cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Examining Gender and Race Bias in Two Hundred Sentiment Analysis Systems

Automatic machine learning systems can inadvertently accentuate and perpetuate inappropriate human biases. Past work on examining inappropriate biases has largely focused on just individual systems. Further, there is no benchmark dataset for examining inappropriate biases in systems. Here for the first time, we present the Equity Evaluation Corpus (EEC), which consists of 8,640 English sentences carefully chosen to tease out biases towards certain races and genders. We use the dataset to examine 219 automatic sentiment analysis systems that took part in a recent shared task, SemEval-2018 Task 1 ‘Affect in Tweets’. We find that several of the systems show statistically significant bias; that is, they consistently provide slightly higher sentiment intensity predictions for one race or one gender. We make the EEC freely available.
The helicase Ded1p controls use of near-cognate translation initiation codons in 5′ UTRs

The conserved and essential DEAD-box RNA helicase Ded1p from yeast and its mammalian orthologue DDX3 are critical for the initiation of translation1. Mutations in DDX3 are linked to tumorigenesis2-4 and intellectual disability5, and the enzyme is targeted by a range of viruses6. How Ded1p and its orthologues engage RNAs during the initiation of translation is unknown. Here we show, by integrating transcriptome-wide analyses of translation, RNA structure and Ded1p-RNA binding, that the effects of Ded1p on the initiation of translation are connected to near-cognate initiation codons in 5' untranslated regions. Ded1p associates with the translation pre-initiation complex at the mRNA entry channel and repressing the activity of Ded1p leads to the accumulation of RNA structure in 5' untranslated regions, the initiation of translation from near-cognate start codons immediately upstream of these structures and decreased protein synthesis from the corresponding main open reading frames. The data reveal a program for the regulation of translation that links Ded1p, the activation of near-cognate start codons and mRNA structure. This program has a role in meiosis, in which a marked decrease in the levels of Ded1p is accompanied by the activation of the alternative translation initiation sites that are seen when the activity of Ded1p is repressed. Our observations indicate that Ded1p affects translation initiation by controlling the use of near-cognate initiation codons that are proximal to mRNA structure in 5' untranslated regions.
Common Practice Elements for Improving Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Outcomes of Young Elementary School Students.

Improving social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes of students with and at-risk for emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) remains a challenge for educators, and it has long been noted that tea...
Comprehensive Assessment of Temporal Treatments in Crash Prediction Models

This study conducted a comprehensive comparison of temporal treatments employed in crash prediction models. Nine groups of methodological approaches based on different ways of addressing temporal c...
Efficacy of a high school extensive reading intervention for English learners with reading difficulties

This study examined the effects of Reading Intervention for Adolescents, a 2-year extensive reading intervention targeting current and former English learners identified as struggling readers based on their performance on the state accountability assessment. Students who enrolled at three participating urban high schools were randomly assigned to the Reading Intervention for Adolescents treatment condition (n = 175) or a business-as-usual comparison condition. Students assigned to the treatment condition participated in the intervention for approximately 50 min daily for 2 school years in lieu of a school-provided elective course, which business-as-usual students took consistent with typical scheduling. Findings revealed significant effects for the treatment condition on sentence-level fluency and comprehension (g = 0.18) and on a proximal measure of vocabulary learning (g = .41), but not on standardized measures of word reading, vocabulary, or reading comprehension (g range: −0.09 to 0.06). Post hoc moderation analyses investigated whether initial proficiency levels interacted with treatment effects. On sentence-level fluency and comprehension and on vocabulary learning, initial scores were significantly associated with treatment effects—however, in opposite directions. Students who scored low at baseline on sentence reading and comprehension scored relatively higher at posttest on that measure, whereas students who scored high at baseline on the proximal vocabulary measure scored relatively higher at posttest on that measure. The discussion focuses on the difficulty of remediating persistent reading difficulties in high school, particularly among English learners, who are often still in the process of acquiring academic proficiency in English. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)
Submodular function maximization in parallel via the multilinear relaxation

Balkanski and Singer [4] recently initiated the study of adaptivity (or parallelism) for constrained submodular function maximization, and studied the setting of a cardinality constraint. Subsequent improvements for this problem by Balkanski, Rubinstein, and Singer [6] and Ene and Nguyen [21] resulted in a near-optimal (1 − 1/e − e)-approximation in O(log n/e2) rounds of adaptivity. Partly motivated by the goal of extending these results to more general constraints, we describe parallel algorithms for approximately maximizing the multilinear relaxation of a monotone submodular function subject to packing constraints. Formally our problem is to maximize F(x) over x ∈ [0, 1]n subject to Ax ≤ 1 where F is the multilinear relaxation of a monotone sub-modular function. Our algorithm achieves a near-optimal (1 − 1/e − e)-approximation in O(log2m log n/e4) rounds where n is the cardinality of the ground set and m is the number of packing constraints. For many constraints of interest, the resulting fractional solution can be rounded via known randomized rounding schemes that are oblivious to the specific submodular function. We thus derive randomized algorithms with poly-logarithmic adaptivity for a number of constraints including partition and laminar matroids, matchings, knapsack constraints, and their intersections.Our algorithm takes a continuous view point and combines several ideas ranging from the continuous greedy algorithm of [38, 13], its adaptation to the MWU framework for packing constraints [20], and parallel algorithms for packing LPs [31, 41]. For the basic setting of cardinality constraints, this viewpoint gives rise to an alternative, simple to understand algorithm that matches recent results [6, 21]. Our algorithm to solve the multilinear relaxation is deterministic if it is given access to a value oracle for the multilinear extension and its gradient; this is possible in some interesting cases such as the coverage function of an explicitly given set system.
Mod-DeepESN: Modular Deep Echo State Network

