cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Alignment effects in two-photon double ionization of H 2 in femtosecond xuv laser pulses

Triple-differential cross sections for two-photon double ionization of the aligned hydrogen molecule at the equilibrium distance are presented for a central photon energy of 30 eV. The temporal response of the laser-driven molecule is investigated by solving the time-dependent Schr\"odinger equation in full dimensionality using two-center elliptical coordinates and a finite-element discrete-variable-representation approach. The molecular orientation is found to have a strong effect on the emission modes of the two correlated photoelectrons. This molecular effect is most noticeable when the molecular axis and the laser polarization vector are oriented parallel to each other. For intermediate cases between the parallel and perpendicular geometries, the dominant emission modes for two-electron ejection oscillate between those for the two extreme cases. The contributions from different ionization channels are also analyzed in detail. Depending on the emission direction of the reference electron, the interference contributions from the various channels can be constructive or destructive at small alignment angles, while they always contribute constructively to the triple-differential cross sections near the perpendicular geometry.
A Novel Approach for Treatment of Cold Agglutinin Syndrome-Related Severe Hemolysis

Intravascular hemolysis related to cold agglutinin syndrome results from the activation of the classical complement pathway by red blood cell (RBC) surface I/i antigen bound autoantibodies. Despite built-in mechanisms that limit continued downstream complement activation, some patients may develop life-threatening intravascular hemolysis due to the formation of membrane attack complexes. We present a case of severe intravascular hemolysis due to cold agglutinin syndrome that was treated successfully using proximal complement inhibition with commercial C1 esterase inhibitor. The role of complement inhibition in controlling the intravascular hemolysis and resolving the immune dysfunction that leads to the syndrome is discussed. J Hematol. 2016;5(1):30-33 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.14740/jh242w
The study of psychosomatic gynecology and obstetrics.

An outline of female psychosexual development is presented as a framework for an understanding of psychosomatic gynecologic problems. The stages are designated as oral, anal and phallic or oedipal. Maladjustments, regressions or fixations related to any phase of psychosexual development can result in functional disturbances in adult life. The menarche and adolescence are other periods in a girl's life when unresolved conflicts may form the basis for future difficulty. Preparation of the adolescent girl for her role as wife and mother is the most neglected part of her education in our society. Pelvic pain, dysmenorrhea and psychogenic infertility are discussed in relation to psychosexual development, with particular emphasis on the neurophysiology of ovulation.
Investigation of Serum Level of Fat-soluble Vitamins Among Urban Children in Zhejiang Province

OBJECTIVE: To investigate and compare the serum level of fat - soluble vitamins among urban children in Zhejiang Province.METHODS: The serum level of fat-soluble vitamins was determined by RP - HPLC.RESULTS: Totally, 274 children were examined, and the average serum concentrations of vitamin E, vitamin A, and beta-carotene were(9.02±2.36), (0.53±0.10) and (0.23±0.16)μg·mL-1, respectively .The detectable rate and mean of 25- hydroxyvitamin D3 were 75.55% and (18.51±7.64) ng·ml-1, rescpectively,and 51.10% and (20.83±10.67) ng·mL-1 with vitamin D3. The serum level of fat-soluble vitamins was not significantly different between sexes(P 0.05), but significantly different between the cities(P0.01 or P0.05) .CONCLUSION: The serum level of vitamin E,vitamin A, and beta - carotene among urban children from the three cities of Zhejiang Province is good as a whole,but 25- hydroxyvitamin D3 and vitamin D3 is relatively poor.
Historical Background and Impact on Healthcare

The patient consultation in pharmacy mainly involves “talking with patients about the medications they are intended to take so that they will get the most benefit from the medications” (Rantucci, 1997, p. 26). However, “talking with patients” is a new trend in pharmaceutical care; American pharmacists have not always been counseling patients.
A Consumer-based Evaluation of Healthcare Price and Quality Transparency

Growing trends in private and public healthcare spending has created a sense of urgency around better understanding and publicizing healthcare costs and quality. The quantity and usability of consumer-based websites providing healthcare price and quality transparency is steadily growing. These websites are well-positioned to provide comparative information which may influence consumer purchasing decisions. This research evaluates the growing trend in publicly available transparency data and the influence this information may have on healthcare leaders, providers, policy-makers and consumers.
ESTIMATION OF DERIVATIVES

This chapter describes functions and their behavior. The programs for the computation of tables of functions can be used when one comes to the graphing of functions using the computer. The chapter also discusses numerical estimation of the first derivative, the numerical estimation of limits, linear approximations, and tangents. While the computer can estimate derivatives up to a point, and thereby give strong evidence for the idea of the limit, the derivative must be found by means of the rules of the calculus in the final analysis. The computer can use the derivative to construct the linear, or tangent line, approximation to a function.
An Analysis of Factors Determining Competitiveness: the Case of the Indonesian Palm Oil Industry

