cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Nuclear reactors in Japan: Who asks for them, what do they do?

Japanese communities with nuclear reactors have them because they applied for them, and they applied for them for the money. Among Japanese municipalities, they were some of the most dysfunctional before the reactors had even arrived. These were the villages that had long fought for targeted subsidies, but ignored infrastructural investments. Subsidies operate as a regressive tax on out-migration, of course, and the lack of private-sector infrastructure reduces the returns to high-value human capital. As a result, these were the villages from which the most talented young people had probably begun to disappear—even before the reactors arrived. After the communities built the reactors, talented young people continued to leave. Unemployment rose. Divorce rates climbed. And in time, the communities had little other than reactor-revenue on which to rely.
A Local Neural Network Controller for Freeway Ramp Metering

Abstract A feedback neural net controller for an isolated freeway ramp is developed to locally stabilize freeway traffic. The neural net controller is of the integral type and has a nonlinear gain. Simulation results show that the neural net controller can stabilize traffic in a wider range of traffic conditions and with faster response than one of the leading existing ramp control algorithms.
Self-guiding in low-index-contrast planar photonic crystals

This paper presents a new lateral confinement mechanism based on the self-collimation effect in planar photonic crystals (PhCs). In this mechanism, planar PhCs with approximately flat equifrequency contours (EFCs) are utilized for laterally confining the light and total internal reflection (TIR) is used for the vertical confinement. Since this mechanism relies on dispersion engineering, no photonic band gap nor defect modes are required. Using this approach, it is possible to engineer flat EFCs completely below the light cone using relatively low-index-contrast material systems. Therefore, in this work we first engineer a low-index-contrast planar PhC with approximately flat EFCs in the first band, which is always below the light cone. Then, we investigate the lateral divergence of self-guided beams in this structure using the plane wave method (PWM). It is found that light with a narrow band frequency in the first band can be very well self-confined laterally.
Association between Urinary Phytoestrogens and C-reactive Protein in the Continuous National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

ABSTRACTObjective: A reduced risk of some cancers and cardiovascular disease associated with phytoestrogen intake may be mediated through its effect on serum C-reactive protein (CRP; an inflammation biomarker). Therefore, this study examined the associations between urinary phytoestrogens and serum CRP.Methods: Urinary phytoestrogen and serum CRP data obtained from 6009 participants aged ≥ 40 years in the continuous National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey during 1999–2010 were analyzed.Results: After adjustment for confounders, urinary concentrations of total and all individual phytoestrogens were inversely associated with serum concentrations of CRP (all p < 0.004). The largest reductions in serum CRP (mg/L) per interquartile range increase in urinary phytoestrogens (ng/mL) were observed for total phytoestrogens (β = −0.18; 95% confidence interval [CI], −0.22, −0.15), total lignan (β = −0.15; 95% CI, −0.18, −0.12), and enterolactone (β = −0.15; 95% CI, −0.19, −0.12). A decreased risk of having h...
Anholonomy in the Control of Kinematically Redundant Mechanisms with Flexible Components

Abstract We study robot mechanisms which feature kinematic redundancy together with elastic components. For instance, we discuss manipulators in which there are more controlled (joint space) degrees of freedom than task space degrees of freedom and in which at least one of these controlled joints is connected to an adjacent link through an elastic coupling. It will be shown that there is a wide class of examples for which it is impossible to find joint space motions which track a given end effector trajectory and do not at the same time excite elastic dynamics. No assumptions on the smoothness of the prescribed end effector trajectory or the degree of redundancy alter this conclusion. For certain congenial mechanism geometries, however, it is shown that it is possible to plan motions which store no elastic energy. These motions involve differential-algebraic constraints relating accelerations of the end effector along the work space path to joint space velocity and configuration variables. Planning motions which interpolate between given points in the work space for kinematically redundant flexible robots is similar to recently studied problems in the control theory of nonholonomic systems. Interesting open questions involve the existence and multiplicity of interpolating work space paths, the geometry of the reachable work space, and how closely arbitrarily prespecified paths in the work space may be tracked.
Analysis of a metropolitan-area wireless network

We analyze a seven-week trace of the Metricom metropolitan-area packet radio wireless network to find how users take advantage of a mobile environment. Such understanding is critical for planning future large-scale mobile network infrastructures. Amongst other results, we find that users typically use the radios during the day and evening. Of the users who move around during the trace (over half), we find that the more locations a user visits on a daily basis, the closer together, on average, those locations are. While these results are only known to be valid for this particular network, we hope future analysis of other networks will add to a growing understanding of mobile network behavior.
A Survey of Automatic Control Techniques for Large Space Structures

