cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Correlation clustering

We consider the following clustering problem: we have a complete graph on n vertices (items), where each edge (u, /spl upsi/) is labeled either + or - depending on whether a and /spl upsi/ have been deemed to be similar or different. The goal is to produce a partition of the vertices (a clustering) that agrees as much as possible with the edge labels. That is, we want a clustering that maximizes the number of + edges within clusters, plus the number of - edges between clusters (equivalently, minimizes the number of disagreements: the number of - edges inside clusters plus the number of + edges between clusters). This formulation is motivated from a document clustering problem in which one has a pairwise similarity function f learned from past data, and the goal is to partition the current set of documents in a way that correlates with f as much as possible; it can also be viewed as a kind of "agnostic learning" problem. An interesting feature of this clustering formulation is that one does not need to specify the number of clusters k as a separate parameter, as in measures such as k-median or min-sum or min-max clustering. Instead, in our formulation, the optimal number of clusters could be any value between 1 and n, depending on the edge labels. We look at approximation algorithms for both minimizing disagreements and for maximizing agreements. For minimizing disagreements, we give a constant factor approximation. For maximizing agreements we give a PTAS. We also show how to extend some of these results to graphs with edge labels in [-1, +1], and give some results for the case of random noise.
Regreso al mediterráneo en la cinematografía de Bigas Luna

El articulo pretende un acercamiento de los filmes de Bigas Luna, Bambola y Son de mar, producidos luego de que la trilogla iberica (Jamon Jamon, Huevos de oro y La teta y la luna) lo catapultara nivel a internacional. Parece que el director catalan quiso combinar historias de componente eroticos, ambientales en el mismo entorno del Mediterraneo.
Triethylamine: a potential N-base surrogate for pyridine in Knoevenagel condensation of aromatic aldehydes and malonic acid

Cinnamic acids are intermediates with significant potential for synthesis of several industrially important chemicals. Classically, cinnamic acids are produced through Knoevenagel condensation of aromatic aldehydes and malonic acid in the presence of an organocatalyst and large amounts of carcinogenic pyridine. An alternative pyridine free reaction scheme for Knoevenagel condensation of malonic acid and aromatic aldehydes was investigated by replacing pyridine with an aliphatic tertiary amine surrogate in toluene as the reaction medium. Of the three aliphatic tertiary amines used, namely, triethyl amine (TEA), trioctyl amine (TOA) and tributyl amine (TBA), only TEA afforded cinnamic acids in comparable yields to those obtained with pyridine. Validation through a computational analysis is attempted to provide an explanation for the observed role of TEA as an aliphatic N-base instead of TBA and TOA. The use of TEA as a mild base in place of pyridine can be seen as playing the dual role of a base catalyst as well as a phase transfer agent evidenced by the in-process ATR-FITR spectroscopy. Use of the TEA–toluene system in place of pyridine can be seen as resulting in a process that affords ease of handling, separation and recycling of the solvent and the catalyst.
Towards coordinated bandwidth adaptations for hundred-scale 3D tele-immersive systems

3D tele-immersion improves the state of collaboration among geographically distributed participants. Unlike the traditional 2D videos, a 3D tele-immersive system employs multiple 3D cameras based in each physical site to cover a much larger field of view, generating a very large amount of stream data. One of the major challenges is how to efficiently transmit these bulky 3D streaming data to bandwidth-constrained sites. In this paper, we study an adaptive human visual system (HVS)-compliant bandwidth management framework for efficient delivery of hundred-scale streams produced from distributed 3D tele-immersive sites to a receiver site with limited bandwidth budget. Our adaptation framework exploits the semantics link of HVS with multiple 3D streams in the 3D tele-immersive environment. We developed TELEVIS, a visual simulation tool to showcase an HVS-aware tele-immersive system for realistic cases. Our evaluation results show that the proposed adaptation can improve the total quality per unit of bandwidth used to deliver streams in 3D tele-immersive systems.
The Abandoned Stakeholders: Pharmaceutical Companies and Research Participants

Most discussions concerned with advancing the just and ethical treatment of research participants in developing countries have revolved around the moral principle of autonomy and the legal doctrine of informed consent (O’Neill 2002). However, if emerging ethical concerns are to be addressed effectively, the discussion needs to expand into the domain of business ethics where arguments addressing issues such as fair/appropriate compensation, entitlement, and corporate obligations to stakeholders are commonplace. The argument I present in this paper will conclude that emerging ethical considerations regarding the treatment of research participants in developing countries have evolved well beyond the scope of the principle of informed consent and that in order to resolve these concerns more appropriately and effectively, the new default or status quo should be to consider research participants as stakeholders of the sponsoring pharmaceutical company, even after the clinical trial is completed. This conclusion is significant because although it is fair to assume that, at some point in the timeline, most stakeholder theorists already do consider research participants stakeholders of the pharmaceutical company sponsoring the trial, the completion date of the clinical trial usually signifies and marks the termination of their stakeholder status and thus any consideration of what is owed further to the research participant.
Dirhodium(II)‐Catalyzed Annulation of Enoldiazoacetamides with α‐Diazoketones: An Efficient and Highly Selective Approach to Fused and Bridged Ring Systems

