cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Fabrication, integration and testing of 6.5m primary mirror and telescope cell assembly for the University of Tokyo Atacama Observatory (Conference Presentation)

The Optical Engineering and Fabrication Facility (OEFF) at the College of Optical Sciences, University of Arizona has successfully fabricated a 6.5m primary mirror and conducted integration and testing (I & T) of the primary mirror and telescope cell assembly for the University of Tokyo Atacama Observatory. The mirror has been fabricated using a new facility and advanced technologies developed by the group, including fabrication process optimization, a super-stable optical metrology support, infrared and visible metrology with high accuracy, and interferometry. Fabrication process optimization has simulated the entire fabrication process from the initial grinding to final polishing to specification, and optimized the tooling, frequency of metrology, and estimated convergence. Through the project the new process optimization successfully demonstrated the performance and guided the process in a deterministic way. The 6.5m primary mirror is made of E6 bolo-silicate glass with a honeycomb structure. Due to the scale it requires a mechanically and thermally stable metrology support to ensure highly accurate metrology. The new metrology support has demonstrated its extremely stable force stability and thermal stability over the project period. Metrology of large optics is always a challenge and the OEFF group has made outstanding advancement in IR and visible metrology and applied them seamlessly during the mirror fabrication with extremely low uncertainty. By applying the newly developed facility and technologies, the OEFF group successfully fabricated the 6.5m primary mirror in less than 7months, which is about 3 times faster than past 6.5m mirror fabrication at UA. After fabrication the mirror was integrated to the telescope cell and the primary mirror cell assembly has been tested using optical metrology to identify the static and dynamic behavior of the system. The testing includes support actuator influence functions, the nominal support force set, bending mode correction, and assessment of deliverable image quality. This paper presents the technical aspects of the mirror fabrication, advancement of metrology and I & T of the 6.5m primary mirror assembly.
Enhancer reprogramming in mammalian genomes.

Transcription factor binding site (TFBS) loss, gain, and reshuffling within the sequence of a regulatory element could alter the function of that regulatory element. Some of the changes will be detrimental to the fitness of the species and will result in gradual removal from a population, while other changes would be either beneficial or just a part of genetic drift and end up being fixed in a population. This “reprogramming” of regulatory elements results in modification of the gene regulatory landscape during evolution. We identified reprogrammed enhancers (RPEs) by comparing the distribution of tissue-specific enhancers in the human and mouse genomes. We observed that around 30% of mammalian enhancers have been reprogrammed after the human-mouse speciation. In 79% of cases, the reprogramming of an enhancer resulted in a quantifiably different expression of a flanking gene. In the case of the Thy-1 cell surface antigen gene, for example, enhancer reprogramming is associated with cortex to thymus change in gene expression. To understand the mechanisms of enhancer reprogramming, we profiled the evolutionary changes in the TFBS enhancer content and found that enhancer reprogramming took place through the acquisition of new TFBSs in 72% of reprogramming events. Our results suggest that enhancer reprogramming takes place within well-established regulatory loci with RPEs contributing additively to fine-tuning of the gene regulatory program in mammals. We also found evidence for acquisition of novel gene function through enhancer reprogramming, which allows expansion of gene regulatory landscapes into new regulatory domains.
Steroid-induced Diabetes Complicating Treatment of Epidermolysis Bullosa Acquisita: A Preventable Treatment Complication Stresses the Importance of Primary Care Follow-up

Epidermolysis bullosa acquisita is a rare autoimmune bullous disease involving the skin and mucosa, most commonly treated with systemic corticosteroids. This case illustrates the importance of counseling patients on medication side effects and ensuring close physician follow-up during an extended course of steroids. A 46-year-old man presented to the emergency department with weakness, fatigue, dizziness and polyuria in the setting of eight weeks of prednisone therapy for a flare-up of his bullous disease. Labs were significant for a blood glucose of 786 mg/dL, negative urine ketones, a normal anion gap, and an acute kidney injury. Blood glucose improved to 413 mg/dL after initial treatment with fluid and insulin. The patient was admitted and acute kidney injury resolved. He remained hyperglycemic despite his adjusted prednisone taper and corrective scale insulin, so basal and scheduled, pre-prandial insulins were added. After discharge, he was bridged to steroid-sparing therapy (rituximab). Physicians should counsel patients with epidermolysis bullosa acquisita about the risks of steroid-induced diabetes mellitus and its associated complications including hyperglycemic hyperosmolar state and diabetic ketoacidosis. Primary care physicians should screen for hyperglycemia during therapy and consider alternative treatments when necessary.
East Asia, Investment, and International Law: Distinctive or Convergent?

