cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Small-molecule modulation of the p75 neurotrophin receptor inhibits a wide range of tau molecular pathologies and their sequelae in P301S tauopathy mice

In tauopathies, phosphorylation, acetylation, cleavage and other modifications of tau drive intracellular generation of diverse forms of toxic tau aggregates and associated seeding activity, which have been implicated in subsequent synaptic failure and neurodegeneration. Suppression of this wide range of pathogenic species, seeding and toxicity mechanisms, while preserving the physiological roles of tau, presents a key therapeutic goal. Identification and targeting of signaling networks that influence a broad spectrum of tau pathogenic mechanisms might prevent or reverse synaptic degeneration and modify disease outcomes. The p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR) modulates such networks, including activation of multiple tau kinases, calpain and rhoA-cofilin activity. The orally bioavailable small-molecule p75NTR modulator, LM11A-31, was administered to tauP301S mice for 3 months starting at 6 months of age, when tau pathology was well established. LM11A-31 was found to reduce: excess activation of hippocampal cdk5 and JNK kinases and calpain; excess cofilin phosphorylation, tau phosphorylation, acetylation and cleavage; accumulation of multiple forms of insoluble tau aggregates and filaments; and, microglial activation. Hippocampal extracts from treated mice had substantially reduced tau seeding activity. LM11A-31 treatment also led to a reversal of pyramidal neuron dendritic spine loss, decreased loss of dendritic complexity and improvement in performance of hippocampal behaviors. These studies identify a therapeutically tractable upstream signaling module regulating a wide spectrum of basic mechanisms underlying tauopathies.
Can’t Stop this Feeling: Tracing the Origins of Historical Empathy During the Cold War Era, 1950–1980

Historical empathy is a critical aspect of history and social science education that has its roots in the inquiry-based education movements of the twentieth century. Although the term “historical e...
New Hole Transport Materials via Stoichiometry-Tuning for Colloidal Quantum Dot Photovoltaics

Colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) are of interest for photovoltaic applications such as flexible and multijunction solar cells, where solution processability and infrared absorption are crucial; however, current CQD solar cell performance is limited by the hole transport layers (HTLs) used in the cells. We report on a method to develop new HTLs for the highest-performing PbS CQD solar cell architecture by tuning the stoichiometry via sulfur infiltration of the p-type CQD HTL to increase its doping density and carrier mobility. Using SCAPS simulations, we predict that increased doping density and mobility should improve the performance of the solar cells. We show that sulfur doping of the current HTL is a facile and effective method to boost the performance of CQD photovoltaics.
Sulfur-containing therapeutics in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease

Sulfur is widely existent in natural products and synthetic organic compounds as organosulfur, which are often associated with a multitude of biological activities. OBenzothiazole, in which benzene ring is fused to the 4,5-positions of the thiazolerganosulfur compounds continue to garner increasing amounts of attention in the field of medicinal chemistry, especially in the development of therapeutic agents for Alzheimer's disease (AD). AD is a fatal neurodegenerative disease and the primary cause of age-related dementia posing severe societal and economic burdens. Unfortunately, there is no cure for AD. A lot of research has been conducted on sulfur-containing compounds in the context of AD due to their innate antioxidant potential and some are currently being evaluated in clinical trials. In this review, we have described emerging trends in the field, particularly the concept of multi-targeting and formulation of disease-modifying strategies. SAR, pharmacological targets, in vitro/vivo ADMET, efficacy in AD animal models, and applications in clinical trials of such sulfur compounds have also been discussed. This article provides a comprehensive review of organosulfur-based AD therapeutic agents and provides insights into their future development.
AutoPhoto: Aesthetic Photo Capture using Reinforcement Learning.

The process of capturing a well-composed photo is difficult and it takes years of experience to master. We propose a novel pipeline for an autonomous agent to automatically capture an aesthetic photograph by navigating within a local region in a scene. Instead of classical optimization over heuristics such as the rule-of-thirds, we adopt a data-driven aesthetics estimator to assess photo quality. A reinforcement learning framework is used to optimize the model with respect to the learned aesthetics metric. We train our model in simulation with indoor scenes, and we demonstrate that our system can capture aesthetic photos in both simulation and real world environments on a ground robot. To our knowledge, this is the first system that can automatically explore an environment to capture an aesthetic photo with respect to a learned aesthetic estimator.
VEGF Inhibition Reduces Intracranial Edema Following SRS of Brain Metastases From Renal Cell Carcinoma.

