cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Precoder design for physical layer multicasting

This paper studies the design of linear precoders via instantaneous rate maximization over a K-user multicast channel, wherein multiple antennas are present at the transmitter as well as at all the receivers. We first consider the scenario wherein the linear precoder can be any complex valued matrix subject to rank and power constraints. Recognizing the resulting optimization problem to be NP-hard, we propose a cyclic alternating ascent based algorithm and establish its convergence to a stationary point. Simulation results reveal that our proposed algorithm considerably outperforms known competing solutions. We then consider a scenario in which the linear precoder can be formed by selecting and concatenating codewords from a finite codebook of precoding matrices, subject to rank and power constraints. We show that under this scenario, the instantaneous rate maximization problem is equivalent to a robust submodular maximization problem which is strongly NP-hard. We then propose a deterministic approximation algorithm and show that it yields a bicriteria approximation.
Capital Structure Misallocation

We ask whether financial assets are well-allocated in the cross-section of firms. Extending the framework of Hsieh and Klenow (2009) to the liabilities side of the balance sheet, we estimate the real losses that accrue from the cross-sectional misallocation of financial liabilities across firms. Using U.S. and Chinese data on manufacturing firms, we find significant misallocation of debt and equity. Although financial liabilities appear well-allocated in the United States, they are not in China. If China’s debt and equity markets were as developed as those in the United States, China would realize gains of 70-100% in real firm value. We also back out the cost of debt and equity for each firm with our model, taking into account allocation distortions. We find that larger firms and firms located in more developed cities face markedly lower costs. ∗Whited is from University of Michigan and NBER; twhited@umich.edu. Zhao is from SUNY Stony Brook; jake.zhao@stonybrook.edu. We thank Jiao Shi, Yufeng Wu, and Stefan Zeume for helpful comments.
A Refined Game Theory Approach to Railroad- Shipper Negotiations

Game theory provides a framework for analyzing problems when there are a small group of participants. This is unlike the economic model of perfect competition, which requires several participants. Game theory began as a way to analyze parlor card games but has developed into a rigorous analytical technique for evaluating strategic interactions. These interactions could be between hostile countries, competing companies or between a shipper and railroad. In fact, game theory provides a useful structure for analyzing the interactions between a shipper and a railroad. To frame a problem in game theory terms, we must consider what strategies each player might employ. We also need to determine the sequence of play: whether the players interact simultaneously or whether one player moves first and the other reacts. Finally, we must calculate payoffs each player gets from the interaction of those strategies to identify the likely outcome. The issue to be analyzed is the strategic interaction between a railroad and a shipper. The railroad provides services that the shipper uses for input to its production. The shipper has alternatives for some of the railroad’s services, which could be other modes or even other railroads. However, there are many instances when there are no alternatives. This creates market power for the railroad and has precipitated the implementation of railroad regulation. 3 We can frame the railroad-shipper interaction as a game with 2 players. The railroad moves first and has two strategies: price to avoid litigation or price to maximize profits. In this paper the railroad’s ability to short run profit maximize is limited by the shipper’s ability to re-source its transportation through a competitive build-out. In response, the shipper has 3 strategies: 1. Accept the railroad’s offered price 2. Invest (build-out) to achieve access to the nearest competing railroad and gain a competitive price 3. Litigate the offered price at the regulatory agency (Surface Transportation Board) As a simplification, we can say that if the shipper accepts the railroad’s rate, the shipper will sign a contract that locks in that price for a fixed term. A build-out requires the shipper to accept the offered rate for the duration of construction. However, once the build-out is complete, competition between the railroads will drive rates down to marginal cost. Litigation requires the agency to determine if the offered rate exceeds a rate reasonableness standard. The paper develops a model of this type of regulatory interaction. The model provides a tool to analyze the decisions of two parties. The railroad aims to maximize its profits. The shipper wants to minimize its costs. The railroad offers a rate and then the shipper chooses to either accept the price, build-out to gain competitive entry or litigate at the regulatory agency. The 4 model is used to analyze a series of different cost assumptions on each strategy.
On p -adic modular forms and the Bloch–Okounkov theorem

Bloch–Okounkov studied certain functions on partitions f called shifted symmetric polynomials. They showed that certain q-series arising from these functions (the so-called q-brackets \(\left _q\)) are quasimodular forms. We revisit a family of such functions, denoted \(Q_k\), and study the p-adic properties of their q-brackets. To do this, we define regularized versions \(Q_k^{(p)}\) for primes p. We also use Jacobi forms to show that the \(\left _q\) are quasimodular and find explicit expressions for them in terms of the \(\left _q\).
Photon-HDF5: An Open File Format for Timestamp-Based Single-Molecule Fluorescence Experiments