A dirhodium(II)-catalyzed annulation reaction between two structurally different diazocarbonyl compounds furnishes the donor-acceptor cyclopropane-fused benzoxa[3.2.1]octane scaffold with excellent chemo-, regio-, and diastereoselectivity under exceptionally mild conditions. The composite transformation occurs by [3+2]-cycloaddition between donor-acceptor cyclopropenes generated from enoldiazoacetamides and carbonyl ylides formed from intramolecular carbene-carbonyl cyclization in one pot with one catalyst. The annulation products can be readily transformed into benzoxa[3.3.1]nonane and hexahydronaphthofuran derivatives with exact stereocontrol. This method allows the efficient construction of three fused and bridged ring systems, all of which are important skeletons of numerous biologically active natural products.
Information Content of Unsolicited Credit Ratings: Evidence from Japanese Firms*

Unsolicited ratings are credit ratings of firms that have not requested rating evaluation and, therefore, do not pay fees. Accordingly, unsolicited ratings are issued solely at the discretion of rating agencies based on public information. Given the controversy surrounding unsolicited ratings raised in some published studies as well as by Japanese firms, we examine whether the market extracts any new information from unsolicited ratings. We find that unsolicited ratings are typically of speculative grade rather than investment grade, they induce significant announcement period abnormal returns for downgrades, and they have greater impact for speculative-grade ratings than investment-grade ratings. Keiretsu affiliation of Japanese firms does not mitigate the negative market reaction to unsolicited rating downgrades. Our results suggest that high-quality firms signal their type through solicited ratings while low-quality firms are revealed through unsolicited ratings.
Prisoner's Dilemma on real social networks: Revisited

Prisoner's Dilemma is a game theory model used to describe altruistic behavior seen in various populations. This theoretical game is important in understanding why a seemingly selfish strategy does persist and spread throughout a population that is mixing homogeneously at random. For a population with structure determined by social interactions, Prisoner's Dilemma brings to light certain requirements for the altruistic strategy to become established. Monte Carlo simulations of Prisoner's Dilemma are carried out using both simulated social networks and a dataset of a real social network. In both scenarios we confirm the requirements for the persistence of altruism in a population.
X-Ray Investigations on Rubber

Abstract During some earlier x-ray investigations on creˆpe rubber, it was observed that the originally translucent sample became more and more milky at the spot where the x-rays passed the material. The sample was the same as described in an earlier paper. This rubber gave a distinct x-ray pattern during the first exposure, but, although the lines did not change their position, they became increasingly sharper with each exposure; simultaneously the opaqueness of the milky spot increased. The increase of sharpness of the originally broad lines represents, of course, increase in particle size; but evidently also the increasing cloudiness of the creˆpe rubber shows progressing crystallization.
The relation between reporting quality and financing and investment: : evidence from changes in financing capacity.

We use changes in the value of a firm's real estate assets as an exogenous change in a firm's financing capacity to examine (1) the relation between reporting quality and financing and investment conditional on this change, and (2) firms’ reporting quality responses to the change in financing capacity. We find that financing and investment by firms with higher reporting quality is less affected by changes in real estate values than are financing and investment by firms with lower reporting quality. Further, firms increase reporting quality in response to decreases in financing capacity. Our findings contribute to the literature on reporting quality and investment, and on the determinants of reporting quality choices.
Data fusion for adaptive control in manufacturing: Impact on engineering information models

Data fusion is the integration and analysis of data from multiple sensors to develop a more accurate understanding of a situation and determine how to respond to it. Although data fusion can be applied in many situations, this paper focuses on its application to manufacturing and how it changes some of the more traditional, less adaptive information models that support the design and manufacturing functions. The paper consists of four parts. The first section explains what data fusion is and its impact on manufacturing. The second section describes what an information system architecture is and explains the natural language-based information modeling methodology used by this research project. The third section identifies the major design and manufacturing functions, reviews the information models required to support them, and then shows how these models must be extended to support data fusion. The fourth section discusses the future directions of this work.
Controlled Reduction of Tertiary Amides to the Corresponding Alcohols, Aldehydes, or Amines Using Dialkylboranes and Aminoborohydride Reagents

Dialkylboranes and aminoborohydrides are mild, selective reducing agents complementary to the commonly utilized amide reducing agents, such as lithium aluminum hydride (LiAlH4) and diisobutylaluminum hydride (DIBAL) reagents. Tertiary amides were reduced using 1 or 2 equiv of various dialkylboranes. The reduction of tertiary amides required 2 equiv of 9-borabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane (9-BBN) for complete reduction to give the corresponding tertiary amines. One equivalent of sterically hindered disiamylborane reacts with tertiary amides to afford the corresponding aldehydes. Aminoborohydrides are powerful and selective reducing agents for the reduction of tertiary amides. Lithium dimethylaminoborohydride and lithium diisopropylaminoborohydride are prepared from n-butyllithium and the corresponding amine-borane. Chloromagnesium dimethylaminoborohydride (ClMg+[H3B-NMe2]−, MgAB) is prepared by the reaction of dimethylamine-borane with methylmagnesium chloride. Solutions of aminoborohydride reduce aliphatic, aromati...
Supervised pattern recognition techniques in quantitative diagnostic ultrasound