Purpose/Objective(s) Optimal control of brain metastases (BM) from renal cell carcinoma (RCC) with stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is critical as tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) and immunotherapy has significantly prolonged overall survival (OS), emphasizing the importance of minimizing potential morbidity from treatment-associated edema. Clinically, we have observed that RCC BM-associated edema seems to be less prominent when VEGF-targeted agents (VEGFi) such as axitinib are administered contemporaneously with SRS. We therefore investigated the role of VEGFi in intracranial edema reduction in pts treated with SRS. Materials/Methods We conducted a single institution retrospective analysis of all clear cell or unknown RCC pts with BM treated with SRS from 2013 onwards. We excluded non-clear cell RCC, lack of post-SRS imaging, and failure to complete SRS. The SRS plus VEGFi cohort was defined as VEGFi within 6 months of SRS. Volumetric data was obtained from SRS plans, edema was contoured on MR Brain T2 Flair, and paired t-test was performed. Multivariate analysis for OS performed with the Cox proportional hazards model. Results We identified 38 pts who received 78 courses of SRS + VEGFi and 18 pts who received 29 courses of SRS alone. For the SRS + VEGFi and SRS groups, median OS was 4.1y and 6.0y, median SRS dose was 21 Gy and 27 Gy with comparable pre-SRS steroid use of 52% and 57% (HR 0.51, P = 0.200) and baseline neurologic symptoms 50% and 74% (HR 0.943, P = 0.904), respectively. Among the SRS + VEGFi group, the mean intact tumor volume decreased from pre-SRS 1.89cc to 0.42cc at 6m post-SRS, compared to a decrease from 1.82cc to 1.28cc in the SRS group. Edema volume decreased from 17.65cc to 3.28cc in the SRS + VEGFi group with an increase from pre-SRS 5.78cc to 6.39cc at 6mo post-SRS in the SRS alone group (95% CI -3.67, 1.15, P = 0.154). Conclusion Despite similar pre-SRS steroid use and increased edema volume, VEGFi appeared to improve post-SRS edema with a notable reduction of neurological symptoms. Our data suggest VEGFi may offer symptomatic benefit for significant peritumoral edema even without overt disease progression, and that re-challenge or continuation of VEGFi with SRS should be considered in such patients.
Using Flow Specifications of Parameterized Cache Coherence Protocols for Verifying Deadlock Freedom

We consider the problem of verifying deadlock freedom for symmetric cache coherence protocols. While there are multiple definitions of deadlock in the literature, we focus on a specific form of deadlock which is useful for the cache coherence protocol domain and is consistent with the internal definition of deadlock in theMurphi model checker: we refer to this deadlock as a system-wide deadlock (s-deadlock). In s-deadlock, the entire system gets blocked and is unable to make any transition. Cache coherence protocols consist of N symmetric cache agents, where N is an unbounded parameter; thus the verification of s-deadlock freedom is naturally a parameterized verification problem.
Magic Wand: A Framework for Developing Remote Controlled Web Applications

This poster describes the MagicWand framework for developing web applications that can be controlled remotely by smart phone running on android OS.
Algorithms for Maximum Weight Cliques, Minimum Weighted Clique Covers and Minimum Colorings of Claw-Free Perfect Graphs

For the class of claw-free perfect graphs with weights on the vertices, we give efficient algorithms for finding a maximum weight clique and a minimum weighted clique cover. We also present an algorithm for minimum cardinality coloring of these graphs, but the minimum weighted coloring problem remains unsolved.
On a Diversified Parallel Microcomputer System

Abstract In this paper three different structures of microcomputer systems consisting of two parallel diversified hardware units are described. The use of diversified hardware units implies the use of diverse operating systems, compilers, etc. By comparison of the intermediate results obtained from both hardware units executing the same application software, hardware design errors, errors in operating systems, in compilers, etc. can be detected. Such failure detection capability is the goal for the described system architecture.
Unsolved Problems in Geometry.

Draw a wiggly curve on a sheet of paper, without lifting your pencil or allowing the curve to cross itself, joining the end to the point of beginning. Now try to find four points on your curve that form the vertices of a square. That problem in plane geometry appears to be a little bit harder but not radically different from the well-known "construc tion" problems of high school geometry courses: "Given a circle in the plane, con struct an inscribed square." Our problem just has a few more wiggles in it. It also happens to be unsolved: No one has yet been able to prove that every closed curve contains the vertices of a square. Ge ometry, despite its procrustean image as an ancient, completed subject, abounds in un solved problems that are still under active investigation. Many of these problems are easy to understand, and some of them are even being solved. The most famous of the long-unsolved problems of geometry is the four-color con jecture that every map can be colored with no more than four colors in such a way that adjacent regions are assigned different col ors. This conjecture, formulated in 1852, was first solved in 1976 with an innovative
Selling Advice and Creating Expectations: Why Brokers Should Be Fiduciaries