Indonesian Kajian ini menganalisis faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi daya saing industri kelapa sawit Indonesia di pasar internasional. Kerangka kajian ini menggabungkan pendekatan teori perdagangan neo-klasik dan manajemen strategis dalam menganalisis daya saing internasional pada tingkat industri. Penelitian ini menunjukan bahwa daya saing global industri kelapa sawit di Indonesia dapat dijelaskan oleh produktifitas tenaga kerja, nilai tukar rupiah, dan rasio konsentrasi empat perusahaan. Campur tangan pemerintah dalam bentuk penentuan harga alokasi dalam negeri juga merupakan faktor yang sangat penting dan berpengaruh negatif pada daya saing global industri kelapa sawit di Indonesia. English This paper analyses factors that determine the competitiveness of the Indonesian palm oil industry including the effect of government interventions. The conceptual framework used in this study combines neo-classical trade and strategic management approaches for analyzing competitiveness at the industry level. This study shows that the competitiveness of the Indonesian palm oil industry can be explained by its labor productivity, the real exchange rates, and the four-firm concentration ratio. It is shown that government interventions--in the form of domestic allocation prices--have significant and negative effects on the competitiveness of the palm oil industry.
Nonequilibrium degassing, regassing, and vapor fluxing in magmatic feeder systems

Magma degassing models typically invoke volatile depletion of a single parental melt, with permeable loss of exsolved gas having served for many years as the paradigm for the transition from volatile-rich, explosive eruptions to volatile-depleted lava flows. These degassing models are guided by measurements of H2O, CO2, and hydrogen isotope variations retained in melt that quenched to glass, but the existing models are not uniquely constrained by the data. There also remains uncertainty surrounding the origin and significance of volcanic glass fragments. We show that individual obsidian pyroclasts from Mono Craters, California (USA), are heterogeneous in dissolved H2O and CO2, suggesting that clasts are assembled from juvenile melt and rewelded ash during magma ascent. This is in contrast to the conventional view that clasts are chemically homogeneous and sample the chilled, glassy margins of conduit walls. The new measurements of dissolved H2O and CO2 help reconcile existing open-system degassing models used to explain elevated CO2/H2O ratios, provide time scales based on diffusion modeling for pyroclast formation, and show that magma does not necessarily lose volatiles monotonically during ascent-driven decompression.
A wave theory of heat transport with applications to Kapitsa resistance and thermal rectification

We develop a theory of thermal transport in nanoscale-layered structures based on wave processes. The theory incorporates two fundamental principles, first, that the spectra of thermally excited waves are determined by the temperature differential and the heat flux, and second, that the wave fields in the heat exchanging domains are coupled. The developed method includes classical theories as special cases that are valid in larger scales, and it naturally explains such phenomena as interface thermal resistance (Kapitsa resistance) and thermal rectification (asymmetry of thermal transport). Numerical examples demonstrate the feasibility of the approach, and they show good agreement with measurements of Kapitsa resistance reported in the literature.
Microsurgical identification and excision of an intratesticular mass

Objective To demonstrate a step-by-step approach to microsurgical partial orchiectomy (PO) in a man with a small intratesticular mass. Design Video presentation. Setting University hospital. Patient(s) A 22-year-old man with right testicular pain and swelling found to have a small, nonpalpable 8-mm hypoechoic testicular mass on ultrasound. Tumor markers were negative. Intervention(s) Partial orchiectomy. Main Outcome Measure(s) Intraoperative technique with commentary highlighting tips for a successful resection. Result(s) This video provides a brief introduction to and indications for PO as an alternative to radical orchiectomy. We describe the microsurgical approach to PO through an inguinal incision for the resection of a small intratesticular mass. Conclusion(s) Microsurgical PO should be considered for select patients as an alternative to radical orchiectomy. The microscopic approach provides a more precise resection with limited collateral damage to surrounding parenchyma.
Water Pollution Control Institutions

The recent change in the Federal water quality regional organization, whereby regions are now being regrouped with state rather than river basin boundaries, may have considerable policy implications. The Water Quality staff in the Environmental Protection Agency, when it was part of the Interior Department, had concluded officially that regional water quality control systems, organized for river basins, were not generally feasible in the United States, even though they were addmitedly desirable in principle. At the present time there is a distinct dichotomy between attitudes toward pollution control at the Federal and local levels, with the state caught uncomfortably in the middle.
Parameter Identification of Exponential Signals in Colored Noise Environments

