cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Automatic optimization for MapReduce programs

The MapReduce distributed programming framework has become popular, despite evidence that current implementations are inefficient, requiring far more hardware than a traditional relational databases to complete similar tasks. MapReduce jobs are amenable to many traditional database query optimizations (B+Trees for selections, column-store-style techniques for projections, etc), but existing systems do not apply them, substantially because free-form user code obscures the true data operation being performed. For example, a selection in SQL is easily detected, but a selection in a MapReduce program is embedded in Java code along with lots of other program logic. We could ask the programmer to provide explicit hints about the program's data semantics, but one of MapReduce's attractions is precisely that it does not ask the user for such information.This paper covers Manimal, which automatically analyzes MapReduce programs and applies appropriate data-aware optimizations, thereby requiring no additional help at all from the programmer. We show that Manimal successfully detects optimization opportunities across a range of data operations, and that it yields speedups of up to 1,121% on previously-written MapReduce programs.
Overlap bias in the case-crossover design, with application to air pollution exposures

The case-crossover design uses cases only, and compares exposures just prior to the event times to exposures at comparable control, or 'referent' times, in order to assess the effect of short-term exposure on the risk of a rare event. It has commonly been used to study the effect of air pollution on the risk of various adverse health events. Proper selection of referents is crucial, especially with air pollution exposures, which are shared, highly seasonal, and often have a long-term time trend. Hence, careful referent selection is important to control for time-varying confounders, and in order to ensure that the distribution of exposure is constant across referent times, a key assumption of this method. Yet the referent strategy is important for a more basic reason: the conditional logistic regression estimating equations commonly used are biased when referents are not chosen a priori and are functions of the observed event times. We call this bias in the estimating equations overlap bias. In this paper, we propose a new taxonomy of referent selection strategies in order to emphasize their statistical properties. We give a derivation of overlap bias, explore its magnitude, and consider how the bias depends on properties of the exposure series. We conclude that the bias is usually small, though highly unpredictable, and easily avoided.
Do Enterprise Zones Work? An Analysis at the Borders

This article analyzes Enterprise Zones in Colorado to study the relationship between geographically targeted tax credits and the location of new businesses and jobs. Enterprise Zone (EZ) programs provide tax incentives for investment and job creation in economically lagging regions. While most states have EZ programs, past program evaluations have found a mixture of effectiveness. This research improves on existing literature by utilizing both establishment-level data and a border effects methodology (1) to control for unobservables that influence the self-selection of EZ regions and (2) to highlight EZ impacts across different industries. Results find that while EZ fiscal incentives have no effect on where new establishments locate in Colorado, they do increase the number of employees hired. Industry results highlight the heterogeneity of tax credit impacts within the EZ Program. Results are robust to a variety of specifications for land-use controls and in comparison to a propensity score matching model.
Dissecting the Homunculus nebula around Eta Carinae with spatially resolved near-infrared spectroscopy

Near-infrared emission lines are unique diagnostics of the geometry, structure, kinematics, and excitation of the circumstellar ejecta of η Carinae, and give clues to the nature of its wind. The infrared spectrum is a strong function of position in η Car’s nebula, with a mix of intrinsic and reflected emission. Molecular hydrogen traces cool gas and dust in the polar lobes, while [Fe II] blankets their inner surfaces. These lines reveal the back wall of the SE polar lobe for the first time, and give the clearest picture yet of the three-dimensional geometry. Additionally, collisionally excited [Fe II] reveals the kinematic structure of a recently discovered ‘Little Homunculus’ expanding inside the larger one. Equatorial gas in the ‘Fan’, on the other hand, shows a spectrum indicating recombination and fluorescent Lyα pumping. Some equatorial ejecta glow in the He I λ10830 line, showing evidence for material ejected in the 1890 outburst of η Car. Closer to the star, the compact ‘Weigelt blobs’ are marginally resolved, allowing their infrared spectrum to be separated from the star for the first time. In general, infrared spectra reveal a coherent, directional dependence of excitation in the Homunculus: polar ejecta are collisionally excited, whereas equatorial ejecta are dominated by fluorescence and normal photoexcitation. These are important clues to the geometry of the central star’s ultraviolet radiation field. Reflected near-infrared emission lines also reveal interesting latitudinal dependence in the stellar wind.
The Eurozone Crisis: Phoenix Miracle or Lost Decade?