Abstract: Investors face a dizzying array of choices regarding where to invest their funds and increasingly rely on experts for advice. Most advice about securities is provided by investment advisers or broker-dealers, legal categories with little meaning to most people but fraught with consequences. Although advisers and brokers often perform the same function, advisers are subject to a strict fiduciary standard to act in their clients' best interest while brokers are subject to a less rigorous standard of suitability to ensure that their recommendations are suitable for customers. In 2010, the Dodd-Frank Act authorized the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to harmonize the regulation of advisers and brokers and impose a fiduciary duty on brokers that give advice. This Article is about whether the SEC should exercise its authority. After explaining the historical context of the debate over a fiduciary standard, the Article critiques common arguments for a fiduciary duty, concluding that they are incomplete and do not alone justify a change in the law. The Article then puts forth a better justification, based on the reasonable expectations of investors. Reasonable expectations arise from brokers marketing their services as advisory and using titles, such as financial advisor and financial consultant. Reasonable expectations provide a stronger justification for a fiduciary standard than the conventional arguments.I. DISPARATE REGULATION OF INVESTMENT ADVISERS AND BROKER-DEALERS THAT PROVIDE ADVICE IS ROOTED IN HISTORY 716A. Early State Regulation of Brokers and Advisers Was Minimal 716B. Federal Securities Regulation Was First Enacted During the Great Depression 7181 . Broker-Dealer Regulation Was Enacted in 1934 7182. Investment Adviser Regulation Was Enacted in 1940 . 7203. Certain Broker-Dealers Were Excluded from the Advisers Act 723C. The Regulation of Brokers and Advisers Differs 724D. Changes in the Securities Industry Disrupted the Coherency of Broker and Adviser Regulation 7261 . The Elimination of Fixed Commissions Resulted in Two-Tier Pricing 7272. Certain Broker-Dealers Began to Charge AssetBased Fees 7283. The Focus of Brokerage Services Moved from Execution to Advice 729E. The SEC Addressed Changes in Compensation Through an Administrative Rule 731F. The Obama Administration and Congress Sought a Political Solution to Changes in the Securities Industry .... 733II. CONVENTIONAL ARGUMENTS THAT SUPPORT A FIDUCIARY DUTY FOR BROKERS ARE INADEQUATE .... 736A. Investor Confusion Is an Insufficient Basis to Support a Fiduciary Standard 7371 . Advocates of a Fiduciary Standard Claim Investor Confusion Justifies Regulatory Harmonization 7372. Investor Confusion Is Not a Compelling Argument for Regulatory Harmonization 739B. Inconsistent Standards Are an Insufficient Basis to Support Regulatory Harmonization 7411 . Advocates of a Fiduciary Duty Claim Inconsistent Standards Justify Regulatory Harmonization 7412. Existence of Inconsistent Standards Is Not a Compelling Argument for Regulatory Harmonization . …
Dualizable algebras with parallelogram terms

We prove that if A is a finite algebra with a parallelogram term that satisfies the split centralizer condition, then A is dualizable. This yields yet another proof of the dualizability of any finite algebra with a near unanimity term, but more importantly proves that every finite module, group or ring in a residually small variety is dualizable.
American "Road Rage": A Scary and Tangled Cultural-Legal Pastiche

The phrase "road rage" entered the American English language lexicon sometime in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This article presents a cultural, legal, and policy 'take' of the implications of the evolving use of road rage parlance over the last 10 years or so. While there have been several psychological explorations of road rage, this work aims to provide a better understanding of the legal perspective of this term and its ramifications.
Macroeconomic Policy Co-ordination: Theory and Evidence

Unemployment has risen steadily during the last five years in all of the major European economies. Although there have been some signs that the rate of increase may have slackened this is mainly due to the fiscal-led expansion in the United States. Recent evidence suggests that the growth rate in the United States is slackening, and the need to reduce the structural budget deficit means that the rest of the developed countries can no longer rely on the United States as the main source of demand growth in the world economy. In spite of this, European governments have been reluctant to undertake fiscal and monetary policy actions which might sustain the recovery. In part this reflects a pessimism about the efficacy of conventional stabilisation policies born of the experience of the mid-seventies. However, the current situation is arguably very different now. Whereas the recession of the mid-seventies was largely the result of a supply-side shock requiring a downward adjustment in real wages, the recession of the early eighties is largely a consequence of the contractionary fiscal and monetary policies pursued outside the United States. That the present high levels of unemployment are Keynesian rather than Classical in nature has been argued forcefully by e.g. Dornbusch et al. (1983) and Bruno (1985). A reversal of these contractionary policies could therefore be expected to increase employment. Thus Layard et al. (1984) have argued there is scope for a temporary, supply-side friendly, fiscal expansion concentrated in public investment, subsidies to private investment and measures to reduce the marginal cost of employment. This would be accompanied by a modest relaxation of monetary policy to prevent real interest rates rising. Because such an expansion would be temporary it need have no long-run implications for inflation or real interest rates.
Africa’s Rising Exposure to China: How Large Are Spillovers Through Trade?