We introduce Photon-HDF5, an open and efficient file format to simplify exchange and long-term accessibility of data from single-molecule fluorescence experiments based on photon-counting detectors such as single-photon avalanche diode, photomultiplier tube, or arrays of such detectors. The format is based on HDF5, a widely used platform- and language-independent hierarchical file format for which user-friendly viewers are available. Photon-HDF5 can store raw photon data (timestamp, channel number, etc.) from any acquisition hardware, but also setup and sample description, information on provenance, authorship and other metadata, and is flexible enough to include any kind of custom data. The format specifications are hosted on a public website, which is open to contributions by the biophysics community. As an initial resource, the website provides code examples to read Photon-HDF5 files in several programming languages and a reference Python library (phconvert), to create new Photon-HDF5 files and convert several existing file formats into Photon-HDF5. To encourage adoption by the academic and commercial communities, all software is released under the MIT open source license.
Runtime of unstructured search with a faulty Hamiltonian oracle

We show that it is impossible to obtain a quantum speedup for a faulty Hamiltonian oracle. The effect of dephasing noise to this continuous-time oracle model has first been investigated by Shenvi, Brown, and Whaley [Phys. Rev. A 68, 052313 (2003).]. The authors consider a faulty oracle described by a continuous-time master equation that acts as dephasing noise in the basis determined by the marked item. The analysis focuses on the implementation with a particular driving Hamiltonian. A universal lower bound for this oracle model, which rules out a better performance with a different driving Hamiltonian, has so far been lacking. Here, we derive an adversary-type lower bound which shows that the evolution time T has to be at least in the order of N , i.e., the size of the search space, when the error rate of the oracle is constant. This means that quadratic quantum speedup vanishes and the runtime assumes again the classical scaling. For the standard quantum oracle model this result was first proven by Regev and Schiff [in Automata, Languages and Programming, Lecture Notes in Computer Science Vol. 5125 (Springer, Berlin, 2008), pp. 773–781]. Here, we extend this result to the continuous-time setting.
Konzeptionelle Aspekte einer Dokumentenarchitektur zur Datenintegration

In den letzten Jahren ist ein stark wachsendes Angebot von unterschiedlicher Hard- und Software fur Anwendungen im Buro zu erkennen. Die Zunahme umfaβt sowohl die Quantitat, als auch die Komplexitat der Systeme. Im Bereich der Textverarbeitung begrundet sich dieses Wachstum zu einem groβen Teil auf die Integration unterschiedlicher Objekttypen in Dokumenten. Bestanden fruher elektronische Dokumente hauptsachlich aus Texten, so warden heute zunehmend Daten aus bestehenden Dateien und Datenbanken, Grafiken und Sprache integriert. Zum Teil sind diese Anwendungen erst moglich geworden durch die weite Verbreitung der Datenverarbeitung mittels Personal Computer und deren groβem Leistungsvermogen.
Comparison of Inverse Wishart and Separation-Strategy Priors for Bayesian Estimation of Covariance Parameter Matrix in Growth Curve Analysis

Growth curve modeling provides a general framework for analyzing longitudinal data from social, behavioral, and educational sciences. Bayesian methods have been used to estimate growth curve models, in which priors need to be specified for unknown parameters. For the covariance parameter matrix, the inverse Wishart prior is most commonly used due to its proper and conjugate properties. However, many researchers have pointed out that the inverse Wishart prior might not work as expected. The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of the inverse Wishart prior and compare it with a class of separation-strategy priors on the parameter estimates of growth curve models. In this article, we illustrate the use of different types of priors with 2 real data analyses, and then conduct simulation studies to evaluate and compare these priors in estimating both linear and nonlinear growth curve models. For the linear model, the simulation study shows that both the inverse Wishart and the separation-strate...
Efficient Pd-Catalyzed Amination Reactions for Heterocycle Functionalization

The Pd-catalyzed amination of unprotected benzo-fused heterocycles is reported, which allows for greater flexibility and efficiency in the modification of this important class of molecules. The generality of these simple and efficient procedures is demonstrated through the synthesis of a wide variety of structural types.
Closed-form solutions and scaling laws for Kerr frequency combs

A single closed-form analytical solution of the driven nonlinear Schrodinger equation is developed, reproducing a large class of the behaviors in Kerr-comb systems, including bright-solitons, dark-solitons, and a large class of periodic wavetrains. From this analytical framework, a Kerr-comb area theorem and a pump-detuning relation are developed, providing new insights into soliton- and wavetrain-based combs along with concrete design guidelines for both. This new area theorem reveals significant deviation from the conventional soliton area theorem, which is crucial to understanding cavity solitons in certain limits. Moreover, these closed-form solutions represent the first step towards an analytical framework for wavetrain formation, and reveal new parameter regimes for enhanced Kerr-comb performance.
Spatial Mismatch Outside of Large Urban Areas: An Analysis of Welfare Recipients in Fresno County, California

