cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
An Analysis of Start-up for an Operational Fuel Cell Transit Bus

Author(s): Erickson, Paul A.; Betts, Daniel A.; Simmons, Timothy C.; Roan, Vernon P., Jr. | Abstract: Presented at the International Truck a Bus Meeting a Exposition, Portland, OR Session: Fuel Cells The start-up process of an operational phosphoric acid fuel cell transit bus has been investigated. The bus employs a hybrid arrangement of a 50 kW Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC) engine in parallel with Nickel-Cadmium batteries on a 30-foot heavy-duty transit bus chassis manufactured by Bus Manufacturing Inc. The bus uses methanol as the primary fuel, which is processed through a steam-reformer to produce hydrogen used in the fuel cell. Start-up of the fuel cell bus is defined as the time that is required to heat up the fuel cell and subcomponents to operating temperatures and to establish operating flow conditions. While in general fuel cell vehicles produce low emissions and are very efficient while operating, start-up of the fuel cell bus represents a significant time requirement, power and fuel consumption, and considerable pollutant emissions with no usable output power. A description of the start-up procedure for the bus, fuel and power usage, average time required, and analysis of emissions data are presented.
Applications of lasers In bioanalytical chemistry

Lasers have grown from being an exotic device in the research laboratory to become an important part of practical bioanalytical instrumentation. Laser-excited fluorescence offers extremely high sensitivity for the detection of trace components in ultramicro environments. This has led to a new generation of cellular and subcellular probes for the biochemical and the clinical laboratory. Examples of upcoming technologies that are relevant to medicine and biotechnology are presented, including (1) high-speed DNA mapping and sequencing, where the analysis time is decreased by 1000× and where the accuracy is improved substantially; (2) the detection of various intracellullar enzymes in blood cells, providing information about aging and carcinogenesis; (3) the characterization of individual enzyme molecules, showing how protein folding and refolding can lead to different activities among a population of otherwise identical molecules; (4) the measurement of zeptomole quantities of antigens, paving the way for early diagnosis of diseases; and (5) the monitoring of trace impurities in biopharmaceuticals, potentially leading to new standards for quality control in their production. New types of lasers optimized for these applications will therefore have significant market potential.
O impasse da escravatura: prostitutas escravas, suas senhoras e a lei brasileira de 1871

This article discusses social practices, everyday routine and the social and juridical conflicts related to slave prostitutes and their mistresses during the 1860's and 1870's. The text also discusses the campaign of the abolicionists which culminated in the Brazilian Slavery Law of 1871, also known as the Law of the Free Womb.
Buy What is Advertised on Television? Evidence from Bans on Child-Directed Food Advertising:

The authors examine whether the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI), the food industry's self-regulatory program that restricts child-directed advertising, has been effective in reducing children's advertising exposure and in changing household purchasing behaviors. During 2006–2008, Hershey's, Mars, and Cadbury Adams implemented their CFBAI pledges. The current findings indicate that CFBAI implementation reduced purchasing frequency by households with children of Cadbury Adams's bubble gum (by 80%) but not Hershey's or Mars chocolate. This seems to have resulted from Cadbury Adams's eliminating advertising to all age groups, whereas children continued to be exposed at high levels to Hershey's and Mars chocolate advertising on general programs. The authors conclude that restricting (only) child-directed advertising may not effectively reduce advertising exposure to children, but reducing advertising exposure can significantly lessen household purchasing.
Predictability Bounds of Electronic Health Records

The ability to intervene in disease progression given a person’s disease history has the potential to solve one of society’s most pressing issues: advancing health care delivery and reducing its cost. Controlling disease progression is inherently associated with the ability to predict possible future diseases given a patient’s medical history. We invoke an information-theoretic methodology to quantify the level of predictability inherent in disease histories of a large electronic health records dataset with over half a million patients. In our analysis, we progress from zeroth order through temporal informed statistics, both from an individual patient’s standpoint and also considering the collective effects. Our findings confirm our intuition that knowledge of common disease progressions results in higher predictability bounds than treating disease histories independently. We complement this result by showing the point at which the temporal dependence structure vanishes with increasing orders of the time-correlated statistic. Surprisingly, we also show that shuffling individual disease histories only marginally degrades the predictability bounds. This apparent contradiction with respect to the importance of time-ordered information is indicative of the complexities involved in capturing the health-care process and the difficulties associated with utilising this information in universal prediction algorithms.
Improving convergence of divergence functional ensemble estimators

