cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A multivariate finite mixture latent trajectory model with application to dementia studies

ABSTRACTDementia patients exhibit considerable heterogeneity in individual trajectories of cognitive decline, with some patients showing rapid decline following diagnoses while others exhibiting slower decline or remaining stable for several years. Dementia studies often collect longitudinal measures of multiple neuropsychological tests aimed to measure patients’ decline across a number of cognitive domains. We propose a multivariate finite mixture latent trajectory model to identify distinct longitudinal patterns of cognitive decline simultaneously in multiple cognitive domains, each of which is measured by multiple neuropsychological tests. EM algorithm is used for parameter estimation and posterior probabilities are used to predict latent class membership. We present results of a simulation study demonstrating adequate performance of our proposed approach and apply our model to the Uniform Data Set from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center to identify cognitive decline patterns among dementia p...
Optimum Adaptive Piecewise Linearization: An Estimation Approach in Wind Power

This paper introduces an effective piecewise linearization technique to obtain an estimation of nonlinear models when their input-output domains include multidimensional operating points. The algorithm of a forward adaptive approach is introduced to identify the effective operating points for model linearization and adjust their domains for the maximum coverage and the minimum model linearization error. The technique obtains a minimum number of linearized models and the continuity of their domains. The algorithm also yields global minimum model linearization error. The introduced algorithm is formulated for a wind power transfer system for a 2-D set of input domains. The linearization error can be arbitrarily minimized in exchange for a higher number of models. The results demonstrate a significant improvement in the linearization of nonlinear models.
Focal overlap gating in velocity map imaging to achieve high signal-to-noise ratio in photo-ion pump-probe experiments

We demonstrate a technique in velocity map imaging (VMI) that allows spatial gating of the laser focal overlap region in time resolved pump-probe experiments. This significantly enhances signal-to-noise ratio by eliminating background signal arising outside the region of spatial overlap of pump and probe beams. This enhancement is achieved by tilting the laser beams with respect to the surface of the VMI electrodes which creates a gradient in flight time for particles born at different points along the beam. By suitably pulsing our microchannel plate detector, we can select particles born only where the laser beams overlap. This spatial gating in velocity map imaging can benefit nearly all photo-ion pump-probe VMI experiments especially when extreme-ultraviolet light or X-rays are involved which produce large background signals on their own.
The role of information and cash transfers on early childhood development : evidence from Nepal

Although substantial progress has been made in combating malnutrition at the global level, chronic maternal and child malnutrition remains a serious problem in many parts of the developing world. This paper, using a randomized control trial design in Nepal, evaluates a program that provided information on best practices in providing child care and cash to families in extremely poor areas with pregnant mothers and/or children below the age of 2. The analysis finds significant and sizable impacts of the information plus cash intervention on maternal knowledge, behavior, child development, and nutrition. The sizes of these impacts along some measures of knowledge and development are significantly different from the information-only intervention group, suggesting a potential role for providing a short-term cash safety net along with information to tackle the problem of malnutrition.
A Traceback Attack on Freenet

Freenet is a popular peer to peer anonymous content-sharing network, with the objective to provide the anonymity of both content publishers and retrievers. Despite more than a decade of active development and deployment and the adoption of well-established cryptographic algorithms in Freenet, it remains unanswered how well the anonymity objective of the initial Freenet design has been met. In this paper we develop a traceback attack on Freenet, and show that the originating machine of a content request message in Freenet can be identified; that is, the anonymity of a content retriever can be broken, even if a single request message has been issued by the retriever. We present the design of the traceback attack, and perform both experimental and simulation studies to confirm the feasibility and effectiveness of the attack. For example, with randomly chosen content requesters (and random contents stored in the Freenet testbed), Emulab-based experiments show that, for $24$ to $43$ percent of the content request messages, we can identify their originating machines. We also briefly discuss potential solutions to address the developed traceback attack. Despite being developed specifically on Freenet, the basic principles of the traceback attack and solutions have important security implications for similar anonymous content-sharing systems.
Information Asymmetry and Corporate Cash Holdings

This study analyzes the effect of information asymmetry on corporate cash holdings. Using various measures of information asymmetry, this study shows that companies that operate in environments with higher information asymmetry have smaller cash holdings. This study continues to find a negative relationship between information asymmetry and corporate cash holdings from a battery of sensitivity analyses, including the tests using different regression methods and the difference-in-difference tests employing brokerage-firm merger and closure events. On the whole, the results support the monitoring cost hypothesis of cash holdings over the investment opportunities hypothesis.
Perceptions of Institutional Quality: Evidence of Limited Attention to Higher Education Rankings

