cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Man is to computer programmer as woman is to homemaker? debiasing word embeddings

The blind application of machine learning runs the risk of amplifying biases present in data. Such a danger is facing us with word embedding, a popular framework to represent text data as vectors which has been used in many machine learning and natural language processing tasks. We show that even word embeddings trained on Google News articles exhibit female/male gender stereotypes to a disturbing extent. This raises concerns because their widespread use, as we describe, often tends to amplify these biases. Geometrically, gender bias is first shown to be captured by a direction in the word embedding. Second, gender neutral words are shown to be linearly separable from gender definition words in the word embedding. Using these properties, we provide a methodology for modifying an embedding to remove gender stereotypes, such as the association between the words receptionist and female, while maintaining desired associations such as between the words queen and female. Using crowd-worker evaluation as well as standard benchmarks, we empirically demonstrate that our algorithms significantly reduce gender bias in embeddings while preserving the its useful properties such as the ability to cluster related concepts and to solve analogy tasks. The resulting embeddings can be used in applications without amplifying gender bias.
Wits - World integrated trade solution

AbstractThe following sections are included:What is WITS?The Cost of WITSHow to Install WITS?To Obtain WITS softwareTo Install WITSTo Access WITSData ExtractionQuick Database QueryUN COMTRADE DatabaseQuick Database Query by Country/PeriodQuick Query: TRAINSTRAINS-View and Export Raw DataWTO Integrated DatabaseAdvanced QueryQuery ProcedureWhat is the next step for WITS?References
Attitudes toward Abortion among Providers of Reproductive Health Care

Abstract Background Access to abortion continues to decrease in the United States. The aim of this study was to explore attitudes toward abortion among clinicians who provide reproductive health care. Methods Clinician members of several reproductive health professional organizations completed a self-administered survey that assessed their attitudes toward abortion. Results A total of 278 clinicians who provided clinical reproductive health services within the United States were included. Nearly all strongly agreed that abortion should be available in cases of rape (89.6%), incest (89.2%), life endangerment (93.2%), health endangerment (91.0%), and fetal anomaly (85.9%). Although most strongly disagreed that spousal notification (81.3%) and spousal consent (86.6%) should be required for married women, fewer strongly disagreed that parental notification (57.6%) and parental consent (66.9%) should be required for minors. Respondents were generally supportive of private insurance coverage (70.1% strongly agreed) and Medicaid coverage (65.0% strongly agreed) for abortion services. Support for legal abortion and public funding of abortion were significantly associated with being female (both p ≤ .03) and having no personal religious affiliation (both p ≤ .04). Younger respondents and men were more supportive of third-party involvement and mandatory counseling (all p ≤ .02). Abortion providers were significantly more supportive of abortion access (legality of abortion, public and private funding, no third-party involvement, and no mandated counseling) than nonproviders (all p Conclusions Although reproductive health care providers were generally supportive of legal abortion and funding for abortion, lower support among younger respondents may indicate future difficulties in maintaining a clinical workforce that is willing to provide abortion care.
Simplified dark matter models with charged mediators: prospects for direct detection

We consider direct detection prospects for a class of simplified models of fermionic dark matter (DM) coupled to left and right-handed Standard Model fermions via two charged scalar mediators with arbitrary mixing angle α. DM interactions with the nucleus are mediated by higher electromagnetic moments, which, for Majorana DM, is the anapole moment. After giving a full analytic calculation of the anapole moment, including its α dependence, and matching with limits in the literature, we compute the DM-nucleon scattering cross-section and show the LUX and future LZ constraints on the parameter space of these models. We then compare these results with constraints coming from F ermi-LAT continuum and line searches. Results in the supersymmetric limit of these simplified models are provided in all cases. We find that future direct detection experiments will be able to probe most of the parameter space of these models for $$ \mathcal{O} $$ (100 − 200) GeV DM and lightest mediator mass ≲ $$ \mathcal{O} $$ (5%) larger than the DM mass. The direct detection prospects dwindle for larger DM mass and larger mass gap between the DM and the lightest mediator mass, although appreciable regions are still probed for $$ \mathcal{O} $$ (200) GeV DM and lightest mediator mass ≲ $$ \mathcal{O} $$ (20%) larger than the DM mass. The direct detection bounds are also attenuated near certain “blind spots” in the parameter space, where the anapole moment is severely suppressed due to cancellation of different terms. We carefully study these blind spots and the associated F ermi-LAT signals in these regions.
Portal Hypertension and Ascites Due to an Arterioportal Fistula: Sequela of a Remote Traumatic Liver Laceration

Arterioportal fistulas (APFs) are a group of vascular disorders, in which systemic arteries communicate with the portal circulation, presenting as a congenital syndrome or more commonly acquired from iatrogenic instrumentation or abdominal trauma. We report the case of a 58-year-old man who developed ascites without underlying risk factors for portal hypertension, which was attributed to an APF found on imaging, manifesting 43 years after sustaining a liver laceration. After angiographic embolization of the APF, the patient's ascites resolved completely. The prolonged latent period between the patient's abdominal trauma and eventual presentation with ascites highlights the need to consider vascular malformations in the differential diagnosis of unexplained noncirrhotic portal hypertension.
An Uncommon Case of Abnormal Behaviour

We report the case of a 41 year old male with repeated admissions of symptomatic hyponatremia (seizures, behavioural abnormalities) who presented to us in a mute state. Evaluation of the hyponatremia revealed hypopituitarism and his symptoms completely subsided on therapy with eltroxin. Keywords: Abnormal behaviour, Seizures, Hypopituitarism
Regularized Latent Class Analysis with Application in Cognitive Diagnosis.

