cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The relation between the presence and extent of lobular carcinoma in situ and the risk of local recurrence for patients with infiltrating carcinoma of the breast treated with conservative surgery and radiation therapy

BACKGROUND When found in an otherwise benign biopsy, lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) has been associated with an increased risk of development of a subsequent invasive breast carcinoma. However, the association between LCIS and the risk of subsequent local recurrence in patients with infiltrating carcinoma treated with conservative surgery and radiation therapy has received relatively little attention. METHODS Between 1968 and 1986, 1625 patients with clinical Stage I–II invasive breast carcinoma were treated at the Joint Center for Radiation Therapy at Harvard Medical School with breast-conserving surgery (CS) and radiation therapy (RT) to a total dose to the primary site of ≥60 grays. Analysis was limited to 1181 patients with infiltrating ductal carcinoma, infiltrating lobular carcinoma, or infiltrating carcinoma with mixed ductal and lobular features who, on review of their histologic slides, had sufficient normal tissue adjacent to the tumor to evaluate for the presence of LCIS and also had a minimum potential follow-up time of 8 years. The median follow-up time was 161 months. RESULTS One hundred thirty-seven patients (12%) had LCIS either within the tumor or in the macroscopically normal adjacent tissue. The 8-year crude risk of recurrence was not significantly increased for patients with LCIS associated with invasive ductal, invasive lobular, or mixed ductal and lobular carcinoma. Among the 119 patients with associated LCIS adjacent to the tumor, the 8-year rate of local recurrence was 13%, compared with 12% for the 1062 patients without associated LCIS. For the 70 patients with moderate or marked LCIS adjacent to the tumor, the 8-year rate of local recurrence was 13%. The extent of LCIS did not affect the risk of recurrence. The risks of contralateral disease and of distant failure were similarly not affected by the presence or extent of LCIS. CONCLUSIONS Breast-conserving therapy involving limited surgery and radiation therapy is an appropriate method of treating patients with invasive breast carcinoma with or without associated LCIS. Neither the presence nor the extent of LCIS should influence management decisions regarding patients with invasive breast carcinoma. [See editorial counterpoint and reply to counterpoint on pages 978–81 and 982–3, this issue.] Cancer 2000;88:1072–7. © 2000 American Cancer Society.
Highly polarized optically selected BL lacertae objects

Observations of candidate BL Lacertae objects spectroscopically selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) reveal a large fraction of objects with high polarizations (P > 3%). This result confirms that synchrotron radiation makes an important contribution to the observed optical continuum for most objects in the sample. The SDSS sample can be divided into separate categories, with objects of undetermined redshift generally having the highest optical polarization. Polarization as high as 23% and the lack of spectral features suggests that the synchrotron continuum completely dominates the spectra of these sources. The mean polarization levels observed for objects that have measured redshifts is much lower, with the maximum observed polarization for this group being ~10%. The lower polarizations of these objects are reminiscent of the less spectacular polarization levels shown by BL Lac objects discovered in X-ray surveys. We find no SDSS BL Lac candidates at z 1 with P > 3%, which calls their classification as BL Lac objects into question. In addition, the existence of radio-quiet BL Lac objects is not verified, since none of the 10 potentially radio-weak BL Lac candidates observed are highly polarized. Regardless of whether the high-redshift and radio-weak objects are included in this optical sample, the overall levels of polarization observed are intermediate between those seen for X-ray- and radio-selected BL Lac objects.
Highly Enantioselective Rh-Catalyzed Carboacylation of Olefins: Efficient Syntheses of Chiral Poly-Fused Rings

Here we report the first highly enantioselective Rh-catalyzed carboacylation of olefins via C–C bond activation of benzocyclobutenones. Good yields and excellent enantioselectivities (92–99% ee, 14 examples) were obtained for substrates with various steric and electronic properties. In addition, fully saturated poly-fused rings were prepared from the carboacylation products through a challenging catalytic reductive dearomatization approach. These investigations provide a distinct way to prepare chiral carbon frameworks that are nontrivial to access with conventional methods.
Entropy corrections to supersonic conical nonlinear potential flows

Abstract Entropy corrections are applied to full potential supersonic conical flows that have the how shock fit as a boundary. The entropy corrections require the implementation of the Rankine-Hugoniot shock relations instead of the isentropic shock conditions. In addition, the pressure must be corrected to account for the bow shock induced entropy variation. For high Mach number and/or large deflection angles, the correction to the potential pressures can be of the same order of magnitude as the Euler pressures. Considering the simplistic nature of the corrections, remarkably accurate results are achieved for circular and elliptic cones. Additional corrections account for embedded crossflow shocks.
Evacuation network modeling via dynamic traffic assignment with probabilistic demand and capacity constraints