Abstract Rankings of colleges and universities provide information about quality and potentially affect where prospective students send applications for admission. We find evidence of limited attention to the popular U.S. News and World Report rankings of America’s Best Colleges. We estimate that applications discontinuously drop by 2%–6% when the rank moves from inside the top 50 to outside the top 50 whereas there is no evidence of a corresponding discontinuous drop in institutional quality. Notably, the ranking of 50 corresponds to the first page cutoff of the printed U.S. News guides. The choice of college is typically a one-time decision with potentially large repercussions, so students’ limited attention to rankings likely represents an irrational bias that negatively affects welfare.
CURRENT APPLICATION AND INDICATIONS OF RESURFACING ARTHROPLASTY

Humeral resurfacing arthroplasty has been advocated as an alternative to stemmed humeral component designs given its ability to preserve proximal bone stock. Further, these implants have become more attractive given the possibility of stem-related complications including humeral fracture, stress shielding, and osteolysis; complications that may necessitate fixation, revision to long stem components, or reverse total shoulder arthroplasty. As more total shoulder arthroplasties are performed in younger patient populations, the likelihood of increased revision procedures is inevitable. Maintaining proximal bone stock in these cases with use of a resurfacing arthroplasty not only facilitates explant during revision arthroplasty, but preservation of proximal metaphyseal bone facilitates reimplantation of components. Clinical results of these resurfacing components have demonstrated favorable results similar to stemmed designs. Unfortunately, resurfacing arthroplasty may not be as ideal as was hoped with regard to recreating native humeral anatomy. Further, resurfacing arthroplasty may increase the risk of peri-prosthetic humeral fracture, and lack of a formal humeral head cut makes glenoid exposure more difficult, which may be associated with a higher degree of neurovascular injury. Stemless humeral components are designed for strong metaphyseal fixation and avoid the difficulty with glenoid exposure seen in resurfacing designs, as these components require a formal humeral head cut. Early clinical outcomes of a single stemless design demonstrated significant improvements in clinical outcome scores, without evidence of component migration, subsidence or loosening. The only mid-term clinical results of stemless design implants are seen with the Arthrex Eclipse system (Arthrex, Naples, FL). In a prospective study involving 78 patients at 5-year follow-up, significant improvements were observed in clinical outcome scores. While there was evidence of proximal stress shielding in an older population, this did not influence shoulder function. The overall revision rate was 9% at 5 years, with no component necessitating revision as a result of humeral component loosening. Resurfacing arthroplasty and stemless humeral components in total shoulder arthroplasty remain attractive options to preserve proximal metaphyseal bone stock, avoiding stem-related complications. Early and mid-term clinical outcomes are comparable to stemmed designs and demonstrate no evidence of humeral component loosening.
A Tale of Two Runs: Depositor Responses to Bank Solvency Risk

We examine heterogeneity in depositor responses to solvency risk using depositor-level data for a bank that faced two different runs. We find that depositors with loans and bank staff are less likely to run than others during a low-solvency-risk shock, but are more likely to run during a high-solvency-risk shock. Uninsured depositors are also sensitive to bank solvency. In contrast, depositors with older accounts run less, and those with frequent past transactions run more, irrespective of the underlying risk. Our results show that the fragility of a bank depends on the composition of its deposit base. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Real Time System for Gesture Tracking in Psycho-motorial Rehabilitation

In the context of the research activities of the Signal and Images Lab of ISTI-CNR, a system is under development for real-time gesture tracking, to be used in active well-being self-assessment activities and in particular applied to medical coaching and music-therapy. The system uses a video camera, a FireWire digitalization board, and a computer running own developed software. During the test sessions a person freely moves his body inside a specifically designed room. The developed algorithms can extrapolate features from the human figure, such us spatial position, arms and legs angles etc. Through the developed system the operator can link these features to sounds synthesized in real time, following a predefined schema. The system latency is very low thanks to the use of Mac OS X native libraries (CoreImage, CoreAudio). The resulting augmented interaction with the environment could help to improve the contact with reality in young subjects affected by autism spectrum disorders (ASD).
Enumeration of Integer Points in Projections of Unbounded Polyhedra

We extend the Barvinok–Woods algorithm for enumeration of integer points in projections of polytopes to unbounded polyhedra. To achieve this, we employ a new structural result on projections of semilinear subsets of the integer lattice.
Local Genetic Correlation Gives Insights into the Shared Genetic Architecture of Complex Traits

