cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Luminescence of III-IV-V thin film alloys grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

III-IV-V heterovalent alloys have the potential to satisfy the need for infrared bandgap materials that also have lattice constants near GaAs. In this work, significant room temperature photoluminescence is reported for the first time in high quality III-IV-V alloys grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. Pronounced phase separation, a characteristic suspected to quench luminescence in the alloys in the past, was successfully inhibited by a modified growth process. Small scale composition fluctuations were observed in the alloys; higher growth temperatures resulted in fluctuations with a striated morphology, while lower growth temperatures resulted in fluctuations with a speckled morphology. The composition fluctuations cause bandgap narrowing in the alloys—measurements of various compositions of (GaAs)1-x(Ge2)x alloys reveal a maximum energy transition of 0.8 eV under 20% Ge composition rather than a continuously increasing transition with the decreasing Ge composition. Additionally, luminescenc...
Addressing personal barriers to advance care planning: Qualitative investigation of a mindfulness-based intervention for adults with cancer and their family caregivers.

ObjectiveAdvance care planning (ACP) increases quality of life and satisfaction with care for those with cancer and their families, yet these important conversations often do not occur. Barriers include patients’ and families’ emotional responses to cancer, such as anxiety and sadness, which can lead to avoidance of discussing illness-related topics such as ACP. Interventions that address psychological barriers to ACP are needed. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of a mindfulness intervention designed to cultivate patient and caregiver emotional and relational capacity to respond to the challenges of cancer with greater ease, potentially decreasing psychological barriers to ACP and enhancing ACP engagement.MethodThe Mindfully Optimizing Delivery of End-of-Life (MODEL) Care intervention provided 12 hours of experiential training to two cohorts of six to seven adults with advanced-stage cancer and their family caregivers (n = 13 dyads). Training included mindfulness practices, mindful communication skills development, and information about ACP. Patient and caregiver experiences of the MODEL Care program were assessed using semistructured interviews administered immediately postintervention and open-ended survey questions delivered immediately and at 4 weeks postintervention. Responses were analyzed using qualitative methods.ResultFour salient themes were identified. Patients and caregivers reported the intervention (1) enhanced adaptive coping practices, (2) lowered emotional reactivity, (3) strengthened relationships, and (4) improved communication, including communication about their disease.Significance of resultsThe MODEL Care intervention enhanced patient and caregiver capacity to respond to the emotional challenges that often accompany advanced cancer and decreased patient and caregiver psychological barriers to ACP.
Are CFOs Effective Operators? An Empirical Analysis of CFO/COO Duality

ABSTRACT While the popular press has documented Chief Financial Officer (CFO) role expansion into traditional operations functions, recent research suggests that time spent on non-core CFO activiti...
Trajectories of Alcohol Initiation and Use During Adolescence: The Role of Stress and Amygdala Reactivity

Objective Early alcohol use initiation predicts onset of alcohol use disorders in adulthood. However, little is known about developmental trajectories of alcohol use initiation and their putative biological and environmental correlates. Method Adolescents (N = 330) with high or low familial loading for depression were assessed annually for up to 6 years. Data were collected assessing affective symptoms, alcohol use, and stress at each assessment. Adolescents also participated in a functional magnetic resonance imaging protocol that included measurement of threat-related amygdala and reward-related ventral striatum activity. Results Latent class analyses identified 2 trajectories of alcohol use initiation. Early initiators (n = 32) reported greater baseline alcohol use and rate of change of use compared with late initiators and/or current abstainers (n = 298). Early initiators reported higher baseline levels of stressful life events (p = .001) and exhibited higher amygdala (p = .001) but not ventral striatum activity compared with late initiators. Early initiators were 15.3 times more likely to have a full drink (p Conclusion Adolescents on a trajectory of early alcohol use initiation have higher levels of stress, have increased threat-related amygdala activity, are more likely to consume a full standard alcoholic drink, are more likely to experience early intoxication, and are at a heightened risk for the onset of an alcohol use disorder.
Randall's plaque in stone formers originates in ascending thin limbs.

Randall’s plaque, an attachment site over which calcium oxalate stones form, begins in the basement membranes of thin limbs of the loop of Henle. The mechanism of its formation is unknown. Possibly...
Control of Multi-Agent Systems with Finite Time Control Barrier Certificates and Temporal Logic

In this paper, a method to synthesize controllers using finite time convergence control barrier functions guided by linear temporal logic specifications for continuous time multi-agent dynamical systems is proposed. Finite time convergence to a desired set in the state space is guaranteed under the existence of a suitable finite time convergence control barrier function. In addition, these barrier functions also guarantee forward invariance once the system converges to the desired set. This allows us to formulate a theoretical framework which synthesizes controllers for the multi-agent system. These properties also enable us to solve the reachability problem in continuous time by formulating a theorem on the composition of multiple finite time convergence control barrier functions. This approach is more flexible than existing methods and also allows for a greater set of feasible control laws. Linear temporal logic is used to specify complex task specifications that need to be satisfied by the multi-agent system. With this solution methodology, a control law is synthesized that satisfies the given temporal logic task specification. Robotic experiments are provided which were performed on the Robotarium multi-robot testbed at Georgia Tech.
Directed random geometric graphs