International investment agreements (IIAs) are the primary legal instruments designed to protect and encourage foreign direct investment world-wide. This article argues that Asia has used IIAs just as much as have other regions of the world to attract foreign direct investment, but that Asia’s pattern of agreement provisions is somewhat distinctive. States in East and Southeast Asia have tended to enter into agreements that strike a balance somewhat more favorable to host states than to foreign firms, at least when compared to the rest of the world. This may be due to high growth in the region, which tends to strengthen host states’ bargaining power. I provide evidence that Asian states have signed bilateral investment treaties (BITs) when their growth rates have been robust, while the rest of the developing world has historically tended to sign BITs when their growth rates are weak. A better bargaining position leads to less constraining IIAs, which may in turn help to account for the relative dearth of investment disputes involving East and Southeast Asian states, since weaker protections give foreign investors slimmer grounds to dispute their treatment. This distinctive pattern may also be related to the wider range of macroeconomic tools available to many governments in the region to stimulate growth, which may decouple IIAs from business cycle pressures. There is some evidence, however, that the terms of Asian IIAs are beginning to converge with investment agreements elsewhere in the world.
Distributed-Memory Based FPGA Debug: Design Timing Impact

In FPGAs, debug observability is often achievedby attaching memory-based recording circuitry to user signals. Block-RAM (BRAM)-based embedded logic analyzers are ofteninserted into user circuits to observe circuit behavior. Incontrast with BRAM-based approaches, distributed memory:1) is almost always available (user circuits may consume allBRAMs but even highly utilized circuits contain unused LUTs), and 2) can usually be physically located very near to user signals(LUTs are spread across the entire device while BRAMs arelocated only in specific columns). Previous work has shownbasic feasibility and demonstrated that distributed memoriescan provide debug observability for highly utilized circuits. Thispaper focuses on timing impacts and describes the quantitativetradeoff between FPGA device utilization, debug probe count, and clock frequency. For example, a design with 70% of LUTsutilized, with no debug logic, can operate at a minimum clockperiod of 5ns. Instrumenting 300 debug probes increases thisperiod to 7ns, and 1500 probes to 8ns. Placing trace bufferswith a simulated annealing algorithm improved success ratesfrom 20% to 50% depending on the design and probe count.
The posited effect of positive affect in anorexia nervosa: Advocating for a forgotten piece of a puzzling disease

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a complex and life-threatening eating disorder. Current models of AN onset and maintenance have largely focused on the role of negative affect, while fewer models have described the role of positive affect (PA). Given that these theoretical models have informed current treatment approaches, and that treatment remains minimally effective for adults with AN, we advocate that targeting PA is one avenue for advancing maintenance models and by extension, treatment. We specifically propose that AN may arise and be chronically and pervasively maintained as a function of dysregulated PA in response to weight loss and weight loss behaviors (e.g., restriction, excessive exercise), to a degree that is not accounted for in existing models of AN. We present evidence from multiple domains, including biological, behavioral, and self-report, supporting the hypothesis that PA dysregulation in AN contributes to the maintenance of the disorder. We conclude with several specific avenues for treatment development research as well as a call for future work elucidating the biological correlates of PA.
Beyond Altruism: Framing Organ Donation in a 19-year Review of Chinese News Coverage

Despite a significant legal transformation of the organ donation system in China, the public's willingness to become organ donors remains low. This study provides the first empirical examination of how Chinese newspaper coverage reflects the complex interplay among multifaceted factors associated with the stagnant donation rate. Using framing as the primary theoretical lens, we analyzed 923 organ donation newspaper articles from 2000 to 2018 in terms of topics, facilitators and barriers, valence, and policy development. The three most common topics emphasized were: a new official information release regarding organ donation promotion; the challenges of promoting organ donation in social, cultural, and legal contexts; and the positive emotional appeals of organ donors, coordinators, and transplant surgeons. Findings suggest that the values that facilitators of and barriers to organ donation represent can be culturally favored but in conflict with each other. Sharp increases in the presence of policy development framing are associated with the official announcements of new legislation. A better understanding of trending topics and interacting influence from facilitators and barriers is imperative for developing culturally tailored messages to raise awareness about organ donation promotion.
LOGAN: Latent Optimisation for Generative Adversarial Networks

Training generative adversarial networks requires balancing of delicate adversarial dynamics. Even with careful tuning, training may diverge or end up in a bad equilibrium with dropped modes. In this work, we improve CS-GAN with natural gradient-based latent optimisation and show that it improves adversarial dynamics by enhancing interactions between the discriminator and the generator. Our experiments demonstrate that latent optimisation can significantly improve GAN training, obtaining state-of-the-art performance for the ImageNet ($128 \times 128$) dataset. Our model achieves an Inception Score (IS) of $148$ and an Frechet Inception Distance (FID) of $3.4$, an improvement of $17\%$ and $32\%$ in IS and FID respectively, compared with the baseline BigGAN-deep model with the same architecture and number of parameters.
Deconvolution of Cell Type-Specific Drug Responses in Human Tumor Tissue with Single-Cell RNA-seq