Although genetic correlations between complex traits provide valuable insights into epidemiological and etiological studies, a precise quantification of which genomic regions disproportionately contribute to the genome-wide correlation is currently lacking. Here, we introduce ρ-HESS, a technique to quantify the correlation between pairs of traits due to genetic variation at a small region in the genome. Our approach requires GWAS summary data only and makes no distributional assumption on the causal variant effect sizes while accounting for linkage disequilibrium (LD) and overlapping GWAS samples. We analyzed large-scale GWAS summary data across 36 quantitative traits, and identified 25 genomic regions that contribute significantly to the genetic correlation among these traits. Notably, we find 6 genomic regions that contribute to the genetic correlation of 10 pairs of traits that show negligible genome-wide correlation, further showcasing the power of local genetic correlation analyses. Finally, we report the distribution of local genetic correlations across the genome for 55 pairs of traits that show putative causal relationships.
Adjacency graphs and long-range interactions of atoms in quasi-degenerate states: applied graph theory

We analyze, in general terms, the evolution of energy levels in quantum mechanics, as a function of a coupling parameter, and demonstrate the possibility of level crossings in systems described by irreducible matrices. In long-range interactions, the coupling parameter is the interatomic distance. We demonstrate the utility of adjacency matrices and adjacency graphs in the analysis of “hidden” symmetries of a problem; these allow us to break reducible matrices into irreducible subcomponents. A possible breakdown of the no-crossing theorem for higher-dimensional irreducible matrices is indicated, and an application to the 2S–2S interaction in hydrogen is briefly described. The analysis of interatomic interactions in this system is important for further progress on optical measurements of the 2S hyperfine splitting.
FINANCING THE DISPOSAL OF UNWANTED AGRICULTURAL PESTICIDES

Abstract Since the mid 1980s, it has been recognized that significant quantities of unwanted pesticides are being retained by agricultural producers in barns and other storage buildings throughout the United States. U.S. state governments have responded to the hazards posed by these pesticides by implementing programs to collect and dispose of them. This paper reviews issues related to costs and funding of pesticide collection and disposal programs. Primary and secondary information is presented on approaches of U.S. states to, and experiences with, unwanted pesticide removal. Differences in the theoretical impacts of various collection funding methods on reducing unwanted pesticide stocks, and the allocation of disposal costs are discussed. A permanent funding source, acceptance of pesticides from all small business firms, and the coordination of pesticide collections with household hazardous waste programs offer suggestions for developing an effective response to this latent environmental hazard.
Trends and opportunities in light source development

After a decade of rather quiet growth for FELs there is now a lot of activity in the light-source community. This is the result of a combination of factors including successful operation of the third-generation light sources, the establishment of a very productive user community at both synchrotrons and FELs, and the continuing technical improvements of accelerators and related technology which allow even more challenging machines to be considered. There are a number of themes that carry this development including pushing wavelengths shorter, brightnesses higher, pulses shorter, increasing average power, and providing for multiple synchronized photon beams with multiple wavelengths. This talk will discuss some of the plans and proposals currently circulating and attempt to provide a glimpse into the near future of our field by illustrating the technologies that drive source development.
Phantom types and subtyping

We investigate a technique from the literature, called the phantom-types technique, that uses parametric polymorphism, type constraints, and unification of polymorphic types to model a subtyping hierarchy. Hindley-Milner type systems, such as the one found in Standard ML, can be used to enforce the subtyping relation, at least for first-order values. We show that this technique can be used to encode any finite subtyping hierarchy (including hierarchies arising from multiple interface inheritance). We formally demonstrate the suitability of the phantom-types technique for capturing first-order subtyping by exhibiting a type-preserving translation from a simple calculus with bounded polymorphism to a calculus embodying the type system of SML.
Listing all maximal cliques in large sparse real-world graphs

We implement a new algorithm for listing all maximal cliques in sparse graphs due to Eppstein, Loffler, and Strash (ISAAC 2010) and analyze its performance on a large corpus of real-world graphs. Our analysis shows that this algorithm is the first to offer a practical solution to listing all maximal cliques in large sparse graphs. All other theoretically-fast algorithms for sparse graphs have been shown to be significantly slower than the algorithm of Tomita et al. (Theoretical Computer Science, 2006) in practice. However, the algorithm of Tomita et al. uses an adjacency matrix, which requires too much space for large sparse graphs. Our new algorithm opens the door for fast analysis of large sparse graphs whose adjacency matrix will not fit into working memory.
The struggle for the Islamic supremacy

ABSTRACTIn the 5 years following the Arab Uprisings, it is apparent that the Middle East and Islamic world are undergoing a profound sociopolitical reconfiguration. The rise of armed resistance groups and the clash of nationalisms between secular and religious movements have only served to undermine regional stability and deepened the fragmentation of the social cohesion. As a consequence, many Arab countries are immersed in a process of counterrevolution and experience deep cleavages. A number of these have been categorized as sectarian in nature, between Sunni and Shi’a, yet this article seeks to show that the term requires broader intellectual development to understand contemporary events. To this end, it engages with the term by looking at the rise of Islamist groups and their evolution across the twentieth century, to stress that socioeconomic contexts are also important in shaping the emergence of groups that are described as sectarian in nature. From this position, we are better placed to understan...
Human Malaria Parasites in Continuous Culture