Neuro-inspired recurrent neural network algorithms, such as echo state networks, are computationally lightweight and thereby map well onto untethered devices. The baseline echo state network algorithms are shown to be efficient in solving small-scale spatio-temporal problems. However, they underperform for complex tasks that are characterized by multi-scale structures. In this research, an intrinsic plasticity-infused modular deep echo state network architecture is proposed to solve complex and multiple timescale temporal tasks. It outperforms state-of-the-art for time series prediction tasks.
They, their, them: A case for non-gendered language in Australian judgments:

This article considers the use of binary gendered language in Australian legal writing, particularly in the written decisions of Australia's courts. The article contends that, given the increasing ...
The Benefits of Reducing Gun Violence: Evidence from Contingent-Valuation Survey Data*

This article presents an estimate of the benefits of reducing crime using the contingent-valuation (CV) method. We focus on gun violence, a crime of growing policy concern in America. Our data come from a national survey in which we ask respondents referendum-type questions that elicit their willingness-to-pay (WTP) to reduce gun violence by 30%. We estimate that the public's WTP to reduce gun assaults by 30% equals $24.5 billion, or around $1.2 million per injury. Our estimate implies a statistical value of life that is quite consistent with those derived from other methods.
Receptivity to restorative justice: A survey of goal importance, process effectiveness, and support for victim–offender conferencing

As the use of restorative justice processes continues to grow in the West, it is helpful to understand the factors that influence people's support for the use of restorative processes. Working from a conflict goals perspective, this study explores how support for the use of victim–offender conferencing following instances of first‐time, nonviolent offending by youth is influenced by perceived importance of justice outcomes, perceived effectiveness of conventional and restorative processes at accomplishing those outcomes, and perceived appropriateness of conventional and restorative processes. It concludes with a discussion of implications for restorative justice research and advocacy.
Auditor Style and Financial Reporting Similarity

In this study, we examine whether auditor style is related to financial reporting similarity. Based on the count of accounting items disclosed in eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) 10-K ...
Zika Virus--Pediatricians Be Aware.

1. Mobeen H. Rathore, MD, CPE 1. Editorial Board member University of Florida Center for HIV/AIDS Research, Education and Service (UF CARES) Jacksonville, FL Every few years, a “new” (not really) funny-sounding infectious disease is in the news and causing anxiety: first it was SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), then avian flu, swine flu, dengue, MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome), chikungunya, Ebola, and now in 2016 it’s Zika virus. Zika virus was first identified in 1947 at the East African Virus Research Institute (now the Uganda Virus Research Institute) in Entebbe, Uganda, as a cause of febrile illness in rhesus macaques. (1) Until 2007, Zika virus caused only rare cases of human disease in Africa and Southeast Asia. However, in April 2007, an outbreak was reported …
Explaining willingness to pay for pricing reforms that improve electricity service in India

Abstract Quality of electricity service remains poor in many developing countries. Here we examine factors that influence stated willingness to pay for better service (i.e., more hours of power per day) among rural and urban households in Uttar Pradesh, India. Besides suggesting that low willingness to pay is a major obstacle to pricing reform, we find that respondents with more social trust are willing to pay more. In a randomized survey experiment, we also find that delays in service improvements and a lack of community support for pricing reform reduce willingness to pay. These results confirm the importance of non-financial considerations in popular support for policies that impose higher prices in exchange for better service. However, we do not find evidence for sense of entitlement – the belief that government should offer basic goods and services for free – as a predictor of low willingness to pay. These results offer useful input for effective strategies to reform electricity pricing for better service and, ultimately, economic growth, particularly in areas where electricity is heavily underpriced and where governance is weak.
Clinical Outcomes of Matched Unrelated Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplant Patients: Low Dose ATG Vs. No ATG