Precision oncology requires the timely selection of effective drugs for individual patients. An ideal platform would enable rapid screening of cell type-specific drug sensitivities directly in patient tumor tissue and reveal strategies to overcome intratumoral heterogeneity. Here we combine multiplexed drug perturbation in acute slice culture from freshly resected tumors with single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) to profile transcriptome-wide drug responses. We applied this approach to glioblastoma (GBM) and demonstrated that acute slice cultures from individual patients recapitulate the cellular and molecular features of the originating tumor tissue. Detailed investigation of etoposide, a topoisomerase poison, and the histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor panobinostat in acute slice cultures revealed cell type-specific responses across multiple patients, including unexpected effects on the immune microenvironment. We anticipate that this approach will facilitate rapid, personalized drug screening to identify effective therapies for solid tumors.
Development, implementation and participant evaluation of combining text messaging and peer group support in a weight management programme for African-American women.

BackgroundDevelopment of highly accessible interventions that are effective in reducing body weight, preventing weight gain, and maintaining weight loss is urgently needed to solve the current obes...
Cetuximab-Triptolide Conjugate Suppresses the Growth of EGFR-Overexpressing Lung Cancers through Targeting RNA Polymerase II

To overcome poor pharmacokinetics and toxicity of triptolide (TPL), a natural compound that exhibits potent anticancer activities, we developed a novel antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) to specifically deliver TPL to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-overexpressing non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and others. The ADC (Cet-TPL) is made by conjugation of TPL to lysine residues of cetuximab (Cet), a clinically available anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody. Studies of antitumor efficacy demonstrated that Cet-TPL drastically suppressed in vitro proliferation and in vivo growth of these EGFR-overexpressing cancers, including NSCLC A549 and H1299 cells and two patient-derived xenografts, and head and neck squamous carcinoma UM-SCC6 cell, while it did not inhibit the proliferation and growth of NSCLC H520 that rarely expresses EGFR. Furthermore, immunofluorescence analysis revealed that Cet-TPL was effectively internalized and transported into lysosomes of EGFR-overexpressing cells. Cet-TPL effectively led to degradation of RNA polymerase II (Pol II) and demethylation of histone H3 lysines, and significantly induced apoptosis in these EGFR-overexpressing cancers. Compared with TPL, Cet, or their combination, Cet-TPL displayed higher target-specific cytotoxicity against EGFR-expressing cancers and much lower in vivo toxicity. In addition, Cet-TPL efficiently suppressed the activated EGFR pathway in UM-SCC6 cancer cells. Taken together, Cet-TPL represents a potent targeting therapeutic agent against EGFR-overexpressing NSCLC and others.
Using Exemplars to Improve Nature of Science Understanding

For decades, nature of science (NOS) has been recognized as an important component in science education reform and has been a major focus of science teacher educators. We noticed that teachers unfamiliar with NOS literature were surprised to learn of the many NOS resources available. The NOS Example Strategy presented in this chapter aims to provide teachers with the opportunity to share their initial NOS understandings, examine ideas about NOS in the literature, and reflect on examples of teacher and student thinking about NOS. This chapter describes how teachers develop one-page NOS Guides to explicitly explore NOS ideas and how the NOS Example Strategy promotes reflection as teachers contrast examples of common NOS conceptions with information contained in the referent NOS Guides.
The Mechanical Properties of Bacteria and Why they Matter

I review recent techniques to measure the mechanical properties of bacterial cells and their subcellular components, and then discuss what these techniques have revealed about the constitutive mechanical properties of whole bacterial cells and subcellular material, as well as the molecular basis for these properties.
Role of sparsity and structure in the optimization landscape of non-convex matrix sensing

In this work, we study the optimization landscape of the non-convex matrix sensing problem that is known to have many local minima in the worst case. Since the existing results are related to the notion of restricted isometry property (RIP) that cannot directly capture the underlying structure of a given problem, they can hardly be applied to real-world problems where the amount of data is not exorbitantly high. To address this issue, we develop the notion of kernel structure property to obtain necessary and sufficient conditions for the inexistence of spurious local solutions for any class of matrix sensing problems over a given search space. This notion precisely captures the underlying sparsity and structure of the problem, based on tools in conic optimization. We simplify the conditions for a certain class of problems to show their satisfaction and apply them to data analytics for power systems.
Teacher–Child Interactions that Target Vocabulary Development in Two Preschool Classrooms: A Conversation Analytic Approach