Abstract The control of large space structures has attracted much attention recently with the advent of the Space Transportion System (STS) in the 1980s and hence the real possiblity of erecting large structures in space. The fundamental and challenging issues in the control of large space structures are those which arise from the flexible characteristics of the structure or the distributed nature of the systems's energy. Modeling errors are inevitable due to the complexity of large space structures and the necessary model simplifications of the distributed parameter system. Model parameters will also change as a function of time and depending on whether the large space structure is on earth, in deep space, or in orbit. To complicate the control problems further, large space structures will tend to have low natural frequencies and very little natural damping, resulting in part from desired mass restrictions. It is therefore non-trivial to design a robust controller for a distributed parameter system with modeling errors and parameter variations, which simultaneously guarantees stability and meets performance requirements. This paper presents a survey of the state of the art in the areas of attitude control, vibration control, and figure control as they apply to large space structures.
Benign Familial Hematuria

Fifty children had benign familial hematuria. They were from 43 families showing neither deafness, heavy proteinuria, nor chronic renal failure and had a nonprogressive course. Light microscopy of renal biopsy specimens showed little or no glomerular changes. Immunofluorescence showed no significant glomerular deposits of immunoglobulins or complement components, but deposition of C3 in the arteriolar walls was observed in 21 of the 39 patients examined. Electron microscopy demonstrated widespread attenuation of the glomerular basement membrane (GBM) in 19 patients, focal attenuation in 22, and normal GBM in nine. These observations suggest that patients with benign familial hematuria are heterogeneous and that the thin GBM may be related to hematuria.
Azathioprine-Associated Interstitial Pneumonitis

Seven renal allograft recipients taking azathioprine (Imuran) for immunosuppression developed bilateral pulmonary infiltrates and a falling pO2 that did not respond to antibiotic therapy. Open lung biopsies revealed changes ranging from diffuse alveolar damage (DAD) to usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) culminating in pulmonary fibrosis. There was no evidence of immune deposits, eosinophilia, vasculitis, granulomas, or microorganisms by cultures and appropriate stains. Following discontinuance of Imuran, the two cases with DAD revealed a significant clearing of the lung infiltrates, whereas four of five patients with UIP died while suffering from respirator-dependent ARDS. Biopsies showing hyaline membranes, intraalveolar edema and cuboidalization of alveolar epithelium were associated with total doses from 2,850 to 4,355 mg, whereas atypical epithelial hyperplasia, reorganization of distal air spaces, and fibrosis were noted in cases receiving from 5,600 to 28,625 mg of azathioprine. Ultrastructural changes were indistinguishable from those induced by other drugs causing pulmonary toxicity. In three cases atypical epithelial cells were detected cytologically in brushing specimens and appeared identical to those noted in the lung biopsies. Our findings are consistent with the view that azathioprine should be added to the list of agents capable of causing direct, dose-dependent pulmonary toxicity. Accordingly, drug-associated diffuse interstitial pulmonary disease should enter the differential diagnosis of a lung infiltrate that develops in renal transplant patients receiving Imuran.
The Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome in Persons With Hemophilia

The widespread use of coagulation factor concentrates prepared from the blood of numerous donors has doubled the life expectancy of persons with hemophilia, but parenteral exposure to alloantigens and infectious agents is not free of risk. The prevalence of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) now approaches 1% in patients with hemophilia, and laboratory evidence of abnormal immunoregulation is found in at least 50% of treated patients with severe hemophilia. The immune defect is multifactorial. The attack rate of AIDS among patients with severe hemophilia appears to have reached a peak; further evidence suggests that only a minority of those infected with human T-lymphotropic virus type III will develop AIDS. The advent of improved donor screening methods and the application of heat treatment of coagulation factor concentrates should further reduce the risk of AIDS in persons with hemophilia.
RAPID GERIATRIC ASSESSMENT.

Since the article by Rubenstein and colleagues, in 19841 at the Sepulveda Veterans Affairs Medical Center, demonstrated the ability of a Comprehensive Geriatric Evaluation and Management Unit (GEMU) to improve outcomes for frail older persons, numerous studies have duplicated these findings.2,3 Meta-analyses have confirmed the value of GEMUs.4 Unfortunately, despite their success, they are not widely available in the private sector andwith themarked decline in geriatricians, there are a limited number of geriatricians available in the United States to manage these units.5 For these reasons, it has become essential to increase the knowledge of primary care providers concerning the care of older persons and to develop a brief geriatric assessment that can guide primary care providers to provide quality care for the growing aging population. At Saint Louis University, we have developed a simple Rapid Geriatric Assessment (RGA) that can be completed by the patients and/or their caregiver. The basic screen takes less than 4 minutes to complete (Figure 1). Frailty and sarcopenia have become the new giants of geriatrics.6e19 Although there is much overlap between these 2 syndromes, approximately 30% of persons have one or other of the syndromes, without any overlap.20 To screen for these 2 conditions we have used the well-validated, FRAIL21e26 and SARC-F scales.27e32 We have also included the Simplified Nutritional Assessment Scale (SNAQ),33e35 as anorexia and weight loss have important negative outcomes in older persons.36e42 The International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics (IAGG) consensus conference has stressed the need for early detection of cognitive impairment.43e45 Many physicians find it difficult to detect cognitive impairment in their patients.46e49 The IAGG has suggested that both objective as well as subjective cognitive impairment should be tested for. The rapid Cognitive Screen (RCS),46,50 which is derived from the St Louis University Mental Status (SLUMS) examination51 has been included in the battery as an objective measure of cognition. It adds 2.5 minutes to the assessment, which can be done by any trained individual in the physician’s office. In addition to the RCS, we believe that the AD-8, developed at Washington University in St Louis, is an
Satellite Reliability: Statistical Data Analysis and Modeling

