cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Triangulating School Climate: Areas of Convergence and Divergence Across Multiple Levels and Perspectives

Students often have differing perceptions of their school's climate. Although these subjective perceptions can be meaningful outcome predictors, discrepancies create challenges for those seeking to globally characterize or intervene to improve the climate of a school. Trained, independent observers can provide insights on perceptible and ostensibly malleable aspects of the school; however, the extent to which these observations help us to understand differences in students' report of school climate has not been examined. To study this, we assessed convergence and divergence between independent observers' assessments and students' perceptions of school climate at the classroom and school levels. Data come from the Maryland Safe and Supportive Schools Initiative (MDS3), which included 20,647 students and observations of 303 teachers in 50 high schools. Students responded to survey items regarding safety, engagement, and environment; independent observers assessed teachers' classroom practices and the school physical environment. A three-level model partitioned variance to the individual, classroom, and school levels. The variance in students' climate perceptions was primarily between students, with most classroom and school intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) ranging from 0.01 to 0.08, though one was as high as 0.20; however, observations explained large percentages of between-school variation in climate (58%-91%). Findings suggest the potential utility of outside observations for explaining school-level variation in school climate to inform decision-making and future research.
Sociotechnical Considerations for Accessible Visualization Design

Accessibility—the process of designing for people with disabilities (PWD)—is an important but under-explored challenge in the visualization research community. Without careful attention, and if PWD are not included as equal participants throughout the process, there is a danger of perpetuating a vision-first approach to accessible design that marginalizes the lived experience of disability (e.g., by creating overly simplistic "sensory translations" that map visual to non-visual modalities in a one-to-one fashion). In this paper, we present a set of sociotechnical considerations for research in accessible visualization design, drawing on literature in disability studies, tactile information systems, and participatory methods. We identify that using state-of-the-art technologies may introduce more barriers to access than they remove, and that expectations of research novelty may not produce outcomes well-aligned with the needs of disability communities. Instead, to promote a more inclusive design process, we emphasize the importance of clearly communicating goals, following existing accessibility guidelines, and treating PWD as equal participants who are compensated for their specialized skills. To illustrate how these considerations can be applied in practice, we discuss a case study of an inclusive design workshop held in collaboration with the Perkins School for the Blind.
Light exposure decreases infectivity of the Daphnia parasite Pasteuria ramosa

Climate change is altering light regimes in lakes, which should impact disease outbreaks, since sunlight can harm aquatic pathogens. However, some bacterial endospores are resistant to damage from light, even surviving exposure to UV-C. We examined the sensitivity of Pasteuria ramosa endospores, an aquatic parasite infecting Daphnia zooplankton, to biologically relevant wavelengths of light. Laboratory exposure to increasing intensities of UV-B, UV-A, and visible light significantly decreased P. ramosa infectivity, though there was no effect of spore exposure on parasitic castration of the host. P. ramosa is more sensitive than its Daphnia host to damage by longer wavelength UV-A and visible light; this may enable Daphnia to seek an optimal light environment in the water column where both UV-B damage and parasitism are minimal. Studies of pathogen light sensitivity help us uncover factors controlling epidemics in lakes, which is especially important given that water transparency is decreasing in many lakes.
Advanced Autonomy on a Low-Cost Educational Drone Platform

PiDrone is a quadrotor platform created to accompany an introductory robotics course. Students build an autonomous flying robot from scratch and learn to program it through assignments and projects. Existing educational robots do not have significant autonomous capabilities, such as high-level planning and mapping. We present a hardware and software framework for an autonomous aerial robot, in which all software for autonomy can run onboard the drone, implemented in Python. We present an Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF) for accurate state estimation. Next, we present an implementation of Monte Carlo (MC) Localization and FastSLAM for Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM). The performance of UKF, localization, and SLAM is tested and compared to ground truth, provided by a motion-capture system. Our evaluation demonstrates that our autonomous educational framework runs quickly and accurately on a Raspberry Pi in Python, making it ideal for use in educational settings.
Saving of Power in Wireless Power Transmission System using IR Sensor and Relay

As all we know that today’s live is not possible for a moment if we think without electricity after our basic needs that are air, water, food, cloth and shelter. Because without it we can not think about our mobility, But it has also many disadvantages because of the transmission of electricity through wire which cause many time sock due to which living thing may get injured or many time they get unexpected death. Hence for establishing the transmission of electricity without hazards today’s world started working on the removal of the net of the wires over the world and this is possible only by transmitting electricity wirelessly. This principle was early given by a charming and mysterious inventor and engineer Nikola Tesla(1891-1898) by inventing Tesla coil. But in wireless electricity transmission, there is a lot of wastage of energy when power is transferred to the load. If there is no loads are available around the receiving antenna(coil), power will be wasted and this is a one of the major disadvantage of this principle. So by using IR Sensor we can save this power from being waste which will allow the antenna to transmit the power only when the objects are available to receive this transmitted power.
Intelligent Intersection: Two-stream Convolutional Networks for Real-time Near-accident Detection in Traffic Video