Numerous scholars assert that welfare recipients face a mismatch between their residential locations in inner-city or rural areas and employment opportunities located in the suburbs far from where they live. However, the authors' findings bring into question the wholesale application of the spatial mismatch hypothesis to all welfare recipients. Welfare recipients in mid-sized cities such as Fresno, California, do not face spatial barriers to employment as they live in compact areas where distances between residential and employment locations are relatively short. In contrast, job access is important in the nonurbanized areas of Fresno County where welfare recipients who live in job-rich neighborhoods are more likely to be employed than are recipients who are dispersed throughout more isolated, nonurbanized areas.
From Fugitives to Ferguson: Repairing Historical and Structural Defects in Legally Sanctioned Use of Deadly Force

The lawful use of lethal force to subdue suspected wrongdoers has a long tradition in our nation. There is certainly nothing wrong with securing, incapacitating, or even killing violent persons who pose a serious threat to the lives of innocent individuals. One of the important roles of government is to protect people from harm and keep the peace. Recent events in Ferguson, Missouri, have highlighted the tension between the officers on the beat and citizens on the street. These tensions are not likely to subside unless there are major structural changes in the way the police do their job and the perception of officers in the community. Police are often perceived as getting special privileges in the courts, even when they engage in wrongdoing. This is particularly true in African-American neighborhoods, which seem to distrust police. Similar to other components of the judicial system that give rise to racial concerns such as obtaining confessions or selecting a jury - concerns that police officers receive special treatment instills little confidence in police for minority communities. Some of that distrust comes from the troubling application of the Fourth Amendment in the urban setting.
Preparation of α-imino aldehydes by [1,3]-rearrangements of O-alkenyl oximes.

The synthesis of α-imino aldehydes has been achieved through the thermal [1,3]-rearrangement of O-alkenyl benzophenone oximes. A copper-mediated C–O bond coupling between benzophenone oxime and alkenyl boronic acids provides facile access to the required O-alkenyl oximes and a Horner–Wadsworth–Emmons olefination can be applied to the α-imino aldehyde products to give γ-imino-α,β-unsaturated esters. The scope of the method is described and mechanistic experiments are discussed.
Professional Courage in the Military: Regulation Fit and Establishing Moral Intent

Cyclical outbursts of unethical activities from both public and private sectors are strong indicators to government and business leaders that something is askew in current approaches to achieve sustained moral action in the workplace. While leaders often go out of their way to demonstrate that they strive for ethical behavior, the organizational systems and structures meant to insure ethical action are typically regulation-based, with compliance-based processes to drive moral action. These approaches frequently target how to be responsible and vigilant and to avoid negative behaviors, yet it is questionable whether they motivate individuals to act morally when the situation requires professional courage. While organizational processes serve as baseline influencers, individuals are responsible for establishing their internal motivations to engage in ethical behavior as they conduct their professional duties. Assuming this is the case, we wondered how individuals move to establish the moral intent to engage in professional courage in the workplace and how systemic drivers within the organization may serve to promote or curtail movement toward ethical behavior. To address this concern we asked this
STEM investigation of exsolution lamellae and “c” reflections in Ca-rich dolomite from the Platteville Formation, western Wisconsin

Dolomite crystals in partially dolomitized limestone from the Platteville Formation are both compositionally and microstructurally heterogeneous. A single dolomite crystal usually contains three phases: the host Ca-rich dolomite [Ca 1.14 Mg 0.86 (CO 3 ) 2 ], an Fe-bearing dolomite [Ca 1.06 Mg 0.80 Fe 0.14 (CO 3 ) 2 ], and calcite inclusions. These three phases show similar orientations. The Ca-rich dolomite exhibits modulated microstructures with wavelength ranging from 7 to 30 nm. The modulated microstructures are not evident in Fe-bearing dolomite. Modulations in the Ca-rich dolomite have three predominant orientation ranges in the studied sample: from (205) to (104), from (001) to (101), and ~(110), which are consistent with previous studies. Bright-field (BF) and high-angle annular dark-field (HAADF) images confirm that these modulations are due to chemical variation rather than strain or diffraction contrast. The Ca-rich lamellae are Mg-rich calcite with compositions ranging from Ca 0.85 Mg 0.15 CO 3 to Ca 0.70 Mg 0.30 CO 3 . The observed results indicate that these Ca-rich exsolution lamellae formed during diagenesis. In this study, three kinds of “ c ”-reflections, which are weak spots in the halfway position between the principal reflections along the (104)*, (112)*, and (110)* directions, have been found in the diffraction patterns of some Ca-rich dolomite. Mg-Ca ordering in x-y planes was not observed directly in Z-contrast images. FFT patterns from the Z-contrast images do not show “ c ”-reflections. STEM images confirm that the “ c ”-reflections could result from multiple diffraction between the host dolomite and twinned Mg-calcite nano-lamellae under TEM imaging and diffraction modes.
Size Anomalies in U.S. Bank Stock Returns

