cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Religious Sincerity and Imperfection: Can Lapsing Prisoners Recover under RFRA and RLUIPA?

Within the last two decades, Congress has passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA). These Acts prevent federal and state officials from imposing a "substantial burden" on prisoners’ religious exercise, unless the burden advances "a compelling governmental interest... and is the least restrictive means of furthering that... interest." In accordance with these Acts, prison officials often allow inmates to read scriptures, attend services, eat religious foods, and participate in fasts. But what happens if officials provide accommodations and inmates fail to take advantage of them? Must prison officials continue accommodating these so-called "backsliding" prisoner? Circuits are split over this question. Specifically, courts have recently disagreed whether it is a "substantial burden" for prisons to withhold religious diets after prisoners fail to keep them. In Daly v Davis, the Seventh Circuit held that removing a violating prisoner from a kosher food program wasn’t a substantial burden under RFRA. On the other hand, in Lovelace v Lee, the Fourth Circuit held that removing one-time violators from a fasting program was a substantial burden under the equivalent RLUIPA standard, despite a lengthy dissent from Judge Harvie Wilkinson. This Comment analyzes the current debate and suggests a novel solution - one that addresses these questions and overcomes the weaknesses of the current approaches. Part I summarizes the First Amendment jurisprudence that led to RFRA and RLUIPA and briefly explains how courts have interpreted these Acts. Part II describes courts’ attempts to determine if removing violating prisoners from dietary accommodation programs is a substantial burden. Part III argues that courts are focusing on the wrong issue. Both sides rush to determine whether removing backsliding prisoners is a substantial burden, but both overlook the critical prior question: Is there even a burden on religious exercise? To answer this question, courts must know if prisoners hold sincere religious beliefs. I therefore argue that sincerity is the determinative inquiry when analyzing the claims of backsliding prisoners. Unfortunately, courts have not developed a formal sincerity test in RFRA and RLUIPA cases. Courts should remedy this problem by applying a modified version of the sincerity test developed for conscientious objectors to military service in Witmer v. United States. My approach allows sincere but imperfect prisoners to exercise their beliefs, but doesn’t force prison officials to accommodate mendacity.
Firm-specific information and the efficiency of investment

Abstract In the three-year period following stock market liberalizations, the growth rate of the typical firm's capital stock exceeds its pre-liberalization mean by an average of 4.1 percentage points. Cross-sectional changes in investment are significantly correlated with the signals about fundamentals embedded in the stock price changes that occur upon liberalization. Panel-data estimations show that a 10-percentage point increase in a firm's expected future sales growth predicts a 2.9- to 3.5-percentage point increase in the growth rate of its capital stock. Country-specific changes in the cost of capital drive changes in investment but firm-specific changes in the cost of capital do not.
Surprising Similarities: Recent Monetary Regimes of Small Economies

In contrast to earlier recessions, the monetary regimes of many small economies have not changed in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. This is due in part to the fact that many small economies continue to use hard exchange rate fixes, a reasonably durable regime. However, most of the new stability is due to countries that float with an inflation target. Though a few have left to join the Eurozone, no country has yet abandoned an inflation targeting regime under duress. Inflation targeting now represents a serious alternative to a hard exchange rate fix for small economies seeking monetary stability. Are there important differences between the economic outcomes of the two stable regimes? I examine a panel of annual data from more than 170 countries from 2007 through 2012 and find that the macroeconomic and financial consequences of regime‐choice are surprisingly small. Consistent with the literature, business cycles, capital flows, and other phenomena for hard fixers have been similar to those for inflation targeters during the Global Financial Crisis and its aftermath.
The Impact of Adult Incarceration on Child Poverty: A County-Level Analysis, 1995-2007

Traditionally, research on the tremendous variation in the use of incarceration across time and space has focused on the issue of whether imprisoning more offenders reduces crime. More recently, research has begun to explore the collateral consequences of mass incarceration for the families and communities of those imprisoned. The current study adds to this burgeoning literature by examining the impact of incarceration rates on child poverty rates. Employing a panel design for North Carolina county data, 1995-2007, we use instrumental variable techniques to disentangle the effect of incarceration on poverty from the effect of poverty on incarceration. The results indicate that mass incarceration has significantly increased child poverty rates. The impact of adult incarceration on child poverty appears especially pronounced in counties with a high proportion of non-White residents.
Entrepreneurs on Horseback: Reflections on the Organization of Law