Camera-based systems are increasingly used for collecting information on intersections and arterials. Unlike loop controllers that can generally be only used for detection and movement of vehicles, cameras can provide rich information about the traffic behavior. Vision-based frameworks for multiple-object detection, object tracking, and near-miss detection have been developed to derive this information. However, much of this work currently addresses processing videos offline. In this article, we propose an integrated two-stream convolutional networks architecture that performs real-time detection, tracking, and near-accident detection of road users in traffic video data. The two-stream model consists of a spatial stream network for object detection and a temporal stream network to leverage motion features for multiple-object tracking. We detect near-accidents by incorporating appearance features and motion features from these two networks. Further, we demonstrate that our approaches can be executed in real-time and at a frame rate that is higher than the video frame rate on a variety of videos collected from fisheye and overhead cameras.
Myosoft: An automated muscle histology analysis tool using machine learning algorithm utilizing FIJI/ImageJ software.

Skeletal muscle is comprised of a heterogeneous population of muscle fibers which can be classified by their metabolic and contractile properties (fiber “types”). Fiber type is a primary determinant of muscle function along with fiber size (cross-sectional area). The fiber type composition of a muscle responds to physiological changes like exercise and aging and is often altered in disease states. Thus, analysis of fiber size and type in histological muscle preparations is a useful method for quantifying key indicators of muscle function and for measuring responses to a variety of stimuli or stressors. These analyses are near-ubiquitous in the fields of muscle physiology and myopathy, but are most commonly performed manually, which is highly labor- and time-intensive. To offset this obstacle, we developed Myosoft, a novel method to automate morphometric and fiber type analysis in muscle sections stained with fluorescent antibodies. Methods Muscle sections were stained for cell boundary (laminin) and myofiber type (myosin heavy chain isoforms). Myosoft, running in the open access software platform FIJI (ImageJ), was used to analyze myofiber size and type in transverse sections of entire gastrocnemius/soleus muscles. Results Myosoft provides an accurate analysis of hundreds to thousands of muscle fibers within 25 minutes, which is >10-times faster than manual analysis. We demonstrate that Myosoft is capable of handling high-content images even when image or staining quality is suboptimal, which is a marked improvement over currently available and comparable programs. Conclusions Myosoft is a reliable, accurate, high-throughput, and convenient tool to analyze high-content muscle histology. Myosoft is freely available to download from Github at https://github.com/Hyojung-Choo/Myosoft/tree/Myosoft-hub.
Dynamic Boundary Guarding Against Radially Incoming Targets

We introduce a dynamic vehicle routing problem in which a single vehicle seeks to guard a circular perimeter against radially inward moving targets. Targets are generated uniformly as per a Poisson process in time with a fixed arrival rate on the boundary of a circle with a larger radius and concentric with the perimeter. Upon generation, each target moves radially inward toward the perimeter with a fixed speed. The aim of the vehicle is to maximize the capture fraction, i.e., the fraction of targets intercepted before they enter the perimeter. We first obtain a fundamental upper bound on the capture fraction which is independent of any policy followed by the vehicle. We analyze several policies in the low and high arrival rates of target generation. For low arrival, we propose and analyze a First-Come-First-Served and a Look-Ahead policy based on repeated computation of the path that passes through maximum number of unintercepted targets. For high arrival, we design and analyze a policy based on repeated computation of Euclidean Minimum Hamiltonian path through a fraction of existing targets and show that it is within a constant factor of the optimal. Finally, we provide a numerical study of the performance of the policies in parameter regimes beyond the scope of the analysis.
Oil import costs and domestic inflation in industrial countries

Kosten der olimporte und heimische Inflation in IndustrielAndern.- In diesem Aufsatz wird das monetAre Modell erweitert, um zu untersuchen, welche Bedeutung der krAftige Anstieg der Preise und Ausgaben fur importiertes Erdol in den Industriestaaten von Herbst 1973 bis heute hatte und uber welche KanAle er sich auswirkte. Die empirischen Ergebnisse zeigen, da\ die Inflation vorwiegend durch die Abwertung der WAhrung des Einfuhrlandes “importiert” wurde, die sich aus den stark gestiegenen Einfuhrrechnungen fur Erdol ergab, und weniger durch die Erhohung der Erdolpreise selbst, der Lohne oder Haushaltsdefizite. Die Zunahme der Geldversorgung und inflationAren Erwartungen sind fur die ErklArung der heimischen Inflation weit wichtiger, wenn es sich um EntwicklungslAnder und nicht um IndustrielAnder handelt. Das Gegenteil gilt hinsichtlich der Ausweitung der heimischen Produktion und Preiserhohung fur importiertes Erdol.
Diffusion-limited reactions in nanoscale electronics

