cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Non-linear noise excitation and intermittency under high disorder

Consider the semilinear heat equation@tu = @ 2 xu+ (u) on the interval [0;L] with Dirichlet zero-boundary condition and a nice non-random initial function, where the forcing is space-time white noise and > 0 denotes the level of the noise. We show that, when the solution is intermittent [that is, when infz j (z)=zj > 0], the expected L 2 -energy of the solution grows at least as expfc 2 g and at most as expfc 4 g as ! 1. In the case that the Dirichlet boundary condition is replaced by a Neumann boundary condition, we prove that the L 2 -energy of the solution is in fact of sharp exponential order expfc 4 g. We show also that, for a large family of one-dimensional randomly-forced wave equations on R, the energy of the solution grows as expfc g as ! 1. Thus, we observe the surprising result that the stochastic wave equation is, quite typically, significantly less noise-excitable than its parabolic counterparts.
ELISpot for measuring human immune responses to vaccines.

The enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot (ELISpot) assay is one of the most commonly used methods to measure antigen-specific T cells in both mice and humans. Some of the primary reasons for the popularity of the method are that ELISpot is highly quantitative, can measure a broad range of magnitudes of response and is capable of assessing critical cellular immune-related activities such as IFN-γ secretion and granzyme B release. Furthermore, ELISpot is adaptable not only to the evaluation of a variety of T-cell functions, but also to B cells and innate immune cells. It is no wonder that ELISpot has evolved from a research tool to a clinical assay. Recent Phase I and II studies of cancer vaccines, tested in a variety of malignancies, have suggested that ELISpot may be a useful biomarker assay to predict clinical benefit after therapeutic immune modulation. This article will discuss the most common applications of ELISpot, overview the efforts that have been undertaken to standardize the assay and apply the met...
Pattern closure of groups of tree automorphisms

It is shown that every group of automorphisms of a regular rooted tree that is defined by forbidding a set of patterns of size s + 1 is the topological closure of a self-similar, countable, regular branch group, branching over its level s stabilizer. As an application, it is shown that there are no infinite, finitely constrained, topologically finitely generated groups of binary tree automorphisms defined by forbidden patterns of size two.
A reputational model of authority

Abstract The paper provides a model where authority relaionships are founded on reputation. The viability of authority is the result of subordinates’ free-riding on each other’s challenges, reducing the frequency of challenges, and making reputation worth defending. The party with authority secures subordinates’ compliance through the payment of rents to influence the extent of their failure to act collectively and exacerbate the free-rider problem they face. The model provides a framework to explain how the magnitude and form of these rents depend on the primitives of the environment and on the authority’s design of its reputation. Applications to employment relationships, dictatorships, and the notion of legitimacy are considered.
ASCA observations of type-2 Seyfert Galaxies. III. Orientation and X-ray Absorption

We discuss the spectral properties of a sample of type 2 Seyfert galaxies based upon the analysis of ASCA data. In this paper, we consider the sources for which the X-ray spectra appear to be dominated by the nuclear continuum, transmitted through a large column of absorbing material. We find that both Seyfert 2 galaxies and narrow emission line galaxies (NELGs) show iron Kα line profiles indicative of reprocessing of nuclear X-rays in a face-on accretion disk. Such line profiles are also observed in Seyfert 1 galaxies. This result is contrary to unification models, which would predict the inner regions of transmitted Seyfert 2 galaxies to be observed edge-on. This raises some questions as to the orientation of the circumnuclear absorber. If the observed differences between Seyfert 1 and 2 galaxies and NELGs are not due to differences in the orientation of the absorbing material, then we suggest that differences in dust composition and grain size, and in the density of the circumnuclear gas, could be of primary importance.
Determinants of a sustainable competitive advantage due to an IT-enabled strategy

Abstract Information technology (IT) has been asserted to be a source of sustainable competitive advantage. Empirical evidence has shown that IT can improve a company's performance and competitive position. We examine the factors that are believed to lead to a sustainable competitive advantage due to an IT-enabled strategy, and test these factors empirically. Our findings show that managerial IT skills are positively related to sustainability, and competitor's knowledge of competitive advantage is negatively related to sustainability. There was no support for technical IT skills or IT infrastructure as a source of sustainable competitive advantage.
Supersymmetry enhancement by monopole operators

We describe a method which allows one to study hidden symmetries in a large class of strongly coupled supersymmetric gauge theories in three dimensions. We apply this method to the ABJM theory and to the infrared limit of N = 4 SQCD with adjoint and fundamental matter. We show that the U(N) ABJM model with Chern-Simons level k = 1 or k = 2 has hidden N = 8 supersymmetry. Hidden supersymmetry is also shown to occur in N = 4 d = 3 SQCD with one fundamental and one adjoint hypermultiplet. The latter theory, as well as the U(N) ABJM theory at k = 1, are shown to have a decoupled free sector. This provides evidence that both models are dual to the infrared limit of N = 8 U(N) super-Yang-Mills theory.
A tract-specific framework for white matter morphometry combining macroscopic and microscopic tract features