We analyze why the Eurozone crisis increasingly resembles Latin America’s lost decade instead of Asia’s phoenix miracle, emphasizing the roles of the real exchange rate, the external environment, and debt restructuring. In addition, we contrast the adjustment to housing bubbles in Ireland, Spain and the U.S. Here our explanation for the contrast departs from the conventional wisdom in placing less emphasis on labor mobility but more on participation rates and bank mergers and acquisitions in the adjustment process.
Analytical and experimental study of turbulent methane-fired backmixed combustion

Abstract : Numerical predictions of the backmixed flowfield of a methane-fired laboratory combustor are compared to experimental observations. The goal is to clarify the mechanisms responsible for pollutant formation in continuous backmixed combustion and to improve predictive methods. The numerical description adopts a simplified effective viscosity model and a two-step kinetic reaction scheme for the methane oxidation. A reaction mechanism to account for the production of nitric oxide is also considered. Laser Doppler velocimetry is used to exerimentally measure velocity profiles in the flowfield. Conventional gas sampling techniques are to measure species concentration profiles.
Foundation For A Natural Right To Health Care

Discussions concerning whether there is a natural right to health care may occur in various forms, resulting in policy recommendations for how to implement any such right in a given society. But health care policies may be judged by international standards including the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The rights enumerated in the UDHR are grounded in traditions of moral theory, a philosophical analysis of which is necessary in order to adjudicate the value of specific policies designed to enshrine rights such as a right to health care. We begin with an overview of the drafting of the UDHR and highlight the primary influence of natural law theory in validating the rights contained therein. We then provide an explication of natural law theory by reference to the writings of Thomas Aquinas, as well as elucidate the complementary "capabilities approach" of Martha Nussbaum. We conclude that a right to health care ought to be guaranteed by the state.
An optimization formulation for characterization of pulsatile cortisol secretion

Cortisol is released to relay information to cells to regulate metabolism and reaction to stress and inflammation. In particular, cortisol is released in the form of pulsatile signals. This low-energy method of signaling seems to be more efficient than continuous signaling. We hypothesize that there is a controller in the anterior pituitary that leads to pulsatile release of cortisol, and propose a mathematical formulation for such controller, which leads to impulse control as opposed to continuous control. We postulate that this controller is minimizing the number of secretory events that result in cortisol secretion, which is a way of minimizing the energy required for cortisol secretion; this controller maintains the blood cortisol levels within a specific circadian range while complying with the first order dynamics underlying cortisol secretion. We use an l0-norm cost function for this controller, and solve a reweighed l1-norm minimization algorithm for obtaining the solution to this optimization problem. We use four examples to illustrate the performance of this approach: (i) a toy problem that achieves impulse control, (ii) two examples that achieve physiologically plausible pulsatile cortisol release, (iii) an example where the number of pulses is not within the physiologically plausible range for healthy subjects while the cortisol levels are within the desired range. This novel approach results in impulse control where the impulses and the obtained blood cortisol levels have a circadian rhythm and an ultradian rhythm that are in agreement with the known physiology of cortisol secretion. The proposed formulation is a first step in developing intermittent controllers for curing cortisol deficiency. This type of bio-inspired pulse controllers can be employed for designing non-continuous controllers in brain-machine interface design for neuroscience applications.
Strength and toughness of composite materials based on nickel aluminide matrices

Several nickel aluminide matrix composites were prepared using vacuum hot pressing techniques. The matrix compositions, based on Ni3Al, Ni3Al+B and NiAl, were reinforced with 10 volume % TiB2 particles. Both smooth and notched bend tests were conducted at room temperature on the monolithic as well as the reinforced materials in order to determine the effects of TiB2 reinforcement on both the smooth bend and notched bend properties. TiB2 additions were shown to improve the smooth bend strengths regardless of the matrix composition while notched bend tests, conducted to provide estimates of fracture toughness, revealed somewhat lower values for the composites in comparison to the monolithic materials. Fractographic analyses and in-situ fracture observations of the composites revealed that preferential fracture in regions of clustered TiB2 particles may significantly affect the measured toughnesses.
NONLINEAR TIDES IN CLOSE BINARY SYSTEMS

We study the excitation and damping of tides in close binary systems, accounting for the leading-order nonlinear corrections to linear tidal theory. These nonlinear corrections include two distinct physical effects: three-mode nonlinear interactions, i.e., the redistribution of energy among stellar modes of oscillation, and nonlinear excitation of stellar normal modes by the time-varying gravitational potential of the companion. This paper, the first in a series, presents the formalism for studying nonlinear tides and studies the nonlinear stability of the linear tidal flow. Although the formalism we present is applicable to binaries containing stars, planets, and/or compact objects, we focus on non-rotating solar-type stars with stellar or planetary companions. Our primary results include the following: (1) The linear tidal solution almost universally used in studies of binary evolution is unstable over much of the parameter space in which it is employed. More specifically, resonantly excited internal gravity waves in solar-type stars are nonlinearly unstable to parametric resonance for companion masses M' 10-100 M ⊕ at orbital periods P ≈ 1-10 days. The nearly static "equilibrium" tidal distortion is, however, stable to parametric resonance except for solar binaries with P 2-5 days. (2) For companion masses larger than a few Jupiter masses, the dynamical tide causes short length scale waves to grow so rapidly that they must be treated as traveling waves, rather than standing waves. (3) We show that the global three-wave treatment of parametric instability typically used in the astrophysics literature does not yield the fastest-growing daughter modes or instability threshold in many cases. We find a form of parametric instability in which a single parent wave excites a very large number of daughter waves (N ≈ 103[P/10 days] for a solar-type star) and drives them as a single coherent unit with growth rates that are a factor of ≈N faster than the standard three-wave parametric instability. These are local instabilities viewed through the lens of global analysis; the coherent global growth rate follows local rates in the regions where the shear is strongest. In solar-type stars, the dynamical tide is unstable to this collective version of the parametric instability for even sub-Jupiter companion masses with P a month. (4) Independent of the parametric instability, the dynamical and equilibrium tides excite a wide range of stellar p-modes and g-modes by nonlinear inhomogeneous forcing; this coupling appears particularly efficient at draining energy out of the dynamical tide and may be more important than either wave breaking or parametric resonance at determining the nonlinear dissipation of the dynamical tide.
Nonreflecting boundary conditions based on nonlinear multidimensional characteristics

