cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Monolithic CMOS-compatible zero-index metamaterials

Zero-index materials exhibit exotic optical properties that can be utilized for integrated-optics applications. However, practical implementation requires compatibility with complementary metallic-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technologies. We demonstrate a CMOS-compatible zero-index metamaterial consisting of a square array of air holes in a 220-nm-thick silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer. This design supports zero-index modes with Dirac-cone dispersion. The metamaterial is entirely composed of silicon and offers compatibility through low-aspect-ratio structures that can be simply fabricated in a standard device layer. This platform enables mass adoption and exploration of zero-index-based photonic devices at low cost and high fidelity.
Extension theorems for various weight functions over Frobenius bimodules

In this paper, we study codes where the alphabet is a finite Frobenius bimodule over a finite ring. We discuss the extension property for various weight functions. Employing an entirely character-theoretic approach and a duality theory for partitions on Frobenius bimodules, we derive alternative proofs for the facts that the Hamming weight and the homogeneous weight satisfy the extension property. We also use the same techniques to derive the extension property for other weights, such as the Rosenbloom–Tsfasman weight.
Clinician-Patient Small Talk: Comparing Fourth-Year Dental Students and Practicing Dentists in a Standardized Patient Encounter

The aim of this study was to establish whether frequency of non-diagnostic, non-management exchanges between clinicians and patient (called "socioemotional communication," SC) during a consultation differed between fourth-year dental students and dentists, controlling for clinically driven exchanges of information. Fifteen dentists and 17 fourth-year dental students were recorded in 2006 while undergoing a consultation with a live standardized patient and were subsequently interviewed by investigators in a separate room with the recording present for analysis. Their shared interpretations of cognitive strategies were recorded and compared for differences in the presence of SC. The results showed that most of the students and dentists engaged in SC throughout the consultation with a few exceptions. There were no significant differences between student and dentist cohorts for overall SC presence (p=0.62), time to first instance of SC from overall start of the consultation (p=0.73), and time to first instance of SC after first intraoral examination had taken place (p=0.76). Nonsignificant differences were also recorded for overall frequency at which SC occurred from overall start of the consultation (p=0.89) and after the first intraoral examination had taken place (p=0.12). The patterns showed SC interaction occurring throughout the consultation, not concentrated at the beginning or end. SC did not appear to differ between practitioners and students in terms of prevalence, frequency, or timing. Future research should examine the detailed association between SC and diagnostic thinking processes to further delineate the relationship and characterize possible pedagogical applications.
Experimental Demonstration of an Electride as a 2D Material

Because of their loosely bound electrons, electrides offer physical properties useful in chemical synthesis and electronics. For these applications and others, nanosized electrides offer advantages, but to-date no electride has been synthesized as a nanomaterial. We demonstrate experimentally that Ca2N, a layered electride in which layers of atoms are separated by layers of a 2D electron gas (2DEG), can be exfoliated into two-dimensional (2D) nanosheets using liquid exfoliation. The 2D flakes are stable in a nitrogen atmosphere or in select organic solvents for at least one month. Electron microscopy and elemental analysis reveal that the 2D flakes retain the crystal structure and stoichiometry of the parent 3D Ca2N. In addition, the 2D flakes exhibit metallic character and an optical response that agrees with DFT calculations. Together these findings suggest that the 2DEG is preserved in the 2D material. With this work, we bring electrides into the nanoregime and experimentally demonstrate a 2D electride...
Closing the learning-planning loop with predictive state representations

A central problem in artificial intelligence is to choose actions to maximize reward in a partially observable, uncertain environment. To do so, we must learn an accurate environment model, and then plan to maximize reward. Unfortunately, learning algorithms often recover a model that is too inaccurate to support planning or too large and complex for planning to succeed; or they require excessive prior domain knowledge or fail to provide guarantees such as statistical consistency. To address this gap, we propose a novel algorithm which provably learns a compact, accurate model directly from sequences of action-observation pairs. We then evaluate the learner by closing the loop from observations to actions. In more detail, we present a spectral algorithm for learning a predictive state representation (PSR), and evaluate it in a simulated, vision-based mobile robot planning task, showing that the learned PSR captures the essential features of the environment and enables successful and efficient planning. Our algorithm has several benefits which have not appeared together in any previous PSR learner: it is computationally efficient and statistically consistent; it handles high-dimensional observations and long time horizons; and, our close-the-loop experiments provide an end-to-end practical test.
First-passage time approach to controlling noise in the timing of intracellular events.

