cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Design of a highly efficient microinverter

This paper proposes a grid-tied single-phase photovoltaic (PV) microinverter consisting of five-level four- switch (5L-4S) DC-AC converter fed by an isolated fly-back DC- DC converter. The microinverter utilizes a split-coil inductor to produce five levels of pulse width modulation (PWM) compared to the three levels of PWM using conventional four-switch topologies. These implementations reduce losses by up to 39% compared to a conventional topology. The results show that the proposed design improves performance throughout the switching frequency spectra with various loads. The theoretical expectations are validated with simulation and experimental results.
Outcomes of Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate in the Re-Treatment Setting

Purpose: Holmium laser enucleation of the prostate can also be applied in the re-treatment setting when other benign prostatic hyperplasia therapies fail. We compared outcomes in men who underwent holmium laser enucleation of the prostate in the primary vs the re-treatment setting.Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the records of 2,242 patients who underwent holmium laser enucleation of the prostate at a total of 4 academic hospitals between 2003 and 2015. Patient demographics, and operative and perioperative outcomes were compared between re-treatment and primary holmium laser enucleation of the prostate.Results: Of the 360 of 2,242 men (16%) who underwent re-treatment holmium laser enucleation of the prostate the procedure was done for residual urinary symptoms in 71%. The most common primary procedure was transurethral resection of the prostate in 42% of cases. Mean time between prior benign prostatic hyperplasia surgery and re-treatment was 68 months (range 1 to 444). There were no sig...
Electrooptic effects between 20 and 120 microns

This paper reports on recent work on the electrooptic effect in semiconductors using radiation in the 20 to 120 micron range. This region is interesting in solids due to the presence of lattice vibrations which are expected to effect the strength of nonlinear interactions such as the electrooptic effect.
Kepler Planet Masses and Eccentricities from TTV Analysis

We conduct a uniform analysis of the transit timing variations (TTVs) of 145 planets from 55 Kepler multiplanet systems to infer planet masses and eccentricities. Eighty of these planets do not have previously reported mass and eccentricity measurements. We employ two complementary methods to fit TTVs: Markov chain Monte Carlo simulations based on N-body integration and an analytic fitting approach. Mass measurements of 49 planets, including 12 without previously reported masses, meet our criterion for classification as robust. Using mass and radius measurements, we infer the masses of planets' gaseous envelopes for both our TTV sample as well as transiting planets with radial velocity observations. Insight from analytic TTV formulae allows us to partially circumvent degeneracies inherent to inferring eccentricities from TTV observations. We find that planet eccentricities are generally small, typically a few percent, but in many instances are non-zero.
ACETABULAR FRACTURES: THE ROLE OF ARTHROPLASTY

Acetabular fracture treatment outcomes have improved over the past two decades due to the more accurate identification of common fracture patterns, the development of more adequate surgical approaches, and the creation of improved methods for reduction and repair. However, certain cases have a distinctly lower likelihood of a favorable outcome, and in this setting primary arthroplasty as part of the open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) may provide the best solution. Acute primary total hip arthroplasty (THA) provides primary stability and immediate pain relief, permits graded weight-bearing and early pain-free mobilization, and may also treat pre-existing hip arthritis. Removal of the femoral head improves exposure making fracture reduction and fixation easier without the need for more extensile approaches. Open reduction and internal fixation to obtain stability of the anterior and posterior columns is followed by placement of a multi-holed acetabular shell which serves as a supplementary internal fixation device. The femoral head can be used as bulk bone graft to replace and reinforce the reconstruction. These complex procedures are best undertaken by a surgical team with substantial experience with both acetabular trauma and hip arthroplasty. Despite improvements in outcomes with ORIF, THA is commonly required following failed treatment. Scarring, heterotopic ossification, bone defects, residual deformity, devitalised bone fragments and previous implants can make the procedure challenging. If the patient has undergone previous ORIF it is important to rule out low grade sepsis with appropriate blood tests (ESR + CRP) and further work-up as warranted. Surgical exposure must be carefully planned so as to be able to access all aspects of the acetabulum, including removal of hardware which may interfere with acetabular component placement. Bone stock loss, malunion and/or non-union must be evaluated with appropriate radiographs or CT scans may be required. Acetabular replacement in the face of deformity from previous trauma encompasses three main problems; bony defects, the presence of bone in places where it is not normally encountered, such as surrounding and incarcerating the femoral head, or substantially anterior or lateral to the center of the acetabulum, and movement of the acetabulum from its normal relationship to the remainder of the pelvis to a new location, such as a higher or more medialised hip center. Intraoperative landmarks may be obscured and therefore placement of reamers and the component may be confusing. THA after acetabular fracture is technically demanding and generally is accompanied by results more typical of revision than primary arthroplasty for degenerative disease.
Quantum logic with weakly coupled qubits