The methods of statistical pattern recognition are well suited to the problems of in vivo ultrasonic tissue characterization. This paper describes supervised pattern recognition methods for selecting features for tissue classification, calculating decision boundaries within the selected feature space, and evaluating the performance. We address the considerations of dimensionality and feature size which are important in classification problems where the underlying probability distributions are not completely known. Examples are given for the detection of diffuse liver disease in the clinical environment.
Wall Street and Vine: Hollywood's View of Business

American films have long presented a negative view of business. This article is the first comprehensive and in-depth analysis of filmmakers' attitude toward business. It shows that it is not business that filmmakers dislike but rather the control of firms by profit-maximizing capitalists. The article argues that this dislike stems from filmmakers' resentment of capitalists' constraints on their artistic vision. Filmmakers' portrayal of business is significant because films have persuasive power that tips the political balance toward business regulation. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Standard simplices and pluralities are not the most noise stable

The Standard Simplex Conjecture and the Plurality is Stablest Conjecture are two conjectures stating that certain partitions are optimal with respect to Gaussian and discrete noise stability respectively. These two conjectures are natural generalizations of the Gaussian noise stability result by Borell (1985) and the Majority is Stablest Theorem (2004). Here we show that the standard simplex is not the most stable partition in Gaussian space and that Plurality is not the most stable low influence partition in discrete space for every number of parts k ≥ 3, for every value ρ ≠ 0 of the noise and for every prescribed measure for the different parts as long as they are not all equal to 1/k. Our results do not contradict the original statements of the Plurality is Stablest and Standard Simplex Conjectures in their original statements concerning partitions to sets of equal measure. However, they indicate that if these conjectures are true, their veracity and their proofs will crucially rely on assuming that the sets are of equal measures, in stark contrast to Borell’s result, the Majority is Stablest Theorem and many other results in isoperimetric theory. Given our results it is natural to ask for (conjectured) partitions achieving the optimum noise stability.
“Take it outside!” National identity contestation in the foreign policy arena:

Turkey’s Islamist-rooted Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi (Justice and Development Party) aggressively pursued European Union accession as a primary pillar of foreign policy, only to swing sharply away f...
Rail-truck multimodal freight collaboration: a statistical analysis of freight-shipper perspectives

ABSTRACTDue to the effects of congestion, capacity reduction of truck-freight carriers, growing freight transportation demand, and increasing social and environmental concerns, there is a critical need for freight shippers to improve shipping quality and reduce transportation costs. Rail-truck multimodal freight collaboration can potentially address this need. In this study, we explore freight-shipper perspectives relating to the factors that may foster or impede their usage of rail-truck multimodal freight collaboration services, and the correlations of their operational and behavioral characteristics with these factors. The study provides insights to rail and truck carriers on collaboration mechanisms that can address the needs of freight shippers, including adopting synergistic technology to improve in-transit visibility, accommodating non-containerized cargo, improving the transshipment process, designing service quality control strategies, and constructing investment and revenue-sharing plans.
Compressed Coverage Masks for Path Rendering on Mobile GPUs

We present an algorithm to accelerate resolution independent curve rendering on mobile GPUs. Recent trends in graphics hardware have created a plethora of compressed texture formats specific to GPU manufacturers. However, certain implementations of platform independent path rendering require generating grayscale textures on the CPU containing the extent that each pixel is covered by the curve. In this paper, we demonstrate that generating a compressed grayscale texture prior to uploading it to the GPU creates faster rendering times in addition to the memory savings. We implement a real-time compression technique for coverage masks and compare our results against the GPU-based implementation of the highly optimized Skia rendering library. We also analyze the worst case properties of our compression algorithms. We observe up to a 2 $\times$ speed improvement over the existing GPU-based methods in addition to up to a 9:1 improvement in GPU memory gains. We demonstrate the performance on multiple mobile platforms.
Rail-dbGaP: analyzing dbGaP-protected data in the cloud with Amazon Elastic MapReduce.