Law and entrepreneurship is an emerging field of study. Skeptics might wonder whether law and entrepreneurship is a variant of that old canard, The Law of the Horse. In this essay, we defend law and entrepreneurship against that charge and urge legal scholars to become more engaged in the wide-ranging scholarly discourse regarding entrepreneurship. In making our case, we argue that research at the intersection of entrepreneurship and law is distinctive. In some instances, legal rules and practices are tailored to the entrepreneurial context, and in other instances, general rules of law find novel expression in the entrepreneurial context. As a result, the study of law and entrepreneurship yields unique insights about both law and entrepreneurship.
Managerial incentives, capital reallocation, and the business cycle

Abstract We argue that when managers have private information about the productivity of assets under their control and receive private benefits, substantial bonuses are required to induce less productive managers to declare that capital should be reallocated. The need to provide incentives for managers to relinquish control links executive compensation to capital reallocation and managerial turnover over the business cycle, rendering them procyclical if expected managerial compensation increases when more managers are hired. Moreover, capital is less productively deployed in downturns because agency costs make reallocation more costly. Empirically, we find that both CEO turnover and executive compensation are remarkably procyclical.
A fiscal perspective of state rescaling

Recent socio-spatial studies point out a number of ongoing trends in the ‘scale division of labour of the state’, including among others, ‘destatization’, ‘denationalization’ and ‘internationalization’. We draw on the literature in public economics to review several approaches to measuring state rescaling. We employ these measures to produce empirical evidence on the extent of state rescaling and its determinants. We find that over the last two decades there has been a world trend towards decentralization while the average government size has not changed.
Are sovereign debt secondary market returns sensitive to macroeconomic fundamentals? Evidence from the contemporary and interwar markets

Abstract The insensitivity of sovereign loan secondary market returns to macroeconomic fundamentals has been attributed to market illiquidity and the absence of publicly reported transactional prices. During the 1920s and 1930s sovereign bonds were traded in an active market and weekly transactional prices were publicly available. This paper shows that price changes from both eras are insensitive to unexpected changes in key external and country-specific macroeconomic aggregates, but that returns are moved by individual agent announcements that presage changes in future lending. The results, which contrast with studies of US equities, indicate that the sovereignty of the issuer matters more than the type of debt contract.
Discretionary Accruals and Earnings Management: An Analysis of Pseudo Earnings Targets

We investigate whether the positive associations between discretionary accrual proxies and beating earnings benchmarks hold for comparisons of groups segregated at other points in the distributions of earnings, earnings changes, and analystsbased unexpected earnings. We refer to these points as “pseudo” targets. Results suggest that the positive association between discretionary accruals and beating the profit benchmark extends to pseudo targets throughout the earnings distribution. We find similar results for the earnings change distribution. In contrast, we find few positive associations between discretionary accruals and beating pseudo targets derived from analysts‐based unexpected earnings. We develop an additional analysis that accounts for the systematic association between discretionary accruals and earnings and earnings changes. Results suggest that the positive association between discretionary accruals and earnings intensifies around the actual profit benchmark (i.e., where earnings management i...
In Re Sanders and the Resurrection of Stanley v. Illinois

In 1972, the Supreme Court in Stanley v. Illinois declared that parents are entitled to a hearing on their fitness before the state places their children in foster care. Somewhat oddly, Stanley went on to be cited as a leading case regarding the rights of unwed fathers to object to private adoptions favored by mothers -- an issue not present in Stanley. Odder still, most states routinely violated Stanley in child welfare cases -- the context in which the Stanley rule arose. Most states apply the "one parent doctrine," which holds that finding one parent unfit justifies taking the child into foster care over the other parent's objections -- even when that parent (usually the father) has seized his opportunity interest in the child and is thus entitled to the due process protections ordered in Stanley. Cases around the country adopting this doctrine ignored Stanley -- many did not cite it at all and others noted it but offered no substantive discussion.This article argues that this trend may be changing. The Michigan Supreme Court held earlier this year that the one parent doctrine is unconstitutional, explaining at length, and with heavy reliance on Stanley, that the state must prove its case against parents before taking their children. This decision -- In re Sanders -- hopefully portends a welcome resurrection of Stanley v. Illinois in the foster care context. Such a resurrection would impose a core due process protection in an important body of cases. It would reinforce the policy -- also articulated in Stanley -- that due process protections are essential to determine whether a child's interest in protection of maltreatment or remaining with her family trump. And it would attack the gender stereotypes and other unhelpful heuristics that too often lead to poor decisions in child welfare cases.
Investor Inattention and the Market Reaction to Merger Announcements

Prior studies suggest that investors have limited attention. Tests of the inattention hypothesis have been performed in the context of relatively small corporate events, particularly earnings announcements. Presumably, large corporate events would always attract sufficient investor attention. However, we find evidence indicating that inattention affects investors' information processing even in the context of one of the largest and most important corporate events---merger announcements. More specifically, consistent with the notion that investors are less attentive to Friday announcements, we find that the market reaction to Friday stock swap announcements is muted, as evidenced by lower acquirers' merger announcement abnormal trading volumes and less pronounced acquirers' merger announcement abnormal stock returns.
Check Fraud and the Common Law: At the Intersection of Negligence and the Uniform Commercial Code