The largest commercial bank stocks, ranked by total size of the balance sheet, have significantly lower risk-adjusted returns than small- and medium-sized bank stocks, even though large banks are significantly more levered. We uncover a size factor in the component of bank returns that is orthogonal to the standard risk factors, including small minus big, which has the right covariance with bank returns to explain the average risk-adjusted returns. This factor measures size-dependent exposure to bank-specific tail risk. These findings are consistent with government guarantees that protect shareholders of large banks, but not small banks, in disaster states.
A force-level theory of the rheology of entangled rod and chain polymer liquids. I. Tube deformation, microscopic yielding, and the nonlinear elastic limit

We employ a first-principles-based, force-level approach to construct the anharmonic tube confinement field for entangled fluids of rigid needles, and also for chains described at the primitive-path (PP) level in two limiting situations where chain stretch is assumed to either be completely equilibrated or unrelaxed. The influence of shear and extensional deformation and polymer orientation is determined in a nonlinear elastic limit where dissipative relaxation processes are intentionally neglected. For needles and PP-level chains, a self-consistent analysis of transverse polymer harmonic dynamical fluctuations predicts that deformation-induced orientation leads to tube weakening or widening. In contrast, for deformed polymers in which chain stretch does not relax, we find tube strengthening or compression. For all three systems, a finite maximum transverse entanglement force localizing the polymers in effective tubes is predicted. The conditions when this entanglement force can be overcome by an external...
Innovative Conduct in Computing and Internet Markets

Abstract How has innovative and competitive behavior in computing and Internet markets evolved over the past half-century? In the first section of this review, I discuss these questions in light of six topics: the limited role for technology push; the diffusion of general-purpose technologies; the organization of proprietary platforms; the presence of asymmetric innovation incentives; the importance of market-oriented learning; and the localization of economic activity. Despite dramatic changes in outcomes, in the predominant product markets, and in the identities of leading sellers, the conditions of market structure shape innovative conduct in firms from one year to the next and, to a large extent, from one decade to the next, in many of the same economic terms. In the second section, I closely examine the US commercial Internet experience in the 1990s. While the peculiar events that led to the invention of the commercial Internet explain some of the salient and unique features of the commercial experience, much innovative activity resembles conduct seen for many decades in computing markets. This analysis highlights three additional topics: the division of technical leadership; the rise of open organizational forms for coordinating platforms; and the extraordinary breadth of activity touched by the Internet. These three additional factors account for many of the novel aspects of innovative conduct in the Internet market.
The Staggers Act at 35: Railroad Economics and Regulation

This collection of papers includes authors who served on the National Academy of Science-Transportation Research Board (TRB) Committee for a Study of Freight Rail Transportation and Regulation (2014–15) and other authors who participated in the Economics and Regulation of the Freight Railroad Industry Research Colloquium at Georgetown University (June 2015). It covers topics from the TRB report and a wide range of other topics related to the freight railroad industry. These include: a synopsis of the research and findings of the TRB committee, the financial performance of railroads since deregulation, examination of price regulation, costing theory and methods, measuring revenue adequacy, consequences of providing network access, as well as railroad safety. The collection provides a comprehensive review of regulation, economics, and current issues confronting the freight railroad industry.
What Motivates Effort?: Evidence and Expert Forecasts

How much do different monetary and non-monetary motivators induce costly effort? Does the effectiveness line up with the expectations of researchers and with results in the literature? We conduct a large-scale real-effort experiment with eighteen treatment arms. We examine the effect of (1) standard incentives; (2) behavioural factors like social preferences and reference dependence; and (3) non-monetary inducements from psychology. We find that (1) monetary incentives work largely as expected, including a very low piece rate treatment which does not crowd out effort; (2) the evidence is partly consistent with standard behavioural models, including warm glow, though we do not find evidence of probability weighting; (3) the psychological motivators are effective, but less so than incentives. We then compare the results to forecasts by 208 academic experts. On average, the experts anticipate several key features, like the effectiveness of psychological motivators. A sizeable share of experts, however, expects crowd-out, probability weighting, and pure altruism, counterfactually. As a further comparison, we present a meta-analysis of similar treatments in the literature. Overall, predictions based on the literature are correlated with, but underperform, the expert forecasts.
Chained Predictions Using Convolutional Neural Networks