Two major sources of uncertainty in evacuation modeling are randomness in evacuation demand and roadway capacity. This paper takes these two sources of uncertainty into account in proposing an analytical system-optimal dynamic traffic assignment model with probabilistic demand and capacity constraints. The problem is modeled on the basis of two stochastic modeling approaches considering the problem's constraints, namely, individual chance constraints and joint chance constraints. The probability distributions of random demands and capacities are assumed to be discrete. A solution method customized for stochastic programming models with random discrete right-hand sides is used. The differences in reliability between the two models are discussed with the help of a numerical example. Although use of the proposed stochastic dynamic traffic assignment is not confined to evacuation modeling, it provides an important probabilistic modeling and analysis framework for evacuation modeling in which the demand and ca...
Optimistic concurrency control for abstract data types

A concurrency control technique is optimistic if it allows transactions to execute without synchronization, relying on commit-time validation to ensure serializability. This paper describes several new optimistic concurrency control techniques for objects in distributed systems, proves their correctness and optimality properties, and characterizes the circumstances under which each is likely to be useful. These techniques have the following novel aspects. First, unlike many methods that classify operations only as reads or writes, these techniques systematically exploit type-specific properties of objects to validate more interleavings. Necessary and sufficient validation conditions are derived directly from an object's data type specification. Second, these techniques are modular: they can be applied selectively on a per-object (or even per-operation) basis in conjunction with standard pessimistic techniques such as two-phase locking, permitting optimistic methods to be introduced exactly where they will be most effective. Third, when integrated with quorum-consensus replication, these techniques circumvent certain trade-offs between concurrency and availability imposed by comparable pessimistic techniques. Finally, the accuracy and efficiency of validation are further enhanced by some technical improvements: distributed validation is performed as a side-effect of the commit protocol, and validation takes into account the results of operations, accepting certain interleavings that would have produced delays in comparable pessimistic schemes.
A Lower Bound on List Size for List Decoding

A q-ary error-correcting code C ⊆ {1,2,...,q}n is said to be list decodable to radius ρ with list size L if every Hamming ball of radius ρ contains at most L codewords of C. We prove that in order for a q -ary code to be list-decodable up to radius (1-1/q)(1- e)n, we must have L = Ω(1/ e2) . Specifically, we prove that there exists a constant cq > 0 and a function fq such that for small enough e > 0, if C is list-decodable to radius (1-1/q)(1- e)n with list size cq/ e2, then C has at most fq( e) codewords, independent of n . This result is asymptotically tight (treating q as a constant), since such codes with an exponential (in n ) number of codewords are known for list size L = O(1/ e2). A result similar to ours is implicit in Blinovsky ( Problems of Information Transmission, 1986) for the binary (q=2) case. Our proof is simpler and works for all alphabet sizes, and provides more intuition for why the lower bound arises.
The maude LTL model checker and its implementation

A model checker typically supports two different levels of specification: (1) a system specification level, in which the concurrent system to be analyzed is formalized; and (2) a property specification level, in which the properties to be model checked—for example, temporal logic formulae—are specified. The Maude LTL model checker has been designed with the goal of combining a very expressive and general system specification language (Maude [1]) with an advanced on-the-fly explicit-state LTL model checking engine.
Electrical Conductivity of Silicon Dioxide Thermally Grown on Silicon

Mesures de la conductivite electrique, en courant continu ou alternatif, de couches minces de SiO 2 obtenues par oxydation thermique sur Si de type p (dope par B) ou n (dope par P) entre 25 et 1100°C: energies d'activation, domaines de temperature ou l'on observe une conductivite mixte electronique-ionique (transport d'ions d'oxygene), etc.
Theory of low energy Channeling radiation : Application to a germanium crystal

The theory of Channeling Radiation (CR) as applied to a germanium crystal target (spectra and linewidths) is presented here for electron energies less than 12 MeV. For higher electron energies, the channeling radiation spectrum in a germanium crystal is composed of energy lines that are so close to each other that the spectrum results in a broad envelope. The many-beam formalism and the standard Hartree-Fock potentials are used to calculate the CR transition energies. The expressions of CR spectral linewidths are derived from the use of the complex optical potential which describes the incoherent scattering from thermally vibrating atoms of the crystal. The population of the different quantum states as a function of the crystal thickness is also obtained. In this study we will present calculations for major axes or planes of a germanium crystal. For other crystals with diamond like structure and other planes or axes, the reader is invited to use the given formulas and parameters.
Spectral Sparsification in the Semi-streaming Setting

