cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Surface engineering of nanomaterials for improved energy storage – A review

Abstract Nanomaterials bring extreme promise for a future wave of energy storage materials with high storage capacity, fast recharging capability, and better durability than bulk material counterparts. However, this promise is often overshadowed by greater surface area and higher reactivity of nanostructured active materials - obstacles that must be overcome to be practical. Specifically for energy storage systems, many materials that exhibit promise in bulk form for high capacity or energy density exhibit surfaces that are unstable or reactive in electrochemical environments when downsized to nanometer length scales. As a result, surface engineering can be a powerful tool to decouple bulk material properties from surface characteristics that often bottleneck energy storage applications of nanomaterials. This review discusses advances made toward the surface engineering of nanostructures in the context of four mechanistic roles that surface engineering can play. This includes (i) chemical activation, where the surface layer plays the active role in facilitating a Faradaic chemical process, (ii) solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) control, where a surface layer can lead to a stable artificial interface for Faradaic processes to occur, (iii) chemical passivation, where near atomically thin surface protective layers can protect from corrosion or unwanted electrochemical reactions at interfaces, and (iv) mechanical stability, where a thin layer can provide mechanical support to inhibit fracturing or mechanical failure. This review elucidates surface engineering as a multi-faceted tool for engineering materials for energy storage that intersects the quest for new materials and the rediscovery of old materials to break new ground in energy storage applications. The discussion concludes by highlighting key current challenges in surface engineering for pure metal anodes in metal-ion batteries and polysulfide immobilization in lithium-sulfur batteries.
Reducts and Modal Operators on Residuated Lattices.

Proposition 3. If A=〈A,∧,∨, ·, \, /, 1, γ〉 is a residuated lattice with a nucleus γ, then the algebra Aγ=〈Aγ ,∧,∨γ , ·γ , \, /, γ(1)〉 is a residuated lattice, where Aγ=γ[A] and for all x, y ∈ Aγ , x ∨γ y=γ(x ∨ y) and x ·γ y=γ(x · y). For a variety V of residuated lattices with modal operators, consider V∗, the full subcategory of V consisting of those pairs 〈B, 〉 such that B generates B as a residuated lattice.
In Vivo Axial Loading of the Mouse Tibia

Noninvasive methods to apply controlled, cyclic loads to the living skeleton are used as anabolic procedures to stimulate new bone formation in adults and enhance bone mass accrual in growing animals. These methods are also invaluable for understanding bone signaling pathways. Our focus here is on a particular loading model: in vivo axial compression of the mouse tibia. An advantage of loading the tibia is that changes are present in both the cancellous envelope of the proximal tibia and the cortical bone of the tibial diaphysis. To load the tibia of the mouse axially in vivo, a cyclic compressive load is applied up to five times a week to a single tibia per mouse for a duration lasting from 1 day to 6 weeks. With the contralateral limb as an internal control, the anabolic response of the skeleton to mechanical stimuli can be studied in a pairwise experimental design. Here, we describe the key parameters that must be considered before beginning an in vivo mouse tibial loading experiment, including methods for in vivo strain gauging of the tibial midshaft, and then we describe general methods for loading the mouse tibia for an experiment lasting multiple days.
Sum-product networks: a new deep architecture

The key limiting factor in graphical model inference and learning is the complexity of the partition function. We thus ask the question: what are general conditions under which the partition function is tractable? The answer leads to a new kind of deep architecture, which we call sum-product networks (SPNs). SPNs are directed acyclic graphs with variables as leaves, sums and products as internal nodes, and weighted edges. We show that if an SPN is complete and consistent it represents the partition function and all marginals of some graphical model, and give semantics to its nodes. Essentially all tractable graphical models can be cast as SPNs, but SPNs are also strictly more general. We then propose learning algorithms for SPNs, based on backpropagation and EM. Experiments show that inference and learning with SPNs can be both faster and more accurate than with standard deep networks. For example, SPNs perform image completion better than state-of-the-art deep networks for this task. SPNs also have intriguing potential connections to the architecture of the cortex.
Balls and Funnels: Energy Efficient Group-to-Group Anycasts

We introduce group-to-group anycast (g2g-anycast), a network design problem of substantial practical importance and considerable generality. Given a collection of groups and requirements for directed connectivity from source groups to destination groups, the solution network must contain, for each requirement, an omni-directional down-link broadcast, centered at any node of the source group, called the ball; the ball must contain some node from the destination group in the requirement and all such destination nodes in the ball must aggregate into a tree directed towards the source, called the funnel-tree. The solution network is a collection of balls along with the funnel-trees they contain. g2g-anycast models DBS (Digital Broadcast Satellite), Cable TV systems and drone swarms. It generalizes several well known network design problems including minimum energy unicast, multicast, broadcast, Steiner-tree, Steiner-forest and Group-Steiner tree. Our main achievement is an \(O(\log ^4 n)\) approximation, counterbalanced by an \(\log ^{(2-\epsilon )}n\) hardness of approximation, for general weights. Given the applicability to wireless communication, we present a scalable and easily implemented \(O(\log n)\) approximation algorithm, Cover-and-Grow for fixed-dimensional Euclidean space with path-loss exponent at least 2.
Harnessing C−H Borylation/Deborylation for Selective Deuteration, Synthesis of Boronate Esters, and Late Stage Functionalization