Abstract An algorithmic procedure is presented for the identification of the parameters of exponential signals, measured in colored noise. Previous papers on identifying sinusoids in noise have concentrated mainly on white noise disturbances. In a practical environment however, the disturbance is usually colored; sea-clutter in a radar context, is lowpass type noise for example When least squares type estimators are used in the colored noise environment, this usually leads to an unacceptable bias in the estimates. In this paper we propose an identification method called Singu1ar Val ue Decomposition Bias Elimination (SVDBE). In this approach assumptions are made about the noise generation system being ARMA, or ARMA respectively. The parameters of this noise model are then iteratively estimated along with the exponential signal parameters, via Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) based least squares. The iteration process starts with the white noise assumption, and improves on that by allowing parameters in the noise model to vary away from the white noise case. A high order modal decomposition is found, and the best subset of the identified modes is selected. Simulations assess the merits of the proposed algorithm
Holocaust-Era Art Restitution Claims: Is the HEAR Act a Game Changer?

The author of this article presents a legal analysis of the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act of 2016 (“HEAR Act”), signed into law by President Barack Obama on December 16, 2016, which creates a uniform, federal six-year statute of limitations on civil restitution claims in the United States for the victims of Nazi-era persecution and their heirs to make a legal demand for the return of artwork or other cultural property that was seized, confiscated or wrongfully taken as a result of the policies of the Third Reich.
Transformational Teaching Insights from Neuroscience

The current intellectual and social interest in neuroscience invites Christian educators to engage this complex and sometimes disparate field for the sake of transformative teaching and learning. R...
Promise and Reality of Price Transparency

Promise and Reality of Price Transparency Patients face increasing out-of-pocket health care costs and can save money by seeking care from lower-priced providers. Accurate, accessible price informa...
Statistics perspective on data and knowledge

We describe some classical statistical ideas concerning samples and populations, testing, estimation, and prediction. We briefly discuss the Bayesian approach to statistical inference and also provide some cautionary notes.
A. Krankheiten im Alter — Einige Aspekte der Geriatrie

Das Altern ist der bedeutendste demografische Wandel, der in unmittelbarer Zukunft jeden Menschen, jede Gesellschaft mit ihrem Wirtschafts-, Sozial- und Gesundheitssystem betreffen wird. Die Zunahme der Zahl der alten Menschen — insbesondere der sehr alten Menschen - ist ein globales Phanomen ...
Religious Education and the Nation-State

This essay is a reflection on the ambiguous role of the nation-state in its relation to religion. I examine the way in which the nation-state is a protector of religion. I also examine the way in which the nation-state needs to be resisted and criticised by religion. Religious education thus has an important part to play in maintaining a fruitful tension between the nation-state and religion. Our present system of nation-states is usually traced to the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648.Since then, thenation-state isassumed tobe themainagent in theworld’spolitics, economics and social dealings. The twentieth century had opposite movements relative to the nation-state. Some national groups strove to get the privilege, power and security of statehood. At the same time, there have been regular announcements that the nation-state is finished, that it has outlived its usefulness. Is one of these movements completely mistaken? Or is it possible that the nation-state, while destined for eventual retirement, is still important for bothgoodandbad reasons? The nation-state has had a key role in the articulation of modern ethics. The central problem of ethics is how to unite two outlooks. One outlook is a commitment to family, friends and neighbors. This particularistic view might extend as far as the nation. The other outlook recognises the limitation of all groups, including the nation. It looks to a universal concern with all humanity and the whole earth. At their best, the major religions of the world embody such a twofold ethics: a passionate attention to the particular concerns of everyday life, and at the same time a recognition that every human being and all of the earth is dependent on the creative power of God. Religion, of course, is not always at its best. When not challenged by disciplined understanding, religious passion is placed at the exclusive service of a small segment of humanity. The love of one’s neighbor is interpreted to mean love for one’s close kin, and indifference or hatred for everyone else. Religious beliefs too often dichotomise the world into good and evil.
Evaluation of Polymerase Chain Reaction Assays for Identifying Biological Agents

Rapid, sensitive, and specific assays for the identification of biological agents in environmental and clinical samples are needed by laboratories within the Department of Defense to protect the health of service members. We evaluated the capability of four different gene amplification formats based upon the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method to identify biological agents. Microplate-based assays and miniaturization will make these approaches accessible to field laboratories.
TPR: Traffic Pattern-Based Adaptive Routing for Dragonfly Networks

The Cray Cascade architecture uses Dragonfly as its interconnect topology and employs a globally adaptive routing scheme called UGAL. UGAL directs traffic based on link loads but may make inappropriate adaptive routing decisions in various situations, which degrades its performance. In this work, we propose traffic pattern-based adaptive routing (TPR) for Dragonfly that improves UGAL by incorporating a traffic pattern-based adaptation mechanism. The idea is to explicitly use the link usage statistics that are collected in performance counters to infer the traffic pattern, and to take the inferred traffic pattern plus link loads into consideration when making adaptive routing decisions. Our performance evaluation results on a diverse set of traffic conditions indicate that by incorporating the traffic pattern-based adaptation mechanism, TPR is much more effective in making adaptive routing decisions and achieves significant lower latency under low load and higher throughput under high load than its underlying UGAL.
Enhanced interfacial perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in Fe/MgO heterostructure via interfacial engineering