Diffusion tensor imaging plays a key role in our understanding of white matter both in normal populations and in populations with brain disorders. Existing techniques focus primarily on using diffusivity-based quantities derived from diffusion tensor as surrogate measures of microstructural tissue properties of white matter. In this paper, we describe a novel tract-specific framework that enables the examination of white matter morphometry at both the macroscopic and microscopic scales. The framework leverages the skeleton-based modeling of sheet-like white matter fasciculi using the continuous medial representation, which gives a natural definition of thickness and supports its comparison across subjects. The thickness measure provides a macroscopic characterization of white matter fasciculi that complements existing analysis of microstructural features. The utility of the framework is demonstrated in quantifying white matter atrophy in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a severe neurodegenerative disease of motor neurons. We show that, compared to using microscopic features alone, combining the macroscopic and microscopic features gives a more complete characterization of the disease.
How do enzymes activate oxygen without inactivating themselves

Detailed analyses of the oxidative half-reactions of glucose oxidase and soybean lipoxygenase provide insight into Nature’s solution to the “trouble with oxygen”. Coupled with studies of other O2-activating enzymes, two key features emerge. The first is the predominance of a rate-limiting transfer of the first electron transfer to O2, with subsequent electron and proton transfers occurring in rapid steps. The second feature is the identification of non-metal binding sites and channels for O2. These permit a controlled reactivity of oxygen to generate the desired regio- and stereochemical products, while minimizing deleterious side reactions.
Ideals Generated by Quadratic Polynomials

Let $R$ be a polynomial ring in $N$ variables over an arbitrary field $K$ and let $I$ be an ideal of $R$ generated by $n$ polynomials of degree at most 2. We show that there is a bound on the projective dimension of $R/I$ that depends only on $n$, and not on $N$. The proof depends on showing that if $K$ is infinite and $n$ is a positive integer, there exists a positive integer C(n), independent of $N$, such that any $n$ forms of degree at most 2 in $R$ are contained in a subring of $R$ generated over $K$ by at most $t \leq C(n)$ forms $G_1, \,..., \, G_t$ of degree 1 or 2 such that $G_1, \,..., \, G_t$ is a regular sequence in $R$. C(n) is asymptotic to $2n^{2n}$.
Organizing Women The Nature and Process of Union-Organizing Efforts Among U.S. Women Workers Since the mid-1990s

This article examines the intersection of gender and union strategies and how that has played out in labor’s continued efforts at revitalization through organizing. Using a combination of macro Bur...
Negative Urgency Mediates the Relationship between Amygdala and Orbitofrontal Cortex Activation to Negative Emotional Stimuli and General Risk-Taking

The tendency toward impulsive behavior under emotional duress (negative and positive urgency) predicts a wide range of maladaptive risk-taking and behavioral disorders. However, it remains unclear how urgency relates to limbic system activity as induced from emotional provocation. This study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine the relationship between brain responses to visual emotional stimuli and urgency traits. Twenty-seven social drinkers (mean age = 25.2, 14 males) viewed negative (Neg), neutral (Neu), and positive (Pos) images during 6 fMRI scans. Brain activation was extracted from a priori limbic regions previously identified in studies of emotional provocation. The right posterior orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and left amygdala were activated in the [Neg>Neu] contrast, whereas the left posterior OFC was activated in the [Pos>Neu] contrast. Negative urgency was related to the right lateral OFC (r = 0.43, P = 0.03) and the left amygdala (r = 0.39, P = 0.04) [Neg>Neu] activation. Negative urgency also mediated the relationship between [Neg>Neu] activation and general risk-taking (regression weights = 3.42 for right OFC and 2.75 for the left amygdala). Emotional cue-induced activation in right lateral OFC and left amygdala might relate to emotion-based risk-taking through negative urgency.
Assessing the Effects of School Resources on Student Performance: An Update

The relationship between school resources and student achievement has been controversial, in large part because it calls into question a variety of traditional policy approaches. This article reviews the available educational production literature, updating previous summaries. The close to 400 studies of student achievement demonstrate that there is not a strong or consistent relationship between student performance and school resources, at least after variations in family inputs are taken into account. These results are also reconciled with meta-analytic approaches and with other investigations on how school resources affect labor market outcomes. Simple resource policies hold little hope for improving student outcomes.
Culture Clash: The Costs and Benefits of Homogeneity

