cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
TellMeWhy: A Dataset for Answering Why-Questions in Narratives

Answering questions about why characters perform certain actions is central to understanding and reasoning about narratives. Despite recent progress in QA, it is not clear if existing models have the ability to answer "why" questions that may require commonsense knowledge external to the input narrative. In this work, we introduce TellMeWhy, a new crowd-sourced dataset that consists of more than 30k questions and free-form answers concerning why characters in short narratives perform the actions described. For a third of this dataset, the answers are not present within the narrative. Given the limitations of automated evaluation for this task, we also present a systematized human evaluation interface for this dataset. Our evaluation of state-of-the-art models show that they are far below human performance on answering such questions. They are especially worse on questions whose answers are external to the narrative, thus providing a challenge for future QA and narrative understanding research.
Dynamic Estimation of Power System Inertia Distribution Using Synchrophasor Measurements

Integration of intermittent renewable energy sources in modern power systems is increasing very fast. Replacement of synchronous generators with zero-to-low variable renewables substantially decreases the system inertia. In a large system, inertia distribution may vary significantly, areas of low inertia are more susceptible to frequency deviation, posing risks of load shedding and generation trip. Therefore, it is necessary for operators to evaluate and quantify the system inertia and its distribution in real time. This paper proposes a novel synchronized phasor measurement units (PMUs)-based dynamic system inertia estimation method. The proposed inertia estimation method is derived using electrical distance and clustering algorithm, which considers the impact of location of measurements relative to infeed load and impact of oscillations. The center of inertia (COI) area and area of low inertia are also determined during the estimation. Numerical simulations are conducted on the IEEE 24-bus system with various load profiles using Transient Security Analysis Tools (TSAT), a core module of the DSATools, which demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed approach.
Designing Approximately Optimal Search on Matching Platforms

We study the design of a decentralized two-sided matching market in which agents' search is guided by the platform. Each agent is of one of finitely many types and has (potentially random) preferences drawn from known type-specific distributions. Equipped with such distributional knowledge, the platform guides the search process by determining the meeting rate between each pair of types from the two sides. Meanwhile, agents strategically accept or reject the potential partners whom they meet. Focusing on when agents have symmetric pairwise preferences in a continuum model, we first characterize the unique stationary equilibrium that arises given a feasible set of meeting rates. We then introduce the platform's optimal directed search problem, which involves optimizing meeting rates to maximize equilibrium social welfare. We show that incentive issues arising from congestion and cannibalization make the design problem fairly intricate. Nonetheless, we develop an efficiently computable solution whose corresponding equilibrium achieves at least 1/4 of the optimal social welfare. Our directed search design is simple and easy-to-implement, as its corresponding bipartite graph consists of disjoint stars. Furthermore, our solution implies that, with careful search design, the platform can substantially limit choice and yet induce an equilibrium with approximately optimal welfare. Finally, we show that approximation is likely the best we can hope for by establishing that the problem of designing optimal directed search is NP-hard to approximate beyond a certain constant factor.
Stretching Hookean ribbons part II: from buckling instability to far-from-threshold wrinkle pattern.

We address the fully developed wrinkle pattern formed upon stretching a Hookean, rectangular-shaped sheet, when the longitudinal tensile load induces transverse compression that far exceeds the stability threshold of a purely planar deformation. At this “far-from-threshold” parameter regime, which has been the subject of the celebrated Cerda–Mahadevan model (Cerda and Mahadevan in Phys Rev Lett 90:074302, 2003), the wrinkle pattern expands throughout the length of the sheet and the characteristic wavelength of undulations is much smaller than its width. Employing Surface Evolver simulations over a range of sheet thicknesses and tensile loads, we elucidate the theoretical underpinnings of the far-from-threshold framework in this setup. We show that the evolution of wrinkles comes in tandem with collapse of transverse compressive stress, rather than vanishing transverse strain (which was hypothesized by Cerda and Mahadevan in Phys Rev Lett 90:074302, 2003), such that the stress field approaches asymptotically a compression-free limit, describable by tension field theory. We compute the compression-free stress field by simulating a Hookean sheet that has finite stretching modulus but no bending rigidity, and show that this singular limit encapsulates the geometrical nonlinearity underlying the amplitude–wavelength ratio of wrinkle patterns in physical, highly bendable sheets, even though the actual strains may be so small that the local mechanics is perfectly Hookean. Finally, we revisit the balance of bending and stretching energies that gives rise to a favorable wrinkle wavelength, and study the consequent dependence of the wavelength on the tensile load as well as the thickness and length of the sheet.
NeuMIP: multi-resolution neural materials