Abstract In the noisy cellular environment, gene products are subject to inherent random fluctuations in copy numbers over time. How cells ensure precision in the timing of key intracellular events despite such stochasticity is an intriguing fundamental problem. We formulate event timing as a first-passage time problem, where an event is triggered when the level of a protein crosses a critical threshold for the first time. Analytical calculations are performed for the first-passage time distribution in stochastic models of gene expression. Derivation of these formulas motivates an interesting question: Is there an optimal feedback strategy to regulate the synthesis of a protein to ensure that an event will occur at a precise time, while minimizing deviations or noise about the mean? Counterintuitively, results show that for a stable long-lived protein, the optimal strategy is to express the protein at a constant rate without any feedback regulation, and any form of feedback (positive, negative, or any combination of them) will always amplify noise in event timing. In contrast, a positive feedback mechanism provides the highest precision in timing for an unstable protein. These theoretical results explain recent experimental observations of single-cell lysis times in bacteriophage λ λ. Here, lysis of an infected bacterial cell is orchestrated by the expression and accumulation of a stable λ λ protein up to a threshold, and precision in timing is achieved via feedforward rather than feedback control. Our results have broad implications for diverse cellular processes that rely on precise temporal triggering of events.
A decomposition algorithm to solve the multi-hop Peer-to-Peer ride-matching problem

Abstract In this paper, we mathematically model the multi-hop Peer-to-Peer (P2P) ride-matching problem as a binary program. We formulate this problem as a many-to-many problem in which a rider can travel my transferring between multiple drivers, and a driver can carry multiple riders. We propose a pre-processing procedure to reduce the size of the problem, and devise a decomposition algorithm to solve the original ride-matching problem to optimality by means of solving multiple smaller problems. We conduct extensive numerical experiments to demonstrate the computational efficiency of the proposed algorithm and show its practical applicability to reasonably-sized dynamic ride-matching contexts. Finally, in the interest of even lower solution times, we propose heuristic solution methods, and investigate the trade-offs between solution time and accuracy.
QUALITY CHOICE AND MARKET STRUCTURE: A DYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF NURSING HOME OLIGOPOLIES

This article develops a dynamic model of entry and exit to analyze quality choice and oligopoly market structure in the nursing home industry. I find significant heterogeneity in the competitive effects across market structures: Firms of similar quality levels compete more strongly than dissimilar firms. Sunken entry costs are extremely large, and quality adjustment behavior is governed by significant fixed adjustment costs. A proposal to eliminate low-quality nursing homes is found to cause a large supply-side shortage, and another proposal to lower entry costs has offered a perverse incentive to provide low quality of care
Separable and Localized System-Level Synthesis for Large-Scale Systems

A major challenge faced in the design of large-scale cyber-physical systems, such as power systems, the Internet of Things or intelligent transportation systems, is that traditional distributed optimal control methods do not scale gracefully, neither in controller synthesis nor in controller implementation, to systems composed of a large number (e.g., on the order of billions) of interacting subsystems. This paper shows that this challenge can now be addressed by leveraging the recently introduced system-level approach (SLA) to controller synthesis. In particular, in the context of the SLA, we define suitable notions of separability for control objective functions and system constraints such that the global optimization problem (or iterate update problems of a distributed optimization algorithm) can be decomposed into parallel subproblems. We then further show that if additional locality (i.e., sparsity) constraints are imposed, then these subproblems can be solved using local models and local decision variables. The SLA is essential to maintain the convexity of the aforementioned problems under locality constraints. As a consequence, the resulting synthesis methods have $O(1)$ complexity relative to the size of the global system. We further show that many optimal control problems of interest, such as (localized) LQR and LQG, $\mathcal {H}_2$ optimal control with joint actuator and sensor regularization, and (localized) mixed $\mathcal {H}_2/\mathcal {L}_1$ optimal control problems, satisfy these notions of separability, and use these problems to explore tradeoffs in performance, actuator, and sensing density, and average versus worst-case performance for a large-scale power inspired system.
Comparing apples to oranges: Differences in women’s and men’s incarceration and sentencing outcomes

Using detailed administrative records, we find that, on average, women receive lighter sentences in comparison with men along both extensive and intensive margins. Using parametric and semiparametric decomposition methods, roughly 30% of the gender differences in incarceration cannot be explained by the observed criminal characteristics of offense and offender. We also find evidence of considerable heterogeneity across judges in their treatment of female and male offenders. There is little evidence, however, that tastes for gender discrimination are driving the mean gender disparity or the variance in treatment between judges.
Chasing Shadows: Rotation of the Azimuthal Asymmetry in the TW Hya Disk

NASA [HST-GO-13753, NAS 5-26555]; Space Telescope Science Institute; NASA Exoplanets Program [NNX16AB43G]
Damage tolerance of cracked cylindrical shells under internal pressure