This paper develops an economic theory of the costs and benefits of corporate culture---in the sense of shared beliefs and values---in order to study the effects of “culture clash” in mergers and acquisitions. I first use a simple analytical framework to show that shared beliefs lead to more delegation, less monitoring, higher utility (or satisfaction), higher execution effort (or motivation), faster coordination, less influence activities, and more communication, but also to less experimentation and less information collection. When two firms that are each internally homogeneous but different from each other merge, the above results translate to specific predictions about how the change in homogeneity will affect firm behavior. This paper's predictions can also serve more in general as a test for the theory of culture as shared beliefs.
MODELING POLITICAL PERFORMANCE OF ISLAMIST AND ISLAMIST-ROOTED PARTIES IN TURKEY

Turkish experience with Islamist and Islamist-rooted parties spanning nearly half a century is studied to understand the factors that caused their transformation and determined their political performance, both while in office and in opposition. A vote equation built, which takes into account all of the key factors mentioned in the economic voting literature, shows that during their rule such parties suffer much less due to strategic voting than other parties but they face a higher cost of ruling. Also, they are affected by the economy in a similar way or even more than other incumbent parties. Moderation in Islamist and Islamist-rooted parties generated through their participation in the parliament and governments, combined with center-right parties deserting their traditional anti-establishment positions, and getting tainted by corruption and incompetence led to massive vote transfers during the last decade from the latter to the former.
Electrical reflection coefficient and velocity shift for groove gratings

The electrical reflection coefficient r/sub e/ and velocity shift ( Delta nu / nu )/sub e/ for grooves has never been formulated. All previous calculations for r/sub e/ and ( Delta nu / nu )/sub e/ have used formulas valid for the reflection of a surface acoustic wave (SAW) from an array of conducting strips. However, the discontinuity in electrical boundary conditions leading to these formulas does not exist in groove gratings. A new expression for the electrical reflection coefficient and velocity shift for some material overlays is derived from both the variational principle and perturbation theory. The results for various substrates are compared to show the agreement between the two approaches. The implications of this new formulation for the design of grooved arrays on various materials are discussed, effectively resolving the discrepancy between theory and experiment. >
DUAL MOBILITY OBVIATES THE NEED FOR CONSTRAINED LINERS IN REVISION THA – OPPOSES

In primary total hip replacements there are numerous options available for providing hip stability in difficult situations i.e. Down9s syndrome, Parkinson9s disease. However, in the revision situation, in general, and in revision for recurrent dislocation situations specifically, it is important to have all options available including dual mobility constrained liners in order to optimise the potential for hip stability as well as function of the arthroplasty. Even with the newer options available dislocation rates of higher than 5% have been reported in the first two years following revision surgery at institutions where high volumes of revision surgery are performed [Della Valle, Sporer, Paprosky unpublished data]. Because of the deficient abductors, other soft tissue laxity and the requirement for large diameter cups, revision cases will always have more potential for dislocation. In these situations in the lower demand patient and where, a complex acetabular reconstruction that requires time for ingrowth before optimal implant bone stability to occur isn9t present, dual mobility with constraint has provided excellent success in terms of preventing dislocation and maintaining implant construct fixation to bone at intermediate term follow-up. Hence in these situations dual mobility with constraint remains the option we utilise. We are also confident in using this device in cases with instability or laxity where there is a secure well-positioned acetabular shell. We cement a dual mobility constrained liner in these situations using the technique described below. Present indication for dual mobility constrained liners: low demand patient, abductor muscle deficiency or soft tissue laxity, large outer diameter cups, multiple operations for instability, and instability with well-fixed shells that are adequately positioned. Technique of cementing liner into shell: score acetabular shell if no holes; score liner in spider web configuration; all one or two millimeters of cement mantle. Results Constrained Dual Mobility Liner For Dislocation: 56 Hips 10 yr average f/u, 7% failure of device, 5% femoral loosening, 4% acetabular loosening. For Difficult Revisions: 101 hips 10 yr average f/u, 6% failure of device, 4% femoral loosening, 4% acetabular loosening Cementing Liner into Shell: 31 hips 3.6 yr average f/u (2–10 years), 2 of 31 failures
Computational Techniques for Motif Search

The problem of identifying meaningful patterns (i.e., motifs) from biological data has been studied extensively due to its paramount importance. Motifs are fundamental functional elements in proteins vital for understanding gene function, human disease, and identifying potential therapeutic drug targets. Several versions of the motif search problem have been identified in the literature. Numerous algorithms have been proposed for motif search as well. In this talk we survey some of these algorithms. We also summarize our contributions to motif search and related problems. In addition, we will summarize MnM, a web based system built by us for motif search that is used by biologists widely.
Biomimetic approach to communesin B (a.k.a. nomofungin)

The development of an approach to the alkaloid communesin B (2) is presented. The approach is based on considerations of a possible biosynthetic sequence involving an oxidative coupling of tryptamine with a derivative of the ergot alkaloid aurantioclavine. Structure revision is also suggested for the recently isolated microfilament disrupting alkaloid nomofungin.
Periprosthetic fractures following total knee arthroplasty.