Let G be a graph with n vertices and m edges. A sparsifier of G is a sparse graph on the same vertex set approximating G in some natural way. It allows us to say useful things about G while considering much fewer than m edges. The strongest commonly-used notion of sparsification is spectral sparsification; H is a spectral sparsifier of G if the quadratic forms induced by the Laplacians of G and H approximate one another well. This notion is strictly stronger than the earlier concept of combinatorial sparsification. In this paper, we consider a semi-streaming setting, where we have only $\tilde{O}(n)$ storage space, and we thus cannot keep all of G. In this case, maintaining a sparsifier instead gives us a useful approximation to G, allowing us to answer certain questions about the original graph without storing all of it. We introduce an algorithm for constructing a spectral sparsifier of G with O(nlogn/ϵ 2) edges (where ϵ is a parameter measuring the quality of the sparsifier), taking $\tilde{O}(m)$ time and requiring only one pass over G. In addition, our algorithm has the property that it maintains at all times a valid sparsifier for the subgraph of G that we have received. Our algorithm is natural and conceptually simple. As we read edges of G, we add them to the sparsifier H. Whenever H gets too big, we resparsify it in $\tilde{O}(n)$ time. Adding edges to a graph changes the structure of its sparsifier’s restriction to the already existing edges. It would thus seem that the above procedure would cause errors to compound each time that we resparsify, and that we should need to either retain significantly more information or reexamine previously discarded edges in order to construct the new sparsifier. However, we show how to use the information contained in H to perform this resparsification using only the edges retained by earlier steps in nearly linear time.
Silver-Mediated Trifluoromethoxylation of Aryl Stannanes and Arylboronic Acids

A silver-mediated cross-coupling of trifluoromethoxide with aryl stannanes and arylboronic acids to give aryl trifluoromethyl ethers is reported. This is the first report of a transition-metal-mediated Caryl–OCF3 bond formation.
Nonparametric methods for analyzing replication origins in genomewide data

Due to the advent of high-throughput genomic technology, it has become possible to monitor cellular activities on a genomewide basis. With these new methods, scientists can begin to address important biological questions. One such question involves the identification of replication origins, which are regions in the chromosomes where DNA replication is initiated. One hypothesis is that their locations are nonrandom throughout the genome. In this article, we analyze data from a recent yeast study in which candidate replication origins were profiled using cDNA microarrays to test this hypothesis. We find no evidence for such clustering.
Synthesis and coordination chemistry of trifunctional phosphono-bis-carbonyl alkane ligands

Abstract Trifunctional ligands, 1-phosphono-1-carbamoyl-n-alkyl ester alkanes [(RO)2P(O)][C(O)NEt2]C(H)[(CH2)nC(O)OR′] (n=1−3) were prepared from metathesis reactions of the metallated anions [(RO)2P(O)][C(O)NEt2]CH− and bromoalkyl esters. The ligands were fully characterized and selected coordination chemistry with La(III), Er(III), UO22+ and Th(IV) was examined. The molecular structures of three coordination complexes were determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction techniques. The 1:1 complex, Er(NO3)3{[(i- PrO)2P(O)][C(O)NEt2]CH[(CH2)2C(O)OMe]}, crystallizes in the monoclinic space group, P21/c with a=9.418(4), b=15.547(7), c=18.259(8) A, β=92.29(4)°, Z=4, V=2671(2) A3 and ϱcalc=1.787 g cm−3. The structure was solved by heavy atom methods and full matrix least-squares refinements converged at RF=3.52% and RwF=4.84% on 4086 reflections with F>6σ(F). The compound forms a polymeric structure in which each Er(III) is nine- coordinate. The Er atom is bonded to three bidentate nitrate ions and the bidentate carbamoylmethyl phosphonate fragment of one trifunctional ligand. It is also bridge bonded to the ester carbonyl group in a second molecular unit. The 2:1 complex, Er(NO3)3{[(i-PrO)2P(O)][C(O)NEt2]CH[(CH2)2C(O)OMe]}2, crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P21/n with a=16.090(8), b=19.114(9), c=17.166(8) A, β=108.01(4)°, Z=4, V=5021(4) A3 and ϱcalc=1.434 g cm−3. The structure was solved by direct methods and refinement converged at RF=4.00% and RwF=4.89% on 5109 independent reflections with F>6σ(F). The compound contains isolated molecules in which the Er(III) is nine-coordinate and bonded to three bidentate nitrate ions, the bidentate carbamoylmethyl phosphonate fragment of one ligand and the phosphonate of a second ligand. The 1:1 complex, UO2(NO3)2{[(i- PrO)2P(O)][C(O)NEt2]CH[(CH2)3C(O)OEt]}, crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P21/c with a=8.855(2), b=16.257(5), c=20.603(6) A, β=92.07(2)°, Z=4, V=2964(1) A3, ϱcalc=1.765 g cm−3. The structure was solved by direct methods and refinement converged at RF=7.82% and RwF=7.77% on 3906 independent reflections with F>3σ(F). The compound contains a linear UO22+ ion bonded to two bidentate nitrate ions and the bidentate carbamoylmethyl phosphonate fragment of the trifunctional ligand. The structures of these complexes are compared with structural data for complexes containing related 1-phosphono-1-carbamoyl-n-carbamoyl alkanes and 1,1-bis- phosphono-n-carbamoyl alkanes.
Solving inverse problems by Bayesian iterative inversion of a forward model with applications to parameter mapping using SMMR remote sensing data