We propose NeuMIP, a neural method for representing and rendering a variety of material appearances at different scales. Classical prefiltering (mipmapping) methods work well on simple material properties such as diffuse color, but fail to generalize to normals, self-shadowing, fibers or more complex microstructures and reflectances. In this work, we generalize traditional mipmap pyramids to pyramids of neural textures, combined with a fully connected network. We also introduce neural offsets, a novel method which enables rendering materials with intricate parallax effects without any tessellation. This generalizes classical parallax mapping, but is trained without supervision by any explicit heightfield. Neural materials within our system support a 7-dimensional query, including position, incoming and outgoing direction, and the desired filter kernel size. The materials have small storage (on the order of standard mipmapping except with more texture channels), and can be integrated within common Monte-Carlo path tracing systems. We demonstrate our method on a variety of materials, resulting in complex appearance across levels of detail, with accurate parallax, self-shadowing, and other effects.
Aeroelastic modal characteristics of mistuned blade assemblies : mode localization and loss of Eigenstructure

The cornerstone of the approach is the use and development of perturbation methods that exhibit the crucial role of the interblade coupling and yield general findings regarding mistuning effects.
It's RILA time: An introduction to registered index-linked annuities

Registered index-linked annuities (RILAs) are increasingly popular equity-based retirement savings products offered by U.S. life insurance companies. They combine features of fixed-index annuities and traditional variable annuities (TVAs), offering investors equity exposure with downside protection in a tax-deferred setting. This article introduces RILAs to the academic literature by describing the products' key features, developing a general pricing model, and deriving the providers' hedging strategy by decomposing their liabilities into short-term European options. Numerical illustrations show that RILAs offer investors similar risk profiles (in the long run) as TVAs with maturity guarantees, and that many products currently sold appear to be priced quite favorably for investors. For providers, RILAs may be a preferable alternative or complement to TVAs as they greatly simplify the management of the embedded equity risk and can naturally reduce the TVA capital requirements. These features position RILAs as a viable long-term solution for this product space.
Numerical characterization of in vivo wireless communication channels

In this paper, we numerically investigated the in vivo wireless communication channel for human male torso at 915 MHz. Results show that in vivo channel is different than the classical communication channel and location dependency is very critical for link budget calculations. A statistical path loss model based on angle, depth and body region is introduced for near and far field regions. Furthermore, multipath characteristics are investigated using a power delay profile as well.
NeuralSim: Augmenting Differentiable Simulators with Neural Networks

Differentiable simulators provide an avenue for closing the sim-to-real gap by enabling the use of efficient, gradient-based optimization algorithms to find the simulation parameters that best fit the observed sensor readings. Nonetheless, these analytical models can only predict the dynamical behavior of systems for which they have been designed. In this work, we study the augmentation of a novel differentiable rigid-body physics engine via neural networks that is able to learn nonlinear relationships between dynamic quantities and can thus model effects not accounted for in traditional simulators. Such augmentations require less data to train and generalize better compared to entirely data-driven models. Through extensive experiments, we demonstrate the ability of our hybrid simulator to learn complex dynamics involving frictional contacts from real data, as well as match known models of viscous friction, and present an approach for automatically discovering useful augmentations. We show that, besides benefiting dynamics modeling, inserting neural networks can accelerate model-based control architectures. We observe a ten-fold speedup when replacing the QP solver inside a model-predictive gait controller for quadruped robots with a neural network, allowing us to significantly improve control delays as we demonstrate in real-hardware experiments. We publish code, additional results and videos from our experiments on our project webpage at https://sites.google.com/usc.edu/neuralsim.
Theoretical Light in Empirical Darkness: Illuminating Strategic Concealment of Corporate Political Activity

Law-abiding firms often attempt to conceal their corporate political activity (CPA), yet the concealment of CPA has not been matched by our understanding of the phenomenon. We develop a theoretical...
The evolution of the spectrum of a Frobenius Lie algebra under deformation

The category of Frobenius Lie algebras is stable under deformation, and here we examine explicit infinitesimal deformations of four and six dimensional Frobenius Lie algebras to illustrate that the...
Central banking challenges posed by uncertain climate change and natural disasters

Abstract Climate change poses an important policy challenge for governments around the world. The challenge is made all that much more difficult because of the multitude of potential policymakers involved in setting the policy worldwide. What then should be the role of central banks? How are climate change concerns similar to or distinct from those of other natural disasters? Clarity of ambition and execution will help to ensure that central banks maintain credibility. By adhering to their mandated roles, they retain their critically important distance from the political arena. Their credibility will be further enhanced by avoiding the temptation to exaggerate our understanding of climate change.
Intrinsic Image Decomposition using Paradigms.