There are well-known protocols for performing controlled NOT (CNOT) quantum logic with qubits coupled by particular high-symmetry (Ising or Heisenberg) interactions. However, many architectures being considered for quantum computation involve qubits or qubits and resonators coupled by more complicated and less symmetric interactions. Here we consider a widely applicable model of weakly but otherwise arbitrarily coupled two-level systems, and use quantum gate design techniques to derive a simple and intuitive CNOT construction. Useful variations and extensions of the solution are given for common special cases.
Image storage in hot vapors

We theoretically investigate image storage in hot atomic vapor. A so-called $4f$ system is adopted for imaging and an atomic vapor cell is placed over the transform plane. The Fraunhofer diffraction pattern of an object in the object plane can thus be transformed into atomic Raman coherence according to the idea of ``light storage.'' We investigate how the stored diffraction pattern evolves under diffusion and discuss the essence of the stability of its dark spots. Our result indicates, under appropriate conditions, that an image can be reconstructed with high fidelity. The main reason for this procedure is the fact that diffusion of opposite-phase components of the diffraction pattern interferes destructively.
Identification of successful mentoring communities using network-based analysis of mentor---mentee relationships across Nobel laureates

Skills underlying scientific innovation and discovery generally develop within an academic community, often beginning with a graduate mentor's laboratory. In this paper, a network analysis of doctoral student-dissertation advisor relationships in The Academic Family Tree indicates the pattern of Nobel laureate mentoring relationships is non-random. Nobel laureates had a greater number of Nobel laureate ancestors, descendants, mentees/grandmentees, and local academic family, supporting the notion that assortative processes occur in the selection of mentors and mentees. Subnetworks composed entirely of Nobel laureates extended across as many as four generations. Several successful mentoring communities in high-level science were identified, as measured by number of Nobel laureates within the community. These communities centered on Cambridge University in the latter nineteenth century and Columbia University in the early twentieth century. The current practice of building web-based academic networks, extended to include a wider variety of measures of academic success, would allow for the identification of modern successful scientific communities and should be promoted.
Nuclear Parity Violation from Lattice QCD

The electroweak interaction at the level of quarks and gluons are well understood from precision measurements in high energy collider experiments. Relating these fundamental parameters to Hadronic Parity Violation in nuclei however remains an outstanding theoretical challenge. One of the most interesting observables in this respect is the parity violating hadronic neutral current: it is hard to measure in collider experiments and is thus the least constrained observable of the Standard Model. Precision measurements of parity violating transitions in nuclei can help to improve these constraints. In these systems however, the weak interaction is masked by effects of the seven orders of magnitude stronger non-perturbative strong interaction. Therefore, in order to relate experimental measurements of the parity violating pion-nucleon couplings to the fundamental Lagrangian of the SM, these non-perturbative effects have to be well understood. In this paper, we are going to present a Lattice QCD approach for computing the DI=2 parity violating matrix element in proton proton scattering. This process does not involve disconnected diagrams in the isospin symmetric limit and is thus a perfect testbed for studying the feasibility of the more involved calculation of the parity violating pion-nucleon coupling.
Factors affecting college attainment and student ability in the U.S. since 1900

Abstract We develop a dynamic lifecycle model to study long-run changes in college completion and the relative ability of college versus non-college students in the early twentieth century. The model is disciplined in part by constructing a historical time series on real college costs from printed government documents dating to 1916. The model captures nearly all of the increase in attainment and ability sorting between college and non-college individuals between the 1900 to 1950 birth cohorts. Time variation in college costs, the college earnings premium, and the precision of ability signals all play a critical role for explaining different data moments and time periods, primarily through their interaction with binding borrowing constraints. Our quantitative results imply that attainment is broadly driven by the interaction of changing real college costs and the rising earnings premium, while ability sorting is driven by the earnings premium and increasing precision of ability signals.
Docio: documenting API input/output examples

When learning to use an Application Programming Interface (API), programmers need to understand the inputs and outputs (I/O) of the API functions. Current documentation tools automatically document the static information of I/O, such as parameter types and names. What is missing from these tools is dynamic information, such as I/O examples—actual valid values of inputs that produce certain outputs. In this paper, we demonstrate Docio, a prototype toolset we built to generate I/O examples. Docio logs I/O values when API functions are executed, for example in running test suites. Then, Docio puts I/O values into API documents as I/O examples. Docio has three programs: 1) funcWatch, which collects I/O values when API developers run test suites, 2) ioSelect, which selects one I/O example from a set of I/O values, and 3) ioPresent, which embeds the I/O examples into documents. In a preliminary evaluation, we used Docio to generate four hundred I/O examples for three C libraries: ffmpeg, libssh, and protobuf-c. Docio is open-source and available at: http://www3.nd.edu/~sjiang1/docio/.
Extended lubrication theory: improved estimates of flow in channels with variable geometry