In the present work, a series of unstiffened, thinwalled (radius to thickness ratio, R/t — 216), metallic cylindrical shells, containing centralized cracks at angles to the shell generators ranging from 0° to 90° at intervals of 15° and of two crack lengths, are internally pressurized in order to determine the effect of crack angle on the failure mechanism of the shells. This is done under two different sets of boundary conditions. In the first case the shell is free to move in the axial direction, in the second case this axial movement is constrained. Curves of the maximum pressure leading to global failure of the shells as a function of crack angle for two different crack lengths and for both cases of boundaray consitions are presented. The present experimental data can be used to find a governing predictive crack growth criterion as a function of crack angle. This criterion can be used in commercial finite element codes for predicting the failure of more complex shell structures like those used in transport fuselage shell structures. The experimental data are explained via a fracture mechanics based analysis. For cracks which are inclined with respect to the applied stress, both the opening (tensile) mode I stress intensity factor and the sliding (shear) mode II stress intensity factor are significant. These depend on the angle of the crack with respect to the applied load. Fairly good agreement between analysis and experiment is obtained if adjusted values of Kjc and KHC are used along with the assumption that crack growth is governed by a quadratic failure criterion. The adjusted values account for shell curva
The statistical need to include phylogeny in trait-based analyses of community composition

Summary A growing number of studies incorporate functional trait information to analyse patterns and processes of community assembly. These studies of trait–environment relationships generally ignore phylogenetic relationships among species. When functional traits and the residual variation in species distributions among communities have phylogenetic signal, however, analyses ignoring phylogenetic relationships can decrease estimation accuracy and power, inflate type I error rates and lead to potentially false conclusions. Using simulations, we compared estimation accuracy, statistical power and type I error rates of linear mixed models (LMM) and phylogenetic linear mixed models (PLMM) designed to test for trait–environment interactions in the distribution of species abundances among sites. We considered the consequences of both phylogenetic signal in traits and phylogenetic signal in the residual variation in species distributions generated by an unmeasured (latent) trait with phylogenetic signal. When there was phylogenetic signal in the residual variation in species among sites, PLMM provided better estimates (closer to the true value) and greater statistical power for testing whether the trait–environment interaction regression coefficient differed from zero. LMM had unacceptably high type I error rates when there was phylogenetic signal in both traits and the residual variation in species distributions. When there was no phylogenetic signal in the residual variation in species distributions, LMM and PLMM had similar performances. Linear mixed models that ignore phylogenetic relationships can lead to poor statistical tests of trait–environment relationships when there is phylogenetic signal in the residual variation in species distributions among sites, such as caused by unmeasured traits. Therefore, phylogenies and PLMMs should be used when studying how functional traits affect species abundances among communities in response to environmental gradients.
A Tool for Diagnosing and Staging Synucleinopathies

Synucleinopathies are neurodegenerative diseases characterized by the abnormal accumulation of α-synuclein protein aggregates in the brain. Parkinson’s Disease, the leading movement disorder and synucleinopathy, encompasses roughly 9 million people worldwide and costs in the United States alone total $25 billion yearly. However, there are no standard diagnostic tests for a biological marker of Parkinson’s, such as a blood test or imaging scan. Difficulty in designing an imaging agent stems from the challenge of crossing the blood brain barrier, binding selectively to authentic lesions, and remaining low risk for human patients. This study aims to create an imaging agent that can detect and stage α-synuclein distribution in vivo (live in the patient) via positron emission tomography. Using immunohistochemical methods, human tissue was stained using a commercially available polyclonal anti-α-synuclein antibody and imaged using a con-focal microscope. Tissue stained with our small molecules tagged with a fluorescent ligand recapitulated the images of the positive control, validating that our molecule bound to the target. Preliminary data have provided promising results of the development of an imaging agent that binds authentically to α-synuclein and has the characteristics necessary to pass the blood brain barrier while remaining safe for human consumption. To continue verification, further testing will be done against Tau and β-amyloid protein to ensure the molecule’s selectivity for α-synuclein. Successful completion of this project will provide an objective diagnostic tool for physicians and patients. This tool will be critical in earlier diagnosis and staging of disease, aiding patients and healthcare providers towards better medical treatment and disease outcome.
Confronting the North’s South: On Race and Violence in the United States

More than any other ‘Northern’ country, the United States is distinctive in the degree to which its social, economic and cultural development has been entwined with the global South from the beginning, and we cannot adequately understand the state of crime and punishment in the United States without taking that uniquely ‘Southern’ history into account. In this paper, I sketch some of the dimensions of one crucial reflection of that Southern legacy: the extraordinary racial disparities in the experience of violent death between African-Americans and whites. These disparities contribute substantially to radically different patterns of life and death between the races. But their structural roots remain largely unaddressed, and in some respects, the prospects for seriously confronting these fundamental inequalities may be receding.
New numerical approaches for modeling thermochemical convection in a compositionally stratified fluid