Periprosthetic fractures following total knee arthroplasty are a potentially devastating complication to both the patient and the surgeon. Complication rates of treatment reported in the literature range widely, from 25 to 75 percent, even in the hands of both skilled and experienced surgeons1-4. A meta-analysis of 195 fractures in twelve published reports of ipsilateral supracondylar femoral fractures demonstrated complication rates of 30 percent with both nonoperative and operative treatment methods5. Various treatment modalities have been utilized to manage these challenging fractures. The purpose of this review is to analyze the prevalence, pathogenesis, mechanism of injury, risk factors, classification, and treatment of these fractures. ### Prevalence and Pathogenesis The reported prevalence of supracondylar femoral fracture following total knee arthroplasty has ranged from 0.3 to 2.5 percent3,6-12. Various factors have been implicated in the pathogenesis of this fracture. These include stress-shielding from the anterior flange of the femoral component, inadequate osseous remodeling due to postoperative hypovascularity, a relative difference in elastic modulus between the implant-covered distal part of the femur and the femoral cortex, endosteal ischemia from metal or bone cement13,14, and osteolysis of the distal part of the femur secondary to polyethylene wear debris15. The majority of these fractures result from a combination of axial and torsional loads10,16,17. Most occur following minimal falls, whereas others are secondary to motor-vehicle accidents, seizures, or closed manipulation of a stiff knee after total knee arthroplasty18. ### Risk Factors A review of the literature shows that patients with conditions associated with osteopenia are clearly at greater risk of sustaining a supracondylar femoral fracture after total knee arthroplasty4-7,10,19-24. Patients with rheumatoid arthritis2,4,7 …
Femtosecond Interfacial Electron Transfer Dynamics of CdSe Semiconductor Nanoparticles

The effect of the adsorption of an electron donor (thiophenol, TP) on the surface of CdSe nanoparticles (NPs) on the emission and electron-hole dynamics is studied. It is found that while the emission is completely quenched, the effect on the transient bleach recovery of the band gap absorption is only slight. This is explained by a mechanism in which the hole in the valence band of the NP is rapidly neutralized by electron transfer from the TP. However, the excited electron in the conduction band is not transferred to the TP cation, i. e. the electron does not shuttle via the organic moiety as it does when naphthoquinone is adsorbed [1]. The excited electron is rather trapped by surface states. Thus the rate of bleach recovery in the CdSe NP system is determined by the rate of electron trapping and not by hole trapping. Comparable conclusions resulted previously [2] for the CdS NP when the CdS-MV 2+ system is studied. A comparative discussion of the electron-hole dynamics in these systems (CdSe-NQ, CdS-MV 2+ and CdSe-TP) is given.
Do Neighborhood Parks and Playgrounds Reduce Childhood Obesity

Using the 2007 National Survey of Children’s Health data,we find a statistically and economically significant effect of neighborhood parks and playgrounds on childhood obesity based on covariate matching estimators. The park/playground effect depends on gender, age, race, household income, neighborhood safety, and other neighborhood amenities. The results suggest that adding a neighborhood park/playground may reduce the obesity rate and make children more fit, but relevant interventions must consider socioeconomic status of the targeted children as well as other neighborhood amenities.
Deductivism and the Informal Fallacies

This essay proposes and defends a general thesis concerning the nature of fallacies of reasoning. These in distinctive ways are all said to be deductively invalid. More importantly, the most accurate, complete and charitable reconstructions of these species and specimens of the informal fallacies are instructive with respect to the individual character of each distinct informal fallacy. Reconstructions of the fallacies as deductive invalidities are possible in every case, if deductivism is true, which means that in every case they should be formalizable in an expressively comprehensive formal symbolic deductive logic. The general thesis is illustrated by a detailed examination of Walter Burleigh's paradox in his c. 1323 work, De Puritate Artis Logicae Tractatus Longior (Longer Treatise on the Purity of Logic), as a challenge to the deductive validity of hypothetical syllogism. The paradox has the form, ‹If I call you a swine, then I call you an animal; if I call you an animal, then I speak truly; therefore, if I call you a swine, then I speak truly'. Several solutions to the problem are considered, and the inference is exposed as an instance of the common deductive fallacy of equivocation.
Detecting Anomalous Activity on Networks With the Graph Fourier Scan Statistic

We consider the problem of deciding, based on a single noisy measurement at each vertex of a given graph, whether the underlying unknown signal is constant over the graph or there exists a cluster of vertices with anomalous activation. This problem is relevant to several applications such as surveillance, disease outbreak detection, biomedical imaging, environmental monitoring, etc. Since the activations in these problems often tend to be localized to small groups of vertices in the graphs, we model such activity by a class of signals that are elevated over a (possibly disconnected) cluster with low cut size relative to its size. We analyze the corresponding generalized likelihood ratio (GLR) statistics and relate it to the problem of finding a sparsest cut in the graph. We develop a convex relaxation of the GLR statistic based on spectral graph theory, which we call the graph Fourier scan statistic (GFSS). In our main theoretical result, we show that the performance of the GFSS depends explicitly on the spectral properties of the graph. To assess the optimality of the GFSS, we prove an information theoretic lower bound for the detection of anomalous activity on graphs. Because the GFSS requires the specification of a tuning parameter, we develop an adaptive version of the GFSS. Using these results, we are able to characterize in a very explicit form the performance of the GFSS on a few notable graph topologies. We demonstrate that the GFSS can efficiently detect a simulated Arsenic contamination in groundwater.
The Comparison of three Non-hypothetical Valuation Methods: Choice Experiments, Contingent Valuation, and Experimental Auction