The rapid growth in China’s domestic investment in recent decades has generated a large appetite for global goods, including from sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This paper estimates the impact of changes in China’s investment growth on SSA’s exports. Although rising trading links with China have allowed African countries to diversify their export base across countries away from advanced economies, they have also led SSA countries to become more susceptible to spillovers from China. Based on panel data analysis, a one percentage point increase (decline) in China’s domestic investment growth is associated with an average 0.6 percentage point increase (decline) in SSA countries’ export growth. This impact is larger for resource-rich countries, especially oil exporters. These effects could be mitigated, however, to the extent that countries can reorient their exports.
Computation of equilibrium values in the Baron and Ferejohn bargaining model

Abstract Computation of exact equilibrium values for n-player divide-the-dollar legislative bargaining games as in Baron and Ferejohn (1989) with general quota voting rules, recognition probabilities, and discount factors, can be achieved by solving at most n bivariate square linear systems of equations. The approach recovers Eraslan's (2002) uniqueness result and relies on a characterization of equilibria in terms of two variables that satisfy a pair of piecewise linear equations.
A quadratic approximation to the Sendov radius near the unit circle

Define S(n, β) to be the set of complex polynomials of degree n > 2 with all roots in the unit disk and at least one root at β. For a polynomial P, define |P| β to be the distance between β and the closest root of the derivative P'. Finally, define r n (β) = sup{|P| β : P e S(n, β)}. In this notation, a conjecture of Bl. Sendov claims that r n (β) < 1. In this paper we investigate Sendov's conjecture near the unit circle, by computing constants C 1 and C 2 (depending only on n) such that r n (β) ∼ 1 + C 1 (1 - |β|) + C 2 (1 - |β|) 2 for |β| near 1. We also consider some consequences of this approximation, including a hint of where one might look for a counterexample to Sendov's conjecture.
Compact operators and nest representations of limit algebras

In this paper we study the nest representations p: A → Alg N of a strongly maximal TAF algebra A, whose ranges contain non-zero compact operators. We introduce a particular class of such representations, the essential nest representations, and we show that their kernels coincide with the completely meet irreducible ideals. From this we deduce that there exist enough contractive nest representations, with non-zero compact operators in their range, to separate the points in A. Using nest representation theory, we also give a coordinate-free description of the fundamental groupoid for strongly maximal TAF algebras. For an arbitrary nest representation p: A → Alg N, we show that the presence of non-zero compact operators in the range of p implies that N is similar to a completely atomic nest. If, in addition, p(A) is closed, then every compact operator in p(A) can be approximated by sums of rank one operators p(A). In the case of N-ordered nest representations, we show that p(A) contains finite rank operators iff ker ρ fails to be a prime ideal.
Price Collusion and Stability of Research Partnerships

This paper addresses two questions: 1) Does RD and 2) Why do R&D partnerships break up at high rates (20% in one estimate)? Innovation creates an interfirm cost asymmetry, which makes collusion difficult to sustain. The prospect of collusion ending with discovery makes collusion difficult to maintain before discovery. R&D cooperation averts this chain reaction and facilitates collusion before and after innovation. However, the firms' inability to monitor partners' R&D inputs constrains the extent of cooperation. To curb the opportunism, the partnership may dissolve itself with positive probability every time it fails to innovate.
Single-molecule spectroscopy and microscopy

Abstract Advances in detector sensitivity and improvements in instrument design have recently provided scientists with tools to probe single molecules with light, and monitor their photophysical properties with exquisite sensitivity and spatial as well as temporal resolution. Spectroscopic and temporal information is used to explore molecular structure, conformational dynamics, local environment and intermolecular interactions of individual species. High-resolution single-molecule microscopy allows these methods to be used for in vitro or in vivo molecular colocalization with nanometer precision. The collected data have generated a wealth of new information in domains ranging from chemistry and biology to solid state physics. To cite this article: X. Michalet, S. Weiss, C. R. Physique 3 (2002) 619–644.
LONG‐RUN RISKS IN THE TERM STRUCTURE OF INTEREST RATES: ESTIMATION

SUMMARY This paper estimates a model in which persistent fluctuations in expected consumption growth, expected inflation, and their time-varying volatility determine asset price variation. The model features Epstein–Zin recursive preferences, which determine the market price of macro risk factors. Analysis of the US nominal term structure data from 1953 to 2006 shows that agents dislike high uncertainty and demand compensation for volatility risks. Also, the time variation of the term premium is driven by the compensation for inflation volatility risk, which is distinct from consumption volatility risk. The central role of inflation volatility risk in explaining the time-varying term premium is consistent with other empirical evidence including survey data. In contrast, the existing long-run risks literature emphasizes consumption volatility risk and ignores inflation-specific time-varying volatility. The estimation results of this paper suggest that inflation-specific volatility risk is essential for fitting the time series of the US nominal term structure data. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Model-checking Middleware-based Event-driven Real-time Embedded Software ?