Diagnostic classification models are confirmatory in the sense that the relationship between the latent attributes and responses to items is specified or parameterized. Such models are readily interpretable with each component of the model usually having a practical meaning. However, parameterized diagnostic classification models are sometimes too simple to capture all the data patterns, resulting in significant model lack of fit. In this paper, we attempt to obtain a compromise between interpretability and goodness of fit by regularizing a latent class model. Our approach starts with minimal assumptions on the data structure, followed by suitable regularization to reduce complexity, so that readily interpretable, yet flexible model is obtained. An expectation–maximization-type algorithm is developed for efficient computation. It is shown that the proposed approach enjoys good theoretical properties. Results from simulation studies and a real application are presented.
Improved Synthetic Power Grid Modeling With Correlated Bus Type Assignments

This paper presents our study results on the correlated assignment of generation, load, or connection buses in a given grid topology and the development of an optimized search algorithm to improve the proposed synthetic grid model, called RT-nestedSmallWorld . A numerical measure, called “bus type entropy”, was proposed in an initial study on this subject to characterize the correlation of bus type assignments in realistic grids. In this paper, its definition has been redefined and improved with the help of some newly obtained data of realistic grids so that the scaling property of a real-world grid's entropy value versus the network size can be effectively captured with a curve-fitting approach. With the help of the derived scaling function, we will be able to determine an appropriate target entropy value that a correlated bus type assignment should assume in a specific N -bus grid network. Therefore, our previously proposed synthetic power grid modeling has been enhanced with a direct search procedure for the best bus type assignments in a specific N -bus grid topology, saving the mandatory, but most of the time unattainable, requirement of a set of realistic grid data with a comparable network size for identifying the search target. Finally, the performance of the proposed approach is examined based on some available grid data including the IEEE test cases, the NYISO-2935, the ERCOT-5633, and the WECC-16994 systems.
2-Selmer groups of hyperelliptic curves with two marked points

We consider the family of hyperelliptic curves over $\Q$ of fixed genus along with a marked rational Weierstrass point and a marked rational non-Weierstrass point. When these curves are ordered by height, we prove that the average Mordell-Weil rank of their Jacobians is bounded above by 5/2. We prove this by showing that the average rank of the 2-Selmer groups is bounded above by 6. We also prove that the average size of the $\phi$-Selmer groups of a family of isogenies associated to this family is exactly 2.
Open systems architecture solutions for military avionics testing

Raytheon makes extensive use of open systems architecture methods in developing special test equipment (STE) for testing military avionics equipment. Such use has resulted in significant cost and schedule savings in the development of production test equipment for radar and infrared systems. With open systems architectures, a test system can be assembled using COTS products. This brings economies of scale to test equipment, which is normally built in very low quantities. Therefore, the potential cost savings due to COTS usage is proportionately greater in STE than in the higher volume avionics systems that are tested. A second major benefit of using COTS products is that test system development schedule cycle time is greatly reduced. This paper describes the application of Open Systems Architectures (OSA) to avionics testing. The following major architectures are surveyed: VME bus, VXI bus, IEEE GPIB, IEEE 1149.1 JTAG test bus, 1553 Military Bus, Fibre Channel, and COTS Test Applications Software. We describe how the benefits of OSA have been extended at Raytheon into achieving vertical test commonalities. The flexibility of OSA can be exploited to provide an overall optimum test solution, taking all levels of test into account. For example, test systems can be tailored with COTS products to provide integrated methods for avionics tests at the module, unit, and system levels. Test systems can be configured to maximize the reuse of COTS hardware over all test levels. Test software can also be programmed to optimize such reuse over levels of test. Additional test verticality synergies derived from such OSA usage are described, including: test false alarm avoidance; test cones of tolerance optimization; and efficient test of field returns.
Regularization for Design

