cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Long-term outcomes of elderly patients receiving continuous flow left ventricular support.

BACKGROUND Heart failure is an epidemic affecting over 6 million people in the United States. Eighty percent of all heart failure patients are older than 65 years of age. Heart transplant is the gold standard treatment for patients suffering advanced heart failure, but only 18.5% of patients receiving heart transplant in the United States are 65 years of age or older. Continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices are a safe and effective therapy for patients with advanced heart failure, and can be used to bridge patients to a heart transplant or to support patients long-term as destination therapy. MATERIAL AND METHODS We sought to characterize long-term outcomes of elderly patients receiving continuous-flow left ventricular support in our program. CONCLUSION Elderly patients with advanced heart failure presented comparable operative results to those of younger patients. The rate of complications up to 6 years of support was low, and comparable to those of younger patients. An effective and safe alternative for patients whom are less likely to receive heart transplantation.
Probabilistic Power Consumption Modeling for Commercial Buildings Using Logistic Regression Markov Chain

The total energy consumed by buildings takes up to 40% of U.S. energy use, in which a large portion is contributed by commercial buildings. Building performance optimization is desirable but requires accurate building models with uncertainties taken into account. This paper proposes a novel probabilistic modeling method using Logistic Regression Markov Chain (LRMC). The LRMC model enhances the performance of traditional Markov Chain (MC) models by adopting time-variant transition matrices calibrated using logistic regression with exogenous inputs. Compared with existing building models, the proposed model produces accurate multi-step modeling results with full probability distribution. The proposed probabilistic building model is tested using actual commercial building measurements and modeling performance is evaluated with two probabilisitc metrics. The results show that the LRMC model has higher accuracy than traditional MC model and Logistic Regression (LR) model in that it yields lower error scores under both evaluation metrics.
58. Clinical Characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 Among Confirmed and Suspected Cases in Tennessee

Background: On March 11, 2020, a pandemic due to SARS-CoV-2, the cause of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), was declared The disease spectrum varies from asymptomatic detection to severe disease Data on community versus hospitalized cases are limited We aim to evaluate and compare the epidemiological and clinical characteristics associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection among suspected and confirmed COVID-19 cases primarily diagnosed in the ambulatory setting and compare their illness presentation Methods: We are prospectively enrolling a longitudinal cohort of laboratory- confirmed or suspected COVID-19 subjects and their close contacts Suspect cases are defined as anyone who developed fever and/or Covid-19 like-symptoms in the post-Covid-19 era without proven SARS-CoV-2 detection We consented and interviewed subjects over the phone to capture detailed sociodemographic data, medical and social histories, and clinical characteristics of the illness Results: From March 20 to June 16, 2020, 463 subjects were enrolled (Figure 1) Of those, 178 were SARS-CoV-2 positive [164 adults and 13 pediatric (< 18 years) cases] and 192 were COVID-19 suspected (111 adults and 78 pediatric cases) Adult confirmed cases were more likely to be Hispanic and have an underlying medical condition but less likely to be white compared to suspected cases (Table 1) Pediatric confirmed cases were more likely to be Hispanic and have smoke exposure, but less likely to have a travel history compared to suspected cases (Table 1) Both adult and pediatric confirmed subjects had fatigue, headache and cough as the most common symptoms reported Cough, muscle aches and chest tightness were more likely to be reported in pediatric confirmed than suspected cases;whereas loss of taste, smell and appetite, diarrhea and fever ≥ 100 4 were documented more often in adult confirmed than suspected cases (Figure 2) Conclusion: We observed differences of clinical presentation between confirmed and suspected cases among both pediatric and adult participants Further research is needed to determine whether these differences are due to disease severity or absence of proven COVID-19 We are collecting serial nasal swabs, blood and stool specimens, on which future testing will confirm SARS-CoV-2 infection in suspected subjects (Figure Presented)
Increasing Resident Support Following Patient Suicide: Assessing Resident Perceptions of a Longitudinal, Multimodal Patient Suicide Curriculum.

Patient suicide is a common experience in psychiatry residency, and its effects on trainees can be profound. There are currently no ACGME Common Program Requirements for education about patient suicide, and a need exists for evidence-based curricula to prepare residents for this difficult outcome. A comprehensive patient suicide curriculum was developed utilizing multiple modes of delivering content, including a training designed to foster built-in support among peers in the healthcare workplace. The content was delivered at intervals over the course of the 2019–2020 academic year for 43 psychiatry residents at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Pre- and post-curriculum surveys were obtained to assess the resident experience of the new curriculum. Twenty-seven residents completed the pre-curriculum survey and 25 completed the post-curriculum survey. Results demonstrated statistically significant improvements in ratings of preparedness to deal with the loss of a patient by suicide, preparedness to support a co-resident who has experienced the death of a patient by suicide, program-level support for residents, understanding systems-level and quality processes, and knowledge of what steps to take if finding out a patient has completed suicide. A multimodal approach incorporating understanding emotional reactions, provision of support, delineation of procedural issues, and education regarding quality and risk management considerations was effective at improving resident preparedness to cope following a patient suicide.
Evaluation of a Pharmacy-Driven Calcitonin Protocol for Treating Hypercalcemia in Hospitalized Patients: A Multisite Study.