Nonlinear characteristic boundary conditions based on nonlinear multidimensional characteristics are proposed for 2- and 3-D compressible Navier–Stokes equations with/without scalar transport equations. This approach is consistent with the flow physics and transport properties. Based on the theory of characteristics, which is a rigorous mathematical technique, multidimensional flows can be decomposed into acoustic, entropy, and vorticity waves. Nonreflecting boundary conditions are derived by setting corresponding characteristic variables of incoming waves to zero and by partially damping the source terms of the incoming acoustic waves. In order to obtain the resulting optimal damping coefficient, analysis is performed for problems of pure acoustic plane wave propagation and arbitrary flows. The proposed boundary conditions are tested on two benchmark problems: cylindrical acoustic wave propagation and the wake flow behind a cylinder with strong periodic vortex convected out of the computational domain. This new approach substantially minimizes the spurious wave reflections of pressure, density, temperature, and velocity as well as vorticity from the artificial boundaries, where strong multidimensional flow effects exist. The numerical simulations yield accurate results, confirm the optimal damping coefficient obtained from analysis, and verify that the method substantially improves the 1-D characteristics-based nonreflecting boundary conditions for complex multidimensional flows. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Handling Qualities Specifications for U.S. Military Helicopters

Inadequacies in the military specification for helicopter handling qualities, MIL-H-8501A, have long been recognized, and the latest procurements by the U.S. Army used special Prime Item Development Specifications (PIDS). This paper assesses the efficacy of these PIDS and suggests that changes should be made. In particular, the structure developed in MIL-F-8785B (ASG) (the specification for flying qualities of piloted airplanes) should be incorporated. Improved requirements must be based on a systematic data base and concentrated on topics most important in preliminary design: static and dynamic stability, control power and sensitivity, and interaction with controllers and displays. Emphasis should be on current military helicopter missions and helicopter idiosyncrasies such as cross-coupling, nonlinearities, and higher-order dynamics.
A Circuit Model for an Inductive Strip in Homogeneous Finline

Abstract : This thesis describes a CAD-compatible circuit model for an infinitesimally thin inductive strip centered in homogeneous finline for 0.1 less than or equal to w over b less than or equal to 1.0. The model is shown to predict scattering data which agrees with data computed using the spectral domain method. Results were generated for strips of length T greater than or equal to 10 mils in X-band. By applying the scaling principle, the model is valid for any waveguide band over the normal frequency range for the dominant TE sub 10 mode.
Heterotic String Conformal Field Theory And A-D-E Singularities

We analyze the behavior of the heterotic string near an A-D-E singularity without small instantons. This problem is governed by a strongly coupled worldsheet conformal field theory, which, by a combination of Script O(α') corrections and worldsheet instantons, smooths out the singularities present in the classical geometry.
A game theoretic approach to multimodal communication

Over the last few decades the animal communica- tion community has become increasingly aware that much communication occurs using multiple signals in multiple modalities. The majority of this work has been empiri- cal, with less theoretical work on the advantages conferred by such communication. In the present paper, we ask: Why should animals communicate with multiple signals in multiple modalities? To tackle this question we use game theoretic techniques, and highlight developments in the economic signaling literature that might offer insight into biological problems. We start by establishing a signaling game, and investigate signal honesty under two prevailing paradigms of honest communication - costly signaling and cheap talk. In both paradigms, without further constraint, it is simple to show that anything that can be achieved with multiple signals can be achieved with one. We go on to investigate different sets of possible constraints that may make multiple signals and multimodal signals in particular more likely to evolve. We suggest that constraints on cost functions and bandwidths, orthogonal noise across modali- ties, strategically distinct modes, multiple qualities, multiple signalers, and multiple audiences, all provide biologically plausible scenarios that theoretically favor multiple and multimodal signaling.
How should environmental policy respond to business cycles? Optimal policy under persistent productivity shocks