Plasmodium falciparum can now be maintained in continuous culture in human erythrocytes incubated at 38°C in RPMI 1640 medium with human serum under an atmosphere with 7 percent carbon dioxide and low oxygen (1 or 5 percent). The original parasite material, derived from an infected Aotus trivirgatus monkey, was diluted more than 100 million times by the addition of human erythrocytes at 3- or 4-day intervals. The parasites continued to reproduce in their normal asexual cycle of approximately 48 hours but were no longer highly synchronous. They have remained infective to Aotus.
Car-Following and Lane-Changing Behavior Involving Heavy Vehicles

This paper presents empirical findings on car-following and lane-changing behavior involving heavy vehicles; trajectory data from the next generation simulation program were used in the study. It was found that when following passenger cars, heavy vehicles tended to reduce speed variations caused by traffic disturbances and thereby dampened traffic oscillations. In contrast, passenger cars following heavy vehicles tended to amplify traffic disturbances, although with lower probability and magnitude compared with the dampening effect. Moreover, heavy vehicles tended to discourage lane changes, especially behind them. This finding has convoluted implications: although reduced lane changes can improve traffic stability by preventing or reducing disturbances, large gaps can persist behind heavy vehicles and contribute to underutilization of road capacity.
EPIRK- W and EPIRK- K Time Discretization Methods

Exponential integrators are special time discretization methods where the traditional linear system solves used by implicit schemes are replaced with computing the action of matrix exponential-like functions on a vector. A very general formulation of exponential integrators is offered by the Exponential Propagation Iterative methods of Runge–Kutta type (EPIRK) family of schemes. The use of Jacobian approximations is an important strategy to drastically reduce the overall computational costs of implicit schemes while maintaining the quality of their solutions. This paper extends the EPIRK class to allow the use of inexact Jacobians as arguments of the matrix exponential-like functions. Specifically, we develop two new families of methods: EPIRK-W integrators that can accommodate any approximation of the Jacobian, and EPIRK-K integrators that rely on a specific Krylov-subspace projection of the exact Jacobian. Classical order conditions theories are constructed for these families. Practical EPIRK-W methods of order three and EPIRK-K methods of order four are developed. Numerical experiments indicate that the methods proposed herein are computationally favorable when compared to a representative state-of-the-art exponential integrator, and a Rosenbrock–Krylov integrator.
Determining Reactor Fuel Type from Continuous Antineutrino Monitoring

The hallmark of (anti)neutrinos is their ability to pass unimpeded through matter, without interaction. Nuclear reactors produce these particles in copious numbers, which improves the odds of detecting them---to the point that they might be used for safe study of working reactor cores. This work shows that, via spectral measurements at several points during the irradiation cycle, a hypothetical antineutrino detector can distinguish between four major core compositions with high confidence. Thus one could verify, for example, the disposal of plutonium from decommissioned weapons.
Coercion, Fraud, and What is Wrong With Blackmail

Several theorists argue that blackmail is morally wrong because the blackmail proposal is coercive. These coercion-based views are promising but incomplete. A full explanation of blackmail's immorality must address both the blackmail proposal and the blackmail agreement. I defend what I call the complex account, on which blackmail is morally wrong because blackmail proposals are coercive and blackmail agreements are fraudulent. The complex account avoids difficulties that beset other coercion-based views and provides a stronger case for why blackmail should be criminalized.
Disentangling Time-series Spectra with Gaussian Processes: Applications to Radial Velocity Analysis

Measurements of radial velocity variations from the spectroscopic monitoring of stars and their companions are essential for a broad swath of astrophysics, providing access to the fundamental physical properties that dictate all phases of stellar evolution and facilitating the quantitative study of planetary systems. The conversion of those measurements into both constraints on the orbital architecture and individual component spectra can be a serious challenge, however, especially for extreme flux ratio systems and observations with relatively low sensitivity. Gaussian processes define sampling distributions of flexible, continuous functions that are well-motivated for modeling stellar spectra, enabling proficient search for companion lines in time-series spectra. We introduce a new technique for spectral disentangling, where the posterior distributions of the orbital parameters and intrinsic, rest-frame stellar spectra are explored simultaneously without needing to invoke cross-correlation templates. To demonstrate its potential, this technique is deployed on red-optical time-series spectra of the mid-M dwarf binary LP661-13. We report orbital parameters with improved precision compared to traditional radial velocity analysis and successfully reconstruct the primary and secondary spectra. We discuss potential applications for other stellar and exoplanet radial velocity techniques and extensions to time-variable spectra. The code used in this analysis is freely available as an open source Python package.
A fresh look at effect aliasing and interactions: some new wine in old bottles