Interfacial perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in the Fe/MgO heterostructure has attracted increasing attention because of its potential usage in building out-of-plane magnetized magnetic tunnel junctions for spin-transfer-torque magnetic random-access memory devices. A large interfacial anisotropy constant (Ki) is required to achieve a high thermal stability that is critical for large-capacity magnetic tunnel junctions. Here, we show that inserting one layer of appropriate heavy elements (X) at the interface of Fe/MgO can significantly enhance Ki using first-principles electronic structure calculations. A total number of 33 X metal elements including 3d, 4d, and 5d transition metals and 4p, 5p, and 6p main group elements were considered. By analyzing the interfacial magnetic anisotropy and interfacial bonding strength of Fe/X/MgO, we are able to identify three promising heavy transition-metal elements including W, Re, and Pt for enhancing perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in Fe/MgO, with an improved Ki of 2.43, 2.37, and 9.74 mJ/m2, respectively. This work indicates that interfacial engineering is one effective way to modify the interfacial magnetic anisotropic property.
Online Deep Attractor Network for Real-time Single-channel Speech Separation

Speaker-independent speech separation is a challenging audio processing problem. In recent years, several deep learning algorithms have been proposed to address this problem. The majority of these methods use noncausal implementation which limits their application in real-time scenarios such as in wearable hearing devices and low-latency telecommunication. In this paper, we propose the Online Deep Attractor Network (ODANet), an extension to the Deep Attractor Network (DANet) which is causal and enables real-time speech separation. In contrast with DANet that estimates the global attractor point for each speaker using the entire utterance, ODANet estimates the attractors for each time step and tracks them using a dynamic weighting function with only causal information. This not only solves the speaker tracking problem, but also allows ODANet to generate more stable embeddings across time. Experimental results show that ODANet can achieve a similar separation accuracy as the noncausal DANet in both two speaker and three speaker speech separation problems, which makes it a suitable candidate for applications that require robust real-time speech processing.
A two-stage intervened decision system with multi-state decision units and dynamic system configuration

This paper develops the performability and cost–benefit models for a two-stage intervened decision system with majority voting rule and binary input and output. The decision process of the system contains two stages: an inspection stage (stage 1) and a result submission stage (stage 2). During the first stage, each decision unit in the system will have multiple states and a supervisor will come to visit each unit and check its state for at most twice. The supervisor will conduct the first visit to each unit for certain. However, the behavior of the second visit to each unit will be determined by its state during the first visit. In addition, each decision unit may be removed from the system given certain states during each visit. Therefore the structure of system may change during the decision process. The units which are not removed during the first stage can submit the result at any time during the second stage. However, the performance of each remaining unit will be determined by the ending state of the first stage. Moreover, in order to improve the efficiency of the decision process, a check point is added to the second stage. The performability and cost–benefit models for this dynamic system are developed by considering the distribution of states at the end of the first stage. A three-step method will be proposed for model optimization. Some numerical examples for the three-step method will be presented. The proposed intervened decision system in this paper can be applied in many contexts such as financial investment, paper submission review and proposal evaluation, credit evaluation and loan application and product release and recall.
Computing high quality phase-only holograms for holographic displays

Holography has demonstrated potential to achieve a wide field of view, focus supporting, optical see-through augmented reality display in an eyeglasses form factor. Although phase modulating spatial light modulators are becoming available, the phase-only hologram generation algorithms are still imprecise resulting in severe artifacts in the reconstructed imagery. Since the holographic phase retrieval problem is non-linear and non-convex and computationally expensive with the solutions being non-unique, the existing methods make several assumptions to make the phase-only hologram computation tractable. In this work, we deviate from any such approximations and solve the holographic phase retrieval problem as a quadratic problem using complex Wirtinger gradients and standard first-order optimization methods. Our approach results in high-quality phase hologram generation with at least an order of magnitude improvement over existing state-of-the-art approaches.
ACUTE MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION IN CROHN'S PATIENT WITHOUT TRADITIONAL CARDIOVASCULAR RISK FACTORS

Numerous recent studies show growing evidence of an association between inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Findings illustrate how the proinflammatory state caused by IBD affects the cardiovascular system which leads to an increased risk of ischemic heart disease. A
Spiraling crystallization creates layered biomorphs