Introduction Anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) is an immunoglobulin directed to human T lymphocytes, and may decrease the risk of chronic graft versus host disease (cGVHD) in allogenic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). ATG, especially at higher doses (≥ 7.5 mg/kg), has been associated with higher incidence of disease relapse and infection. Our institution utilizes low dose rabbit ATG 2.5 mg/kg. In this retrospective study, we evaluated outcomes of HCT patients (pts) receiving low dose ATG vs. not undergoing in-vivo T-cell depletion Patients and Methods Pts with 8/8 HLA Matched Unrelated Donors (MUD) undergoing HCT between 2007-2016 were included. Pts were divided into two cohorts: those receiving low dose ATG vs. those that did not. Both cohorts received standard GVHD prophylaxis. Primary outcome was overall survival (OS). Secondary outcomes included relapse free survival (RFS), EBV or CMV reactivation, CMV disease, invasive fungal infection, acute GVHD (aGVHD) grades III-IV, and moderate to severe cGVHD. A series of univariate and multivariant Cox proportional hazard regression models were conducted for outcomes of interest. A Kaplan-Meier survival curve was used to depict probability of survival by ATG cohort. Results We identified 209 patients,129 in ATG group and 80 in non-ATG group. There were no differences in the age, sex, ABO incompatibility, or performance status. The ATG cohort had fewer low disease risk index (DRI) and more pts with intermediate or high DRI (2.4%, 64.6%, 28.3% vs 18.4%, 51.3%, 23.7% respectively); these differences were statistically significant between the two groups (p = There was no significant difference in OS between the two groups at up to 5 years post-transplant (p=0.35; Fig. 1). The primary predictor of OS was DRI very high vs low [HR 6.0 (2-18) p Conclusions Our study shows no significant difference in survival or death from relapse for patients who receive ATG. Importantly, patients receiving ATG had a lower rate of cGVHD with no increased rates of infectious complications. Low dose ATG did not appear to increase the risk of relapse, even when considering only myeloid malignancies. These findings suggest that low dose ATG can improve cGVHD with no impact on survival, relapse, or infectious complications. Additional prospective trials using low dose ATG compared to no ATG are warranted.
Local predictive ability of analyst recommendations

This article shows that aggregate analyst recommendations predict future aggregate excess returns at MSA and state level (i.e. local level). The results hold even after controlling for macroeconomic variables, industry and market returns, as well as investor sentiment. We also show that the local predictive ability of analyst recommendations is stronger for geographically concentrated firms. Additional analysis at state level for the geographically concentrated firms reveals that local analyst recommendations predict future local economic fundamentals. Overall, our findings suggest that analyst recommendations contain information at the MSA- and state-level, and that local information content is richer for geographically concentrated firms.
Power, Politics and Knowledge Claims: Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in the SDG Era

The selection of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) , targets and indicators for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) can only be understood in the light of struggles to advance these rights amid a context of the growing reliance on indicators to measure progress. If the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) de‐politicized inherently polemical issues in SRHR, the (re)production of knowledge of rights in the SDGs poses a subtler, but just as serious, threat. Although rights, and SRHR in particular, are apparently taken into account, the apparent neutrality of these metrics obscures politics and ideology. There is a danger that over‐reliance on quantitative indicators obscures the structural challenges facing the advancement of SRHR, and therefore indicators should be coupled with qualitative information derived in context.
An apparatus for the study of thermoluminescence from minerals

An apparatus has been constructed to record the thermoluminescence of a mineral in the form of a powder or a single crystal at temperatures from --100 d C to +400 d C. Glow curves are obtained by heating the sample at a constant rate and recording the intensity of thermoluminescence as a function of temperature. The apparatus has provision for the irradiation of the sample with x rays or ultraviolet light and for measurement of the induced luminescence during any part of the experiment. Upon termination of the irradiation the measurement of the luminescence can be continued at any desired temperatare and rapidly decaying phos phorescence can be detected. In all these experiments the sample remains undisturbed, and the problems associated with ihe heterogeneiiy of the sample are thus reduced. (auth)
Convergent Learning: Do different neural networks learn the same representations?

Abstract: Recent success in training deep neural networks have prompted active investigation into the features learned on their intermediate layers. Such research is difficult because it requires making sense of non-linear computations performed by millions of parameters, but valuable because it increases our ability to understand current models and create improved versions of them. In this paper we investigate the extent to which neural networks exhibit what we call convergent learning, which is when the representations learned by multiple nets converge to a set of features which are either individually similar between networks or where subsets of features span similar low-dimensional spaces. We propose a specific method of probing representations: training multiple networks and then comparing and contrasting their individual, learned representations at the level of neurons or groups of neurons. We begin research into this question using three techniques to approximately align different neural networks on a feature level: a bipartite matching approach that makes one-to-one assignments between neurons, a sparse prediction approach that finds one-to-many mappings, and a spectral clustering approach that finds many-to-many mappings. This initial investigation reveals a few previously unknown properties of neural networks, and we argue that future research into the question of convergent learning will yield many more. The insights described here include (1) that some features are learned reliably in multiple networks, yet other features are not consistently learned; (2) that units learn to span low-dimensional subspaces and, while these subspaces are common to multiple networks, the specific basis vectors learned are not; (3) that the representation codes show evidence of being a mix between a local code and slightly, but not fully, distributed codes across multiple units.
Population-based relative risks for specific family history constellations of breast cancer