In this work, we present an adaptation of the sequence-to-sequence model for structured vision tasks. In this model, the output variables for a given input are predicted sequentially using neural networks. The prediction for each output variable depends not only on the input but also on the previously predicted output variables. The model is applied to spatial localization tasks and uses convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for processing input images and a multi-scale deconvolutional architecture for making spatial predictions at each step. We explore the impact of weight sharing with a recurrent connection matrix between consecutive predictions, and compare it to a formulation where these weights are not tied. Untied weights are particularly suited for problems with a fixed sized structure, where different classes of output are predicted at different steps. We show that chain models achieve top performing results on human pose estimation from images and videos.
Cardiac arrhythmia visualization in a virtual heart for electrophysiology education

The 3D cardiac arrhythmia visualization model in this paper was developed to assist medical students and fellows in understanding the underlying electrophysiology of cardiac arrhythmias and their treatments. In this detailed cardiac model, the user can freely move to any position of the heart and observe it from any point of view. A transparent mode is applied to facilitate a more detailed exploration of the heart. Two common types of arrhythmias, atrial flutter and atrioventricular nodal re-entrant tachycardia as well as the effects of catheter ablation treatment are represented in this model. VR920 3D glasses facilitate virtual reality immersion. The model is expected to help users to visualize abstract electrophysiology concepts and procedures, raise medical education and training levels, and, ultimately, benefit patients through better training outcomes.
Reconstructing Breakage Fusion Bridge Architectures Using Noisy Copy Numbers

The Breakage Fusion Bridge (BFB) process is a key marker for genomic instability, producing highly rearranged genomes in relatively small numbers of cell cycles. While the process itself was observed during the late 1930s, little is known about the extent of BFB in tumor genome evolution. Moreover, BFB can dramatically increase copy numbers of chromosomal segments, which in turn hardens the tasks of both reference-assisted and ab initio genome assembly. Based on available data such as Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) and Array Comparative Genomic Hybridization (aCGH) data, we show here how BFB evidence may be identified, and how to enumerate all possible evolutions of the process with respect to observed data. Specifically, we describe practical algorithms that, given a chromosomal arm segmentation and noisy segment copy number estimates, produce all segment count vectors supported by the data that can be produced by BFB, and all corresponding BFB architectures. This extends the scope of analyses described in our previous work, which produced a single count vector and architecture per instance. We apply these analyses to a comprehensive human cancer dataset, demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the computation, and suggest methods for further assertions of candidate BFB samples. Source code of our tool can be found online.
Anvil Productivities of Tropical Deep Convective Clusters and Their Regional Differences

AbstractThe anvil productivities of tropical deep convection are investigated and compared among eight climatological regions using 4 yr of collocated and combined CloudSat and CALIPSO data. For all regions, the convective clusters become deeper while they become wider and tend to be composed of multiple rainy cores. Two strong detrainment layers from deep convection are observed at 6–8 km and above 10 km, which is consistent with the trimodal characteristics of tropical convection that are associated with different divergence, cloud detrainment, and fractional cloudiness. The anvil productivity of tropical deep convection depends on the convection scale, convective life stage or intensity, and large-scale environment. Anvil ice mass ratio related to the whole cluster starts to level off or decrease when the cluster effective scales Weff (the dimension of an equivalent rectangular with the same volume and height as the original cluster) increase to about 200 km wide, while the ratios of anvil scale and vo...
Development of a Behavioral Sleep Intervention as a Novel Approach for Pediatric Obesity in School-aged Children

Despite being the focus of widespread public health efforts, childhood obesity remains an epidemic worldwide. Given the now well-documented consequences of obesity for childhood health and psychosocial functioning, as well as associated morbidity in adulthood, identifying novel, modifiable behaviors that can be targeted to improve weight control is imperative. Enhancing children's sleep may show promise in assisting with weight regulation. The present paper describes the development of a brief behavioral sleep intervention for school-aged children, including preliminary findings of this work as well as areas for future study.
Overuse injuries in sport: the foot.

The authors discuss the clinical characteristics and treatment of such overuse injuries of the foot as plantar fasciitis, Haglund’s syndrome, Jones’ fracture, and tarsal navicular stress fractures. A consideration of orthotic devices is also provided.
Increasing aeolian dust deposition to snowpacks in the Rocky Mountains inferred from snowpack, wet deposition, and aerosol chemistry