Common law negligence claims persist in check fraud cases despite the Uniform Commercial Code’s loss allocation provisions in Articles 3 and 4. Absent an explicit preemption provision, courts disagree as to whether, when, and to what extent the Code preempts these common law claims. As a result, the courts’ varying analytical approaches to common law negligence claims often create seemingly conflicting results. This Note reviews the current loss allocation rules in check fraud scenarios and examines recent preemption case law. It argues in favor of the comprehensive rights and remedies analysis used by the majority of courts to determine the circumstances under which common law negligence claims should be allowed under the Code. It also makes recommendations for future Code revisions based on the recent case law. Finally, this Note suggests that the loss allocation scheme as presently constituted provides a latent benefit to the payment system by encouraging customers to move toward electronic payment.
International Reserve Holdings with Sovereign Risk and Costly Tax Collection

We derive a precautionary demand for international reserves in the presence of sovereign risk and show that political-economy considerations modify the optimal level of reserve holdings. A greater chance of opportunistic behaviour by future policy makers and political corruption reduce the demand for international reserves and increase external borrowing. We provide evidence to support these findings. Consequently, the debt-to-reserves ratio may be less useful as a vulnerability indicator. A version of the Lucas Critique suggests that if a high debt-toreserves ratio is a symptom of opportunistic behaviour, a policy recommendation to increase international reserve holdings may be welfare-reducing. Over the past fifteen years, developing countries have increased their participation in international financial markets and faced new challenges. In the aftermath of the 1997‐8 Asian financial crises, some observers have called on emerging markets to reduce short-term external debt relative to international reserve holdings in order to lower their vulnerability to crisis. Countries such as Korea, Taiwan and Chile have managed to build up large stockpiles of foreign-currency reserves in recent years. Does it follow that all developing countries would benefit from increasing their cushion of international reserves to signal they are safe borrowers? As the Lucas Critique suggests, this question cannot be answered without understanding the underlying factors that determine a country’s choice of international reserve holdings. We illustrate this point using a model where both efficiency and politicaleconomy considerations play roles in determining a country’s optimal holdings of international reserves. In the absence of political-economy considerations, a country characterised by volatile output, inelastic demand for fiscal outlays, high tax collection costs and sovereign risk will want to accumulate both international reserves and external debt. External debt allows the country to smooth consumption when output is volatile. International reserves, if they are beyond the reach of creditors, allow the country to smooth consumption in the event of a default on the external debt that results in lost access to international capital markets. 1
Catastrophic Harm in United States Law: Liability and Insurance

Catastrophes or disasters may be defined as natural or man-made events of significant magnitude causing disruption such that survivors feel deprived of normal social help. In American law, catastrophic harm includes the mass of individual losses suffered by individuals, businesses, and entities of all kind, also including environmental harm. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), created in 1979, coordinates the response to disasters occurring in the United States while it administers prevention and organizes relief efforts. However, the system does not work top-down, since local and state governments bear the initial responsibility as first respondents. Local or state failure can cause the system not to be reactive enough, explaining the slow response after Hurricane Katrina. Non-desirable risks tend to concentrate in earthquake, flood, or hurricane prone areas, making such risks uninsurable. Significant efforts are made at state and federal level to make catastrophic risk insurable, pooling risks and sometimes creating compensation funds, especially in the case of nuclear and terrorist risks. Rather than disrupting the market, state or federal intervention tend to create proper conditions for a market to exist where none could otherwise prosper, whilst in best cases encouraging disaster mitigation. Given the weakness of the American welfare system by comparison to other developed countries, victims are more prone than elsewhere to look for a tortfeasor and sue. The jury system, the practice of contingent fee and the availability of class actions make American tort law a powerful pro-plaintiff system and tort law has a large impact wherever defendants can be identified. Insured victims tempted to sue are rarely overcompensated. Sophisticated solutions have been devised for the assessment of environmental damage when caused by oil pollution. Sovereign immunity may bar mass tort litigation against the federal government, for instance, for the failed flood control levees in New Orleans, but history proves that the Corps of Engineers made good proposals but had to comply with wrong political decisions.
Lawrence v. Texas and Judicial Hubris