Intrinsic image decomposition is the task of mapping image to albedo and shading. Classical approaches derive methods from spatial models; modern methods train a map from image to albedo using images rendered from computer graphics models and example human judgements (‘`lighter’', ‘`same as’', ‘`darker’'). Obtaining rendered images can be inconvenient; worse, this approach cannot explain how one could learn to recover intrinsic images without computer graphics models, as people and animals appear to do. This paper describes a method that learns intrinsic image decomposition without seeing human annotations, rendered data, or ground truth data. The method trains a neural network to decompose synthetic images, sampled from {\em paradigms} -- spatial models of albedo and of shading. The network is subject to a novel smoothing procedure that ensures good behavior at short scales on real images. An averaging procedure ensures that reported albedo and shading are largely equivariant and controls long scale error. Our method achieves competitive WHDR scores (the standard evaluation for an intrinsic image method). Because our method is unsupervised, we can compute estimates of the test/train variance of WHDR scores; these are quite large, and suggest is unsafe to rely small differences in reported WHDR.
Engine Activation Planning for Series Hybrid Electric Vehicles

We present a solution for intelligent planning of engine activations for series hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), Beyond minimizing energy expenditure, other real-world objectives must be incorporated, such as minimizing the perceived engine noise and the frequency of mode transitions between activation and deactivation. We model this problem as a multiobjective stochastic shortest path (MOSSP) problem that takes a vehicle model and navigation map as input and outputs a engine activation policy. The vehicle model and navigation map are learned from GPS traces with metadata, and includes the topological road structure, traversal speeds/times, battery consumption/regeneration, and ambient noise. We analyze our results in simulation on different navigation maps generated from actual GPS traces learned from a real series HEV. Experiments in simulation demonstrate that our approach compared with the baseline system can reduce total energy expenditure (EE), namely on hills, by up to 3%; total additional noise (AN) generated by up to 15%; and total mode transition (MT) frequency by up to 12%. The approach is demonstrated on a real series hybrid vehicle, driving on real public roads.
Analyzing the Generalization Capability of SGLD Using Properties of Gaussian Channels

Optimization is a key component for training machine learning models and has a strong impact on their generalization. In this paper, we consider a particular optimization method -- the stochastic gradient Langevin dynamics (SGLD) algorithm -- and investigate the generalization of models trained by SGLD. We derive a new generalization bound by connecting SGLD with Gaussian channels found in information and communication theory. Our bound can be computed from the training data and incorporates the variance of gradients for quantifying a particular kind of "sharpness" of the loss landscape. We also consider a closely related algorithm with SGLD, namely differentially private SGD (DP-SGD). We prove that the generalization capability of DP-SGD can be amplified by iteration. Specifically, our bound can be sharpened by including a time-decaying factor if the DP-SGD algorithm outputs the last iterate while keeping other iterates hidden. This decay factor enables the contribution of early iterations to our bound to reduce with time and is established by strong data processing inequalities -- a fundamental tool in information theory. We demonstrate our bound through numerical experiments, showing that it can predict the behavior of the true generalization gap.
Tracking Without Re-recognition in Humans and Machines.

Imagine trying to track one particular fruitfly in a swarm of hundreds. Higher biological visual systems have evolved to track moving objects by relying on both appearance and motion features. We investigate if state-of-the-art deep neural networks for visual tracking are capable of the same. For this, we introduce PathTracker, a synthetic visual challenge that asks human observers and machines to track a target object in the midst of identical-looking "distractor" objects. While humans effortlessly learn PathTracker and generalize to systematic variations in task design, state-of-the-art deep networks struggle. To address this limitation, we identify and model circuit mechanisms in biological brains that are implicated in tracking objects based on motion cues. When instantiated as a recurrent network, our circuit model learns to solve PathTracker with a robust visual strategy that rivals human performance and explains a significant proportion of their decision-making on the challenge. We also show that the success of this circuit model extends to object tracking in natural videos. Adding it to a transformer-based architecture for object tracking builds tolerance to visual nuisances that affect object appearance, resulting in a new state-of-the-art performance on the large-scale TrackingNet object tracking challenge. Our work highlights the importance of building artificial vision models that can help us better understand human vision and improve computer vision.
Fiscal Decentralization and Interregional Capital Misallocation: Evidence from China

Misallocation of factors of production has been recently viewed as a promising explanation accounting for the large difference in total factor productivity (TFP) across countries. This paper differs from previous studies by concentrating on interregional capital misallocation and by focusing on the role of fiscal decentralization in shaping misallocation. Using a municipal level panel data set, we measure intra-provincial and inter-municipal capital misallocation in China over 2003-2015. The empirical results based on provincial level panel data suggest that revenue decentralization mitigates interregional misallocation while expenditure decentralization fails to exert a significant impact. We further find that this positive effect is more significant and much larger when it is the market rather than government intervention that is driving the flow of capital. The results are robust to different specifications, IV estimations and alternative measurement of interregional misallocation. Our study complements the literature on the causes of misallocation and enriches the understanding of the consequences of fiscal decentralization, especially in terms of economic growth and interregional inequality.
Comparing Symbolic and Explicit Model Checking of a Software System