Ir-catalyzed deborylation can be used to selectively deuterate aromatic and heteroaromatic substrates. Combined with the selectivities of Ir-catalyzed C–H borylations, uniquely labeled compounds can be prepared. In addition, diborylation/deborylation reactions provide monoborylated regioisomers that complement those prepared by C–H borylation. Comparisons between Ir-catalyzed deborylations and Pd-catalyzed deborylations of diborylated indoles described by Movassaghi are made. The Ir-catalyzed process is more effective for deborylating aromatics and is generally more effective in the monodeborylation of diborylated thiophenes. These processes can be applied to complex molecules such as clopidogrel.
Compatibility of filgrastim with selected antimicrobial drugs during simulated Y-site administration

The compatibility of filgrastim with imipenem-cilastatin, ceftazidime, fluconazole, gentamicin, tobramycin, and amikacin was studied. Filgrastim 40 micrograms/mL or filgrastim 10 micrograms/mL (with human albumin) was combined with (1) imipenem-cilastatin 5 mg/mL (in terms of imipenem content), (2) ceftazidime 10 mg/mL (as the sodium salt), (3) fluconazole 2 mg/ mL, (4) gentamicin 1.6 mg/ mL (as the sulfate), (5) tobramycin 1.6 mg/mL (as the sulfate), or (6) amikacin 5 mg/ mL (as the sulfate). Equal volumes (5 mL) of the test-agent solutions were added in pairs to glass containers (simulating Y-site administration) in triplicate. Samples were analyzed for filgrastim activity, drug concentration, pH, and visible physical changes during storage at approximately 25 degrees C for up to four hours. Filgrastim activity was measured by the in vitro bioassay, and antimicrobial drug concentrations were measured by stability-indicating high-performance liquid chromatography or fluorescence polarization immunoassay. Filgrastim retained its activity, except for the combination of filgrastim at the lower concentration with gentamicin or at the higher concentration with imipenem-cilastatin. Antimicrobial drug concentrations did not change significantly during the study. No precipitation, color change, or haze was noted in any mixture. Changes in pH were negligible except for an increase in the mixture of filgrastim at either concentration with ceftazidime. In most cases, filgrastim retained its activity in the presence of a variety of antimicrobial drugs for up to four hours; in all cases, the antimicrobial drugs remained stable.
A Simple Primary Amine Catalyst for Enantioselective α-Hydroxylations and α-Fluorinations of Branched Aldehydes

A new primary amine catalyst for the asymmetric α-hydroxylation and α-fluorination of α-branched aldehydes is described. The products of the title transformations are generated in excellent yields with high enantioselectivities. Both processes can be performed within short reaction times and on gram scale. The similarity in results obtained in both reactions, combined with computational evidence, implies a common basis for stereoinduction and the possibility of a general catalytic mechanism for α-functionalizations. Promising initial results in α-amination and α-chlorination reactions support this hypothesis.
Eletron-helium laser-assisted free-free scattering for incident energies from 30 - 200 eV: effects of polarization direction

We report on experiments that examine electron-helium scattering in the presence of an Nd:YAG laser field of 1.17 eV photons. At each incidentelectron energy (30, 60, and 200 eV), the laser polarization direction is varied within a plane perpendicular to the Watson approximation calculations.
New Drugs for Asthma

Extract: Asthma has now become one of the most common chronic diseases in industrialized countries and is predicted to increase throughout the world over the next decade, particularly in developing countries. Previously, asthma was viewed as a disease of bronchoconstriction (closing of the airways) and treated predominantly with bronchodilators (drugs which open up the airways), but more recently it has been seen as an inflammatory disease of the airways and the mainstay of modern management is treatment with inhaled corticosteroids. The airway inflammation in asthma is characterized by activation of mast cells, infiltration of eosinophils and increased activated T helper 2 (Th2) lymphocytes. Inhaled corticosteroids have revolutionized the management of asthma, leading to better control of asthma, reduced hospital admissions and a reduced mortality. Corticosteroids and long-acting beta2-agonists (salmeterol and formoterol) in fixed combination inhalers are currently the most effective therapy for asthma and are increasingly used in all patients with persistent symptoms.
The Burnside bicategory of groupoids

The category of groupoids admits a “stabilization” in which the morphisms are given by the group completion of the commutative monoid of suitable bisets. In this paper we enrich this to a bicategory structure, and provide an alternative model using spans of groupoids.
Orbit Transfers to Lower Altitude Orbits Using Aerobraking

A strategy to obtain a temporary low altitude orbit (150 ~ 200 km at periapse) from a nominal higher altitude circular orbit using aerobraking is developed. The mission objective is to minimize propellant consumption subject to an upper bound on transfer time. The results are somewhat intuitive and show that the total delta-V is minimized when the orbital velocity of the satellite at the periapse on the transfer orbit is identical to the periapse velocity of the lower altitude mission orbit. Additionally, the general relation between transfer angle and the velocity at periapse on the transfer orbit is formed from numerical simulations. The developed strategy is employed for test cases of a low Earth orbit remote sensing satellite and a Mars mission. In each case, a linear relation of the transfer angle and the velocity at periapse on the transfer orbit is generated. A staircase-pattern relation between the transfer angle that minimizes total delta-V and the desired apoapse altitude of lower altitude mission orbit is generated for both Earth and Mars test cases.
Aminoboration: Addition of B-N σ Bonds across C-C π Bonds.