INTRODUCTION 1556 I. A BRIEF HISTORY OF SUBSTANTIVE DUE PROCESS 1557 A. The Impertinent Origins of Substantive Due Process...... 1558 B. Substantive Due Process Returns to Respectability 1561 C. Prom etheus Bound? 1565 D Prometheus Unbound 1568 E. Prometheus Rebound? 1571 II. THE LAWRENCE OPINION 1573 A. The Court's Ascent into More Transcendent Dimensions 1575 B. Transcending Prior Doctrine 1578 C. Transcending America 1580 D Exploring More Transcendent Dimensions 1582 III. CAN LAWRENCE BE DEFENDED? 1586 A. Lawrence as Sophisticated Law 1586 B. Lawrence as Textual Interpretation 1590 IV. THE COSTS AND BENEFITS OF LAWRENCE 1597 V. GLUCKSBERG REDUX AND THE ELIMINATION OF THE GRISWOLD-ROE-LAWRENCE LINE 1607
Advising shareholders in takeovers

Abstract This paper studies the advisory role of the board of directors in takeovers. I develop a model in which the takeover premium and the ability of the target board to resist the takeover are endogenous. The analysis relates the influence of the board on target shareholders and the reaction of the market to its recommendations to various characteristics of the acquirer and the target. I also show that the expected target shareholder value can decrease with the expertise of the board and it is maximized when the board is biased against the takeover. Generally, uninformative and ignored recommendations are not necessarily evidence that the target board has no influence on the outcome of the takeover. Perhaps surprisingly, under the optimal board structure, target shareholders ignore the recommendations of the board, which are never informative in equilibrium.
Real Earnings Management: A Threat to Auditor Comfort?

SUMMARY: Real earnings management (REM) is an increasingly common method of manipulating financial results, yet little research examines auditors' perceptions of and responses to REM. Using the auditor comfort framework (Pentland 1993; Carrington and Catasus 2007), we examine the extent to which REM impacts auditor comfort and how, in the presence of REM, auditors rely on comfort-building strategies in trying to move from a state of discomfort (i.e., fear of failing to identify misstatements) to comfort. Based on in-depth interviews of 20 experienced auditors, we find that auditors are aware of REM and often identify REM through formalized protocols that include analytical procedures, discussions with management, or their knowledge of the business. Formal audit procedures play a role when trying to address, “rationally,” the risk of REM, but we also find that auditors use emotive phrases and references to body senses related to discomfort, indicating that there also is an emotional component to dealing w...
Durable goods and the forward-looking theory of consumption: Estimates implied by the dynamic effects of money

Abstract In this paper, we analyze the effects of money on the market for durable goods. Using quarterly US data, we estimate the dynamic responses of the price and quantity of durable goods and housing to money supply shocks, assuming only that money is neutral in the long-run. We then match these responses to those predicted by an equilibrium model of the markets for durable goods; the model relies on the standard theory of intertemporal consumer choice and the trade off between durable and non-durable goods. We find that money has important dynamic effects on the markets for durable goods, and that the theory provides a reasonable framework for interpreting these responses for plausible parameter values.
Does Starting School Before Labor Day Affect High School Retention and Graduation: Evidence From Virginia's Kings Dominion Law

Several states have required K-12 public schools to start after Labour Day in an effort to aid the tourism and hospitality industry. However, little is known about how these policies impact educati...
Are You Free to Contract Away Your Right to Bring a Negligence Claim

This article explores the enforceability of the exculpatory clause -- a contract term in which one party agrees to give up the right to bring a negligence claim against the other party. A spectrum of views on whether a contract containing such a clause is aberrant or not is presented and analyzed, followed by the author’s view of the rubric by which the enforceability of the clause should be measured. The article concludes by deconstructing one contract in which the clause was found.
Sign Regulation After Ladue: Examining the Evolving Limits of First Amendment Protection

This article examines the law of sign and billboard regulations, with particular attention to the dual concerns noted by the U.S. Supreme Court in City of Ladue v. Gilleo of restricting "too much" speech and restricting "too little." It addresses three general issues surrounding the permissible limits of sign and billboard regulation. In particular, it examines 1) the extent to which a municipality must accommodate signs or billboards, 2) the permissible limits of content-neutral yet under-inclusive restrictions on signs and billboards, and 3) the extent to which municipalities can create content-based distinctions in sign and billboard regulation.The Article further examines the First Amendment framework, focusing on time, place, and manner regulations of speech and the commercial speech doctrine. It then examines several decisions in which the Supreme Court has addressed restrictions on signs: Linmark Associates v. Township of Willingboro, Metromedia, Inc. v. City of San Diego, Members of City Council v. Taxpayers for Vincent, and City of Ladue v. Gilleo.
Evolution of the Masters in Economics