Many real-world networks are intrinsically directed. Such networks include activation of genes, hyperlinks on the internet, and the network of followers on Twitter among many others. The challenge, however, is to create a network model that has many of the properties of real-world networks such as powerlaw degree distributions and the small-world property. To meet these challenges, we introduce the \textit{Directed} Random Geometric Graph (DRGG) model, which is an extension of the random geometric graph model. We prove that it is scale-free with respect to the indegree distribution, has binomial outdegree distribution, has a high clustering coefficient, has few edges and is likely small-world. These are some of the main features of aforementioned real world networks. We empirically observe that word association networks have many of the theoretical properties of the DRGG model.
Lagged Earnings Asymmetry in a Firm-Year Measure of Accounting Conservatism

ABSTRACT Khan and Watts (2009) develop a firm-year measure of conditional conservatism, labeled C_Score, that builds on the Basu (1997) asymmetric timeliness (AT) measure. However, recent research ...
A theory of reactant-stationary kinetics for a mechanism of zymogen activation

Abstract A theoretical analysis is performed on the nonlinear ordinary differential equations that govern the dynamics of a reaction mechanism of zymogen activation. The reaction consists of a primary non-observable zymogen activation reaction that it is coupled to an indicator (observable) reaction. The product of the first reaction is the enzyme of the indicator reaction, and both reactions are governed by the Michaelis–Menten reaction mechanism. Using singular perturbation methods, we derive asymptotic solutions that are valid under the quasi-steady-state and reactant-stationary assumptions. In particular, we obtain closed form solutions that are analogous to the Schnell–Mendoza equation for Michaelis–Menten type reactions. These closed-form solutions approximate the evolution of the observable reaction and provide the mathematical link necessary to measure the enzyme activity of the non-observable reaction. Conditions for the validity of the asymptotic solutions are also derived, and we demonstrate that these asymptotic expressions are applicable under reactant-stationary kinetics.
Last night's sleep in relation to academic achievement and neurocognitive testing performance in adolescents with and without ADHD

Abstract Objectives/background Objectives were to (1) examine previous night's sleep in relation to next day performance on standardized academic achievement and neurocognitive assessments in adolescents, and (2) explore whether previous night's sleep is differentially associated with testing performance for adolescents with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Participants/methods Participants were 300 adolescents (ages 12–14 years; 55% male). Approximately half (53.6%) were diagnosed with ADHD. Adolescents provided ratings of their previous night's sleep quality, sleep duration, and number of night wakings and were administered standardized tests of processing speed and working memory, as well as word reading, numerical operations, and math fluency academic achievement. Results In analyses controlling for sex, race, medication use, time of testing, and ADHD group status, more night wakings the previous night were associated with significantly lower numerical operations and math fluency achievement scores and marginally lower working memory scores. Previous night's sleep was not associated with processing speed or reading achievement. ADHD status did not moderate sleep in relation to academic/neurocognitive performance. Participants reporting ≥2 night wakings the previous night had slightly over half a standard deviation lower scores on average compared to participants reporting 0 night wakings. Conclusions This preliminary study suggests that previous night's wakings are associated with poorer mathematics performance the next day, regardless of ADHD status. This may be due to the detrimental effect of interrupted and fragmented sleep on attention and executive control. These findings have implications for clinicians and educators when considering contextual factors that may impact academic and neurocognitive testing performance.
Variation in Medication Therapy Management Delivery: Implications for Health Care Policy.

BACKGROUND: Medication therapy management (MTM) program evaluations have revealed mixed outcomes, with some studies finding favorable outcomes and others finding no differences between patients who...
The equilibrium structure of self-assembled protein nano-cages

Understanding how highly symmetric, robust, monodisperse protein nano-cages self-assemble can have major applications in various areas of bio-nanotechnology, such as drug delivery, biomedical imaging and gene therapy. We develop a model to investigate the assembly of protein subunits into the structures with different sizes and symmetries. Using Monte Carlo simulation, we obtain global minimum energy structures. Our results suggest that the physical properties including the spontaneous curvature, flexibility and bending rigidity of coat proteins are sufficient to predict the size, symmetry and shape selectivity of the assembly products. Further, on a thermodynamic basis, we discuss the polymorphism of nano-cages observed in assembly experiments.
Subordinate Activation Tactics: Semi-professionals and Micro-level Institutional Change in Professional Organizations:

This two-year ethnographic study of the primary care departments in two U.S. hospitals examines how managers can bring about micro-level institutional change in professional practice even when such...
Pre-travel counseling for immunocompromised travelers: A 12-year single-center retrospective review