This communication demonstrates the first catalytic aminoboration of C–C π bonds by B–N σ bonds and its application to the synthesis of 3-borylated indoles. The regiochemistry and broad functional group compatibility of this addition reaction enable substitution patterns that are incompatible with major competing technologies. This aminoboration reaction effects the formation of C–B and C–N bonds in a single step from aminoboronic esters, which are simple starting materials available on the gram scale. This reaction generates synthetically valuable N-heterocyclic organoboron compounds as potential building blocks for drug discovery. The working mechanistic hypothesis involves a bifunctional Lewis acid/base catalysis strategy involving the combination of a carbophilic gold cation and a trifluoroacetate anion that activate the C–C π bond and the B–N σ bond simultaneously.
Microstructure and Nanoporosity of as‐Set Geopolymers

The microstructure and porosity of as-cured and crushed sodium-based geopolymers has been examined by electron microscopy (SEM, TEM, STEM), mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) and specific surface area measurements, respectively. These techniques indicate that that the intrinsic microstructure is nanoporous and nanoparticulate (≤ 5 nm in size). When made from natural metakaolin, geopolymers have an average pore radius of ∼3.4 nm, and the porosity constitutes 41 % by volume of the material. When the geopolymer is made from a pure, synthetic alumino-silicate metakaolin in which the Al atom is in five-fold co-ordination, the average pore size decreases to ∼0.8 nm, and the pores again constitute -40% of the volume. The porosity can be varied by selection of Na + or K + charge balancing cation, where the latter produces a relatively homogeneous dispersion of fine, sub-micron sized pores distributed in the nanoporous body. A biomodal pore size distribution yielding pores of ∼50 μm in diameter can be achieved by synthesis with hydrogen peroxide solution in a closed pressure vessel.
Wedge Shock and Nozzle Exhaust Plume Interaction in a Supersonic Jet Flow

Fundamental research for sonic boom reduction is needed to quantify the interaction of shock waves generated from the aircraft wing or tail surfaces with the nozzle exhaust plume. Aft body shock waves that interact with the exhaust plume contribute to the near-field pressure signature of a vehicle. The plume and shock interaction was studied using computational fluid dynamics and compared with experimental data from a coaxial convergent-divergent nozzle flow in an open jet facility. A simple diamond-shaped wedge was used to generate the shock in the outer flow to study its impact on the inner jet flow. Results show that the compression from the wedge deflects the nozzle plume and shocks form on the opposite plume boundary. The sonic boom pressure signature of the nozzle exhaust plume was modified by the presence of the wedge. Both the experimental results and computational predictions show changes in plume deflection.
POST-SURGICAL NEUROPATHY: CAUSALITY & AVOIDANCE

Nerve palsy occurring after elective primary total hip arthroplasty (THA) is a devastating complication because of its effect on motor strength, walking ability, potential for pain, and unexpected nature. In general, the nerve distribution involved is the peroneal branch of the sciatic nerve, and the level of involvement is usually mixed motor and sensory. Prior publications have associated limb lengthening, dysplasia and use of the posterior approach to be associated with a higher incidence of nerve palsy. In the literature, the incidence of sciatic nerve palsy is estimated to be 0.2 to 1.9%. We examined the rate of sciatic nerve palsy after THA performed by the joint replacement service at Hospital for Special Surgery between the years 1998–2013. Each case was matched with 2 controls that underwent THA and did not develop postoperative neuropathy. Controls were matched by surgical date having been within 7 days of their matched case9s surgery date. Patient and surgical variables were reviewed using data from patient charts and the institution9s total joint replacement registry. A multivariable logistic regression model was created to identify potential risk factors for neuropathy following THA while adjusting for potential confounders. We found that, of 39,056 primary THA cases, there were 81 cases of sciatic nerve palsy, giving an incidence of 0.21%. The factors with the greatest odds ratios for nerve palsy were: history of smoking (OR=3.45); history of spinal stenosis (OR=4.45), and time of day of 1PM or later (OR=3.98). We did not find limb lengthening, dysplasia, or type of fixation to be associated with nerve palsy. In conclusion, post-surgical neuropathy has a low incidence after primary THA, but at our institution, was associated with several factors. Spine-related comorbidities, such as spinal stenosis and lumbar spine disease, and smoking history should be closely monitored to inform the patient and surgeon for the potential increased risk of postoperative neuropathy following THA.
Redesigned Electronic Medical Notes Allow Automated Clinical Data Extraction and Decrease Provider Documentation Time.