Lubrication theory is broadly applicable to the flow characterization of thin fluid films and the motion of particles near surfaces. We offer an extension to lubrication theory by starting with Stokes equations and considering higher-order terms in a systematic perturbation expansion to describe the fluid flow in a channel with features of a modest aspect ratio. Experimental results qualitatively confirm the higher-order analytical solutions, while numerical results are in very good agreement with the higher-order analytical results. We show that the extended lubrication theory is a robust tool for an accurate estimate of pressure drop in channels with shape changes on the order of the channel height, accounting for both smooth and sharp changes in geometry.
I Spy: Addressing the Privacy Implications of Live Streaming Technology and the Current Inadequacies of the Law

This Note argues that live-streaming technology has implicated several important legal rights held by various parties, from the freedom of expression rights of the videographers/streamers themselves, to privacy rights of inadvertent participants in a third party’s live stream. Part I briefly discusses the types of streaming currently available, focusing on an explanation of live-streaming and the transition from archived content applications to live-streaming applications, and then moves on to examining the trajectory of the laws governing live-streaming technology. Additionally, Part I discusses parts of the body of both state and federal privacy laws which could apply to live-streaming. Part II of this Note applies the framework established in Part I to Facebook Live, comparing the live-streaming service to more traditional broadcasting, and discussing the rights and liabilities of live-streamers, those who may inadvertently find themselves included in a live stream, and select third parties. Part III discusses past solutions to privacy issues raised by media activities, and Part IV examines why the advent of social media live-streaming presents novel questions. Part V concludes this Note by discussing potential policy implications and asking the question: where do we go from here?
Household Composition and Gender Differences in Parental Time Investments.

Recent research has documented the relatively poor performance of boys, especially those from single-mother households, on a number of outcomes. Differences in noncognitive skills are often cited as a main contributing factor. However, we still know little about the underlying mechanisms driving differences in noncognitive skills and other outcomes. This article provides empirical evidence that parental time investments, defined as the amount of time that parents spend participating in activities with their child, change differentially by child gender following a transition from a two-parent to single-mother household. Boys experience larger investment reductions following the change in household structure, which may help facilitate previously documented gender gaps in noncognitive skills for those in single-mother households. Boys lose an estimated additional 3.8 hours per week in fathers’ time investments, nearly 30% of average weekly paternal investments across the sample. The difference is increasing with age, concentrated in leisure and entertainment activities, with little to no evidence that mothers increase investments in boys relative to girls after such transitions.
Time-homogeneous parabolic Wick–Anderson model in one space dimension: regularity of solution

Even though the heat equation with random potential is a well-studied object, the particular case of time-independent Gaussian white noise in one space dimension has yet to receive the attention it deserves. The paper investigates the stochastic heat equation with space-only Gaussian white noise on a bounded interval. The main result is that the space-time regularity of the solution is the same for additive noise and for multiplicative noise in the Wick–Ito-Skorokhod interpretation.
Length of local cohomology of powers of ideals

Let $R$ be a polynomial ring over a field $k$ with irrelevant ideal $\frak m$ and dimension $d$. Let $I$ be a homogeneous ideal in $R$. We study the asymptotic behavior of the length of the modules $H^{i}_{\frak m}(R/I^n)$ for $n\gg 0$. We show that for a fixed number $\alpha \in \mathbb Z$, $\limsup_{n\rightarrow \infty}\frac{\lambda(H^{i}_{\frak m}(R/I^n)_{\geq -\alpha n})}{n^d} 0$ when $R/I$ has "nice" singularities in both zero and positive characteristics.
Steady states of continuous-time open quantum walks

Continuous-time open quantum walks (CTOQW) are introduced as the formulation of quantum dynamical semigroups of trace-preserving and completely positive linear maps (or quantum Markov semigroups) on graphs. We show that a CTOQW always converges to a steady state regardless of the initial state when a graph is connected. When the graph is both connected and regular, it is shown that the steady state is the maximally mixed state. As shown by the examples in this article, the steady states of CTOQW can be very unusual and complicated even though the underlying graphs are simple. The examples demonstrate that the structure of a graph can affect quantum coherence in CTOQW through a long-time run. Precisely, the quantum coherence persists throughout the evolution of the CTOQW when the underlying topology is certain irregular graphs (such as a path or a star as shown in the examples). In contrast, the quantum coherence will eventually vanish from the open quantum system when the underlying topology is a regular graph (such as a cycle).
An Internet Based On-Line Architecture for Real-Time Traffic Systems Control