Language learning is an important developmental experience for young children during their preschool years, and book reading is an important context for promoting this growth. Book reading introduces children to a wider range of words than is evident in typical conversations and provides meaningful opportunities to practice using new words in conversations with peers and adults to support vocabulary development. However, rather than just assuming that the frequency of book reading is important, the quality of the adult’s reading style is believed to be most influential to foster children’s vocabulary learning. In the present study, conversation analysis was applied to analyze teacher–child language interactions during whole-class repeated book reading in two preschool classrooms. Using detailed transcripts of book reading activities, the study examined the core practices for vocabulary learning as observed in classroom talk. Exploring classroom interactions in such detail can inform early childhood educators about how to promote vocabulary development in their classrooms by incorporating these practices.
Dual medial prefrontal cortex and hippocampus projecting neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus

Abstract The paraventricular nucleus (PVT) of the midline thalamus is a critical higher-order cortico-thalamo-cortical integration site that plays a critical role in various behaviors including reward seeking, cue saliency, and emotional memory. Anatomical studies have shown that PVT projects to both medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and hippocampus (HC). However, dual mPFC-HC projecting neurons which could serve a role in synchronizing mPFC and HC activity during PVT-dependent behaviors, have not been explored. Here we used a dual retrograde adenoassociated virus (AAV) tracing approach to characterize the location and proportion of different projection populations that send collaterals to mPFC and/or ventral hippocampus (vHC). Additionally, we examined the distribution of calcium binding proteins calretinin (CR) and calbindin (CB) with respect to these projection populations PVT. We found that PVT contains separate populations of cells that project to mPFC, vHC, and those that innervate both regions. Interestingly, dual mPFC-HC projecting cells expressed neither CR or CB. Topographically, mPFC- and vHC-projecting CB+ and CR+ cells clustered around dual projecting neurons in PVT. These results are consistent with the features of dual mPFC-vHC projecting cells in the nucleus reuniens (RE) and suggestive of a functional mPFC-PVT-vHC system that may support mPFC-vHC interactions in PVT-dependent behaviors.
Semantic Dimensions of Slurs

I plot accounts of slurs on a [semanticist – non-semanticist] spectrum, and then I give some original arguments in favor of semanticist approaches. Two core, related pro-semanticist considerations which animate this work are: first, that the pejorative dimension of a slur is non-cancellable; and, second, that ignorance of the pejorative dimension should be counted as ignorance of literal, linguistic meaning, as opposed to (say) a mistake about conditions for appropriate usage. I bolster these considerations via cases in which slurs are embedded within complex constructions, in which cases the pejorative dimension of a slur gets ensnared within the compositional semantic machinery.
Same-Sex Union Announcements: Whether Newspapers Must Publish Them, and Why We Should Care

The recent decision by the New York Times to publish same-sex union announcements brought to national attention the struggle of gay men and lesbians to access this contested space. To date only about ten percent of newspapers allow same-sex couples to publish announcements on par with heterosexual couples. Although some couples have sued to have their announcements published, these claims have been rejected as interfering with the newspaper's First Amendment protections. This article considers whether the First Amendment's Free Press and Free Speech clauses in fact allow newspapers to discriminate in this way. The article begins with a review of the historical treatment by newspapers of gay-related topics, including the most prevalent excuse offered for not publishing same-sex union announcements, that such relationships are without legal significance. The importance of gaining access to these newspaper pages is then examined. Because relationships receiving public recognition are empirically more stable, published announcements unions serve the vital function of contributing to the relationships' longevity. The threshold criterion to a successful legal challenge to a newspaper's exclusionary practices will be the existence of an applicable public accommodations law of appropriate coverage. Additional criteria will depend upon whether or not, in the newspaper's particular practices, union announcements are "news." Announcements will not be "news" receiving First Amendment Free Press protections where the newspaper does not exercise adequate editorial judgment in their selection and composition, allowing the announcements section of the newspaper to be regulated by established precedent. Even where announcements pass this test, and rise to the level of protected "news," newspapers may still be compelled to publish same-sex union announcements by application of the public forum doctrine, which in turn can encompass newspapers categorized as "quasi-public" entities.
Making informed investment decisions in an uncertain world : a short demonstration

Governments invest billions of dollars annually in long-term projects. Yet deep uncertainties pose formidable challenges to making near-term decisions that make long-term sense. Methods that identify robust decisions have been recommended for investment lending but are not widely used. This paper seeks to help bridge this gap and, with a demonstration, motivate and equip analysts better to manage uncertainty in investment decisions. The paper first reviews the economic analysis of ten World Bank projects. It finds that analysts seek to manage uncertainty but use traditional approaches that do not evaluate options over the full range of possible futures. Second, the paper applies a different approach, Robust Decision Making, to the economic analysis of a 2006 World Bank project, the Electricity Generation Rehabilitation and Restructuring Project, which sought to improve Turkey's energy security. The analysis shows that Robust Decision Making can help decision makers answer specific and useful questions: How do options perform across a wide range of potential future conditions? Under what specific conditions does the leading option fail to meet decision makers' goals? Are those conditions sufficiently likely that decision makers should choose a different option? Such knowledge informs rather than replaces decision makers' deliberations. It can help them systematically, rigorously, and transparently compare their options and select one that is robust. Moreover, the paper demonstrates that analysts can use the same data and models for Robust Decision Making as are typically used in economic analyses. Finally, the paper discusses the challenges in applying such methods and how they can be overcome.
Friendships that last: peer lifespan and its role in P2P protocols