A partial differential equation (PDE) was developed to describe time-dependent ligand-receptor interactions for applications in biosensing using field effect transistors (FET). The model describes biochemical interactions at the sensor surface (or biochemical gate) located at the bottom of a solution-well, which result in a time-dependent change in the FET conductance. It was shown that one can exploit the disparate length scales of the solution-well and biochemical gate to reduce the coupled PDE model to a single nonlinear integrodifferential equation (IDE) that describes the concentration of reacting species. Although this equation has a convolution integral with a singular kernel, a numerical approximation was constructed by applying the method of lines. The need for specialized quadrature techniques was obviated and numerical evidence strongly suggests that this method achieves first-order accuracy. Results reveal a depletion region on the biochemical gate, which non-uniformly alters the surface potential of the semiconductor.
Definition of Redox Centers in Reactions of Lithium Intercalation in Li3RuO4 Polymorphs.

Cathodes based on layered LiMO2 are the limiting components in the path toward Li-ion batteries with energy densities suitable for electric vehicles. Introducing an overstoichiometry of Li increase...
The Geographic Spread of COVID-19 Correlates with Structure of Social Networks as Measured by Facebook

Abstract We use aggregated data from Facebook to show that COVID-19 is more likely to spread between regions with stronger social network connections. Areas with more social ties to two early COVID-19 “hotspots” (Westchester County, NY, in the U.S. and Lodi province in Italy) generally had more confirmed COVID-19 cases by the end of March. These relationships hold after controlling for geographic distance to the hotspots as well as the population density and demographics of the regions. As the pandemic progressed in the U.S., a county’s social proximity to recent COVID-19 cases and deaths predicts future outbreaks over and above physical proximity and demographics. In part due to its broad coverage, social connectedness data provides additional predictive power to measures based on smartphone location or online search data. These results suggest that data from online social networks can be useful to epidemiologists and others hoping to forecast the spread of communicable diseases such as COVID-19.
Rapid Diagnosis of Amniotic-Fluid Infection by Gas-Liquid Chromatography

AMNIOTIC-FLUID infection, a common event during pregnancy, occurs most frequently in association with rupture of membranes, particularly prolonged rupture, and with premature delivery. It has been an important cause of perinatal mortality.1 , 2 Only a portion of amniotic-fluid infections are clinically apparent intrapartum3; they are usually recognized only on the basis of maternal leukocytosis, maternal or fetal tachycardia, uterine tenderness and irritability, or foul-smelling amniotic fluid.4 These signs represent late findings of amniotic-fluid infections; contamination of the fluid by pathogenic bacteria probably occurs several hours before the appearance of clinical signs of infection.5 , 6 Because of the difficulty of applying clinical . . .
Lessons learned from a lifetime of work in information literacy

This paper is the full keynote address written for the 2014 ECIL Conference by Michael Eisenberg. Key information literacy milestones in his career that are representative of significant developments in information literacy, as well as education, information and library science, and information technology are presented in the paper.
Employment and taxes in Latin America: An empirical study of the effects of payroll, corporate income and value-added taxes on labor outcomes

This paper empirically explores the effects of payroll taxes, value-added taxes and corporate income taxes on a variety of labor market outcomes such as participation, employment, informality, and wages. The results are based on nationallevel data of labor variables for 15 Latin American countries, and indicate that the effects of each tax are markedly different and may depend on several aspects of labor and tax institutions. Payroll taxes reduce employment and increase labor costs when their benefits are not valued by workers, but otherwise may increase labor participation and not raise labor costs. Value-added taxes increase informality and reduce skilled labor demand. In contrast, corporate income taxes may help reduce informality, especially among low education workers, but when tax enforcement capabilities are strong they may reduce labor participation and employment of medium- and high-education workers.
Family History Validation

Analysis of family data relies on accurate reports of family history. Sensitivity and specificity of family history of disease or exposures can be measured, and have been found to vary, depending upon different factors. These include: who provides the history (self versus proxy), the circumstances of the condition being studied, and demographic characteristics of the informant. Keywords: family history validation; cancer family history; recall bias
Chapter 1 – Introduction to MATLAB

The chapter begins by covering the various windows in the MATLAB Desktop Environment. This chapter focuses on simple expressions that can be used in the Command Window. Variables of different types and assignment statements are introduced. The ‘numerical expressions’ section introduces operators, precedence rules and associativity, and the use of the help command to find lists of built-in functions as well as descriptions of functions. Constants, the generation of random numbers, and characters and strings are also introduced. The use of relational and logical operators in relational expressions is explained and the types and functions to perform type casting are introduced. Finally, there is a section on some of the common elementary math functions such as the trigonometric, remainder, and log functions.
Memory across eye-movements: 1/f Dynamic in visual search