Recent work has focused on the problem of non-parametric estimation of divergence functionals. Many existing approaches are restrictive in their assumptions on the density support or require difficult calculations at the support boundary which must be known a priori. We derive the MSE convergence rate of a leave-one-out kernel density plug-in divergence functional estimator for general bounded density support sets where knowledge of the support boundary is not required. We generalize the theory of optimally weighted ensemble estimation to derive two estimators that achieve the parametric rate when the densities are sufficiently smooth. The asymptotic distribution of these estimators and tuning parameter selection guidelines are provided. Based on the theory, we propose an empirical estimator of Renyi-α divergence that outperforms the standard kernel density plug-in estimator, especially in higher dimensions.
MSW Oscillations – LMA and Subdominant Effects

These notes, based on a talk given at the Neutrino 2006 conference [Neutrino 2006, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, http://neutrinosantafe06.com/ ], review the sensitivity of solar neutrinos to certain types of new physics, namely modifications of neutrino-matter interactions by the exchange of a new heavy particle and a large neutrino transition moment. Both were first proposed in the 1970ʼs as possible explanations for the solar neutrino “problem” and were actively investigated for many years. While since ruled out as the dominant mechanisms of the solar neutrino flavor conversion, they remain of great interest as subdominant effects, which, if observed, would open a window to new physics. We outline the sensitivity of the current experiments and describe progress that may be expected in the near future.
Rational curves on elliptic surfaces

We prove that a very general elliptic surfaceE ! P 1 over the complex numbers with a section and with geometric genus pg 2 contains no rational curves other than the section and components of singular bers. Equivalently, if E=C(t) is a very general elliptic curve of height d 3 and if L is a nite extension of C(t) with L = C(u), then the Mordell-Weil group E(L) = 0.
Total Synthesis of Desmethyl Macrolide Antibiotics

Macrolide antibiotics occupy a special place in the history of organic chemistry and medicine. This account chronicles the evolution of our approach that ultimately led to the successful total syntheses of four desmethyl (i.e., Me → H) analogues of telithromycin, a semisynthetic derivative of the flagship macrolide antibiotic, erythromycin. 1 Introduction 2 Project Rationale and Retrosynthetic Analysis 3 Lessons Learned from the Total Synthesis of 4,8,10-Tridesmethyl Telithromycin 4 Total Synthesis of 4,10-Didesmethyl Telithromycin 5 Total Synthesis of 4,8-Didesmethyl Telithromycin 6 Total Synthesis of 4-Desmethyl Telithromycin 7 Biological Evaluation of Desmethyl Telithromycin Analogues 8 Concluding Remarks
Phylogenetic and taxonomic implications of protein variation in the Mesoamerican salamander genus Oedipina (Caudata: Plethodontidae)

An analysis of protein variation was conducted among 28 population samples of salamanders of .the genus Oedipina. collected in Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, and Panama, in order to assess the validity oC currently recognized specles and to evaluate their phylogenetic relationships. A set oC eight species of the related genus Nototriton served as an outgroup. There are four major clades, with Nei geneuc distances between elades ranging frorn 0.46 to 2.67. Patteins of geographic variation within O.u.niformis as currently recognized indicate thatpopulations withinit should be placed ioto fourspecies: O. alfatoiis a valid species, and O. gracilis and O. pacificensis are
Statins and the Liver

Lipid lowering, particularly with 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase inhibitors ("statins"), reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. Patients with chronic liver disease present challenges to the use of lipid medications. In the case of most liver disorders, the concern has been one of safety. There is evidence that most lipid-lowering medications can be used safely in many situations, although large outcomes trials are lacking. This review examines lipid physiology and cardiovascular risk in specific liver diseases and reviews the evidence for lipid lowering and the use of statins in chronic liver disease.
Dynamic power allocation in MIMO fading systems without channel distribution information

This paper considers dynamic power allocation in MIMO fading systems with unknown channel state distributions. First, the ideal case of perfect instantaneous channel state information at the transmitter (CSIT) is treated. Using the drift-plus-penalty method, a dynamic power allocation policy is developed and shown to approach optimality, regardless of the channel state distribution and without requiring knowledge of this distribution. Next, the case of delayed and quantized channel state information is considered. Optimal utility is fundamentally different in this case, and a different online algorithm is developed that is based on convex projections. The proposed algorithm for this delayed-CSIT case is shown to have an O (δ) optimality gap, where δ is the quantization error of CSIT.
The Life Cycles of Modern Artists

In earlier research, the author has contrasted the methods and life cycles of conceptual innovators, who express specific ideas and produce their major discoveries early in their careers, with those of experimental artists, who present visual perceptions and arrive at their major contributions late in life. This article extends the analysis: it shows that the binary division between the two types of artists is a qualitative approximation to an underlying continuous spectrum of approaches, and it considers whether artists can change their approach, and therefore their position on that spectrum, over time. The article also illustrates the value of the analysis, by showing why some of the greatest modern artists have not made important individual works and by considering why their experimental approach led the Impressionists to challenge the official Salon in the late nineteenth century.
Revealed Preference Theory