Abstract Recent advances in information technology provide opportunities for secure, efficient and economical data transfer vis-a-vis real time operations for large-scale traffic systems equipped with sensor systems. This paper describes an Internet based control architecture that provides an automated mechanism for real-time route guidance using a high performance computing environment located at a remote site. A distributed computing paradigm called the Beowulf Cluster is proposed to achieve a high performance computing environment for the on-line architecture.
Operational IT failures, IT value destruction, and board-level IT governance changes

This paper presents an empirical study of changes that firms implement in their board-level IT governance (ITG) upon experiencing operational IT failures. Consistent with the separation of oversight from management decisions, board-level ITG is responsible for monitoring managerial IT decisions and policies for controlling IT resources. We expect that operational IT failures indicating inadequacies in board monitoring of controls over IT resources would result in a negative stock market reaction and, in turn, induce firms to improve their board-level ITG. Our expectation is confirmed based on a sample of 110 operational IT failures from U.S. public financial firms. Specifically, our results demonstrate that subsequent to experiencing operational IT failures, firms make improvements to the IT competency level of their boards, and the improvements are proportional to the degree of negative market reaction. However, those improvements are only on the executive side of the board, namely: an increase in the IT experience of internal (executive) directors and an increased turnover rate of CIOs serving on the board. Furthermore, the likelihood of CIO turnover is lower in IT-intensive firms where such turnover could be more disruptive. Our results contribute to understanding the critical connection between operational IT failures and board-level ITG.
Hypertension in Children: Increased Efficacy of Technetium Tc 99m Succimer in Screening for Renal Disease

• Renal scintigraphy with technetium Tc 99m succimer (DMSA) and technetium Tc 99m pentetate (DTPA) was used to study 80 hypertensive pediatric and adolescent patients. Renal abnormalities such as asymmetry of function, size, or shape were identified in 13 patients. Both excretory urography and technetium Tc 99m pentetate studies were successful in detecting 54% of the abnormalities in patients studied; technetium Tc 99m succimer identified 92%. The accuracy of the latter was 96%, with a specificity of 97%. The ability of technetium Tc 99m succimer renal scintigraphy to identify accurately the presence or absence of renal abnormalities warrants its inclusion in the initial examination of pediatric and adolescent patients with hypertension. (AJDC1985;139:173-177)
Renal Parenchymal Injuries Secondary to Blunt Abdominal Trauma in Childhood: A 10-Year Review

Summary— Sixty-six cases of renal parenchymal injuries secondary to blunt abdominal trauma in childhood are reviewed. Based on radiological findings, the injuries were classified into renal contusions, lacerations and transections. The clinical features were more acute in patients with renal laceration and transection. Complications were more common in patients with renal transection and led to partial or total renal loss in a significant number of cases. Renal contusions and most lacerations should be managed non-operatively but renal transections should in general be managed operatively.
Academic segregation and the institutional success frame: unequal schooling and racial disparity in an integrated, affluent community

ABSTRACTIn 1954, the US Supreme Court ruled that a system of ‘separate but equal’ schools for Blacks and Whites was ‘inherently unequal’, thus ending de jure segregation in American schools. Racial segregation, however, persists in American schools. While researchers have linked the continued segregation of schools to the racial and class segregation of neighbourhoods, school segregation also exists within neighbourhoods and independent of residential segregation. Drawing on two years of fieldwork at two dissimilar high schools, I unveil an unforgiving institutional culture and process of school segregation in an affluent, racially diverse Southern California suburb. A nationally ranked, elite comprehensive high school, where enrolment is predominantly Asian, White, and affluent, supports an exacting institutional success frame. Students who fall short of meeting this frame are subject to academic segregation; they are jettisoned to a separate and unequal high school where the enrolment is disproportionat...
Dynamic road pricing and the value of time and reliability

High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes that use dynamic pricing to manage congestion and generate revenue are increasingly popular. In this paper, we estimate the behavioral response of drivers to dynamic pricing in an HOT lane. The challenge in estimation lies in the simultaneity of price and demand: the structure of dynamic tolling ensures that prices increase as more drivers enter the HOT lane. Prior research has found that higher prices in HOT lanes increase usage. We find that after controlling for simultaneity HOT drivers instead respond to tolls in a manner consistent with economic theory. The average response to a 10 percent increase in the toll is a 1.6 percent reduction in usage. Drivers primarily value travel reliability over time savings, although there is heterogeneity in the relative values of time and reliability based on time of day and destination to or from work. The results highlight the importance of both controlling for simultaneity when estimating demand for dynamically priced toll roads and treating HOT lanes with dynamic prices as a differentiated product with bundled attributes.
Quarkonia as a multi-purpose tool