Component frameworks such as the CORBA Component Model (CCM) and middleware services such as the CORBA Event Service are increasingly being used to build safety / mission-critical distributed real-time embedded (DRE) systems. In this paper, we present a novel model-checking infrastructure for checking global temporal properties of DRE systems built on top of a Real-Time CORBA Event Service using CCM architectures. We describe how (a) building support for OO structures and communication layers directly in an extensible model-checker and (b) leveraging domain properties related to priorities, scheduling, and timing can dramatically reduce the costs of checking realistic systems.
Skew Schubert polynomials

We define skew Schubert polynomials to be normal form (polynomial) representatives of certain classes in the cohomology of a flag manifold. We show that this definition extends a recent construction of Schubert polynomials due to Bergeron and Sottile in terms of certain increasing labeled chains in Bruhat order of the symmetric group. These skew Schubert polynomials expand in the basis of Schubert polynomials with nonnegative integer coefficients that are precisely the structure constants of the cohomology of the complex flag variety with respect to its basis of Schubert classes. We rederive the construction of Bergeron and Sottile in a purely combinatorial way, relating it to the construction of Schubert polynomials in terms of rc-graphs.
Delaunay-Based polygon morphing across a change in topology

We present a new object-based algorithm for morphing between two shapes with an arbitrary number of polygons and arbitrarily different topology. Many solutions have been proposed for morphing between two polygons. However, there has been little attention to morphing between different numbers of polygons, across a change in topology. A modified conforming Delaunay triangulation is used to build the vertex correspondence. Polygon evolution is used to smooth the morph. The morph requires no user interaction, avoids self-intersection, uses dynamic vertex correspondence, and follows nonlinear vertex paths.
Atomic and molecular physics in the gas phase.

The spatial and temporal distributions of energy deposition by high-linear-energy-transfer radiation play an important role in the subsequent chemical and biological processes leading to radiation damage. Because the spatial structures of energy deposition events are of the same dimensions as molecular structures in the mammalian cell, direct measurements of energy deposition distributions appropriate to radiation biology are infeasible. This circumstance has led to the development of models of energy transport based on a knowledge of atomic and molecular interactions that enable one to simulate energy transfer on an atomic scale. Such models require a detailed understanding of the interactions of ions and electrons with biologically relevant material. During the past 20 years, there has been a great deal of progress in our understanding of these interactions, much of it coming from studies in the gas phase. These studies provide information on the systematics of interaction cross sections, and lead to knowledge of the regions of energy deposition where molecular and phase effects are important—knowledge that guides development in appropriate theory. In this report, studies of the doubly differential cross sections, which are crucial to the development of stochastic energy deposition calculations and track structure simulation, are reviewed. We discuss areas of understanding and address directions for future work. Particular attention is given to experimental and theoretical findings that have changed the traditional view of secondary electron production for charged-particle interactions with atomic and molecular targets.
Trends in the education sector from 1993 - 98

Vietnam has achieved remarkably high rates of school enrollment and has maintained good social indicators (infant and under-five mortality rates, life expectancy, fertility rate, child nutrition, and access to basic services) compared to other countries with similar low income per capita. The author documents and analyzes changes in enrollment and education finance in Vietnam from 1993-98. Enrollment rates increased substantially, but the increases were not equally spread across different income groups, regions, gender, and ethnic groups. The higher the level of education, the larger the gap in school enrollment among different socioeconomic groups. Although school fees were no longer compulsory at the primary level, households paid for many other school-related items, such as books, uniforms, private tutors, lunch, and transportation. These costs are a significant financial burden on the poor. On the other hand, there is considerable variation in public spending per student across regions that, when coupled with variation in enrollment rates across regions, resulted in a not pro-poor public spending pattern, although public spending on primary education was neutral in 1998. Finally, the author investigates whether rates of return to education in the private wage sector changed in the 1990s. She concludes that returns to schooling increased substantially between 1992-93 and 1997-98, especially at the upper secondary education and university levels.
HIGH PRICE VOLATILITY AND SPILLOVER EFFECTS IN ENERGY MARKETS

We analyze the time-varying volatility in crude oil, heating oil, and natural gas futures markets by incorporating changes in important macroeconomic variables and major political and weather-related events into the conditional variance equations. We allow asymmetric responses to random disturbances in each market as well as to good and bad economic news in the overall economy. We also investigate whether there are spillover effects among these energy markets. A bi-directional volatility spillover effect is found between heating oil and natural gas markets. Among the macro variables considered the spread between the 10-year and 2-year Treasury constant maturity rate is found to have a positive relationship between the volatilities of all commodities. The events that had a major impact on the volatilities of energy commodities include the September 11th terrorist attacks, hurricane Katrina, and the 2008 U.S. financial crisis. The theory of storage is not supported in any of the three commodities. Seasonality and day-of-the week effects are found for all three commodities. Key
Generalized Lamé Operators