Pioneered by American economist Paul Samuelson, revealed preference theory is based on the idea that the preferences of consumers are revealed in their purchasing behavior. Researchers in this field have developed complex and sophisticated mathematical models to capture the preferences that are 'revealed' through consumer choice behavior. This study of consumer demand and behavior is closely tied up with econometrics (especially nonparametric econometrics), where testing the validity of different theoretical models is an important aspect of research. The theory of revealed preference has a very long and distinguished tradition in economics, but there was no systematic presentation of the theory until now. This book deals with basic questions in economic theory, such as the relation between theory and data, and studies the situations in which empirical observations are consistent or inconsistent with some of the best known theories in economics.
Catalytic conjunctive cross-coupling enabled by metal-induced metallate rearrangement

Transition metal catalysis plays a central role in contemporary organic synthesis. Considering the tremendously broad array of transition metal-catalyzed transformations, it is remarkable that the underlying elementary reaction steps are relatively few in number. Here, we describe an alternative to the organometallic transmetallation step that is common in many metal-catalyzed reactions, such as Suzuki-Miyaura coupling. Specifically, we demonstrate that vinyl boronic ester ate complexes, prepared by combining organoboronates and organolithium reagents, engage in palladium-induced metallate rearrangement wherein 1,2-migration of an alkyl or aryl group from boron to the vinyl α-carbon occurs concomitantly with C-Pd σ-bond formation. This elementary reaction enables a powerful cross-coupling reaction in which a chiral Pd catalyst merges three simple starting materials-an organolithium, an organoboronic ester, and an organotriflate-into chiral organoboronic esters with high enantioselectivity.
AREAS OF POLYGONS INSCRIBED IN A CIRCLE

Heron of Alexandria showed that the areaK of a triangle with sidesa,b, andc is given by $$K = \sqrt {s(s - a)(s - b)(s - c)} ,$$ wheres is the semiperimeter (a+b+c)/2. Brahmagupta gave a generalization to quadrilaterals inscribed in a circle. In this paper we derive formulas giving the areas of a pentagon or hexagon inscribed in a circle in terms of their side lengths. While the pentagon and hexagon formulas are complicated, we show that each can be written in a surprisingly compact form related to the formula for the discriminant of a cubic polynomial in one variable.
Crystal structure refinement of basic tellurium nitrate: A reformulation as (Te2O4H)+(NO3)−

Basic tellurium nitrate crystallizes in the space group Pnma witha=14.607 (1),b=8.801 (1), andc=4.4633 (4) A. Full-matrix least-squares refinement of automatic diffractometer data converged to a residualR=0.036 (Rw=0.046) for 899 independent reflections. A detailed analysis of the structural data leads us to reformulate this compound as (Te2O4H)+(NO3)− with a basic structural element consisting of a charged two-dimensional puckered Te2O4H+ network with discrete NO3− anions, an example of apositively-charged network structure.
A C-H functionalization protocol for the direct synthesis of benzobisthiazole derivatives.

Benzobisthiazole and thiazolothiazole derivatives are useful components in a variety of organic electronics devices resulting from their absorption, electroluminescence, and charge-transport properties. A convenient synthesis of these molecules via palladium/copper cocatalyzed C–H bond functionalization is described. Reaction conditions were optimized in a bromobenzene/benzobisthiazole system that allowed for the one-pot functionalization of both thioimidate positions of benzobisthiazole. The extension of this methodology to the synthesis of cruciform architectures and the functionalization of thiazolothiazole is also described.
Legislatures, Leaders, and Leviathans: How Constitutional Institutions Affect the Size of Government Spending

Objectives Research has shown that government spending can affect GDP growth rates, yet there is no comprehensive study that looks at how a country's choice of political institutions affects government spending. This article focuses on how the choice of regime type (presidential, parliamentary, or mixed), legislative chamber structure (bicameral or unicameral), legislative chamber size, and electoral rules affect the level of government spending. Methods The methodology used is pooled ordinary least squares for an unbalanced panel of 92 democracies between 1975 and 2007. Results The results show that the relationship between legislative chamber size and government spending is linear in unicameral countries but nonlinear in bicameral countries, plurality electoral rule is always associated with less spending than any other type of electoral rule, and unicameral and bicameral countries should not be modeled together. Conclusions While countries that have long-standing political institutions are less likely to change the characteristics of those political institutions in order to change the level of government spending, the results of this article suggest that countries that are establishing new political institutions (e.g., South Sudan and Libya) stand to benefit from knowing what types of institutions are conducive for growth.
Rationing health care and the need for credible scarcity: why Americans can't say no

