuroethics and Neuroscience

Many minimally conscious patients are segregated in nursing homes, and are without access to rehabilitative technologies that could help them reintegrate into their communities. In this Article, we argue that persons in a minimally conscious state or who have the potential to progress to such a state must be provided rehabilitative services instead of being isolated in custodial care. The right to rehabilitative technologies for the injured brain stems by analogy to the expectation of free public education for children and adolescents, and also by statute under the Americans with Disabilities Act and under Supreme Court jurisprudence, namely the leading deinstitutionalization case, Olmstead v. L.C. ex rel. Zimring.
Spinning Contingency Reserve Valuation in Systems with Non-Identical Generators

Spinning contingency reserve is idle capacity connected to the system to ensure reliable system operations in the case of equipment outages. The reserve has an economic value since it reduces the outage costs. In several electricity markets, reserve demand functions have been implemented to take into account the value of reserve in the market clearing process. These often take the form of a step-down function at the reserve requirement level, and as such they may not appropriately represent the reserve value. The value of spinning contingency reserve is impacted by the reliability and dynamic characteristics of system components, the system operation policies, and the economic aspects such as the risk preferences of the demand. In this paper, we take into account these aspects to approximate the reserve value and construct reserve demand functions. Illustrative examples show that the demand functions constructed have similarities with those implemented in some markets. The models used allow for the consideration of different types of generators. In this sense, the work in this paper constitutes a generalization of our previous work.