The technical literature has long recognized the importance of satellite reliability, but a statistical analysis of expansive on-orbit failure data is still lacking. As a result, inconsistencies persist in the literature due to the absence of an empirical basis for settling the issues, for example, regarding the existence or absence of satellite infant mortality. Weibull distributions with a shape parameter larger than one are commonly used to model satellite reliability. This choice for the shape parameter fails to capture infantmortality and is shown here to be flawed. The present work fills a gap in the technical literature by 1) conducting a thorough nonparametric statistical analysis of recent on-orbit failure data, 2) fitting a parametricmodel to the actual/observed spacecraft reliability, and 3) quantifying the relative contribution of each subsystem to satellite failure and identifying the subsystems that drive spacecraft unreliability. The sample analyzed in this study consists of 1584 Earth-orbiting satellites successfully launched between January 1990 andOctober 2008. The results presented here should prove useful for the space industry, for example, in redesigning satellite (and subsystem) test and screening programs and in providing an empirical basis for subsystem redundancy allocation and reliability growth plans.
Adenomatoid Tumors in the Tunica Albuginea of the Testis

Adenomatoid tumors of the tunica albuginea of the testis is rarely seen. Only 15 such cases have been described. A patient is presented in whom such a tumor was found and excised through a scrotal incision. He is alive and well 27 years later. The author presents reasons for the type of scrotal exploration done. The pathological histology is discussed. An adenomatoid tumor can easily be confused with a prostatic adenocarcinoma on frozen section.
Intravenous Sulfamethoxazole and Trimethoprim for Serious Gram-Negative Bacillary Infection

• Intravenous therapy with sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim cured seven patients with serious gram-negative infection. Three patients had bacteremia, three had pneumonia, and one each had meningitis, peritonitis, pyogenic liver abscesses, and urinary tract infection. Sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim was selected in three patients with renal failure to avoid aminoglycoside-induced nephrotoxicity, in three patients because of penicillin allergy, and in two cases because of bacterial resistance to other readily available antibiotics. Adverse drug reactions occurred in three cases and included oral monilia, transient leukopenia, and fluid overload. In contrast to the new broad-spectrum cephalosporin antibiotics, sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim costs two to 21/2 times less and has not been associated with the emergence of bacterial resistance during therapy. This may favor the use of parenteral sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim for some patients with serious gram-negative infection. (Arch Intern Med1983;143:1709-1712)
Fluctuating hydrodynamics of reactive liquid mixtures

Fluctuating hydrodynamics (FHD) provides a framework for modeling microscopic fluctuations in a manner consistent with statistical mechanics and nonequilibrium thermodynamics. This paper presents an FHD formulation for isothermal reactive incompressible liquid mixtures with stochastic chemistry. Fluctuating multispecies mass diffusion is formulated using a Maxwell-Stefan description without assuming a dilute solution, and momentum dynamics is described by a stochastic Navier-Stokes equation for the fluid velocity. We consider a thermodynamically consistent generalization for the law of mass action for non-dilute mixtures and use it in the chemical master equation (CME) to model reactions as a Poisson process. The FHD approach provides remarkable computational efficiency over traditional reaction-diffusion master equation methods when the number of reactive molecules is large, while also retaining accuracy even when there are as few as ten reactive molecules per hydrodynamic cell. We present a numerical algorithm to solve the coupled FHD and CME equations and validate it on both equilibrium and nonequilibrium problems. We simulate a diffusively driven gravitational instability in the presence of an acid-base neutralization reaction, starting from a perfectly flat interface. We demonstrate that the coupling between velocity and concentration fluctuations dominates the initial growth of the instability.
Long-term spironolactone treatment reduces coronary TRPC expression, vasoconstriction, and atherosclerosis in metabolic syndrome pigs