There are two main paradigms for model checking: symbolic model checking, as is performed by the tool RuleBase, and explicit state model checking, as is performed by Spin. It is often accepted that the former is better for verifying hardware systems, while the latter has advantages for verifying software. We examine this piece of common wisdom in light of experience in verifying the software of a disk controller using both symbolic and explicit state model checking.
Syntactic Validation of Web Services Security Policies

The Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) makes application development flexible in such a way that services are composed in a highly distributed manner. However, because of the flexibility, it is often hard for users to define application configurations properly. Regarding the security concerns we address in this paper, though WS-SecurityPolicy provides a standard way to describe security policies, it is difficult for users to make sure that the defined policies are valid. In this paper, we discuss the validation of WS-SecurityPolicy in the context of Service Component Architecture, and propose a method called syntactic validation. Most enterprises have security guidelines, some of which can be described in the format of Web services security messages. There also exist standard profiles for Web services such as the WS-I Basic Security Profile that also prescribes message formats. Since those guidelines and profiles are based on accepted best practices, the syntactic validation is sufficiently effective for practical use to prevent security vulnerabilities.
Endowing Virtual Characters with Expressive Conversational Skills

When humans interact with one another, socially intelligent conversational behaviors arise from the interaction of a number of different factors: the conversants' personality, cultural knowledge, the ability to observe and reason about social relationships, and the ability to project and detect affective cues. For virtual agents to be socially intelligent, they must have an expressive conversational repertoire. Moreover, scientific progress in this area requires that these expressive capabilities be easily parameterized, to support experimentation, and that at least some of the factors mentioned above be used to control the parameters. In this talk, I describe our research on expressive spoken language generation, and discuss how our work aims for both psychological plausibility and realistic usability. To achieve psychological plausibility we build on theories and detailed studies of human language use, such as the Big Five theory of personality, and Brown and Levinsons theory of politeness [1,2,3]. To achieve realistic usability, we have developed both rule-based and trainable generation methods that can dynamically, and in real time, change an agents linguistic style by modifying the values of these theoretically motivated parameters. This will allow us to experiment with dynamically modifying an agent's linguistic style based on theories of audience design, entrainment and alignment.
A Conceptual Framework for Analyzing the Financial Environment

This paper develops a conceptual framework for analyzing the global financial system. The framework has two major objectives: to address differences in institutional structure across borders and to explain changes in these institutional structures over time. Applicability of the framework ranges widely, from analysis of the entire financial system to individual business strategy decisions and specific public policy choices. It rests on two basic premises: -Financial functions are more stable than financial institutions-that is, functions vary less across borders and change less over time. -Competition will cause evolution in institutional structures to produce greater efficiency in the performance of financial system functions. That is, institutional form follows its function. The evolution of the financial system is portrayed as an innovation spiral in which organized markets and intermediaries compete with each other in a static sense and complement each other in a dynamic sense.
Automobile accidents as an expression of psychopathology in an alcoholic population.

THE PRESENT REPORT IS AN ATTEMPT TO DOCUMENT THE EXTENT OF ALCOHOLIC DRIVERS' RESPONSIBILITY FOR TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS AND TO DETERMINE WHETHER PERSONALITY FACTORS HAVE ANY MEANINGFUL RELATIONSHIP TO THOSE ACCIDENTS. FIFTY ALCOHOLIC MALE AUTOMOBILE DRIVERS SERIALLY ADMITTED TO THE VETERANS READJUSTMENT CENTER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN MEDICAL CENTER COMPRISED THE STUDY GROUP. THE CONTROL GROUP CONSISTED OF 50 EMOTIONALLY ILL NONALCOHOLIC MALE VETERANS SERIALLY ADMITTED TO THE SAME FACILITY. WHEN THE ACCIDENTS AND MOVING VIOLATIONS OF THE ALCOHOLIC AND NONALCOHOLIC GROUPS ARE COMPARED, 2 STRIKING FACTS EMERGE. THE 50 ALCOHOLICS WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR APPROXIMATELY TWICE THE NUMBER OF TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS AND TWICE THE NUMBER OF VIOLATIONS AS THEIR NONALCOHOLIC COUNTERPARTS. SECONDLY, THE SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE ALCOHOLIC AND NONALCOHOLIC GROUPS WERE DUE TO TRAFFIC EVENTS OCCURRING WHEN THE ALCOHOLICS HAD BEEN DRINKING, ALTHOUGH TOTAL ACCIDENTS AND VIOLATIONS INCURRED WHEN SOBER WERE VIRTUALLY IDENTICAL FOR THE 2 GROUPS. A GREATER AMOUNT OF VARIATION IN AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENTS REMAINS UNEXPLAINED IN THE NONALCOHOLIC GROUP THAN IN THE ALCOHOLIC GROUP. THIS CONTRAST MAY INDICATE THAT PSYCHOPATHOLOGY PLAYS A MORE SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN THE ACCIDENTS INCURRED BY ALCOHOLIC POPULATIONS. A NUMBER OF PERSONALITY VARIABLES APPEAR TO BE SIGNIFICANTLY RELATED TO ACCIDENTS CAUSED BY ALCOHOLICS. THE DATA DERIVED FROM THE REGRESSION ANALYSES INDICATE THAT CERTAIN COMBINATIONS OF PERSONALITY DIFFICULTY ARE HIGHLY PREDICTIVE OF ACCIDENT POTENTIAL. TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS CAUSED BY ALCOHOLIC DRIVERS SHOULD BE REGARDED AS THE OUTCOME OF THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN CERTAIN DELETERIOUS PERSONALITY TRAITS WHICH ARE LIBERATED WHEN THE ALCOHOLIC BECOMES INTOXICATED AND THE IMPAIRMENT IN DRIVING CAUSED BY ALCOHOL INTOXICATION. /AUTHOR/
Thiosulfate- and sulfide-dependent pyridine nucleotide reduction and gluconeogenesis in intact Thiobacillus neapolitanus.