Motivation: Public archives contain thousands of trillions of bases of valuable sequencing data. More than 40% of the Sequence Read Archive is human data protected by provisions such as dbGaP. To analyse dbGaP-protected data, researchers must typically work with IT administrators and signing officials to ensure all levels of security are implemented at their institution. This is a major obstacle, impeding reproducibility and reducing the utility of archived data. Results: We present a protocol and software tool for analyzing protected data in a commercial cloud. The protocol, Rail-dbGaP, is applicable to any tool running on Amazon Web Services Elastic MapReduce. The tool, Rail-RNA v0.2, is a spliced aligner for RNA-seq data, which we demonstrate by running on 9662 samples from the dbGaP-protected GTEx consortium dataset. The Rail-dbGaP protocol makes explicit for the first time the steps an investigator must take to develop Elastic MapReduce pipelines that analyse dbGaP-protected data in a manner compliant with NIH guidelines. Rail-RNA automates implementation of the protocol, making it easy for typical biomedical investigators to study protected RNA-seq data, regardless of their local IT resources or expertise. Availability and Implementation: Rail-RNA is available from http://rail.bio. Technical details on the Rail-dbGaP protocol as well as an implementation walkthrough are available at https://github.com/nellore/rail-dbgap. Detailed instructions on running Rail-RNA on dbGaP-protected data using Amazon Web Services are available at http://docs.rail.bio/dbgap/. Contacts: moc.liamg@erollena or ude.uhj.sc@aemgnal Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
A Cup Runneth Over: Fiscal Policy Spillovers from the 2009 Recovery Act

This article studies the effects of interregional spillovers from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the Recovery Act). Using cross-county commuting data, we cluster US counties into local labour markets, each of which we further partition into two subregions. We then compare differential labour market outcomes and Recovery Act spending at the regional and subregional levels. Among pairs of subregions, we find evidence of fiscal policy spillovers. According to our benchmark specification, $1 of Recovery Act spending in a subregion increases its own wage bill by $0.64 and increases the wage bill in its neighbouring subregion by $0.50 during the first two years following the Act's passage. The spillover effect occurs in the service sector, whereas the direct effect occurs in both the services and goods-producing sector.
Efficacy of Oral Ginger (Zingiber officinale) for Dysmenorrhea: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

This systematic review examines the efficacy of oral ginger for dysmenorrhea. Key biomedical databases and grey literature were searched. We included randomized controlled trials comparing oral ginger against placebo or active treatment in women with dysmenorrhea. Six trials were identified. Two authors independently reviewed the articles, extracted data, and assessed risk of bias. Discrepancies were resolved by consensus with a third reviewer. We completed a narrative synthesis of all six studies and exploratory meta-analyses of three studies comparing ginger with placebo and two studies comparing ginger with a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). Ginger appeared more effective for reducing pain severity than placebo. The weighted mean difference on a 10 cm visual analogue scale was 1.55 cm (favoring ginger) (95% CI 0.68 to 2.43). No significant difference was found between ginger and mefenamic acid (an NSAID). The standardized mean difference was 0 (95% CI −0.40 to 0.41). Available data suggest that oral ginger could be an effective treatment for menstrual pain in dysmenorrhea. Findings, however, need to be interpreted with caution because of the small number of studies, poor methodological quality of the studies, and high heterogeneity across trials. The review highlights the need for future trials with high methodological quality.
Information exchange in prediction markets: How social networks promote forecast efficiency

This paper studies the effects of information exchange and social networks on the performance of prediction markets with endogenous information acquisition. We provide a game-theoretic framework to resolve the question: Can social networks and information exchange promote the forecast efficiency in prediction markets? Our study shows that a social network is not a panacea in terms of improving forecast efficiency. The use of social networks could be detrimental to forecast performance when the cost of information acquisition is high. Although social networks can provide internal communications among participants, they reduce the incentive to acquire information because of free riding. We also study the effects of social networks on information acquisition in prediction markets. In the symmetric Bayes-Nash Equilibrium, all participants use a threshold strategy, and the equilibrium action of information acquisition is decreasing in the number of participant's friends and increasing in the network density. The aforementioned results are robust to two commonly used mechanisms of prediction markets: a forecast-report mechanism and a security-trading mechanism.
The use of sperm penetration assay in evaluation of men with varicocele

In order to study the ability of the sperm penetration assay (SPA) to correctly classify the fertility status of men, we prospectively examined the results of the SPA performed on the semen of three groups of men of known fertility status. The groups included 67 normal men without varicoceles whose wives were pregnant (VARN), 51 men with a palpable varicocele whose wives were pregnant (VARF), and 30 infertile men with varicoceles (VARI). Two SPAs were done on each subject. Ninety-seven percent of the VARIs showed
Oceanic lavas sampling the high-3He/4He mantle reservoir: Primitive, depleted, or re-enriched?