Inverse problems have been often considered ill-posed, i.e., the statement of the problem does not thoroughly constrain the solution space. In this paper the authors take advantage of this lack of information by adding additional informative constraints to the problem solution using Bayesian methodology. Bayesian modeling gains much of its power from its ability to isolate and incorporate causal models as conditional probabilities. As causal models are accurately represented by forward models, the authors convert implicit functional models into data driven forward models represented by neural networks, to be used as engines in a Bayesian modeling setting. Remote sensing problems afford opportunities for inclusion of ground truth information, prior probabilities, noise distributions, and other informative constraints within a Bayesian probabilistic framework. They first apply these Bayesian methods to a synthetic remote sensing problem, showing that the performance is superior to a previously published method of iterative inversion of neural networks. Next, microwave brightness temperatures obtained from the Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) over the African continent are inverted. The values of soil moisture, surface air temperature and vegetation moisture retrieved from the inversion produced contours that agree with the expected trends for that region. >
Double-sampled ΔΣ modulator with relaxed feedback timing

A double-sampled delta-sigma (ΔΣ) modulator topology is proposed that can relax the critical timing constraints in the modulator feedback path. The speed requirements of the quantiser and dynamic element matching logic are thus greatly reduced. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed topology, a second-order double-sampled ΔΣ modulator is designed and simulated.
Gravitational statistical mechanics: A model

Using the quantum Hamiltonian for a gravitational system with boundary, we find the partition function and derive the resulting thermody- namics. The Hamiltonian is the boundary term required by functional differ- entiability of the action for Lorentzian general relativity. In this model, states of quantum geometry are represented by spin networks. We show that the statistical mechanics of the model reduces to that of a simple non-interacting gas of particles with spin. Using both canonical and grand canonical descrip- tions, we investigate two temperature regimes determined by the fundamental constant in the theory, m. In the high temperature limit (kT ≫ m), the model is thermodynamically stable. For low temperatures (kT ≪ m) and for macroscopic areas of the bounding surface, the entropy is proportional to area (with logarithmic correction), providing a simple derivation of the Bekenstein- Hawking result. By comparing our results to known semiclassical relations we are able to fix the fundamental scale m. Also in the low temperature, macro- scopic limit, the quantum geometry on the boundary forms a 'condensate' in the lowest energy level (j = 1/2).
Agents watching agents?: evidence from pension fund ownership and firm value

Abstract This paper examines the valuation effects associated with the incentive structures of different types of institutional investors using the ownership levels of public and private pension funds in a firm. The results suggest that institutional monitoring is associated with valuation effects when both observable and unobservable aspects of the relationship between institutions and firms are taken into account. Moreover, the valuation effects vary according to the objective functions of institutions’ administrators. Thus, other shareholders do not necessarily benefit from relationships between institutions and managers, and they could be hurt when the institutional agents watching firm agents have conflicts of interest with other shareholders.
Algebraic property testing: the role of invariance

We argue that the symmetries of a property being tested play a central role in property testing. We support this assertion in the context of algebraic functions, by examining properties of functions mapping a vector space Kn over a field K to a subfield F. We consider (F-)linear properties that are invariant under linear transformations of the domain and prove that an O(1)-local "characterization" is a necessary and sufficient condition for O(1)-local testability. when |K| = O(1). (A local characterization of a property is a definition of a property in terms of local constraints satisfied by functions exhibiting a property.) For the subclass of properties that are invariant under affine transformations of the domain, we prove that the existence of a single O(1)-local constraint implies O(1)-local testability. These results generalize and extend the class of algebraic properties, most notably linearity and low-degree-ness, that were previously known to be testable. In particular, the extensions include properties satisfied by functions of degree linear in n that turn out to be O(1)-locally testable. Our results are proved by introducing a new notion that we term "formal characterizations". Roughly this corresponds to characterizations that are given by a single local constraint and its permutations under linear transformations of the domain. Our main testing result shows that local formal characterizations essentially imply local testability. We then investigate properties that are linear-invariant and attempt to understand their local formal characterizability. Our results here give coarse upper and lower bounds on the locality of constraints and characterizations for linear-invariant properties in terms of some structural parameters of the property we introduce. The lower bounds rule out any characterization, while the upper bounds give formal characterizations. Combining the two gives a test for all linear-invariant properties with local characterizations. We believe that invariance of properties is a very interesting notion to study in the context of property testing in general and merits a systematic study. In particular, the class of linear-invariant and affine-invariant properties exhibits a rich variety among algebraic properties and offer better intuition about algebraic properties than the more limited class of low-degree functions.
Catalytic Asymmetric Synthesis of Hydroxy Enol Ethers: Approach to a Two-Carbon Homologation of Aldehydes

[reaction: see text] Hydroboration of ethoxy acetylene, transmetalation to zinc, and addition to aldehydes in the presence of a chiral amino alcohol ligand (MIB) affords hydroxy enol ethers with high ee. The resultant enantiomerically enriched hydroxy enol ethers were converted to protected hydroxy aldehydes, a useful synthetic building block for the construction of a variety of polyoxygenated natural products. In addition, diastereoselective formation of syn- and anti-1,3-diols was studied.
New easy approach to the synthesis of 2,5-disubstituted and 2,4,5-trisubstituted 1,3-oxazoles. The reaction of 1 - (methylthio )acetone with nitriles