Background:The dramatic increase in the acquisition cost of injectable calcitonin led to creating a pharmacy-driven calcitonin protocol to improve the appropriate use of calcitonin and other treatm...
Repair Failures Call for New Policies to Tackle Leaky Natural Gas Distribution Systems

Methane leaks in natural gas systems are low-hanging fruit for near-term, locally driven climate policy. Recent work suggests this emissions source is larger than previously believed and that repairing a small number of high emitters can cost-effectively reduce system-wide leakage. How successful are these repairs on the ground? Here, we assess the effectiveness of repair policies in the Massachusetts distribution system. Our analysis leverages state-wide utility data, on-site empirical measurements, stakeholder interviews, and document and legal analysis. We use these mixed methods to investigate the rate of repair failure, where a gas utility identifies and fixes a leak, but on-site emissions are not eliminated. We find that repair failures are relatively common, yet they are repeatedly neglected in policy. By not accounting for repair failures, policy may overestimate the effectiveness of distribution system repairs in meeting local greenhouse gas reduction targets. These results also underscore the importance of data transparency for monitoring and verifying subnational climate policies.
Early Use of Blood Flow Restriction Training with Low-Intensity Exercises following Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Improves Quadriceps Strength and Post-Operative Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial:

Objectives: Blood flow restriction therapy (BFRT) has been proposed as a method to enhance rehabilitation following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR). However, a paucity of data exists to support the use of BFRT in clinical practice. The purpose of this study is to determine if early application of BFRT, used with low-weight therapy exercises, increases quadriceps strength, and functional outcomes following ACLR compared to a traditional rehabilitation protocol without BFRT.
Low Overhead Broadcast Encryption from Multilinear Maps

We use multilinear maps to provide a solution to the long-standing problem of public-key broadcast encryption where all parameters in the system are small. In our constructions, ciphertext overhead, private key size, and public key size are all poly-logarithmic in the total number of users. The systems are fully collusion-resistant against any number of colluders. All our systems are based on an O(logN)-way multilinear map to support a broadcast system for N users. We present three constructions based on different types of multilinear maps and providing different security guarantees. Our systems naturally give identity-based broadcast systems with short parameters.
Supervised Learning of Anatomical Structures Using Demographic and Anthropometric Information

A supervised learning approach to predict anatomical structures derived from computed tomography (CT) images using demographic and anthropometric information is proposed. The approach applies a dimensionality reduction technique to a training dataset to learn a low-dimensional manifold representing variation of organ geometry or variation of the CT intensities itself, which computes a mapping between a low-dimensional feature vector and the organ geometry or CT volume. Regression analysis is then applied to determine a regression function between the low-dimensional feature coordinates and external measurements of the subjects such as demographic or anthropometric data. Then for an unseen subject, the low-dimensional feature coordinates are predicted from external measurements using the computed regression function. Subsequently, the organ geometry or the CT volume is estimated from the mapping computed in the dimensionality reduction. As an example case, lung shapes and thoracic CT scans were analyzed based on available demographic parameters (age, gender, race) and anthropometric measurements (height, weight, and chest dimensions). The training dataset consisted of lung shapes represented as a topologically consistent point distribution model (PDM) and CT volumes (\(256^{3}\,\mathrm{voxels}, 1.5^{3}\,\mathrm{mm}/\mathrm{voxel}\)) of 124 subjects. The prediction error of lung shape of an unknown subject based on 11 independent demographic and anthropometric variables was \(10.71 \pm 5.48\,\mathrm{mm}\). Isomap analysis of CT volumes revealed that 95 % of the total variance was explained with 4 dimensions, and the computed mapping clearly captured trends in anatomical variation. This suggested a potential for a direct CT-volume based statistical analysis using dimensionality reduction, which we call a voxel-based statistical atlas. Potential application areas of the proposed approach includes subject-specific ergonomic design in personal protective equipment or population-specific finite-element modeling in biomechanical analysis. Examples also include the use of a predicted patient-specific CT volume as it a prior information for image quality improvement in low dose CT, and optimization of CT scanning protocols.
Uncertainty Sets for Wind Power Generation

As penetration of wind power generation increases, system operators must account for its stochastic nature in a reliable and cost-efficient manner. These conflicting objectives can be traded-off by accounting for the variability and uncertainty of wind power generation. This letter presents a new methodology to estimate uncertainty sets for parameters of probability distributions that capture wind generation uncertainty and variability.
Looking Backward to 1938