The ubiquity of apparently random behavior in visual search (e.g., Horowitz & Wolfe, 1998) has led to our proposal that the human oculomotor system has subtle deterministic properties that underlie its complex behavior. We report the results of one subject's performance in a challenging search task in which 10,215 fixations were accumulated. A number of statistical and spectral tests revealed both fractal and 1/f structure. First, scaling properties emerged in differences across eye positions and their relative dispersion (SD/M)—both decreasing over time. Fractal microstructure also emerged in an iterated function systems test and delay plot. Power spectra obtained from the Fourier analysis of fixations produced brown (1/f2) noise and the spectra of differences across eye positions showed 1/f (pink) noise. Thus, while the sequence of absolute eye positions resembles a random walk, the differences in fixations reflect a longer-term dynamic of 1/f pink noise. These results suggest that memory across eye-movements may serve to facilitate our ability to select out useful information from the environment. The 1/f patterns in relative eye positions together with models of complex systems (e.g., Bak, Tang & Wiesenfeld, 1987) suggest that our oculomotor system may produce a complex and self-organizing search pattern providing maximum coverage with minimal effort.
LetB Structure Reveals a Tunnel for Lipid Transport across the Bacterial Envelope.

Gram-negative bacteria are surrounded by an outer membrane composed of phospholipids and lipopolysaccharide, which acts as a barrier and contributes to antibiotic resistance. The systems that mediate phospholipid trafficking across the periplasm, such as MCE (Mammalian Cell Entry) transporters, have not been well characterized. Our ~3.5 A cryo-EM structure of the E. coli MCE protein LetB reveals an ~0.6 megadalton complex that consists of seven stacked rings, with a central hydrophobic tunnel sufficiently long to span the periplasm. Lipids bind inside the tunnel, suggesting that it functions as a pathway for lipid transport. Cryo-EM structures in the open and closed states reveal a dynamic tunnel lining, with implications for gating or substrate translocation. Our results support a model in which LetB establishes a physical link between the two membranes and creates a hydrophobic pathway for the translocation of lipids across the periplasm.
Hypoxic response regulators RHY-1 and EGL-9/PHD promote longevity through a VHL-1-independent transcriptional response

HIF-1-mediated adaptation to changes in oxygen availability is a critical aspect of healthy physiology. HIF is regulated by a conserved mechanism whereby EGLN/PHD family members hydroxylate HIF in an oxygen-dependent manner, targeting it for ubiquitination by Von-Hippel-Lindau (VHL) family members, leading to its proteasomal degradation. The activity of the only C. elegans PHD family member, EGL-9, is also regulated by a hydrogen sulfide sensing cysteine-synthetase-like protein, CYSL-1, which is, in turn, regulated by RHY-1/acyltransferase. Over the last decade, multiple seminal studies have established a role for the hypoxic response in regulating longevity, with mutations in vhl-1 substantially extending C. elegans lifespan through a HIF-1-dependent mechanism. However, studies on other components of the hypoxic signaling pathway that similarly stabilize HIF-1 have shown more mixed results, suggesting that mutations in egl-9 and rhy-1 frequently fail to extend lifespan. Here, we show that egl-9 and rhy-1 mutants suppress the long-lived phenotype of vhl-1 mutants. We also show that RNAi of rhy-1 extends lifespan of wild-type worms while decreasing lifespan of vhl-1 mutant worms. We further identify VHL-1-independent gene expression changes mediated by EGL-9 and RHY-1 and find that a subset of these genes contributes to longevity regulation. The resulting data suggest that changes in HIF-1 activity derived by interactions with EGL-9 likely contribute greatly to its role in regulation of longevity.
Cognitive functions mediate the effect of preterm birth on mathematics skills in young children.

Children born preterm are at risk for cognitive deficits and lower academic achievement. Notably, mathematics achievement is generally most affected. Here, we investigated the cognitive functions m...
Inhibition of striatal-enriched protein tyrosine phosphatase (STEP) activity reverses behavioral deficits in a rodent model of autism

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are highly prevalent childhood illnesses characterized by impairments in communication, social behavior, and repetitive behaviors. Studies have found aberrant synaptic plasticity and neuronal connectivity during the early stages of brain development and have suggested that these contribute to an increased risk for ASD. STEP is a protein tyrosine phosphatase that regulates synaptic plasticity and is implicated in several cognitive disorders. Here we test the hypothesis that STEP may contribute to some of the aberrant behaviors present in the VPA-induced mouse model of ASD. In utero VPA exposure of pregnant dams results in autistic-like behavior in the pups, which is associated with a significant increase in the STEP expression in the prefrontal cortex. The elevated STEP protein levels are correlated with increased dephosphorylation of STEP substrates GluN2B, Pyk2 and ERK, suggesting upregulated STEP activity. Moreover, pharmacological inhibition of STEP rescues the sociability, repetitive and abnormal anxiety phenotypes commonly associated with ASD. These data suggest that STEP may play a role in the VPA model of ASD and STEP inhibition may have a potential therapeutic benefit in this model.
Calibrationless Parallel MRI Using Model Based Deep Learning (C-MODL)