We introduce a class of multidimensional Schrodinger operators with elliptic potential which generalize the classical Lame operator to higher dimensions. One natural example is the Calogero–Moser operator, others are related to the root systems and their deformations. We conjecture that these operators are algebraically integrable, which is a proper generalization of the finite-gap property of the Lame operator. Using earlier results of Braverman, Etingof and Gaitsgory, we prove this under additional assumption of the usual, Liouville integrability. In particular, this proves the Chalykh–Veselov conjecture for the elliptic Calogero–Moser problem for all root systems. We also establish algebraic integrability in all known two-dimensional cases. A general procedure for calculating the Bloch eigenfunctions is explained. It is worked out in detail for two specific examples: one is related to the B2 case, another one is a certain deformation of the A2 case. In these two cases we also obtain similar results for the discrete versions of these problems, related to the difference operators of Macdonald–Ruijsenaars type.
Handling Dynamic Changes in Decentralized Workflow Execution Environments

Often, real world business processes are constantly changing and dynamic in nature. These runtime changes may stem from various requirements, such as changes to the goals of the business process, changes to the business rules of the organization, or exceptions arising during the workflow execution. Unfortunately, traditional workflow management systems do not provide sufficient flexibility to accommodate such dynamic and adaptive workflows that support run-time changes of in-progress workflow instances. Moreover, traditional workflow management is accomplished by a single centralized workflow management engine, which may not only be a performance bottleneck, but also unsuitable for the emerging internet-based commerce and service environments where workflows may span many organizations that are autonomous. In this paper, we propose a formal model for a decentralized workflow change management (DWFCM) that uses a rules topic ontology and a service ontology to support the needed run-time flexibilty. We present a system architecture and the workflow adaptation process that generates a new workflow that is migration consistent with the original workflow.
The Generation and Reactions of Quinone Methides

Abstract The combination of neutral non-aromatic and zwitterionic aromatic contributing valence bond structures confers a distinctive chemical reactivity to quinone methides, which has attracted the interest of a tremendous number of chemist and biochemists. This chapter reviews reactions that generate quinone methides, and the results of mechanistic studies of the breakdown of quinone methides in nucleophilic substitution reactions. The following pathways for the formation of quinone methides are discussed; (a) photochemical reactions; (b) thermal heterolytic bond cleavage; (c) reactions that unmask a quinone oxygen; (d) nucleophilic aromatic substitution reactions of water at 4-methoxybenzyl carbocations; (e) oxidation reactions of phenols; (f) reductive-elimination reactions of quinones; (g) miscellaneous reactions. Results, and their interpretation, of studies from the laboratories of A. J. Kresge and J. P. Richard are reviewed. The highlights include: (a) Experiments to characterize the effect of O-protonation and O-methylation of the p-quinone methide oxygen to form the p-hydroxybenzyl and pmethoxybenzyl carbocations, respectively, on electrophile stability and reactivity. (b) A comparison of p-quinone methide, o-quinone methide and o-thioquinone methide. (c) Evidence that structure-reactivity relationships for addition of nucleophiles to quinone methides closely resemble those determined for nucleophile addition to strongly resonance stabilized carbocations. (d) Evidence that the aromatic zwitterionic valence bond structure makes only a relatively small contribution to the structure of p-quinone methide. (e) A comparison of the Marcus intrinsic barriers for addition of water to p-quinone methide and to formaldehyde. (f) A discussion of the effect of O-methylation of p-quinone methide and formaldehyde on the intrinsic barrier for water addition.
An Efficient Method for Deformable Segmentation of 3D US Prostate Images

We previously proposed a deformable model for automatic and accurate segmentation of prostate boundary from 3D ultrasound (US) images by matching both prostate shapes and tissue textures in US images[6]. Textures were characterized by a Gabor filter bank and further classified by support vector machines (SVM), in order to discriminate the prostate boundary from the US images. However, the step of tissue texture characterization and classification is very slow, which impedes the future applications of the proposed approach in clinic applications. To overcome this limitation, we firstly implement it in a 3-level multi-resolution framework, and then replace the step of SVM-based tissue classification and boundary identification by a Zernike moment-based edge detector in both low and middle resolutions, for fast capturing boundary information. In the high resolution, the step of SVM-based tissue classification and boundary identification is still kept for more accurate segmentation. However, SVM is extremely slow for tissue classification as it usually needs a large number of support vectors to construct a complicated separation hypersurface, due to the high overlay of texture features of prostate and non-prostate tissues in US images. To increase the efficiency of SVM, a new SVM training method is designed by effectively reducing the number of support vectors. Experimental results show that the proposed method is 10 times faster than the previous one, yet without losing any segmentation accuracy.
Hermite and Bernstein Style Basis Functions for Cubic Serendipity Spaces on Squares and Cubes