When designing controllers for large-scale systems, the architectural aspects of the controller such as the placement of actuators, sensors, and the communication links between them can no longer be taken as given. The task of designing this architecture is now as important as the design of the control laws themselves. By interpreting controller synthesis (in a model matching setup) as the solution of a particular linear inverse problem, we view the challenge of obtaining a controller with a desired architecture as one of finding a structured solution to an inverse problem. Building on this conceptual connection, we formulate and analyze a framework called Regularization for Design (RFD) , in which we augment the variational formulations of controller synthesis problems with convex penalty functions that induce a desired controller architecture. The resulting regularized formulations are convex optimization problems that can be solved efficiently; these convex programs provide a unified computationally tractable approach for the simultaneous co-design of a structured optimal controller and the actuation, sensing and communication architecture required to implement it. Further, these problems are natural control-theoretic analogs of prominent approaches such as the Lasso, the Group Lasso, the Elastic Net, and others that are employed in structured inference. In analogy to that literature, we show that our approach identifies optimally structured controllers under a suitable condition on a “signal-to-noise” type ratio.
On Basing Search SIVP on NP-Hardness

The possibility of basing cryptography on the minimal assumption \(\mathbf{NP }\nsubseteq \mathbf{BPP }\) is at the very heart of complexity-theoretic cryptography. The closest we have gotten so far is lattice-based cryptography whose average-case security is based on the worst-case hardness of approximate shortest vector problems on integer lattices. The state-of-the-art is the construction of a one-way function (and collision-resistant hash function) based on the hardness of the \(\tilde{O}(n)\)-approximate shortest independent vector problem \({\textsf {SIVP}}_{\tilde{O}(n)}\).
LONG-TERM FUNCTIONAL OUTCOME OF HUMERAL AND FOREARM RODDING IN CHILDREN WITH OSTEOGENESIS IMPERFECTA

The aim was to assess the long-term impact of humeral and forearm rodding on functional ability, grip strength, joint range of motion and angular deformity in children with osteogenesis imperfecta. A retrospective chart review was conducted on 57 children with osteogenesis imperfecta who underwent humeral rodding or forearm rodding at our institution between 1996 and 2013. Functional ability was assessed using the self-care and mobility domains of the Pediatric Evaluation and Disability Inventory (PEDI). Grip strength was measured using a dynamometer and joint range of motion with a goniometer. Deformity was measured on radiographs of the humerus or forearm. Outcomes were assessed pre-operatively and every year post-operatively. Differences between pre-operative and 1-year post-operative outcomes were compared using paired T-tests. In 44 patients with a minimum of 2 years follow-up, outcome measures at 1-year post-surgery were compared to those at the latest clinic visit (mean follow-up = 8.0 years). Humeral and forearm rodding resulted in a significant improvement in PEDI self-care score (mean change =5.75, p=0.028 for the humerus, mean change = 6.77, p=0.0017 for the forearm) and mobility score (mean change =3.59, p=0.008 for the humerus, mean change =7.21, p=0.020 for the forearm) at 1 year post-surgery. Grip strength improved following forearm rodding (mean change = +6.13N, p=0.015) but not humeral rodding. Joint range of movement improved following humeral rodding but not forearm rodding. There was a significant improvement in radiographic angular deformity of the forearm and humerus following surgery (p Humeral and forearm rodding in children with osteogenesis imperfecta leads to long-term improvement in functional ability and angular deformity.
Large earthquakes and creeping faults

Faults are ubiquitous throughout the Earth's crust. The majority are silent for decades to centuries, until they suddenly rupture and produce earthquakes. With a focus on shallow continental active-tectonic regions, this paper reviews a subset of faults that have a different behavior. These unusual faults slowly creep for long periods of time and produce many small earthquakes. The presence of fault creep and the related microseismicity helps illuminate faults that might not otherwise be located in fine detail, but there is also the question of how creeping faults contribute to seismic hazard. It appears that well-recorded creeping fault earthquakes of up to magnitude 6.6 that have occurred in shallow continental regions produce similar fault-surface rupture areas and similar peak ground shaking as their locked fault counterparts of the same earthquake magnitude. The behavior of much larger earthquakes on shallow creeping continental faults is less well known, because there is a dearth of comprehensive observations. Computational simulations provide an opportunity to fill the gaps in our understanding, particularly of the dynamic processes that occur during large earthquake rupture and arrest.
Most Individuals With Advanced Cirrhosis Have Sleep Disturbances, Which Are Associated With Poor Quality of Life.

Background & Aims Sleep disturbances are common in patients with cirrhosis, but their determinants and effects on health-related quality of life are not well-understood. We investigated the prevalence of disturbed sleep in these patients, factors associated with sleep disruption, and effects on quality of life. Methods We performed a prospective, cross-sectional study of 193 stable ambulatory patients with cirrhosis (154 with decompensated cirrhosis). Participants completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (to assess sleep quality), the Chronic Liver Disease Questionnaire (CLDQ), and muscle cramp questionnaires and underwent neurocognitive testing. Actigraphy was performed in a subset of patients with normal and disturbed sleep. We collected serum samples from subjects with normal and disturbed sleep and performed non-targeted metabolomic analyses. Results Of the study subjects, 157 (81%) had disturbed sleep, with Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index scores >5. Disturbed sleep was associated with muscle cramps, daytime somnolence, and decreased quality of life on the basis of CLDQ scores. Factors independently associated with disturbed sleep in logistic regression analysis included hypoalbuminemia, opiate therapy, and muscle cramps. Disturbed sleep was independently associated with CLDQ score (correlation parameter, –36.6; 95% confidence interval, –24 to –49; P Conclusions Most patients with advanced cirrhosis (81%) have disturbed sleep. This has negative effects on quality of life and is associated with disruptions of several metabolic pathways, including metabolism by the intestinal microbiota.
Contact resistivities in gamma-valley materials