Biomorphs are micrometer-sized polycrystalline structures that, despite their inorganic nature, display smoothly curved, life-like shapes. The edges of substrate-bound biomorph sheets are known to trace logarithmic spirals and can be reproduced by reaction-diffusion fronts in subexcitable media where disrupted fronts shrink tangentially. While freely rotating Archimedean spirals do not exist in subexcitable systems, our numerical simulations show that pinning sites can stabilize the rotating front. This finding is confirmed experimentally for biomorph systems that, around pH 11, produce both logarithmic and Archimedean spirals. The latter are pinned to globular ${\mathrm{BaCO}}_{3}$ crystals and have a constant pitch in the range of 20 to $40\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{m}$. Akin to screw dislocations, the Archimedean spirals consist of multiple layers of constant height. Their front speeds on glass and pre-existing biomorph substrate are essentially identical. We also report the detachment of intermittently pinned fronts at highly curved features of the pinning site.
Cost-Effective Wireless Sensors for Detection of Package Opening and Tampering

There is a need to develop a simple cost-effective approach for wireless detection of whether package is or was open en route during transportation. Existing approaches rely on electronic devices that need sensors with on-board and continuous power source for sensing and data logging. This paper presents three different battery-free, cost-effective, Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID)-based solutions for the detection of tampering or package opening. The first solution is for real-time opening detection. Opening or closing the package leads to unfolding or folding of the flexible -based antenna, which activates or deactivates the RFID tag. The second solution is for recording and memorizing package opening using a printed switch that shunts the antenna of the RFID tag. Opening causes a permanent disconnection of this switch activating the RFID. This change is irreversible; thus, the sensor memorizes the specific opening event without any additional electronic memory device. The third solution is for all-around package security using an RFID-based thread. Opening the package from any side allows changes in the radiation profile so the package condition can be wirelessly sensed. The approaches have been simulated and validated experimentally.
The Key Role of Intrinsic Lifetime Dynamics from Upconverting Nanosystems in Multiemission Particle Velocimetry

Evaluation of particle dynamics at the nano- and microscale poses a challenge to the development of novel velocimetry techniques. Established optical methods implement external or internal calibrations of the emission profiles by varying the particle velocity and are limited to specific experimental conditions. The proposed multiemission particle velocimetry approach aims to introduce a new concept for a luminescent probe, which guarantees accurate velocity measurements at the microscale, independent of the particle concentration or experimental setup, and without need for calibration. The simplicity of these analyses relies on the intrinsic luminescence dynamics of core-shell upconverting nanoparticles. Upon excitation with a focused near-infrared pulsed laser, the nanoparticle emits photons at different wavelengths. The time interval between emissions from different excited states is independent of the local environment or particle velocity. The velocity of the particles is calculated by measuring the distance between the maxima of two different emissions and dividing it by the known difference in luminescence lifetimes. This method is demonstrated using simple digital imaging of nanoparticles flowing in 75-150 µm diameter capillaries. Using this novel approach typically results in a relative standard deviation of the experimental velocities of 5% or lower without any calibration.
The Not-So-Hot Melting Pot: The Persistence of Outcomes for Descendants of the Age of Mass Migration

How persistent are economic gaps across ethnicities? The convergence of ethnic gaps through the third generation of immigrants is difficult to measure because few datasets include grandparental birthplace. I overcome this limitation with a new three-generational dataset that links immigrant grandfathers in 1880 to their grandsons in 1940. I find that the persistence of ethnic gaps in occupational income is 2.5 times stronger than predicted by a standard grandfather-grandson elasticity. While part of the discrepancy is due to measurement error attenuating the grandfather-grandson elasticity, mechanisms related to geography also partially explain the stronger persistence of ethnic occupational differentials.
Post Bronchial Thermoplasty Discharge in Severe Asthmatics

Background: The use of Bronchial Thermoplasty (BT) in the treatment of patients with severe persistent asthma is becoming more frequent. The manufacturer of BT recommends that patients be discharged with a Forced Expiratory Volume (FEV1) of within 80% of the day of pre- BT procedure. However, it is unclear if discharging patients below 80% of the pre-BT procedure would result in more Emergency Room (ER) admissions. This study examines the spirometry results immediately before and after BT procedure and the incidence of ER admissions after being discharged home within 48 h and again within 7 days. Methods: In this prospective study, PFTs were measured pre and post BT procedure. BT procedure consists of 3 separate treatments. The following PFT tests were performed: Forced Vital Capacity (FVC), Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second (FEV1), and Peak Expiratory Flow (PEF). Emergency room admissions and visits were collected after being discharged to monitor procedure effectiveness in all subjects. Results: A total of 22 subjects enrolled in the study and 11 (50%) completed all 3 BT procedures. No significant difference was seen in PFT data from baseline to BT3 (p>0.05). Average post BT FEV1% of pre-BT was (BT1= 97% (n=10), BT2= 87% (n=9), and BT3=78% (n=9). There was no complication or admissions post BT procedure seen in all subjects related to the procedure as their Fev1 was within 80%. In addition, there was no significant correlation between ER admission after BT on subjects who were discharged with an FEV1 of Conclusions: Our findings from this current preliminary data shows that patients being discharged with an FEV1 value of less than the recommended manufacture value does not result in an increase incidence of ER admission. Larger data are needed to provide more evidence to better determine the ideal FEV1 for discharge.
Accounting by companies for the Kyoto Protocol in the EU