Abstract Geochemical observations of mantle-derived rocks favor a nearly homogeneous upper mantle, the source of mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB), and heterogeneous lower mantle regions. Plumes that generate ocean island basalts are thought to sample the lower mantle regions and exhibit more heterogeneity than MORB. These regions have been associated with lower mantle structures known as large low shear velocity provinces (LLSVPS) below Africa and the South Pacific. The isolation of these regions is attributed to compositional differences and density stratification that, consequently, have been the subject of computational and laboratory modeling designed to determine the parameter regime in which layering is stable and understanding how layering evolves. Mathematical models of persistent compositional interfaces in the Earth’s mantle may be inherently unstable, at least in some regions of the parameter space relevant to the mantle. Computing approximations to solutions of such problems presents severe challenges, even to state-of-the-art numerical methods. Some numerical algorithms for modeling the interface between distinct compositions smear the interface at the boundary between compositions, such as methods that add numerical diffusion or ‘artificial viscosity’ in order to stabilize the algorithm. We present two new algorithms for maintaining high-resolution and sharp computational boundaries in computations of these types of problems: a discontinuous Galerkin method with a bound preserving limiter and a Volume-of-Fluid interface tracking algorithm. We compare these new methods with two approaches widely used for modeling the advection of two distinct thermally driven compositional fields in mantle convection computations: a high-order accurate finite element advection algorithm with entropy viscosity and a particle method that carries a scalar quantity representing the location of each compositional field. All four algorithms are implemented in the open source finite element code ASPECT, which we use to compute the velocity, pressure, and temperature associated with the underlying flow field. We compare the performance of these four algorithms on three problems, including computing an approximation to the solution of an initially compositionally stratified fluid at Ra = 10 5 with buoyancy numbers B that vary from no stratification at B = 0 to stratified flow at large B .
Tailored Nanoparticles for Enhancing Polymer Adhesion

Nanoparticles are known to affect the physical properties of bulk polymer materials. Here, we report the ability of metal nanoparticles, tailored with chemically matched short polymer ligands, to e...
Balancing selection pressures, multiple objectives, and neural modularity to coevolve cooperative agent behavior

Previous research using evolutionary computation in Multi-Agent Systems indicates that assigning fitness based on team vs. individual behavior has a strong impact on the ability of evolved teams of artificial agents to exhibit teamwork in challenging tasks. Such research made use of single-objective evolution, but when multiobjective evolution is used, populations can be subject to individual-level objectives, team-level objectives, or combinations of the two. This paper explores the performance of cooperatively coevolved teams of agents controlled by artificial neural networks subject to these types of objectives. Because of the tension between individual and team behaviors, multiple modes of behavior can be useful, so the effect of modular neural networks is also explored. Results demonstrate that fitness rewarding individual behavior is superior to fitness rewarding team behavior, despite being applied to a cooperative task. However, networks with multiple modules can discover intelligent behavior, regardless of which type of objectives are used.
Nudgitize me! A behavioral Finance Approach to minimize losses and maximize profits from Heuristics and Biases

Behavioral Finance is one of the most novel developments in Behavioral Economics. Since the end of the 1970ies a wide range of psychological, economic and sociological laboratory and field experiments proved human beings deviating from rational choices. Standard neoclassical profit maximization axioms were outlined to fail to explain how human actually behave. Human beings were rather found to use heuristics in the day-to-day decision making. These mental short cuts enable to cope with information overload in a complex world. Behavioral economists proposed to nudge and wink citizens to make better choices for them with many different applications in very many different domains. This paper reviews and proposes how to use mental heuristics, biases and nudges in the finance domain to profit from markets.
Locally Self-Adjusting Skip Graphs

We present a distributed self-adjusting algorithm for skip graphs that minimizes the average routing costs between arbitrary communication pairs by performing topological adaptation to the communication pattern. Our algorithm is fully decentralized, conforms to the CONGEST model (i.e. uses O(logn) bit messages), and requires O(logn) bits of memory for each node, where n is the total number of nodes. Upon each communication request, our algorithm first establishes communication by using the standard skip graph routing, and then locally and partially reconstructs the skip graph topology to perform topological adaptation. We propose a computational model for such algorithms, as well as a yardstick (working set property) to evaluate them. Our working set property can also be used to evaluate self-adjusting algorithms for other graph classes where multiple tree-like subgraphs overlap (e.g. hypercube networks). We derive a lower bound of the amortized routing cost for any algorithm that follows our model and serves an unknown sequence of communication requests. We show that the routing cost of our algorithm is at most a constant factor more than the amortized routing cost of any algorithm conforming to our computational model. We also show that the expected transformation cost for our algorithm is at most a logarithmic factor more than the amortized routing cost of any algorithm conforming to our computational model.
Small cities face greater impact from automation.