Interactions and effect aliasing are among the fundamental concepts in experimental design. In this paper, some new insights and approaches are provided on these subjects. In the literature, the “de-aliasing” of aliased effects is deemed to be impossible. We argue that this “impossibility” can indeed be resolved by employing a new approach which consists of reparametrization of effects and exploitation of effect non-orthogonality. This approach is successfully applied to three classes of designs: regular and nonregular two-level fractional factorial designs, and three-level fractional factorial designs. For reparametrization, the notion of conditional main effects (cme’s) is employed for two-level regular designs, while the linear-quadratic system is used for three-level designs. For nonregular two-level designs, reparametrization is not needed because the partial aliasing of their effects already induces non-orthogonality. The approach can be extended to general observational data by using a new bi-level variable selection technique based on the cme’s. A historical recollection is given on how these ideas were discovered.
A sensitive Faraday rotation setup using triple modulation

The utilization of polarized targets in scattering experiments has become a common practice in many major accelerator laboratories. Noble gases are especially suitable for such applications, since they can be easily hyper-polarized using spin exchange or metastable pumping techniques. Polarized helium-3 is a very popular target because it often serves as an effective polarized neutron due to its simple nuclear structure. A favorite cell material to generate and store polarized helium-3 is GE-180, a relatively dense aluminosilicate glass. In this paper, we present a Faraday rotation method, using a new triple modulation technique, where the measurement of the Verdet constants of SF57 flint glass, pyrex glass, and air was tested. The sensitivity obtained shows that this technique may be implemented in future cell wall characterization and thickness measurements. We also discuss the first ever extraction of the Verdet constant of GE-180 glass for four wavelength values of 632 nm, 773 nm, 1500 nm, and 1547 nm, whereupon the expected 1/λ2 dependence was observed.
Bridging Finite and Super Population Causal Inference

There are two general views in causal analysis of experimental data: the super population view that the units are an independent sample from some hypothetical infinite population, and the finite population view that the potential outcomes of the experimental units are fixed and the randomness comes solely from the treatment assignment. These two views differs conceptually and mathematically, resulting in different sampling variances of the usual difference-in-means estimator of the average causal effect. Practically, however, these two views result in identical variance estimators. By recalling a variance decomposition and exploiting a completeness-type argument, we establish a connection between these two views in completely randomized experiments. This alternative formulation could serve as a template for bridging finite and super population causal inference in other scenarios.
Evaluation of a high-resolution patient-specific model of the electrically stimulated cochlea

Cochlear implants (CIs) are considered standard treatment for patients who experience sensorineural hearing loss. Although these devices have been remarkably successful at restoring hearing, it is rare to achieve natural fidelity, and many patients experience poor outcomes. Our group has developed the first image-guided CI programming (IGCIP) technique where the positions of the electrodes are found in CT images and used to estimate neural activation patterns, which is unique information that audiologists can use to define patient-specific processor settings. In our current system, neural activation is estimated using only the distance from each electrode to the neural activation sites. This approach might be less accurate than using a high-resolution electro-anatomical model (EAM) of the electrically stimulated cochlea to perform physics-based estimation of neural activation. In this work, we propose a patientcustomized EAM approach where the EAM is spatially and electrically adapted to a patient-specific configuration. Spatial adaptation is done through non-rigid registration of the model with the patient CT image. Electrical adaptation is done by adjusting tissue resistivity parameters so that the intra-cochlear voltage distributions predicted by the model best match those directly measured for the patient via their implant. We demonstrated our approach for N=7 patients. We found that our approach results in mean percent differences between direct and simulated measurements of voltage distributions of 11%. In addition, visual comparison shows the simulated and measured voltage distributions are qualitatively in good agreement. This represents a crucial step toward developing and validating the first in vivo patient-specific cochlea EAMs.
Third-party punishment as a costly signal of high continuation probabilities in repeated games