In attempting to achieve the goals of the Kyoto Protocol, the European Union agreed to reduce member countries' greenhouse gas emissions to 92% of their 1990 levels by the end of 2012. We assess here the carbon emissions for companies from those countries that were among the largest emitters of carbon in the EU. This evaluation includes emissions in 2008 and 2012 together with disclosures regarding environmental performance that these companies made in the two years. Upon analysing 141 companies from seven of the EU countries, we found that the firms that emitted the most carbon effluents in their home country and that voluntarily disclosed the greatest amount about their carbon emissions also were the ones that provided the most extensive disclosures concerning company environmental performance. These results appear to support legitimacy concepts as the basis for which voluntary reporting will be generated.
COG: Connecting New Skills to Past Experience with Offline Reinforcement Learning.

Reinforcement learning has been applied to a wide variety of robotics problems, but most of such applications involve collecting data from scratch for each new task. Since the amount of robot data we can collect for any single task is limited by time and cost considerations, the learned behavior is typically narrow: the policy can only execute the task in a handful of scenarios that it was trained on. What if there was a way to incorporate a large amount of prior data, either from previously solved tasks or from unsupervised or undirected environment interaction, to extend and generalize learned behaviors? While most prior work on extending robotic skills using pre-collected data focuses on building explicit hierarchies or skill decompositions, we show in this paper that we can reuse prior data to extend new skills simply through dynamic programming. We show that even when the prior data does not actually succeed at solving the new task, it can still be utilized for learning a better policy, by providing the agent with a broader understanding of the mechanics of its environment. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach by chaining together several behaviors seen in prior datasets for solving a new task, with our hardest experimental setting involving composing four robotic skills in a row: picking, placing, drawer opening, and grasping, where a +1/0 sparse reward is provided only on task completion. We train our policies in an end-to-end fashion, mapping high-dimensional image observations to low-level robot control commands, and present results in both simulated and real world domains. Additional materials and source code can be found on our project website: this https URL
A New Approach to Identify and Deter China's Internet Counterfeiters

This paper proposes a new approach to identify and deter China’s Internet counterfeiters. Due to China’s obsessive need to closely monitor all aspects of Chinese society, laws and systems exist in China that can be used by e-commerce sites to pinpoint and identify counterfeiters who use China’s Internet. This paper explains how brand owners can use these systems to identify and deter counterfeiters by exposing them to what they fear and loathe the most: transparency and accountability for their actions.
Laplace-Beltrami Eigenfunctions for the Inverse Source/Design Problems

The Laplace-Beltrami operator has a broad breadth and depth of application in the fields of engineering, machine learning, and computer graphics. In particular, the operator's salient feature of defining a spectral method, enabling the manipulation of its eigenfunctions as a basis set, has been driving its popularity in many fields. The eigenfunctions form a basis referred to as the manifold harmonic basis (MHB). MHB are constructed over $C^{2}$ subdivision surfaces, further enhancing its ability to capture very fine features such as convexity, edges, corners, etc., with relatively few eigenfunctions. MHB proves to be a great candidate for developing the inverse source/design framework due to their natural means of compressing data. We pose a shape optimization problem that aims to find the boundary, in terms of MHs, wherein sources are defined to produce the desired fields constrained. Numerical results are presented for validation.
Trading with Pariahs: International Trade and North Korean Sanctions

For decades, the international community has targeted North Korea with economic sanctions, seeking not only to keep the nuclear bomb out of North Korean hands but also to potentially bring about regime change and weaken its military. However, many in the academic and policy communities have labeled the North Korean sanctions regime a failure as none of these goals have been achieved. Why has North Korea been able to evade the pressure of international sanctions more effectively than other targets, such as Iran and Myanmar? Recent scholarship argues that the answer is largely that North Korean elites are insulated from domestic pressures brought on by economic sanctions. We argue that the failure of North Korean sanctions is the result of North Korea’s network of trading partners that prevents the West from weaponizing its interdependence. In this study, we explore trade and sanctions-busting trends using UN Comtrade sectoral data from 1990 to the present to show how this network of trade has allowed North Korea to evade the pain of economic sanctions. We argue that economic sanctions limit the ability of the US and its allies from incorporating North Korea into their trade networks and in doing so, undermine the coercive power of economic sanctions.
Four single-basepair mutations in the ptx promoter of Bordetella bronchiseptica are sufficient to activate the expression of pertussis toxin