A model for contact resistivities of materials such as n-type III-V semiconductors with gamma-valley symmetry is developed which goes beyond current models in including non-parabolicity and screening effect of electrons on the Schottky barrier. These raise the contact resistivity, so that strategies involving negative barrier heights and interface velocity matching may be necessary to reach ITRS targets.
EFFECTS OF PERI-OPERATIVE DEXAMETHASONE ON PATIENTS UNDERGOING TOTAL HIP OR KNEE ARTHROPLASTY: IS IT SAFE FOR ALL PATIENTS?

Introduction Perioperative dexamethasone has been shown to effectively reduce post-operative nausea and vomiting and aide in analgesia after total joint arthroplasty (TJA), however systemic glucocorticoid therapy is carries the theoretical risk of increased susceptibility to prosthetic joint infection (PJI), increased white blood cell (WBC) counts, and increased blood glucose levels. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of dexamethasone on PJI, WBC count, and blood glucose levels in diabetic and non-diabetic patients undergoing TJA. Methods A retrospective chart review of all patients receiving primary total joint (hip or knee) arthroplasty between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2015 (n = 1818) was conducted. The patients were divided into two main cohorts: those receiving dexamethasone (n = 1426) and those not receiving dexamethasone (n = 392); these groups were further subdivided into diabetic (n = 428 dexamethasone; n = 129 no dexamethasone) and non-diabetic patients (n = 998 dexamethasone, n = 263 no dexamethasone). The primary outcome was PJI; secondary measures included in (WBC) count, glucose levels, and days to infection. Statistics were carried out using chi-squared or ANOVA tests. Results Of the 1818 joints, 1.05% (19) developed PJI; there was no significant difference between the dexamethasone and no dexamethasone groups (p = 0.1023): 12 (0.84%) in the dexamethasone group and 7 (1.79%) in the no-dexamethasone group. Additionally there was no significant effect on the increase in WBC count (p = 0.1784) or on the increase in blood glucose (p = 0.3120). Further subdividing the patients, there was a significantly higher rate of infection in those who received dexamethasone with diabetes (2.1%) compared to those without diabetes (0.30%) (p = 0.0016). Further, diabetics who received dexamethasone had a significantly greater elevation in blood glucose (p < 0.0001) compared to non-diabetics, but no significant change in WBC count (p = 0.6993). Conclusion Perioperative intravenous dexamethasone had no statistically significant effect on the overall rate of prosthetic joint infections in primary total hip or knee arthroplasty; however diabetic patients had a significantly higher rate of infection compared to non-diabetics when given dexamethasone. WBC counts were not affected overall by administration of dexamethasone, or with stratification into diabetics and non-diabetics. Glucose levels were not effected by administration of dexamethasone.
Free holomorphic functions and interpolation

In this paper we obtain a noncommutative multivariable analogue of the classical Nevanlinna–Pick interpolation problem for analytic functions with positive real parts on the open unit disc. Given a function \(f : \Lambda \to \mathbb {C}\) , where \(\Lambda\) is an arbitrary subset of the open unit ball \(\mathbb{B}_n:=\{z\in \mathbb {C}^n: \|z\| < 1\}\) , we find necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a free holomorphic function g with complex coefficients on the noncommutative open unit ball \([B({\mathcal H})^n]_1\) such that $${\rm Re} \ g \geq 0 \quad {\rm and} \quad g(z)=f(z),\quad z\in \Lambda,$$ where \(B({\mathcal H})\) is the algebra of all bounded linear operators on a Hilbert space \({\mathcal H}\) . The proof employs several results from noncommutative multivariable operator theory and a noncommutative Cayley transform (introduced and studied in the present paper) acting from the set of all free holomorphic functions with positive real parts to the set of all bounded free holomorphic functions. All the results of this paper are obtained in the more general setting of free holomorphic functions with operator-valued coefficients. As consequences, we deduce some results concerning operator-valued analytic interpolation on the unit ball \({\mathbb B}_n\).
Stochastic Variance Reduction Methods for Policy Evaluation

Policy evaluation is a crucial step in many reinforcement-learning procedures, which estimates a value function that predicts states’ long-term value under a given policy. In this paper, we focus on policy evaluation with linear function approximation over a fixed dataset. We first transform the empirical policy evaluation problem into a (quadratic) convex-concave saddle point problem, and then present a primal-dual batch gradient method, as well as two stochastic variance reduction methods for solving the problem. These algorithms scale linearly in both sample size and feature dimension. Moreover, they achieve linear convergence even when the saddle-point problem has only strong concavity in the dual variables but no strong convexity in the primal variables. Numerical experiments on benchmark problems demonstrate the effectiveness of our methods.
Fast singular-value decomposition of loewner matrices for state-space macromodeling