Abstract Why do individuals pay costs to punish selfish behavior, even as third-party observers? A large body of research suggests that reputation plays an important role in motivating such third-party punishment (TPP). Here we focus on a recently proposed reputation-based account (Jordan et al., 2016) that invokes costly signaling. This account proposed that “trustworthy type” individuals (who are incentivized to cooperate with others) typically experience lower costs of TPP, and thus that TPP can function as a costly signal of trustworthiness. Specifically, it was argued that some but not all individuals face incentives to cooperate, making them high-quality and trustworthy interaction partners; and, because the same mechanisms that incentivize cooperation also create benefits for using TPP to deter selfish behavior, these individuals are likely to experience reduced costs of punishing selfishness. Here, we extend this conceptual framework by providing a concrete, “from-the-ground-up” model demonstrating how this process could work in the context of repeated interactions incentivizing both cooperation and punishment. We show how individual differences in the probability of future interaction can create types that vary in whether they find cooperation payoff-maximizing (and thus make high-quality partners), as well as in their net costs of TPP – because a higher continuation probability increases the likelihood of receiving rewards from the victim of the punished transgression (thus offsetting the cost of punishing). We also provide a simple model of dispersal that demonstrates how types that vary in their continuation probabilities can stably coexist, because the payoff from remaining in one’s local environment (i.e. not dispersing) decreases with the number of others who stay. Together, this model demonstrates, from the group up, how TPP can serve as a costly signal of trustworthiness arising from exposure to repeated interactions.
Predicting electronic structure properties of transition metal complexes with neural networks

High-throughput computational screening has emerged as a critical component of materials discovery. Direct density functional theory (DFT) simulation of inorganic materials and molecular transition metal complexes is often used to describe subtle trends in inorganic bonding and spin-state ordering, but these calculations are computationally costly and properties are sensitive to the exchange–correlation functional employed. To begin to overcome these challenges, we trained artificial neural networks (ANNs) to predict quantum-mechanically-derived properties, including spin-state ordering, sensitivity to Hartree–Fock exchange, and spin-state specific bond lengths in transition metal complexes. Our ANN is trained on a small set of inorganic-chemistry-appropriate empirical inputs that are both maximally transferable and do not require precise three-dimensional structural information for prediction. Using these descriptors, our ANN predicts spin-state splittings of single-site transition metal complexes (i.e., Cr–Ni) at arbitrary amounts of Hartree–Fock exchange to within 3 kcal mol−1 accuracy of DFT calculations. Our exchange-sensitivity ANN enables improved predictions on a diverse test set of experimentally-characterized transition metal complexes by extrapolation from semi-local DFT to hybrid DFT. The ANN also outperforms other machine learning models (i.e., support vector regression and kernel ridge regression), demonstrating particularly improved performance in transferability, as measured by prediction errors on the diverse test set. We establish the value of new uncertainty quantification tools to estimate ANN prediction uncertainty in computational chemistry, and we provide additional heuristics for identification of when a compound of interest is likely to be poorly predicted by the ANN. The ANNs developed in this work provide a strategy for screening transition metal complexes both with direct ANN prediction and with improved structure generation for validation with first principles simulation.
Finding low-conductance sets with dense interactions (FLCD) for better protein complex prediction.

Intuitively, proteins in the same protein complexes should highly interact with each other but rarely interact with the other proteins in protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks. Surprisingly, many existing computational algorithms do not directly detect protein complexes based on both of these topological properties. Most of them, depending on mathematical definitions of either “modularity” or “conductance”, have their own limitations: Modularity has the inherent resolution problem ignoring small protein complexes; and conductance characterizes the separability of complexes but fails to capture the interaction density within complexes. In this paper, we propose a two-step algorithm FLCD (Finding Low-Conductance sets with Dense interactions) to predict overlapping protein complexes with the desired topological structure, which is densely connected inside and well separated from the rest of the networks. First, FLCD detects well-separated subnetworks based on approximating a potential low-conductance set through a personalized PageRank vector from a protein and then solving a mixed integer programming (MIP) problem to find the minimum-conductance set within the identified low-conductance set. At the second step, the densely connected parts in those subnetworks are discovered as the protein complexes by solving another MIP problem that aims to find the dense subnetwork in the minimum-conductance set. Experiments on four large-scale yeast PPI networks from different public databases demonstrate that the complexes predicted by FLCD have better correspondence with the yeast protein complex gold standards than other three state-of-the-art algorithms (ClusterONE, LinkComm, and SR-MCL). Additionally, results of FLCD show higher biological relevance with respect to Gene Ontology (GO) terms by GO enrichment analysis.
Investigations of solid solutions of CsBi4Te6

Results on the synthesis and characterization of the solid solutions CsBi4-xSbxTe6, CsBi4Te6-ySey, as well as doping experiments on CsBi4Te6 are reported. We report X-ray structural investigations showing that the Sb or Se atoms in these compounds are not uniformly distributed in the lattice but show preferential occupation of specific crystallographic sites. Thermoelectric properties of selected systems are presented.
Compressed Covariance Estimation with Automated Dimension Learning

We propose a method for estimating a covariance matrix that can be represented as a sum of a low-rank matrix and a diagonal matrix. The proposed method compresses high-dimensional data, computes the sample covariance in the compressed space, and lifts it back to the ambient space via a decompression operation. A salient feature of our approach relative to existing literature on combining sparsity and low-rank structures in covariance matrix estimation is that we do not require the low-rank component to be sparse. A principled framework for estimating the compressed dimension using Stein’s Unbiased Risk Estimation theory is demonstrated. Experimental simulation results demonstrate the efficacy and scalability of our proposed approach.
Temporal regulation of epithelium formation mediated by FoxA, MKLP1, MgcRacGAP, and PAR-6.