METHODS: This retrospective study of nationalMedicare data (2005 to 2009) included 2,540,694 patients undergoing 1 of 10 high-risk surgical procedures. We used logistic regression tomodel the probability of being readmitted at the following intervals from discharge: 1-30 days, 1-5 days, 1-10 days, 1-15 days, 6-10 days, 11-15 days, and 16-30 days.We evaluatedmodel performance using pseudo-R2 (ameasure of explained variability), c-statistics (the ability of the model to predict the outcome), and year-to-year reliability (a measure random variation unassociated with quality). Our models adjusted for traditional patient-level variables available in administrative data: demographics, comorbidities, complications, and operation performed.
JAK2 V617F stimulates proliferation of erythropoietin-dependent erythroid progenitors and delays their differentiation by activating Stat1 and other nonerythroid signaling pathways

JAK2 V617F is a mutant-activated JAK2 kinase found in most polycythemia vera (PV) patients; it skews normal proliferation and differentiation of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells and simulates aberrant expansion of erythroid progenitors. JAK2 V617F is known to activate some signaling pathways not normally activated in mature erythroblasts, but there has been no systematic study of signal transduction pathways or gene expression in erythroid cells expressing JAK2 V617F undergoing erythropoietin (Epo)-dependent terminal differentiation. Here we report that expression of JAK2 V617F in murine fetal liver Epo-dependent progenitors allows them to divide approximately six rather than the normal approximately four times in the presence of Epo, delaying their exit from the cell cycle. Over time, the number of red cells formed from each Epo-dependent progenitor increases fourfold, and these cells eventually differentiate into normal enucleated reticulocytes. We report that purified fetal liver Epo-dependent progenitors express many cytokine receptors additional to the EpoR. Expression of JAK2 V617F triggers activation of Stat5, the only STAT normally activated by Epo, as well as activation of Stat1 and Stat3. Expression of JAK2 V617F also leads to transient induction of many genes not normally activated in terminally differentiating erythroid cells and that are characteristic of other hematopoietic lineages. Inhibition of Stat1 activation blocks JAK2 V617F hyperproliferation of erythroid progenitors, and we conclude that Stat1-mediated activation of nonerythroid signaling pathways delays terminal erythroid differentiation and permits extended cell divisions.
Efficient Server Aided Secure Two Party Function Evaluation with Applications to Genomic Computation

Abstract : Computation based on genomic data is becomingincreasingly popular today, be it for medical or other purposes.Non-medical uses of genomic data in a computation often takeplace in a server-mediated setting where the server offers theability for joint genomic testing between the users. Undeniably,genomic data is highly sensitive, which in contrast toother biometry types, discloses a plethora of information notonly about the data owner, but also about his or her relatives.Thus, there is an urgent need to protect genomic data. This isparticularly true when the data is used in computation for whatwe call recreational non-health-related purposes. Towards thisgoal, in this work we put forward a framework for server-aidedsecure two-party computation with the security model motivatedby genomic applications. One particular security settingthat we treat in this work provides stronger security guaranteeswith respect to malicious users than the traditional maliciousmodel. In particular, we incorporate certified inputs into securecomputation based on garbled circuit evaluation to guaranteethat a malicious user is unable to modify her inputs inorder to learn unauthorized information about the other usersdata. Our solutions are general in the sense that they can beused to securely evaluate arbitrary functions and offer attractiveperformance compared to the state of the art. We applythe general constructions to three specific types of genomictests: paternity, genetic compatibility, and ancestry testing andimplement the constructions. The results show that all suchprivate tests can be executed within a matter of seconds or lessdespite the large size of ones genomic data.
The Current Landscape of Genetic Testing in Cardiovascular Malformations: Opportunities and Challenges.

Human cardiovascular malformations (CVMs) frequently have a genetic contribution. Through the application of novel technologies such as next generation sequencing, DNA sequence variants associated with CVMs are being identified at a rapid pace. While clinicians are now able to offer testing with next generation sequencing gene panels or whole exome sequencing to any patient with a CVM, the interpretation of genetic variation remains problematic. Variable phenotypic expression, reduced penetrance, inconsistent phenotyping methods, and the lack of high throughput functional testing of variants, contribute to these challenges. This article elaborates critical issues that impact the decision to broadly implement clinical molecular genetic testing in CVMs. Major benefits of testing include establishing a genetic diagnosis, facilitating cost-effective screening of family members who may have subclinical disease, predicting recurrence risk in offspring, enabling early diagnosis and anticipatory management of CV and non-CV disease phenotypes, predicting long term outcomes, and facilitating the development of novel therapies aimed at disease improvement or prevention. Limitations include financial cost, psychosocial cost, and ambiguity of interpretation of results. Multiplex families and patients with syndromic features are two groups where disease causation could potentially be firmly established. However, these account for the minority of the overall CVM population, and there is increasing recognition that genotypes previously associated with syndromes also exist in patients who lack non-CV findings. In all circumstances, ongoing dialogue between cardiologists and clinical geneticists will be needed to accurately interpret genetic testing and improve these patients’ health. This may be most effectively implemented by the creation and support of CV genetics services at centers committed to pursuing testing for patients.
End-to-End Localization and Ranking for Relative Attributes