We consider the problem of choosing who to "befriend" among a collection of known peers in distributed P2P systems. In particular, our work explores a number of P2P protocols that, by considering peers' lifespan distribution a key attribute, can yield systems with performance characteristics more resilient to the natural instability of their environments.This article presents results from our initial efforts, focusing on currently deployed decentralized P2P systems. We measure the observed lifespan of more than 500,000 peers in a popular P2P system for over a week and propose a functional form that fits the distribution well. We consider a number of P2P protocols based on this distribution, and use a trace-driven simulator to compare them against alternative protocols for decentralized and unstructured or loosely-structured P2P systems. We find that simple lifespan-based protocols can reduce the ratio of connection breakdowns and their associated costs by over 42%.
Tunneling between Luttinger liquids

We consider the problem of tunneling between spinless 1D Luttinger liquid chains. We show how to map the problem onto the 4-state chiral clock model together with a free boson for the total charge mode. We use a variety of results, some of them exact, from the integrable chiral Potts model and the study of commensurate/incommensurate transitions to deduce the physics of coupled Luttinger liquids. For those intrachain interaction strengths for which interchain tunneling is relevant, we find that it can lead to the formation of symmetric and antisymmetric bands with split Fermi surfaces, depending on the relative strengths of interchain tunneling and interchain interactions. With split Fermi surfaces, the tunneling is coherent. It is not possible to have two gapless Fermi surfaces with the same Fermi momentum when interchain tunneling is relevant. However, interchain interactions can drive the formation of a gap, in which case interchain transport will be incoherent. We comment on the possible relevance of our results to c-axis transport in high-T_c superconductors.
Hydrodynamics of fluidization using kinetic theory: an emerging paradigm: 2002 Flour-Daniel lecture

Abstract A critical review of the literature on fluidization using the kinetic theory of granular flow is presented. An equation of state for the particles relating solids pressure to the granular temperature and the solids volume fraction, similar to the van der Waals equation for gases, has been verified experimentally to be reasonably correct. Experiments have also shown that the particulate viscosity expression obtained from the kinetic theory gives the same values as that measured by classical methods. We demonstrated using a kinetic theory based particle image velocity (PIV) meter that there are two kinds of turbulence in fluidization: 1. random oscillations of individual particles, measured by the classical granular temperature and 2. turbulence caused by the motion of clusters of particles, measured by the average particle normal Reynolds stress. These two kinds of turbulence give rise to two kinds of mixing, mixing on the level of a particle and mixing on the level of cluster or bubble. To compute the granular temperature, it must be programmed into the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes. The code itself computes the Reynolds stresses, similar to the calculation of single-phase turbulence by direct numerical computation. CFD simulations by several groups throughout the world have shown that the multiphase flow models correctly predict transient and time-averaged behavior of fluidized beds: bubbles, clusters and flow regimes. Two challenge problems in the last decade show the capability of the hydrodynamic models to predict, at least qualitatively, radial and axial profiles before their publication.
Filtrations and test-configurations

We introduce a strengthening of K-stability, based on filtrations of the homogeneous coordinate ring. This allows for considering certain limits of families of test-configurations, which arise naturally in several settings. We prove that if a manifold with no automorphisms admits a cscK metric, then it satisfies this stronger stability notion. We also discuss the relation with the birational transformations in the definition of $$b$$ -stability.
Kernel alignment inspired linear discriminant analysis

Kernel alignment measures the degree of similarity between two kernels. In this paper, inspired from kernel alignment, we propose a new Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) formulation, kernel alignment LDA (kaLDA). We first define two kernels, data kernel and class indicator kernel. The problem is to find a subspace to maximize the alignment between subspace-transformed data kernel and class indicator kernel. Surprisingly, the kernel alignment induced kaLDA objective function is very similar to classical LDA and can be expressed using between-class and total scatter matrices. This can be extended to multi-label data. We use a Stiefel-manifold gradient descent algorithm to solve this problem. We perform experiments on 8 single-label and 6 multi-label data sets. Results show that kaLDA has very good performance on many single-label and multi-label problems.
Moving forward with regulatory lookback