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (reduced form) is formed more rapidly after the addition of thiosulfate to suspensions of intact Thiobacillus neapolitanus in the absence of CO2 than nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (reduced form). Measurement of acid-stable metabolites shows this phenomenon to be the result of rapid reoxidation of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (reduced form) by 3-phosphoglyceric acid and other oxidized intermediates, which are converted to triose and hexose phosphates, and that, in reality, the rate of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (oxidized form) reduction exceeds that of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (oxidized form) by approximately 4.5-fold. The overall rate of pyridine nucleotide reduction by thiosulfate (264 nmol per min per mg of protein) is in excess of that rate needed to sustain growth. Pyridine nucleotide reduction, adenosine triphosphate synthesis, and carbohydrate synthesis are prevented by the uncoupler m-Cl-Carbonylcyanide phenylhydrazone. Sodium amytal inhibits pyridine nucleotide reduction and carbohydrate synthesis are prevented by the uncoupler m-Cl-carbonylcyanide observations are reproduced when sulfide serves as the substrate. The rate of pyridine nucleotide anaerobic reduction with endogenous substrates or thiosulfate is less than 1% of the aerobic rate with thiosulfate. We conclude that the principal, if not the only, pathway of pyridine nucleotide reduction proceeds through an energy-dependent and amytal-sensitive step when either thiosulfate or sulfide is used as the substrate.
Implementing TQM in the classroom: removing fear

This paper recounts the continuing efforts of the Louisiana Tech University's EET program to implement Deming's (1986) 14 points in the classroom. In an effort "to remove fear from the workplace", the faculty has implemented a policy called "A, B or retry" to remove the fear of failure from the student. The paper discusses the policy and its implementation, how it is presented to the students, measures of effectiveness, and the various drawbacks of the policy. The policy also has a supplemental effect of improving student accountability toward the actual learning of the material. This new level of accountability, along with the effect it has on "adopting a new philosophy" is discussed. Finally, the paper considers how an electronic engineering department can be restructured to better remove the fear from the process of education.
Diagnostic imaging of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia based on hematoxylin and eosin fluorescence

Background Pathological classification of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) is problematic as it relies on subjective criteria. We developed an imaging method that uses spectroscopy to assess the fluorescent intensity of cervical biopsies derived directly from hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stained tissues.
Isoflurane Ameliorates Acute Lung Injury by Preserving Epithelial Tight Junction Integrity.

Background:Isoflurane may be protective in preclinical models of lung injury, but its use in patients with lung injury remains controversial and the mechanism of its protective effects remains unclear. The authors hypothesized that this protection is mediated at the level of alveolar tight junctions
Iron(III) meso‐Tetraphenylporphine Chloride

[16456-81-8] C44H28ClFeN4 (MW 704.03) InChI = 1S/C44H28N4.ClH.Fe/c1-5-13-29(14-6-1)41-33-21-23-35(45-33)42(30-15-7-2-8-16-30)37-25-27-39(47-37)44(32-19-11-4-12-20-32)40-28-26-38(48-40)43(31-17-9-3-10-18-31)36-24-22-34(41)46-36;;/h1-28H;1H;/q-2;;+3/p-1/b41-33-,41-34-,42-35-,42-37-,43-36-,43-38-,44-39-,44-40-;; InChIKey = ZDYSAMCSFRQDMN-YKKPBKTHSA-M Solubility: sol dichloromethane, chloroform, and others. Form Supplied in: purple solid, commercially available. Handling, Storage, and Precautions: air stable.
Nuclear magnetic resonance characterization of shallow marine sediments from the Nankai Trough, Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 333