How should environmental policy respond to economic fluctuations caused by persistent productivity shocks? This paper answers that question using a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium real business cycle model that includes a pollution externality. I first estimate the relationship between the cyclical components of carbon dioxide emissions and US GDP and find it to be inelastic. Using this result to calibrate the model, I find that optimal policy allows carbon emissions to be procyclical: increasing during expansions and decreasing during recessions. However, optimal policy dampens the procyclicality of emissions compared to the unregulated case. A price effect from costlier abatement during booms outweighs an income effect of greater demand for clean air. I also model a decentralized economy, where government chooses an emissions tax or quantity restriction and firms and consumers respond. The optimal emissions tax rate and the optimal emissions quota are both procyclical: during recessions, the tax rate and the emissions quota both decrease.
Macrolactonization via hydrocarbon oxidation

A novel Pd/sulfoxide-catalyzed macrolactonization reaction of linear ω-alkenoic acids is reported that proceeds via serial ligand-catalyzed allylic C−H oxidation. The scope of this macrolactonization appears to be very broad. Aryl, alkyl, and (Z)-α,β-unsaturated acids are all competent nucleophiles for this reaction, with the latter undergoing macrolactonization with no olefin isomerization. High functional group compatibility is observed that includes biologically and medicinally relevant functionality such as ortho-substituted salicylate esters, bis(indoyl)maleimides, and peptides. Evidence is provided to support the hypothesis that macrolactonization proceeds via inner-sphere functionalization from a templated π-allylPd carboxylate intermediate.
BCl3- and TiCl4-Mediated Reductions of β-Hydroxy Ketones

Syn-selective reduction protocols for β-hydroxy ketones are described exploiting the intermediacy of titanium and boron chelates derived from TiCl4 and BCl3, respectively. Reductions are conducted at −78 °C in CH2Cl2 using a wide range of CH2Cl2-soluble reducing agents. Added acid-scavenging agents are detrimental to reaction selectivity. An A(1,3)-like interaction involving the stereocenter responsible for asymmetric induction provides conformational biasing of the intermediate chelates necessary for high diastereoselectivity.
Primary amine-metal Lewis acid bifunctional catalysts based on a simple bidentate ligand: direct asymmetric aldol reaction

A novel class of primary amine-metal Lewis acid bifunctional catalysts based on a bidentate ligand was developed. These catalysts were highly efficient in catalyzing the direct asymmetric aldol reactions of ketones offering excellent stereoselectivity. The aldol reactions required a low catalyst loading (2.5 mol%), and were water compatible.
Anisotropic function spaces and elliptic boundary value problems

In this paper, we study anisotropic Bessel potential and Besov spaces, where the anisotropy measures the extra amount of regularity in certain directions. Some basic properties of these spaces are established along with applications to elliptic boundary value problems.
Random walks on colored graphs

We initiate a study of random walks on undirected graphs with colored edges. In our model, a sequence of colors is specified before the walk begins, and it dictates the color of edge to be followed at each step. We give tight upper and lower bounds on the expected cover time of a random walk on an undirected graph with colored edges. We show that, in general, graphs with two colors have exponential expected cover time, and graphs with three or more colors have doubly‐exponential expected cover time. We also give polynomial bounds on the expected cover time in a number of interesting special cases. We described applications of our results to understanding the dominant eigenvectors of products and weighted averages of stochastic matrices, and to problems on time‐inhomogeneous Markov chains. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Center for GI Innovation and Technology article: Innovation advanced by AGA.

Clinical innovation and new technologies are 2 of the vitally important areas that gastroenterology leverages to provide optimal and cost-effective care to out patients. Innovation may encompass new devices and technologies, new practice patterns, novel methods of patient interaction, and new care delivery paradigms. Central to all of these issues is the rational application, adoption, and introduction to practice of new technologies and devices, and integration into clinical care paradigms. In 2010 the AGA developed the Center for GI Technology (CGIT) as the home for these and other issues. Drs Jay Pasricha and Joel Brill, who brought the center to fruition with the buy-in of AGA leadership, formed the concept of the center. The CGIT serves as an objective GI resource to assist members and the device, diagnostics, and therapeutics industry through technology development, the approval process, coverage development, and into clinical adoption and payer coverage. The CGIT has grown rapidly since inception, from the annual Tech Summit as its only visible activity, to being a formal committee of the AGA with multiple open meetings per year, providing consultations to companies on multiple areas concerning technology development with our own dedicated staff, and a dedicated clinical registry infrastructure. It is important to note that the CGIT does not endorse any product or service, develop guidelines, or make any guarantees about FDA approval or coverage from public or private payers.
Fourier-reflexive partitions and MacWilliams identities for additive codes

A partition of a finite abelian group gives rise to a dual partition on the character group via the Fourier transform. Properties of this dualization are investigated, and a convenient test is given for when the bidual partition coincides with the primal partition. Such partitions permit MacWilliams identities for the partition enumerators of additive codes. It is shown that dualization commutes with taking products and symmetrized products of partitions on cartesian powers of the given group. After translating the results to Frobenius rings, which are identified with their character module, the approach is applied to partitions that arise from poset structures
Accelerating palladium-catalyzed C-F bond formation: use of a microflow packed-bed reactor.