The city has proved to be the most successful form of human agglomeration and provides wide employment opportunities for its dwellers. As advances in robotics and artificial intelligence revive con...
Introduction to Symposium on the Constitutionalization of International Law in Latin America

Had one been pressed, in the mid-1980s, to characterize Latin American approaches to constitutional law and international law, the terms "sleepy" and "sovereigntist" might have come to mind: "sleepy" because judicial review was rare; and "sovereigntist" because ever since declaring independence in a world of colonial powers, Latin American states had asserted a robust version of sovereignty (enshrined, for example, in the Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States of 1933) and, accordingly, a dualist relation between domestic and international law.
Wavelet Transformations in Signal Detection

Abstract In the analysis of transient signals such as those encountered in speech, or in certain kinds of image processing, standard Fourier analysis is often not satisfactory. This is because the basis functions of Fourier analysis (sines, cosines, complex exponentials) extend over infinite time whereas the signals to be analysed are short-time transients A new method for dealing with transient signals has recently appeared in the literature [1-6]. The basis functions are referred to as wavelets, and they employ time compression (or dilation) rather than a variation of frequency of the modulated sinusoid. Hence all the wavelets have the same number of cycles . The analyzing wavelets must satisfy a few simple conditions, but are not otherwise specified. There is therefore a wide latitude in the choice of these functions and they can be taylored to specific applications. The wavelets are well founded on rigorous mathematical theory, and the expansions are robust. We have applied them to detect ventricular delayed potentials (VLP) in the electrocardiogram
Optimal measurement constellation of the fluoroBancroft localization algorithm for position estimation in tracking confocal microscopy

Abstract The fluoroBancroft algorithm is an analytical approach that converts a collection of fluorescence intensity measurements generated by an isolated sub-diffraction limit source into an estimate with nanometer-scale precision of the source position. Based on this algorithm, we have developed a scheme for tracking single fluorescent particles in a confocal microscope. In this paper, we determine an optimal measurement constellation for the estimation algorithm. The position estimation bias and uncertainty arising from the photon counting statistics are calculated based on the assumption that the natural logarithm of a Poisson random variable with large rate can be approximated as a random variable with a Gaussian distribution. A sufficient condition for an unbiased measurement constellation and the optimal radius of a given constellation geometry with six measurements are then derived. The results are illustrated through both numerical simulation and experiments.
Permanent versus temporary monetary base Injections: Implications for past and future Fed Policy

Abstract Despite the Federal Reserve's use of quantitative easing (QE) programs, the U.S. economy experienced one of the weakest recoveries on record following the Great Recession. Not only was real growth disappointingly low, but even nominal growth over which monetary policy has more control was feeble. Why did QE fail to stimulate robust aggregate demand growth? This paper argues the answer is that the Federal Reserve could not credibly commit to a permanent expansion of the monetary base under QE. Both quantity theoretic and New Keynesian models show, however, that a permanent expansion of the monetary base is needed to spur aggregate demand growth at the zero lower bound (ZLB). The Federal Reserve's inability to do so meant its QE programs got consigned to ‘irrelevance results’ of Krugman (1998) and Eggertson and Woodford (2003) and were never going to spark a strong a recovery. Going forward, this inability to commit to a permanent expansion of the monetary base at the ZLB will continue to weigh down on the effectiveness of Fed policy. As a result, this paper calls for a new monetary policy regime of a NGDP level target that is backstopped by the consolidated balance sheet of the government.
Serum Lactate Dehydrogenase Isoenzyme 1 in Patients With Advanced Testicular Cancer

Abnormal levels of serum lactic dehydrogenase-1 (LD-1) activity have been observed in 81% (34/42) of patients with stage III germ cell malignancy of the testis. The criteria for evaluation the electrophoretic isoenzyme patterns of these patients were, as follows: For criterion 1 elevations the LD-1 value in absolute units was greater than 52.0 U/I with the LD-1/Total LD ratio greater than 37.2%. Criterion 2 elevations had absolute values of LD-1 less than 52.0 U/I, but the LD-1/Total LD ratio was greater than 37.2%. For criterion 3 elevations of LD-1, the absolute value was greater than 52 U/I and the LD-1/Total LD ratio was less than 37.2% activity with the LD-5/LD-1 ratio less than 0.5; or when the LD-5/LD-1 ratio was greater than 0.5 but the LD-1 is equal to or greater than the LD-2. The frequency of LD-1 elevation correlated well with the extent of the disease (stage II-B-1 and 2, 50%; stage III-B-3, 86%; stage III-B-4, 91%; stage III-B-5, 93%). LD-1 elevation occurred in groups I, II, IV and V histopathologic cell types (Dixon and Moore Classification) and there did not appear to be any correlation between the histologic cell type and the frequency of elevation of LD-1. Interpretation of LD-1 activity only on the basis of its relative ratio to the total LD value (criterion 1 and 2) identified a total of 28 patients (67%). A criterion 3 elevation was demonstrated in 6 (14%) additional patients. All patients with persistent elevations or recurrent elevations of LD-1 have shown progressive or recurrent disease and patients with no clinical evidence of disease have demonstrated normal LD-1 values. In those patients with elevated LD-1 activity, serial measurements of serum. LD-1 isoenzyme reflect the response of the patient to therapy.
CHOOSING BY SELECTING OR REJECTING: HOW DECISION STRATEGY INFLUENCES CONSUMER SATISFACTION