Coronary transient receptor potential canonical (TRPC) channel expression is elevated in metabolic syndrome (MetS). However, differential contribution of TRPCs to coronary pathology in MetS is not fully elucidated. We investigated the roles of TRPC1 and TRPC6 isoforms in coronary arteries of MetS pigs and determined whether long-term treatment with a mineralocorticoid receptor inhibitor, spironolactone, attenuates coronary TRPC expression and associated dysfunctions. MetS coronary arteries exhibited significant atherosclerosis, endothelial dysfunction, and increased histamine-induced contractions. Immunohistochemical studies revealed that TRPC6 immunostaining was significantly greater in the medial layer of MetS pig coronary arteries compared to that in Lean pigs, whereas little TRPC6 immunostaining was found in atheromas. Conversely, TRPC1 immunostaining was weak in the medial layer but strong in MetS atheromas, where it was predominantly localized to macrophages. Spironolactone treatment significantly decreased coronary TRPC expression and dysfunctions in MetS pigs. In vivo targeted delivery of the dominant-negative (DN)-TRPC6 cDNA to the coronary wall reduced histamine-induced calcium transients in the MetS coronary artery medial layer, implying a role for TRPC6 in mediating calcium influx in MetS coronary smooth muscles. Monocyte adhesion was increased in Lean pig coronary arteries cultured in the presence of aldosterone; and spironolactone antagonized this effect, suggesting that coronary mineralocorticoid receptor activation may regulate macrophage infiltration. TRPC1 expression in atheroma macrophages was associated with advanced atherosclerosis, whereas medial TRPC6 upregulation correlated with increased histamine-induced calcium transients and coronary contractility. We propose that long-term spironolactone treatment may be a therapeutic strategy to decrease TRPC expression and coronary pathology associated with MetS.
Characteristics Of A Protocol For Exchanging Digital Image Information

This paper will discuss requirements for a protocol for exchanging digital image information between users of possibly dissimilar equipment. The need for simplicity, flexibility and ease of data access will be outlined and several examples will be presented which illustrate how practical issues such as data block sizes and hardware compatibility impact these requirements. An additional requirement for users who must exchange physical media, perhaps on a one time basis through the mail, is that the data format contain sufficient descriptive information so the data may be utilized without reference to a published document. A companion paper describes one implementation of a standard magnetic tape format which meets these requirements.
Leveraging Biologically Inspired Models for Cyber–Physical Systems Analysis

Cyber–physical systems (CPS) are systems composed of distributed sensors, physical actuators, and controlling computers that are interconnected through a computer network. Notable examples include: electric utility “smart grids” that can sense and optimize power distribution, transportation systems, and healthcare and medical systems. As CPS complexity increases, system-level trade studies become more challenging due to the combined interaction of the computing, network communications, and physical sensor and actuator elements. Although fundamentally different, complex CPS and biological systems share common attributes that suggest the use of similar modeling approaches. This research investigated if CPS multiobjective optimization methods using mathematical models of a CPS that incorporate biologically inspired CPS system performance objective functions are better than those methods that do not use biologically inspired objective functions. The research methodology employed computer modeling and simulation. A multiobjective optimization study, using a commercially available genetic algorithm-based optimizer, was conducted on four slightly different versions of a dynamic model of a simple distributed robotic sensor system to assess the effect of incorporating a biological mathematical model on the quality of the Pareto fronts generated by the optimizer. An improvement in Pareto front quality was found after incorporating a biological mathematical model.
The Fix Is In: Properly Backing out Backfill Bias

Researchers have long known about backfill bias in hedge fund databases. The most common treatments include either retaining all backfilled returns or truncating a fixed number of returns from each return series. However, we show that truncation largely preserves backfilled returns and document that either of these backfill treatments can lead to biased empirical findings, including cross-sectional results. Thus, our findings show that the best practice for empirical tests is to remove returns prior to the listing date. Because most databases do not have listing dates, we propose a novel method to infer unavailable listing dates.Received August 19, 2018; editorial decision December 4, 2018 by Editor Wei Jiang.
Implicit Decomposition for Write-Efficient Connectivity Algorithms

The future of main memory appears to lie in the direction of new technologies that provide strong capacity-to-performance ratios, but have write operations that are much more expensive than reads in terms of latency, bandwidth, and energy. Motivated by this trend, we propose sequential and parallel algorithms to solve graph connectivity problems using significantly fewer writes than conventional algorithms. Our primary algorithmic tool is the construction of an o(n)-sized implicit decomposition of a bounded-degree graph G on n nodes, which combined with read-only access to G enables fast answers to connectivity and biconnectivity queries on G. The construction breaks the linear-write "barrier", resulting in costs that are asymptotically lower than conventional algorithms while adding only a modest cost to querying time. For general non-sparse graphs on m edges, we also provide the first o(m) writes and O(m) operations parallel algorithms for connectivity and biconnectivity. These algorithms provide insight into how applications can efficiently process computations on large graphs in systems with read-write asymmetry.
Challenges in Patient Enrollment and Retention in Clinical Studies for Alcoholic Hepatitis: Experience of the TREAT Consortium