A flow process for Pd-catalyzed carbon fluorine bond formation is described. A microreactor using a packed-bed design allows for easy handling of large quantities of insoluble CsF with precise control over reaction times, efficient mixing, and the ability to safely handle elevated temperatures and pressures. A variety of aryl triflates, including heteroaryl ones, were converted to their corresponding aryl fluoride in short reaction times that would be difficult to achieve in a typical batch process.
Creating and Exploiting a Hybrid Knowledge Base for Linked Data

Twenty years ago Tim Berners-Lee proposed a distributed hypertext system based on standard Internet protocols. The Web that resulted fundamentally changed the ways we share information and services, both on the public Internet and within organizations. That original proposal contained the seeds of another effort that has not yet fully blossomed: a Semantic Web designed to enable computer programs to share and understand structured and semi-structured information easily. We will review the evolution of the idea and technologies to realize a Web of Data and describe how we are exploiting them to enhance information retrieval and information extraction. A key resource in our work is Wikitology, a hybrid knowledge base of structured and unstructured information extracted from Wikipedia.
Optimal nearest neighbor queries in sensor networks

Given a set of m mobile objects in a sensor network, we consider the problem of finding the nearest object among them from any node in the network at any time. These mobile objects are tracked by nearby sensors called proxy nodes. This problem requires an object tracking mechanism which typically relies on two basic operations: query and update. A query is invoked by a node each time when there is a need to find the closest object from it in the network. Updates of an object's location are initiated when the object moves from one location (proxy node) to another. We present a scalable distributed algorithm for tracking these mobile objects such that both the query cost and the update cost are small. The main idea in our algorithm is to maintain a virtual tree of downward paths pointing to the objects. Our algorithm guarantees an asymptotically optimal O(1) approximation for query cost and an O(min{logn,logD}) approximation for update cost in the constant-doubling graph model, where n and D, respectively, are the number of nodes and the diameter of the network. We also give polylogarithmic approximations for both query and update cost in the general graph model. Our algorithm requires only polylogarithmic bits of memory per node. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first algorithm that is asymptotically optimal in handling nearest neighbor queries with low update cost in a distributed setting. A distributed algorithm for the nearest neighbor problem in sensor networks is proposed.It attains constant approximation for query cost in constant-doubling graph model.It attains log approximation for update cost in the constant-doubling graph model.It attains polylog approximations for both query and update cost in general graph model.It is scalable as both cost approximations do not depend on the number of mobile objects.
Total syntheses of (+)- and (-)-cacospongionolide B, cacospongionolide e, and related analogues. Preliminary study of structural features required for phospholipase a2 inhibition.

The total syntheses of the antiinflammatory marine sponge metabolites (+)-cacospongionolide B and E are described. The pivotal steps in the synthetic route include a three-step sequence that couples the two main regions of the natural product, as well as generates the side chain dihydropyran ring. The activity of the synthetic analogues against bee venom phospholipase A2 suggests that the cacospongionolides have enantiospecific interactions with the enzyme that may be independent of the γ-hydroxybutenolide moiety.
Evidence-Based Practice: Promoting Evidence-Based Interventions in School Psychology.

We present an overview of issues related to evidence-based practice and the role that the school psychology profession can play in developing and disseminating evidence-based interventions (EBIs). ...
Energy-aware writes to non-volatile main memory

Scalability challenges of DRAM technology call for advances in emerging memory technologies, among which Phase Change Memory (PCM) has received considerable attention due to its non-volatility, storage density and capacity advantages. The drawbacks of PCM include limited write endurance and high power consumption for write operations (upto 10x in comparison to read operations). In this paper, we investigate new techniques that would perform writes to PCM with energy awareness. Our results show that we can minimize the write energy consumption by up to 8.1x by simply converting PCM native writes to read-before-write, and upto an additional 22.9% via intelligent out-of-position updates.
Pilot trial of paclitaxel-trastuzumab adjuvant therapy for early stage breast cancer: a trial of the ECOG-ACRIN cancer research group (E2198)