We measured nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) relaxation times on samples from Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 333 Sites C0011, C0012, and C0018. We compared our results to permeability, grain size, and specific surface measurements, pore size distributions from mercury injection capillary pressure, and mineralogy from X-ray fluorescence. We found that permeability could be predicted from NMR measurements by including grain size and specific surface to quantify pore networks and that grain size is the most important factor in relating NMR response to permeability. Samples within zones of anomalously high porosity from Sites C0011 and C0012 were found to have different NMR-permeability relationships than samples from outside these zones, suggesting that the porosity anomaly is related to a fundamental difference in pore structure. We additionally estimated the size of paramagnetic sites that cause proton relaxation and found that in most of our samples, paramagnetic material is present mainly as discrete, clay-sized grains. This distribution of paramagnetic material may cause pronounced heterogeneity in NMR properties at the pore scale that is not accounted for in most NMR interpretation techniques. Our results provide important insight into the microstructure of marine sediments in the Nankai Trough.
Identification of Pulmonary Fissures Using a Piecewise Plane Fitting Algorithm

Abstract We describe an automated computerized scheme to identify pulmonary fissures depicted in chest computed tomography (CT) examinations from a novel perspective. Whereas CT images can be regarded as a cloud of points, the underlying idea is to search for surface-like structures in the three-dimensional (3D) Euclidean space by using an efficient plane fitting algorithm. The proposed plane fitting operation is performed in a number of small spherical lung sub-volumes to detect small planar patches. Using a simple clustering criterion based on their spatial coherence and surface area, the identified planar patches, assumed to represent fissures, are classified into different types of fissures, namely left oblique, right oblique and right horizontal fissures. The performance of the developed scheme was assessed by comparing with a manually created “reference standard” and the results obtained by a previously developed approach on a dataset of 30 lung CT examinations. The experiments show that the average discrepancy is around 1.0 mm in comparison with the reference standard, while the corresponding maximum discrepancy is 20.5 mm. In addition, 94% of the fissure voxels identified by the computerized scheme are within 3 mm of the fissures in the reference standard. As compared to a previously developed approach, we also found that the newly developed scheme had a smaller discrepancy with the standard reference. In efficiency, it takes approximately 8 min to identify the fissures in a chest CT examination on a typical PC. The developed scheme demonstrates a reasonable performance in terms of accuracy, robustness, and computational efficiency.
On optimizing machine learning workloads via kernel fusion

Exploitation of parallel architectures has become critical to scalable machine learning (ML). Since a wide range of ML algorithms employ linear algebraic operators, GPUs with BLAS libraries are a natural choice for such an exploitation. Two approaches are commonly pursued: (i) developing specific GPU accelerated implementations of complete ML algorithms; and (ii) developing GPU kernels for primitive linear algebraic operators like matrix-vector multiplication, which are then used in developing ML algorithms. This paper extends the latter approach by developing fused kernels for a combination of primitive operators that are commonly found in popular ML algorithms. We identify the generic pattern of computation (alpha * X^T (v * (X * y)) + beta * z) and its various instantiations. We develop a fused kernel to optimize this computation on GPUs -- with specialized techniques to handle both sparse and dense matrices. This approach not only reduces the cost of data loads due to improved temporal locality but also enables other optimizations like coarsening and hierarchical aggregation of partial results. We also present an analytical model that considers input data characteristics and available GPU resources to estimate near-optimal settings for kernel launch parameters. The proposed approach provides speedups ranging from 2 to 67 for different instances of the generic pattern compared to launching multiple operator-level kernels using GPU accelerated libraries. We conclude by demonstrating the effectiveness of the approach in improving end-to-end performance on an entire ML algorithm.
Approximation solvability of a class of nonlinear set-valued variational inclusions involving (A,η)-monotone mappings

Abstract A new class of nonlinear set-valued variational inclusions involving ( A , η ) -monotone mappings in a Hilbert space setting is introduced, and then based on the generalized resolvent operator technique associated with ( A , η ) -monotonicity, the existence and approximation solvability of solutions using an iterative algorithm is investigated.
Curriculum, Capitalism, and Democracy: a response to Whitty's critics

(1986). Curriculum, Capitalism, and Democracy: a response to Whitty's critics. British Journal of Sociology of Education: Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 319-327.
Toxic optic neuropathy: An unusual cause

A 60-year-old woman with a history of chronic alcoholism and tobacco use presented with the complaint of a painless decrease in vision in both eyes. She lost vision first in the left eye then in the right eye. She admitted consuming at least one 16 ounce bottle of over the counter mouthwash daily and denied consumption of any other alcohols, methanol, or antifreeze. She stated that her vision had been continuing to deteriorate in both eyes. Her best-corrected visual acuity was 4/200 in each eye. Color vision was nil in each eye. Her pupils were sluggish bilaterally, and her optic discs were flat and hyperemic with peripapillary hemorrhages. Her visual fields revealed central scotomas bilaterally. The magnetic resonance imaging of the brain and lumbar puncture were within normal limits. Antinuclear antibody, human leukocyte antigen-B27 genotyping, and B12 were normal; serum thiamine was low. While continuing to ingest mouthwash, her vision decreased to count fingers at 2 feet, and maculopapillary bundle pallor developed. She was started on folate and thiamine supplementation. Once she discontinued mouthwash, her vision improved to 20/400 bilaterally, and her central scotomas improved. This case demonstrates an alcohol-induced toxic optic neuropathy from mouthwash ingestion with some visual recovery after discontinuation of the offending agent.
Business Process Centric Platform-as-a-Service Model and Technologies for Cloud Enabled Industry Solutions