The TREAT Consortium has carried out clinical studies on alcoholic hepatitis (AH) for over four years. We encountered problems with participant recruitment, retention, and eligibility for specific protocols. To improve our ability to carry out such trials, we reviewed recruitment screening logs, end of study logs, and surveyed study coordinators to learn the reasons for missing patients, why patients declined enrollment, and the number of patients eligible for treatment trials. Associations of the recruited subjects’ demographics with their adherence to follow-up appointments were examined. 387 patients (AH and heavy drinking controls) were enrolled in the observational study and 55 AH patients were recruited into treatment trials. About half of patients identified with AH could not be recruited; no specific reason could be determined for about two thirds of these. Among the patients who gave a reason for not participating, the most common reasons were: feeling too sick to participate, desire to concentrate on abstinence, and lack of interest in research. Approximately a quarter of the AH patients met eligibility criteria for treatment trials for moderate or severe AH and we were able to recruit half to two thirds of those eligible. Approximately 35% of participants in the observational study returned for both 6 and 12 month follow-up visits. We did not identify biopsychosocial or demographic correlates of retention in the study. This analysis revealed that attempts at recruitment into trials for AH miss some subjects because of structural issues surrounding their hospital admission, and encounter a high rate of patient refusal to participate. Nonetheless, more than half of the patients who met the eligibility criteria for moderate or severe AH were entered into clinical trials. Retention rates for the observational study are relatively low. These findings need to be accounted for in clinical trial design and power analysis. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Modeling turbulent energy behavior and sudden viscous dissipation in compressing plasma turbulence

We present a simple model for the turbulent kinetic energy behavior of subsonic plasma turbulence undergoing isotropic three-dimensional compression, which may exist in various inertial confinement fusion experiments or astrophysical settings. The plasma viscosity depends on both the temperature and the ionization state, for which many possible scalings with compression are possible. For example, in an adiabatic compression the temperature scales as 1/L2, with L the linear compression ratio, but if thermal energy loss mechanisms are accounted for, the temperature scaling may be weaker. As such, the viscosity has a wide range of net dependencies on the compression. The model presented here, with no parameter changes, agrees well with numerical simulations for a range of these dependencies. This model permits the prediction of the partition of injected energy between thermal and turbulent energy in a compressing plasma.
On the Impossibility of Entropy Reversal, and Its Application to Zero-Knowledge Proofs

Zero knowledge proof systems have been widely studied in cryptography. In the statistical setting, two classes of proof systems studied are Statistical Zero Knowledge (SZK) and Non-Interactive Statistical Zero Knowledge (NISZK), where the difference is that in NISZK only very limited communication is allowed between the verifier and the prover. It is an open problem whether these two classes are in fact equal. In this paper, we rule out efficient black box reductions between SZK and NISZK.
Iran’s Multi-ethnic Mosaic: A 23-Year Perspective

In this study, we embark on measuring inequality in Iran. We compute three measures of group-based inequality (Group-weighted Coefficient of Variation, Group-weighted Gini, and Group-weighted Theil) for the following outcomes: education, assets, income, and expenditure per capita. The groups are defined based on gender, ethnicity/language (Persian, Azeri, and other ethnic minorities), and region (urban versus rural and capital city versus other places) using 23 years of annual Household Expenditure and Income Surveys from 1990 through 2012. Inequality between groups based on religion (Muslim, non-Muslim), citizenship (Iranian, non-Iranian) are also studied using the 2006 census. Our analysis of the trend of horizontal inequality reveals substantial reduction in between-group inequalities over the 1990–2012 period. Yet, gender based income inequality remains high. The implications and underlying reasons for these results are discussed.
The Principal's Role in Creating Inclusive Schools for Diverse Students: A Review of Normative, Empirical, and Critical Literature on the Practice of Educational Administration:

Public schools in the United States are serving a more heterogeneous student population now than ever before. Drawing on normative, empirical, and critical literatures, this review explores the role of school administrators in responding to the needs of diverse students. Three administrative tasks highlighted: fostering new meanings about diversity, promoting inclusive school cultures and instructional programs, and building relationships between schools and communities. Administrative work that accomplishes these tasks can be thought of as a form of practice, with moral, epistemological, constitutive, and discursive dimensions. Inclusive administrative practice is rooted in values of equity and social justice; it requires administrators to bring their full subjectivities to bear on their practice, and it implicates language as a key mechanism for both oppression and transformation.
Conformational Control of Translation Termination on the 70S Ribosome.

Translation termination ensures proper lengths of cellular proteins. During termination, release factor (RF) recognizes a stop codon and catalyzes peptide release. Conformational changes in RF are thought to underlie accurate translation termination. However, structural studies of ribosome termination complexes have only captured RFs in a conformation that is consistent with the catalytically active state. Here, we employ a hyper-accurate RF1 variant to obtain crystal structures of 70S termination complexes that suggest a structural pathway for RF1 activation. We trapped RF1 conformations with the catalytic domain outside of the peptidyl-transferase center, while the codon-recognition domain binds the stop codon. Stop-codon recognition induces 30S decoding-center rearrangements that precede accommodation of the catalytic domain. The separation of codon recognition from the opening of the catalytic domain suggests how rearrangements in RF1 and in the ribosomal decoding center coordinate stop-codon recognition with peptide release, ensuring accurate translation termination.
Identifying structural signatures of shear banding in model polymer nanopillars.