Abstract Background Immunocompromised travelers (ICTs) are medically complex and challenging for travel medicine providers. Our study hypothesizes that ICTs have high-risk travel itineraries and do not have adequate immunity against vaccine-preventable infections. Methods This retrospective review of 321 ICTs from 2004 to 2015 included patients with solid organ transplant (SOT, n = 134), connective tissue disease (CTD, n = 121), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD, n = 46), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV, n = 20). Variables included immunosuppressive medications, hepatitis A and B vaccination and serology, gamma-globulin use, and antimalarial and antidiarrheal prophylaxis. Chi-square analysis was used for categorical variables and Kruskal–Wallis for continuous variables. Results Malaria-endemic regions accounted for 38.9% (125/321) of travel destinations. High-risk activities were planned by 37.4% (120/321) of travelers. A significant proportion of HIV patients [70.0% (14/20)] visited friends and relatives, whereas other ICTs traveled for tourism. Hepatitis A and B vaccination rates were 77.3% (248/321) and 72.3% (232/321). Post-vaccination hepatitis A and B serologic testing were completed by 66.1% (41/62) and 61.1% (11/18) of travelers, respectively. Conclusion ICTs demonstrate differences in travel patterns and risk. Serologic testing was uncommon, and vaccination rates were low. Providers should screen ICTs early for upcoming travel plans and advise vaccine completion prior to departure.
Voice Control Tasks on Cognitive Workload and Driving Performance: Implications of Modality, Difficulty, and Duration:

The effects of an in-vehicle voice control system (VCS) on cognitive workload and driving performance were evaluated using a driving simulator study with 24 participants. Participants were asked to...
Fast magnetic reconnection and the ideal evolution of a magnetic field

Regardless of how small non-ideal effects may be, phenomena associated with changes in magnetic field line connections are frequently observed to occur on an Alfvenic time scale. Since it is mathematically impossible for magnetic field line connections to change when non-ideal effects are identically zero, an ideal evolution must naturally lead to states of unbound sensitivity to non-ideal effects. That such an evolution is natural is demonstrated by the use of Lagrangian coordinates based on the flow velocity of the magnetic field lines. The Lagrangian representation of an evolving magnetic field is highly constrained when neither the magnetic field strength nor the forces exerted by the magnetic field increase exponentially with time. The development of a state of fast reconnection consistent with these constraints (1) requires a three-dimensional evolution, (2) has an exponentially increasing sensitivity to non-ideal effects, and (3) has a parallel current density, which lies in exponentially thinning but exponentially widening ribbons, with a magnitude that is limited to a slow growth. The implication is that exponential growth in sensitivity is the cause of fast magnetic reconnection when non-ideal effects are sufficiently small. The growth of the non-ideal effect of the resistivity multiplied by the parallel current density is far too slow to be competitive.Regardless of how small non-ideal effects may be, phenomena associated with changes in magnetic field line connections are frequently observed to occur on an Alfvenic time scale. Since it is mathematically impossible for magnetic field line connections to change when non-ideal effects are identically zero, an ideal evolution must naturally lead to states of unbound sensitivity to non-ideal effects. That such an evolution is natural is demonstrated by the use of Lagrangian coordinates based on the flow velocity of the magnetic field lines. The Lagrangian representation of an evolving magnetic field is highly constrained when neither the magnetic field strength nor the forces exerted by the magnetic field increase exponentially with time. The development of a state of fast reconnection consistent with these constraints (1) requires a three-dimensional evolution, (2) has an exponentially increasing sensitivity to non-ideal effects, and (3) has a parallel current density, which lies in exponentially thinning ...
Towards a Theoretical Understanding of Hashing-Based Neural Nets

Parameter reduction has been a popular topic in deep learning due to the ever- increasing size of deep neural network models and the need to train and run deep neural nets on resource limited machines. Despite many efforts in this area, there were no rigorous theoretical guarantees on why existing neural net compression methods should work. In this paper, we provide provable guarantees on some hashing-based parameter reduction methods in neural nets. First, we introduce a neural net compression scheme based on random linear sketching (which is usually implemented efficiently via hashing), and show that the sketched (smaller) network is able to approximate the original network on all input data coming from any smooth well-conditioned low-dimensional manifold. The sketched network can also be trained directly via back-propagation. Next, we study the previously proposed HashedNets architecture and show that the optimization landscape of one-hidden-layer HashedNets has a local strong convexity property similar to a normal fully connected neural network. Together with the initialization algorithm developed in [51], this implies that the parameters in HashedNets can be provably recovered. We complement our theoretical results with some empirical verification.
Analysis of Series-DC Offshore Wind Plants with Aerodynamic Wake Effects

In series-dc wind plants, variations in power output among turbines due to aerodynamic effects may lead to violations of operational limits of electric machines and power electronic converters. Turbine wakes constitute the predominant cause of such variations. It is, therefore, imperative to incorporate wake models during analysis of wind plant-level issues and control strategies. In this paper, two candidate energy conversion configurations previously proposed for series-dc connected turbines are considered. They are analyzed in the context of a notional offshore wind plant using the Jensen wake model. An optimization problem is formulated for maximizing total plant power output. A key finding is that this objective is attainable without any turbine violating operational limits for arbitrary wind direction and speed. This, however, may require variation of transmission voltage or current as a function of prevailing wind conditions by means of the onshore converter interfacing the plant with the terrestrial power grid.
How Students Learn Content in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) through Drawing Activities.