Computation of a singular-value decomposition (SVD) of a Loewner matrix is an essential step in several frequency-domain macromodeling algorithms. When the data set is large, the computational cost of this step is prohibitive. We describe a fast algorithm that avoids explicitly forming the Loewner matrix. Instead, it exploits the matrix's structure and rapid decay of singular values in typical applications to compute only the dominant singular values and corresponding singular vectors. A robust stopping criterion ensures accurate results up to a given tolerance. Computation times of less than two minutes are reported for matrices with as many as 105 rows and columns.
Effective Spectral Function for Quasielastic Scattering on Nuclei

Abstract Spectral functions do not fully describe quasielastic electron and neutrino scattering from nuclei because they only model the initial state. Final state interactions distort the shape of the differential cross section at the peak and increase the cross section at the tails of the distribution. We show that the kinematic distributions predicted by the ψ′ super-scaling formalism can be well described with a modified effective spectral function (ESF). By construction, models using ESF in combination with the transverse enhancement contribution correctly predict electron QE scattering data. Our values for the binding energy parameter Δ are smaller than ϵ ¯ extracted within the Fermi gas model from pre 1971 data by Moniz [8], probably because these early cross sections were not corrected for coulomb effects.
DO PRE-OPERATIVE GLYCATED HAEMOGLOBIN LEVELS CORRELATE WITH THE INCIDENCE OF REVISION IN DIABETIC PATIENTS WHO UNDERGO TOTAL KNEE ARTHROPLASTY?

Introduction There is a paucity of studies analyzing the rates of revision total knee arthroplasty in diabetic patients stratified by glycated hemoglobin levels. The purpose of this study was to: 1) determine the incidence of revision TKA; 2) correlate the percent of glycated hemoglobin with incidence of revision; and 3) determine the cause of revision in diabetic patients stratified by glycated hemoglobin level. Methods We utilized a national private payer dataset within the PearlDiver database from 2007 to 2015 quarter 1 to determine who had diabetes and underwent TKA. There were 424,107 patients who were included in the analysis. We determined the incidence of revision TKA in the overall cohort, in addition to stratifying the incidence by glycated hemoglobin levels. To determine the effect of glycated hemoglobin levels on revision TKA rate, we performed a correlation analysis between the level of glycated hemoglobin and the incidence of revision TKA. We performed descriptive statistics of the underlying cause of revision TKA in both the overall and stratified cohorts Results There was a 3.2% incidence of revision in the overall cohort. When stratified by glycated hemoglobin levels, the cohort in the 6.6 to 7.0% category had the lowest incidence of revision (2.9%). The cohorts in the 8.6 to 9%, 5.1 to 5.5%, and 4.6 to 5%, glycated hemoglobin categories had the highest revision rates of 3.7, 3.7 and 4.7%, respectively. There was a significantly positive correlation between rate of revision and ascending glycated hemoglobin levels, and significantly negative correlation between descending glycated hemoglobin levels and revision incidence. The most common cause of revision was infection in the overall and stratified groups. Conclusion Sub-optimal glycated hemoglobin levels in diabetic patients correlated with increase revision rates in those who underwent TKA. This may imply that management of blood glucose levels should be optimized before undergoing total knee arthroplasty to minimize revision surgery risk.
Evidence-based policy as public entrepreneurship

In the 21st century, evidence-based policy has garnered significant attention in both theory and practice. Scholars have levied various criticisms of evidence-based policy making, suggesting the ne...
How Self-Control Shapes the Meaning of Choice

Self-control is an important driver of choice, but might it also change choice’s meaning, making it seem less indicative of preference? Decades of research suggest that preference and choice are often intertwined. Choice often originates from one’s preferences. As a result, choice is often seen as a reflection of preference, leading people to infer their preferences by observing their own choices. We suggest that self-control attenuates this process. Because self-control often overrides personal desires in favor of external constraints, norms, and long-term considerations, we propose that self-control is associated with a sense of attenuated correspondence between choice and individual preference. Five experiments suggest that when the notion of self-control is salient, people are less likely to see their choices as reflecting their preferences or to infer preference from previous choices. As a result, evoking the notion of self-control attenuates the tendency to view choice as indicative of preference, even in contexts unrelated to where self-control was originally evoked. Thus, self-control shapes not only choice itself, but also the perceived meaning of choice.
Impedance/dielectric spectroscopy of electroceramics in the nanograin regime