The reaction of 1-(methylthio)acetone with different nitriles in the presence of triflic anhydride led to the one-pot formation of 2-substituted 5-methyl-4-methylthio-1,3-oxazoles in good yield. 1,2- and 1,4-Bisozaxolyl-substituted benzenes were obtained when the reaction was carried out using aromatic dinitriles. The methylthio group at the C4 position of the oxazole ring was easily removed with Raney nickel to form 2-substituted 5-methyl-1,3-oxazoles in good yields. 4-Methylsulfonyl derivatives were prepared by the oxidation of the MeS group with m-CPBA. The proposed mechanism for the formation of oxazoles involves an unstable 1-(methylthio)-2-oxopropyl triflate, which was detected from the low-temperature NMR spectra.
A Singularity-Free Boundary Equation Method for Wave Scattering

Traditional boundary integral methods suffer from the singularity of Green's kernels. The paper develops, for a model problem of 2D scattering as an illustrative example, singularity-free boundary difference equations. Instead of converting Maxwell's system into an integral boundary form first and discretizing second, here the differential equations are first discretized on a regular grid and then converted to boundary difference equations. The procedure involves nonsingular Green's functions on a lattice rather than their singular continuous counterparts. Numerical examples demonstrate the effectiveness, accuracy and convergence of the method. It can be generalized to 3D problems and to other classes of linear problems, including acoustics and elasticity.
ROSAT X–Ray Observations of the Radio Galaxy NGC 1316 (Fornax A)

We have observed NGC 1316 (Fornax A) with the ROSAT HRI. In this paper, we present the results of these observations and complement them with the spectral analysis of the archival PSPC data. The spectral properties suggest the presence of a significant component of thermal X-ray emission (greater than 60%), amounting to ~109 M☉ of hot interstellar matter (ISM). Within 3' from the nucleus of NGC 1316, the HRI X-ray surface brightness falls as r-2. In the inner ~40'', the X-ray surface brightness is significantly elongated ( ~ 0.3). This flattened X-ray feature is confirmed by a straightforward statistics test as well as moment analysis. By comparing the morphology of the X-ray emission with the distribution of optical dust patches, we find that the X-ray emission is significantly reduced at the locations where the dust patches are more pronounced, indicating that at least some of the X-ray photons are absorbed by the cold ISM. We also compare the distribution of the hot and cold ISM with that of the ionized gas, using recently obtained Hα CCD data. We find that the ionized gas is distributed roughly along the dust patches and follows the large-scale X-ray distribution at r > 1' from the nucleus. However, there is no one-to-one correspondence between ionized gas and hot gas. Both morphological relations and kinematics suggest different origins for hot and cold ISM. The radio jets in projection appear to pass perpendicularly through the central X-ray ellipsoid. Comparison of thermal and radio pressures suggests that the radio jets are confined by the surrounding hot gaseous medium.
Complementary Perspectives on Privacy and Security: Economics

Economics and behavioral economics offer different but complementary approaches to understanding privacy and security. This article explains briefly their differences and similarities, and why they matter in our thinking about security and privacy.
Asynchronous remote medical consultation for Ghana

Computer-mediated communication systems can be used to bridge the gap between doctors in underserved regions with local shortages of medical expertise and medical specialists worldwide. To this end, we describe the design of a prototype remote consultation system intended to provide the social, institutional and infrastructural context for sustained, self-organizing growth of a globally-distributed Ghanaian medical community. The design is grounded in an iterative design process that included two rounds of extended design fieldwork throughout Ghana and draws on three key design principles (social networks as a framework on which to build incentives within a self-organizing network; optional and incremental integration with existing referral mechanisms; and a weakly-connected, distributed architecture that allows for a highly interactive, responsive system despite failures in connectivity). We discuss initial experiences from an ongoing trial deployment in southern Ghana.
Periodicity and the Determinant Bundle

The infinite matrix 'Schwartz' group G 1 is a classifying group for odd K-theory and carries Chern classes in each odd dimension, generating the cohomology. These classes are closely related to the Fredholm determinant on G 1 . We show that while the higher (even, Schwartz) loop groups of G 1 , again classifying for odd K-theory, do not carry multiplicative determinants generating the first Chern class, 'dressed' extensions, corresponding to a star product, do carry such functions. We use these to discuss Bott periodicity for the determinant bundle and the eta invariant. In so doing we relate two distinct extensions of the eta invariant, to self-adjoint elliptic operators and to elliptic invertible suspended families and show that the corresponding invariant is a determinant in this sense.
Ethanol from Biomass: Economic and Environmental Potential of Converting Corn Stover and Hardwood Forest Residue in Minnesota