Recent research suggests that drawing activities can help students learn concepts in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. In particular, drawing activities, which mimic the practices of STEM professionals, can help students engage with visual-spatial content. However, prior work has also shown that students struggle to learn from drawing activities. One major issue is that the learning processes underlying the effects of drawing activities are mostly unknown, and therefore, it is unclear how best to design effective drawing activities in STEM learning environments. To address this gap, our review of prior research investigates which learning processes may explain how drawing activities facilitate learning of STEM content. Specifically, we reviewed prior research across cognitive and sociocultural theoretical perspectives. We identified six learning processes fostered by drawing activities. Each learning process describes how drawing can change the way students interact with the content. Our review shows how instructional support for drawing activities that targets each learning process can enhance learning. Our findings have theoretical implications regarding how drawing activities have been studied and yield open questions about the mechanisms accounting for the effects of drawing activities on students’ learning in STEM disciplines. Further, our findings suggest practical recommendations on how to effectively implement drawing activities that help students learn STEM content.
The Pediatric Sepsis Biomarker Risk Model (PERSEVERE) Biomarkers Predict Clinical Deterioration and Mortality in Immunocompromised Children Evaluated for Infection

Pediatric sepsis and bacterial infection cause significant morbidity and mortality worldwide, with immunocompromised patients being at particularly high risk of rapid deterioration and death. This study evaluated if PERSEVERE, PERSEVERE-II, or the PERSEVERE biomarkers, can reliably estimate the risk of clinical deterioration and 28-day mortality among immunocompromised pediatric patients. This is a single-center prospective cohort study conducted from July 2016 through September 2017 incorporating 400 episodes of suspected bacterial infection from the inpatient units at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, a large, tertiary care children’s hospital. The primary analysis assessed clinical deterioration within 72 hours of evaluation for infection. Secondarily, we assessed 28-day mortality. Clinical deterioration was seen in 15% of subjects. Twenty-eight day mortality was 5%, but significantly higher among critically ill patients. Neither PERSEVERE nor PERSEVERE-II performed well to predict clinical deterioration or 28-day mortality, thus we derived new stratification models using the PERSEVERE biomarkers with both high sensitivity and negative predictive value. In conclusion, we evaluated previously validated biomarker risk models in a novel population of largely non-critically ill immunocompromised pediatric patients, and attempted to stratify patients based on a new outcome metric, clinical deterioration. The new highly predictive models indicate common physiologic pathways to clinical deterioration or death from bacterial infection.
Practically perfect

We prove that perfect distributions exist when using a finite number of bits to represent the parameters of a Bayesian network. In addition, we provide an upper bound on the probability of sampling a non-perfect distribution when using a fixed number of bits for the parameters and that the upper bound approaches zero exponentially fast as one increases the number of bits. We also provide an upper bound on the number of bits needed to guarantee that a distribution sampled from a uniform Dirichlet distribution is perfect with probability greater than 1/2.
Pruning based Distance Sketches with Provable Guarantees on Random Graphs

Measuring the distances between vertices on graphs is one of the most fundamental components in network analysis. Since finding shortest paths requires traversing the graph, it is challenging to obtain distance information on large graphs very quickly. In this work, we present a preprocessing algorithm that is able to create landmark based distance sketches efficiently, with strong theoretical guarantees. When evaluated on a diverse set of social and information networks, our algorithm significantly improves over existing approaches by reducing the number of landmarks stored, preprocessing time, or stretch of the estimated distances. On Erdos-Renyi graphs and random power law graphs with degree distribution exponent 2
The effect of real earnings management on the persistence and informativeness of earnings

Abstract: This study investigates the effect of real earnings management on two important aspects of earnings quality: earnings persistence and its informativeness about future cash flows. I focus on real earnings management through the abnormal reduction in discretionary expenditures and investigate how this type of real earnings management affects earnings quality. Examining a large sample over a period of four decades, I find that the extent of real earnings management is negatively related to earnings persistence, and this effect is achieved largely through the negative effect of real earnings management on cash flows rather than on accruals. The less persistent current earnings as a result of real earnings management exhibit a weakened ability to predict future cash flows, suggesting a decreased informativeness of current earnings about future cash flows. Moreover, I find that the negative effect of the abnormal reduction in discretionary expenses on earnings persistence and its association with future cash flows from operations is more pronounced in the post-SOX period. Overall, the results suggest that real earnings management through the abnormal reduction in discretionary expenses is associated with deteriorated earnings quality.
Distributed Learning with Sublinear Communication