In the microcrystalline regime, the behavior of grain boundary-controlled electroceramics is well described by the “brick layer model” (BLM). In the nanocrystalline regime, however, grain boundary layers can represent a significant volume fraction of the overall microstructure and simple layer models are no longer valid. This work describes the development of a pixel-based finite-difference approach to treat a “nested cube model” (NCM), which more accurately calculates the current distribution in polycrystalline ceramics when grain core and grain boundary dimensions become comparable. Furthermore, the NCM approaches layer model behavior as the volume fraction of grain cores approaches unity (thin boundary layers) and it matches standard effective medium treatments as the volume fraction of grain cores approaches zero. Therefore, the NCM can model electroceramic behavior at all grain sizes, from nanoscale to microscale. It can also be modified to handle multi-layer grain boundaries and property gradient effects (e.g., due to space charge regions).
Fooling Intersections of Low-Weight Halfspaces

A weight-t halfspace} is a Boolean function f(x)=\sign(w_1 x_1 + &#x2026; + w_n x_n - &#x03B8;) where each w_i is an integer in \{-t,\dots,t\}. We give an explicit pseudorandom generator that &#x03B4;-fools any intersection of k weight-t halfspaces with seed length \poly(\log n, \log k,t,1/&#x03B4;). In particular, our result gives an explicit PRG that fools any intersection of any quasi\poly(n) number of halfspaces of any \polylog(n) weight to any 1/\polylog(n) accuracy using seed length \polylog(n). Prior to this work no explicit PRG with non-trivial seed length was known even for fooling intersections of n weight-1 halfspaces to constant accuracy.The analysis of our PRG fuses techniques from two different lines of work on unconditional pseudorandomness for different kinds of Boolean functions. We extend the approach of Harsha, Klivans and Meka \cite{HKM12} for fooling intersections of regular halfspaces, and combine this approach with results of Bazzi \cite{Bazzi:07} and Razborov \cite{Razborov:09} on bounded independence fooling CNF formulas. Our analysis introduces new coupling-based ingredients into the standard Lindeberg method for establishing quantitative central limit theorems and associated pseudorandomness results.
Industrial Policy, Information, and Government Capacity

Governments are resource and bandwidth constrained, and hence need to prioritize productivity-enhancing policies. To do so requires information on the nature and magnitude of market failures on the one hand, and government’s capacity to redress them successfully on the other. The paper reviews perspectives on vertical (sectoral) and horizontal (factor markets, cluster) policies with an eye to both criteria. It first argues that the case for either cannot be made on the basis of the likelihood of successful implementation: for instance, educational and picking the winner types of policies both run the risks of capture and incompetent execution. However, the profession has been able to establish more convincing market failures for horizontal policies than for vertical policies. Most of the recent approaches to identifying failures around particular goods, the paper argues, are of limited help. Hence, for a given difficulty of execution, the former are generally to be preferred. A second critical message is that improving the quality of governance in terms of collecting information, coordination ability, and defending against capture is critical to successful implementation of productivity policies and should be central on the policy agenda.
Data-driven comparison between solid model and PC-SAFT for modeling asphaltene precipitation

Abstract Selecting an appropriate equation of state (EOS) to model asphaltene precipitation in compositional wellbore and reservoir simulators is still unclear in the literature. Recent studies have shown that the PC-SAFT model is more appropriate for modeling asphaltene precipitation compared to the commonly used solid model. The main objective of this paper is to compare the solid and PC-SAFT models in both static and dynamic asphaltene modeling. Through fluid characterization, the capabilities of both models are compared to reproduce precipitation experimental data. The results show that both solid and PC-SAFT models are capable of predicting the amount of asphaltene precipitation with high accuracy. Although the matching process using the PC-SAFT model is much easier, the properly tuned solid model is also able to reproduce the experimental data with the same quality as the PC-SAFT model. The simulation results show that the PC-SAFT model is superior to the solid model in terms of the extrapolation accuracy when the experimental data are not available for the simulation conditions (i.e., variation in temperature, pressure, and fluid composition in the reservoir/wellbore). However, both models are applicable for interpolation when the experimental data cover the entire range of the simulation condition. The wellbore simulations show that although the trend of asphaltene deposition is similar for both models, the solid model using Peng-Robinson EOS overestimates the amount of asphaltene precipitation and deposition in the wellbore compared to the PC-SAFT model. On the other hand, the simulation procedure using the PC-SAFT model takes much more computational time as this model uses an iterative solution to obtain the density roots and the phase equilibrium calculation.
Shy maps in topology

Abstract There is a concept in digital topology of a shy map. We define an analogous concept for topological spaces: We say a function is shy if it is continuous and the inverse image of every path-connected subset of its image is path-connected. Some basic properties of such maps are presented. For example, every shy map onto a semilocally simply connected space induces a surjection of fundamental groups (but a shy map onto a space that is not semilocally simply connected need not do so).
Failure detection and consensus in the crash-recovery model

We study the problems of failure detection and consensus in asynchronous systems in which processes may crash and recover, and links may lose messages. We first propose new failure detectors that are particularly suitable to the crash-recovery model. We next determine under what conditions stable storage is necessary to solve consensus in this model. Using the new failure detectors, we give two consensus algorithms that match these conditions: one requires stable storage and the other does not. Both algorithms tolerate link failures and are particularly efficient in the runs that are most likely in practice - those with no failures or failure detector mistakes. In such runs, consensus is achieved within 3δ time and with 4n messages, where δ is the maximum message delay and n is the number of processes in the system.
Evolutionary dynamics of incubation periods