This article examines the preferences revealed by three non-hypothetical experiments. We found that WTP estimates from the choice experiment are the highest, followed by that of contingent valuation methods, and then experimental auctions. Our results also suggest that the discrepancies among estimates from the valuation methods can come from the heterogeneity of respondents’ price bargaining aggressiveness.
An overview of transverse-momentum-dependent factorization and evolution

I review TMD factorization and evolution theorems, with an emphasis on the treatment by Collins and originating in the Collins-Soper-Sterman (CSS) formalism. I summarize basic results while attempting to trace their development over that past several decades.
On the Galois module structure of the square root of the inverse different in abelian extensions

Abstract Let K be a number field with ring of integers O K and let G be a finite group of odd order. Given a G-Galois K-algebra K h , let A h denote its square root of the inverse different, which exists by Hilbert's formula. If K h / K is weakly ramified, then a result of Erez implies that A h is locally free over O K G and hence defines a class in the locally free class group Cl ( O K G ) of O K G . In the case that G is abelian, we study the collection of all such classes and show that a subset of them is in fact a subgroup of Cl ( O K G ) .
Technology Choices and Pricing Policies in Wireless Networks

This paper studies the provision of a wireless network by a monopolistic provider who may be either benevolent (seeking to maximize social welfare) or selfish (seeking to maximize provider profit). The paper addresses the following questions: Under what circumstances is it feasible for a provider, either benevolent or selfish, to operate a network in such a way as to cover costs? How is the optimal behavior of a benevolent provider different from the optimal behavior of a selfish provider, and how does this difference affect social welfare? And, most importantly, how does the medium access control (MAC) technology influence the answers to these questions? To address these questions, we build a general model, and provide analysis and simulations for simplified but typical scenarios; the focus in these scenarios is on the contrast between the outcomes obtained under carrier-sensing multiple access (CSMA) and outcomes obtained under time-division multiple access (TDMA). Simulation results demonstrate that differences in MAC technology can have a significant effect on social welfare, on provider profit, and even on the (financial) feasibility of a wireless network.
Dynamic duopoly with slowly changing customer loyalties

Abstract A dynamic model of duopoly is considered in which a fixed fraction of the customer population changes loyalties in each period from the current high-price setter to the current low-price setter. The model is a stochastic game, and it is shown to have a Markov perfect equilibrium with distinctive economic features. Effects of changes in the duopolists' discount factors and in the stickiness of the customer loyalties on the equilibrium strategies and on long-run market structure are studied.
Freedom of Speech in Schools and the Right to Participation: When the First Amendment Encounters the Convention on the Rights of the Child

The rights to both free speech and participation present two normative frameworks for analyzing children's expressions in school. This Article examines the differences between these normative frameworks, to explore how they apply in different situations, and to assist in shaping just and educative policies for coping with children's controversial expressions in school. The data sources are 56 American cases concerning school children's free speech. The analysis highlights the distinctions between participatory and non-participatory expressions in educational environments. The right to participation captures only expressions that have a dialogic character, which are also supported by stronger justifications. The Article assists in identifying those expressions that are invaluable for democracy, and thus deserving of greater protection.
Well-Structured Futures and Cache Locality

In fork-join parallelism, a sequential program is split into a directed acyclic graph of tasks linked by directed dependency edges, and the tasks are executed, possibly in parallel, in an order consistent with their dependencies. A popular and effective way to extend fork-join parallelism is to allow threads to create futures. A thread creates a future to hold the results of a computation, which may or may not be executed in parallel. That result is returned when some thread touches that future, blocking if necessary until the result is ready.Recent research has shown that although futures can, of course, enhance parallelism in a structured way, they can have a deleterious effect on cache locality. In the worst case, futures can incur Ω(PT∞ + tT∞) deviations, which implies Ω (CPT∞ + CtT∞) additional cache misses, where C is the number of cache lines, P is the number of processors, t is the number of touches, and T∞ is the computation span. Since cache locality has a large impact on software performance on modern multicores, this result is troubling.In this article, we show that if futures are used in a simple, disciplined way, then the situation is much better: if each future is touched only once, either by the thread that created it or by a later descendant of the thread that created it, then parallel executions with work stealing can incur at most O(CPT2∞) additional cache misses—a substantial improvement. This structured use of futures is characteristic of many (but not all) parallel applications.
One-Pot Oxidative Cleavage of Olefins to Synthesize Carboxylic Acids by a Telescoped Ozonolysis–Oxidation Process