As Voltaire supposedly said, "the perfect is the enemy of the good," and utopians may be the bane of all reformers who operate in the world as it is rather than as it might be in the imagination of those with uncommon imaginations. But it seems to me a useful device to reflect on our seventy five- year experiment with the Federal Rules by thinking about how the framers of that breakthrough, who almost surely were familiar with Bellamy's book, would react to our contemporary litigation world if they could visit it. Would they be similarly disappointed? My guess is that they would not though they would probably be quite surprised by many things that we take as commonplace. In this Essay, I first sketch what appear to be the attitudes of the framers. I then explore what has happened to change litigation since 1938 and consider the ways in which discovery reform has responded to the challenges of those developments. Finally, I will explore the new discovery challenges of the twenty-first century that may justify a reconsideration of some assumptions about getting "all" the relevant information. I conclude that the gradual adjustments we have seen and may see are true to the framers' vision and don't deserve denunciation, even by those who think some of them wrong-headed.
A Tractable Analysis of the Improvement in Unique Localizability Through Collaboration

In this paper, we mathematically characterize the improvement in device localizability achieved by allowing collaboration among devices. Depending on the detection sensitivity of the receivers in the devices, it is not unusual for a device to be localized to lack a sufficient number of detectable positioning signals from localized devices to determine its location without ambiguity (i.e., to be uniquely localizable). This occurrence is well-known to be a limiting factor in localization performance, especially in communications systems. In cellular positioning, e.g., cellular network designers call this the hearability problem . We study the conditions required for unique localizability and use tools from stochastic geometry to derive accurate analytic expressions for the probabilities of meeting these conditions in the noncollaborative and collaborative cases. We consider the scenario without shadowing, the scenario with shadowing and universal frequency reuse, and, finally, the shadowing scenario with random frequency reuse. The results from the latter scenario, which apply particularly to cellular networks, reveal that collaboration between two devices separated by only a short distance yields drastic improvements in both devices’ abilities to uniquely determine their positions. The results from this analysis are very promising and motivate delving further into techniques which enhance cellular positioning with small-scale collaborative ranging observations among nearby devices.
Solubility and Partial Molar Volumes of Heavy Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Supercritical CO2

Isothermal solubility data of naphthalene, dibenzothiophene, and mixture of naphthalene + dibenzothiophene in supercritical CO/sub 2/ were measured over a pressure range of 75-275 bar. The solubility data have been used to calculate the partial molar volumes. The calculated partial molar volumes of naphthalene in supercritical CO/sub 2/ have been compared with the experimental values available in the literature. The calculated values are in good agreement with the experimental values available in the literature.
The Roles of Fuzzy Logic and Soft Computing in the Conception, Design and Deployment of Intelligent Systems

The essence of soft computing is that, unlike the traditional, hard computing, it is aimed at an accommodation with the pervasive imprecision of the real world. Thus, the guiding principle of soft computing is: ‘...exploit the tolerance for imprecision, uncertainty and partial truth to achieve tractability, robustness, low solution cost and better rapport with reality’. In the final analysis, the role model for soft computing is the human mind.
Modular software upgrades for distributed systems

Upgrading the software of long-lived, highly-available distributed systems is difficult. It is not possible to upgrade all the nodes in a system at once, since some nodes may be unavailable and halting the system for an upgrade is unacceptable. Instead, upgrades must happen gradually, and there may be long periods of time when different nodes run different software versions and need to communicate using incompatible protocols. We present a methodology and infrastructure that make it possible to upgrade distributed systems automatically while limiting service disruption. We introduce new ways to reason about correctness in a multi-version system. We also describe a prototype implementation that supports automatic upgrades with modest overhead.
Reactive Air Brazing of LSCoF and Alumina with Ag‐V2O5 Alloys for SOFC Applications