When one child goes to school with a throat infection, many of his or her classmates will often start to come down with a sore throat after two or three days. A few of the children will get sick sooner, the very next day, while others may take about a week. As such, there is a distribution of incubation periods – the time from exposure to illness – across the children in the class. When plotted on a graph, the distribution of incubation periods is not the normal bell curve. Rather the curve looks lopsided, with a long tail on the right. Plotting the logarithms of the incubation periods, however, rather than the incubation periods themselves, does give a normal distribution. As such, statisticians refer to this kind of curve as a “lognormal distribution". Remarkably, many other, completely unrelated, diseases – like typhoid fever or bladder cancer – also have approximately lognormal distributions of incubation periods. This raised the question: why do such different diseases show such a similar curve? Working with a simple mathematical model in which chance plays a key role, Ottino-Loffler et al. calculate how long it takes for a bacterial infection or cancer cell to take over a network of healthy cells. The model explains why a lognormal-like distribution of incubation periods, modeled as takeover times, is so ubiquitous. It emerges from the random dynamics of the incubation process itself, as the disease-causing microbe or mutant cancer cell competes with the cells of the host. Intuitively, this new analysis builds on insights from the “coupon collector’s problem”: a classical problem in mathematics that describes the situation where a person collects items like baseball cards, stamps, or cartoon monsters in a videogame. If a random item arrives every day, and the collector’s luck is bad, they may have to wait a long time to collect those last few items. Similarly, in the model of Ottino-Loffler et al., the takeover time is dominated by dramatic slowdowns near the start or end of the infection process. These effects lead to an approximately lognormal distribution, with long waits, as seen in so many diseases. Ottino-Loffler et al. do not anticipate that their findings will have direct benefits for medicine or public health. Instead, they believe their results could help to advance basic research in the fields of epidemiology, evolutionary biology and cancer research. The findings might also make an impact outside biology. The term “contagion” has now become a familiar metaphor for the spread of everything from computer viruses to bank failures. This model sheds light on how long it takes for a contagion to take over a network, for a variety of idealized networks and spreading processes.
Monitoring Volatile Homicide Trends Across U.S. Cities

While U.S. homicide rates remain at near historical lows, large percentage increases in homicide in 2015 have generated much speculation about its causes among policy makers, academics, criminal ju...
Measurement of tissue volume during non-steady state high-intensity muscle contraction

To investigate the pressures driving water into stimulated muscle, water distribution during and after muscle stimulation was studied in isolated cat muscles perfused by recirculating diluted blood. 51Cr-labeled EDTA (51Cr-EDTA) and Evans blue-labeled albumin were used to determine extracellular volume and plasma volume (PV), respectively. Change in tissue volume was calculated as -PV. Interstitial volume (IFV) was determined from the ratio of interstitial solute (51Cr-EDTA and sodium) mass and interstitial concentration. Interstitial mass was determined by mass balance, and interstitial concentration was determined from solute flux and Fick's Law. One group was stimulated at 4 Hz for 2 min, and a second was stimulated by 80-Hz trains (1 train/s, 0.1 s duration). Four Hertz stimulation increased total tissue volume by approximately 3 ml/100 g and decreased IFV by 1 ml/100 g. Train stimulation increased total tissue volume by 6 ml/100 g and decreased IFV by 4. These data indicate that water moves into cells faster than the simultaneous transcapillary flow, suggesting that intracellular osmoles provide the primary driving pressure in stimulation-induced swelling.
A Frequency Domain Analysis of Direct Adaptive Pole Placement Algorithms in the Presence of Unmodelled Dynamics

Abstract This paper examines a general class of direct adaptive pole placement algorithms in the presence of unmodelled high frequency dynamics. The analysis is broken into three stages. The first stage addresses the robustness of the fixed control structure on which most continuous time adaptive control schemes are based. The second stage looks at the effect of unmodelled dynamics on the estimation model used in equation error formulations of continuous time algorithms. The last stage looks specifically at the identification process.
Diagnosis and Management of Hydrohematometrocolpos Syndromes

• Hydrohematometrocolpos anomalies denote the different types of accumulation of fluid and menstrual products in the vagina and the uterus. They are rare conditions due to an intact hymen, vaginal membrane, or vaginal atresla. They may present at different times during development. The method of presentation is variable, and the presence of other genitourinary abnormalities and anorectal anomalies makes prompt diagnosis and treatment necessary. Review of our experiences with these conditions for the last ten years reveals a total of ten cases. This study reports three cases in detail and describes the others in tabular form. ( AJDC 1987;141:632-634)
Adaptive estimation for nonlinear systems using reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces

This paper extends a conventional, general framework for online adaptive estimation problems for systems governed by unknown or uncertain nonlinear ordinary differential equations. The central feature of the theory introduced in this paper represents the unknown function as a member of a reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS) and defines a distributed parameter system (DPS) that governs state estimates and estimates of the unknown function. Under the assumption that full state measurements are available, this paper (1) derives sufficient conditions for the existence and stability of the infinite dimensional online estimation problem, (2) derives existence and stability of finite dimensional approximations of the infinite dimensional approximations, and (3) determines sufficient conditions for the convergence of finite dimensional approximations to the infinite dimensional online estimates. A new condition for persistency of excitation in a RKHS in terms of its evaluation functionals is introduced in the paper that enables proof of convergence of the finite dimensional approximations of the unknown function in the RKHS. This paper studies two particular choices of the RKHS, those that are generated by exponential functions and those that are generated by multiscale kernels defined from a multiresolution analysis.
Surgical Renal Artery Reconstruction After Percutaneous Transluminal Angioplasty

Abstract Percutaneous transluminal renal angioplasty (PTRA) is a controversial treatment for renal artery stenosis. This article discusses whether or not a prior attempt at PTRA compromises a subsequent elective or emergent surgical revascularization. Thirteen patients had surgical renal artery reconstruction after one or more PTRAs. Eight of the patients were treated because of atherosclerotic renal artery disease whereas five had a form of fibromuscular dysplasia. Five patients had renal artery injury directly related to the angioplasty. Four of these kidneys were saved. Eight patients were treated from 6 to 920 days after PTRA because of recurrent stenosis or occlusion of the renal artery. Only one of these kidneys was lost, an attempt at revascularization of a small kidney that failed to resume function. A prior attempt at PTRA did not compromise the ability of subsequent surgical revascularization to ameliorate hypertension. We conclude that surgical renal revascularization is not made less likely to succeed by a previous attempt at PTRA; even if the renal artery is thrombosed or perforated during the procedure, a reasonable chance of renal salvage is obtained by immediate surgical revascularization. (J VASC SURG 1988;8:389-94.)
Total Internal Reflection Tomography (TIRT) for Three-Dimensional Sub-Wavelength Imaging

An overview of a novel new form of near-field microscopy known as total internal reflection tomography (TIRT), which allows for true three-dimensional sub-wavelength optical imaging, will be presented.
On the Existence of Smooth Solutions for Fully Nonlinear Parabolic Equations with Measurable “Coefficients” without Convexity Assumptions

We show that for any uniformly parabolic fully nonlinear second-order equation with bounded measurable “coefficients” and bounded “free” term in any cylindrical smooth domain with smooth boundary d...
Setting the dry weight and its cardiovascular implications

Volume overload is common and associated with adverse outcomes in the hemodialysis population including systemic hypertension, pulmonary hypertension, left ventricular hypertrophy, and mortality. Since the beginning of the era of maintenance dialysis, prescribing and maintaining a dry weight remains the standard of care for managing volume overload on hemodialysis. Reducing dry weight even by relatively small amounts has been shown to improve blood pressure and has been associated with reductions in left ventricular hypertrophy. Maintaining an adequately low dry weight requires attention to sodium intake and adequate time on dialysis, as well as a high index of suspicion for volume overload. Reducing dry weight can provoke decreased cardiac chamber filling and is associated with risks including intradialytic hypotension. The ideal method to minimize intradialytic morbidity is unknown, but more frequent dialysis should be considered. Experimental methods of assessing volume status may allow identification of patients most likely both to tolerate and to benefit from dry weight reduction, but further study is needed.
Core-periphery communication and the success of free/libre open source software projects

We examine the relationship between communications by core and peripheral members and Free/Libre Open Source Software project success. The study uses data from 74 projects in the Apache Software Foundation Incubator. We conceptualize project success in terms of success building a community, as assessed by graduation from the Incubator. We compare successful and unsuccessful projects on volume of communication and on use of inclusive pronouns as an indication of efforts to create intimacy among team members. An innovation of the paper is that use of inclusive pronouns is measured using natural language processing techniques. We also compare the volume and content of communication produced by core (committer) and peripheral members and by those peripheral members who are later elected to be core members. We find that volume of communication is related to project success but use of inclusive pronouns does not distinguish successful projects. Core members exhibit more contribution and use of inclusive pronouns than peripheral members.
Price Signals and Uncertainty in Commercial Real Estate Transactions

Using a sample of CCIM designees and candidates in an experimental setting, this study examines the impact of broker signaling in commercial real estate transactions. It also explores the effect of certainty of closure in commercial real estate transactions. Findings suggest brokers are able to influence transaction pricing. Moreover, detailed analysis reveals that when a signal is above a reference point implied by previous transactions, the strength of the signal matters; privately communicated signals from reliable sources have significantly greater impact than signals which are made widely available. Additionally, we find an approximately 10% premium in transactions with lower certainty of closure than one with high certainty. The latter result varies by transactional participant type; owner/developers require a larger premium than institutional sellers.