We propose an end-to-end deep convolutional network to simultaneously localize and rank relative visual attributes, given only weakly-supervised pairwise image comparisons. Unlike previous methods, our network jointly learns the attribute’s features, localization, and ranker. The localization module of our network discovers the most informative image region for the attribute, which is then used by the ranking module to learn a ranking model of the attribute. Our end-to-end framework also significantly speeds up processing and is much faster than previous methods. We show state-of-the-art ranking results on various relative attribute datasets, and our qualitative localization results clearly demonstrate our network’s ability to learn meaningful image patches.
When and how Managers' Responses to Online Reviews Affect Subsequent Reviews:

AbstractIn this study, the authors investigate the externalities of managers’ responses (MRs) to online reviews on popular travel websites. Specifically, the authors examine the effect of publicly responding to hotel guests’ reviews on subsequent reviewer ratings. The authors find that manager responses to negative reviews (MR-N) can significantly influence subsequent opinion in a positive way if those responses are observable at the time of reviewing. Notably, the findings show this externality to be negative for manager responses to positive reviews (MR-P). The authors conduct a topic analysis on review texts and corresponding MRs to study the moderating role of response tailoring on the opinion externalities of MR. The authors show that tailored MR amplifies the positive (negative) impact of MR-N (MR-P) on subsequent opinion. Intuitively, tailoring an MR-N adds specificity to the hotel’s complaint management strategy, bolstering the positive effects of MR-N on subsequent opinion. However, by highlighti...
Quickest detection of Markov networks

Detecting correlation structures in large networks arises in many domains. Such detection problems are often studied independently of the underlying data acquisition process, rendering settings in which data acquisition policies and the associated sample size are pre-specified. Motivated by the advantages of data-adaptive sampling in data dimensionality reduction, especially in large networks, as well as enhancing the agility of the sampling process, this paper treats the inherently problems of data acquisition and correlation detection. Specifically, this paper considers a network of nodes generating random variables and designs the quickest sequential sampling strategy for collecting data and reliably deciding whether the network is a Markov network with a known correlation structure. By abstracting the Markov network as an undirected graph, in which the vertices represent the random variables and their connectivities model the correlation structure of interest, designing the quickest sampling strategy becomes equivalent to sequentially and data-adaptively identifying and sampling a sequence of vertices in the graph. Optimal sampling strategies are proposed and their associated optimality guarantees are established. Performance evaluations are provided to demonstrate the gains of the proposed sequential approaches.
Innovation, Growth, and Asset Prices

We examine the asset pricing implications of a production economy whose long-term growth prospects are endogenously determined by innovation and R&D. In equilibrium, R&D endogenously drives a small, persistent component in productivity that generates long-run uncertainty about economic growth. With recursive preferences, households fear that persistent downturns in economic growth are accompanied by low asset valuations and command high-risk premia in asset markets. Empirically, we find substantial evidence for innovation-driven low-frequency movements in aggregate growth rates and asset market valuations. In short, equilibrium growth is risky.
The occurrence of infective endocarditis with Staphylococcus lugdunensis bacteremia: A retrospective cohort study and systematic review.

Summary Background Staphylococcus lugdunensis is a coagulase-negative staphylococcus with similar virulence characteristics as Staphylococcus aureus. Whether S. lugdunensis causes infective endocarditis (IE) in a similar proportion of cases as S. aureus (reported to be 12.6% in a definitive multicenter prospective study) is unclear. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study of adult patients with at least one blood culture positive for S. lugdunensis at our institution from January 2006 to December 2014. We examined microbiology data, ascertained disease severity and determined the proportion of patients with definite or possible IE based on the 2000 Modified Duke Criteria. Because coagulase-negative staphylococci were routinely identified to the species level at our institution from 2012 onwards, we determined the proportion of patients with definite or possible IE before and after implementation of routine speciation. We also compared our results with reported proportions of IE among patients with S. lugdunensis bacteremia (SLB) in other institutions by conducting a systematic review of the scientific literature. Nonparametric bootstrapping methods were performed to determine 95% confidence intervals (CI) for proportions of IE in patients with SLB. Results Seventy-four patients with SLB were identified, of whom 64% (47/74) had sepsis by SIRS criteria, and 18% (13/74) had severe illness by Pittsburgh bacteremia score (PBS). Kaplan–Meier survival analysis showed that one-year survival among patients with severe illness was worse than patients with non-severe illness (p = 0.02). Fifteen percent (11/74) of patients had definite or possible IE (95% CI 6.8–23.0%). The proportion of SLB patients with definite or possible IE was 15.8% (6/38, 95% CI 5.3–28.9%) prior to routine speciation and 13.9% (5/36, 95% CI 2.8–27.8%) after routine speciation (p = 0.71). Among patients with at least two positive blood cultures for S. lugdunensis , 25% (10/40, 95% CI 12.5–40.0%) had IE. Systematic review of the literature yielded eight relevant retrospective studies. Of studies that included patients with one or more positive blood cultures for S. lugdunensis , the proportion of IE ranged from 6.3% to 27.0%. Conclusion The proportion of definite or possible IE among patients with SLB is similar to the proportion of IE among patients with S. aureus bacteremia. The proportions of IE among patients with SLB at other institutions fall within the 95% CI yielded by bootstrapping. Our findings suggest that growth of S. lugdunensis in two separate blood cultures should prompt consideration of workup for IE.
Minimum reliability requirements on automated vehicles for a safe and reasonably efficient automated highway system