To establish the animal body plan, embryos link the external epidermis to the internal digestive tract. In Caenorhabditis elegans, this linkage is achieved by the arcade cells, which form an epithelial bridge between the foregut and epidermis, but little is known about how development of these three epithelia is coordinated temporally. The arcade cell epithelium is generated after the epidermis and digestive tract epithelia have matured, ensuring that both organs can withstand the mechanical stress of embryo elongation; mistiming of epithelium formation leads to defects in morphogenesis. Using a combination of genetic, bioinformatic, and imaging approaches, we find that temporal regulation of the arcade cell epithelium is mediated by the pioneer transcription factor and master regulator PHA-4/FoxA, followed by the cytoskeletal regulator and kinesin ZEN-4/MKLP1 and the polarity protein PAR-6. We show that PHA-4 directly activates mRNA expression of a broad cohort of epithelial genes, including junctional factor dlg-1 Accumulation of DLG-1 protein is delayed by ZEN-4, acting in concert with its binding partner CYK-4/MgcRacGAP. Our structure-function analysis suggests that nuclear and kinesin functions are dispensable, whereas binding to CYK-4 is essential, for ZEN-4 function in polarity. Finally, PAR-6 is necessary to localize polarity proteins such as DLG-1 within adherens junctions and at the apical surface, thereby generating arcade cell polarity. Our results reveal that the timing of a landmark event during embryonic morphogenesis is mediated by the concerted action of four proteins that delay the formation of an epithelial bridge until the appropriate time. In addition, we find that mammalian FoxA associates with many epithelial genes, suggesting that direct regulation of epithelial identity may be a conserved feature of FoxA factors and a contributor to FoxA function in development and cancer.
Impact of antimicrobial stewardship and rapid microarray testing on patients with Gram-negative bacteremia

A rapid microarray assay, Nanosphere Verigene® Gram-negative blood culture test (BC-GN), detects four Gram-negative species, four Gram-negative genera, and six resistance genes directly from positive blood culture samples, shortening the time from Gram stain to pathogen and resistance-gene identification. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of the BC-GN paired with an antimicrobial stewardship intervention on antimicrobial and clinical outcomes. Patients with Gram-negative bacteremia were compared before (n = 456) and after (n = 421) BC-GN implementation. The primary objective was to compare time from Gram stain to antimicrobial switch pre- and post-implementation. Time from Gram stain to effective treatment, in-hospital mortality, and hospital length of stay were also compared. The number and type of antimicrobial switches were similar between groups. Median (IQR) time from Gram stain to antimicrobial switch was significantly decreased in the post group, 28.6 (8.6-56.9) h vs 44.1 (18.9-64.6) h, p = 0.004. In patients on ineffective antimicrobial therapy at the time of result, median time to effective therapy was lower in the post group, 8.8 (5.5-18.4) h vs 24.5 (4.9-44.3) h, p = 0.034. Median (IQR) hospital length of stay was also decreased in the post group, 7 (5-15) days vs 9 (4.5-21) days, p = 0.001. The rate of in-hospital mortality was similar between groups, 11.6% (pre) vs 11.4% (post), p = 0.87. Rapid microarray testing on blood cultures combined with active antimicrobial stewardship intervention was associated with decreased time to antimicrobial switch, time to effective therapy, and hospital length of stay.
Growth of ceria-zirconia electrolyte nanostructures with high interface density by using sol-gel/GLAD combination

We report a process for the successful incorporation of ceria in to yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) columnar nanostructures grown by glancing angle deposition (GLAD) technique, resulting in high interface density columnar nanostructures. The incorporation of ceria into YSZ columns is confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in a cross sectional geometry with in-situ analysis of elemental x-ray mapping technique and energy dispersive x-ray analysis (EDX). Controlled engineering of such nanostructures is potentially important in the future development of high efficiency solid oxide fuel cell electrolytes. The challenges and advantages of this process are discussed.
A numerical study of axisymmetric compressible non-isothermal and reactive swirling flow

ABSTRACTNon-linear dynamical phenomena in combustion processes is an active area of experimental and theoretical research. This is in large part due to increasingly strict environmental pressures to make gas turbine engines and industrial burners more efficient. Using numerical methods, for steady and unsteady confined and unconfined compressible flow, this study examines the modeling influence of compressibility for axisymmetric swirling flow. The compressible reactive Navier–Stokes equations in terms of stream function, vorticity, circulation are used. Results, details of the numerical algorithms, as well as numerical verification techniques and validation with sources from the literature will be presented. Understanding how vortex breakdown phenomena are affected by modeling reactant consumption with compressibility effect is the main goal of this study.
Failure of Composite Materials