In this article, the authors update their previous study of terminal master's degree in economics programs to determine whether changes in the characteristics and students or the desired outcomes of master's programs have occurred during the decade between the two studies. The authors find that there are now fewer programs and on average, there has been a reduction in rigor in terms of degree requirements. They also find some evidence for increased diversity of faculty in these programs. The average number of students in programs remained about the same over the decade, but the average number of faculty serving these students decreased. While some differences are found, overall the authors conclude that master's in economics programs have not dramatically changed over the past 10 years.
Towards an optimal teacher salary schedule: Designing base salary to attract and retain effective teachers

Abstract This study presents the literature’s first estimates of the effect of teacher pay on the distribution of experience among teachers hired by public school districts. Overall, a 1% increase in base salary for teachers of a particular experience level increases the proportion of the targeted teachers hired by 0.04–0.08 percentage points. Pay increases have the largest effect on hire rates among teachers with 2–3 years of experience and the effect diminishes with experience. I show that higher teacher salaries provide a dual benefit of retaining and attracting a more effective distribution of teachers. Districts may also improve student achievement growth at no cost by reshaping their salary schedules so that they are increasing and concave in teacher experience.
Changes in implicit flood risk premiums: Empirical evidence from the housing market

Abstract Hedonic valuation models have shown that sales prices can capitalize property risk factors, such as flood zone; properties facing lower risk sell at a premium, all else being equal. Previous research has indicated that price differentials reflecting risk of flooding become much larger in the wake of a storm. We re-examine these findings for Pitt County, North Carolina, using multiple storm events within a difference-in-differences framework, and we compare flood zone price differentials for a more recent sample of property sales. Prior to Hurricane Fran in 1996, we detect no market risk premium for the presence in a flood zone, but we find significant price differentials after major flooding events, amounting to a 5.7% decrease after Hurricane Fran and 8.8% decrease after Hurricane Floyd. Results from a separate model that examines more recent data covering a period without significant storm-related flood impacts indicate a significant risk premium ranging between 6.0% and 20.2% for homes sold in the flood zone, but this effect is diminishing over time, essentially disappearing about 5 or 6 years after Hurricane Floyd. The lack of a persistent effect suggests that buyers’ and sellers’ risk perceptions may change with the prevalence of hazard events and that homebuyers are unaware of flood risks and insurance requirements when bidding on properties.
Challenges to small and medium-size businesses in Myanmar: What are they and how do we know?

Abstract We conducted a field survey of owners of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Yangon, Myanmar to investigate obstacles to business development in the region. The analysis focuses on access to credit, public services, and electricity. We find that relaxing loan collateral requirements is considered of prime importance, while access to bank loans is seen as problematic (equivalent to a 19 percentage point increase in the interest rate). Yet despite their widespread appeal to governments and donors, SME loans are found to have no discernible impact on perceived access to credit. Access to public services is hampered by cumbersome and time consuming procedures, often necessitating daylong trips to the capital for administrative procedures. Streamlining such procedures could yield annual savings of up to US $4700 per business. With regard to electricity, the biggest problems are installing new connections and the unreliability of supply. For benchmarking of concerns, we showed respondents vignettes describing hypothetical businesses facing a particular difficulty, and asked them to rate the gravity of the problem. Although we find some differences in response scales across socio-economic and ethnic groups, the qualitative conclusions about which problems are most important generally hold. This suggests that broad-based policy intervention aimed at easing a particular difficulty can be implemented.
Growth, Distribution, and Demography: Some Lessons from History

Abstract If we have learned anything from the recent outpouring of empirical growth equations, it is that life is far too complex to expect “unconditional” convergence among all countries and at all times. For example, when treated properly, both demography and globalization can be shown to have a significant impact on GDP per capita growth. Similarly, no economist should expect an “unconditional” Kuznets curve to emerge from the inequality experience of all countries and at all times. The industrial revolutionary forces that are thought to have an impact on inequality can be offset or reinforced by demography and globalization. This essay assesses the role of globalization and demography on inequality and growth experience in the Old World, the New World, and Asia over the past century and a half.
ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES IN SPECIAL PATIENT CARE

SUMMARY Dental professionals encounter a number of challenging ethical and legal dilemmas when caring for special patients. Questions may arise in securing consent for treatment; using restraints; overcoming economic, social, and physical barriers to care; and dealing with patient abuse. These concerns generally stem from underlying conflicts between any of the fundamental ethical principles of autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, justice, veracity, and fidelity. When securing consent for treatment, practitioners must consider both legal competence and decision-making capacity. If decision-making is impaired, input should be solicited from others to arrive at treatment decisions in keeping with the patient's values concerning dental care. To guard against the inappropriate use of restraints, 10 guidelines are presented for consideration. Providers should strive not to allow economic considerations to influence their care unduly either by failing to offer a full range of options or by providing care that is below usual standards. Services must be made available to disabled individuals on the same basis that they are available to others without disability. This principle forms the basis of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which stipulates what accommodations must be made to ensure that physical and social barriers do not impede access to dental care. Finally, special patients, particularly the frail elderly, are at increased risk to become victims of abuse. Dental professionals should be familiar with the warning signs and symptoms of such abuse and their obligation to take actions to end it.
Quantum Computation of Finite-Temperature Static and Dynamical Properties of Spin Systems Using Quantum Imaginary Time Evolution