A mild one-pot ozonolysis–oxidation process of alkenes to synthesize carboxylic acids is described. Conducting the ozonolysis in an aqueous organic solvent eliminates secondary ozonide formation and the intermediates generated are readily converted into a carboxylic acid by adding sodium chlorite. Following a reductive quench, the desired acids are isolated in high purity and high yield by simple extraction.
Imaging white-light VISAR

An imaging white light velocimeter consisting of two image superimposing Michelson interferometers in series with the target interposed is demonstrated. Interferometrically measured 2D velocity maps can be made of moving surfaces using unlimited bandwidth incoherent and extended area sources. Short pulse and broadband chirped pulse lasers can be used to provide temporal resolution not possible with monochromatic illumination. An approximately 20 m/s per fringe imaging velocimeter is demonstrated using an ordinary camera flash for illumination. Radial and transverse velocity components can be measured when the illuminating and viewing beams are non-parallel.
Protecting and promoting the right to health in Latin America: selected experiences from the field.

Through a description of the four major challenges faced by Latin American human rights groups and the strategies that they have adopted to overcome these challenges, this article seeks to incorporate the perspective of human rights activists into the discussion of how to make health a universally recognized human right. The ill-defined normative content of the right to health, the lack of precedents and procedures for enforceability, and the lack of consciousness of health as a right have presented major obstacles to the implementation of the right in the region. Also, Latin American human rights groups must move beyond traditional legal methods and expertise to work in an interdisciplinary fashion with health professionals and grassroots health groups. Despite the obvious obstacles, Latin American human rights groups cannot afford not to become involved in advocacy on the right to health. /// Par une description des quatre principaux defis majeurs auxquels sont confrontes les groupes de defense des droits de la personne en Amerique Latine et les strategies qu'ils ont adoptees pour surmonter ces defis, cet article cherche a incorporer la perspective des activistes des droits de la personne dans la discussion sur la maniere de faire de la sante un droit universellement reconnu. Le contenu normatif mal defini du droit a la sante, le manque de precedents et de procedures en matiere d'applicabilite et l'absence de conscience de la sante en tant que droit, ont eu pour effet de presenter des obstacles majeurs a la mise en œuvre du droit dans la region. De meme, les groupes de defense des droits de la personne en Amerique Latine doivent aller au-dela des methodes legales traditionnelles et se former au travail pluridisciplinaire avec les professionnels de la sante et les groupes de sante a la base. En depit des obstacles evidents, les groupes de defense des droits de la personne d'Amerique Latine ne peuvent pas se permettre de ne pas s'engager dans la defense du droit a la sante pour tous. /// A traves de una descripcion de los cuatro retos mayores enfrentados por grupos de derechos humanos latinoamericanos y las estrategias que han adoptado para vencerlos, este articulo busca inyectar algo de las perspectiva de los activistas de derechos humanos en el debate de como hacer que la salud sea reconocida como un derecho humano universal. El contenido mal definido de la norma del derecho a la salud, como la falta de precedentes y procedimientos para su cumplimiento, y la falta de conciencia sobre la salud como derecho han presentado grandes obstaculos para la implementacion del derecho en la region. Ademas los grupos de derechos humanos latinoamericanos tendran que ir mas alla de los metodos legales y las estrategias tradicionales de trabajo en una forma inter-disciplinaria con profesionales de salud y grupos de organizaciones de base de salud. A pesar de los obstaculos tan obvios, los grupos de derechos humanos latinoamericanos no pueden darse el lujo de no estar involucrados en la abogacia sobre el derecho a la salud.
Geometry of River Channels

Hydraulic principles, as developed in firm boundary channels, appear insufficient to explain the form and profile of river channels. In nature, stream channels attain a most probable state that must fulfill the necessary hydraulic laws, but in addition, fulfills its degrees of freedom by tendency to equal distribution among velocity, depth, width, and slope. This principle is tested by the use of three examples. Another example explores the accommodation of a river channel to changing discharge. The last example is that of a river free to adjust its profile, velocities, depths, and widths to accommodate the downstream increase in discharge. Each of these examples appears to satisfy the postulate of this paper. The adjustment is toward minimum variance among the components of stream power.
A wireless strain sensor for wound monitoring with direct laser-defined patterning on a commercial dressing

Controlled mechanical strain or stress on a wound site can promote accelerated neovascularization and cellular proliferation for improved wound healing; however, these mechanical forces have not been properly quantified due to a lack of standardized technique. As a solution, we developed a wireless strain sensor on a commercial wound dressing. The sensor consists of a flexible antenna coil whose resonant frequency changes in response to applied strain. The frequency change of the sensor is observed to be a linear function of applied strain in the range of 0–35%, with an average sensitivity of 150 kHz/%strain and negligible hysteresis. The sensor is fabricated through a simple process that consist of defining a screen-printing mask directly over the wound dressing using laser machining. The fabrication technique can be scaled up for mass production using roll-to-roll methods.
State of Knowledge: Conflict Coaching Theory, Application, and Research