We introduce a fast model based deep learning approach for calibrationless parallel MRI reconstruction. The proposed scheme is a non-linear generalization of structured low rank (SLR) methods that self learn linear annihilation filters from the same subject. It pre-learns non-linear annihilation relations in the Fourier domain from exemplar data. The pre-learning strategy significantly reduces the computational complexity, making the proposed scheme three orders of magnitude faster than SLR schemes. The proposed framework also allows the use of a complementary spatial domain prior; the hybrid regularization scheme offers improved performance over calibrated image domain MoDL approach. The calibrationless strategy minimizes potential mismatches between calibration data and the main scan, while eliminating the need for a fully sampled calibration region.
Testing Data Binnings

Motivated by the question of data quantization and "binning," we revisit the problem of identity testing of discrete probability distributions. Identity testing (a.k.a. one-sample testing), a fundamental and by now well-understood problem in distribution testing, asks, given a reference distribution (model) 𝐪 and samples from an unknown distribution 𝐩, both over [n] = {1,2,… ,n}, whether 𝐩 equals 𝐪, or is significantly different from it. In this paper, we introduce the related question of identity up to binning, where the reference distribution 𝐪 is over k ≪ n elements: the question is then whether there exists a suitable binning of the domain [n] into k intervals such that, once "binned," 𝐩 is equal to 𝐪. We provide nearly tight upper and lower bounds on the sample complexity of this new question, showing both a quantitative and qualitative difference with the vanilla identity testing one, and answering an open question of Canonne [Clement L. Canonne, 2019]. Finally, we discuss several extensions and related research directions.
An energy-based coupling approach to nonlocal interface problems

Abstract Nonlocal models provide accurate representations of physical phenomena ranging from fracture mechanics to complex subsurface flows, settings in which traditional partial differential equation models fail to capture effects caused by long-range forces at the microscale and mesoscale. However, the application of nonlocal models to problems involving interfaces, such as multimaterial simulations and fluid-structure interaction, is hampered by the lack of a physically consistent interface theory which is needed to support numerical developments and, among other features, reduces to classical models in the limit as the extent of nonlocal interactions vanish. In this paper, we use an energy-based approach to develop a formulation of a nonlocal interface problem which provides a physically consistent extension of the classical perfect interface formulation for partial differential equations. Numerical examples in one and two dimensions validate the proposed framework and demonstrate the scope of our theory.
Modeling Dragons: Using linked mechanistic physiological and microclimate models to explore environmental, physiological, and morphological constraints on the early evolution of dinosaurs.

We employed the widely-tested biophysiological modeling software, Niche Mapper™ to investigate the metabolic function of the Late Triassic dinosaurs Plateosaurus and Coelophysis during global greenhouse conditions. We tested a variety of assumptions about resting metabolic rate, each evaluated within six microclimate models that bound paleoenvironmental conditions at 12° N paleolatitude, as determined by sedimentological and isotopic proxies for climate within the Chinle Formation of the southwestern United States. Sensitivity testing of metabolic variables and simulated “metabolic chamber” analyses support elevated “ratite-like” metabolic rates and intermediate “monotreme-like” core temperature ranges in these species of early saurischian dinosaur. Our results suggest small theropods may have needed partial to full epidermal insulation in temperate environments, while fully grown prosauropods would have likely been heat stressed in open, hot environments and should have been restricted to cooler microclimates such as dense forests or higher latitudes and elevations. This is in agreement with the Late Triassic fossil record and may have contributed to the latitudinal gap in the Triassic prosauropod record.
Signaling diversity enabled by rap1-regulated plasma membrane ERK with distinct temporal dynamics

A variety of different signals induce specific responses through a common, extracellular-signal regulated kinase (ERK)-dependent cascade. It has been suggested that signaling specificity can be achieved through precise temporal regulation of ERK activity. Given the wide distrubtion of ERK susbtrates across different subcellular compartments, it is important to understand how ERK activity is temporally regulated at specific subcellular locations. To address this question, we have expanded the toolbox of Forster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET)-based ERK biosensors by creating a series of improved biosensors targeted to various subcellular regions via sequence specific motifs to measure spatiotemporal changes in ERK activity. Using these sensors, we showed that EGF induces sustained ERK activity near the plasma membrane in sharp contrast to the transient activity observed in the cytoplasm and nucleus. Furthermore, EGF-induced plasma membrane ERK activity involves Rap1, a noncanonical activator, and controls cell morphology and EGF-induced membrane protrusion dynamics. Our work strongly supports that spatial and temporal regulation of ERK activity is integrated to control signaling specificity from a single extracellular signal to multiple cellular processes.
Multi-Domain Negative Capacitance Effects in Metal-Ferroelectric-Insulator-Semiconductor/Metal Stacks: A Phase-field Simulation Based Study.