Using a large resource linking genealogy with decades of cancer data, a non-traditional approach was used to estimate individualized risk for breast cancer (BC) based on specific family history extending to first cousins, providing a clearer picture of the contribution of various aspects of both close and distant combinations of affected relatives. RRs for BC were estimated in 640,366 females for a representative set of breast cancer family history constellations that included number of first- (FDR), second-(SDR), and third-degree relatives (TDR), maternal and paternal relatives, and age at earliest diagnosis in a relative. RRs for first-degree relatives of BC cases ranged from 1.61 (= 1 FDR affected, CI 1.56, 1.67) to 5.00 (≥ 4 FDRs affected, CI 3.35, 7.18). RRs for second-degree relatives of probands with 0 affected FDRs ranged from 1.04 (= 1 SDR affected, CI 1.00, 1.08) to 1.71 (≥ 4 SDRs affected, CI 1.26, 2.27) and for second-degree relatives of probands with exactly 1 FDR from 1.54 (0 SDRs affected, CI 1.47, 1.61) to 4.78 (≥ 5 SDRs; CI 2.47, 8.35). RRs for third-degree relatives with no closer relatives affected were significantly elevated over population risk for probands with ≥ 5 affected TDRs RR = 1.32, CI 1.11, 1.57). The majority of females in the Utah resource had a positive family history of BC in FDRs to TDRs. Presence of any number of affected FDRs or SDRs significantly increased risk for BC over population risk; and more than four TDRs, even with no affected FDRs or SDRs, significantly increased risk over population risk. Risk prediction derived from the specific and extended family history constellation of affected relatives allows identification of females at increased risk even when they do not have a conventionally defined high-risk family; these risks could be a powerful, efficient tool to individualize cancer screening and prevention.
3D printing of biomimetic composites with improved fracture toughness

Abstract Recent researches show that material microstructural designs mimicking biomaterials offer an effective way to produce tougher composites. To reveal the underlying microstructure-toughness relationship, five bioinspired material microstructures are investigated experimentally, including the brick-and-mortar, cross-lamellar, concentric hexagonal, and rotating plywood microstructures. The feature sizes of these microstructures are controlled to be one order smaller than the specimen size, providing better pictures of how crack resistance interacts with heterogeneity. Fracture theories are further used to analyze the toughening mechanisms and find the design criteria. Results show that the rotating plywood structure presents a “J” shaped R-curve, while other structures show “Γ” shaped R-curves. The “J” shaped R-curve gives a larger critical energy release rate and tolerates a longer crack, thus preferable for crack arresting. By contrast, the “Γ” shaped R-curve provides a larger critical failure stress and is beneficial for preventing crack initiation. Moreover, combined experimental results and theoretical analysis suggest that heterogeneity improves toughness by 1) creating stiffness variations to slow down crack propagation and prevent crack penetration and 2) guiding cracks along weak interfaces to promote progressive damage. Our results shed new light on the structure-property relationship that will facilitate the design of tougher and better crack resistant composites.
Redox regulation of metabolic syndrome: recent developments in skeletal muscle insulin resistance and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)

Several new discoveries over the past decade have shown that metabolic syndrome, a cluster of metabolic disorders, including increased visceral obesity, hyperglycemia, hypertension, dyslipidemia and low HDL-cholesterol, is commonly associated with skeletal muscle insulin resistance. More recently, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) was recognized as an additional condition that is strongly associated with features of metabolic syndrome. While the pathogenesis of skeletal muscle insulin resistance and fatty liver is multifactorial, the role of dysregulated redox signaling has been clearly demonstrated in the regulation of skeletal muscle insulin resistance and NAFLD. In this review, we aim to provide recent updates on redox regulation with respect to (a) pro-oxidant enzymes (e.g. NAPDH oxidase and xanthine oxidase); (b) mitochondrial dysfunction; (c) endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress; (d) iron metabolism derangements; and (e) gut-skeletal muscle or gut-liver connection in the development of skeletal muscle insulin resistance and NAFLD. Furthermore, we discuss promising new therapeutic strategies targeting redox regulation currently under investigation for the treatment of skeletal muscle insulin resistance and NAFLD.
Acoustic Response of Near-Equilibrium Diffusion Flames with Large Activation Energies

The interaction of non-premixed flamelets with acoustic pressure waves of large characteristic wavelength, central to the development of acoustic instabilities in liquid-propellant rocket engines, ...
Recovering variable names for minified code with usage contexts

To avoid the exposure of original source code in a Web application, the variable names in JS code deployed in the wild are often replaced by short, meaningless names, thus making the code extremely difficult to manually understand and analysis. This paper presents JSNeat, an information retrieval (IR)-based approach to recover the variable names in minified JS code. JSNeat follows a data-driven approach to recover names by searching for them in a large corpus of open-source JS code. We use three types of contexts to match a variable in given minified code against the corpus including the context of the properties and roles of the variable, the context of that variable and relations with other variables under recovery, and the context of the task of the function to which the variable contributes. We performed several empirical experiments to evaluate JSNeat on the dataset of more than 322K JS files with 1M functions, and 3.5M variables with 176K unique variable names. We found that JSNeat achieves a high accuracy of 69.1%, which is the relative improvements of 66.1% and 43% over two state-of-the-art approaches JSNice and JSNaughty, respectively. The time to recover for a file or a variable with JSNeat is twice as fast as with JSNice and 4x as fast as with JNaughty, respectively.
Kinetically-controlled displacement by azide on an allylic chloride: Synthesis of a highly potent serotonin-3 receptor ligand prototype