We introduce new Hermite style and Bernstein style geometric decompositions of the cubic serendipity finite element spaces \({\mathcal S}_3(I^2)\) and \({\mathcal S}_3(I^3)\), as defined in the recent work of Arnold and Awanou [Found. Comput. Math. 11 (2011), 337–344]. The serendipity spaces are substantially smaller in dimension than the more commonly used bicubic and tricubic Hermite tensor product spaces—12 instead of 16 for the square and 32 instead of 64 for the cube—yet are still guaranteed to obtain cubic order a priori error estimates in \(H^1\) norm when used in finite element methods. The basis functions we define have a canonical relationship both to the finite element degrees of freedom as well as to the geometry of their graphs; this means the bases may be suitable for applications employing isogeometric analysis where domain geometry and functions supported on the domain are described by the same basis functions. Moreover, the basis functions are linear combinations of the commonly used bicubic and tricubic polynomial Bernstein or Hermite basis functions, allowing their rapid incorporation into existing finite element codes.
The Status of Labor-saving Mechanization in Fruits and Vegetables

The objective of this paper is to examine the status of labor-saving mechanization in U.S. fruit and vegetable harvesting. Fruit and vegetable harvest mechanization has several potential advantages: reduced harvest costs, eliminate problems associated with finding good quality harvest labor, permit longer harvesting days, and reduce exposure of harvest to human bacteria. Commercial mechanical harvesters for processed tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, carrots, tart cherries, apples, grapes, peaches, plums and grapes are in the hands of growers. To my surprise, considerable progress has been made on fresh market sweet cherry, apple and berry harvesters, and in the next few years commercial sales of these machines are expected. A negative shock to labor harvest-labor availability or jump in the harvester wage or piece rate could rapidly accelerate adoption of the best mechanical harvesting technologies by growers and processors.
Online network design algorithms via hierarchical decompositions

We develop a new approach for online network design and obtain improved competitive ratios for several problems. Our approach gives natural deterministic algorithms and simple analyses. At the heart of our work is a novel application of embeddings into hierarchically well-separated trees (HSTs) to the analysis of online network design algorithms --- we charge the cost of the algorithm to the cost of the optimal solution on any HST embedding of the terminals. This analysis technique is widely applicable to many problems and gives a unified framework for online network design.In a sense, our work brings together two of the main approaches to online network design. The first uses greedy-like algorithms and analyzes them using dual-fitting. The second uses tree embeddings --- embed the entire graph into a tree at the beginning and then solve the problem on the tree --- and results in randomized O(log n)-competitive algorithms, where n is the total number of vertices in the graph. Our approach uses deterministic greedy-like algorithms but analyzes them via HST embeddings of the terminals. Our proofs are simpler as we do not need to carefully construct dual solutions and we get O(log k) competitive ratios, where k is the number of terminals.In this paper, we apply our approach to obtain deterministic O(log k)-competitive online algorithms for the following problems.1. Steiner network with edge duplication. Previously, only a randomized O(log n)-competitive algorithm was known.2. Rent-or-buy. Previously, only deterministic O(log2k)-competitive and randomized O(log k)-competitive algorithms by Awerbuch, Azar and Bartal (Theoretical Computer Science 2004) were known.3. Connected facility location. Previously, only a randomized O(log2k)-competitive algorithm of San Felice, Williamson and Lee (LATIN 2014) was known.4. Prize-collecting Steiner forest. We match the competitive ratio first achieved by Qian and Williamson (ICALP 2011) and give a simpler analysis.Our competitive ratios are optimal up to constant factors as these problems capture the online Steiner tree problem which has a lower bound of Ω(log k).
Chemistry of Leucomycins. XII. Application of the Modified Polonovski Reaction to Leucomycin-A3 N-Oxide

An aglycone moiety of leucomycin-A3 (1), leuconolide-A3-5, 18-hemiacetal (3), was isolated by the application of a modified Polonovski-reaction to leucomycin-A3 N-oxide (2). Two neutral macrolides, 2'-O-acetyl-3'-N-desdimethylamino-3'-oxo-leucomycin-A3 (5) and 2'-O-acetyl-3'-N-desmethyl-N-acetyl leucomycin-A3 (8) in which the mycaminose moiety of 1 was modified, were also isolated from the same reaction. In a similar manner, an aglycone, 9-dehydro-18-dihydro-leuconolide-A3 (12) was obtained from 9-dehydro-18-dihydro-leucomycin-A3 (10). While the latter as an isomer of 1, differing with respect to the position of carbonyl group on the lactone ring, has significant antimicrobial activity neither its aglycone 12 nor the aglycone of leucomycin-A3 show antimicrobial activity.
The summary abox: cutting ontologies down to size

Reasoning on OWL ontologies is known to be intractable in the worst-case, which is a serious problem because in practice, most OWL ontologies have large Aboxes, i.e., numerous assertions about individuals and their relations. We propose a technique that uses a summary of the ontology (summary Abox) to reduce reasoning to a small subset of the original Abox, and prove that our techniques are sound and complete. We demonstrate the scalability of this technique for consistency detection in 4 ontologies, the largest of which has 6.5 million role assertions.
The Two Faces of Active Learning