Abstract Mountain snowpacks are a vital natural resource for ∼1.5 billion people in the northern Hemisphere, helping to meet human and ecological demand for water in excess of that provided by summer rain. Springtime warming and aeolian dust deposition accelerate snowmelt, increasing the risk of water shortages during late summer, when demand is greatest. While climate networks provide data that can be used to evaluate the effect of warming on snowpack resources, there are no established regional networks for monitoring aeolian dust deposition to snow. In this study, we test the hypothesis that chemistry of snow, wet deposition, and aerosols can be used as a surrogate for dust deposition to snow. We then analyze spatial patterns and temporal trends in inferred springtime dust deposition to snow across the Rocky Mountains, USA, for 1993–2014. Geochemical evidence, including strong correlations (r2 ≥ 0.94) between Ca2+, alkalinity, and dust concentrations in snow deposited during dust events, indicate that carbonate minerals in dust impart a strong chemical signature that can be used to track dust deposition to snow. Spatial patterns in chemistry of snow, wet deposition, and aerosols indicate that dust deposition increases from north to south in the Rocky Mountains, and temporal trends indicate that winter/spring dust deposition increased by 81% in the southern Rockies during 1993–2014. Using a multivariate modeling approach, we determined that increases in dust deposition and decreases in springtime snowfall combined to accelerate snowmelt timing in the southern Rockies by approximately 7–18 days between 1993 and 2014. Previous studies have shown that aeolian dust emissions may have doubled globally during the 20th century, possibly due to drought and land-use change. Climate projections for increased aridity in the southwestern U.S., northern Africa, and other mid-latitude regions of the northern Hemisphere suggest that aeolian dust emissions may continue to increase, compounding the risk that climate warming poses to snowpack water resources in arid/semi-arid regions of the world.
Review on powder-bed laser additive manufacturing of Inconel 718 parts

This study presents a thorough literature review on the powder-bed laser additive manufacturing processes such as selective laser melting of Inconel 718 parts. This article first introduces the gen...
High Resolution CT with Image Reformation in Maxillofacial Pathology

Twenty-four patients with maxillofacial pathology were examined with computed tomography (CT) using thin (1.5–5.0 mm) sections allowing computer reformation of images in multiple planes. Eight patients also had pluridirectional tomography. The patients included 14 with facial trauma, four with acute paranasal sinus infections, and six with suspected neoplasms. High resolution CT with reformations allowed thorough evaluation of facial trauma. Fracture sites were correctly identified, as were the relation of fragments to vital structures. The form of structural facial alteration was easily assessed, optimizing the presurgical plan for reconstruction. In addition, CT allowed simultaneous evaluation of associated brain injury. In acute infectious processes and neoplasms, CT defined the extent of involvement and directed the type of therapy. In both situations, accurate assessment of bony destruction permitted definitive planning for bony debridement in infection and helped in the differentiation of benign from malignant processes in neoplasia. Density determination also allowed differentiation of neoplastic soft tissue from inspissated mucus within obstructed sinuses. Experience suggests that CT can be the definitive imaging method in the diagnosis of complex maxillofacial pathology when sufficient evaluation is unavailable from plain films. It was superior to thin-section pluridirectional tomography in several instances.
Low loss spin wave resonances in organic-based ferrimagnet vanadium tetracyanoethylene thin films

We experimentally demonstrate high quality factor spin wave resonances in an encapsulated thin film of the organic-based ferrimagnet vanadium tetracyanoethylene ( V[TCNE]x∼2) coated on an a-plane sapphire substrate by low temperature chemical vapor deposition. The thickness standing wave modes are observed in a broad frequency range (1 GHz–5 GHz) with high quality factor exceeding 3200 in ambient air at room temperature, rivaling those of inorganic magnetic materials. The exchange constant of V[TCNE]x∼2, a crucial material parameter for future study and device design of the V[TCNE]x∼2, is extracted from the measurement with a value of (4.61±0.35)×10−16 m2. Our result establishes the feasibility of using organic-based materials for building hybrid magnonic devices and circuits.
Race and Sex Differences in Management and Outcomes of Patients After ST-Elevation and Non-ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarct: Results From the NCDR.

Background Race and sex have been shown to affect management of myocardial infarction (MI); however, it is unclear if such disparities exist in contemporary care of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). Hypothesis Disparities in care will be less prevalent in more heavily protocol-driven management of STEMI than the less algorithmic care of NSTEMI. Methods Data were collected from the ACTION Registry-GWTG database to assess care differences related to race and sex of patients presenting with NSTEMI or STEMI. For key treatments and outcomes, adjustments were made including patient demographics, baseline comorbidities, and markers of socioeconomic status. Results Key demographic variables demonstrate significant differences in baseline comorbidities; black patients had higher incidences of hypertension and diabetes, and women more frequently had diabetes. With few exceptions, rates of acute and discharge medical therapy were similar by race in any sex category in both STEMI and NSTEMI populations. Rates of catheterization were similar by race for STEMI but not for NSTEMI, where both black men and women had lower rates of invasive therapy. Rates of revascularization were significantly lower for black patients in both the STEMI and NSTEMI groups regardless of sex. Rates of adverse events differed by sex, with disparities for death and major bleeding; after adjustment, rates were similar by race within sex comparisons. Conclusions In this contemporary cohort, although there are differences by race in presentation and management of MI, heavily protocol-driven processes seem to show fewer racial disparities.
Blood Transfusion and Cancer Surgery Outcomes: A Continued Reason for Concern