The feasibility of brazing LSCoF ceramic substrates with silver-vanadium pentoxide (Ag-V{sub 2}O{sub 5}) alloys for use in solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) applications was studied. Preliminary testing was also performed on the Ag-V{sub 2}O{sub 5}/alumina (Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}) system in order to determine the feasibility of brazing LSCoF to Fecralloy{trademark} with an Ag-V{sub 2}O{sub 5} alloy since an Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} layer is formed on the Fecralloy surface prior to brazing. Sessile drop tests were performed using liquid Ag with 1 to 20 weight percent (wt%) V{sub 2}O{sub 5} additions at either 1000 or 1100 C. Similar to previous results for Ag-CuO alloys, additions of V{sub 2}O{sub 5} resulted in a decrease in the apparent contact angle and a transition from non-wetting to wetting behavior for both substrate materials. Mechanical test samples were fabricated by brazing using Ag with 1, 2 and 5 wt% V{sub 2}O{sub 5} additions. For the Ag-V{sub 2}O{sub 5}/LSCoF samples, the joint fracture strengths ranged from 10 to 30% of the monolithic LSCoF fracture strength ({sigma}{sub joint} = 26 {+-} 9 MPa versus {sigma}{sub LSCoF} = 151 {+-} 24 MPa). An SEM/EDS microstructural analysis of the brazed cross-sections indicated the formation of a vanadium rich reactionmore » product at the braze/LSCoF interface. It is hypothesized that the reaction product provided improved chemical bonding at the interface that resulted in the modest joint strengths. In the the Ag-V{sub 2}O{sub 5}/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} system, although the contact angles were less than 90{sup o}, all of the brazed Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} samples failed to bond during brazing or fractured during sample preparation. These poor adhesion results indicate potential problems with the Fecralloy{trademark}/Ag-V{sub 2}O{sub 5}/LSCoF system.« less
An Introduction to Modeling Structure from Sequence

The underlying premise behind all attempts to determine a large number of diverse protein structures is that the total number of protein domain folds is much smaller, by many orders of magnitude, than the total number of sequences; in other words, many sequences adopt essentially the same fold. If the fold of a protein could be recognized from sequence information alone, then a complete database of all possible folds would allow the structure corresponding to any sequence to be modeled. The growth of structure determination has turned most biochemists and biologists into consumers of structural information. As the demand for such information continues to outstrip the supply, all aspects of structure modeling assume increasing importance. This unit provides an introduction to modeling structure from its sequence and surveys the currently available methods described in the subsequent units of this chapter. Keywords: Protein structure modeling; protein fold; 3-D structure
Simulated Thrombin Generation in the Presence of Surface-Bound Heparin and Circulating Tissue Factor

An expanded computational model of surface induced thrombin generation was developed that includes hemodynamic effects, 22 biochemical reactions and 44 distinct chemical species. Surface binding of factors V, VIII, IX, and X was included in order to more accurately simulate the formation of the surface complexes tenase and prothrombinase. In order to model these reactions, the non-activated, activated and inactivated forms were all considered. This model was used to investigate the impact of surface bound heparin on thrombin generation with and without the additive effects of thrombomodulin (TM). In total, 104 heparin/TM pairings were evaluated (52 under venous conditions, 52 under arterial conditions), the results demonstrating the synergistic ability of heparin and TM to reduce thrombin generation. Additionally, the role of circulating tissue factor (TF(p)) was investigated and compared to that of surface-bound tissue factor (TF(s)). The numerical results suggest that circulating TF has the power to amplify thrombin generation once the coagulation cascade is already initiated by surface-bound TF. TF(p) concentrations as low as 0.01 nM were found to have a significant impact on total thrombin generation.
Recent Advances in the Chemistry of Metal-Carbon Triple Bonds

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the recent advances in the chemistry of metal–carbon triple bonds. The chemistry of metal–carbon triple bonds has developed at an increasing pace since the discovery of the first carbine–metal complexes. The metal atoms in the alkylidyne complexes were found to be less shielded than those in nitrido complexes but more shielded than those in compounds containing metal–metal multiple bonds. Aristov and Armentrout and Freiser derived the bond energies of metal– carbon triple bonds from gas-phase experiments. Metal–carbon triple bonds are generally described as consisting of one σ or two π bonds. The first transition-metal– carbyne complexes were synthesized in Fischer's laboratory by the treatment of alkoxycarbene pentacarbonylmetal complexes of chromium, molybdenum, and tungsten with boron trihalides. Oxalyl halides react directly with the pentacarbonylmetal acyl complexes of chromium, molybdenum, and tungsten to form the trans-alkylidyne (halo) tetracarbonyl complexes. The rearrangement of the silyl-substituted vinyl complexes has been proposed to occur by 1,2-silyl migration steps. Metal alkylidyne complexes undergo a variety of oxidation and reduction reactions as well as redox-induced transformations of the alkylidyne ligands. Addition of electrophiles to electron-rich isocyanide complexes is a proven synthetic method for the synthesis of aminocarbyne complexes. The chemistry of metal–carbon triple bonds has developed considerably during the late 1980s. The discovery of novel indium alkylidyne complexes indicates that the full range of metal–carbon triple bonds is not yet known.
Iterative Approximate Consensus in the Presence of Byzantine Link Failures

This paper explores the problem of reaching approximate consensus in synchronous point-to-point networks, where each directed link of the underlying communication graph represents a communication channel between a pair of nodes. We adopt the transient Byzantine link failure model [15, 16], where an omniscient adversary controls a subset of the directed communication links, but the nodes are assumed to be fault-free.
Transferred Intent in American Tort Law