Helium isotopes are used as a tracer for primitive reservoirs that have persisted in the Earth’s mantle. Basalts erupted at several intraplate oceanic islands, including Hawaii, Iceland, Galapagos, and Samoa, have hosted the highest 3He/4He ratios (>30 Ra, where Ra is atmospheric 3He/4He ratio) globally that are far in excess of the 3He/4He typical of the upper mantle sampled at mid-ocean ridges (8 Ra). These lavas have been suggested to be melts of a primitive, or possibly slightly depleted, mantle reservoir, i.e., either fertile or a depleted peridotite. Here we report evidence for geochemical enrichment in the high-3He/4He mantle sampled by lavas with the highest 3He/4He from Hawaii, Samoa, and possibly Galapagos. The titanium concentrations in high-3He/4He lavas from Samoa are too high to be explained by melts of a mantle peridotite, even at infinitesimally small degrees of melting, and the elevated Ti corresponds to elevated Pb-isotopic ratios. The highest 3He/4He lavas from Loihi, Hawaii, also have Ti concentrations that are too high to be melts of primitive mantle peridotite at the degrees of melt extraction proposed for this ocean island. Thus, Ti-rich material must have been added to the high-3He/4He mantle reservoir, and this material is likely to be recycled mafic crust similar to MORB-like eclogite, which is consistent with the elevated Pb-isotopic ratios. We show that fractionation corrected, major element compositions of high-3He/4He alkalic lavas can be satisfactorily modeled by melting and melt-rock interaction scenario in a fertile peridotite-MORB-eclogite hybrid system. Primitive peridotitic and recycled eclogitic reservoirs are suggested to be intimately associated in the deepest mantle and high-3He/4He lavas from several localities may sample a mantle source that hosts a component of recycled oceanic crust.
Debt Contract Terms and Creditor Control

The law and nance literature characterizes debt covenants as a mechanism that can help to manage the agency conicts between creditors and shareholders. While both banks and bond holders make use of these covenants, they do so in quite dierent ways. Banks typically monitor their debtors closely and rely on nancial maintenance covenants to protect their interests. When these covenants get triggered, banks can use the leverage of accelerating the loan to achieve their governance goals. This ability to monitor and renegotiate suggests that tailoring precise ex ante contract restrictions is not of paramount importance because a bank and a debtor can negotiate around those restrictions based on ex post contract conditions. Bond holders, in contrast, generally do not monitor and renegotiate with their debtors because these bond holders tend to be large groups of passive investors who face substantial collective action problems. As a consequence, ex ante restrictive terms in the contract are likely to be the primary means through which bondholders can address potential conicts with shareholders. These dierences in contracting technologies suggest that the restrictions in bond contracts are more likely to be responsive to changes in background legal rules. This paper tests this theory by treating two Delaware decisions that sharply limited the default duties that the directors of Delaware corporations owe to their creditors as a shock to Delaware debt contract terms. Dierence-in-dier ence and triple dierence tests
Biological materials probed by the temporal and angular profiles of the backscattered ultrafast laser pulses

Time- and angle-resolved backscattering of a 80-fs laser pulse from biological materials have been measured. The phenomenon of weak photon localization has been observed in biological tissues. The angular distribution of the backscattered light intensity shows an enhancement of intensity about the backward direction. The intensity enhancement is due to the coherent interference between the scattered light and its time-reversed counterpart in the random medium.
BIOMECHANICAL EVALUATION OF THE QUADRICEPS TENDON FOR ACL RECONSTRUCTION: A HUMAN CADAVERIC STUDY

Summary Statement ACL reconstruction using a quadriceps tendon autograft was quantitatively evaluated using a robotic testing system. Biomechanical results on joint stability and graft function support its use as an alternative to the hamstrings. Introduction Recently, a number of surgeons have chosen the quadriceps tendon (QT) autograft as an alternative autograft over the hamstrings tendon for ACL reconstruction because its bone-to-bone healing on one side, large size, and preservation of lateral and rotatory knee function could lead to fewer post-operative complications. However, there have been little or no biomechanical studies that quantitatively evaluate knee function after reconstruction using a QT autograft. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess the function of a reconstructed knee with a QT autograft and compare the results with a quadrupled semitendinosus and gracilis (QSTG) tendon autograft on the same knee. Methods Ten human cadaveric knees (57.4 ± 4.2 years of age) were tested using a robotic/UFS testing system in 4 knee states: intact, ACL-deficient, and after ACL reconstruction with both QT and QSTG autografts. Reconstructions were performed in randomised order using posterolateral femoral tunnel placement. The knee kinematics in each state were measured at 5 flexion angles (full extension, 15°, 30°, 60°, and 90°) under 3 externally applied loading conditions: (1) 134 N anterior tibial load (ATL), (2) 134 N ATL with 200 N axial compression, and combined rotatory (CR) load of 10 Nm valgus and 5 Nm internal tibial torque (at 15° and 30°). Based on the established procedure, knee kinematics and in-situ forces were obtained using the principle of superposition. A repeated measures ANOVA was used to compare anterior tibial translation (ATT) and in-situ forces between the knee states at each flexion angle, with a Bonferroni post-hoc analysis. Results Under the ATL, the ATT was found to be restored to within 1.1 mm of the intact knee for both reconstructions (P > 0.05). The in-situ forces in the grafts were also not significantly different from those in the intact ACL except in deep flexion (P 0.05). Under the CR load, knee kinematics and in-situ forces in the grafts were not significantly different from the intact ACL at any tested angle (P > 0.05). Further, no significant differences could be detected between the reconstructions under any experimental condition (P > 0.05). Discussion/Conclusion ACL reconstruction with a QT autograft was found to restore knee function close to levels of the intact knee and similar to those reconstructed with a QSTG autograft. These results support clinical findings suggesting the QT autograft as a viable alternative for ACL reconstruction.
Two-Element Mixture of Bose and Fermi Superfluids.