Blockade of human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2 (HER2) has dramatically improved outcome for patients with HER2-positive breast cancer. Trastuzumab, an anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody, has previously demonstrated improvement in overall survival (OS) in patients with metastatic and early stage HER2-positive breast cancer. However, trastuzumab can cause congestive heart failure (CHF) with an increased frequency for patients who have also received an anthracycline. The current trial was designed to evaluate the impact of the duration of trastuzumab on CHF. E2198 included 227 eligible women with histologically confirmed stage II or IIIA HER2-positive breast cancer. The patients were randomised to receive 12 weeks of paclitaxel and trastuzumab followed by four cycles of doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide (abbreviated Arm) or the aforementioned treatment with additional 1 year of trastuzumab (conventional Arm). The primary end point was to evaluate the safety of this variable duration of trastuzumab therapy, particularly cardiac toxicity defined as CHF or left ventricular ejection fraction decrease >10%. Secondary end points included disease-free survival (DFS) and OS. Compared with 12-week treatment with trastuzumab, 1 year of trastuzumab-based therapy did not increase the frequency or severity of cardiac toxicity: three patients on the abbreviated Arm and four on the conventional Arm experienced CHF. The 5-year DFS was 76% and 73% for the abbreviated and conventional Arms, respectively, with a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.3 (95% CI: 0.8–2.1; P=0.3). There was also no statistically significance difference in OS (HR, 1.4; P=0.3). Compared with 12 weeks of treatment, 1 year of treatment with trastuzumab did not significantly increase the risk of cardiac toxicity. Although not powered for efficacy comparisons, the longer duration of trastuzumab therapy did not demonstrate a signal for marked superiority.
Bulk-boundary correspondence in (3+1)-dimensional topological phases

We discuss (2+1)-dimensional gapless surface theories of bulk (3+1)-dimensional topological phases, such as the BF theory at level $\mathrm{K}$, and its generalization. In particular, we put these theories on a flat (2+1)-dimensional torus ${T}^{3}$ parameterized by its modular parameters, and compute the partition functions obeying various twisted boundary conditions. We show the partition functions are transformed into each other under $SL(3,\mathbb{Z})$ modular transformations, and furthermore establish the bulk-boundary correspondence in (3+1) dimensions by matching the modular $\mathcal{S}$ and $\mathcal{T}$ matrices computed from the boundary field theories with those computed in the bulk. We also propose the three-loop braiding statistics can be studied by constructing the modular $\mathcal{S}$ and $\mathcal{T}$ matrices from an appropriate boundary field theory.
Elevating The Status of Code in Ecology

Code is increasingly central to ecological research but often remains unpublished and insufficiently recognized. Making code available allows analyses to be more easily reproduced and can facilitate research by other scientists. We evaluate journal handling of code, discuss barriers to its publication, and suggest approaches for promoting and archiving code.
Beyond the Central Limit theorem: Asymptotic Expansions and Pseudorandomness for Combinatorial Sums

We prove a new asymptotic expansion in the central limit theorem for sums of discrete independent random variables. The classical central limit theorem asserts that if {Xi}n i=1 is a sequence of n i.i.d. Random variables, then S = a#x2265; n i=1 Xi converges to a Gaussian whose first two moments match those of S. Further, the rate of convergence is O(n -- 1/2) Roughly speaking, asymptotic expansions of the central limit theorem show that by considering a family of limiting distributions specified by k a#x2265; 2 (k=2 corresponds to Gaussians) and matching the first k moments of S to such a limiting distribution, one can achieve a convergence of n -- (k -- 1)/2. While such asymptotic expansions have been known since Cramer, they did not apply to discrete and non-identical random variables. Further, the error bounds in nearly all cases was non-explicit (in their dependence on {Xi}), thus limiting their applicability. In this work, we prove a new asymptotic expansions of the central limit theorem which applies to discrete and non-identical random variables and the error bounds are fully explicit. Given the wide applicability of the central limit theorem in probability theory and theoretical computer science, we believe that this new asymptotic expansion theorem will be applicable in several settings. As a main application in this paper, we give an application in derandomization: Namely, we construct PRGs for the class of combinatorial sums, a class of functions first studied by [GMRZ13] and which generalize many previously studied classes such as combinatorial rectangles, small-biased spaces and modular sums among others. A function f : [m]n a#x2192; {0, 1} is said to be a combinatorial sum if there exists functions f1,, fn : [m] a#x2192; {0, 1} such that f(x1,, xn) = f1(x1) ++ fn(xn). For this class, we give a seed length of O(logm + log3/2 (n/a#x03B5;)), thus improving upon [2] whenever a#x3B5; a#x2264; 2 -- )logn)3/4.
An end-point global gradient weighted estimate for quasilinear equations in non-smooth domains

A weighted norm inequality involving A 1 weights is obtained at the natural exponent for gradients of solutions to quasilinear elliptic equations in Reifenberg flat domains. Certain gradient estimates in Lorentz–Morrey spaces below the natural exponent are also obtained as a consequence of our analysis.
Metasurface Broadband Solar Absorber