The transferred-intent doctrine is a fiction that is no longer needed by American tort law, because of the replacement of contributory negligence with comparative negligence and development in the law of negligence since the creation of the transferred-intent doctrine. In the midst of decades of tort reform, the transferred-intent fiction has survived. Though total abolition is unlikely, its use and applicability should be greatly restricted given the existence of non-fictitious avenues for equal recovery.The transferred-intent doctrine developed when no avenue for recovery existed for plaintiffs who were contributory negligent. Since the advent of comparative negligence, however, the need for the transferred-intent fiction to ensure deserving plaintiffs are awarded relief is no longer present. Thusly, the law of negligence effectively eclipses the applicability of the transferred-intent doctrine and affords an equal measure of relief. Though transferred intent is no longer necessary within the context of tort law, the fiction remains vital in criminal law which, unlike tort law, relies exclusively on mental culpability and not tort law’s principles of negligence.It is unlikely that legislative tort reform will ever address the obsolescence of the transferred-intent diction, requiring the courts to decide the future of the doctrine. As it is not likely that the doctrine will be abolished in its entirety, the doctrine’s application should be greatly restricted.
Expanding the theory of tax compliance from individual to group motivations

Taxpayers face well-known and well-identified individual motivations in their compliance decisions, motivations that originate with the standard economic model of tax evasion in which financial incentives are shaped by audit, penalty, and tax rates. However, there is growing evidence that these individual incentives, while important, are not always decisive. Individuals do not always behave as the selfish, rational, self-interested individuals portrayed in the standard neoclassical paradigm, but rather are often motivated by many other factors that have as their main foundation some aspects of social norms, morality, altruism, fairness, or the like, factors that I broadly and no doubt imprecisely lump together as group motivations. I argue that the compliance puzzle can be explained, at least in part, by expanding the standard analysis of individual compliance behavior to incorporate the important ways in which individual decisions are shaped by group motivations. I also provide empirical and experimental evidence to support these arguments, and, I suggest â and predict â some promising lines of future research.
The North American Free Trade Agreement and U.S. Environmental Law

Presentation by David A. Wirth at the 86th Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law, followed by a discussion.
An explicit closed-form solution to the limited-angle discrete tomography problem for finite-support objects

We present an explicit formula for reconstructing a finite-support object defined on a lattice of points and taking on integer values from a finite number of its discrete projections over a limited range of angles. We make extensive use of the discrete Fourier transform in doing so. Our approach computes the object sample values directly as a linear combination of the projections sample values. The well-known ill-posedness of the limited angle tomography problem manifests itself in some very large coefficients in these linear combinations; these coefficients (which are computed off-line) provide a direct sensitivity measure of the reconstruction samples to the projections samples. The discrete nature of the problem implies that the projections must also take on integer values; this means noise can be rejected. This makes the formula practical.
Do remittances help smooth consumption during health shocks?: Evidence from Jamaica

Remittances represent about 15 percent of Jamaica’s GDP; being the 16 th country worldwide in terms of economic significance of remittances. Therefore, assessing to what extent and through what mechanisms remittances are useful for development is highly relevant. Accordingly, we identify whether remittances facilitate consumption smoothing during health shocks in Jamaica. In addition, we investigate whether remittances are subject to moral hazard by receivers, how the informal insurance provided by remittances interacts with formal health insurance, and whether there are differential effects by gender of the household head. Disentangling causality between remittances and household income or consumption is problematic as a result of reverse causation. Therefore, identifying whether remittances serve as a social insurance mechanism toward consumption smoothing would require the existence of an exogenous and unexpected shock suffered by nonreceivers and receivers. In this article, we exploit health shocks (accidents and illnesses) suffered by household members to identify the relevance of remittances as social insurance toward consumption smoothing. After showing that these shocks are as good as randomly assigned, we assess the relevance and significance of remittances as a social insurance mechanism in Jamaica. Our main findings show that health shocks adversely affect total household expenditures by an average of 19 percent. However, remittances totally offset these adverse effects, indicating that in light of idiosyncratic shocks, remittances serve as a social insurance mechanism that offers full protection. We also find that moral hazard concerns are low given that remittances are not used to smooth consumption of presumably undesirable goods for senders such as alcohol. Furthermore, we find that remittances are not relevant as an insurance mechanism against health shocks when private health insurance is present. By contrast, remittances constitute a powerful form of insurance in the absence of private health insurance. In terms of policymaking, our findings identify a particularly vulnerable population: persons without private health insurance who do not receive remittances. Therefore, developing mechanisms to identify this population could serve for targeting complementary safety nets towards this particularly vulnerable group.
Cloud/Climate Sensitivity Experiments