Three experimental studies demonstrate that differences in how consumers reach a decision can influence satisfaction with the subsequent consumption experience. Relative to consumers who select liked options, consumers who decide by rejecting disliked options attend more to undesirable features of the options they discard. Rejecters can use this negative information to imagine worse possible alternative outcomes, mitigating potential dissatisfaction in the event of service or product failure. The moderating roles of experience valence (favorable or unfavorable) and salience of the foregone alternatives (present or absent) are examined, and two mediating processes are identified. The findings deepen our understanding of the antecedents to satisfaction and offer novel opportunities for marketing practitioners to influence and manage consumer satisfaction.
Hypomagnesemia and Renal Magnesium Wasting in Renal Transplant Recipients Receiving Cyclosporine

Following the adoption and use of cyclosporine as the drug of choice in the management of renal allograft recipients, several cases of symptomatic hypomagnesemia were noted. These observations prompted the current prospective study of serum concentration and urinary excretion of magnesium in 27 renal transplant recipients treated with cyclosporine and prednisone. Relevant laboratory measurements were obtained shortly before and regularly after transplantation. The results were compared with those obtained in a group of 17 allograft recipients treated with azathioprine and prednisone. The cyclosporine-treated patients showed a significant reduction in the serum magnesium concentration and an inappropriately increased urinary excretion and fractional excretion of magnesium, suggesting renal magnesium wasting. The observed hypomagnesemia required magnesium supplementation in nearly all cyclosporine-treated patients. In contrast, azathioprine-treated patients showed normal serum magnesium concentrations and required no magnesium supplementation. In conclusion, administration of cyclosporine in renal allograft recipients appears to be commonly associated with renal magnesium wasting and hypomagnesemia. Therefore, it is recommended that serum levels of magnesium be monitored regularly in renal allograft recipients receiving cyclosporine and that magnesium supplementation be employed as needed to avoid magnesium depletion.
Environmental Public Health Tracking: From Data to Action.

The National Environmental Public Health Tracking Program (Tracking Program) has worked closely with a community of funded state and local health departments to develop the National Environmental P...
Minimization solutions to conservation laws with non-smooth and non-strictly convex flux

Conservation laws are usually studied in the context of suffcient regularity conditions imposed on the flux function, usually C2 and uniform convexity. Some results are proven with the aid of variational methods and a unique minimizer such as Hopf-Lax and Lax-Oleinik. We show that many of these classical results can be extended to a flux function that is not necessarily smooth or uniformly or strictly convex. Although uniqueness a.e. of the minimizer will generally no longer hold, by considering the greatest (or supremum, where applicable) of all possible minimizers, we can successfully extend the results. One specific nonlinear case is that of a piecewise linear flux function, for which we prove existence and uniqueness results. We also approximate it by a smoothed, superlinearized version parameterized by e and consider the characterization of the minimizers for the smooth version and limiting behavior as e ↓ 0 to that of the sharp, polygonal problem. In proving a key result for the solution in terms of the value of the initial condition, we provide a stepping stone to analyzing the system under stochastic processes, which will be explored further in a future paper.
Application of SERS nanoparticles for intracellular pH measurements

We present an alternative approach to optical probes that will ultimately allow us to measure chemical concentrations in microenvironments within cells and tissues. This approach is based on monitoring the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) response of functionalized metal nanoparticles (50-100 nm in diameter). SERS allows for the sensitive detection of changes in the state of chemical groups attached to individual nanoparticles and small clusters. Here, we present the development of a nanoscale pH meter. The pH response of these nanoprobes is tested in a cell-free medium, measuring the pH of the solution immediately surrounding the nanoparticles. Heterogeneities in the SERS signal, which can result from the formation of small nanoparticle clusters, are characterized using SERS correlation spectroscopy and single particle/cluster SERS spectroscopy. The response of the nanoscale pH meters is tested under a wide range of conditions to approach the complex environment encountered inside living cells and to optimize probe performance.
Chapter 8 - Electromagnetic Inversion

Electromagnetic inversion is one of the most difficult problems of EM geophysics. In this chapter, we outline the basic principles of electromagnetic inversion and imaging based on the methods of regularization theory. The simplest approach to the solution of electromagnetic inverse problems is based on linearization of the forward modeling operator. This approach uses the family of linear and nonlinear approximations, described in Chapter 6. We introduce Born inversion based on the Born approximation and consider a corresponding method of fast conductivity imaging. We also discuss a general case of nonlinear inversion and present a family of gradient-type inversion methods including the steepest descent, Newton, and the conjugate gradient methods. A technique of efficient Frechet derivative calculation is presented as well.
Embracing an entrepreneurial ecosystem: an analysis of the governance of research joint ventures