The failure of composites has been investigated extensively from the micromechanical and macromechanical points of view. On the micromechanical scale, failure mechanisms and processes vary widely with type of loading and are intimately related to the properties of the constituent phases, i. e., matrix, reinforcement, and interface-interphase. Failure predictions based on micromechanics, even when they are accurate with regard to failure initiation at critical points, are only approximate with regard to global failure of a lamina and failure progression to ultimate failure of a multi-directional laminate. For these reasons a macromechanical approach to failure analysis is preferred.
Prevalence of triple negative breast cancer in India – systematic review and meta analysis.

e12561Background: The prevalence of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is reported to be higher in India than observed in western population. There is substantial variation in prevalence rates be...
Determining the Nonlinearity in a Parabolic Equation from Boundary Measurements

Abstract We consider the equation u = ∇. k ( u )∇ u for a smoothly bounded region Ω ⊂ IR m and seek to determine the nonlinearity k (•) from boundary observations on a finite time interval. We may proceed either by imposing Dirichlet boundary conditions u = g ( x ) on Σ := (0, T ) × ∂Ω and observing the resulting flux ψ : = k ( u )∇ u • n or, alternatively, by imposing flux boundary conditions k ( u )∇ u • n = g (χ) and observing the resulting trace, ψ : = u on (part of) Σ. Under suitable assumptions we show uniqueness for the determination of k from the pair [ g , ψ ]. The principal element in the argument is a stability result, showing convergence to steady state for the nonlinear equation with data constant in t. This uniqueness argument is nonconstructive but some comments are made as to the construction and convergence of approximations, e.g., by regularization.
PIQED: automated identification and quantification of protein modifications from DIA-MS data

PIQED: automated identification and quantification of protein modifications from DIA-MS data
Electroretinography in idiopathic intracranial hypertension: comparison of the pattern ERG and the photopic negative response

To evaluate the relationship between electrophysiological measures of retinal ganglion cell (RGC) function in patients who have idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH). The pattern electroretinogram (pERG) and photopic negative response (PhNR) were recorded from 11 IIH patients and 11 age-similar controls. The pERG was elicited by a contrast-reversing checkerboard. The PhNR, a slow negative component following the flash ERG b-wave, was recorded in response to a long-wavelength flash presented against a short-wavelength adapting field. The PhNR was elicited using full-field (ffPhNR) and focal macular (fPhNR) stimuli. Additionally, Humphrey visual field mean deviation (HVF MD) was measured and ganglion cell complex volume (GCCV) was obtained by optical coherence tomography. The ffPhNR, fPhNR, and pERG amplitudes were outside of the normal range in 45, 9, and 45% of IIH patients, respectively. However, only mean ffPhNR amplitude was reduced significantly in the patients compared to controls (p 0.65, p 0.20). Although the fPhNR is generally normal in IIH, other electrophysiological measures of RGC function, the ffPhNR and pERG, are abnormal in some patients. These measures provide complementary information regarding RGC dysfunction in these individuals.
On the limit-point classification of a class of non-self-adjoint ordinary differential operators

The limit-point classification of a class of non-symmetric ordinary differential expressions on half-line is considered, which is related to the well-posedness of certain boundary value problems.
The Effects of Polarization on Ideological Certainty: An Application to Executive Order Issuance:

Many standard models of political institutions frame outcomes as a function of the preferences of key decision makers. However, these models, and the empirical analyses they inspire, typically assu...
Beneficial use of boiler ash in alkali-activated bricks

Abstract This research incorporates waste boiler ash into masonry construction materials using alkali-activation. The boiler ash, derived from three different Indian pulp and paper mills, has many undesirable characteristics for alkali-activation, including varying shape, large particle sizes ranging from 5 to 600 μm, loss on ignition between 8 and 35%, and less than 4% alumina. When combined with supplementary materials in the form of clay and lime, high compressive strengths are observed in the bricks made with all three ashes, demonstrating the robustness of the proposed mix design. A brick formulation with a solids phase weight ratio of ash(70):clay(20):lime(10), liquid to solid ratio of 0.45, and 2 M NaOH produces bricks with compressive strengths between 11 and 15 MPa after 28 days curing at 30 °C. Furthermore, early strength development is observed, as more than 55% of the 28 day strength is achieved after one day curing. An economic and environmental analysis indicates that these bricks can be produced for similar costs as the clay fired brick with reduced environmental impact, making them a viable alternative in the market.