A study of the relationships between large-scale cloud fields and large scale circulation patterns is presented. The basic tool is a multi-level numerical model comprising conservation equations for temperature, water vapor and cloud water and appropriate parameterizations for evaporation, condensation, precipitation and radiative feedbacks. Incorporating an equation for cloud water in a large-scale model is somewhat novel and allows the formation and advection of clouds to be treated explicitly. The model is run on a two-dimensional, vertical-horizontal grid with constant winds. It is shown that cloud cover increases with decreased eddy vertical velocity, decreased horizontal advection, decreased atmospheric temperature, increased surface temperature, and decreased precipitation efficiency. The cloud field is found to be well correlated with the relative humidity field except at the highest levels. When radiative feedbacks are incorporated and the temperature increased by increasing CO2 content, cloud amounts decrease at upper-levels or equivalently cloud top height falls. This reduces the temperature response, especially at upper levels, compared with an experiment in which cloud cover is fixed.
9. Imaging Properties and Aberrations of Spherical Optics and Nonspherical Optics

Publisher Summary The chapter discusses imaging properties, and aberrations of spherical optics and nonspherical optics. For spectroscopy in any spectral region, optical components to disperse the radiation into a spectrum are required. Mirrors must be made from (or coated with) a reflective material to achieve a reflectivity high enough to construct a spectroscopic system of reasonable efficiency. Although multilayer coatings can be used for some specific applications, metallic coatings giving broadband reflectivity are most commonly used. The normal incidence reflectivity of metals decreases considerably in the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) and operation of mirrors at short wavelengths requires small glancing angles. The best reflectors are the heavy metals such as gold and platinum. The chapter discusses the design of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectroscopy systems, paraxial optics, geometrical optics with finite apertures and objects, nonaxisymmetrical systems, and so on. Most mirrors for EUV/x-ray spectroscopy, in particular spheres and planes, are made by conventional optical techniques of grinding, polishing, and interferometric testing to the required figure. For applications requiring minimal scattering, a low value of rms surface roughness must be achieved.
Functionalization of carbon-hydrogen bonds through transition metal carbenoid insertion.

The functionalization of carbon–hydrogen bonds through transition metal carbenoid insertion is becoming a powerful method for the construction of new carbon–carbon bonds in organic synthesis. This chapter will highlight recent developments in this field, while placing it within its historical context. Intramolecular carbenoid C–H insertion will be covered first, focusing on formation of three- and six-membered rings, as well as the use of nontraditional substrates. Additionally, the most recent progress in asymmetric catalysis will be discussed. The bulk of the chapter will concentrate on intermolecular transformations, emphasizing both the effect of substrate structure and the influence of carbene substituent electronics on the regioselectivity of the reactions. Vinyldiazoacetates will be covered as a distinct class of carbenoid precursor, as they have been shown to initiate a variety of unique transformations, such as the combined C–H activation/Cope rearrangement. Finally, the synthetic utility of carbenoid C–H insertion reactions, both intra- and intermolecular, will be displayed through their use in the total syntheses of a number of natural products and pharmaceuticals.
Heterogeneous Beliefs and Optimal Taxation

signal about the fundamental. The rst characteristic implies that the best policy (tax on investment) with commitment is state contingent. The second and third characteristics make the information incomplete. In particular, agents have di erent information sets, and therefore di erent beliefs, about the true state of the economy. As a result, independently of the accuracy of the signal, incomplete information reduces the set of equilibrium payo s. First, we show that any policy that depends solely on the fundamental cannot be an equilibrium. Second, the best equilibrium policy is independent of the fundamental. Finally, for any discount factor strictly smaller than one and for any size of the noise, the best equilibrium is inecient.
Real-time predictive modeling and robust avoidance of pedestrians with uncertain, changing intentions

To plan safe trajectories in urban environments, autonomous vehicles must be able to quickly assess the future intentions of dynamic agents. Pedestrians are particularly challenging to model, as their motion patterns are often uncertain and/or unknown a priori. This paper presents a novel changepoint detection and clustering algorithm that, when coupled with offline unsupervised learning of a Gaussian process mixture model (DPGP), enables quick detection of changes in intent and online learning of motion patterns not seen in prior training data. The resulting long-term movement predictions demonstrate improved accuracy relative to offline learning alone, in terms of both intent and trajectory prediction. By embedding these predictions within a chance-constrained motion planner, trajectories which are probabilistically safe to pedestrian motions can be identified in real-time. Hardware experiments demonstrate that this approach can accurately predict motion patterns from onboard sensor/perception data and facilitate robust navigation within a dynamic environment.
Regulation of dynamical systems to optimal solutions of semidefinite programs: Algorithms and applications to AC optimal power flow