In distributed statistical learning, $N$ samples are split across $m$ machines and a learner wishes to use minimal communication to learn as well as if the examples were on a single machine. This model has received substantial interest in machine learning due to its scalability and potential for parallel speedup. However, in high-dimensional settings, where the number examples is smaller than the number of features ("dimension"), the speedup afforded by distributed learning may be overshadowed by the cost of communicating a single example. This paper investigates the following question: When is it possible to learn a $d$-dimensional model in the distributed setting with total communication sublinear in $d$? Starting with a negative result, we show that for learning $\ell_1$-bounded or sparse linear models, no algorithm can obtain optimal error until communication is linear in dimension. Our main result is that that by slightly relaxing the standard boundedness assumptions for linear models, we can obtain distributed algorithms that enjoy optimal error with communication logarithmic in dimension. This result is based on a family of algorithms that combine mirror descent with randomized sparsification/quantization of iterates, and extends to the general stochastic convex optimization model.
Infinite-valued Lukasiewicz Logic Based on Principal Lattice Filters.

In this paper we axiomatize the formulas that, in the infinite-valued (standard) Lukasiewicz algebra, always take a value above certain fixed number. This generalizes the approach considered in the infinite-valued Lukasiewicz logic, where the fixed number is the maximum.
Sea Surface Salinity Distribution in the Southern Ocean as Observed From Space

Large-scale spatial and temporal variabilities of sea surface salinity (SSS) in the Southern Ocean from 2011 to 2017 were studied using products derived from microwave sensors on board Aquarius, Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS), and Soil Moisture Active and Passive (SMAP) satellites. Four products, three from Aquarius and one from SMOS, were evaluated and shown to be generally consistent within 0.3 to 0.6 psu and agree favorably with in situ measurements. However, although the Aquarius products show consistent seasonality of SSS with high values of 34.45 psu in October and low values of 33.40 psu in May, theSMOS and SMAP products lack such seasonal variations. This may be caused by larger uncertainties in the SMOS and SMAP data due in part to the lack of concurrent scatterometer measurements that is used to correct for roughness effects. The four products provide similar spatial distributions of SSS with root mean square difference from 0.25 to 0.58 psu. Differences among Aquarius products are mainly due to varying salinity retrieval algorithms, smoothing, and masking of sea ice, while the SMOS product showed the highest SSS deviation that is likely due to the bias adjustment done on the data set. Our analyses show that SSS in the Southern Ocean region has significant meridional variations with the lowest SSS near the ice edge and highest at lower latitudes. The SSS is also lowest in summer indicating the predominant influence of sea ice and glacial melt, but it stays low near ice edges even during the growth season. Salinity together with temperature is the key parameters that control the state and circulation of the World's oceans. The large‐scale distribution of the sea surface salinity of the Southern Ocean is quantified for the first time using Aquarius, Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity, and Soil Moisture Active and Passive satellite microwave data. Seasonal and interannual changes in the distribution as affected by the sea ice cover, surface temperature, and precipitation are evaluated. Comparative studies were done, using four different products that are publicly available, in conjunction with in situ observations to gain insights into the true nature of the distribution and how consistently the sea surface salinity is depicted by the different products. There are general consistencies in the products, and discrepancies are attributed to different algorithms, smoothing techniques, and sea ice masking. Aquarius data are shown to have higher accuracy than Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity and Soil Moisture Active and Passive products in part because of having concurrent scatterometer that provides accurate correction to roughness effects.
Conformational catalysis of cataract-associated aggregation by interacting intermediates in a human eye lens crystallin

Human {gamma}D-crystallin (H{gamma}D) is an abundant two-domain protein concentrated in the core region of the eye lens. Destabilizing mutations and post-translational modifications in the N-terminal domain of {gamma}-crystallins are linked to onset of aggregation that causes cataract disease (lens turbidity). WT H{gamma}D greatly accelerates aggregation of the cataract-related W42Q variant, without itself aggregating. The mechanism of this "inverse prion" catalysis of aggregation remained unknown. Here we provide evidence that it proceeds via an early unfolding intermediate with an opened domain interface, which enables transient dimerization of WT and mutant, or mutant and mutant, H{gamma}D molecules at their C-terminal domains. This dimerization deprives the N-terminal domain of intramolecular stabilization by the domain interface and thus promotes its conversion to a distinct, aggregation-prone partially unfolded intermediate. This mechanism can be generalized to explain how surprising reactions, such as conformational catalysis of misfolding, may arise from simple domain-domain interactions in multidomain proteins.nnSignificanceMost known proteins in nature consist of multiple domains. Interactions between domains may lead to unexpected folding and misfolding phenomena. This study of human {gamma}D-crystallin, a two-domain protein in the eye lens, revealed one such surprise: conformational catalysis of misfolding via intermolecular domain interface "stealing." An intermolecular interface between the more stable domains outcompetes the native intramolecular domain interface. Loss of the native interface in turn promotes misfolding and subsequent aggregation, especially in cataract-related {gamma}D-crystallin variants. This phenomenon is likely a contributing factor in the development of cataract disease, the leading worldwide cause of blindness. However, interface stealing likely occurs in many proteins composed of two or more interacting domains.
Bidirectional Attentive Memory Networks for Question Answering over Knowledge Bases