Amorphous solids are critical in the design and production of nanoscale devices, but under strong confinement these materials exhibit changes in their mechanical properties which are not well understood. Phenomenological models explain these properties by postulating an underlying defect structure in these materials but do not detail the microscopic properties of these defects. Using machine learning methods, we identify mesoscale defects that lead to shear banding in model polymer nanopillars well below the glass transition temperature as a function of pillar diameter. Our results show that the primary structural features responsible for shear banding on this scale are fluctuations in the diameter of the pillar. Surprisingly, these fluctuations are quite small compared to the diameter of the pillar, less than half of a particle diameter in size. At intermediate pillar diameters, we find that these fluctuations tend to concentrate along the minor axis of shear band planes. We also see the importance of mean “softness” as a classifier of shear banding grow as a function of pillar diameter. Softness is a new field that characterizes local structure and is highly correlated with particle-level dynamics such that softer particles are more likely to rearrange. This demonstrates that softness, a quantity that relates particle-level structure to dynamics on short time and length scales, can predict large time and length scale phenomena related to material failure.
The Theory and Practice of War Termination: Assessing Patterns in China's Historical Behavior

What factors determine when and how China terminates armed conflict? This article derives from the war termination literature three factors that impact the ability of disputants to resolve conflicts: approach to wartime diplomacy, views on escalation, and receptiveness to mediation. I then evaluate according to these three factors China's attempts to bring conflict to a close in the Korean War, Sino-Indian War, and Sino-Vietnamese War. I argue that China's tends to entertain talks only with weaker opponents, rely on heavy escalation to bring about peace, and to leverage outside parties less as empowered mediators and more as an additional source of pressure on its enemies. These three tendencies are likely to hinder conflict resolution in future conflagrations. A subsequent analysis of authoritative Chinese strategic writings reveal that these patterns have been imbued in contemporary thought, and therefore are likely to persist in future flashpoints. My findings add a new dimension to the war termination literature and have policy implications regional peace and stability.
Spatially-Dependent Multiple Testing Under Model Misspecification, with Application to Detection of Anthropogenic Influence on Extreme Climate Events

The Weather Risk Attribution Forecast (WRAF) is a forecasting tool that uses output from global climate models to make simultaneous attribution statements about whether and how greenhouse gas emiss...
Bioisosteres of ethyl 8-ethynyl-6-(pyridin-2-yl)-4H-benzo[f]imidazo [1,5-a][1,4]diazepine-3-carboxylate (HZ-166) as novel alpha 2,3 selective potentiators of GABAA receptors: Improved bioavailability enhances anticonvulsant efficacy.

Abstract HZ-166 has previously been characterized as an α2,3-selective GABAA receptor modulator with anticonvulsant, anxiolytic, and anti-nociceptive properties but reduced motor effects. We discovered a series of ester bioisosteres with reduced metabolic liabilities, leading to improved efficacy as anxiolytic-like compounds in rats. In the present study, we evaluated the anticonvulsant effects KRM-II-81 across several rodent models. In some models we also evaluated key structural analogs. KRM-II-81 suppressed hyper-excitation in a network of cultured cortical neurons without affecting the basal neuronal activity. KRM-II-81 was active against electroshock-induced convulsions in mice, pentylenetetrazole (PTZ)-induced convulsions in rats, elevations in PTZ-seizure thresholds, and amygdala-kindled seizures in rats with efficacies greater than that of diazepam. KRM-II-81 was also active in the 6 Hz seizure model in mice. Structural analogs of KRM-II-81 but not the ester, HZ-166, were active in all models in which they were evaluated. We further evaluated KRM-II-81 in human cortical epileptic tissue where it was found to significantly-attenuate picrotoxin- and AP-4-induced increases in firing rate across an electrode array. These molecules generally had a wider margin of separation in potencies to produce anticonvulsant effects vs. motor impairment on an inverted screen test than did diazepam. Ester bioisosters of HZ-166 are thus presented as novel agents for the potential treatment of epilepsy acting via selective positive allosteric amplification of GABAA signaling through α2/α3-containing GABA receptors. The in vivo data from the present study can serve as a guide to dosing parameters that predict engagement of central GABAA receptors.
Functional and Anatomical Outcomes of Facial Nerve Injury With Application of Polyethylene Glycol in a Rat Model.