Abstract The discovery and selective synthesis of a novel and highly potent serotonin-3 receptor ligand, 4-amino-5-chloro-2-methoxy-N-(1-azabicyclo[2.2.2]-oct-2-enyl-2-methyl) benzamide (4) are described. The key step in the preparation of 4 involves an unusual example of a kinetically controlled displacement to provide a thermodynamically disfavored allytic azide isomer. This azide is a precursor to 2-aminomethyl-1-azabicylo[2.2.2]oct-2-ene (5), a convergent intermediate for the synthesis of analogs related to 4.
Microwave-enhanced cross-coupling of allyl chlorides with vinyltrifluoroborates

The allylation of potassium alkenyltrifluoroborates with allyl chloride via a palladium catalyzed cross-coupling reaction occurs rapidly under microwave irradiation. The allylation reaction produces 1,4-pentadienes in high yields.
Unexpected behavior of imines derived from trifluoromethylaryl ketones under basic conditions: Convenient synthesis of 2-arylbenzimidazoles and 2-arylbenzoxazoles

Abstract Imines derived from trifluoromethylaryl ketones, ortho-phenylenediamines or ortho-aminophenols undergo intramolecular cyclization with the elimination of the CF3 group under a variety of basic conditions to afford 2-arylbenzimidazoles and 2-aryloxazoles in good to excellent yields.
The helicase domain of Polθ counteracts RPA to promote alt-NHEJ.

Biochemical and cellular analyses reveal that the helicase activity of DNA polymerase theta (Polθ) antagonizes RPA to promote DNA strand annealing and double-strand break repair via alt-NHEJ in mouse ES cells. Mammalian polymerase theta (Polθ) is a multifunctional enzyme that promotes error-prone DNA repair by alternative nonhomologous end joining (alt-NHEJ). Here we present structure–function analyses that reveal that, in addition to the polymerase domain, Polθ-helicase activity plays a central role during double-strand break (DSB) repair. Our results show that the helicase domain promotes chromosomal translocations by alt-NHEJ in mouse embryonic stem cells and also suppresses CRISPR–Cas9- mediated gene targeting by homologous recombination (HR). In vitro assays demonstrate that Polθ-helicase activity facilitates the removal of RPA from resected DSBs to allow their annealing and subsequent joining by alt-NHEJ. Consistent with an antagonistic role for RPA during alt-NHEJ, inhibition of RPA1 enhances end joining and suppresses recombination. Taken together, our results reveal that the balance between HR and alt-NHEJ is controlled by opposing activities of Polθ and RPA, providing further insight into the regulation of repair-pathway choice in mammalian cells.
A Fermi-degenerate three-dimensional optical lattice clock

Strontium optical lattice clocks have the potential to simultaneously interrogate millions of atoms with a high spectroscopic quality factor of 4 × 10 17 . Previously, atomic interactions have forced a compromise between clock stability, which benefits from a large number of atoms, and accuracy, which suffers from density-dependent frequency shifts. Here we demonstrate a scalable solution that takes advantage of the high, correlated density of a degenerate Fermi gas in a three-dimensional (3D) optical lattice to guard against on-site interaction shifts. We show that contact interactions are resolved so that their contribution to clock shifts is orders of magnitude lower than in previous experiments. A synchronous clock comparison between two regions of the 3D lattice yields a measurement precision of 5 × 10 –19 in 1 hour of averaging time.
Evidence of Carbenes in the Explosion Chemistry of Nitroaromatic Anion Radicals

The solid potassium salts of the nitrobenzene anion radical [K+C6H5NO2•-(solid)] and all three nitrotoluene anion radicals were generated via the potassium reduction of the nitroaromatic in liquid ...
iso-PsE, a new pseudopterosin

We describe the discovery of a new member of the pseudopterosin class of marine natural products. Its structure is isomeric with that of pseudopterosin E and has therefore been given the name iso-PsE.
Organotins and quantitative-structure activity/property relationships

Quantitative-structure activity/property relationships as related to organotin chemistry are presented in this review. The descriptors discussed ranged from physicochemical parameters to quantum chemical descriptors. Studies ranged from predicting biotoxicity to estimating chromatographic parameters. It is the intent that the review will provide the present state of knowledge and current trends in this area for a new investigator in this field.
Catalytic syntheses of alternating, stereoregular ethylene/cycloolefin copolymers ☆

Abstract The alternating stereospecific copolymerization of ethylene with cycloolefins (cyclopentene, cycloheptene, and cyclooctene) has been investigated with a series of constrained geometry titanium catalysts (CGCs). The metallocene IndSiMe 2 ( t BuN)TiCl 2 was found to generate highly alternating and stereoregular cycloolefin- co -ethylene polymers while Me 4 CpSiMe 2 ( t BuN)TiCl 2 produced alternating atactic polymers. In addition, novel Ti-complexes of the general formula benz[6.7]indenylSiMe 2 ( t BuN)TiMe 2 were synthesized and fully characterized. The chiral indenyl Ti complexes were found to produce exclusive 1,2-enchainment of the cycloolefin to generate highly stereoregular and alternating copolymers.
1,2,4-Trioxepanes: Redox-Cleavable Protection for Carbonyl Groups