With adequate cost containment unlikely in the foreseeable future, health care use will have to be curtailed, ideally with open and explicit criteria for equitably allocating resources or rationing. Yet, consensus on any such criteria appears remote because Americans cannot say no to health care. Americans may refuse to accept rationing for two reasons. The absence of any global limitation on health care resources may encourage patients to believe that health care resources are not scarce and do not need to be rationed. A belief in vitalism--that everyone is morally entitled to unlimited longevity and good health--may discourage setting limits on one's own care. Together, these characteristics may foster the belief that denials of health care services, especially by health insurers, are arbitrary or unfair refusals to pay for existing resources and not a necessary method of rationing scarce resources. If this hypothesis is true, Americans are unlikely to achieve consensus on any equitable allocation of health care unless they face an actual shortage (credible scarcity) of health care resources that makes it necessary to ration care.
Thiol-ene click reaction as a general route to functional trialkoxysilanes for surface coating applications.

Functionalized trialkoxysilanes are widely used to modify the surface properties of materials and devices. It will be shown that the photoinitiated radical-based thiol–ene “click” reaction provides a simple and efficient route to diverse trialkoxysilanes. A total of 15 trialkoxysilanes were synthesized by reacting either alkenes with 3-mercaptopropyltrialkoxysilane or thiols with allyltrialkoxysilanes in the presence of a photoinitiator. The functionalized trialkoxysilanes were obtained in quantitative to near-quantitative yields with high purity. The photochemical reactions can be run neat in standard borosilicate glassware using a low power 15-W blacklight. A wide range of functional groups is tolerated in this approach, and even complex alkenes click with the silane precursors. To demonstrate that these silanes can be used as surface coating agents, several were reacted with iron oxide superparamagnetic nanoparticles and the loadings quantified. The photoinitiated thiol–ene reaction thus offers a facil...
Contingent preference for flexibility: Eliciting beliefs from behavior

Following Kreps (1979), I consider a decision maker who is uncertain about her future taste. This uncertainty leaves the decision maker with a preference for ‡exibility: When choosing among menus containing alternatives for future choice, she weakly prefers menus with additional alternatives. Standard representations accommodating this choice pattern cannot distinguish tastes (indexed by a subjective state space) and
Mechanisms Of Liquid Crystal Alignment On Buffed Polyimide Surfaces

The surfaces of poly(amic acid) and cured polyimide films, subjected to different buffing and cure profiles, have been examined by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The ability of these buffed polymer surfaces to align nematic and chiral smectic C liquid crystals were also investigated. These studies show that the presence of microgrooves on buffed polymer surfaces are not necessary for alignment of liquid crystals. Rather, it is concluded that the liquid crystal alignment is mainly caused by the anisotropic intermolecular interactions between liquid crystal molecules and the polymer chains oriented by buffing. For the alignment of smectics, both the degree of order and mechanical properties of polyimide films are found to be important factors.
Support for struggling students in algebra: Contributions of incorrect worked examples

Abstract Middle school algebra students (N = 125) randomly assigned within classroom to a problem-solving control group, a correct worked examples control group, or an Incorrect worked examples group, completed an experimental classroom study to assess the differential effects of incorrect examples versus the two control groups on students' algebra learning, competence expectancy, and sense of belonging to math class. The study also explored whether prior knowledge impacted the effectiveness of the intervention. A greater sense of belonging and competence expectancy predicted greater learning overall. Students' sense of belonging to math and competence expectancies were high at the start of the study and did not increase as a result of the intervention. A significant interaction between prior knowledge and incorrect worked examples on post-test scores revealed that students with low prior knowledge who struggle with learning math benefit most from reflecting on highlighted errors within an incorrect worked examples intervention. The unique contributions of these findings as well as educational implications are discussed.
A General Catalyst for Site-Selective C(sp3)–H Bond Amination of Activated Secondary over Tertiary Alkyl C(sp3)–H Bonds

The discovery of transition metal complexes capable of promoting general, catalyst-controlled and selective carbon–hydrogen (C–H) bond amination of activated secondary C–H bonds over tertiary alkyl C(sp3)–H bonds is challenging, as substrate control often dominates when reactive nitrene intermediates are involved. In this letter, we report the design of a new silver complex, [(Py5Me2)AgOTf]2, that displays general and good-to-excellent selectivity for nitrene insertion into propargylic, benzylic, and allylic C–H bonds over tertiary alkyl C(sp3)–H bonds.
The Place of School Health Education in Research within the Programs of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

(1984). The Place of School Health Education in Research within the Programs of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Health Education: Vol. 15, Proceedings of The National Conference on School Health Education Research in the Heart, Lung, and Blood Areas, pp. 13-14.
The cofactor effect: varicocele and infertility