ImportanceFunctional and anatomical outcomes after surgical repair of facial nerve injury may be improved with the addition of polyethylene glycol (PEG) to direct suture neurorrhaphy. The applicati...
Diagnosis of Anomaly in the Dynamic State Estimator of a Power System using System Decomposition

In a state estimator, the presence of malicious or simply corrupt sensor data or bad data is detected by the high value of normalized measurement residuals that exceeds the threshold value, determined by the $\chi^{2}$ distribution. However, high normalized residuals can also be caused by another type of anomaly, namely gross modeling or topology error. In this paper we propose a method to distinguish between these two sources of anomalies - 1) malicious sensor data and 2) modeling error. The anomaly detector will start with assuming a case of malicious data and suspect some of the individual measurements corresponding to the highest normalized residuals to be ‘malicious’, unless proved otherwise. Then, choosing a change of basis, the state space is transformed and decomposed into ‘observable’ and ‘unobservable’ parts with respect to these ‘suspicious’ measurements. We argue that, while the anomaly due to malicious data can only affect the ‘observable’ part of the states, there exists no such restriction for anomalies due to modeling error. Numerical results illustrate how the proposed anomaly diagnosis based on Kalman decomposition can successfully distinguish between the two types of anomalies.
Sowing the seeds for rural finance : the impact of support services for credit unions in Mexico

This paper studies the impact of a program that provides grants for technical assistance on the interest rates and outreach of credit unions in Mexico. Credit unions financing rural borrowers received grants in different years. The study uses propensity score matching and relies additionally on the timing of the grants to identify effects. The analysis shows that the program lowered lending interest rates by up to 2.6 percentage points (from a pre-program average of 17.8 percent). This drop appears to be due to lower operating costs and better risk management, as reflected in a lower nonperforming loan ratio. The program also raised credit unions' returns on assets and significantly increased the value of their loan portfolio.
Cell-Autonomous Regulation of Astrocyte Activation by the Circadian Clock Protein BMAL1.

Summary Circadian clock dysfunction is a common symptom of aging and neurodegenerative diseases, though its impact on brain health is poorly understood. Astrocyte activation occurs in response to diverse insults and plays a critical role in brain health and disease. We report that the core circadian clock protein BMAL1 regulates astrogliosis in a synergistic manner via a cell-autonomous mechanism and a lesser non-cell-autonomous signal from neurons. Astrocyte-specific Bmal1 deletion induces astrocyte activation and inflammatory gene expression in vitro and in vivo, mediated in part by suppression of glutathione-S-transferase signaling. Functionally, loss of Bmal1 in astrocytes promotes neuronal death in vitro. Our results demonstrate that the core clock protein BMAL1 regulates astrocyte activation and function in vivo, elucidating a mechanism by which the circadian clock could influence many aspects of brain function and neurological disease.
FDTD Simulation of Very Large Domains Applied to Radar Propagation Over the Ocean

A domain decomposition method for analyzing very large finite-difference time domains, tens of thousands of wavelengths long, is demonstrated by the application to the problem of radar scattering in the maritime environment. Success depends on the elimination of artificial scattering from the “sky” boundary which is ensured by an ultra-high-performance absorbing termination that eliminates this reflection at angles of incidence less than 0.03° off grazing. The results are cross validated against a parabolic equation (PE) method and a surface integral equation method on a 1.7 km sea surface problem, and to a PE method on propagation through an inhomogeneous atmosphere in a 4 km-long space, both at X-band. Further comparisons are made against boundary integral equation and PE methods from the literature in a 3.6 km space containing an inhomogeneous atmosphere above a flat sea at S-band. Details of the method are given for the 2-D problem. Application to 3-D is demonstrated by comparing the 2-D solution with the 3-D solution of a sea corridor 1.3 m wide, 2.25 m tall, by 110 m long.
Repeats of Unusual Size in Plant Mitochondrial Genomes: Identification, Incidence and Evolution

Plant mitochondrial genomes have excessive size relative to coding capacity, a low mutation rate in genes and a high rearrangement rate. They also have abundant non-tandem repeats often including pairs of large repeats which cause isomerization of the genome by recombination, and numerous repeats of up to several hundred base pairs that recombine only when the genome is stressed by DNA damaging agents or mutations in DNA repair pathway genes. Early work on mitochondrial genomes led to the suggestion that repeats in the size range from several hundred to a few thousand base pair are underrepresented. The repeats themselves are not well-conserved between species, and are not always annotated in mitochondrial sequence assemblies. We systematically identified and compared these repeats, which are important clues to mechanisms of DNA maintenance in mitochondria. We developed a tool to find and curate non-tandem repeats larger than 50bp and analyzed the complete mitochondrial sequences from 157 plant species. We observed an interesting difference between taxa: the repeats are larger and more frequent in the vascular plants. Analysis of closely related species also shows that plant mitochondrial genomes evolve in dramatic bursts of breakage and rejoining, complete with DNA sequence gain and loss. We suggest an adaptive explanation for the existence of the repeats and their evolution.
Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of The Real Cost Campaign's Effect on Smoking Prevention.