Contribuicoes para o avanco da regulacao retrospectiva When he announced his administration’s regulatory “lookback” initiative in 2011, President Obama rightly called on government agencies to establish ongoing routines for reviewing existing regulations to determine if they need modification or repeal. In subsequent years, the Obama Administration’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (Oira) oversaw a major initiative that prompted dozens of federal agencies to review hundreds of regulations. The Obama Administration’s regulatory initiative represented a good first step toward increasing the retrospective review of regulation, but by itself it was able to do little to build a lasting culture of serious regulatory evaluation. After all, past administrations have made similar review efforts, but these ad hoc exercises also never took root. To get serious about institutionalizing the practice of retrospective review, the federal government will need to take further steps in the coming years. This essay offers three feasible actions — guidelines, plans, and prompts — that an Oira Administrator should take to move forward with regulatory lookback and improve both the regularity and rigor of regulatory evaluation. Quando anunciou sua iniciativa de regulacao retrospectiva da administracao, em 2011, o presidente Obama pediu justamente as agencias governamentais que estabelecessem rotinas em andamento para revisar os regulamentos existentes e determinar se eles precisavam de modificacao ou revogacao. Nos anos subsequentes, o Escritorio de Informacao e Assuntos Regulatorios da Administracao Obama (Oira) supervisionou uma grande iniciativa que levou dezenas de agencias federais a revisar centenas de regulamentos. A iniciativa regulatoria da administracao de Obama representou um bom primeiro passo para aumentar a revisao retrospectiva da regulamentacao, mas, por si so, fez pouco para construir uma cultura duradoura de avaliacao regulamentar seria. Afinal, as administracoes anteriores fizeram esforcos de revisao semelhantes, mas esses exercicios ad hoc tambem nunca criaram raizes. Para levar a serio a institucionalizacao da pratica de revisao retrospectiva, o governo federal precisara dar mais passos nos proximos anos. Este artigo oferece tres acoes viaveis — diretrizes, planos e instrucoes — que um administrador da Oira deve tomar para avancar com a retrospectiva regulatoria e melhorar a regularidade e o rigor da avaliacao regulatoria.
Sacral Neuromodulation in Children

Sacral neuromodulation (SNM) has emerged as a treatment option for refractory lower urinary tract and bowel dysfunction in children. SNM is typically reserved for a select population of children who have failed an extended period of behavioral modification, biofeedback, and pharmacologic therapy. The surgical techniques for SNM in children are analogous to those in adults and include both one- and two-stage procedures as well as a peripheral nerve evaluation with the InterStim® system (Medtronic, Minneapolis, MN). Most studies have observed not only an improvement in symptoms and quality of life in children undergoing SNM for non-neurogenic and neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction but also a much higher reoperative rate than in adults. Further high-quality research is necessary to corroborate the results of earlier studies and to better define the indications for SNM in children.
Subsidies as a social safety net: effectiveness and challenges

This paper will consider a range of consumer-oriented subsidy instruments, including general subsidies, and tax exemptions as well as targeted quotas. Section II discusses the distribution, or incidence of the subsidy expenditures for all these instruments. It focuses primarily on food as the means by which the subsidy is delivered, although the section concludes with a brief comparison of food subsidies with energy subsidies. The following section asks whether food subsidies actually achieve the nutritional, and stabilization goals that they are often claimed to achieve. Some of the administrative concerns about market interventions that policymakers must consider, are discussed in Section IV. These administrative concerns, as well as their effects on beneficiaries, point to possibilities for program reform, which are discussed in the final section.
Metric dimension and zero forcing number of two families of line graphs

Zero forcing number has recently become an interesting graph parameter studied in its own right since its introduction by the “AIM Minimum Rank–Special Graphs Work Group”, whereas metric dimension is a well-known graph parameter. We investigate the metric dimension and the zero forcing number of some line graphs by first determining the metric dimension and the zero forcing number of the line graphs of wheel graphs and the bouquet of circles. We prove that $Z(G) \le 2Z(L(G))$ for a simple and connected graph $G$. Further, we show that $Z(G) \le Z(L(G))$ when $G$ is a tree or when $G$ contains a Hamiltonian path and has a certain number of edges. We compare the metric dimension with the zero forcing number of a line graph by demonstrating a couple of inequalities between the two parameters. We end by stating some open problems.
Do People Use the Shortest Path? An Empirical Test of Wardrop’s First Principle

Most recent route choice models, following either the random utility maximization or rule-based paradigm, require explicit enumeration of feasible routes. The quality of model estimation and prediction is sensitive to the appropriateness of the consideration set. However, few empirical studies of revealed route characteristics have been reported in the literature. This study evaluates the widely applied shortest path assumption by evaluating routes followed by residents of the Minneapolis—St. Paul metropolitan area. Accurate Global Positioning System (GPS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) data were employed to reveal routes people used over an eight to thirteen week period. Most people did not choose the shortest path. Using three weeks of that data, we find that current route choice set generation algorithms do not reveal the majority of paths that individuals took. Findings from this study may guide future efforts in building better route choice models.
Interest Free and Interest-Bearing Money Demand: Policy Invariance and Stability