Quarkonia can be a very useful tool for understanding the medium in which they are produced and pass through. However, their usefulness as a tool depends on how well certain aspects of their behavior in cold matter are understood.
The Dark and Bright Sides of Personal Use of Technology at Work: A Job Demands–Resources Model:

As employees increasingly use technology for personal purposes in the workplace, tensions between proponents of control versus flexibility are rising. Proponents of control emphasize negative consequences and argue for employee restrictions and monitoring, whereas those for flexibility highlight positive consequences and advocate for employee discretion. We build consensus between these two approaches by adopting the job demands–resources model to show why the personal use of technology at work has both negative and positive effects on organizational outcomes, and then, we theorize about several boundary conditions that mitigate or strengthen these effects. We discuss implications for human resource development (HRD) scholars and professionals.
Transgenerational epigenetics and environmental justice

Human transmission to offspring and future generations of acquired epigenetic modifications has not been definitively established, although there are several environmental exposures with suggestive evidence. This article uses three examples of hazardous substances with greater exposures in vulnerable populations: pesticides, lead, and diesel exhaust. It then considers whether, if there were scientific evidence of transgenerational epigenetic inheritance, there would be greater attention given to concerns about environmental justice in environmental laws, regulations, and policies at all levels of government. To provide a broader perspective on environmental justice the article discusses two of the most commonly cited approaches to environmental justice. John Rawls's theory of justice as fairness, a form of egalitarianism, is frequently invoked for the principle that differential treatment of individuals is justified only if actions are designed to benefit those with the greatest need. Another theory, the capabilities approach of Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum, focuses on whether essential capabilities of society, such as life and health, are made available to all individuals. In applying principles of environmental justice the article considers whether there is a heightened societal obligation to protect the most vulnerable individuals from hazardous exposures that could adversely affect their offspring through epigenetic mechanisms. It concludes that unless there were compelling evidence of transgenerational epigenetic harms, it is unlikely that there would be a significant impetus to adopt new policies to prevent epigenetic harms by invoking principles of environmental justice.
The Effects of Restatements for Misreporting on Auditor Scrutiny of Peer Firms

SYNOPSIS: Prior research contends that financial misreporting has a spillover effect on the outcomes of peer firms within the same industry through investment decisions, information risk, and shareholder wealth. We predict and confirm a higher level of audit fees for peer firms when serious misreporting by other firms is announced in the industry. We find this effect is limited to peers that exhibit poor internal control quality. In addition, we observe higher audit fees for peers of industry prominent misreporting firms and for peers of firms announcing restatements with larger negative market reactions. Overall, our results suggest that financial misreporting in the industry has a spillover effect on audit fees of non-misreporting peer firms. Data Availability: All data are from public sources identified in the manuscript.
Whole-Genome Sequencing of a Human Clinical Isolate of the Novel Species Klebsiella quasivariicola sp. nov.

ABSTRACT In a study of 1,777 Klebsiella strains, we discovered KPN1705, which was distinct from all recognized Klebsiella spp. We closed the genome of strain KPN1705 using a hybrid of Illumina short-read and Oxford Nanopore long-read technologies. For this novel species, we propose the name Klebsiella quasivariicola sp. nov.
How cognitive and reactive fear circuits optimize escape decisions in humans

Flight initiation distance (FID), the distance at which an organism flees from an approaching threat, is an ecological metric of cost–benefit functions of escape decisions. We adapted the FID paradigm to investigate how fast- or slow-attacking “virtual predators” constrain escape decisions. We show that rapid escape decisions rely on “reactive fear” circuits in the periaqueductal gray and midcingulate cortex (MCC), while protracted escape decisions, defined by larger buffer zones, were associated with “cognitive fear” circuits, which include posterior cingulate cortex, hippocampus, and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, circuits implicated in more complex information processing, cognitive avoidance strategies, and behavioral flexibility. Using a Bayesian decision-making model, we further show that optimization of escape decisions under rapid flight were localized to the MCC, a region involved in adaptive motor control, while the hippocampus is implicated in optimizing decisions that update and control slower escape initiation. These results demonstrate an unexplored link between defensive survival circuits and their role in adaptive escape decisions.
Lay Judgments of Judicial Decision Making