In this paper, we examine how one important type of relationship, research joint ventures (RJVs), is governed within the context of an entrepreneurial ecosystem. Based on agency theory, we investigate the relationship between the governance structure of an RJV and the likelihood that the venture will embrace elements of its research-based ecosystem, that is, the likelihood that the RJV will invite a university to become a research member of the venture. Using data from the National Research Joint Venture Database, we find that when the governance structure of the RJV affords the organizer/leader and research director (the principal) the ability to exert control over the activities of the other members of the RJV (the agents), universities are less likely to be invited to participate as a research member.
The era of big spatial data

In this tutorial, we present the recent work in the database community for handling Big Spatial Data. This topic became very hot due to the recent explosion in the amount of spatial data generated by smart phones, satellites and medical devices, among others. This tutorial goes beyond the use of existing systems as-is (e.g., Hadoop, Spark or Impala), and digs deep into the core components of big systems (e.g., indexing and query processing) to describe how they are designed to handle big spatial data. During this 90-minute tutorial, we review the state-of-the-art work in the area of Big Spatial Data while classifying the existing research efforts according to the implementation approach, underlying architecture, and system components. In addition, we provide case studies of full-fledged systems and applications that handle Big Spatial Data which allows the audience to better comprehend the whole tutorial.
Teaching Latin American Studies with Blackboard Courseinfo Web Software

This article describes how a Web-based course authoring software package (Blackboard CourseInfo) was used in the teaching of a survey course in Latin American studies.
Side-Channel Inference Attacks on Mobile Keypads Using Smartwatches

Smartwatches enable many novel applications and are fast gaining popularity. However, the presence of a diverse set of on-board sensors provides an additional attack surface to malicious software and services on these devices. In this paper, we investigate the feasibility of key press inference attacks on handheld numeric touchpads by using smartwatch motion sensors as a side-channel. We consider different typing scenarios, and propose multiple attack approaches to exploit the characteristics of the observed wrist movements for inferring individual key presses. Experimental evaluation using commercial off-the-shelf smartwatches and smartphones show that key press inference using smartwatch motion sensors is not only fairly accurate, but also comparable with similar attacks using smartphone motion sensors. Additionally, hand movements captured by a combination of both smartwatch and smartphone motion sensors yields better inference accuracy than either device considered individually.
EMD-seislet transform

ABSTRACTThe seislet transform uses a prediction operator that is connected to the local slope or frequency of seismic events. We have combined the 1D nonstationary seislet transform with empirical-mode decomposition (EMD) in the f-x domain. We used EMD to decompose data into smoothly variable frequency components for the following 1D seislet transform. The resultant representation showed remarkable sparsity. We developed a detailed algorithm and used a field example to demonstrate the application of the new seislet transform for sparsity-promoting seismic data processing.
Kenya's political ‘transition’ through the eyes of its ‘foot soldiers’ for democracy and human rights (1997–2012)

Abstract This is a study of young human rights activists who provide a unique window on Kenya's recent and turbulent political history (1997–2012). The period includes the end of authoritarian rule and election of a ‘reform’ government in 2002 that expanded some human rights but abused others. Based on archival materials and periodic, multiple interviews by the author with key youth activists, the findings make three contributions to the study of human rights and democracy. First, it identifies the often overlooked role of secondary level activists in a human rights/democracy social movement, the so-called ‘foot soldiers’. Second, it explores the failure of Kenya to consolidate its democracy and quell police violence, including the assassination of two human rights investigators, an event which sent a chill through the activist community. Third, by tracing the trajectory of some ‘foot soldiers’ during this period, the study confirms a theory of a cycle of social movement activism but suggests modifications.
Urinary Iodine, Perchlorate, and Thiocyanate Concentrations in U.S. Lactating Women.

Background: Iodine is an essential micronutrient for thyroid hormone production. Adequate iodine intake and normal thyroid function are important during early development, and breastfed infants rel...
miRNA regulation of Tip110 expression and self-renewal and differentiation of human CD34+ hematopoietic cells