This paper, using quarterly Iranian data for the period 1966-1998, extends the literature by investigating the stability of the interest-free money demand function. The study also examines the stability of economic agents behavior in demanding interest bearing and interest- free money. It was found that, contrary to interest-bearing demand for money, both short and long run demand for interest-free money functions are stable and their coefficients are invariant with respect to policy and other exogenous shocks, as well as changes in regime.
Local theory of frames and schauder bases for Hilbert space

We develope a local theory for frames on finite dimensional Hilbert spaces. In particular, a bounded frame on a finite dimensional Hilbert space contains a subset which is a good Riesz basis for a percentage (arbitrarily close to one) of the space. We also construct a normalized frame for a Hilbert space which contains a subset which is a Schauder basis for H but does not contain any subset which is a Riesz basis for H.
An explanation mechanism for Bayesian Inferencing Systems

Explanation facilities are a particularly important feature of expert system frameworks. It is an area in which traditional rule-based expert system frameworks have had mixed results. While explanations about control are well handled, facilities are needed for generating better explanations concerning knowledge base content. This paper approaches the explanation problem by examining the effect an event has on a variable of interest within a symmetric Bayesian inferencing system. We argue that any effect measure operating in this context must satisfy certain properties. Such a measure is proposed. It forms the basis for an explanation facility which allows the user of the Generalized Bayesian Inferencing System to question the meaning of the knowledge base. That facility is described in detail.
Multilevel secure transaction processing: status and prospects

Since 1990, transaction processing in multilevel secure database management systems (DBMSs) has been receiving a great deal of attention from the database research community. Transaction processing in these systems requires modification of conventional scheduling algorithms and commit protocols. These modifications are necessary because preserving the usual transaction properties when transactions are executing at different security levels often conflicts with the enforcement of the security policy. Considerable effort has been devoted to the development of efficient, secure algorithms for the major types of secure DBMS architectures: kernelized, replicated, and distributed. An additional problem that arises uniquely in multilevel secure DBMSs is that of secure, correct execution when data at multiple security levels must be written within one transaction. Significant progress has been made in a number of these areas, and a few of the techniques have been incorporated into commercial trusted DBMS products. However, there are many open problems remain to be explored. This paper reviews the achievements to date in transaction processing for multilevel secure DBMSs. The paper provides an overview of transaction processing needs and solutions in conventional DBMSs as background, explains the constraints introduced by multilevel security, and then describes the results of research in multilevel secure transaction processing. Research results and limitations in concurrency control, multilevel transaction management, and secure commit protocols are summarized. Finally, important new areas are identified for secure transaction processing research.
Equilibrium Default and Temptation

In this paper I quantitatively investigate macroeconomic and welfare implications of the recent consumer bankruptcy law reform using a general equilibrium life-cycle model with unsecured debt and equilibrium default where agents have preferences featuring temptation and self-control problems. The preference used here includes quasi-hyperbolic discounting as the extreme case where temptation is inflnitely strong. The key components of the U.S. bankruptcy law reform which was enacted in 2005 are (i) subjecting fllers to means-testing, and (ii) increased cost of flling for bankruptcy. I flnd that, both the standard model with exponential discounting and the model with temptation and self-control (or quasi-hyperbolic discounting) do well in replicating the responses of the U.S. economy after the bankruptcy reform. Both models correctly predict that the number of bankruptcy fllings decrease, and the amount of loans and the average interest rate of loans do not change substantially. However, the macroeconomic implications of the recent bankruptcy reform will crucially depend on what type of shocks is dominant. In particular, if defaults are not mainly due to expenditure shocks, but rather due to series of unfavorable income realizations, models with exponential discounting predict an increase in the number of bankruptcy fllings, while models with temptation and self-control still predict a decrease in the number of bankruptcy fllings in response to the recent bankruptcy reform. Regarding the welfare implications of the bankruptcy law reform, the implications from difierent models are similar; both models with exponential discounting and those with temptation and self-control imply welfare loss from the bankruptcy reform, mainly because of the loss of welfare of those who cannot flle even if they want. I also flnd that, if the same level of punishment for bankruptcy is used, models with temptation and self-control problem generates a larger debt and more bankruptcy fllings than the model with exponential discounting.
Correlation of pulmonary function variables with hemodynamic measurements in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Introduction: A reduced diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (DLCO) measured during a pulmonary function test can suggest pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The DLCO has been reported to weakly correlate with pulmonary hemodynamics. Objective: To determine whether the relationship between the DLCO and pulmonary arterial pressures can be strengthened by normalizing the DLCO to spirometric variables. Patient and Methods: Patients were seen at a tertiary care referral center. Consecutive subjects who underwent right heart catheterization (RHC) for the evaluation of suspected PAH from 01 January 1991 through 01 October 2006 were identified. Pulmonary function testing (PFT) data performed within 60 days of the RHC was collected. Spearman rank correlation between PFT and RHC variables was calculated. Results: One hundred thirty-eight patients who had an RHC performed had complete PFTs available. No significant correlation was identified between the mean pulmonary artery pressure and the pulmonary vascular resistance against the DLCO, nor the DLCO when normalized to: forced expiratory volume in 1 s, forced vital capacity, total lung capacity or alveolar volume. Spirometric subgroups were identified by standard definitions of restrictive and/or obstructive ventilatory defects. Clinical subgroups were classified based on the clinically diagnosed cause of the patient's PAH. Again, no significant correlation was identified between the PFT variables and RHC measurements in these stratified subgroups. Conclusion: In patients with suspected PAH, invasive hemodynamic measurements of PAH do not correlate with PFT variables, even when corrected for spirometric volumes, and regardless of the subgroup of ventilatory physiology or clinical diagnosis. Please cite this paper as: Arunthari V, Burger CD and Lee AS. Correlation of pulmonary function variables with hemodynamic measurements in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension. Clin Respir J 2011; 5: 35–43.
In the Shadow of a Giant: Medicare’s Influence on Private Physician Payments