Developing scalable quantum algorithms to study finite-temperature physics of quantum many-body systems has attracted considerable interest due to recent advancements in quantum hardware. However, such algorithms in their present form require resources that exceed the capabilities of current quantum computers except for a limited range of system sizes and observables. Here, we report calculations of finite-temperature properties including energies, static and dynamical correlation functions, and excitation spectra of spin Hamiltonians with up to four sites on five-qubit IBM Quantum devices. These calculations are performed using the quantum imaginary time evolution (QITE) algorithm and made possible by several algorithmic improvements, including a method to exploit symmetries that reduces the quantum resources required by QITE, circuit optimization procedures to reduce circuit depth, and error mitigation techniques to improve the quality of raw hardware data. Our work demonstrates that the ansatz-independent QITE algorithm is capable of computing diverse finite-temperature observables on near-term quantum devices.
Informed options trading prior to insider trades

We find abnormal volatility spreads in the options market immediately before corporate insider stock trades, suggesting informed options trading prior to insider trades. The informed options trading is more pronounced for large insider trades, firms in more corrupt areas, and insider purchases in firms with high information asymmetry. Furthermore, the abnormal volatility spreads are positively associated with the post-trade abnormal returns. In the aftermath of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s squawk box cases, informed options trading before insider trades mostly disappeared except for a group of insider stock sales related to insider derivatives transactions such as employee stock options exercises.
A Comparison of Pre-trained Vision-and-Language Models for Multimodal Representation Learning across Medical Images and Reports

Joint image-text embedding extracted from medical images and associated contextual reports is the bedrock for most biomedical vision-and-language $(\mathrm{V}+\mathrm{L})$ tasks, including medical visual question answering, clinical image-text retrieval, clinical report auto-generation. In this study, we adopt four pre-trained $\mathrm{V}+\mathrm{L}$ models: LXMERT, VisualBERT, UNIER and PixelBERT to learn multimodal representation from MIMIC-CXR images and associated reports. External evaluation using the OpenI dataset shows that the joint embedding learned by pre-trained $\mathrm{V}+\mathrm{L}$ models demonstrates performance improvement of 1.4% in thoracic finding classification tasks compared to a pioneering CNN + RNN model. Ablation studies are conducted to further analyze the contribution of certain model components and validate the advantage of joint embedding over text-only embedding. Attention maps are also visualized to illustrate the attention mechanism of $\mathrm{V}+\mathrm{L}$ models.
Temperate and chronic virus competition leads to low lysogen frequency

The canonical bacteriophage is obligately lytic: the virus infects a bacterium and hijacks cell functions to produce large numbers of new viruses which burst from the cell. These viruses are well-studied, but there exist a wide range of coexisting virus lifestyles that are less understood. Temperate viruses exhibit both a lytic cycle and a latent (lysogenic) cycle, in which viral genomes are integrated into the bacterial host. Meanwhile, chronic (persistent) viruses use cell functions to produce more viruses without killing the cell; chronic viruses may also exhibit a latent stage in addition to the productive stage. Here, we study the ecology of these competing viral strategies. We demonstrate the conditions under which each strategy is dominant, which aids in control of human bacterial infections using viruses. We find that low lysogen frequencies provide competitive advantages for both virus types; however, chronic viruses maximize steady state density by eliminating lysogeny entirely, while temperate viruses exhibit a non-zero 'sweet spot' lysogen frequency. Viral steady state density maximization leads to coexistence of temperate and chronic viruses, explaining the presence of multiple viral strategies in natural environments.
Machine learning of noise-resilient quantum circuits

The impact of hardware noise on quantum circuits is circumvented using a machine learning strategy that outputs the best circuit design for optimizing the performance of a given algorithmic task under the noisy environment.
Socioeconomic, racial and ethnic differences in patient experience of clinician empathy: Results of a systematic review and meta-analysis