We analyze the ferroelectric domain-wall induced negative capacitance (NC) effect in Metal-FE-Insulator-Metal (MFIM) and Metal-FE-Insulator-Semiconductor (MFIS) stacks through phase-field simulations by self-consistently solving time-dependent Ginzburg Landau equation, Poisson’s equation and semiconductor charge equations. Considering Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 as the ferroelectric material, we study 180° ferroelectric domain formation in MFIM and MFIS stacks and their polarization switching characteristics. Our analysis signifies that the applied voltage-induced polarization switching via soft domain-wall displacement exhibits non-hysteretic characteristics. In addition, the change in domain-wall energy, due to domain-wall displacement, exhibits a long-range interaction and thus, leads to a non-homogeneous effective local negative permittivity in the ferroelectric. Such effects yield an average negative effective permittivity that further provides an enhanced charge response in the MFIM stack, compared to Metal-Insulator-Metal. Furthermore, we show that the domain-wall induced negative effective permittivity is not an intrinsic property of the ferroelectric material and therefore, is dependent on its thickness, the gradient energy coefficient and the in-plane permittivity of the underlying insulator. Similar to the MFIM stack, MFIS stack also exhibits an enhanced charge/capacitance response compared to Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (MOS) capacitor. Simultaneously, the multi-domain state of the ferroelectric induces non-homogeneous potential in the underlying insulator and semiconductor layer. At low applied voltages, such non-homogeneity leads to the co-existence of electrons and holes in an undoped semiconductor. In addition, we show that with the ferroelectric layer being in the 180° multi-domain state, the minimum potential at the ferroelectric-dielectric interface and hence, the minimum surface potential in the semiconductor, does not exceed the applied voltage (in-spite of the local differential amplification and charge enhancement).
High Dimensional Robust Sparse Regression.

We provide a novel -- and to the best of our knowledge, the first -- algorithm for high dimensional sparse regression with constant fraction of corruptions in explanatory and/or response variables. Our algorithm recovers the true sparse parameters with sub-linear sample complexity, in the presence of a constant fraction of arbitrary corruptions. Our main contribution is a robust variant of Iterative Hard Thresholding. Using this, we provide accurate estimators: when the covariance matrix in sparse regression is identity, our error guarantee is near information-theoretically optimal. We then deal with robust sparse regression with unknown structured covariance matrix. We propose a filtering algorithm which consists of a novel randomized outlier removal technique for robust sparse mean estimation that may be of interest in its own right: the filtering algorithm is flexible enough to deal with unknown covariance. Also, it is orderwise more efficient computationally than the ellipsoid algorithm. Using sub-linear sample complexity, our algorithm achieves the best known (and first) error guarantee. We demonstrate the effectiveness on large-scale sparse regression problems with arbitrary corruptions.
Barriers to Entry and Competitive Behavior: Evidence from Reforms of Cable Franchising Regulations†

Between 2005 and 2008, 19 of the 50 states of the U.S. reformed the franchising process for cable television, significantly easing entry into local markets. Using a differencein-differences approach that exploits the staggered introduction of reforms, we find that prices for “Basic” service declined systematically by about 5.5 to 6.8 percent following the reforms, but we find no statistically significant effect on average price for the more popular “Expanded Basic” service. We also find that the reforms led to increased actual entry in reformed states, by about 11.6% relative to non-reformed states. Our analysis shows that the decline in price for “Basic” service holds for markets that did not experience actual entry, consistent with limit pricing by incumbents. To control for potential state-level shocks correlated with the reforms, we undertake a sample-split test examining changes in local markets which faced a greater threat of entry (because they were close to a prominent second entrant); we find larger declines in prices, for both “Basic” and “Expanded Basic” services in these markets. Our results are consistent with limit pricing models that predict incumbents respond to increased threat of entry, and suggest that the reforms facilitated entry and modestly benefitted consumers in reformed states.
Equitable Allocations of Indivisible Goods.

In fair division, equitability dictates that each participant receives the same level of utility. In this work, we study equitable allocations of indivisible goods among agents with additive valuations. While prior work has studied (approximate) equitability in isolation, we consider equitability in conjunction with other well-studied notions of fairness and economic efficiency. We show that the Leximin algorithm produces an allocation that satisfies equitability up to any good and Pareto optimality. We also give a novel algorithm that guarantees Pareto optimality and equitability up to one good in pseudopolynomial time. Our experiments on real-world preference data reveal that approximate envy-freeness, approximate equitability, and Pareto optimality can often be achieved simultaneously.
Simplifying Activity-On-Edge Graphs

We formalize the simplification of activity-on-edge graphs used for visualizing project schedules, where the vertices of the graphs represent project milestones, and the edges represent either tasks of the project or timing constraints between milestones. In this framework, a timeline of the project can be constructed as a leveled drawing of the graph, where the levels of the vertices represent the time at which each milestone is scheduled to happen. We focus on the following problem: given an activity-on-edge graph representing a project, find an equivalent activity-on-edge graph—one with the same critical paths—that has the minimum possible number of milestone vertices among all equivalent activity-on-edge graphs. We provide an O(mn²)-time algorithm for solving this graph minimization problem.
Dynamics of Mergers