The varicocele may be a cofactor that, when potentiated by other cofactors (i.e., gonadotoxins), causes male infertility. This hypothesis could explain the unpredictable effects of the varicocele on fertility. Male rats with experimental varicoceles, sham surgery, or no surgery were treated for 30 days with the known gonadotoxins cyclophosphamide or nicotine. Spermatogenesis was assessed by flow cytometry. Cyclophosphamide alone caused gonadotoxicity, and its effect was accentuated by sham or varicocele surgery. Nicotine and the presence of a varicocele were more gonadotoxic than either the varicocele or nicotine by itself. This data would lend support to the cofactor hypothesis of the pathophysiology of the varicocele.
DBit: Assessing statistically significant differences in CDN performance

Abstract As the volume of content served by content distribution networks (CDNs) grows, these networks evolve to improve performance. Their performance is difficult to characterize because it depends on a number of factors. In this paper, we develop a methodology called DBit that can determine whether one CDN’s user-perceived performance is statistically different from another. We validate DBit and demonstrate its usefulness on CDNs used for photo delivery. We use PlanetLab to collect HTTP download data for 14.5 million photo fetches and 5 million video fetches and RIPE Atlas nodes hosted in end-user homes in 1470 ASes worldwide to obtain 470,400 photo fetches respectively, from three Photo CDNs and two Video CDNs. We find that DBit can identify significant performance differences not just between CDNs, but also across time and location.
Ligand-Enabled Meta-C-H Alkylation and Arylation Using a Modified Norbornene.

2-Carbomethoxynorbornene is identified as a more effective transient mediator to promote a Pd(II)-catalyzed meta-C(sp2)–H alkylation of amides with various alkyl iodides as well as arylation with previously incompatible aryl iodides. The use of a tailor-made quinoline ligand is also crucial for this reaction to proceed.
A latent class analysis of public attitudes toward water resources with implications for recreational demand

Abstract This study examines the extent to which heterogeneous perceptions and opinions toward water resource policy influence recreational demand in a river basin, and the associated valuation of ecosystem services. We first employed a latent class analysis to reveal two distinct groups of respondents that differ in their perceptions and opinions despite similar demographic characteristics. We then estimated a recreational demand model that is conditional on latent class membership. We found that respondents’ perceptions and opinions directly influence recreational demand and valuation. Incorporating preference heterogeneity using latent class analysis, in addition to or instead of demographic characteristics, could help improve estimates of the distributional impacts of a policy designed to enhance ecosystem services.
Marine Chemistry in the Coastal Environment: Principles, Perspective and Prospectus

Marine chemistry of the coastal environment starts with principles of rock weathering that use carbonic acid to mobilize elements, only some of which comprise the majority of sea salt. The principle reason is reverse weathering, extensively represented in coastal waters, and returns most elements to newly formed colloids or minerals while recycling carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. This includes the deeper ocean expanse of sediment diagenesis, plus hydrothermal plumes and attendant low-temperature basalt alteration. Within the estuarine and extended shelf regimes, both conservative and non-conservative processes can be distinguished and modeled to determine proportions of weathered elements transmitted to the sea or consumed by reverse weathering. Conceptually, the steady-state processes that lead to the composition of seawater can be viewed as heterogeneous equilibria between dissolved constituents and solid mineral products taking hundreds of millennia. However, initial processes in the estuarine and coastal environment are characterized by shorter term scavenging associated with inorganic and organic colloids. These recycle both carbon and trace elements on timescales commensurate with estuarine flushing and coastal exchange with the ocean. The natural uranium and thorium decay series provide powerful tools for quantifying the rates of estuarine processes, including those within groundwater and the subterranean estuary. In the future, new mass spectrometric and nuclear magnetic resonance techniques will help to define the molecular nature of newly formed estuarine colloids as has been done for dissolved organic matter. As the coastal environment undergoes the forces of climate change in the form of warming and sea level rise, future research should address how these will impact chemistry of the coastal environment as a net source or sink of carbon dioxide and associated organic material.
Transsphenoidal Hypophysectomy: Postsurgical CT Findings

Transsphenoidal surgery produces changes in the paranasal sinuses and sella that should be familiar to radiologists in view of the frequency of this type of surgery. Some of these changes, such as soft-tissue-density debris in the sinuses, are transient. Fat and other packing material identifiable in the sinuses and sella after surgery is permanent. The procedure is associated with a variety of complications that are readily detectable by computed tomography (CT). These include bleeding, compression of parasellar structures by packing material, cerebrospinal fluid leaks, and pneumocephalus. After a transsphenoidal procedure, with or without follow-up radiation therapy, residual enhancing intrasellar and parasellar lesions may still be identified.
Learning from multiway data: simple and efficient tensor regression