We demonstrate a broadband, polarization independent, wide-angle absorber based on a metallic metasurface architecture, which accomplishes greater than 90% absorptance in the visible and near-infrared range of the solar spectrum, and exhibits low absorptivity (emissivity) at mid- and far-infrared wavelengths. The complex unit cell of the metasurface solar absorber consists of eight pairs of gold nano-resonators that are separated from a gold ground plane by a thin silicon dioxide spacer. Our experimental measurements reveal high-performance absorption over a wide range of incidence angles for both s- and p-polarizations. We also investigate numerically the frequency-dependent field and current distributions to elucidate how the absorption occurs within the metasurface structure.
NLO and NNLO Low Energy Constants for $SU(2)$ Chiral Perturbation Theory

We have performed global fits of fπ and mπ , from a variety of RBC-UKQCD domain wall fermion ensembles, to SU(2) partially quenched chiral perturbation theory at NNLO. We report values for 9 NLO and 8 linearly independent combinations of NNLO partially quenched low energy constants, which we compare to other lattice and phenomenological determinations. We discuss the convergence of the expansion and use our large set of low energy constants to make predictions for the pion mass splitting due to QCD isospin breaking effects and the s-wave ππ scattering lengths. We conclude that, for the range of pseudoscalar masses explored in this work, 115 MeV . mPS . 430 MeV, the NNLO SU(2) expansion is quite robust and can fit lattice data with percent-scale accuracy.
Fundamental groups and Euler characteristics of sphere-like digital images

The current paper focuses on fundamental groups and Euler characteristics of various digital models of the 2-dimensional sphere. For all models that we consider, we show that the fundamental groups are trivial, and compute the Euler characteristics (which are not always equal). We consider the connected sum of digital surfaces and investigate how this operation relates to the fundamental group and Euler characteristic. We also consider two related but dierent notions of a digital image having "no holes," and relate this to the triviality of the fundamental group. Many of our results have origins in the paper [15] by S.-E. Han, which contains many errors. We correct these errors when possible, and leave some open questions. We also present some original results.
Identification of Ion-Pair Structures in Solution by Vibrational Stark Effects

Ion pairing is a fundamental consideration in many areas of chemistry and has implications in a wide range of sciences and technologies that include batteries and organic photovoltaics. Ions in solution are known to inhabit multiple possible states, including free ions (FI), contact ion pairs (CIP), and solvent-separated ion pairs (SSIP). However, in solutions of organic radicals and nonmetal electrolytes, it is often difficult to distinguish between these states. In the first part of this work, we report evidence for the formation of SSIPs in low-polarity solvents and distinct measurements of CIP, SSIP, and FI, by using the ν(C≡N) infrared (IR) band of a nitrile-substituted fluorene radical anion. Use of time-resolved IR detection following pulse radiolysis allowed us to unambiguously assign the peak of the FI. In the presence of nonmetal electrolytes, two distinct red-shifted peaks were observed and assigned to the CIP and SSIP. The assignments are interpreted in the framework of the vibrational Stark e...
Trends and Analyses of General Aviation Fatalities

Recent publications have shown that general aviation accident rates in the United States are decreasing, though they remain much higher than other segments of aviation. What is behind this safety improvement? Are all types of accidents decreasing or are certain types of accidents driving the overall decrease? This study provides the preliminary results of an in depth analysis of the causes of fatal general aviation accidents from 1992 through 2002. First a database of all fatal Part 91 accidents during this timeframe was created by examining the NTSB accident report for each accident and determining the initial cause of the accident. Forty-four different cause categories were used and 1305 individual accidents were analyzed. Both the absolute and relative change of the causes of Part 91 fatal accidents from 1992 through 2002 were considered. This study provides the findings from four years from this time period (1992, 1997, 1999, and 2001) in order to evaluate initial results and trends and to develop some initial hypotheses for later testing. Preliminary analyses of the data reveal that the distribution of fatal general aviation accidents by flight phase differs from commercial aviation accidents. The data also reveals that while pilot error remains a significant cause of fatal accidents, the rate of pilot error accidents is decreasing and CFIT accidents, which are thought to be a particular area of concern within general aviation, are actually not a significant cause of accidents within this sector.
A phase diagram for morphology and properties of low temperature deposited polycrystalline silicon grown by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition

The fabrication of low temperature polycrystalline silicon with internal surface passivation and with lifetimes close to single crystalline silicon is a promising direction for thin film polycrystalline silicon photovoltaics. To achieve high lifetimes, large grains with passivated low-angle grain boundaries and intragranular defects are required. We investigate the low-temperature (300-475 /spl deg/C) growth of thin silicon films by hot-wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD) on Si (100) substrates and on large-grained polycrystalline silicon template layers formed by selective nucleation and solid phase epitaxy (SNSPE). Phase diagrams for dilute silane deposition varying substrate temperature and for pure silane varying hydrogen dilution are shown. We will discuss the relationship between the microstructure and photoconductive decay lifetimes of these undoped layers on Si (100) and SNSPE templates as well as their suitability for use in thin-film photovoltaic applications.
Qubit representations of the braid groups from generalized Yang---Baxter matrices