Introduction Empathy is essential for high quality health care. Health care disparities may reflect a systemic lack of empathy for disadvantaged people; however, few data exist on disparities in patient experience of empathy during face-to-face health care encounters with individual clinicians. We systematically analyzed the literature to test if socioeconomic status (SES) and race/ethnicity disparities exist in patient-reported experience of clinician empathy. Methods Using a published protocol, we searched Ovid MEDLINE, PubMed, CINAHL, EMBASE, CENTRAL and PsychINFO for studies using the Consultation and Relational Empathy (CARE) Measure, which to date is the most commonly used and well-validated methodology for measuring clinician empathy from the patient perspective. We included studies containing CARE Measure data stratified by SES and/or race/ethnicity. We contacted authors to request stratified data, when necessary. We performed quantitative meta-analyses using random effects models to test for empathy differences by SES and race/ethnicity. Results Eighteen studies (n = 9,708 patients) were included. We found that, compared to patients whose SES was not low, low SES patients experienced lower empathy from clinicians (mean difference = -0.87 [95% confidence interval -1.72 to -0.02]). Compared to white patients, empathy scores were numerically lower for patients of multiple race/ethnicity groups (Black/African American, Asian, Native American, and all non-whites combined) but none of these differences reached statistical significance. Conclusion These data suggest an empathy gap may exist for patients with low SES. More research is needed to further test for SES and race/ethnicity disparities in clinician empathy and help promote health care equity. Trial registration Registration (PROSPERO): CRD42019142809.
The narrative truth about scientific misinformation

Science and storytelling mean different things when they speak of truth. This difference leads some to blame storytelling for presenting a distorted view of science and contributing to misinformation. Yet others celebrate storytelling as a way to engage audiences and share accurate scientific information. This review disentangles the complexities of how storytelling intersects with scientific misinformation. Storytelling is the act of sharing a narrative, and science and narrative represent two distinct ways of constructing reality. Where science searches for broad patterns that capture general truths about the world, narratives search for connections through human experience that assign meaning and value to reality. I explore how these contrasting conceptions of truth manifest across different contexts to either promote or counter scientific misinformation. I also identify gaps in the literature and identify promising future areas of research. Even with their differences, the underlying purpose of both science and narrative seeks to make sense of the world and find our place within it. While narrative can indeed lead to scientific misinformation, narrative can also help science counter misinformation by providing meaning to reality that incorporates accurate science knowledge into human experience.
Gait variability is affected more by peripheral artery disease than by vascular occlusion.

Background Patients with peripheral artery disease with intermittent claudication (PAD-IC) have altered gait variability from the first step they take, well before the onset of claudication pain. The mechanisms underlying these gait alterations are poorly understood. Aims To determine the effect of reduced blood flow on gait variability by comparing healthy older controls and patients with PAD-IC. We also determined the diagnostic value of gait variability parameters to identify the presence of PAD. Methods A cross-sectional cohort design was used. Thirty healthy older controls and thirty patients with PAD-IC walked on a treadmill at their self-selected speed in pain free walking (normal walking for healthy older controls; prior to claudication onset for PAD) and reduced blood flow (post vascular occlusion with thigh tourniquet for healthy older controls; pain for PAD) conditions. Gait variability was assessed using the largest Lyapunov exponent, approximate entropy, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation of ankle, knee, and hip joints range of motion. Receiver operating characteristics curve analyses of the pain free walking condition were performed to determine the optimal cut-off values for separating individuals with PAD-IC from those without PAD-IC. Results and discussion Patients with PAD-IC have increased amount of variability for knee and hip ranges of motion compared with the healthy older control group. Regarding the main effect of condition, reduced blood flow demonstrated increased amount of variability compared with pain free walking. Significant interactions between group and condition at the ankle show increased values for temporal structure of variability, but a similar amount of variability in the reduced blood flow condition. This demonstrates subtle interactions in the movement patterns remain distinct between PAD-IC versus healthy older controls during the reduced blood flow condition. A combination of gait variability parameters correctly identifies PAD-IC disease 70% of the time or more. Conclusions Gait variability is affected both by PAD and by the mechanical induction of reduced blood flow. Gait variability parameters have potential diagnostic ability, as some measures had 90.0% probability of correctly identifying patients with PAD-IC.
Optogenetic control of receptors reveals distinct roles for actin- and Cdc42-dependent negative signals in chemotactic signal processing.

During chemotaxis, neutrophils use cell surface G Protein Coupled Receptors to detect chemoattractant gradients. The downstream signaling system is wired with multiple feedback loops that amplify weak inputs and promote spatial separation of cell front and rear activities. Positive feedback could promote rapid signal spreading, yet information from the receptors is transmitted with high spatial fidelity, enabling detection of small differences in chemoattractant concentration across the cell. How the signal transduction network achieves signal amplification while preserving spatial information remains unclear. The GTPase Cdc42 is a cell-front polarity coordinator that is predictive of cell turning, suggesting an important role in spatial processing. Here we directly measure information flow from receptors to Cdc42 by pairing zebrafish parapinopsina, an optogenetic G Protein Coupled Receptor with reversible ON/OFF control, with a spectrally compatible red/far red Cdc42 Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer biosensor. Using this toolkit, we show that positive and negative signals downstream of G proteins shape a rapid, dose-dependent Cdc42 response. Furthermore, F-actin and Cdc42 itself provide two distinct negative signals that limit the duration and spatial spread of Cdc42 activation, maintaining output signals local to the originating receptors. Here the authors use optogenetic tools to directly measure spatial signal processing in leukocyte chemotaxis. Their results reveal the importance of multiple negative feedback loops for maintaining spatial information in chemotaxis.
Termination Casts: A Flexible Approach to Termination with General Recursion