This study examined laypeople's evaluations of judicial decision making, specifically of the judicial decision-making process and the judiciary's legitimacy. Seven-hundred participants were presented with three judicial decisions, which were portrayed as following on the heels of solid and appropriate legal procedure. Each decision was accompanied by one of four types of reasoning. Participants were asked to evaluate the acceptability of the decisions, focusing on the manner in which they were made and to evaluate the legitimacy of the decisionmaker, all regardless of their outcomes. The study yielded four findings. First, laypeople's judgments were highly contingent on the outcome of the judges' decisions. Consistent with the theory of motivated reasoning, participants found the decisions highly acceptable when they agreed with the judges' decision, but deemed them relatively unacceptable when they disagreed with them. Second, participants were indifferent to the modes of reasoning offered by the judges when they agreed with the outcomes of the decisions, but were differentially sensitive to the modes of reasoning when the judges' decisions frustrated their preferred outcomes. Third, when participants were sensitive to the modes of reasoning, they gave higher ratings of acceptability to decisions that openly admitted to good reasons on both sides of the case as compared with decisions accompanied by reasons that supported one side of the case exclusively. Giving no reasons at all was found to be more acceptable than giving a single, curt reason. Fourth, the findings replicated the coherence effect. Implications for the legitimacy of the judiciary are discussed.
Romantic relationship-oriented Facebook activities and the satisfaction of belonging needs.

Facebook plays a role in the development and maintenance of romantic relationships. Theoretically, individuals are motivated to use Facebook in their relationships to increase feelings of belongingness, which is a fundamental human need. Yet, past studies have neither examined the perceptions of Fac
Pharma Payments and Physician Concentration: An Empirical Analysis

This paper uses a rent-seeking framework to empirically examine the effect of physician concentration at the state level on the dollar amount of payments made to physicians from the pharmaceutical industry. Using OLS and 2-stage least squares, this paper finds increased physician concentration at the state level is associated with lesser payment amounts made to physicians from pharmaceutical companies for overall physician concentration and office-based physician concentration. The results for hospital-based concentration were mixed. These findings provide important insights for health policy literature regarding which factors reduce the propensity to rent-seeking to affect health care outcomes and costs.
Effects of two pre-workout supplements on concentric and eccentric force production during lower body resistance exercise in males and females: a counterbalanced, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Pre-workout supplements purportedly enhance feelings of energy, reduce fatigue and improve exercise performance. The purpose of this study was to examine the performance effects of caffeinated and non-caffeinated multi-ingredient pre-workout supplements. In a counterbalanced, double-blind, placebo-controlled design, eccentric and concentric force production during lower body resistance exercise on a mechanized squat device were assessed after supplement ingestion. Repetitions-in-reserve/RPE and subjective feelings of energy, focus and fatigue were also examined. Twenty-one resistance-trained adults (12 F, 9 M) completed three conditions in random order: caffeinated supplement, non-caffeinated supplement and placebo. Subjects were not informed of the presence of a placebo condition. Thirty minutes after supplement ingestion, a 3-repetition maximum test and 5 sets of 6 repetitions were completed using the squat device. Each repetition involved 4-s eccentric and concentric phases, and the force signal throughout each repetition was sampled from a load cell contained within the squat device. The scaled and filtered force signals were analyzed using customized software. Repeated measures analysis of variance and appropriate follow-up analyses were utilized to compare dependent variables, and relevant effect sizes (d) were calculated. Supplement or placebo ingestion led to similar subjective responses (p > 0.05). Energy (+8 to 44%; d = 0.3 to 0.8) and focus (+8 to 25%; d = 0.3 to 0.5) were acutely increased by supplement or placebo ingestion and decreased as the exercise session progressed. Fatigue was acutely decreased by supplement or placebo ingestion (−7 to 38%; d = −0.1 to −0.6) and increased as the exercise session progressed. Eccentric and concentric forces were unimproved by supplementation during the exercise sets for both sexes. In the non-caffeinated supplement condition only, maximal eccentric force production was lower during sets 3 to 5, as compared to set 1 (p < 0.05). Effect size data indicated that both the caffeinated and non-caffeinated supplements may contribute to small increases in concentric force production in males (+5 to 20%, d = 0.2 to 0.4 relative to placebo), but not females. As compared to placebo, caffeinated and non-caffeinated multi-ingredient pre-workout supplements failed to improve concentric and eccentric force production. In males, effect size data indicate a possible small benefit of supplementation on concentric force production, although this was not statistically significant. When resistance-trained subjects were unaware of the presence of a placebo, resistance exercise performance was similar regardless of whether a placebo or multi-ingredient supplement was ingested.
Evidence of, and a proposed explanation for, bimodal transport states in alluvial rivers