I review the dynamics of galaxy mergers, paying particular attention to the triggering of gaseous inflows and onset of ultraluminous activity in galaxies.
Stochastic Dynamic Programming for Wind Farm Power Maximization

Wind plants can increase annual energy production with advanced control algorithms by coordinating the operating points of individual turbine controllers across the farm. It remains a challenge to achieve performance improvements in practice because of the difficulty of utilizing models that capture pertinent complex aerodynamic phenomena while remaining amenable to control design. We formulate a multistage stochastic optimal control problem for wind farm power maximization and show that it can be solved analytically via dynamic programming. In particular, our model incorporates state- and input-dependent multiplicative noise whose distributions capture stochastic wind fluctuations. The optimal control policies and value functions explicitly incorporate the moments of these distributions, establishing a connection between wind flow data and optimal feedback control. We illustrate the results with numerical experiments.
Impact-Aware Online Motion Planning for Fully-Actuated Bipedal Robot Walking.

The ability to track a general walking path with specific timing is crucial to the operational safety and reliability of bipedal robots for avoiding dynamic obstacles, such as pedestrians, in complex environments. This paper introduces an online, full-body motion planner that generates the desired impact-aware motion for fully-actuated bipedal robotic walking. The main novelty of the proposed planner lies in its capability of producing desired motions in real-time that respect the discrete impact dynamics and the desired impact timing. To derive the proposed planner, a full-order hybrid dynamic model of fully-actuated bipedal robotic walking is presented, including both continuous dynamics and discrete lading impacts. Next, the proposed impact-aware online motion planner is introduced. Finally, simulation results of a 3-D bipedal robot are provided to confirm the effectiveness of the proposed online impact-aware planner. The online planner is capable of generating full-body motion of one walking step within 0.6 second, which is shorter than a typical bipedal walking step.
Emergent neutrality in consumer-resource dynamics

Neutral theory assumes all species and individuals in a community are ecologically equivalent. This controversial hypothesis has been tested across many taxonomic groups and environmental contexts, and successfully predicts species abundance distributions across multiple high-diversity communities. However, it has been critiqued for its failure to predict a broader range of community properties, particularly regarding community dynamics from generational to geological timescales. Moreover, it is unclear whether neutrality can ever be a true description of a community given the ubiquity of interspecific differences, which presumably lead to ecological inequivalences. Here we derive analytical predictions for when and why non-neutral communities of consumers and resources may present neutral-like outcomes, which we verify using numerical simulations. Our results, which span both static and dynamical community properties, demonstrate the limitations of summarizing distributions to detect non-neutrality, and provide a potential explanation for the successes of neutral theory as a description of macroecological pattern.
General Synthesis of Cyclopropanols via Organometallic Addition to 1-Sulfonylcyclopropanols as Cyclopropanone Precursors.

The addition of organometallic reagents to ketones constitutes one of the most straightforward synthetic approaches to tertiary alcohols. However, due to the absence of a well-behaved class of cycl...
A Note on Equivariant K-stability

We define G-pseudovaluations on a variety with a group action G. By introducing G-pseudovaluations, we are able to give some criteria for G-equivariant K-stability of Fano varieties which are parallel to existing results for usual K-stability.
Supersized Ribosomal RNA Expansion Segments in Asgard Archaea.

The ribosome’s common core, comprised of ribosomal RNA (rRNA) and universal ribosomal proteins, connects all life back to a common ancestor and serves as a window to relationships among organisms. The rRNA of the common core is similar to rRNA of extant bacteria. In eukaryotes, the rRNA of the common core is decorated by expansion segments (ESs) that vastly increase its size. Supersized ESs have not been observed previously in Archaea, and the origin of eukaryotic ESs remains enigmatic. We discovered that the large ribosomal subunit (LSU) rRNA of two Asgard phyla, Lokiarchaeota and Heimdallarchaeota, considered to be the closest modern archaeal cell lineages to Eukarya, bridge the gap in size between prokaryotic and eukaryotic LSU rRNAs. The elongated LSU rRNAs in Lokiarchaeota and Heimdallarchaeota stem from two supersized ESs, called ES9 and ES39. We applied chemical footprinting experiments to study the structure of Lokiarchaeota ES39. Furthermore, we used covariation and sequence analysis to study the evolution of Asgard ES39s and ES9s. By defining the common eukaryotic ES39 signature fold, we found that Asgard ES39s have more and longer helices than eukaryotic ES39s. Although Asgard ES39s have sequences and structures distinct from eukaryotic ES39s, we found overall conservation of a three-way junction across the Asgard species that matches eukaryotic ES39 topology, a result consistent with the accretion model of ribosomal evolution.
Experimental validation of a phase-field model to predict coarsening dynamics of lipid domains in multicomponent membranes.