Research was undertaken to determine the economic feasibility and environmental impact of harvesting corn stover and hardwood forest residue in Minnesota and surrounding states for conversion to fuel ethanol at facilities located in Minnesota. It was estimated that only 7 of the total 41 million dry tons of corn stover produced and 3 of the 6.5 million dry tons of hardwood residue produced in the study region would likely be harvested each year. From these quantities, it would be physically feasible to produce about 874 million gallons of ethanol annually. It was estimated that 200 million gallons could be harvested at a delivered feedstock cost below $40 per ton. Results indicate further that ethanol derived from corn stover would be cost competitive with corn-grain ethanol, and that hardwood residue-derived ethanol would be about $0.16 per-gallon higher than the upper-bound cost for corn-grain ethanol. Furthermore, this work indicates that large-scale substitution of petroleum gasoline with biomass-derived ethanol would have huge impacts with respect to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, although SOx emissions would increase.
Positive Mood and Resistance to Temptation: The Interfering Influence of Elevated Arousal

We investigate the interfering influence of elevated arousal on the impact of positive mood on resistance to temptation. Three studies demonstrate that when a temptation activates long-term health goals, baseline positive mood facilitates resistance to temptation in (1) the choice between two snack items, one of which is more unhealthy, sinful, and hard to resist (M&Ms) than the other (grapes) and (2) the monitoring of consumption when the sinful option is chosen. However, this influence is attenuated when positive mood is accompanied by elevated arousal. We demonstrate that the cognitive depletion that accompanies elevated arousal interferes with the self-regulatory focus of positive mood, decreasing resistance to temptation.
On the stability of uncertain polynomials with dependent coefficients

A sufficient condition is given for reducing the conservatism of the stability bounds for a family of polynomials with dependent coefficients, including nonlinear coefficients. It is also proved that if a finite family of stable polynomials has the same even part, then the polynomial with the even part and the odd part formed by adding any positive multiple of the even parts and odd parts, respectively, of the given family is also stable. Similar results holds if the given family of polynomials has the same odd part. A numerical example with nonlinear coefficients is given to illustrate the technique, and it is observed that the stability bounds obtained are larger than those acquired by Kharitonov's theorem. >
Kicker magnets for the Advanced Light Source

Fast pulsed kicker magnets will be used in the Advanced Light Source (ALS) Booster to accept injected 50-MeV electrons from the source linac and then eject the full energy 1.5-GeV beam into the storage ring. Their design has incorporated a number of unique elements to achieve the tight requirements for efficient beam transfer. The booster orbit time of 250 ns and a maximum of 12 electron bunches, spaced 8 ns apart, define the maximum required injection and extraction kicker magnet flat top time. A 100-ns injection falltime and extraction risetime were selected, with the 50-ns balance left for pulse setting and timing errors. The injected beam is deflected 59 mrad and the extracted beam 4 mrad. This can be accomplished with a 0.5-m 200-G magnet for injection and a 1-m 200-G magnet for extraction. A uniformity of +or-0.5% temporally and spatially is required of the nominal 200-G flat top field to maintain a low loss/dispersion system. >
Miscibility Gaps in Alkali‐Silicate Binaries—Data and Thermodynamic Interpretation

Measurements of the miscibility gaps in the Li2O- and Na2O-SiO2 binaries are reported and compared to data of other workers. Heat treatments by brief immersion in liquid Sn were used for measuring the properties of glasses with a strong devitrification tendency. The miscibility-gap boundaries of both systems are successfully described by modified regular-mixing equations based on the concept that the thermodynamic mixing processes are controlled by complex but discrete molecular structures which exist in the melt. The assumptions and implications of the model are discussed.
Design and Optimization Methods for Elective Hospital Admissions

Hospitals typically lack effective enterprise level strategic planning of bed and care resources, contributing to bed census levels that are statistically "out of control." This system dysfunction manifests itself in bed block, surgical cancelation, ambulance diversions, and operational chaos. This is the classic hospital admission scheduling and control HASC problem, which has been addressed in its entirety only through inexact simulation-based search heuristics. This paper develops new analytical models of controlled hospital census that can, for the first time, be incorporated into a mixed-integer programming model to optimally solve the strategic planning/scheduling portion of the HASC. Our new solution method coordinates elective admissions with other hospital subsystems to reduce system congestion. We formulate a new Poisson-arrival-location model PALM based on an innovative stochastic location process that we developed and call the patient temporal resource needs model. We further extend the PALM approach to the class of deterministic controlled-arrival-location models d-CALM and develop linearizing approximations to stochastic blocking metrics. This work provides the theoretical foundations for an efficient scheduled admissions planning system as well as a practical decision support methodology to stabilize hospital census.
Private Chinese Investment in Africa : Myths and Realities