Tensor regression has shown to be advantageous in learning tasks with multi-directional relatedness. Given massive multiway data, traditional methods are often too slow to operate on or suffer from memory bottleneck. In this paper, we introduce subsampled tensor projected gradient to solve the problem. Our algorithm is impressively simple and efficient. It is built upon projected gradient method with fast tensor power iterations, leveraging randomized sketching for further acceleration. Theoretical analysis shows that our algorithm converges to the correct solution in fixed number of iterations. The memory requirement grows linearly with the size of the problem. We demonstrate superior empirical performance on both multi-linear multitask learning and spatio-temporal applications.
Practical Human Sensing in the Light

We present StarLight, an infrastructure-based sensing system that reuses light emitted from ceiling LED panels to reconstruct fine-grained user skeleton postures continuously in real time. It relies on only a few (e.g., 20) photodiodes placed at optimized locations to passively capture low-level visual clues (light blockage information), with neither cameras capturing sensitive images, nor on-body devices, nor electromagnetic interference. It then aggregates the blockage information of a large number of light rays from LED panels and identifies best-fit 3D skeleton postures. StarLight greatly advances the prior light-based sensing design by dramatically reducing the number of intrusive sensors, overcoming furniture blockage, and supporting user mobility. We build and deploy StarLight in a 3.6 m x 4.8 m office room, with customized 20 LED panels and 20 photodiodes. Experiments show that StarLight achieves 13.6 degree mean angular error for five body joints and reconstructs a mobile skeleton at a high frame rate (40 FPS). StarLight enables a new unobtrusive sensing paradigm to augment today's mobile sensing for continuous and accurate behavioral monitoring.
Do Opinions on Financial Misstatement Firms Affect Analysts’ Reputation with Investors? Evidence from Reputational Spillovers

We examine whether opinions on firms subsequently revealed to have misstated earnings affect analysts’ reputation with investors. We find that positive opinions by bullish analysts hurt their reputation, leading investors to react less to their research on non-misstatement firms after the misstatement revelation (i.e., negative spillovers). We also find that bearish analysts issuing more negative opinions gain reputation and experience positive spillovers. Finally, for analysts who dropped coverage of the misstatement firm before the misstatement revelation, we find no spillovers, which suggests that analysts experience limited reputational gains when they did not issue a public negative opinion.
Pattern Recognition Receptor Gene Expression In Ischemia-Induced Flap Revascularization

Background The innate immune system is the major contributor to acute inflammation induced by microbial infection or tissue damage. Germline-encoded pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) are responsible for sensing the presence of micro-organisms and endogenous molecules released from damaged cells. We performed microarray analyses on ischemic wound tissue to investigate the temporal relationship between PRR gene expression, wound perfusion, and flap revascularization. Methods A cranial-based, peninsular-shaped myocutaneous flap was surgically created on the dorsum of C57BL6 mice (n = 25 total; n = 20 with flap). Laser speckle contrast imaging was utilized to study the pattern of flap ischemia and return of functional revascularization. Flap microvascular density was determined by image analysis of CD-31–immunostained sections. Total RNA was isolated from homogenized flap tissue and was converted to cDNA (RT), which was hybridized to a microarray of pathway-focused genes. Microarray results were validated with quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Results Laser speckle contrast imaging predicted the spatial and temporal pattern of ischemia and functional revascularization. Histologic analysis demonstrated early leukocyte infiltration and later engraftment, resulting in flap revascularization by new blood vessel growth from the recipient bed and dilatation of preexisting proximal flap vasculature. qRT-PCR demonstrated significant early gene expression of select PRRs, cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors, peaking by 48 hours, and returning toward baseline but remaining elevated at 10 days. Conclusion Surgical and ischemic tissue injury resulted in the early gene expression of select PRRs, which may bind with endogenous molecules released from ischemic or necrotic cells, leading to transcription of genes involved in wound inflammation and angiogenesis.
Stability Of Coastal Inlets

Existing theories of relationship between tidal range, tidal prism, and inlet cross-section are reviewed and compared; existing data on inlets are introduced into discussion, as well as effect of quantity and type of littoral material on inlet action.
Parenting while living with advanced cancer: A qualitative study

Background:Patients with advanced cancer who have dependent children are an important population with a life-limiting illness and high levels of psychological distress. Few studies have addressed the experience of being a parent with advanced cancer and their potential palliative needs.Aim:To describe the experience of living with advanced cancer as a parent, including illness experience, parental concerns, and treatment decision making and to explore whether these experiences differ by their functional status.Design:We conducted a cross-sectional, qualitative study using in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed using thematic content analysis.Setting and participants:A total of 42 participants with metastatic cancer and with at least one child under the age of 18 years were recruited from a comprehensive cancer center. 25 participants were rated as having high functional status (the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) Performance Status Scale = 0–1) and 17 with low functional status...
ID in the Courts: Anti-Evolutionism for the 21st Century