With the popularity of cloud computing, Platform-as-a Service (PaaS) becomes one of the core technical enablers by enterprise to change the services to both customers and internal organizations. An application in an enterprise needs to take into account various specific requirements for hosting in private and hybrid cloud, with unique requirements on rapid development, simplicity for deployment and management, integration with existing solution and compliance to industry standards, etc. In this paper, a novel business process centric PaaS model is introduced, which is targeted at supporting above requirements for cloud enabled industry solutions in an enterprise. Firstly, the emerging requirements of PaaS for cloud enabled industry solutions and the general features to meet such requirements are discussed. Then, the architecture and patterns for integrating with existing solutions are introduced. And the technologies to implement such PaaS model are presented including codeless developer workspace and automatic application generator. As well, to enable this PaaS model for “programmable SaaS”, BPM multi-tenancy is introduced. Based on the model and technologies, we designed and implemented cloud enabled industry solutions for Telecommunication, Chemical and Petroleum, Financial and Healthcare industries. This paper demonstrates how these technologies and architectures significantly enhance the capability of PaaS in the context of industry solutions and enterprise environments.
Strike strategies and the minimum effective union

Research has shown that in an industry-wide strike, a union must be able to reduce output “by a substantial percentage below competitive levels” to impose hardship on producers. But a union may also be effective by pursuing selective strikes. If some producers are struck while others are free to operate, then the targeted producers may bargain with the union, and holdouts can be targeted for strikes. This article analyzes the effects of selective and general strikes on both a competitive industry and a duopoly. If there are side-payments among producers, then general strikes are easier to mount. If there is no mutual aid among employers, then selective strikes are less costly to implement. It is also shown that strikes are easier to mount in a duopoly than in a competitive industry. This may contribute to union formation and collective bargaining in noncompetitive industries. The analysis is modified to allow for firms of different sizes. The results show that unions must be able to remove more output from larger firms than smaller ones, suggesting that union formation may be focused more on larger firms.
A comparison of whole genome sequencing with exome sequencing for family-based association studies

As the cost of DNA sequencing decreases, association studies based on whole genome sequencing are now becoming feasible. It is still unclear, however, how much more we could gain from whole genome sequencing compared to exome sequencing, which has been widely used to study a variety of diseases. In this project, we performed a comparison between whole genome sequencing and exome sequencing for family-based association analysis using data from Genetic Analysis Workshop 18. Whole genome sequencing was able to identify several significant hits within intergenic regions. However, the increased cost of multiple testing counteracted the benefits and resulted in a higher false discovery rate. Our results suggest that exome sequencing is a cost-effective way to identify disease-related variants. With the decreasing sequencing cost and accumulating knowledge of the human genome, whole genome sequencing has the potential to identify important variants in regulatory regions typically inaccessible for exome sequencing.
International trade and health policy : Implications of the GATS for US healthcare reform

This paper examines the implications of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), the World Trade Organization’s agreement governing trade in health-related services, for health policy and healthcare reform in the United States. The paper describes the nature and scope of US obligations under the GATS, the ways in which the trade agreement intersects with domestic health policy, and the institutional factors that mediate trade-offs between health and trade policy. The analysis suggests that the GATS provisions on market access, national treatment and domestic regulation, which are designed to eliminate ‘regulatory barriers’ to global trade in health services, limit the range of options that state and federal regulators and legislative bodies can employ to regulate the health sector and implement healthcare reforms. As such, the paper identifies the broader social and ethical implications of free trade policy.
Quantifying the periodicity of Heinrich and Dansgaard–Oeschger events during Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 3

article i nfo Data from multiple ice and sediment cores in the North Atlantic show that Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3) was characterized by recurring millennial-scale variations in climate, but the periodic behavior of the well-known millennial-scale variations, Heinrich events and Dansgaard-Oeschger events, is uncertain. We use oxygen isotope values from the Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 (GISP2) and North Greenland Ice Core Project (NGRIP) ice cores and estimated sea-surface temperature derived from a Bermuda Rise marine sediment core as climate proxies to assess the periodic behavior of Heinrich events and Dansgaard-Oeschger events using Lomb-Scargle spectral decomposition and continuous time autoregressive models. We find that continuous time autoregressive models produce less variable estimates of periodicity for Heinrich events than Lomb-Scargle methods. Heinrich events during MIS 3 are periodic with an estimated periodicity of 6.29-6.49 ka in the GISP 2 ice core, 6.71-6.76 ka in the marine sediment core, and 7.89-8.23 ka in the NGRIP core. There is insufficient evidence from these data to conclude that Dansgaard-Oeschger events ex- hibit a single periodicity during MIS 3. We also find that the periodic behavior of millennial-scale variations depends on the observational time frame.
Superficial siderosis: a potentially important cause of genetic as well as non-genetic deafness.