1,2,4-trioxepanes, readily prepared and easily handled derivatives of aldehydes and ketones, are stable to a variety of synthetic conditions and yet easily deblocked with Zn/HOAc or Mg/MeOH to regenerate the parent carbonyl. Trioxepanes may provide an alternative to 1,3-dithianes for acid-stable protection of carbonyl groups.
The synthesis of 3′- and 5′-iminodiacetic acid derivatives of thymidine and their incorporation into synthetic oligonucleotides

Abstract The syntheses of thymidines modified with iminodiacetic acid (IDA) at the 3′ ( 1 ) or 5′ ( 2 ) positions have been accomplished. These modified nucleotides have been incorporated into synthetic oligonucleotides.
An efficient one-pot, two-step synthesis of 4-substituted 1-heteroarylpiperazines under microwave irradiation conditions

Abstract A highly efficient one-pot, two-step microwave procedure has been developed for the synthesis of 4-substituted 1-heteroarylpiperazines. Microwave heating of heteroaryl chlorides with 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (DABCO) at 160 °C for 15 min yielded 1-heteroaryl-4-(2-chloroethyl)piperazines, which could be further reacted with various nucleophiles, again under microwave irradiation conditions, to give an array of 4-substituted 1-heteroarylpiperazines in good to excellent yields.
Synthesis, lipophilicity and structure of 2,5-disubstituted 1, 3, 5-dithiazine derivatives

A series of 2,5-disubstituted 1,3,5-dithiazine derivatives were synthesized as potential analogues of the potent dopamine uptake inhibitor GBR 12909. The lipophilic character of the 1,3,5-dithiazine derivatives were experimentally (log P) and computationally (clog P) determined. The in vitro binding affinities of the 2,5-disubstituted 1,3,5-dithiazine derivatives at the dopamine transporter were determined to be much less potent than the binding affinity of GBR 12909 due to steric and electronic effects inherent to the 1,3,5-dithiazine ring system. The X-ray crystal structure of 2-(2-[bis(4-fluorophenyl)methoxy]ethyl)-5-(3-phenylpropyl)-1,3,5-dithiazine (7) revealed that the 5-(3-phenylpropyl) group is in a pseudo-axial orientation and syn to the 2-ethoxybenzhydryl moiety.
Monkeys are curious about counterfactual outcomes.

Abstract Many non-human animals show exploratory behaviors. It remains unclear whether any possess human-like curiosity. We previously proposed three criteria for applying the term curiosity to animal behavior: (1) the subject is willing to sacrifice reward to obtain information, (2) the information provides no immediate instrumental or strategic benefit, and (3) the amount the subject is willing to pay depends systematically on the amount of information available. In previous work on information-seeking in animals, information generally predicts upcoming rewards, and animals’ decisions may therefore be a byproduct of reinforcement processes. Here we get around this potential confound by taking advantage of macaques’ ability to reason counterfactually (that is, about outcomes that could have occurred had the subject chosen differently). Specifically, macaques sacrificed fluid reward to obtain information about counterfactual outcomes. Moreover, their willingness to pay scaled with the information (Shannon entropy) offered by the counterfactual option. These results demonstrate the existence of human-like curiosity in non-human primates according to our criteria, which circumvent several confounds associated with less stringent criteria.
Estimation of universal and taxon-specific parameters of prokaryotic genome evolution

The results of our recent study on mathematical modeling of microbial genome evolution indicate that, on average, genomes of bacteria and archaea evolve in the regime of mutation-selection balance defined by positive selection coefficients associated with gene acquisition that is counter-acted by the intrinsic deletion bias. This analysis was based on the strong assumption that parameters of genome evolution are universal across the diversity of bacteria and archaea, and yielded extremely low values of the selection coefficient. Here we further refine the modeling approach by taking into account evolutionary factors specific for individual groups of microbes using two independent fitting strategies, an ad hoc hard fitting scheme and a mixture model. The resulting estimate of the mean selection coefficient of s∼10-10 associated with the gain of one gene implies that, on average, acquisition of a gene is beneficial, and that microbial genomes typically evolve under a weak selection regime that might transition to strong selection in highly abundant organisms with large effective population sizes. The apparent selective pressure towards larger genomes is balanced by the deletion bias, which is estimated to be consistently greater than unity for all analyzed groups of microbes. The estimated values of s are more realistic than the lower values obtained previously, indicating that global and group-specific evolutionary factors synergistically affect microbial genome evolution that seems to be driven primarily by adaptation to existence in diverse niches.
Sterically Demanding, Sulfonated, Triarylphosphines: Application to Palladium-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling, Steric and Electronic Properties, and Coordination Chemistry