Abstract Membrane phase-separation is a mechanism that biological membranes often use to locally concentrate specific lipid species in order to organize diverse membrane processes. Phase separation has also been explored as a tool for the design of liposomes with heterogeneous and spatially organized surfaces. These “patchy” liposomes are promising platforms for delivery purposes, however their design and optimization through experimentation can be expensive and time-consuming. We developed a computationally efficient method based on the surface Cahn–Hilliard phase-field model to complement experimental investigations in the design of patchy liposomes. The method relies on thermodynamic considerations to set the initial state for numerical simulations. We show that our computational approach delivers not only qualitative pictures, but also accurate quantitative information about the dynamics of the membrane organization. In particular, the computational and experimental results are in excellent agreement in terms of lipid domain area fraction, total lipid domain perimeter over time and total number of lipid domains over time for two different membrane compositions (DOPC:DPPC with a 2:1 M ratio with 20% Chol and DOPC:DPPC with a 3:1 M ratio with 20% Chol). Thus, the computational phase-field model informed by experiments has a considerable potential to assist in the design of liposomes with spatially organized surfaces, thereby containing the cost and time required by the design process.
Impaired layer specific retinal vascular reactivity among diabetic subjects

Purpose To investigate layer specific retinal vascular reactivity (RVR) in capillaries of diabetic subjects without DR or with only mild non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR). Methods A previously described nonrebreathing apparatus was used to deliver room air, 5% CO2, or 100% O2 to 41 controls and 22 diabetic subjects (with mild or no NPDR) while simultaneously acquiring fovea-centered 3x3mm2 Swept-Source Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (SS-OCTA) images. Vessel skeleton density (VSD) and vessel diameter index (VDI) were calculated for each gas condition for the superficial retinal layer (SRL) and deep retinal layer (DRL). The superficial layer analysis excluded arterioles and venules. Data analysis was performed using mixed factorial analysis of covariance stratified by diabetic status. All models were adjusted for age, gender, and hypertension, and statistical significance for multiple comparisons from posthoc comparisons were defined at p<0.017. Results Among controls, there was a significant difference in capillary VSD between all gas conditions (p<0.001). This difference was present in both the SRL and DRL. Among diabetics, there was no significant difference in response to CO2 conditions in the SRL (p = 0.072), and a blunted response to both CO2 (p = 0.9) and O2 in the DRL (p = 0.019). A significant gas effect was detected in the capillary VDI in the SRL of controls (p = 0.001), which was driven by higher VDI in the oxygen condition compared to that of carbon dioxide. Conclusions Impairment in RVR in diabetic subjects is characterized by a paradoxical response to CO2 in both the SRL and DRL as well as an attenuated response to O2 in the DRL. These layer and gas specific impairments in diabetics seem to occur early in the disease and to be driven primarily at the capillary level.
From time asymmetry to quantum entanglement: The Humean unification

Two of the most difficult problems in the philosophical foundations of physics are (1) what gives rise to the arrow of time and (2) what the ontology of quantum mechanics is. The first problem is puzzling since the fundamental dynamical laws of physics do not include an arrow of time. The second problem is puzzling since the quantum-mechanical wave function describes a non-separable reality that is remarkably different from the objects in our ordinary experiences. In this paper, we propose a unified ``Humean'' solution to the two problems. Humeanism allows us to incorporate the Past Hypothesis and the Statistical Postulate into the best system, which we then use to simplify the quantum state of the universe. This allows us to confer the nomological status to the quantum state in a way that adds no significant complexity to the best system and solves the ``supervenient-kind problem'' facing the original version of the Past Hypothesis. We call this strategy the "Humean unification." It brings together the origins of time asymmetry and quantum entanglement. On this theory, what gives rise to the arrow of time is also responsible for the non-separable phenomena in nature. The result is a more unified theory, with a separable mosaic, a best system that is simple and non-vague, less tension between quantum mechanics and special relativity, and more theoretical and dynamical unity. We then compare our proposals to those in the literature that focus on only one of the two problems. Our analysis further suggests that, in order to obtain a deeper understanding about the problems in philosophy of science, it can be tremendously illuminating to explore the full resources of Humeanism, even if one is not a Humean.
Factors influencing taxonomic unevenness in scientific research: a mixed-methods case study of non-human primate genomic sequence data generation.

Scholars have noted major disparities in the extent of scientific research conducted among taxonomic groups. Such trends may cascade if future scientists gravitate towards study species with more d...
Rational polytopes with Ehrhart coefficients of arbitrary period

Abstract A seminal result of E. Ehrhart states that the number of integer lattice points in the dilation of a rational polytope by a positive integer k is a quasi-polynomial function of k — that is, a “polynomial” in which the coefficients are themselves periodic functions of k . Using a result of F. Liu on the Ehrhart polynomials of cyclic polytopes, we construct not-necessarily-convex rational polytopes of arbitrary dimension in which the periods of the coefficient functions appearing in the Ehrhart quasi-polynomial take on arbitrary values.