This paper considers a collection of networked nonlinear dynamical systems, and addresses the synthesis of feedback controllers that seek optimal operating points corresponding to the solution of pertinent network-wide optimization problems. Particular emphasis is placed on the solution of semidefinite programs (SDPs). The design of the feedback controller is grounded on a dual e-subgradient approach, with the dual iterates utilized to dynamically update the dynamical-system reference signals. Global convergence is guaranteed for diminishing stepsize rules, even when the reference inputs are updated at a faster rate than the dynamical-system settling time. The application of the proposed framework to the control of power-electronic inverters in AC distribution systems is discussed. The objective is to bridge the time-scale separation between real-time inverter control and network-wide optimization. Optimization objectives assume the form of SDP relaxations of prototypical AC optimal power flow problems.
Confidence Interval Procedures for Monte Carlo Transport Simulations

The problem of obtaining valid confidence intervals based on estimates from sampled distributions using Monte Carlo particle transport simulation codes such as MCNP is examined. Such intervals can cover the true parameter of interest at a lower than nominal rate if the sampled distribution is extremely right-skewed by large tallies. Modifications to the standard theory of confidence intervals are discussed and compared with some existing heuristics, including batched means normality tests. Two new types of diagnostics are introduced to assess whether the conditions of central limit theorem-type results are satisfied: the relative variance of the variance determines whether the sample size is sufficiently large, and estimators of the slope of the right tail of the distribution are used to indicate the number of moments that exist. A simulation study is conducted to quantify the relationship between various diagnostics and coverage rates and to find sample-based quantities useful in indicating when intervals are expected to be valid. Simulated tally distributions are chosen to emulate behavior seen in difficult particle transport problems. Measures of variation in the sample variance s{sup 2} are found to be much more effective than existing methods in predicting when coverage will be near nominal rates. Batched meansmore » tests are found to be overly conservative in this regard. A simple but pathological MCNP problem is presented as an example of false convergence using existing heuristics. The new methods readily detect the false convergence and show that the results of the problem, which are a factor of 4 too small, should not be used. Recommendations are made for applying these techniques in practice, using the statistical output currently produced by MCNP.« less
Learning the Dependence Graph of Time Series with Latent Factors

This paper considers the problem of learning, from samples, the dependency structure of a system of linear stochastic differential equations, when some of the variables are latent. We observe the time evolution of some variables, and never observe other variables; from this, we would like to find the dependency structure of the observed variables - separating out the spurious interactions caused by the latent variables' time series. We develop a new convex optimization based method to do so in the case when the number of latent variables is smaller than the number of observed ones. For the case when the dependency structure between the observed variables is sparse, we theoretically establish a high-dimensional scaling result for structure recovery. We verify our theoretical result with both synthetic and real data (from the stock market).
Cryptanalysis of an Algebraic Privacy Homomorphism

We use linear algebra to show that an algebraic privacy homomorphism proposed by Domingo-Ferrer is insecure for some parameter settings.
Principles of Lasers and Optics

Preface 1. Scalar wave equations and diffraction of laser radiation 2. Gaussian modes in optical laser cavities and Gaussian beam optics 3. Guided wave modes and their propagation 4. Guided wave interactions and photonic devices 5. Macroscopic properties of materials from stimulated emission and absorption 6. Solid state and gas laser amplifier and oscillator 7. Semiconductor lasers Index.
Characteristic function of the positive part of a random variable and related results, with applications

Abstract Let X be an arbitrary real-valued random variable (r.v.), with the characteristic function (c.f.) f . Integral expressions for the c.f. of the r.v.’s max ( 0 , X ) in terms of f are given, as well as other related results. Applications to stock options and random walks are presented. In particular, a more explicit and compact form of Spitzer’s identity is obtained.
100-kWe lunar/Mars surface power utilizing the SP-100 reactor with dynamic conversion

Results are presented from a study of the coupling of an SP-100 nuclear reactor with either a Stirling or Brayton power system, at the 100 kWe level, for a power generating system suitable for operation in the lunar and Martian surface environments. In the lunar environment, the reactor and primary coolant loop would be contained in a guard vessel to protect from a loss of primary loop containment. For Mars, all refractory components, including the reactor, coolant, and power conversion components will be contained in a vacuum vessel for protection against the CO2 environment.
Growth and volatility analysis using wavelets

The magnitude and persistence of growth in gross domestic product are topics of intense scrutiny by economists. Although the existing techniques provide a range of tools to study the nature of growth and volatility time series, these usually come with shortcomings, including the need to arbitrarily define acceleration spells, and focus on a particular frequency at a time. This paper explores the application of "wavelet-based" techniques to study the time-varying nature of growth and volatility. These techniques lend themselves to a more robust analysis of short-term and long-term determinants of growth and volatility than the traditional decomposition techniques, as demonstrated on a small sample of countries. In addition to having desirable technical advantages, such as localization in time and frequency and the ability to work with non-stationary series, these techniques also make it possible to accurately decompose the association between growth trajectories of different countries over different time horizons. Such "co-movement" analysis can provide policy makers with important insights on regional integration, growth poles, and how short and long term developments in other countries affect their domestic economy.
FAST WAVE HEATING VIA MODE CONVERSION AND ICRF SCALING TO REACTOR SIZE