The level of safety and efficiency of Automated Highway Systems (AHS) must be attainable and sustainable with a realistic cost. The analysis provided in this paper indicates that it is impractical to design and maintain an ultra reliable AHS. Consequently, fail-safe designs and infrastructure arrangements must be introduced. The paper provides a recommended infrastructure design that will allow AHS to minimize the impact on efficiency as well as the land use.
Drug Hepatotoxicity: Environmental Factors

Drug-induced liver injury presents as various forms of acute and chronic liver disease. There is wide geographic variation in the most commonly implicated agents. Smoking can induce cytochrome P450 enzymes but this does not necessarily translate into clinically relevant drug-induced liver injury. Excessive alcohol consumption is a clear risk factor for intrinsic hepatotoxicity from acetaminophen and may predispose to injury from antituberculosis medications. Understanding of the role of infection, proinflammatory states, disorders of coagulation, and the hepatic clock in predisposing patients to drug-induced liver injury is evolving. More study focusing specifically on environmental risk factors predisposing patients to drug-induced liver injury is needed.
Deconvolving Feedback Loops in Recommender Systems

Collaborative filtering is a popular technique to infer users' preferences on new content based on the collective information of all users preferences. Recommender systems then use this information to make personalized suggestions to users. When users accept these recommendations it creates a feedback loop in the recommender system, and these loops iteratively influence the collaborative filtering algorithm's predictions over time. We investigate whether it is possible to identify items affected by these feedback loops. We state sufficient assumptions to deconvolve the feedback loops while keeping the inverse solution tractable. We furthermore develop a metric to unravel the recommender system's influence on the entire user-item rating matrix. We use this metric on synthetic and real-world datasets to (1) identify the extent to which the recommender system affects the final rating matrix, (2) rank frequently recommended items, and (3) distinguish whether a user's rated item was recommended or an intrinsic preference. Our results indicate that it is possible to recover the ratings matrix of intrinsic user preferences using a single snapshot of the ratings matrix without any temporal information.
Multiplex shRNA screening of germ cell development by in vivo transfection of mouse testis

Spermatozoa are one of the few mammalian cell types that cannot be fully derived in vitro, severely limiting the application of modern genomic techniques to study germ cell biology. The current gold standard approach of characterizing single-gene knockout mice is slow as generation of each mutant line can take 6-9 months. Here, we describe an in vivo approach to rapid functional screening of germline genes based on a new nonsurgical, nonviral in vivo transfection method to deliver nucleic acids into testicular germ cells. By coupling multiplex transfection of short hairpin RNA (shRNA) constructs with pooled amplicon sequencing as a readout, we were able to screen many genes for spermatogenesis function in a quick and inexpensive experiment. We transfected nine mouse testes with a pilot pool of RNA interference (RNAi) against well-characterized genes to show that this system is highly reproducible and accurate. With a false negative rate of 18% and a false positive rate of 12%, this method has similar performance as other RNAi screens in the well-described Drosophila model system. In a separate experiment, we screened 26 uncharacterized genes computationally predicted to be essential for spermatogenesis and found numerous candidates for follow-up studies. Finally, as a control experiment, we performed a long-term selection screen in neuronal N2a cells, sampling shRNA frequencies at five sequential time points. By characterizing the effect of both libraries on N2a cells, we show that our screening results from testis are tissue-specific. Our calculations indicate that the current implementation of this approach could be used to screen thousands of protein-coding genes simultaneously in a single mouse testis. The experimental protocols and analysis scripts provided will enable other groups to use this procedure to study diverse aspects of germ cell biology ranging from epigenetics to cell physiology. This approach also has great promise as an applied tool for validating diagnoses made from medical genome sequencing, or designing synthetic biological sequences that can act as potent and highly specific male contraceptives.
$k$ -Connectivity of Inhomogeneous Random Key Graphs With Unreliable Links