This article, included in special issue - Essays in Honor of Professor Erwin C. Surrency, discusses the ongoing state of anti-evolutionism. Professor Larson identifies three phases of the creation-evolution legal controversy. The first phase was categorized by a national religious crusade to outlaw teaching the Darwinian theory of human evolution in public school. The second phase was marked by state statutes and school board regulation mandating that, to counterbalance Darwinian instruction, schools also teach the biblical account of creation or, if the bible could not be taught, then the scientific evidence alleged to support the bible be taught. Courts stuck down these efforts. Nonetheless, many Americans remain skeptical about Darwinism and reject the idea that it should be the only theory of origins taught in public schools. This skepticism spawned the intelligent design (ID) movement and ushered in the third phase of the controversy which is characterized by challenges to the adequacy of purely naturalistic theories of evolution, by programs to open science education to teaching evidence of ID, by claims that Darwinism is only a theory, and by calls to focus instruction on the controversy over evolutionary naturalism. Larson traces the origins of ID, discusses the disclaiming of Darwinism in the deep South, identifies Congressional efforts regarding ID, reviews legal challenges, and examines efforts to proclaim academic freedom for ID.
A Community Needs Assessment of the Physical Activity and Food Environment in a Predominantly Hispanic U.S. City.

Introduction:Hispanics suffer disproportionately compared with non-Hispanic Whites from health conditions that are affected by physical inactivity and poor dietary habits.Method:A needs assessment ...
JWST telescope integration and test progress

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a 6.5m, segmented, IR telescope that will explore the first light of the universe after the big bang. The JWST Optical Telescope Element (Telescope) integration and test program is well underway. The telescope was completed in the spring of 2016 and the cryogenic test equipment has been through two optical test programs leading up to the final flight verification program. The details of the telescope mirror integration will be provided along with the current status of the flight observatory. In addition, the results of the two optical ground support equipment cryo tests will be shown and how these plans fold into the flight verification program.
Learning Human Search Strategies From a Crowdsourcing Game

There is evidence that humans can be more efficient than existing algorithms at searching for good solutions in high-dimensional and non-convex design or control spaces, potentially due to our prior knowledge and learning capability. This work attempts to quantify the search strategy of human beings to enhance a Bayesian optimization (BO) algorithm for an optimal design and control problem. We consider the sequence of human solutions (called a search trajectory) as generated from BO, and propose to recover the algorithmic parameters of BO through maximum likelihood estimation. The method is first verified through simulation studies and then applied to human solutions crowdsourced from a gamified design problem. We learn BO parameters from a player who achieved fast improvement in his/her solutions and show that applying the learned parameters to BO achieves better convergence than using a self-adaptive BO. The proposed method is different from inverse reinforcement learning in that it only requires a good search strategy, rather than near-optimal solutions from humans.
The price of anarchy in auctions

This survey outlines a general and modular theory for proving approximation guarantees for equilibria of auctions in complex settings. This theory complements traditional economic techniques, which generally focus on exact and optimal solutions and are accordingly limited to relatively stylized settings. We highlight three user-friendly analytical tools: smoothness-type inequalities, which immediately yield approximation guarantees for many auction formats of interest in the special case of complete information and deterministic strategies; extension theorems, which extend such guarantees to randomized strategies, no-regret learning outcomes, and incomplete-information settings; and composition theorems, which extend such guarantees from simpler to more complex auctions. Combining these tools yields tight worst-case approximation guarantees for the equilibria of many widely-used auction formats.
Different Entrepreneurial Ventures for Greater Societal Value: A Portfolio Approach to Assist Public Policy

Although the importance of entrepreneurship is evident and interest continues to grow, high-growth ventures tend to be featured because they produce a significant amount of job and wealth creation ...
Mapping seagrass coverage and spatial patterns with high spatial resolution IKONOS imagery

Abstract Seagrass habitats in subtidal coastal waters provide a variety of ecosystem functions and services and there is an increasing need to acquire information on spatial and temporal dynamics of this resource. Here, we explored the capability of IKONOS (IKO) data of high resolution (4 m) for mapping seagrass cover [submerged aquatic vegetation (%SAV) cover] along the mid-western coast of Florida, USA. We also compared seagrass maps produced with IKO data with that obtained using the Landsat TM sensor with lower resolution (30 m). Both IKO and TM data, collected in October 2009, were preprocessed to calculate water depth invariant bands to normalize the effect of varying depth on bottom spectra recorded by the two satellite sensors and further the textural information was extracted from IKO data. Our results demonstrate that the high resolution IKO sensor produced a higher accuracy than the TM sensor in a three-class % SAV cover classification. Of note is that the OA of %SAV cover mapping at our study area created with IKO data was 5–20% higher than that from other studies published. We also examined the spatial distribution of seagrass over a spatial range of 4–240 m using the Ripley’s K function [L(d)] and IKO data that represented four different grain sizes [4 m (one IKO pixel), 8 m (2 × 2 IKO pixels), 12 m (3 × 3 IKO pixels), and 16 m (4 × 4 IKO pixels)] from moderate-dense seagrass cover along a set of six transects. The Ripley’s K metric repeatedly indicated that seagrass cover representing 4 m × 4 m pixels displayed a dispersed (or slightly dispersed) pattern over distances of
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF EDUCATIONAL MEASUREMENT