Tip110 expression regulates hematopoiesis, but the regulatory mechanisms during hematopoiesis are not fully understood. There are a number of putative microRNA (miRNA) binding sites identified within the Tip110 3' untranslated region (3'UTR). In this study, we determined the relationship among Tip110 miRNA, Tip110 expression and self-renewal and differentiation of human CD34+ hematopoietic cells. Using a Tip110 3UTR-based reporter gene assay, 11 miRNA showed the specific activity toward the Tip110 3'UTR and down-regulated constitutive Tip110 mRNA expression. When human cord blood CD34+ cells were differentiated, Tip110 mRNA expression showed significant decreases. Concurrently, five miRNA showed significant increases, five miRNA showed significant decreases, and one miRNA remained unchanged. To further assess the roles of miRNA in Tip110 expression and self-renewal and differentiation of human CD34+ hematopoietic cells, human cord blood CD34+ cells were transduced to express the full-length Tip110 3'UTR RNA. Expression of the Tip110 3'UTR RNA led to significant increases of Tip110 mRNA, and the number of hematopoietic stem cells and progenitor cells. Taken together, these results show important roles of Tip110 miRNA in Tip110 expression control and Tip110 regulation of hematopoiesis and offer a possibility of using Tip110 miRNA or 3'UTR as a strategy to maintain human CD34+ hematopoietic cells.
Polar desert chronologies through quantitative measurements of salt accumulation

We measured salt concentration and speciation in the top horizons of moraine sediments from the Transantarctic Mountains (Antarctica) and compared the salt data to cosmogenic-nuclide exposure ages on the same moraine. Because the salts are primarily of atmospheric origin, and their delivery to the sediment is constant over relevant time scales, a linear rate of accumulation is expected. When salts are measured in a consistent grain-size fraction and at a consistent position within the soil column, a linear correlation between salt concentration and exposure age is evident. This correlation is strongest for boron-containing salts (R2 > 0.99), but is also strong (R2 ≈ 0.9) for most other water-extracted salt species. The relative mobility of salts in the soil column does not correspond to species solubility (borate is highly soluble). Instead, the highly consistent behavior of boron within the soil column is best explained by the extremely low vapor pressure of boric acid at cold temperatures. The environment is sufficiently dry that mobility of salt species within the soil column is controlled by vapor phase effects. In other cold desert settings, topsoil salts, specifically boron, may be employed as a proxy for relative sediment exposure age.
Evolution of CME Mass in the Corona

The idea that coronal mass ejections (CMEs) pile up mass in their transport through the corona and heliosphere is widely accepted. However, it has not been shown that this is the case. We perform an initial study of the volume electron density of the fronts of 13 three-part CMEs with well-defined frontal boundaries observed with the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory/Large Angle and Spectrometric COronagraph (SOHO/LASCO) white-light coronagraphs. We find that, in all cases, the volume electron density decreases as the CMEs travel through the LASCO-C2 and -C3 fields of view, from $2.6\,\mbox{--}\,30~\mbox{R}_{\odot}$ . The density decrease follows closely a power law with an exponent of −3, which is consistent with a simple radial expansion. This indicates that in this height regime there is no observed pile-up.
Diagnostic utility of telomere length testing in a hospital-based setting

Telomere length (TL) predicts the onset of cellular senescence in vitro but the diagnostic utility of TL measurement in clinical settings is not fully known. We tested the value of TL measurement by flow cytometry and FISH (flowFISH) in patients with mutations in telomerase and telomere maintenance genes. TL had a discrete and reproducible normal range with definable upper and lower boundaries. While TL above the 50th age-adjusted percentile had a 100% negative predictive value for clinically relevant mutations, the lower threshold in mutation carriers was age-dependent, and adult mutation carriers often overlapped with the lowest decile of controls. The extent of telomere shortening correlated with the age at diagnosis as well as the short telomere syndrome phenotype. Extremely short TL caused bone marrow failure and immunodeficiency in children and young adults, while milder defects manifested as pulmonary fibrosis-emphysema in adults. We prospectively examined whether TL altered treatment decisions for newly diagnosed idiopathic bone marrow failure patients and found abnormally short TL enriched for patients with mutations in some inherited bone marrow failure genes, such as RUNX1, in addition to telomerase and telomere maintenance genes. The result was actionable, altering the choice of treatment regimen and/or hematopoietic stem cell donor in one-fourth of the cases (9 of 38, 24%). We conclude that TL measurement by flowFISH, when used for targeted clinical indications and in limited settings, can influence treatment decisions in ways that improve outcome.
Characterizing activity patterns using co-clustering and user-activity network

Traditionally human mobility patterns and space activities are studied using recall-based travel diaries. Following the ubiquity of location-based technologies, transportation researchers are revisiting the methods of classifying travel activity patterns using geo-location data. The current study contributes to this research line by leveraging granular and detailed activity information and building individual lifestyle patterns based on top of that. We use 300 days of 402 Metropia navigation app users' origin-destination information to construct an activity-user network. Using the co-clustering method, we discover 16 distinguished clusters or lifestyles in the dataset. The results of this study indicate: (1) Clustering individuals contingent on their similar and dissimilar activities enables us to detect their lifestyle, (2) aggregating the activity space of individuals may misrepresent their lifestyle, and consequently mislead the policies, (3) clustering individuals contingent on their similar and dissimilar activities has the potential to extract the demographic characteristics of individuals, and (4) understanding the human mobility pattern of individuals allows us to create social relationships, and thereby give them an opportunity to share their mobility.