We consider secure and reliable connectivity in wireless sensor networks that utilize the heterogeneous random key predistribution scheme. We model the unreliability of wireless links by an on/off channel model that induces an Erdős-Renyi graph, while the heterogeneous scheme induces an inhomogeneous random key graph. The overall network can thus be modeled by the intersection of both graphs. We present conditions (in the form of zero-one laws) on how to scale the parameters of the intersection model, so that with high probability: i) all of its nodes are connected to at least ${k}$ other nodes, i.e., the minimum node degree of the graph is no less than $ {k}$ , and ii) the graph is $ {k}$ -connected, i.e., the graph remains connected even if any $ {k} - {1}$ nodes leave the network. These results are shown to complement and generalize several previous results in the literature. We also present numerical results to support our findings in the finite-node regime. Finally, we demonstrate via simulations that our results are also useful when the on/off channel model is replaced with the more realistic disk communication model .
Thiol-based electrolyte additives for high-performance lithium-sulfur batteries

Abstract The discharge and charge mechanisms of the Li-S battery involve the formation of soluble lithium polysulfide species that can diffuse through the battery and cause issues related to capacity fade and poor Coulombic efficiency. In order to control the behavior of the lithium polysulfides, thiol-based electrolyte additives such as biphenyl-4,4′-dithiol (BPD) were used to enhance capacity retention in lithium-sulfur batteries by controlling polysulfide dissolution. In situ Raman spectroscopy, in situ UV–vis spectroscopy, and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry show that an additional sulfur reduction process observed at ~2.1 V vs. Li/Li+ as a result of BPD addition is associated with the formation of BPD-short chain polysulfide complexes such as BPD-Sn anion (1≤n≤4). The interaction between BPD and short chain polysulfide postpones formation of soluble short chain polysulfides and alters the kinetics of the dissolution process. A smooth SEI/Li entangled phase is found on the Li anode with BPD addition. The BPD additive increases the capacity retention of lithium-sulfur batteries, mainly due to the formation of various BPD-polysulfide complexes which prevents polysulfide dissolution. Comparison with other thiol-based additives shows that the optimal additive balances solubility and polysulfide-additive stabilization.
Disparities and guideline adherence in drugs of abuse screening in intracerebral hemorrhage.

Objective: To characterize the pattern of urine drug screening in a cohort of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) patients at our academic centers. Methods: We identified cases of primary ICH occurring from 2009 to 2011 in our academic centers. Demographic data, imaging characteristics, processes of care, and short-term outcomes were ascertained. We performed logistic regression to identify predictors for screening and evaluated preguideline and postguideline reiteration screening patterns. Results: We identified 610 patients with primary ICH in 2009–2011; 379 (62.1%) were initially evaluated at an outside hospital. Overall, 142/610 (23.3%) patients were screened, with 21 positive for cocaine and 3 for amphetamine. Of patients p = 0.0009). In the best multivariable model, age group ( p = 0.0001), black race ( p = 0.4529), first Glasgow Coma Scale score ( p = 0.0492), current smoking ( p p = 0.0097) were associated with screening. Guideline reiteration in 2010 did not improve the proportion p = 0.01). Conclusions: We found disparities in drugs of abuse (DOA) screening and suboptimal guideline adherence. Systematic efforts to improve screening for DOA are warranted. Improved identification of sympathomimetic exposure may improve etiologic classification and influence decision-making and prognosis counseling.
The Great Recession and charitable giving

ABSTRACTWe examine the impact of the Great Recession on charitable giving. Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we estimate a variety of specifications and find sharp declines in overall donative behaviour that is not accounted for by shocks to income or wealth. These results suggest that overall attitudes towards giving changed over this time period.
A simpler approach for mediation analysis for dichotomous mediators in logistic regression

ABSTRACTMediation is a hypothesized causal chain among three variables. Mediation analysis for continuous response variables is well developed in the literature, and it can be shown that the indire...
Bayesian decision process for cost-efficient dynamic ranking via crowdsourcing

Rank aggregation based on pairwise comparisons over a set of items has a wide range of applications. Although considerable research has been devoted to the development of rank aggregation algorithms, one basic question is how to efficiently collect a large amount of high-quality pairwise comparisons for the ranking purpose. Because of the advent of many crowdsourcing services, a crowd of workers are often hired to conduct pairwise comparisons with a small monetary reward for each pair they compare. Since different workers have different levels of reliability and different pairs have different levels of ambiguity, it is desirable to wisely allocate the limited budget for comparisons among the pairs of items and workers so that the global ranking can be accurately inferred from the comparison results. To this end, we model the active sampling problem in crowdsourced ranking as a Bayesian Markov decision process, which dynamically selects item pairs and workers to improve the ranking accuracy under a budget constraint. We further develop a computationally efficient sampling policy based on knowledge gradient as well as a moment matching technique for posterior approximation. Experimental evaluations on both synthetic and real data show that the proposed policy achieves high ranking accuracy with a lower labeling cost.
Motifs in Temporal Networks