A bosonic-fermionic superfluid mixture containing two different atomic species is reported for the first time. This system could be used to probe collective properties and the generation of exotic states in double superfluids.
Ruthenium(0)-catalyzed hydroarylation of alkynes via ketone-directed C–H functionalization using in situ-generated ruthenium complexes

A versatile method for the Ru(0)-catalyzed hydroarylation of alkynes using weakly-coordinating ketones enabled by the in situ generation of a Ru(0) catalyst from an air-stable, inexpensive and user-friendly Ru(II) precatalyst is reported for the first time. The method provides straightforward access to a wide range of functionalized ketone building blocks that would be difficult to access by conventional methods. Most crucially, this report demonstrates for the first time that the in situ generated Ru(0) catalysts advance the classic Ru(0)-catalyzed C–H functionalization platform to substrates that would otherwise be unreactive. Product manipulation and mechanistic studies are reported.
Bridging the gap between design and testing of analog integrated circuits

A global methodology for the design of analog and mixed analog/digital integrated systems is outlined. The methodology calls for a flexible framework that combines CAD software, simulators, measurement set-ups, and data-processing software. As an application example within such a framework, error modeling and estimation in multistage analog/digital converters is discussed using a new algorithm. >
Do Off-farm Work and Remittances affect Food Consumption Patterns? Evidence from Albania

This study is the first to analyze the combined effects of off-farm incomes from a variety of sources—local wage employment, local self-employment, and migrant remittances—on detailed food consumpt...
Optimal contract design for incentive-based demand response

We design an optimal contract between a demand response aggregator (DRA) and a customer for incentive-based demand response. We consider a setting in which the customer is asked to reduce her consumption by the DRA and she is compensated for this reduction. However, since the DRA must supply the customer with as much power as she desires, a strategic customer can temporarily increase her base load to report a larger reduction as a part of the demand response event. The DRA wishes to incentivize the customer both to make the maximal effort in reducing the load and to not falsify the base load. We model the problem of designing the contract by the DRA for the customer as a management contract design problem and present a solution. The optimal contract consists of two parts: a part that depends on (the possibly inflated) load reduction as measured and another that provides a share of the profit that ensues to the DRA through the demand response event to the customer.
The importance of developing novel diagnostic tools for congenital metabolic disorders.

Babies are not little adults. This frequently repeated statement implies that to develop accurate diagnostic methods to identify potentially catastrophic disorders, it is not sufficient to just wait until permanent changes have occurred and are clearly recognized by physicians in clinical practice. This is the position of many organizations that advocate on behalf of children [1]. Moreover, in the United States, the Food and Drug Administration grants approvals for diagnostic tools based on the populations in which they were studied. One of such examples is biotinidase deficiency. This autosomal recessive disorder has an estimated prevalence of 1 in 60,000 cases [2,3]. Most affected infants become symptomatic in the first months of life and are characterized by abnormal respiratory drive, hypotonia, failure to thrive, seborrheic dermatitis like-rash, progressive developmental delay, and myoclonic seizures. If untreated, this leads to a static-encephalopathy picture and significant motor and metal handicaps with subsequent significant morbidity and mortality and the increased costs for health care support [4]. The pathogenesis of this disease is secondary to a profound deficiency (less than 10% of enzyme activity) of biotinidase. This enzyme has ubiquitous distribution and is essential for the recycling of biotin by releasing it from any of the four holo-carboxylases: pyruvate, acetyl-CoA, propionyl-CoA, and 3-methylcrotonyl [5]. Treatment with biotin leads to a significant response and resolution of symptoms. Therefore, early diagnosis and identification of asymptomatic subjects is of the utmost importance in order to establish rapid treatment and prevent the neurological consequences of this disorder. Most laboratories typically rely on a semi-quantitative analysis for screening of this disorder in the newborn period by testing colorimetric changes of biotinidase enzyme activity in dried blood samples (DBS). However, this approach opens the possibility of impaired quality of enzyme activity in the sample, with the caveat that the mutant DNA remains relatively intact [6]. Consequently, there is a growing interest on developing more precise or adjunctive methodologies for more accurate and rapid diagnosis of this and other potentially treatable disorders. Therefore, the Lindau-Shepard et al. [7] study is a welcome addition to our understanding of diagnostic methods in the newborn period using molecular genotyping and illustrates the advantages of developing supplemental screening tools. Historically, the use of real time *Corresponding author: Edgard Andrade, University of Florida, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neurology, PO Box 100296, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA. Tel.: +1 352 273 5778; Fax: +1 352 392 9802; E-mail: andrade@peds.ufl.edu. Journal of Pediatric Genetics 1 (2012) 149–151 DOI 10.3233/PGE-2012-024 IOS Press 149
Executive Coaching and Empowerment for Women