When answering natural language questions over knowledge bases (KBs), different question components and KB aspects play different roles. However, most existing embedding-based methods for knowledge base question answering (KBQA) ignore the subtle inter-relationships between the question and the KB (e.g., entity types, relation paths and context). In this work, we propose to directly model the two-way flow of interactions between the questions and the KB via a novel Bidirectional Attentive Memory Network, called BAMnet. Requiring no external resources and only very few hand-crafted features, on the WebQuestions benchmark, our method significantly outperforms existing information-retrieval based methods, and remains competitive with (hand-crafted) semantic parsing based methods. Also, since we use attention mechanisms, our method offers better interpretability compared to other baselines.
An Open Source Modeling Framework for Interdependent Energy-Transportation-Communication Infrastructure in Smart and Connected Communities

Infrastructure in future smart and connected communities is envisioned as an aggregate of public services, including energy, transportation, and communication systems, all intertwined with each other. The intrinsic interdependency among these systems may exert the underlying influence on both design and operation of the heterogeneous infrastructures. However, few prior studies have tapped into the interdependency among these systems in order to quantify their potential impacts during standard operation. In response to this, this paper proposes an open-source, flexible, integrated modeling framework suitable for designing coupled energy, transportation, and communication systems and for assessing the impact of their interdependencies. First, a novel multi-level, multi-layer, multi-agent approach is proposed to enable flexible modeling of the interconnected systems. Then, for the framework’s proof of concept, preliminary component and system-level models for different systems are designed and implemented using Modelica, an equation-based object-oriented modeling language. Finally, three case studies of gradually increasing complexity are presented (energy, energy + transportation, and energy + transportation + communication) to evaluate the interdependencies among the three systems. Quantitative analyses show that the deviation of the average velocity on the road can be 10.5% and the deviation of the power drawn from the grid can be 7% with or without considering the transportation and communication system at the peak commute time, indicating the presence of notable interdependencies. The proposed modeling framework also has the potential to be further extended for various modeling purposes and use cases, such as dynamic modeling and optimization, resilience analysis, and integrated decision making in future connected communities.
The social lives of married women: Peer effects in female autonomy and investments in children

In patriarchal societies, sticky norms affect married women's social circles, their autonomy, and the outcomes of intra-household bargaining. This paper uses primary data on women's social networks in Uttarakhand, India; the modal woman has only three friends, and over 80 percent do not have any friends of another caste. This paper examines the effect of a shock to friends' empowerment on a woman's autonomy, specifically physical mobility, access to social safety nets, and employment outside the household; perceived social norms; and an outcome of household bargaining: investments in her children. The analysis instruments for endogenous network formation using a woman's age and her caste network in the village. The key peer effect is the impact of having a friend who received an empowerment shock on a woman who did not receive that shock. The results show significant peer effects on only a few of the examined measures of women's autonomy. In contrast, peer effects exist on all considered outcomes of a daughters’ diet and time spent on chores. The findings suggest a large decay rate between effects on own empowerment and peer effects. Interventions targeting child welfare through women's empowerment may generate second-order effects on intra-household decision-making, albeit with substantial decay rates, and thus benefit from targeted rather than randomized rollout. In contract, interventions on gender roles and women's autonomy may be limited by the stickiness of social norms.
SEEMless: Secure End-to-End Encrypted Messaging with less Trust

End-to-end encrypted messaging (E2E) is only secure if participants have a way to retrieve the correct public key for the desired recipient. However, to make these systems usable, users must be able to replace their keys (e.g. when they lose or reset their devices, or reinstall their app), and we cannot assume any cryptographic means of authenticating the new keys. In the current E2E systems, the service provider manages the directory of public keys of its registered users; this allows a compromised or coerced service provider to introduce their own keys and execute a man in the middle attack. Building on the approach of CONIKS (Melara et al, USENIX Security '15), we formalize the notion of a Privacy-Preserving Verifiable Key Directory (VKD): a system which allows users to monitor the keys that the service is distributing on their behalf. We then propose a new VKD scheme which we call SEEMless, which improves on prior work in terms of privacy and scalability. In particular, our new approach allows key changes to take effect almost immediately; we show experimentally that our scheme easily supports delays less than a minute, in contrast to previous work which proposes a delay of one hour.
RPA Phosphorylation Inhibits DNA Resection