Background The adverse effects of blood transfusion after cancer surgery have been recently challenged in older anemic persons or those with substantial intraoperative blood loss. We hypothesized that intraoperative blood transfusions continue to adversely impact short-term cancer surgery outcomes regardless of age or preoperative hematocrit levels. Methods Using the 2005 to 2008 American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program, we identified 38,926 patients who underwent cancer surgery. Pre-, intra-, and postoperative factors were compared by units of blood transfusion a patient received. Stratified multivariable analyses, by age and hematocrit level, were performed to assess the impact of blood transfusion on operative outcomes, adjusting for covariates. Results Fourteen percent of patients received an intraoperative blood transfusion. Of those, >60% received only 1 to 2 units of blood. Receipt of intraoperative blood transfusion was associated with higher rates of 30-day operative mortality, major complications, total number of complications, and prolonged length of stay across age groups and in persons with low to normal hematocrit levels. Conclusion The present study shows that intraoperative blood transfusion adversely impacts short-term operative cancer surgery outcomes across all age groups and in those with low to normal hematocrit levels. These findings provide insightful implications on the patterns of blood transfusion during cancer surgery that deserve further investigation.
A collocation-based approach to solve the finite horizon Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation

This paper presents an approach to derive the optimal feedback control laws by solving the finite time Hamilton Jacobi Ballman equation. Conventional methods to solve the HJB equation suffer from curse of dimensionality as the number of spatial variables is equal to the state dimension, which is twice the number of degrees of freedom of a mechanical system. The presented approach exploits the recently developed non-product quadrature method known as Conjugate Unscented Transformation (CUT) in conjunction with sparse approximation tools to devise a collocation method to solve the HJB equation in a computationally efficient manner. Numerical simulation results are presented to assess the efficacy of the proposed ideas
Aperture antenna with non-Gaussian phase errors

The paper derives the mean radiation pattern of an aperture antenna with random phase errors when the errors are a stationary random, but not necessarily normal, function with given probability distribution and correlation coefficient. The case of exponential errors is investigated as an example.
Towards security and privacy for pervasive computing

Pervasive computing environments with their interconnected devices and services promise seamless integration of digital infrastructure into our everyday lives. While the focus of current research is on how to connect new devices and build useful applications to improve functionality, the security and privacy issues in such environments have not been explored in any depth. While traditional distributed computing research attempts to abstract away physical location of users and resources, pervasive computing applications often exploit physical location and other context information about users and resources to enhance the user experience. The need to share resources and collaborate introduces new types of interaction among users as well as between the virtual and physical worlds. In this context, it becomes difficult to separate physical security from digital security. Existing policies and mechanisms may not provide adequate guarantees to deal with new exposures and vulnerabilities introduced by the pervasive computing paradigm. In this paper we explore the challenges for building security and privacy into pervasive computing environments, describe our prototype implementation that addresses some of these issues, and propose some directions for future work.
Focused model-learning and planning for non-Gaussian continuous state-action systems

We introduce a framework for model learning and planning in stochastic domains with continuous state and action spaces and non-Gaussian transition models. It is efficient because (1) local models are estimated only when the planner requires them; (2) the planner focuses on the most relevant states to the current planning problem; and (3) the planner focuses on the most informative and/or high-value actions. Our theoretical analysis shows the validity and asymptotic optimality of the proposed approach. Empirically, we demonstrate the effectiveness of our algorithm on a simulated multi-modal pushing problem.
Demonstration of a variable data-rate free-space optical communication architecture using efficient coherent techniques

The next generation free-space optical (FSO) communications infrastructure will need to support a wide range of links from space-based terminals in low Earth orbit, geosynchronous Earth orbit, and deep space to the ground. Efficiently enabling such a diverse mission set requires an optical communications system architecture capable of providing excellent sensitivity (i.e., few photons-per-bit) while allowing reductions in data rate for increased system margin. Specifically, coherent optical transmission systems have excellent sensitivity and can trade data rate for system margin by adjusting the modulation format, the forward error correction (FEC) code rate, or by repeating blocks of channel symbols. These techniques can be implemented on a common set of hardware at a fixed system baud rate. Experimental results show that changing modulation formats between quaternary phase-shifted keying and binary phase-shifted keying enables a 3-dB scaling in data rate and a 3.5-dB scaling in system margin. Experimental results of QPSK transmission show a 5.6-dB scaling of data rate and an 8.9-dB scaling in system margin by varying the FEC code rate from rate-9/10 to rate-1/4. Experimental results also show a 45.6-dB scaling in data rate over a 41.7-dB range of input powers by block-repeating and combining a pseudorandom binary sequence up to 36,017 times.
Discovery and Precise Characterization by the MEarth Project of LP 661-13, an Eclipsing Binary Consisting of Two Fully Convective Low-mass Stars