Secretion of pertussis toxin (PT) is the preeminent virulence trait of the human pathogen Bordetella pertussis, causing whooping cough. Bordetella bronchiseptica, although it harbors an intact 12-kb ptx-ptl operon, does not express PT due to an inactive ptx promoter (Pptx), which contains 18 SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) relative to B. pertussis Pptx. A systematic analysis of these SNPs was undertaken to define the degree of mutational divergence necessary to activate B. bronchiseptica Pptx. A single change (C-13T), which created a better - 10 element, was capable of activating B. bronchiseptica Pptx sufficiently to allow secretion of low but measureable levels of active PT. Three additional changes in the BvgA-binding region, only in the context of C-13T mutant, raised the expression of PT to B. pertussis levels. These results illuminate a logical evolutionary pathway for acquisition of this key virulence trait in the evolution of B. pertussis from a B. bronchiseptica-like common ancestor.
The Development of Defense Mechanisms: Theory, Research, and Assessment

This volume offers a comprehensive overview of the empirical and psychometric studies of defence mechanisms, an examination of theories of the development of defences and a new approach to measuring defences. Part 1 reviews the conceptual models of defence and consists of discussions of the development of denial, projection and identification throughout the lifespan. Part 2 provides an extensive review of numerous studies of 58 different measures of defence mechanisms. Specifically, the empirical studies of the Defence Mechanism Inventory, measures derived from a structured response format amd methods in which the inquiry is unstructured, are discussed in this part of the book. In the last section, a new approach to the assessment of defences, the Defence Mechanism Manual (DMM), is described in depth. The DMM permits thought process to be revealed in an open-ended manner, through extensive samples of verbal behaviour, and allows for a reliability test by independent observers. The psychometric features of the test are described, the validation studies are reviewed, and a scoring manual for DMM is provided in the appendix.
Concurrent stochastic simulation: Experiments with EcliPSe

Abstract This paper presents results on the performance of a novel and flexible concurrent simulation environment known as EcliPS. The paradigm we advocate is based on the premise that replication based simulations, either non-distributed or minimally distributed, yield excellent speedups. The approach used makes concurrent simulation easily accessible to researchers because its use does not require knowledge of parallel programming. The experiments conducted include Monte-Carlo type simulations (e.g., estimating integrals, order-statistics), Markov-chain simulations (hitting-times, distributed algorithms), and discrete-event simulation (e.g., tail probabilities in queues, FDDI token ring performance, and simulations of high performance software testing techniques on SIMD machines).
Maximum Likelihood Estimation of Life-Span Based on Censored and Passively Registered Historical Data

We consider the estimation of life length of people who were born in the seventeenth or eighteenth century in England. The data consist of a sequence of times of life events that is either ended by a time of death or is right-censored by an unobserved time of migration. We propose a semi parametric model for the data and use a maximum likelihood method to estimate the unknown parameters in this model. We prove the consistency of the maximum likelihood estimators and describe an algorithm to obtain the estimates numerically. We have applied the algorithm to data and the estimates found are presented.
Is there nutritional mediation of the "smoking effect" on the fetus.

A study of 44000 pregnancies in the National Perinatal Project of the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke shows obese smoking mothers give birth to infants with the same body weights as those of nonsmoking mothers. In both black and white obese mothers gestation length and weight and weight for length are comparable to those of nonsmokers. The correlation between mothers body weight and infants birth weight leads back to nutritional theories. It is possible that the combination of smoking and obesity has other fetal effects beyond "smoking effects." However the fact that maternal obesity mitigates smoking effects suggests a nutritional cause. The data suggests that obese mothers produce large placentas.
Educational Entrepreneurship, Creative Destruction, and the Junk Food of Education Reform

Alex Molnar has taken up the question of commercialization in education over an extensive career that most recently has been in concert with the National Education Policy Center (NEPC), an organization dedicated to the scholarly response to this very education reform movement. In the Spring of 2012, a dialogue was engaged to explore issues of the moment for scholars of education and how we might respond.
Quantifying livestock responses for heat stress management: a review

Hot weather challenges livestock production but technology exists to offset the challenge if producers have made appropriate strategic decisions. Key issues include understanding the hazards of heat stress, being prepared to offer relief from the heat, recognizing when an animal is in danger, and taking appropriate action. This paper describes our efforts to develop biological response functions; assesses climatic probabilities and performs associated risk analyses; provides inputs for computer models used to make environmental management decisions; and evaluates threshold temperatures as estimates of critical temperature limits for swine, cattle and sheep.
Multivariate genetic analysis of Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Revised (WISC-R) factors