This article begins by revisiting the origins of conflict coaching to recognize the many and varied contributions that led to its emergence. The period of 2005 to 2015 is then considered in depth and organized according to theory, application, and research developments. The third portion of the article consists of six propositions on the current state of conflict coaching. These propositions are intended to help guide those involved with conflict coaching on scholarly and practitioner levels in the coming years.
Preschool teachers’ language and literacy practices with dual language learners

The purposes of this study were to (a) examine the degree to which teachers used linguistically responsive practices to support the language and literacy development of Spanish-speaking Dual Language Learners (DLL) and (b) to investigate the associations between these practices and select teacher-level factors. The sample consisted of 72 preschool teachers. Observational data were collected on practices. Teachers self-reported on language and culture beliefs, Spanish speaking ability, and classroom composition. Results indicated that teachers, including those who spoke Spanish, used few linguistically responsive practices to support preschool DLLs. Only Spanish-speaking ability was related to practices. Implications for targeted professional development are discussed.
Molecular Pathology Informatics

Molecular informatics (MI) is an evolving discipline that will support the dynamic landscape of molecular pathology and personalized medicine. MI provides a fertile ground for development of clinical solutions to bridge the gap between clinical informatics and bioinformatics. Rapid adoption of next generation sequencing (NGS) in the clinical arena has triggered major endeavors in MI that are expected to bring a paradigm shift in the practice of pathology. This brief review presents a broad overview of various aspects of MI, particularly in the context of NGS based testing.
Total Synthesis of Cryptocaryol A by Enantioselective Iridium-Catalyzed Alcohol C−H Allylation

The polyketide natural product cryptocaryol A is prepared in 8 steps via iridium catalyzed enantioselective diol double C-H allylation, which directly generates an acetate-based triketide stereodiad. In 4 previously reported total syntheses, 17-28 steps were required.
Generative Image Modeling Using Style and Structure Adversarial Networks

Current generative frameworks use end-to-end learning and generate images by sampling from uniform noise distribution. However, these approaches ignore the most basic principle of image formation: images are product of: (a) Structure: the underlying 3D model; (b) Style: the texture mapped onto structure. In this paper, we factorize the image generation process and propose Style and Structure Generative Adversarial Network (\({\text {S}^2}\)-GAN). Our \({\text {S}^2}\)-GAN has two components: the Structure-GAN generates a surface normal map; the Style-GAN takes the surface normal map as input and generates the 2D image. Apart from a real vs. generated loss function, we use an additional loss with computed surface normals from generated images. The two GANs are first trained independently, and then merged together via joint learning. We show our \({\text {S}^2}\)-GAN model is interpretable, generates more realistic images and can be used to learn unsupervised RGBD representations.
The Life Insurance Industry and Systemic Risk: A Bond Market Perspective

The 2008 financial crisis brought a focus on the potential for a large insurance firm to contribute to systemic risk. Among the concerns raised was that a negative shock to insurers could lead to a fire sale of corporate bonds, a market where insurers are among the largest participants. This manuscript discusses the existing evidence on life insurance firms and systemic risk, with a focus on the investment-grade corporate bond market. We provide some tentative evidence that life insurers tend to absorb liquidity risk by purchasing bonds when the bonds are less liquid than average. However, we do not find evidence that insurers increased bond purchases specifically during the financial crisis, leaving open the question of whether insurers would play a stabilizing role in a future crisis.
Propagation of Audiofrequency Sound in High Polymers

Velocity and attenuation measurements were made in thin strips of rubber from 0.5 to 5 kc and from −5°C to 90°C to obtain the dynamic viscoelastic constants of butyl and GR‐S gum stocks. Above room temperature velocity and attenuation are higher in butyl gum than in GR‐S. In all cases, the velocity increases with decreasing temperature and increasing frequency. The attenuation shows a peak with temperature. For butyl the peaks are broad and occur at higher temperatures than for GR‐S. For both stocks an increase in frequency gives peaks which are higher and sharper, and shifted to higher temperatures. In some instances, there are indications of peaks in the attenuation versus frequency at frequencies beyond our range of measurement. The behavior of the dynamic modulus in the temperature and frequency range studied is similar to that of the velocity. These results combined with low temperature static measurements and very low frequency dynamic measurements indicate a U‐shaped modulus‐temperature curve whose minimum broadens and shifts to higher temperatures with increasing frequency. This may be explained by a generalization of the kinetic theory of rubber elasticity, taking into account intra‐ and intermolecular forces, and considering time effects.
Coupled-mode analysis of phase-locked injection laser arrays