Summary Genetic recombination in all kingdoms of life initiates when helicases and nucleases process (resect) the free DNA ends to expose single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) overhangs. Resection regulation in bacteria is programmed by a DNA sequence, but a general mechanism limiting resection in eukaryotes has remained elusive. Using single-molecule imaging of reconstituted human DNA repair factors, we identify phosphorylated RPA (pRPA) as a negative resection regulator. Bloom’s syndrome (BLM) helicase together with exonuclease 1 (EXO1) and DNA2 nucleases catalyze kilobase-length DNA resection on nucleosome-coated DNA. The resulting ssDNA is rapidly bound by RPA, which further stimulates DNA resection. RPA is phosphorylated during resection as part of the DNA damage response (DDR). Remarkably, pRPA inhibits DNA resection in cellular assays and in vitro via inhibition of BLM helicase. pRPA suppresses BLM initiation at DNA ends and promotes the intrinsic helicase strand-switching activity. These findings establish that pRPA provides a feedback loop between DNA resection and the DDR.
Relating causal and probabilistic approaches to contextuality

A primary goal in recent research on contextuality has been to extend this concept to cases of inconsistent connectedness, where observables have different distributions in different contexts. This...
The para-siletanylbenzyl (PSB) ether: a peroxide-cleavable protecting group for alcohols and phenols

A novel arylmethyl protecting group that is electronically similar to benzyl (Bn) but that can be cleaved under mild oxidizing conditions in the presence of para-methoxybenzyl (PMB) is described herein. para-Siletanylbenzyl (PSB) ethers are formed in one or two steps from the corresponding alcohols and cleaved in one or two steps with basic peroxide. Alcohols and phenols have been protected in good yields and deprotected cleanly under mild oxidative conditions.
Oxidation of α-Substituted Carbonyl Compounds to Carboxylic Acids in Aqueous Media Using Ultrasound

Abstract Carbonyl compounds containing electron-withdrawing substituents are efficiently oxidized by aqueous sodium hypochlorite in the absence of added organic solvents using ultrasound agitation.
Thio sugars : Biological relevance as potential new therapeutics

The biological relevance of sulfur containing carbohydrates is gaining substantial attention. Thus the new developments, especially in the synthetic and medicinal chemistry of thio-sugars are critically important for carbohydrate drug design. New studies of biological processes including biosynthetic reactions and enzyme control mechanisms, discovered during the last few years clearly contributed to an understanding of their biological roles. These roles of carbohydrates and thio-sugars in particular through biological processes and diseases are becoming better understood now. These new trends will provide tremendous opportunities for the development of carbohydrates as new potential drugs. The main objective of this article is to address these new promising advances and stimulate continuous development of carbohydrate pharmaceuticals.
Synchronization behavior in a ternary phase model

Localized traveling-wave solutions to a nonlinear Schrodinger equation were recently shown to be a consequence of Fourier mode synchronization. The reduced dynamics describing mode interaction take the form of a phase model with novel ternary coupling. We analyze this model in the presence of quenched disorder and explore transitions to partial and complete synchronization. For both Gaussian and uniform disorder, first-order transitions with hysteresis are observed. These results are compared with the phenomenology of the Kuramoto model which exhibits starkly different behavior. An infinite-oscillator limit of the model is derived and solved to provide theoretical predictions for the observed transitions. Treatment of the nonlocal ternary coupling in this limit sheds some light on the model's novel structure.
Using Core Genome Alignments To Assign Bacterial Species.

ABSTRACT With the exponential increase in the number of bacterial taxa with genome sequence data, a new standardized method to assign species designations is needed that is consistent with classically obtained taxonomic analyses. This is particularly acute for unculturable, obligate intracellular bacteria with which classically defined methods, like DNA-DNA hybridization, cannot be used, such as those in the Rickettsiales. In this study, we generated nucleotide-based core genome alignments for a wide range of genera with classically defined species, as well as those within the Rickettsiales. We created a workflow that uses the length, sequence identity, and phylogenetic relationships inferred from core genome alignments to assign genus and species designations that recapitulate classically obtained results. Using this method, most classically defined bacterial genera have a core genome alignment that is ≥10% of the average input genome length. Both Anaplasma and Neorickettsia fail to meet this criterion, indicating that the taxonomy of these genera should be reexamined. Consistently, genomes from organisms with the same species epithet have ≥96.8% identity of their core genome alignments. Additionally, these core genome alignments can be used to generate phylogenomic trees to identify monophyletic clades that define species and neighbor-network trees to assess recombination across different taxa. By these criteria, Wolbachia organisms are delineated into species different from the currently used supergroup designations, while Rickettsia organisms are delineated into 9 distinct species, compared to the current 27 species. By using core genome alignments to assign taxonomic designations, we aim to provide a high-resolution, robust method to guide bacterial nomenclature that is aligned with classically obtained results. IMPORTANCE With the increasing availability of genome sequences, we sought to develop and apply a robust, portable, and high-resolution method for the assignment of genera and species designations that can recapitulate classically defined taxonomic designations. Using cutoffs derived from the lengths and sequence identities of core genome alignments along with phylogenetic analyses, we sought to evaluate or reevaluate genus- and species-level designations for diverse taxa, with an emphasis on the order Rickettsiales, where species designations have been applied inconsistently. Our results indicate that the Rickettsia genus has an overabundance of species designations, that the current Anaplasma and Neorickettsia genus designations are both too broad and need to be divided, and that there are clear demarcations of Wolbachia species that do not align precisely with the existing supergroup designations.
Direct access to N-H-aziridines from asymmetric catalytic aziridination with borate catalysts derived from vaulted binaphthol and vaulted biphenanthrol ligands.