Abstract A compact form for the hot plasma dispersion reaction accurate for both the fast wave and the ion Bernstein waves (for all ranges of k1ρi) is obtained. The dispersion relation is used to obtain three-dimensional ray equations for a tokamak geometry incorporating parabolic density and temperature profiles, the 1/R variation in the toroidal magnetic field, and the poloidal magnetic field variation. The results yield information concerning the spatial deposition of the fast wave energy coupled via mode conversion to ion Bernstein waves. We then present studies of the startup phase of tokamak reactors utilizing waves in the ion cyclotron frequency range. Both coil and cavity aperture coupling systems are considered in the NUWMAK reactor design. The wave launching structures are designed to be compatible with the high neutron flux emanating from the plasma and access constraints imposed by a high field, high density, minimum size tokamak reactor.
Physicalism versus quantum mechanics

Recent neuroscience data indicates that our conscious thoughts are closely connected to synchronous oscillations at diverse brain sites. This empirically indicated connection is used as the basis of a model of the mind-brain connection that explains how our conscious percepts are essentially classically describable when the physical world, including our bodies and brains, are physically composed of atomic constituents that obey the laws of quantum physics.. A mind-brain mechanism is discussed that conforms to the orthodox precepts of quantum mechanics and allows conscious intent to influence the quantum dynamics of the brain.
Top Five Challenges Facing the Practice of Fault Tolerance

This paper identifies key problem areas for the fault-tolerant community to address. Changes in technology, expectation of society, and needs of the market pressure the design point for fault-tolerance in their own special manner. A developer, who has only a finite set of resources and limited time, responds to these pressures with a set of priorities. I believe that the top five challenges, which ultimately drive the exploitation of fault-tolerant technology are: (1) Shipping a product on schedule, (2) Reducing unavailability, (3) Non-disruptive change management, (4) Human fault-tolerance, (5) All over again in the distributed world. Each of these are discussed to explore their influence on the choice for fault-tolerance. Understanding them is key to guide research investment and maximize its derivatives.
Toward opening book learning

In this chapter an opening book framework for game-playing programs is presented. Motivated by basic requirements for successfully playing a sequence of games--such as avoiding losing games twice in the same way--it is shown how reasonable move alternatives can be found in order to deviate from previous lines of play. Variants of the algorithm are used by several of today's best Othello programs and allow them to extend their opening books automatically.
Employee Poaching: Why It Can Be Predatory

There is a growing concern over predatory hiring practices that are aimed at eliminating competitors. Using a duopoly model in which firm's profits depend on the quality of the worker-employer match, this paper studies the conditions under which predatory equilibrium exists. I find that predatory hiring can occur when the match between the worker and the new employer is relatively poor and the old employer has a shallow pool of replacement candidates. Post-employment lawsuits do not affect the range of predatory equilibrium if the parties take into account expected damages payment.
Phase Transitions in the Early and the Present Universe: from the Big Bang to Heavy Ion Collisions

In these lectures I discuss cosmological phase transitions with the goal of establishing the possibility of observational consequences. I argue that the only phase transition amenable of experimental study within the foreseeable future is that predicted by QCD and discuss some of the potential observational cosmological consequences associated with this phase transition(s). I describe the experimental effort to study the QCD phase transition(s) at RHIC and SPS and summarize some of the recent experimental results. The possibility of novel phases of QCD in the core of pulsars is discussed along with the suggested observational consequences. A brief review of standard big bang cosmology as well as the astrophysics of compact stars sets the stage for understanding the observational cosmological and astrophysical consequences of phase transitions in the standard model.
Concerning Olga, the Beautiful Little Street Dancer: Adjectives as Higher-Order Polymorphic Functions

In this paper we suggest a typed compositional semantics for nominal compounds of the form [Adj Noun] that models adjectives as higher-order polymorphic functions, and where types are assumed to represent concepts in an ontology that reflects our commonsense view of the world and the way we talk about it in ordinary language. In addition to [Adj Noun] compounds our proposal seems also to suggest a plausible explanation for well known adjective ordering restrictions.
Quark-Gluon Plasma in the Early Universe

A QCD phase transition in the early universe could have left inhomogeneities in the baryon to photon ratio and in isospin that might have affected nucleosynthesis later on. At very high temperature QCD plasma can be described by perturbation theory because of asymptotic freedom, but a possible phase transition requires a nonperturbative approach like lattice gauge theory. Assuming that a first order transition did occur, a dynamical set of equations can be solved to evolve the universe through it and to quantify the scale of inhomogeneity. Unfortunately this scale appears to be too small by two orders of magnitude to affect nucleosynthesis.