We analyze Medicare's influence on private insurers' payments for physicians' services. Using a large administrative change in reimbursements for surgical versus medical care, we find that private prices follow Medicare's lead. A $1.00 increase in Medicare's fees increases corresponding private prices by $1.16. A second set of Medicare fee changes, which generates area-specific payment shocks, has a similar effect on private reimbursements. Medicare's influence is strongest in areas with concentrated insurers and competitive physician markets, consistent with insurer-doctor bargaining. By echoing Medicare's pricing changes, these payment spillovers amplify Medicare's impact on specialty choice and other welfare-relevant aspects of physician practices.
Generation of Simulated Daily Precipitation and Air and Soil Temperatures

Mitchell describes a maximum likelihood method using historical weather data to estimate a parametric model of daily precipitation and maximum and minimum air temperatures. Historical weather data from Brookings, SD, and Boone, IA, are used to create the model. Mitchell describes the process of estimation for the precipitation parametric model, and then reports the actual parametric estimates. Next, he presents an algorithm designed to generate a simulated time series of weather variables using the parametric model. Finally, he describes a model that determines soil temperatures as functions of air temperatures and precipitation.
A short note on the ATP fund of Denmark

The Danish ATP (Arbejdmarkedets TillaegsPension or Labor Market Supplementary Pension) fund is a public pension fund that was created in 1964 to complement the universal pension benefit that is financed from general tax revenues and is paid to all old-age residents. When it was created, participation in ATP was compulsory on most working people. But over the last decade or so compulsory coverage has been expanded to most recipients of transfer income. Contribution amounts are set in absolute terms, but are low relative to earnings (less than 1 percent of average earnings). ATP has benefited from scale economies and compulsory worker participation and has been able to operate with high efficiency and low costs. Its investment performance has been uneven over the years, reflecting the applied investment policies and rules as well as prevailing financial conditions. In recent years, it has been a leader among Danish pension institutions in adopting innovative investment policies and has enjoyed an enviable record of high investment returns and low operating costs. In addition, it has long offered deferred group annuities with guaranteed benefits and periodic bonuses (with profits policies). However, ATP also suffers from several weaknesses and shortcomings. It has a cumbersome governance structure, rooted in labor market relations and the role of social partners, while its group annuities have been based on rather 'idiosyncratic' risk-sharing arrangements. Nevertheless, it took the lead in using long-dated interest-rate swaps in euro markets and recently created a department that specializes in hedging its pension liabilities. And it is in the process of adopting a new plan for guaranteed benefits that aims to enhance the management of both investment and longevity risks.
An executable formalization of the HOL/Nuprl connection in the metalogical framework twelf

Howe's HOL/Nuprl connection is an interesting example of a translation between two fundamentally different logics, namely a typed higher-order logic and a polymorphic extensional type theory. In earlier work we have established a proof-theoretic correctness result of the translation in a way that complements Howe's semantics-based justification and furthermore goes beyond the original HOL/Nuprl connection by providing the foundation for a proof translator. Using the Twelf logical framework, the present paper goes one step further. It presents the first rigorous formalization of this treatment in a logical framework, and hence provides a safe alternative to the translation of proofs.