Since school learning entails not just accretion of knowledge but the structuring and restructuring of knowledge and cognitive skills, the conception and construction of educational achievement measures must be cast in developmental terms. Since student characteristics as well as social and educational experiences influence current performance, the interpretation and implications of educational achievement measures must be relative to intrapersonal and situational contexts. These points imply a strategy of comprehensive assessment in context that focusses on the processes and structures involved in subject-matter competence as moderated in performance by personal and environmental influences. This article addresses in detail both the nature of developing competence and its measurement in terms of context-dependent task performance. Construct-irrelevant task difficulty that might jeopardize the meaning of test scores as well as construct-irrelevant influences that might jeopardize implications for action are taken into account via the comprehensive measurement of relevant contextual factors. Comprehensive assessment in context thus facilitates valid interpretations of the meaning and implications of ability and achievement scores in particular instances, thereby lightening the interpretive and ethical burdens on test users and enhancing the validity of test use.
Rapid evolution of the human mutation spectrum

DNA is a molecule that contains the information needed to build an organism. This information is stored as a code made up of four chemicals: adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and thymine (T). Every time a cell divides and copies its DNA, it accidentally introduces ‘typos’ into the code, known as mutations. Most mutations are harmless, but some can cause damage. All cells have ways to proofread DNA, and the more resources are devoted to proofreading, the less mutations occur. Simple organisms such as bacteria use less energy to reduce mutations, because their genomes may tolerate more damage. More complex organisms, from yeast to humans, instead need to proofread their genomes more thoroughly. Recent research has shown that humans have a lower mutation rate than chimpanzees and gorillas, their closest living relatives. Humans and other apes copy and proofread their DNA with basically the same biological machinery as yeast, which is about a billion years old. Yet, humans and apes have only existed for a small fraction of this time, a few million years. Why then do humans need to replicate and proofread their DNA differently from apes, and could it be that the way mutations arise is still evolving? Previous research revealed that European people experience more mutations within certain DNA motifs (specifically, the DNA sequences ‘TCC’, ‘TCT’, ‘CCC’ and ‘ACC’) than Africans or East Asians do. Now, Harris (who conducted the previous research) and Pritchard have compared how various human ethnic groups accumulate mutations and how these processes differ in different groups. Statistical analysis of the genomes of thousands of people from all over the world did indeed show that the mutation rates of many different three-letter DNA motifs have changed during the past 20,000 years of human evolution. Harris and Pritchard report that when groups of humans left Africa and settled in isolated populations across different continents, each population quickly became better at avoiding mutations in some genomic contexts, but worse in others. This suggests that the risk of passing on harmful mutations to future generations is changing and evolving at an even faster rate than was originally suspected. The results suggest that every human ethnic group carries specific variants of the genes which ensure that DNA replication and repair are accurate. These differences appear to influence which types of mutations are frequently passed down to future generations. An important next step will be to identify the genetic variants that could be controlling mutational patterns and how they affect human health.
3-D microwave imaging of breast tumors with matched-filtering

Matched-filtering is applied to an algorithm similar to confocal microwave imaging of the breast in order to better detect tumors in a 3-D FDTD model. Strongly scattering objects detected by the imaging algorithm are examined for tumor existence through matched-filtering. Based on the matched-filtering examination, early-time clutter is well suppressed by this method. Also, an antenna-array with a spatial resolution of 8.3 mm is shown to be effective in reducing the clutter level for the successful detection of a 5-mm-diameter spherical tumor.
Stochastic variational deep kernel learning

Deep kernel learning combines the non-parametric flexibility of kernel methods with the inductive biases of deep learning architectures. We propose a novel deep kernel learning model and stochastic variational inference procedure which generalizes deep kernel learning approaches to enable classification, multi-task learning, additive covariance structures, and stochastic gradient training. Specifically, we apply additive base kernels to subsets of output features from deep neural architectures, and jointly learn the parameters of the base kernels and deep network through a Gaussian process marginal likelihood objective. Within this framework, we derive an efficient form of stochastic variational inference which leverages local kernel interpolation, inducing points, and structure exploiting algebra. We show improved performance over stand alone deep networks, SVMs, and state of the art scalable Gaussian processes on several classification benchmarks, including an airline delay dataset containing 6 million training points, CIFAR, and ImageNet.