The asymmetric catalytic aziridination reaction (AZ reaction) of N-dianisylmethylimines (N-DAM-imines) with ethyl diazoacetate is developed with chiral catalysts prepared from triphenylborate and both the vaulted binaphthol (VANOL) and vaulted biphenanthrol (VAPOL) ligands. Catalysts derived from both ligands were equally effective in terms of asymmetric induction, but the VANOL catalyst was slightly faster. Up to 400 turnovers could be achieved with the VANOL catalyst while still maintaining ≥90% ee in the aziridine product. The ligand could be recovered in 95% yield with no loss in optical purity. Excellent asymmetric inductions were observed with arylimines, and although slightly lower inductions were observed for alkyl-substituted imines, the optical purity of the aziridines from all of the imine substrates could be enhanced to ≥99% ee with a single crystallization. Methods were developed for deprotection of the N-DAM-aziridines under acidic conditions without causing an acid-promoted opening of the r...
Gauge-coupling unification and the minimal SUSY model: a fourth generation below the top?

Abstract We explore the possibility of a fourth generation in the gauge-coupling-unified, minimal supersymmetric (MSSM) framework. We find that a sequential fourth generation (with a heavy neutrino ν′) can still fit, surviving all present experimental constraints, provided λb(MU) = λτ(MU) Yukawa unification is relaxed. For the theory to remain perturbative up to MU, new leptonic generation must lie within reach of LEP-II and the new b′, t′ must have masses within the reach of the Tevatron. the new leptonic generation must lie within reach of LEP-II and the new b′, t′ must have masses within the reach of the Tevatron. For example, for mt > 150 GeV we find mν′mτ′ m t′ ⋍ m t case in light of new CDF data. Discovery may involve novel decay signatures; however, CDF and LEP-II will confirm or exclude an MSSM fourth generation in the near future.
Alcohol-Assisted Deposition of Copper Films from Supercritical Carbon Dioxide

Device quality Cu films were deposited from solutions of bis(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedionate) copper(II) [Cu(tmhd)2] in supercritical CO2 (scCO2) using alcohols as reducing agents in a cold wall, high-pressure reactor. At 270 °C and pressures between 200 and 230 bar, deposition of copper by the reduction of Cu(tmhd)2 with ethanol was selective for catalytic surfaces such as Co and Ni over the native oxide of Si wafers or TiN. At 300 °C and above, depositions proceeded readily on all surfaces studied. Secondary ion mass spectroscopy indicated that Cu films are remarkably pure; carbon and oxygen contamination were on the order of 0.1% or less. Resistivities of the films were approximately 2 μΩ-cm. Reduction of Cu(thmd)2 with primary alcohols including methanol, 1-propanol, and 1-butanol proceeded readily to yield copper films on Co substrates at 270 °C. Sterically hindered alcohols were less effective at the same conditions. Deposition with 2-butanol required higher alcohol concentrations while attem...
Non-tangential limits for analytic Lipschitz functions

Let U be a bounded open subset of the complex plane. Let $$0<\alpha <1$$ and let $$A_{\alpha }(U)$$ denote the space of functions that satisfy a Lipschitz condition with exponent $$\alpha $$ on the complex plane, are analytic on U and are such that for each $$\epsilon >0$$ , there exists $$\delta >0$$ such that for all z, $$w \in U$$ , $$|f(z)-f(w)| \le \epsilon |z-w|^{\alpha }$$ whenever $$|z-w| < \delta $$ . We show that if a boundary point $$x_0$$ for U admits a bounded point derivation for $$A_{\alpha }(U)$$ and U has an interior cone at $$x_0$$ then one can evaluate the bounded point derivation by taking a limit of a difference quotient over a non-tangential ray to $$x_0$$ . Notably our proofs are constructive in the sense that they make explicit use of the Cauchy integral formula.