For long-distance high-bit-rate optical communications it is desirable to have sources which operate in a stable single longitudinal mode and deliver maximum optical power to the receiver. One possibility Is to use phase-locked injection laser arrays which have been demonstrated to operate in a single longitudinal mode1,2 to output powers as high as 80-mW cw2 and in a single narrow beam to 200 mW.2 Strong coherent coupling between the array elements could in principle provide stable single-mode operation under modulation. Since these devices appear promising for high-power and/or single-mode applications in optical communications. we have developed the first model to utilize a coupled-mode analysis to describe the operation of phase-locked injection laser arrays. Previous analyses of phase-locked arrays have utilized simple diffraction theory3 which could only generally describe the experimental observations.
Top-Down Visual Saliency via Joint CRF and Dictionary Learning

Top-down visual saliency is an important module of visual attention. In this work, we propose a novel top-down saliency model that jointly learns a Conditional Random Field (CRF) and a visual dictionary. The proposed model incorporates a layered structure from top to bottom: CRF, sparse coding and image patches. With sparse coding as an intermediate layer, CRF is learned in a feature-adaptive manner; meanwhile with CRF as the output layer, the dictionary is learned under structured supervision. For efficient and effective joint learning, we develop a max-margin approach via a stochastic gradient descent algorithm. Experimental results on the Graz-02 and PASCAL VOC datasets show that our model performs favorably against state-of-the-art top-down saliency methods for target object localization. In addition, the dictionary update significantly improves the performance of our model. We demonstrate the merits of the proposed top-down saliency model by applying it to prioritizing object proposals for detection and predicting human fixations.
Exploiting the interactions of aromatic units for folding and assembly in aqueous environments

A variety of non-covalent interactions (including hydrogen bonding, ionic interactions, metal coordination and desolvation/solvation) have been utilized to organize oligomers into well-defined structures. Herein is described a survey of aromatic foldamers that capitalize on electrostatic complementarity of substituted aromatic units to drive folding and assembly in aqueous environments. A brief description of recent advances in the understanding of aromatic interactions is provided, followed by examples of foldamers that exploit interactions between aromatic units to drive their assembly in predictable fashion. The history of our aromatic foldamers is traced from the first structure designed to fold into a pleated structure in an aqueous environment to a heteroduplex system more related to nucleic acids. Taken together, the results demonstrate that electrostatic complementarity of aromatic units provides a versatile framework for driving predictable folding and assembly in aqueous environments.
Periventricular Hyperintensity as Seen by Magnetic Resonance: Prevalence and Significance

Periventricular hyperintensity was identified using long repetition and echo times in spin-echo magnetic resonance imaging of patients with white-matter disease (e.g., multiple sclerosis) caused by local demyelination and in hydrocephalic patients caused by transependymal migration of spinal fluid. A review of 365 consecutives studies revealed that some degree of periventricular hyperintensity is present in most patients (93.5%) regardless of diagnosis. Mild periventricular hyperintensity was seen in patients with no other evidence of intracranial pathology. Periventricular hyperintensity is a normal finding that should not be considered indicative of either demyelinating disease or hydrocephalus. More extensive and severe periventricular hyperintensity is associated with intracerebral pathology, but the finding often is nonspecific. For example, mild periventricular edema from hydrocephalus is impossible to differentiate from the increased periventricular hyperintensity seen in patients with multiple white-matter lesions. Thus, the pattern of periventricular hyperintensity has proven to be of limited value in the clinical assessment of hydrocephalic patients.
Selective ALDH3A1 inhibition by benzimidazole analogues increase mafosfamide sensitivity in cancer cells.

Aldehyde dehydrogenase enzymes irreversibly oxidize aldehydes generated from metabolism of amino acids, fatty acids, food, smoke, additives, and xenobiotic drugs. Cyclophosphamide is one such xenob...
Improving the Performance of P3HT–Fullerene Solar Cells with Side-Chain-Functionalized Poly(thiophene) Additives: A New Paradigm for Polymer Design

The motivation of this study is to determine if small amounts of designer additives placed at the polymer–fullerene interface in bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells can influence their performance. A series of AB-alternating side-chain-functionalized poly(thiophene) analogues, P1–6, are designed to selectively localize at the interface between regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) (rr-P3HT) and PCnBM (n = 61, 71). The side chains of every other repeat unit in P1–6 contain various terminal aromatic moieties. BHJ solar cells containing ternary mixtures of rr-P3HT, PCnBM, and varying weight ratios of additives P1–6 are fabricated and studied. At low loadings, the presence of P1–6 consistently increases the short circuit current and decreases the series resistance of the corresponding devices, leading to an increase in power conversion efficiency (PCE) compared to reference P3HT/PC61BM cells. Higher additive loadings (>5 wt %) lead to detrimental nanoscale phase separation within the active layer blend and pr...