Superficial siderosis is an important disease that is increasingly being recognized as a cause of sensorineural hearing loss. Hemosiderin, resulting from repeated episodes of subarachnoid bleeding, is deposited preferentially on the surface of the eighth nerve, cerebellum, and brain stem as a consequence of glial catabolism of ferritin within those structures. This deposition eventually results in destruction and demyelination within the central nervous system, leading to the cardinal clinical findings of superficial siderosis: hearing loss, ataxia, and myelopathy. This mechanism may contribute to the pathogenesis of several forms of genetic deafness, and should be considered as a diagnostic possibility in cases of late onset deafness even in the absence of an overt history of subarachnoid bleeding. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Marketing Colleges to Home-Schooled Students

ABSTRACT One emerging but relatively untapped market of traditional age colleges students is children who have been home schooled. The National Center for Educational Statistics estimated that 1.1 million children were being home schooled in 2006 (Conlin, 2006). This non-empirical paper examines issues related to the home school movement as they apply to colleges and universities hoping to attract these students to their institutions. It explores the unique characteristics of home-schooled students who apply to colleges and universities. Recommendations are made to institutions of higher education for attracting more home-schooled students.
Paleozoic seeds II

In an article published in The Botanical Review in 1938 (4) the present author described the preservation, classification, structure and affinities of the seeds of Paleozoic plants. The present paper incorporates some literature on seeds that was not included in the previous one, and an effort is made to review and appraise those investigations that have been reported since 1938. The treatment is not as thorough and complete as might be desired because many of the European publications since 1939 are not yet available, and the contents of some of the latest seed literature is known to the author only through summaries and reviews.
Speeding up chemical database searches using a proximity filter based on the logical exclusive or.

In many large chemoinformatics database systems, molecules are represented by long binary fingerprint vectors whose components record the presence or absence in the molecular graphs of particular functional groups or combinatorial features, such as labeled paths or labeled trees. To speed up database searches, we propose to store with each fingerprint a small header vector containing primarily the result of applying the logical exclusive OR (XOR) operator to the fingerprint vector after modulo wrapping to a smaller number of bits, such as 128 bits. From the XOR headers of two molecules, tight bounds on the intersection and union of their fingerprint vectors can be rapidly obtained, yielding tight bounds on derived similarity measures, such as the Tanimoto measure. During a database search, every time these bounds are unfavorable, the corresponding molecule can be rapidly discarded with no need for further inspection. We derive probabilistic models that allow us to estimate precisely the behavior of the XO...
Cucurbit[6]uril is an ultrasensitive 129Xe NMR contrast agent

A lack of molecular contrast agents has slowed the application of ultrasensitive hyperpolarized 129Xe NMR methods. Here, we report that commercially available cucurbit[6]uril (CB[6]) undergoes rapid xenon exchange kinetics at 300 K, and is detectable by Hyper-CEST NMR at 1.8 pM in PBS and at 1 μM in human plasma where many molecules, including polyamines, can compete with xenon for CB[6] binding.
The effects of pitocin and pitressin on water and sodium movements in the euryhaline killifish, Fundulus kansae.

Abstract 1. 1. The influx of water into F. kansae in fresh water as measured by weight increases of renal papilla ligated fish was reduced by pitocin injections. Comparable doses of pitressin had no effect; however, high doses also reduced water influx. 2. 2. The outflux of water from F. kansae in 0·2 M NaCl was reduced by pitocin. Comparable doses of pitressin had no effect. 3. 3. Sodium uptake by fish in tap water was stimulated by pitocin and pitressin. 4. 4. By typing off the anus, renal papilla, or both, sodium loss was restricted to the gill or combinations of the gill and kidney or gut. Under these conditions about 65 per cent of the sodium loss was through the gill, 25 per cent through the kidney, and 10 per cent through the gut. 5. 5. Pitocin decreased sodium loss through the gill about 50 per cent at 1 hr post-injection. Pitressin had no effect. 6. 6. Neither pitocin nor pitressin affected renal sodium loss. 7. 7. Both pitocin and pitressin increased sodium loss through the gut about five times at 1–28 hr post-injection. 8. 8. Pitocin decreased sodium loss initially from intact fish held in 0·2 M NaCl. Pitressin had no effect. 9. 9. Survival time of fish transferred from tap water to high concentrations of NaCl was increased by pitocin but not by comparable amounts of pitressin.