The active learning model is motivated by scenarios in which it is easy to amass vast quantities of unlabeled data (images and videos off the web, speech signals from microphone recordings, and so on) but costly to obtain their labels. Like supervised learning, the goal is ultimately to learn a classifier. But like unsupervised learning, the data come unlabeled. More precisely, the labels are hidden, and each of them can be revealed only at a cost. The idea is to query the labels of just a few points that are especially informative about the decision boundary, and thereby to obtain an accurate classifier at significantly lower cost than regular supervised learning.
Health outcomes in poor countries and policy options : empirical findings from demographic and health surveys

Empirical studies on health at a disaggregate level-by socioeconomic group or geographic location-can provide useful information for designing poverty-focused interventions. Using Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data, the author investigates the determinants of health outcomes in low-income countries both at the national level, and for rural and urban areas separately. DHS data from more than 60 low-income countries between 1990 and 1999 reveal two interesting observations. First is the negative association between the level and inequality in child mortality. Second is the significant gap in child mortality between urban and rural areas, with the rural population having a much slower reduction in mortality compared with the urban population. Given that the poor are mainly concentrated in rural areas, the evidence suggests that health interventions implemented in the past decade may not have been as effective as intended in reaching the poor. The empirical findings in this study consolidate results from earlier studies and add new evidence. the author finds that at the national level access to electricity, vaccination in the first year of life, and public health expenditure can significantly reduce child mortality. The electricity effect is shown to be independent of income. In urban areas only access to electricity has a significant health impact, while in rural areas increasing vaccination coverage is important for mortality reduction.
Every Reidemeister move is needed for each knot type

We show that every knot type admits a pair of diagrams that cannot be made identical without using Reidemeister Ω 2 -moves. The proof is compatible with known results for the other move types, in the sense that every knot type admits a pair of diagrams that cannot be made identical without using all of the move types.
Convolution powers of complex functions on Z

Repeated convolution of a probability measure on leads to the central limit theorem and other limit theorems. This paper investigates what kinds of results remain without positivity. It reviews theorems due to Schoenberg, Greville, and Thomee which are motivated by applications to data smoothing (Schoenberg and Greville) and finite difference schemes (Thomee). Using Fourier transform arguments, we prove detailed decay bounds for convolution powers of finitely supported complex functions on . If M is an hermitian contraction, an estimate for the off-diagonal entries of the powers of is obtained. This generalizes the Carne–Varopoulos Markov chain estimate.
Knot lattice homology in L-spaces

We show that the knot lattice homology of a knot in an L-space is chain homotopy equivalent to the knot Floer homology of the same knot (viewed these invariants as filtered chain complexes over the polynomial ring ℤ/2ℤ[U]). Suppose that G is a negative definite plumbing tree which contains a vertex w such that G − w is a union of rational graphs. Using the identification of knot homologies we show that for such graphs the lattice homology ℍ&#x1d53d;−(G) is isomorphic to the Heegaard Floer homology HF−(Y G) of the corresponding rational homology sphere YG.
Lazy theta*: any-angle path planning and path length analysis in 3D

Grids with blocked and unblocked cells are often used to represent continuous 2D and 3D environments in robotics and video games. The shortest paths formed by the edges of 8-neighbor 2D grids can be up to ≈ 8% longer than the shortest paths in the continuous environment. Theta* typically finds much shorter paths than that by propagating information along graph edges (to achieve short runtimes) without constraining paths to be formed by graph edges (to find short "any-angle" paths). We show in this paper that the shortest paths formed by the edges of 26-neighbor 3D grids can be ≈ 13% longer than the shortest paths in the continuous environment, which highlights the need for smart path planning algorithms in 3D. Theta* can be applied to 3D grids in a straight-forward manner, but it performs a line-of-sight check for each unexpanded visible neighbor of each expanded vertex and thus it performs many more line-of-sight checks per expanded vertex on a 26-neighbor 3D grid than on an 8-neighbor 2D grid. We therefore introduce Lazy Theta*, a variant of Theta* which uses lazy evaluation to perform only one line-of-sight check per expanded vertex (but with slightly more expanded vertices). We show experimentally that Lazy Theta* finds paths faster than Theta* on 26-neighbor 3D grids, with one order of magnitude fewer line-of-sight checks and without an increase in path length.
Valid time and transaction time proposals : Language design aspects

Several proposals (such as [5], [6]) have been presented to ISO for consideration as temporal extensions to SQL. These proposals are based on approaches to valid time and transaction time, wherein the regular syntax for invocation of SQL operators on tables is interpreted in a special manner, based on the existence of "hidden" timestamps. Concerns about such an approach, with reference to these specific proposals, have been expressed ([8]). Those concerns have been responded to ([4]). We further clarify our concerns and align them with stated language design principles that we believe to be generally agreed upon. We respond to [4] in the context of these principles. Although this discussion is taking place in the specific context of proposals for international standardization, we believe its import is of wider concern than that, meriting the attention of the temporal database community in general. Furthermore, [5] and [6] appear to be the most precise specifications to date to be based on the approach in question; for that reason, we invite people who are not interested in standardization to examine the wider issues that might be emerging from discussions based on those proposals.