Private Chinese outbound investment, not as well-known as government-led investment, offers special opportunities and challenges for Africa today. The significance of Chinese private-sector investment is already visible in the burgeoning manufacturing sector in some parts of Africa, and the trend will continue to grow in the near future. The underlying force behind this trend is the increased pressure of industrial restructuring in coastal China, a force that drives some labor-intensive firms to relocate to other parts of the developing world, including Africa. African host country governments can respond to this phenomenon with proactive development policies and strategies to maximize private Chinese investment for the benefit of their own economies.
Word-Sense Disambiguation Using Decomposable Models

Most probabilistic classifiers used for word-sense disambiguation have either been based on only one contextual feature or have used a model that is simply assumed to characterize the interdependencies among multiple contextual features. In this paper, a different approach to formulating a probabilistic model is presented along with a case study of the performance of models produced in this manner for the disambiguation of the noun interest. We describe a method for formulating probabilistic models that use multiple contextual features for word-sense disambiguation, without requiring untested assumptions regarding the form of the model. Using this approach, the joint distribution of all variables is described by only the most systematic variable interactions, thereby limiting the number of parameters to be estimated, supporting computational efficiency, and providing an understanding of the data.
Computer-Aided Design and Graphics Applied to the Study of Inductor-Energy -Storage Dc-to-Dc Electronic Power Converters

A series of nine programs are developed for the design of the inductors of single-winding flyback converters. Three converter types are considered: voltage step-up, current step-up, and voltage step-up/current step-up. For each of the converter types, three pulse modulators are considered: constant frequency, constant transistor on-time, and constant transistor off-time. Computer-graphics displays are used to assist in evaluating characteristics of the various converter-modulator combinations.
Hydrogen Storage in Pillared Li-Dispersed Boron Carbide Nanotubes

Ab initio density-functional theory study suggests that pillared Li-dispersed boron carbide nanotubes are capable of storing hydrogen with a mass density higher than 6.0 wt% and a volumetric density higher than 45 g/L. The boron substitution in carbon nanotube greatly enhances the binding energy of Li atom to the nanotube, and this binding energy (∼2.7 eV) is greater than the cohesive energy of lithium metal (∼1.7 eV), preventing lithium from clustering at high lithium doping concentration. The adsorption energy of hydrogen on the Li-dispersed boron carbide nanotube is in the range of 10−24 kJ/mol, suitable for reversible H2 adsorption/desorption at room temperature. The aim of this theoretical study is to stimulate future experimental tests on the hydrogen-storage capability in porous boron−carbon systems (e.g., microporous boron carbides) with sufficiently large interior surfaces coated with submonolayer lithium.
The pleasures and pains of distinct self-construals: The role of interdependence in regulatory focus.

Regulatory focus theory distinguishes between self-regulatory processes that focus on promotion and prevention strategies for goal pursuit. Five studies provide support for the hypothesis that these strategies differ for individuals with distinct self-construals. Specifically, individuals with a dominant independent self-construal were predicted to place more emphasis on promotion-focused information, and those with a dominant interdependent self-construal on prevention-focused information. Support for this hypothesis was obtained for participants who scored high versus low on the Self-Construal Scale, participants who were presented with an independent versus interdependent situation, and participants from a Western versus Eastern culture. The influence of interdependence on regulatory focus was observed in both importance ratings of information and affective responses consistent with promotion or prevention focus.
The Solar Neighborhood XXIX: The Habitable Real Estate of Our Nearest Stellar Neighbors

We use the sample of known stars and brown dwarfs within 5 pc of the Sun, supplemented with AFGK stars within 10 pc, to determine which stellar spectral types provide the most habitable real estate—defined as locations where liquid water could be present on Earth-like planets. Stellar temperatures and radii are determined by fitting model spectra to spatially resolved broadband photometric energy distributions for stars in the sample. Using these values, the locations of the habitable zones are calculated using an empirical formula for planetary surface temperature and assuming the condition of liquid water, called here the empirical habitable zone (EHZ). Systems that have dynamically disruptive companions are considered not habitable. We consider companions to be disruptive if the separation ratio of the companion to the habitable zone is less than 5:1. We use the results of these calculations to derive a simple formula for predicting the location of the EHZ for main sequence stars based on V −K color. We consider EHZ widths as more useful measures of the habitable real estate around stars than areas because multiple planets are not expected to orbit stars at identical stellar distances. This EHZ provides a qualitative guide on where to expect the largest population of planets in the habitable zones of main sequence stars. Because of their large numbers and lower frequency of short-period companions, M stars provide more EHZ real estate than other spectral types, possessing 36.5% of the habitable real estate en masse. K stars are second with 21.5%, while A, F, and G stars offer 18.5%, 6.9%, and 16.6%, respectively. Our calculations show that three M dwarfs within 10 pc harbor planets in their EHZs—GJ 581 may have two planets (d with m sin i = 6.1 M⊕; g with m sin i = 3.1 M⊕), GJ 667 C has one (c with m sin i = 4.5 M⊕), and GJ 876 has two (b with m sin i = 1.89 MJup and cw ithm sin i = 0.56 MJup). If Earth-like planets are as common around low-mass stars as recent Kepler results suggest, M stars will harbor more Earth-like planets in habitable zones than any other stellar spectral type.
Beyond iron: non-classical biological functions of bacterial siderophores