In this chapter we intend to broaden our enquiry to include women’s power in organizations. We are also going to consider the weak aspects in their leadership roles which will need support in the executive coaching process. Moving away from the data we have previously collected from Spain, we will glance at women in senior management in other parts of the world, and to this end we include some studies developed by Claire Huffington.1 Her findings reveal a vivid picture of changing cultures in organizations, the new demands on highly-placed women and the ways in which they are meeting them. For the most part she is illuminating a ‘marginal position’, due mainly to two facts: in the first place, there are very few women at the top, and second they have a particular sensitivity towards organizational change. They are concentrated mainly in the ‘protective function of leadership’ (similar to their mothers’ role, taking care of other dependents).
The heterogeneous impacts of business cycles on educational attainment

This study examines the impact of fluctuations in the unemployment rate before high school graduation on educational attainment measured 30 years later. I find evidence that important heterogeneity is masked by estimating average effects across the ability distribution. Using data from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, this analysis identifies individuals who are on the boundary between pursuing and not pursuing additional education. Exposure to a higher unemployment rate at age 17 is associated with higher educational attainment for men in the 60–80th quintile of the ability distribution. There is no evidence of an effect beyond this quintile.
OPTIMAL USE OF STEMS IN REVISION TKA

Introduction The use of stems in TKA revision surgery is well established. Stems off-load stress over a broad surface area of the diaphysis and help protect the metaphyseal interface areas from failure. Stems can provide an area of extra fixation Uncemented Stems: Advantages – Expeditious; Compatible with intramedullary based revision instrumentation; Easy to remove if necessary; By filling diaphysis they help guarantee axial alignment. Disadvantages - They help off load stress, but how much fixation do they really provide?; They don9t fit all canal deformities, and under some circumstances can actually force implants into malalignment; ? potential for end of stem pain. Cemented Stems: Advantages - Cemented stem adds fixation in fresh metaphyseal and diaphyseal bone; Proven 10-year track record; Allow the surgeon to adjust for canal geometry abnormalities. Disadvantages - More difficult to remove if required; They don9t fill the canal so they don9t guarantee alignment as well under most circumstances. Results: Favorable results with uncemented and cemented stems have been reported in several series; Cemented stems have longer term data. Technique Issues: Uncemented Stems - Take advantage of offset bolts, tibial trays, stems to fit the stem/implant to the patient9s anatomy. Don9t let the stem force you into suboptimal implant position; Longer stems can be narrower but help engage more diaphysis; Do a good job of restoring/uncovering cancellous bone in metaphysis for cement interdigitation. The cement provides the fixation. Cemented Stems - Intraoperative x-ray with trials helps guarantee optimal alignment; Use cement restrictors; Cement tibia/femur separately. Metaphyseal Fixation - Area of new emphasis; Cover and sleeves can improve cemented and uncemented fixation.
The interplay between chromosome stability and cell cycle control explored through gene–gene interaction and computational simulation

Chromosome stability models are usually qualitative models derived from molecular-genetic mechanisms for DNA repair, DNA synthesis, and cell division. While qualitative models are informative, they are also challenging to reformulate as precise quantitative models. In this report we explore how (A) laboratory experiments, (B) quantitative simulation, and (C) seriation algorithms can inform models of chromosome stability. Laboratory experiments were used to identify 19 genes that when over-expressed cause chromosome instability in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. To better understand the molecular mechanisms by which these genes act, we explored their genetic interactions with 18 deletion mutations known to cause chromosome instability. Quantitative simulations based on a mathematical model of the cell cycle were used to predict the consequences of several genetic interactions. These simulations lead us to suspect that the chromosome instability genes cause cell-cycle perturbations. Cellcycle involvement was confirmed using a seriation algorithm, which was used to analyze the genetic interaction matrix to reveal an underlying cyclical pattern. The seriation algorithm searched over 1014 possible arrangements of rows and columns to find one optimal arrangement, which correctly reflects events during cell cycle phases. To conclude, we illustrate how the molecular mechanisms behind these cell cycle events are consistent with established molecular interaction maps.
SMART MECHANICAL NAVIGATION OPTIMISES ALIGNMENT