Generalized Yang---Baxter matrices sometimes give rise to braid group representations. We identify the exact images of some qubit representations of the braid groups from generalized Yang---Baxter matrices obtained from anyons in the metaplectic modular categories.
Oblivious Parallel RAM: Improved Efficiency and Generic Constructions

Oblivious RAM (ORAM) garbles read/write operations by a client (to access a remote storage server or a random-access memory) so that an adversary observing the garbled access sequence cannot infer any information about the original operations, other than their overall number. This paper considers the natural setting of Oblivious Parallel RAM (OPRAM) recently introduced by Boyle, Chung, and Pass (TCC 2016A), where m clients simultaneously access in parallel the storage server. The clients are additionally connected via point-to-point links to coordinate their accesses. However, this additional inter-client communication must also remain oblivious.
Finding the Patient’s Voice Using Big Data: Analysis of Users’ Health-Related Concerns in the ChaCha Question-and-Answer Service (2009–2012)

Background: The development of effective health care and public health interventions requires a comprehensive understanding of the perceptions, concerns, and stated needs of health care consumers and the public at large. Big datasets from social media and question-and-answer services provide insight into the public’s health concerns and priorities without the financial, temporal, and spatial encumbrances of more traditional community-engagement methods and may prove a useful starting point for public-engagement health research (infodemiology). Objective: The objective of our study was to describe user characteristics and health-related queries of the ChaCha question-and-answer platform, and discuss how these data may be used to better understand the perceptions, concerns, and stated needs of health care consumers and the public at large. Methods: We conducted a retrospective automated textual analysis of anonymous user-generated queries submitted to ChaCha between January 2009 and November 2012. A total of 2.004 billion queries were read, of which 3.50% (70,083,796/2,004,243,249) were missing 1 or more data fields, leaving 1.934 billion complete lines of data for these analyses. Results: Males and females submitted roughly equal numbers of health queries, but content differed by sex. Questions from females predominantly focused on pregnancy, menstruation, and vaginal health. Questions from males predominantly focused on body image, drug use, and sexuality. Adolescents aged 12–19 years submitted more queries than any other age group. Their queries were largely centered on sexual and reproductive health, and pregnancy in particular. Conclusions: The private nature of the ChaCha service provided a perfect environment for maximum frankness among users, especially among adolescents posing sensitive health questions. Adolescents’ sexual health queries reveal knowledge gaps with serious, lifelong consequences. The nature of questions to the service provides opportunities for rapid understanding of health concerns and may lead to development of more effective tailored interventions. [J Med Internet Res 2016;18(3):e44]
High School Math and Science Preparation and Postsecondary STEM Participation for Students With an Autism Spectrum Disorder

Previous studies suggest that individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are more likely than other disability groups and the general population to gravitate toward science, technology, eng...
Low Threshold Planarized Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers

Vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) have been attracting increasing amounts of attention in recent years [1]-[7]. They are attractive as a component for optoelectronic ICs, 2D arrays, and even as individual devices. There has also been much interest in strained quantum well lasers due to the beneficial aspects introduced by the strain [8]-[9]. Using a high-Q VCSEL with strained-layer quantum-wells, low threshold micro-laser arrays have recently been demonstrated [4]. In our work a similar structure is used, but more highly-reflecting graded-interface mirrors and a novel self-aligned planarization process are employed. The result is a more practical VCSEL structure with CW threshold current densities less than 1 kA/cm2, the lowest ever reported.
Biochemical discrimination of hurler and scheie syndromes

The enzymatic delineation of the mucopolysaccharidoses has revealed that certain disorders, although phenotypically distinct, paradoxically appear to share the same enzymic defect. The clinically well defined Hurler and Scheie syndromes result from a deficiency in the same lysosomal enzyme, α-L-iduronidase. Using the ‘synthetic’ substrate, phenyl iduronide, it has not been possible to demonstrate residual α-L-iduronidase in cultured skin fibroblasts taken from patients with Hurler and Scheie syndromes. However, we have been able to detect residual α-L-iduronidase activity in cultured skin fibroblasts taken from these patients using a ‘natural’ substrate (tritiated iduronosyl anhydromannitol sulphate). The apparent Km values of α-L-iduronidase in cultured skin fibroblast homogenates taken from Hurler, Scheie and normal controls were 212, 55 and 52 μmol/l respectively; the corresponding Vmax values were 11, 8 and 664 pmol/min/mg protein respectively. These biochemical findings explain the marked clinical differences and provide evidence that Hurler and Scheie syndromes result from different allelic mutations at the α-L-iduronidase locus.