Networks are a fundamental tool for modeling complex systems in a variety of domains including social and communication networks as well as biology and neuroscience. The counts of small subgraph patterns in networks, called network motifs, are crucial to understanding the structure and function of these systems. However, the role of network motifs for temporal networks, which contain many timestamped links between nodes, is not well understood. Here we develop a notion of a temporal network motif as an elementary unit of temporal networks and provide a general methodology for counting such motifs. We define temporal network motifs as induced subgraphs on sequences of edges, design several fast algorithms for counting temporal network motifs, and prove their runtime complexity. We also show that our fast algorithms achieve 1.3x to 56.5x speedups compared to a baseline method. We use our algorithms to count temporal network motifs in a variety of real-world datasets. Results show that networks from different domains have significantly different motif frequencies, whereas networks from the same domain tend to have similar motif frequencies. We also find that measuring motif counts at various time scales reveals different behavior.
On the Delay Advantage of Coding in Packet Erasure Networks

We consider the delay of network coding compared to routing with retransmissions in packet erasure networks with probabilistic erasures. We investigate the sublinear term in the block delay required for unicasting n packets and show that there is an unbounded gap between network coding and routing. In particular, we show that delay benefit of network coding scales at least as √n. Our analysis of the delay function for the routing strategy involves a major technical challenge of computing the expectation of the maximum of two negative binomial random variables. Previous characterizations of this expectation are approximate; we derive an exact characterization and analyze its scaling behavior, which may be of independent interest. We also use a martingale bounded differences argument to show that the actual coding delay is concentrated around its expectation.
Measurements of trapped-ion heating rates with exchangeable surfaces in close proximity

Electric-field noise from the surfaces of ion-trap electrodes couples to the ion’s charge causing heating of the ion’s motional modes. This heating limits the fidelity of quantum gates implemented in quantum information processing experiments. The exact mechanism that gives rise to electric-field noise from surfaces is not well-understood and remains an active area of research. In this work, we detail experiments intended to measure ion motional heating rates with exchangeable surfaces positioned in close proximity to the ion, as a sensor to electric-field noise. We have prepared samples with various surface conditions, characterized in situ with scanned probe microscopy and electron spectroscopy, ranging in degrees of cleanliness and structural order. The heating-rate data, however, show no significant differences between the disparate surfaces that were probed. These results suggest that the driving mechanism for electric-field noise from surfaces is due to more than just thermal excitations alone.
Field Analysis of Occupancy Sensor Operation: Parameters Affecting Lighting Energy Savings

(1996). Field Analysis of Occupancy Sensor Operation: Parameters Affecting Lighting Energy Savings. Journal of the Illuminating Engineering Society: Vol. 25, No. 1, pp. 83-92.
Tunneling under coherent control by sequences of unitary pulses

A general coherent control scenario to suppress or accelerate tunneling of quantum states decaying into a continuum is investigated. The method is based on deterministic, or stochastic, sequences of unitary pulses that affect the underlying interference phenomena responsible for quantum dynamics, without inducing decoherence, or collapsing the coherent evolution of the system. The influence of control sequences on the ensuing quantum dynamics is analyzed by using perturbation theory to first order in the control pulse fields and compared to dynamical decoupling protocols and to sequences of pulses that collapse the coherent evolution and induce quantum Zeno (QZE) or quantum anti-Zeno effects (AZE). The analysis reveals a subtle interplay between coherent and incoherent phenomena and demonstrates that dynamics analogous to the evolution due to QZE or AZE can be generated from stochastic sequences of unitary pulses when averaged over all possible realizations.
STIMULATED CREATION OF QUANTA DURING INFLATION AND THE OBSERVABLE UNIVERSE

Inflation provides a natural mechanism to account for the origin of cosmic structures. The generation of primordial inhomogeneities during inflation can be understood via the spontaneous creation of quanta from the vacuum. We show that when the corresponding stimulated creation of quanta is considered, the characteristics of the state of the universe at the onset of inflation are not diluted by the inflationary expansion and can be imprinted in the spectrum of primordial inhomogeneities. The non-gaussianities (particularly in the so-called squeezed configuration) in the cosmic microwave background and galaxy distribution can then tell us about the state of the universe that existed at the time when quantum field theory in curved spacetime first emerged as a plausible effective theory.
AutonoVi: Autonomous vehicle planning with dynamic maneuvers and traffic constraints

We present AutonoVi, a novel algorithm for autonomous vehicle navigation that supports dynamic maneuvers and integrates traffic constraints and norms. Our approach is based on optimization-based maneuver planning that supports dynamic lane-changes, swerving, and braking in all traffic scenarios and guides the vehicle to its goal position. We take into account various traffic constraints, including collision avoidance with other vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists using control velocity obstacles. We use a data-driven approach to model the vehicle dynamics for control and collision avoidance. Furthermore, our trajectory computation algorithm takes into account traffic rules and behaviors, such as stopping at intersections and stoplights, based on an arc-spline representation. We have evaluated our algorithm in a simulated environment and tested its interactive performance in urban and highway driving scenarios with tens of vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists. These scenarios include jaywalking pedestrians, sudden stops from high speeds, safely passing cyclists, a vehicle suddenly swerving into the roadway, and high-density traffic where the vehicle must change lanes to progress more effectively.