We report the detection of stellar eclipses in the LP 661-13 system. We present the discovery and characterization of this system, including high resolution spectroscopic radial velocities and a photometric solution spanning two observing seasons. LP 661-13 is a low mass binary system with an orbital period of $4.7043512^{+0.0000013}_{-0.0000010}$ days at a distance of $24.9 \pm 1.3$ parsecs. LP 661-13A is a $0.30795 \pm 0.00084$ $M_\odot$ star while LP 661-13B is a $0.19400 \pm 0.00034$ $M_\odot$ star. The radius of each component is $0.3226 \pm 0.0033$ $R_\odot$ and $0.2174 \pm 0.0023$ $R_\odot$, respectively. We detect out of eclipse modulations at a period slightly shorter than the orbital period, implying that at least one of the components is not rotating synchronously. We find that each component is slightly inflated compared to stellar models, and that this cannot be reconciled through age or metallicity effects. As a nearby eclipsing binary system where both components are near or below the full-convection limit, LP 661-13 will be a valuable test of models for the structure of cool dwarf stars.
Evaluation of CSF shunt function : value of functional examination with contrast material

Functional positive-contrast shuntography includes a patency check of both limbs of the shunt and the shunt valve by fluoroscopy following the injection of an iodinated contrast agent (anatomic shuntogram) and an assessment of the adequacy of ventricular fluid drainage under physiologic conditions by using serial CT scans to assess the rate of iodine dissipation from the ventricular system (physiologic shuntogram). To demonstrate its efficacy and utility, 82 functional shuntograms were obtained in 55 patients. Fifty-one of the 82 studies were abnormal. Of these, 22 demonstrated patency of both the proximal and distal limbs with an accompanying slow dissipation of contrast material after injection (21 of 22 patients were adults). Eighteen of these 22 patients improved following the reduction of shunt drainage pressure. In the case of frank shunt obstruction, the site of obstruction was delineated clearly in all 29 cases. Correlation of clinical outcome with test results confirmed the utility of this technique, especially when applied to the shunted adult hydrocephalic patient whose response to the shunt had been inadequate. The technique described here allows the clinician to differentiate between physiologic and anatomic shunt failure and between shunt failure and normal shunt function. It also allows for precise localization of the shunt obstruction in anatomic shunt failure and for demonstration of physiologic shunt failure when shunt patency is demonstrated in the presence of the slow dissipation of intraventricular contrast medium.
Association between serum cotinine level and prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: a cross-sectional study from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

The data on the effect of smoking on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has been controversial. The aim of this study was to investigate if an association exists between serum cotinine level (a tobacco biomarker) and NAFLD prevalence in the general US population. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III). We included 11,003 adults aged 20–74 years who underwent ultrasonography. Of those, 4036 were identified as having NAFLD and 6967 were recognized as controls. The percentage of current smokers was significantly lower in subjects with NAFLD compared with those in controls (21.5% vs 26.0%, p
Generating Politically-Relevant Event Data

Automatically generated political event data is an important part of the social science data ecosystem. The approaches for generating this data, though, have remained largely the same for two decades. During this time, the field of computational linguistics has progressed tremendously. This paper presents an overview of political event data, including methods and ontologies, and a set of experiments to determine the applicability of deep neural networks to the extraction of political events from news text.
Citizen engagement in rulemaking -- evidence on regulatory practices in 185 countries

This paper presents a new database of indicators measuring the extent to which rulemaking processes are transparent and participatory across 185 countries. The data look at how citizen engagement happens in practice, including when and how governments open the policy-making process to public input. The data also capture the use of ex ante assessments to determine the possible cost of compliance with a proposed new regulation, the likely administrative burden of enforcing the regulation, and its potential environmental and social impacts. The data show that citizens have more opportunities to participate directly in the rulemaking process in developed economies than in developing ones. Differences are also apparent among regions: rulemaking processes are significantly less transparent and inclusive in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, and South Asia on average than in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development high-income countries, Europe and Central Asia, and East Asia and the Pacific. In addition, ex ante impact assessments are much more common among higher-income economies than among lower-income ones. And greater citizen engagement in rulemaking is associated with higher-quality regulation, stronger democratic regimes, and less corrupt institutions.
An Alternative Approach to Mean Field Game with Major and Minor Players, and Applications to Herders Impacts

The goal of the paper is to introduce a formulation of the mean field game with major and minor players as a fixed point on a space of controls. This approach emphasizes naturally the role played by McKean–Vlasov dynamics in some of the players’ optimization problems. We apply this approach to linear quadratic models for which we recover the existing solutions for open loop equilibria, and we show that we can also provide solutions for closed loop versions of the game. Finally, we implement numerically our theoretical results on a simple model of flocking.