Introduction A previous study found that the Food and Drug Administration's The Real Cost national tobacco education campaign was associated with preventing approximately 350,000 U.S. youth from initiating smoking between 2014 and 2016. This study translates the reduction in smoking initiation into monetary terms by examining the cost effectiveness of the campaign. Methods The cost effectiveness of The Real Cost was assessed by measuring efficiency in two ways: (1) estimating the cost per quality-adjusted life year saved and (2) estimating the total monetary return on investment by comparing the cost savings associated with the campaign to campaign expenditures. Analyses were conducted in 2017. Results The Real Cost averted an estimated 175,941 youth from becoming established smokers between 2014 and 2016. Campaign expenditures totaled $246,915,233. The cost per quality-adjusted life year saved of the campaign was $1,337. When considering the costs of smoking, the averted established smokers represent >$31 billion in cost savings ($1.3 billion when only external costs considered). The overall return on investment of the campaign was $128 in cost savings for every $1 spent ($4 for every $1 spent when only external costs considered). These conclusions were robust to sensitivity analyses surrounding the parameters. Conclusions Campaign expenditures were cost efficient. The cost savings resulting from The Real Cost represent a large reduction in the financial burden to individuals, their families, and society as a result of tobacco. Public health campaigns, like The Real Cost, that reduce tobacco-related morbidity and mortality for a generation of U.S. youth also provide substantial cost savings.
Holographic Entropy Relations

We develop a framework for the derivation of new information theoretic quantities which are natural from a holographic perspective. We demonstrate the utility of our techniques by deriving the tripartite information (the quantity associated to monogamy of mutual information) using a set of abstract arguments involving bulk extremal surfaces. Our arguments rely on formal manipulations of surfaces and not on local surgery or explicit computation of entropies through the holographic entanglement entropy prescriptions. As an application, we show how to derive a family of similar information quantities for an arbitrary number of parties. The present work establishes the foundation of a broader program that aims at the understanding of the entanglement structures of geometric states for an arbitrary number of parties. We stress that our method is completely democratic with respect to bulk geometries and is equally valid in static and dynamical situations. While rooted in holography, we expect that our construction will provide a useful characterization of multipartite correlations in quantum field theories.
Unsupervised Multilingual Word Embeddings

Multilingual Word Embeddings (MWEs) represent words from multiple languages in a single distributional vector space. Unsupervised MWE (UMWE) methods acquire multilingual embeddings without cross-lingual supervision, which is a significant advantage over traditional supervised approaches and opens many new possibilities for low-resource languages. Prior art for learning UMWEs, however, merely relies on a number of independently trained Unsupervised Bilingual Word Embeddings (UBWEs) to obtain multilingual embeddings. These methods fail to leverage the interdependencies that exist among many languages. To address this shortcoming, we propose a fully unsupervised framework for learning MWEs that directly exploits the relations between all language pairs. Our model substantially outperforms previous approaches in the experiments on multilingual word translation and cross-lingual word similarity. In addition, our model even beats supervised approaches trained with cross-lingual resources.
Rising Government Debt: Causes and Solutions for a Decades-Old Trend

Over the past four decades, government debt as a fraction of GDP has been on an upward trajectory in advanced economies, approaching levels not reached since World War II. While normative macroeconomic theories can explain the increase in the level of debt in certain periods as a response to macroeconomic shocks, they cannot explain the broad-based long-run trend in debt accumulation. In contrast, political economy theories can explain the long-run trend as resulting from an aging population, rising political polarization, and rising electoral uncertainty across advanced economies. These theories emphasize the time-inconsistency in government policymaking, and thus the need for fiscal rules that restrict policymakers. Fiscal rules trade off commitment to not overspend and flexibility to react to shocks. This tradeoff guides design features of optimal rules, such as information dependence, enforcement, cross-country coordination, escape clauses, and instrument versus target criteria.
The demotivating effect (and unintended message) of awards

Abstract It is common for organizations to offer awards to motivate individual behavior, yet few empirical studies evaluate their effectiveness in the field. We report a randomized field experiment (N = 15,329) that tests the impact of two common types of symbolic awards: pre-announced awards (prospective) and surprise awards (retrospective). The context is U.S. schools, where we explore how awards motivate student attendance. Contrary to our pre-registered hypotheses and organizational leaders’ expectations, the prospective awards did not on average improve behavior, and the retrospective awards decreased subsequent attendance. Moreover, we find a significant negative effect on attendance after prospective incentives were removed, which points to a crowding-out effect. Survey experiments probing the mechanisms suggest that awards may cause these unintended effects by inadvertently signaling that the target behavior (perfect attendance) is neither the social norm nor institutionally expected. In addition, receiving the retrospective award suggests to recipients that they have already outperformed the norm and what was expected of them, hence licensing them to miss school. Exploratory analyses shed further light on differential effects of awards by age and performance.