Bacteria secrete small molecules known as siderophores to acquire iron from their surroundings. For over 60 years, investigations into the bioinorganic chemistry of these molecules, including fundamental coordination chemistry studies, have provided insight into the crucial role that siderophores play in bacterial iron homeostasis. The importance of understanding the fundamental chemistry underlying bacterial life has been highlighted evermore in recent years because of the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and the need to prevent the global rise of these superbugs. Increasing reports of siderophores functioning in capacities other than iron transport have appeared recently, but reports of “non-classical” siderophore functions have long paralleled those of iron transport. One particular non-classical function of these iron chelators, namely antibiotic activity, was documented before the role of siderophores in iron transport was established. In this Perspective, we present an exposition of past and current work into non-classical functions of siderophores and highlight the directions in which we anticipate that this research is headed. Examples include the ability of siderophores to function as zincophores, chalkophores, and metallophores for a variety of other metals, sequester heavy metal toxins, transport boron, act as signalling molecules, regulate oxidative stress, and provide antibacterial activity.
Routine run-time code generation

Run-time code generation (RTCG) would be used routinely if application programmers had a facility with which they could easily create their own run-time code generators, because it would offer benefits both in terms of the efficiency of the code that programmers would produce and the ease of producing it. Such a facility would necessarily have the following properties: it would not require that programmers know assembly language; programmers would have full control over the generated code; the code generator would operate entirely at the binary level. In this paper, we offer arguments and examples supporting these assertions. We briefly describe Jumbo, a system we have built for producing run-time code generators for Java..
Current Status of Large Scale Integration Technology

The current status of large scale integration (LSI) technology is reviewed, with emphasis on developments made during the past year. Problem areas and solution approaches are emphasized, Four LSI technologies are considered as follows. 1) LSI bipolar chip technology (100 percent yield over chip area) reviews progress toward increasing the cornplexit y level on semiconductor chips. Conclusions of a Texas Instruments study of yie!d versus chip area are discussed, and a forecast is made of complexity levels for logic and memory. Several master-slice customization programs now under development in industry are reviewed. 2) LSI full-slice technology (discretionary wiring) is discussed for read-write and read-only memory of 1600 bits per slice and customized logic of 100 to 250 gates per slice. 3) LSI MOS technology is reviewed emphasizing progress in speed improvements and area reduction through development of four-phase ratioless circuitry. Technological factors which govern MOS speed are discussed. 4) LSI hybrid technology is briefly discussed. The paper concludes with a discussion of complexity versus cost, perfommce, and reliability for various LSI technologies. The problem of selecting an optimum LSI technology for a given application is discussed by consideration of several specific examples.
Sampling the Probability Distribution of Type Ia Supernova Lightcurve Parameters in Cosmological Analysis

In order to obtain robust cosmological constraints from Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) data, we have applied Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) to SN Ia lightcurve fitting. We develop a method for sampling the resultant probability density distributions (pdf) of the SN Ia lightcuve parameters in the MCMC likelihood analysis to constrain cosmological parameters, and validate it using simulated data sets. Applying this method to the ‘joint lightcurve analysis (JLA)’ data set of SNe Ia, we find that sampling the SN Ia lightcurve parameter pdf's leads to cosmological parameters closer to that of a flat Universe with a cosmological constant, compared to the usual practice of using only the best-fitting values of the SN Ia lightcurve parameters. Our method will be useful in the use of SN Ia data for precision cosmology.
Clairvoyant embedding in one dimension

Let v, w be infinite 0-1 sequences, and mi¾? a positive integer. We say that w is mi¾?-embeddable in v, if there exists an increasing sequence ni:ii¾?0 of integers with n0=0, such that 1i¾?ni-ni-1i¾?mi¾?, wi=vni for all ii¾?1. Let X and Y be coin-tossing sequences. We will show that there is an mi¾? with the property that Y is mi¾?-embeddable into X with positive probability. This answers a question that was open for a while. The proof generalizes somewhat the hierarchical method of an earlier paper of the author on dependent percolation. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 47, 520-560, 2015
Veterinary Record Open: extending the open access options

THIS month will see the launch of Veterinary Record Open, a new peer-reviewed open access research journal which we are pleased to present as part of the BVA's group of journals. These are exciting times for veterinary publishing, with an opportunity to publish well-designed and well-reported research in a completely accessible manner. Veterinary Record Open will accept all submissions relating to veterinary research from all disciplines and fields, including those that might otherwise be refused by journals with specific interests or readerships. It will be dedicated to publishing veterinary research across a range of topics, including those of a more niche and specialist nature to that considered in the weekly Veterinary Record . It will consider original research articles and study protocols for publication. ![Graphic][1] Veterinary Record Open is … [1]: /embed/inline-graphic-1.gif