Abstract. Gravel-bedded rivers organize their bank-full channel geometry and grain size such that shear stress is close to the threshold of motion. Sand-bedded rivers, on the other hand, typically maintain bank-full fluid stresses far in excess of threshold, a condition for which there is no satisfactory understanding. A fundamental question arises: are bed-load (gravel-bedded) and suspension (sand-bedded) rivers two distinct equilibrium states, or do alluvial rivers exhibit a continuum of transport regimes as some have recently suggested? We address this question in two ways: (1) reanalysis of global channel geometry datasets, with consideration of the dependence of critical shear stress upon site-specific characteristics (e.g., slope and grain size); and (2) examination of a longitudinal river profile as it transits from gravel to sand bedded. Data reveal that the transport state of alluvial riverbed sediments is bimodal, showing either near-threshold or suspension conditions, and that these regimes correspond to the respective bimodal peaks of gravel and sand that comprise natural riverbed sediments. Sand readily forms near-threshold channels in the laboratory and some field settings, however, indicating that another factor, such as bank cohesion, must be responsible for maintaining suspension channels. We hypothesize that alluvial rivers adjust their geometry to the threshold-limiting bed and bank material, which for gravel-bedded rivers is gravel but for sand-bedded rivers is mud (if present), and present tentative evidence for this idea.
Global inequality when unequal countries create unequal people

Abstract Current global inequality measures assume that national-mean income does not matter to economic welfare at given household income as measured in surveys. The paper questions that assumption on theoretical and empirical grounds and finds that prominent stylized facts about global inequality are not robust. At one extreme, theories of relative deprivation yield nationalistic measures whereby global inequality is average within-country inequality, which is rising. However, other theories and evidence point instead to the benefits of living in a richer country. Parameter values consistent with research on global subjective wellbeing imply higher inequality than prevailing measures, though falling since 1990.
A Simple Yet Efficient Accuracy-Configurable Adder Design

Approximate computing is a promising approach for low-power IC design and has recently received considerable research attention. To accommodate dynamic levels of approximation, a few accuracy-configurable adder (ACA) designs have been developed in the past. However, these designs tend to incur large area overheads as they rely on either redundant computing or complicated carry prediction. Some of these designs include error detection and correction circuitry, which further increase the area. In this paper, we investigate a simple ACA design that contains no redundancy or error detection/correction circuitry and uses very simple carry prediction. The simulation results show that our design dominates the latest previous work on accuracy-delay-power tradeoff while using 39% lower area. In the best case, the iso-delay power of our design is only 16% of accurate adder regardless of degradation in accuracy. One variant of this design provides finer-grained and larger tunability than that of the previous works. Moreover, we propose a delay-adaptive self-configuration technique to further improve the accuracy-delay-power tradeoff. The advantages of our method are confirmed by the applications in multiplication and discrete cosine transform computing.
Single-Image Axial Localization Precision Analysis for Individual Fluorophores

Bio-mechanism investigations demand single particle tracking with high spatial and temporal resolutions which require single fluorophore 3D localization measurements with matching precision and speed. Although the precision for lateral-localization measurements is well described by an analytical expression, for the axial direction, it is often obtained by repeating location measurements or by estimating a lower bound. Here, we report a precision expression for an axial-localization method that analyzes the standard deviations of single fluorophores' intensity profiles. Like the lateral-localization precision, this expression includes all relevant experimental effects measurable from a Gaussian intensity profile of the fluorophore. This expression completes the precision analysis for single-image 3D localization of individual fluorophores and lifts the temporal resolution to the typical exposure timescales of milliseconds.
Electric vehicle park-charge-ride programs: A planning framework and case study in Chicago

Abstract In suburban areas, combining the use of electric vehicles (EV) and transit systems in an EV Park-Charge-Ride (PCR) approach can potentially help improve transit accessibility, facilitate EV charging and adoption, and reduce the need for long-distance driving and ensuing impacts. Despite the anticipated growth of EV adoption and charging demand, PCR programs are limited. With a focus on multi-modal trips, this study proposes a generic planning process that integrates EV infrastructure development with transit systems, develops a systematic assessment approach to fostering the PCR adoption, and illustrates a case implementation in Chicago. Specifically, this study develops a Suitability Index (SI) for EV charging locations at parking spots that are suitable for both EV charging and transit connections. SI can be customized for short-term and long-term planning scenarios. SI values are derived in Chicago as an example for (1) commuter rail stations (for work trips), and (2) shopping centers near transit stops as potential opportunities for additional weekday parking and EV charging (for multi-purpose trips/MPT). Furthermore, carbon emissions and vehicle miles travelled (VMT) across various travel modes and trip scenarios (i.e., work trips and MPT) are calculated. Compared to the baseline of driving a conventional vehicle, this study found that an EV PCR commuter can reduce up to 87% of personal VMT and 52% of carbon emissions. A more active role of the public sector in the PCR program development is recommended.
Viola: Trustworthy Sensor Notifications for Enhanced Privacy on Mobile Systems