This paper proposes a type-and-effect system called T eq# , which distinguishes terminating terms and total functions from possibly diverging terms and partial functions, for a lambda calculus with general recursion and equality types. The central idea is to include a primitive type-form “Terminates t”, expressing that term t is terminating; and then allow ter ms t to be coerced from possibly diverging to total, using a proof of Terminates t. We call such coercions termination casts, and show how to implement terminating recursion using them. For the meta-theory of the system, we describe a translation fromT eq# to a logical theory of termination for general recursive, si mply typed functions. Every typing judgment of T eq# is translated to a theorem expressing the appropriate termi nation property of the computational part of the T eq# term.
Neural network for 3D inertial confinement fusion shell reconstruction from single radiographs

In inertial confinement fusion (ICF), x-ray radiography is a critical diagnostic for measuring implosion dynamics, which contain rich three-dimensional (3D) information. Traditional methods for reconstructing 3D volumes from 2D radiographs, such as filtered backprojection, require radiographs from at least two different angles or lines of sight (LOS). In ICF experiments, the space for diagnostics is limited, and cameras that can operate on fast timescales are expensive to implement, limiting the number of projections that can be acquired. To improve the imaging quality as a result of this limitation, convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have recently been shown to be capable of producing 3D models from visible light images or medical x-ray images rendered by volumetric computed tomography. We propose a CNN to reconstruct 3D ICF spherical shells from single radiographs. We also examine the sensitivity of the 3D reconstruction to different illumination models using preprocessing techniques such as pseudo-flatfielding. To resolve the issue of the lack of 3D supervision, we show that training the CNN utilizing synthetic radiographs produced by known simulation methods allows for reconstruction of experimental data as long as the experimental data are similar to the synthetic data. We also show that the CNN allows for 3D reconstruction of shells that possess low mode asymmetries. Further comparisons of the 3D reconstructions with direct multiple LOS measurements are justified.
Road to Nowhere: Hong Kong's Democratization and China's Obligations Under Public International Law

Does public international law have anything to say about how Hong Kong's Chief Executive should be chosen? The Hong Kong and Beijing Governments have framed the debate on electoral reforms for 2017 purely in terms of domestic law. They reject the relevance of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and have rebuffed any role for the United Kingdom under the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984 (Joint Declaration). In so doing, they seek to justify Beijing's insistence on powers of veto over nomination and appointment of the Chief Executive. However, an analysis purely in terms of domestic law is incomplete. Despite the insistence of the Hong Kong and Beijing Governments, international law has a role to play in the debate over Chief Executive electoral reform. Beijing’s commitments with respect to Hong Kong in the Joint Declaration, including the continued application of parts of the ICCPR to Hong Kong, preclude it from filtering Chief Executive candidates by political views. Emergent norms of customary international law are not only relevant to the interpretation of the Joint Declaration and ICCPR, but may also provide a freestanding basis to challenge the pre-ordination of candidates for Chief Executive. The state of the current debate, and China's long-standing efforts to frustrate democratic development in Hong Kong, show that it has not complied with its international law obligations. However, in the absence of individual rights of petition to the Human Rights Committee and in the absence of International Court of Justice compulsory jurisdiction, the prospects for enforcement of these obligations are bleak.
Energetic Requirements for Dynamos in the Metallic Cores of Super-Earth and Super-Venus Exoplanets

Super-Earth and super-Venus exoplanets may have similar bulk compositions but dichotomous surface conditions and mantle dynamics. Vigorous convection within their metallic cores may produce dynamos...
Harmonic Analysis Invariants for Infinite Graphs Via Operators and Algorithms

We present recent advances in harmonic analysis on infinite graphs. Our approach combines combinatorial tools with new results from the theory of unbounded Hermitian operators in Hilbert space, geometry, boundary constructions, and spectral invariants. We focus on particular classes of infinite graphs, including such weighted graphs which arise in electrical network models, as well as new diagrammatic graph representations. We further stress some direct parallels between our present analysis on infinite graphs, on the one hand, and, on the other, specific areas of potential theory, probability, harmonic functions, and boundary theory. The limit constructions, finite to infinite, and local to global, can be used in various applications.