Tri(2,4-dimethyl-5-sulfonatophenyl)phosphine trisodium (TXPTS·Na3) and tri(4-methoxy-2-methyl-5-sulfonatophenyl)phosphine trisodium (TMAPTS·Na3) both provide more active catalysts for Suzuki and Sonogashira couplings of aryl bromides in aqueous solvents than tri(3-sulfonatophenyl)phosphine trisodium (TPPTS·Na3). In the Heck coupling, TXPTS·Na3 provides the most effective catalyst system. Cone angles determined from DFT-optimized structures show that both TXPTS·Na3 (206°) and TMAPTS·Na3 (208°) are significantly larger than TPPTS·Na3 (165°). The identity of the counterion had a significant effect on the calculated cone angles for these ligands. The electronic properties of these ligands determined by the CO stretching frequencies of trans-RhL2(Cl)CO complexes were identical, although calculated electronic parameters suggest subtle differences between these ligands. Similar to TPPTS·Na3, both TXPTS·Na3 and TMAPTS·Na3 react with Pd(OAc)2 in aqueous solvents to give LnPd0 complexes and the corresponding phosph...
Ab Initio Derivation of the FRET Equations Resolves Old Puzzles and Suggests Measurement Strategies.

Quantitative imaging methods based on Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) rely on the determination of an apparent FRET efficiency (Eapp), as well as donor and acceptor concentrations, to uncover the identity and relative abundance of the supramolecular (or quaternary) structures of associating macromolecules. Theoretical work has provided "structure-based" relationships between Eapp distributions and the quaternary structure models that underlie them. By contrast, the body of work that predicates the "signal-based" dependence of Eapp on directly measurable quantities (i.e., fluorescence emission of donors and acceptors) relies largely on plausibility arguments, one of which is the seemingly obvious assumption that the fraction of fluorescent molecules in the ground state pretty nearly equals the total concentration of molecules. In this work, we use the kinetic models of fluorescence in the presence and absence of FRET to rigorously derive useful relationships between Eapp and measurable fluorescence signals. Analysis of these relationships reveals a few anticipated results and some unexpected explanations for known experimental FRET puzzles, and it provides theoretical foundations for optimizing measurement strategies.
A direct preparation of 1,4-benzodiazepines. The synthesis of medazepam and related compounds via a common intermediate

Abstract The benzodiazepine skeleton was prepared from benzoquinone in three steps. Medazepam was prepared from 9 .
Fermi surface volume of interacting systems

Abstract Three Fermion sumrules for interacting systems are derived at T = 0 , involving the number expectation N ( μ ) , canonical chemical potentials μ ( m ) , a logarithmic time derivative of the Greens function γ k → σ and the static Greens function. In essence we establish at zero temperature the sumrules linking: N ( μ ) ↔ ∑ m Θ ( μ − μ ( m ) ) ↔ ∑ k → , σ Θ γ k → σ ↔ ∑ k → , σ Θ G σ ( k → , 0 ) . Connecting them across leads to the Luttinger and Ward sumrule, originally proved perturbatively for Fermi liquids. Our sumrules are nonperturbative in character and valid in a considerably broader setting that additionally includes non-canonical Fermions and Tomonaga–Luttinger models. Generalizations are given for singlet-paired superconductors, where one of the sumrules requires a testable assumption of particle–hole symmetry at all couplings. The sumrules are found by requiring a continuous evolution from the Fermi gas, and by assuming a monotonic increase of μ ( m ) with particle number m . At finite T a pseudo-Fermi surface, accessible to angle resolved photoemission, is defined using the zero crossings of the first frequency moment of a weighted spectral function.
Rhenium catalyzed sulfoxide reduction

Abstract A mild, efficient method for the catalytic reduction of sulfoxides to sulfides with triphenylphosphine and the catalyst ReOCl 3 (PPh 3 ) 2 ( I ) is reported. Aryl sulfoxides are reduced faster than alkyl, and the reaction is successful for sterically hindered sulfoxides and those with common organic functional groups.
Ligand-assisted, copper-catalyzed enantioselective benzylic amination

Abstract Several classes of ligands, including α-amino acids, diamines, diphosphines, bis-oxazolines, and diimines, support efficient copper-catalyzed amination of benzylic hydrocarbons by anhydrous chloramine-T. Catalysts derived from homochiral ligands, particularly chiral diimines, effect aminosulfonation with low to moderate enantioselectivity.
Transfer of Sulfur from Arsenic and Antimony Sulfides to Phosphorus Sulfides. Rational Syntheses of Several Less-Common P4Sn Species

It has been shown that triphenylarsenic sulfide and triphenylantimony sulfide rapidly transfer sulfur to a number of the known phosphorus sulfides. The reactions are performed at or below room temp...
Genetic tools weed out misconceptions of strain reliability in Cannabis sativa: implications for a budding industry.