Modern mobile systems such as smartphones, tablets, and wearables contain a plethora of sensors such as camera, microphone, GPS, and accelerometer. These sensors can capture extremely sensitive and private information about the user including daily conversations, photos, videos, and visited locations, raising important privacy concerns. To address these concerns, we present Viola , our design and implementation of trustworthy sensor notifications , which use indicators such as LED to inform the user unconditionally when the sensors are on. We deploy Viola’s runtime monitor in low-level system software, e.g., in the operating system kernel or in the hypervisor . Moreover, we use formal verification methods to prove the functional correctness of the compilation of our invariant checks from a high-level language. We demonstrate that Viola incurs almost no overhead to the sensor’s performance and incurs only small power consumption overhead. Compared to our previous paper on Viola [1] , we present three important enhancements. First, we design, implement, and evaluate two-way sensor notifications , which guarantee that a sensor notification can be triggered if and only if the corresponding sensor is used. Second, we identify and add protection against concurrency attacks in Viola. Third, we implement Viola for an additional sensor and indicator combination.
Born to Run? Quantifying the Balance of Prior Bias and New Information in Prey Escape Decisions

AbstractAnimal behaviors can often be challenging to model and predict, though optimality theory has improved our ability to do so. While many qualitative predictions of behavior exist, accurate qu...
Intelligent wireless communications enabled by cognitive radio and machine learning

The ability to intelligently utilize resources to meet the need of growing diversity in services and user behavior marks the future of wireless communication systems. Intelligent wireless communications aims at enabling the system to perceive and assess the available resources, to autonomously learn to adapt to the perceived wireless environment, and to reconfigure its operating mode to maximize the utility of the available resources. The perception capability and reconfigurability are the essential features of cognitive radio while modern machine learning techniques project great potential in system adaptation. In this paper, we discuss the development of the cognitive radio technology and machine learning techniques and emphasize their roles in improving spectrum and energy utility of wireless communication systems. We describe the state-of-the-art of relevant techniques, covering spectrum sensing and access approaches and powerful machine learning algorithms that enable spectrum and energy-efficient communications in dynamic wireless environments. We also present practical applications of these techniques and identify further research challenges in cognitive radio and machine learning as applied to the existing and future wireless communication systems.
Identifying and Understanding User Reactions to Deceptive and Trusted Social News Sources

In the age of social news, it is important to understand the types of reactions that are evoked from news sources with various levels of credibility. In the present work we seek to better understand how users react to trusted and deceptive news sources across two popular, and very different, social media platforms. To that end, (1) we develop a model to classify user reactions into one of nine types, such as answer, elaboration, and question, etc, and (2) we measure the speed and the type of reaction for trusted and deceptive news sources for 10.8M Twitter posts and 6.2M Reddit comments. We show that there are significant differences in the speed and the type of reactions between trusted and deceptive news sources on Twitter, but far smaller differences on Reddit.
Environmental Decontamination of a Chemical Warfare Simulant Utilizing a Membrane Vesicle-Encapsulated Phosphotriesterase

While technologies for the remediation of chemical contaminants continue to emerge, growing interest in green technologies has led researchers to explore natural catalytic mechanisms derived from microbial species. One such method, enzymatic degradation, offers an alternative to harsh chemical catalysts and resins. Recombinant enzymes, however, are often too labile or show limited activity when challenged with nonideal environmental conditions that may vary in salinity, pH, or other physical properties. Here, we demonstrate how phosphotriesterase encapsulated in a bacterial outer membrane vesicle can be used to degrade the organophosphate chemical warfare agent (CWA) simulant paraoxon in environmental water samples. We also carried out remediation assays on solid surfaces, including glass, painted metal, and fabric, that were selected as representative materials, which could potentially be contaminated with a CWA.
Sex Differences in Cognitive Decline in Subjects with High Likelihood of Mild Cognitive Impairment due to Alzheimer's disease.

Sex differences in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) biology and progression are not yet fully characterized. The goal of this study is to examine the effect of sex on cognitive progression in subjects with high likelihood of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to Alzheimer’s and followed up to 10 years in the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI). Cerebrospinal fluid total-tau and amyloid-beta (Aβ42) ratio values were used to sub-classify 559 MCI subjects (216 females, 343 males) as having “high” or “low” likelihood for MCI due to Alzheimer’s. Data were analyzed using mixed-effects models incorporating all follow-ups. The worsening from baseline in Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive score (mean, SD) (9 ± 12) in subjects with high likelihood of MCI due to Alzheimer’s was markedly greater than that in subjects with low likelihood (1 ± 6, p < 0.0001). Among MCI due to AD subjects, the mean worsening in cognitive score was significantly greater in females (11.58 ± 14) than in males (6.87 ± 11, p = 0.006). Our findings highlight the need to further investigate these findings in other populations and develop sex specific timelines for Alzheimer’s disease progression.