Acetabular component malalignment remains the single greatest root cause for revision THA with malposition of at least ½ of all acetabular components placed using conventional methods. The use of local anatomical landmarks has repeatedly proven to be unreliable due to individual variation of these structures. As a result, the use of such landmarks without knowledge of their three-dimensional orientation may actually be a major cause of component malpositioning. Traditional navigation and robotics can potentially lead to improved component placement but these technologies have not gained widespread use due to the increase in time of use, complexity, and cost of these systems. The alternative of placing the cup in the supine position, even with the use of arthroscopy, has been proven to have an incidence of inaccuracy equal or greater than that in the lateral position. A smart mechanical instrument system was developed to quickly and easily achieve accurate cup alignment (HipXpert System, Surgical Planning Associates, Boston, MA). The system is based on a low dose, low cost CT study and a customised patient-specific surgery plan. The laterally-based system docks on a patient-specific basis with 3 legs: one through the incision behind the posterior rim, one percutaneously on the lateral side of the ASIS, and a third percutaneously on the surface of the ilium. A direction indicator on the top of the instrument points in the desired cup orientation. The anteriorly-based system also docks on a patient-specific basis with one leg on the anterior ischium and one leg on each ASIS, either to skin or to bone. The lateral system has been proven to be robust, with repeated studies showing accurate cup placement in 100% of cases and an independent study showing accurate cup placement in 98% of cases. The newer anterior system has the potential for even greater accuracy. Smart mechanical navigation of cup placement offers the optimum combination of accuracy, speed, and simplicity for solving the ubiquitous problem of acetabular component malorientation.
AFM-based 3D nanofabrication using ultrasonic vibration assisted nanomachining

Abstract This paper presents a novel AFM-based 3D nanofabrication process using ultrasonic vibration assisted nanomachining. A set of three dimensional nanostructures on polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) samples are fabricated with the assistance of high frequency in-plane circular xy-vibration and ultrasonic tip-sample z-vibration. Two methods for fabricating 3D nanostructures were investigated in this study, which are layer-by-layer nanomachining and one pass nanomachining with the depth controlled by setpoint force. Critical parameters in the process are identified, including setpoint force, overlap percentage, amplitude of z vibration and machining speed. By regulating these process parameters, multi-level 3D nanostructures were fabricated by multi-layer machining in vector mode and raster scan mode. Using different setpoint forces for regulating feature depths, other nanostructures, such as convex and concave circles, were fabricated in raster scan mode from gray-scale bitmap pattern images. Under each mode, 3D nanostructure over microscale area can be fabricated in just a few minutes with sub-10 nm resolution in z direction.
THE USE OF STEMS IN REVISION: ARE THEY NEEDED?

For most revision total knee replacement there is associated soft tissue and bone loss. A constrained condylar implant can be useful in improving the stability of the knee after revision. Augmentation is commonly used to deal with bone loss on the femoral and tibial side of the joint. Stems are known to reduce the load at the interface of the femoral and tibial component and transfer the load into the medullary canals. There are problems with using stems in the revision setting, however, which include: (1) increased cost, (2) difficulty with removal should further revision be necessary, (3) violation of the intramedullary canals if infection occurs, (4) increased operating time. For these reasons a CCK implant was developed without stems in 1998. The use of this device must be very selective and it is primarily used for severe valgus deformity in elderly patients. In a revision setting where there is good preservation of femoral and/or tibial bone but the need for increased constraint is present (e.g. unicompartmental, cruciate retaining knee) a CCK without stems can be used with good results. We retrospectively reviewed 36 primary constrained condylar knee implants without stem extensions from 1998 to 2000 in 31 patients with knees in 15° valgus or greater. All patients were followed up for a minimum 10 years (range, 10 to 12 years). One patient had aseptic loosening and needed to be revised with stemmed components at nine years post-surgery. Wear was found in two patients. One patient, with severe rheumatoid arthritis, had infection and required a two-stage re-implantation procedure. Patients who are very active or heavy body weight where stresses may be excessive at the implant bone interface should have stems utilised.
Spittlebug nymphs (Homoptera: Cercopidae) in Heliconia flowers (Zingiberales: Heliconiaceae): Preadaptation and evolution of the first aquatic Homoptera

Spittlebug nymphs (Homopiera: Cercopidae) have a ventral abdominal breathing robe tha! evolved as an adaptation to life in semi-liquid spittle mases. Although they are clearly "preadapted" (exapted) to an aquatic existence, onl.y oue aquatic spittlebug has been reported aLd !hat report has be,en chalienged. Rere 1 present evidence that nymphs of the Costa Rican spittlebugs Mahanarva illSignita (Fowler) and M. costaricensis (Distant) are facultatively aquatic on Heliconia (Zingiberales: Relicolliaceae). Sorne iive submerged in the water-fiiled flower bracts of Heliconia wagnerialla. H. latispatrdl. H. tortuosa or H. bihai, while sorne iive in drier microhabitats on ihe ieaves, slems or inflorescellces of these and orhe!' Heliconia species. They represen! the fml well-documented aquiitic Homoptera and may be the firs! well-docurnented plant-sucking aqualic insects of any !dnd. By combining positive xyiem pressure and easily accessible xylem tissue removed from ordinary terresmal and aquatic predators, water-filled Heliconia flowers may offer an especially attractive microhabitat foc these xylem-feeding insects. M. costaricensis occurs in three morphological varieties: costaricensis, quatuordecimnotata and semimaculata, originalJy described as distinc! spedes.