Unlike other plants, Cannabis sativa is excluded from regulation by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Distinctive Cannabis varieties are ostracized from registration and therefore nearly impossible to verify. As Cannabis has become legal for medical and recreational consumption in many states, consumers have been exposed to a wave of novel Cannabis products with many distinctive names. Despite more than 2000 named strains being available to consumers, questions about the consistency of commercially available strains have not been investigated through scientific methodologies. As Cannabis legalization and consumption increases, the need to provide consumers with consistent products becomes more pressing. In this research, we examined commercially available, drug-type Cannabis strains using genetic methods to determine if the commonly referenced distinctions are supported and if samples with the same strain name are consistent when obtained from different facilities. We developed ten de-novo microsatellite markers using the “Purple Kush” genome to investigate potential genetic variation within 30 strains obtained from dispensaries in three states. Samples were examined to determine if there is any genetic distinction separating the commonly referenced Sativa, Indica and Hybrid types and if there is consistent genetic identity found within strain accessions obtained from different facilities. Although there was strong statistical support dividing the samples into two genetic groups, the groups did not correspond to commonly reported Sativa/Hybrid/Indica types. The analyses revealed genetic inconsistencies within strains, with most strains containing at least one genetic outlier. However, after the removal of obvious outliers, many strains showed considerable genetic stability. We failed to find clear genetic support for commonly referenced Sativa, Indica and Hybrid types as described in online databases. Significant genetic differences within samples of the same strain were observed indicating that consumers could be provided inconsistent products. These differences have the potential to lead to phenotypic differences and unexpected effects, which could be surprising for the recreational user, but have more serious implications for patients relying on strains that alleviate specific medical symptoms.
Artistic Vision: Providing Contextual Guidance for Capture-Time Decisions

With the increased popularity of cameras, more and more people are interested in learning photography. People are willing to invest in expensive cameras as a medium for their artistic expression, but few have access to in-person classes to help improve upon their artistic skills. Inspired by critique sessions common in in-person art practice classes, we propose design principles for creative learning. We focus on applying these principles to design new interfaces that provide contextual in-camera feedback to aid users in learning visual elements of photography. We interactively visualize results of image processing algorithms as additional information for the user at capture-time. In this paper, we describe our design principles, and apply these principles in the design of three guided photography interfaces: one to explore lighting options for a portrait, one to highlight overall composition, and one to aid in de-cluttering.
Recent developments in the synthesis of oxepines

The three classes of seven-membered oxacycle shown are functionally defined as oxepines. Advances in the methods for their preparation are reviewed with 107 references. <div class=" textboxdefault "> Figure options Download full-size image Download as PowerPoint slide
Pt-Catalyzed Tandem Epoxide Fragmentation/Pentannulation of Propargylic Esters

A Pt-catalyzed pentannulation of propargylic esters containing an epoxide moiety has been developed. The present transformation achieves the formation of cyclopentenone products as single diastereomers in good yields. The observed products likely form from pyran intermediates that undergo an oxa-6π electrocyclic ring opening to a functionalized dienone, followed by ring closure with an accompanying acyl shift.
Activated carbonyl species for the preparation of ortho‐acylarylsydnones

ortho-Acylarylsydnones can be prepared in moderate to good yield by the action of nucleophiles upon suitable activated carbonyl species.
Hydrolysis Reactions of N-Sulfonatooxy-N-acetyl-1-aminonaphthalene and N-Sulfonatooxy-N-acetyl-2-aminonaphthalene: Limited Correlation of Nitrenium Ion Azide/Solvent Selectivities with Mutagenicities of the Corresponding Amines

The hydrolysis reactions of the title compounds N-sulfonatooxy-N-acetyl-1-aminonaphthalene, 2d, and N-sulfonatooxy-N-acetyl-2-aminonaphthalene, 2e, in 5% CH3CN−H2O (20 °C, pH 5.7−7.5, μ = 0.5) appear to involve nitrenium ion intermediates that exhibit very small azide/solvent trapping efficiencies. The azide/solvent selectivities, S, were estimated from fitting azide- and solvent-derived product yields as a function of [N3-]. The derived values of S for the N-acetyl-N-(1-naphthyl)nitrenium ion (3d) of 0.7 ± 0.1 M-1 and the N-acetyl-N-(2-naphthyl)nitrenium ion (3e) of 1.5 ± 0.2 M-1 show that these ions have short lifetimes (ca. 10-10 s) in aqueous solution. In turn, these results suggest that the hydrolysis reactions of 2d and 2e should proceed, in part, through ion-pair and/or preassociation pathways. The decrease in the yield of the rearrangement products N-acetyl-1-amino-2-sulfonatooxynaphthalene, 6, and N-acetyl-2-amino-1-sulfonatooxynaphthalene, 11, with increasing [N3-] indicates that this is the cas...
Crystal growth, structures, magnetic and photoluminescent properties of NaLnGeO4 (Ln = Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb)

Abstract Single crystals of NaLnGeO 4 (Ln = Sm, Eu, Gd) were grown out of a molten sodium hydroxide flux, and their crystal structures were determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction. The lanthanide containing germanates crystallize in the orthorhombic space group of Pnma , and exhibit a complex three-dimensional structure consisting of corner- or edge-shared LnO 6 , GeO 4 , and NaO 6 polyhedra. UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectra indicated that the reported oxides are insulating materials with wide band gaps. The magnetic susceptibility data shows paramagnetic behavior. For the NaEuGeO 4 and NaTbGeO 4 compositions intense room temperature photoluminescence was observed.