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Revised (WISC-R) factor scores (Verbal Comprehension, Perceptual Organization, and Freedom from Distractibility) were obtained from 574 twin pairs in the Colorado Reading Project and subjected to multivariate genetic analysis. Variances were partitioned into components common to the three WISC-R factors and to those specific to each factor. Substantial commonality, both genetic and environmental, was found among the three factors. The full model fit the data well, and estimates of heritability and environmentality indicated that about half of the phenotypic variance for each factor is due to additive genetic effects. These results were compared to those obtained in a previous twin study of the three Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) factors by Tambset al. (1986).
The effect of backbone charge on the collision-induced dissociation of oligonucleotides

Knowledge of the effects of structural changes in oligonucleotides on their dissociation reactions is important in the application of mass spectrometry to sequence determination. The effect of backbone charge on the collision-induced dissociation of multiply-charged oligonucleotides produced by electrospray was explored by examination of models in which the normal phosphodiester linkage was partially replaced with an uncharged methylphosphonate (MP) linkage. Three different MP-containing oligonucleotides were studied, designed to represent a concentration of charge on the 5'- and 3'-ends of the molecule and with an even distribution of charge along the backbone, compared with a control molecule containing only phosphodiester linkages. In all MP-containing oligonucleotides charging of over 90% of phosphate groups were observed, compared with typical charging patterns of about 60% in normal all-phosphodiester oligonucleotides. This unexpected effect is attributed to charge stabilization by interactions of charged sites with uncharged residues. Analysis of the collision-induced dissociation mass spectra showed that backbone cleavage occurred at every residue (w and a - base ion series), producing a full set of sequencing ions whether or not the linkage at that site was formally charged. It is concluded that under the multiple collision conditions of the quadrupole collision cell that backbone cleavage proceeds through two generic pathways, one involving base loss followed by cleavage of the adjacent C3'-CO bond and the other requiring neither base loss nor charged phosphate at the cleavage site. These results suggest that backbone cleavage reactions in conventional phosphodiester oligonucleotides can occur at non-ionized linkage sites, of which there are a high proportion in both electrospray- and MALDI-produced molecular ions.
Executive Control Functioning and Functional Ability in Older Adults

The manner in which executive control functioning exerts its influence on functional tasks was investigated. Sixty older adults were administered neuropsychological tasks tapping into four domains of executive control function, including working memory, planning, fluency, and flexibility. A test of performance-based functional ability also was administered. Correlational analyses demonstrated that working memory was most strongly associated with performance-based functional ability; however, impairment in planning appeared to best predict performance-based functional decrement in simultaneous regression models. Results highlight the role of planning in the maintenance of functional ability, as measured by performance-based functional measures.
MOOD IN RELATION TO SUBCLINICAL OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE SYMPTOMS

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is considered an anxiety disorder, but shows comorbidity with other disorders in the affective and impulsive-compulsive spectra, including anxiety disorders, major depression, and drug addictions. Subclinical OCD symptoms are relatively common in nonclinical populations and share common neurobiological substrates with clinical OCD. In this nonclinical community sample, the relationship between the severity of obsessions and compulsions, as measured by the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale, related to the intensity of negative emotions (anger, depression, tension, confusion, and fatigue) but not positive emotion (vigor), as measured by the Profile of Mood States. These relationships were independent of demographic influences and psychoactive drug use frequency (alcohol, cannabis, opioid, major stimulants, MDMA, and hallucinogens). These likely reflect common neurobiological substrates for emotional and behavioral regulation in prefrontal-subcortical/limbic circuits, which show normal variations in the general population.
Enhancement and evaluation of the AIRPACT ozone and PM2.5forecast system for the Pacific Northwest

[1] The Air Indicator Report for Public Access and Community Tracking (AIRPACT) real-time numerical air quality forecast system operates daily in the Pacific Northwest region to predict hourly ozone, PM2.5 and related precursor and pollutant species. In an update to the existing AIRPACT forecast system, the MM5/SMOKE/CMAQ Eulerian modeling system replaces the MM5/CALMET/CALGRID model framework. The new system, AIRPACT-3, has a larger domain that encompasses Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and bordering areas. The system includes a highly dynamic emission processing subsystem which incorporates anthropogenic and biogenic emissions, as well as real-time wildfire emission estimates, and a dynamic dairy ammonia emissions module. As an initial evaluation of the system, forecast results were compared against measurement data for the August–November 2004 period. Analyses showed that the system is skillful in predicting episodic ozone conditions (8-h daily maxima) above 50 ppbv, but systematically over-predicts levels less than 40 ppbv. For fine particulate matter, PM2.5, the system captures the concentration differences between urban and rural regions, and captures qualitatively the speciated distribution of fine PM2.5 component concentrations. A separate emission sensitivity study shows the system can adequately simulate the PM pollution impacts from fire events; however, the new dairy ammonia emission module has lesser impact on the overall PM2.5 forecast performance.